Oracle Essbase 9 Implementation Guide- P25 pps

Chapter 3
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As you can see from the previous screen, you would be able to select either the
SQL data source or the Data Files. If you choose to select SQL, then you will need
to provide the SQL user name and SQL password.
1. We have a Microsoft Excel le as our data source so we have selected
the Data les option.
2. Click on the Find Data File. Browse through the directory and select
the data source le. You have the choice of a local le or a server le.
3. Click on the Find Rules File and select the rule le that you have built
and saved on the server.
4. For the error le, you can give a different error le path and name, or you
can use the default error le. If you think the error le already exists, please
select the option Overwrite. If not, you will get an error message.
5. Click on OK.
6. Essbase will load the data per the instructions in the rules le you selected.
If it is a dimension build rules le (as is this case), the outline itself will
be updated.
7. The outline will be updated, saved, and restructured. The new outline
is shown in the following screenshot:
This material is copyright and is licensed for the sole use by Paul Corcorran on 5th July 2009
8601 ave. p #1, , lubbock, , 79423
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Building the Essbase Outline
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Update using MaxL Shell
In the earlier versions of Essbase, EssCmd (Essbase Command Script) was
widely used as the shell script of choice. In the newer versions of Essbase, Oracle
recommends using MaxL Shell scripts. Using the MaxL Shell statements, you will
be able to perform most of the Essbase functions like dimension building, importing
data, and calculating data.

A MaxL Shell script can be executed three different ways:
• Through the EAS editor
• From the DOS Command Line
• Shelled from within another scripting language
Executing MaxL from EAS editor
The steps to execute MaxL from EAS editor are:
1. Within EAS, click on File |Editor | MaxL Script Editor
2. The MaxL editor will be opened as shown in the screenshot below:
• In the MaxL editor, you can write a MaxL statement and then execute it.
MaxL is the multidimensional database access language for
Essbase analytic services. MaxL is an easy to use interface for
Essbase database administration.
The IMPORT DIMENSION statement would be used to build the outline. The syntax in
the example MaxL statement shows when we use a data le to update the dimension.
This material is copyright and is licensed for the sole use by Paul Corcorran on 5th July 2009
8601 ave. p #1, , lubbock, , 79423
Download at Boykma.Com
Chapter 3
[ 107 ]
Syntax of Import Dimension statement
We will show you some actual code that can be used in the MaxL editor to execute
database commands. As we will present in much greater detail later in this book,
MaxL is a command-based scripting language that you can use for automating
maintenance and routine tasks:
IMPORT DATABASE APPLICATION NAME.DATABASE NAME DIMENSIONS
FROM (input data file information)
LOCAL | SERVER /* Location of the data file
FILE TYPE /* Type of data source whether a Text files, Excel File,
or Lotus File
DATA_FILE

FILE PATH ' Path of the file like c:/book/chapter3/rules/market.xls
USING (Information about the Rule File)
LOCAL | SERVER ' Location of the rule file
RULE_FILE
RULE FILE NAME ' Name of the rule file like Markt
ON ERROR APPEND TO (error File information)
WRITE | APPEND
ERROR File name ' Path for error file
' c:/book/DimError.log
The following screenshot shows the code that was entered into the EAS MaxL editor
and then executed by pressing the F5 button or clicking on the MaxL | Execute button:
This material is copyright and is licensed for the sole use by Paul Corcorran on 5th July 2009
8601 ave. p #1, , lubbock, , 79423
Download at Boykma.Com
Building the Essbase Outline
[ 108 ]
As shown in the previous screenshot, the script has executed without errors.
Let's modify the script to force an error message.
We have changed the reserve word database to data.
This is a glaring syntax error
and will immediately generate an error message as shown in the following screenshot:
This script can also be saved with the extension .mxl for later use.
Executing MaxL from command prompt
You can use MaxL statements from the DOS command prompt as well.
The essmsh.exe le is located in the $Arborpath/bin which, in our case,
is C:\Oracle\AnalyticServices\bin.
From the command prompt, go to this directory and enter the word ESSMSH
as shown:
In the EAS editor, you need not log on to the Essbase server as EAS is already
connected to Essbase. When using the command prompt, you need to log in

to Essbase. Using the following syntax in a MaxL statement, you log in to the
Essbase server:
Login 'UserID' 'Password' on 'ServerName';
This material is copyright and is licensed for the sole use by Paul Corcorran on 5th July 2009
8601 ave. p #1, , lubbock, , 79423
Download at Boykma.Com
Chapter 3
[ 109 ]
The following is an example of logging in through the command line:
Now, that you are logged on to the Essbase server, you can execute any MaxL
statement using the command line to update the Essbase outline. The following
screenshot shows how you can achieve this. Notice how the syntax is very easy
to read. Almost like a spoken sentence.
Our Esscar outline is now updated with the new Market structure.
Hooray! You have built your rst outline using an Essbase rules le and you have
also learned how to execute the script manually and also by using MaxL to run a
script that uses your load rule le.
Attribute dimensions
Attribute dimensions are dimensions associated with standard dimensions. Attribute
dimensions are useful in describing a standard dimension member's attributes. For
example, in our Esscar database, we have the Vehicles dimension. If we wanted
to differentiate between a two or four door car of the same model, we could use an
attribute dimension to accomplish this. We could also use an attribute dimension to
track color.
This material is copyright and is licensed for the sole use by Paul Corcorran on 5th July 2009
8601 ave. p #1, , lubbock, , 79423
Download at Boykma.Com