FAQ - Oracle Warehouse Builder
Updated
June 12, 2009
The document includes information regarding
product licensing that is intended for information purposes only. Its
contents are not legally binding and may not be incorporated into any contract.
For the latest information on pricing and licensing, please see eSource, Oracle
Database Licensing Information, and Oracle
Fusion Middleware Licensing Information.
What is Warehouse Builder?
Oracle Warehouse Builder (OWB) is Oracle's comprehensive
tool for ETL (extract, transform and load), relational and dimensional modeling,
data quality, data auditing, and full lifecycle management of data and
metadata. OWB powers ETL and data quality integrated with the Oracle
Database. It provides an easy to use, graphical environment to rapidly
design, deploy, and manage business intelligence systems.
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What is new in Warehouse Builder?
To understand what’s new in a given release, consult the “What’s
New” topic in the preface of the user documentation. Visit the Warehouse Builder Documentation library at
http://www.oracle.com/technology/documentation/warehouse.html
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What training courses available for Warehouse Builder?
Yes. Click “Training” on the OWB on OTN
page, or go here.
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How
is Warehouse Builder Packaged?
OWB 10.2 is packaged with the Oracle Database on a separate
media pack.
OWB 11.1 is packaged in the Oracle Database media pack.
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Which versions of the Oracle Database include the OWB software?
Beginning with Oracle Database 10.2,
Warehouse Builder is packaged with Oracle Database Standard Edition, Standard
Edition One and Enterprise Edition.
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Which Oracle licenses entitle me to use
Warehouse Builder functionality?
Much of OWB’s functionality is included in several popular
Oracle licenses. Referred to as ‘in-Database ETL’, this subset of OWB
functionality is included in the following licenses:
·
Database: Standard Edition, Standard Edition 1,
Enterprise Edition, and Oracle Database Machine
·
Business Intelligence:
Standard Edition (Discoverer) and Standard Edition 1
·
e-Business Suite Intelligence products: Oracle HR
Intelligence, and Oracle Financial Data Manager
There is a 1 to 1 relationship between these licenses and
OWB’s usage. For example, if you have a total of 5 licenses for the above
products, then you can use 5 separate Oracle Databases to host 5 separate
Warehouse Builder repositories.
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I licensed Oracle Database prior to 10g.
Can I still use OWB?
Yes. It does not matter when you licensed the Oracle
Database or any of the other licenses that include OWB’s in-Database
functionality. As long as you are current with the support fees, you are
entitled to use OWB.
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Is
Warehouse Builder packaged and licensed with Developer Suite?
No. OWB was formerly but no longer packaged and licensed
with iDS.
For customers that purchased OWB as part of the iDS
license, you retain Warehouse Builder 10g Release 1 functionality and the use
of the SAP R/3 Adapter.
What OWB functionality is considered
‘in-Database ETL’?
‘In-Database ETL’ refers to the subset functionality
included in Database licenses and several other popular Oracle licenses.
Previously, you may have heard this referred to as ‘OWB core features’.
If you are familiar with OWB 10.1, ‘in-Database ETL’
includes all functionality available in that release, plus the use Experts.
If you are not familiar with OWB 10.1 or want additional
information, please see the OWB
Overview presentation on OTN.
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Can I assume that anything accessible from the OWB GUI is ‘in-Database ETL’?
No. Currently, the Warehouse Builder graphical user
interface includes all components—including extra cost components. On the one
hand, this means that you can purchase extra cost components without changing
your installation. On the other hand, when planning your projects, you should
understand the licensing terms in order to stay in compliance.
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Are extra-cost components disabled if my
company didn’t license them?
No. OWB licensing is currently based on a “trust” model.
See previous question.
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Can I switch off and/or un-install the optional functionality?
No, not at this time.
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What extra-cost components are available
for Warehouse Builder?
All of the extra-cost components are integrated with and
embedded into the Warehouse Builder graphical user interface.
Extra-cost components include the following:
·
Data Profiling & Quality: This Database
option is priced either per CPU or per user—according to how you purchased
Oracle Database Enterprise Edition. As of Feb 2009, this option is $17,500
per CPU or $350 per user.
·
Data Watch & Repair Connector: This
Database option enables data cleansing for Oracle MDM applications and
requires Oracle Database Enterprise Edition plus Data Profiling &
Quality. As of Feb 2009, this option is $23,000 per connector.
·
Enterprise ETL: Formerly a Database option, this functionality is now included
in the pricing bundle called Oracle Data Integrator Enterprise Edition. As of
Feb 2009, it is priced at $23,000 per CPU.
·
Application Adapters: OWB has adapters for
accessing metadata and data on SAP R/3, Siebel, Peoplesoft, and eBusiness
Suite. Formerly Database options, each are currently priced at $2,300 per
target CPU.
For the latest pricing information and additional
restrictions such as minimum number of named users, see esource.com.
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Can I license a subset of CPUs on
computer?
All CPUs on a computer must be licensed. It not possible to
have Grid Control restrict ETL processing to a set number of CPUs and only
license based on those CPUs.
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I only need to license OWB’s extra-cost components for my production
environment, right?
Wrong. You must license all computers to which you deploy OWB-generated
code. This includes target computers used for development, testing, training,
QA and production. Warehouse Builder supports the full development lifecycle
from development through to final production release.
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I
do not need to pay for client licenses of OWB, right?
Correct. There is no licensing limitation on the number of
client computers you can run OWB.
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How do I download and install the OWB Client and Server?
Warehouse Builder has a single install image that contains
all product components.
For OWB 10.2, first install Oracle Database and then
install OWB 10.2 on the server. Subsequently, install OWB 10.2 on client
computers. The software is available in the Oracle media pack and on OTN at http://www.oracle.com/technology/software/products/warehouse/index.html.
Beginning with Oracle Database 11.1, OWB is packaged and
automatically installed with the Database. After installing the Oracle
Database, you need only to install the standalone
software on client computers.
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Which versions of the Oracle Database can
I use host the OWB repository?
Please refer to Metalink’s Certify page for details of
supported Database versions.
http://metalink.oracle.com
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Which platforms does Warehouse Builder
support?
Oracle Warehouse Builder supports the same operating
systems as the Database.
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Are languages other than English
supported?
Yes. The Warehouse Builder repository supports a large
number of languages within the repository. Use the Repository Assistant to
select a base language and then you can assign multiple display languages.
For more information, search for ‘base language’ and ‘display language’ in
the user documentation or online help.
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Can I run the Design Center UI on non-Windows platforms?
The Design Center UI is supported on both Windows and Linux
platforms. All other platforms are supported as run-time environments only.
However, Warehouse Builder mappings and processes can now
be deployed and executed in Databases located on hosts that are different
from the host where the Warehouse Builder Control Center Service is running.
This eliminates the need to install Warehouse Builder software on the
database host. Please refer to the Installation Guide for details.
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From the Windows Start menu, where do I
launch OWB?
On Windows Clients, the installation process creates a
program group called “Oracle – Owb_Home_Prod_Home” program group. This
program group contains all the components of Warehouse Builder 10g Release 2
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Can
I host the OWB Repository on older versions of the Database?
Yes. For example, you can host an OWB 10.2 repository on
Oracle Database version 9.2 or higher. However, to use Data Profiling &
Quality, a Database version of 10g Release 1 or higher is required.
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Can Warehouse Builder 10g Release 1 and
10g Release 2 coexist?
Yes, but you must install Warehouse Builder 10g Release 2
into a separate Oracle Home.
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What features are part of Enterprise ETL
?
Enterprise ETL supports large scale and complex deployments
by improving the scalability and performance of ETL jobs. Support is also
provided to effectively manage multi-environment deployments that are typical
of enterprise data warehouse projects. This extra-cost component contains the
following functionality:
·
Create new metadata types
·
Promote from Dev>QA>PROD
·
Navigate lineage & impact
·
Propagate metadata changes
·
Schedule jobs using UI
·
Advanced process flow logic
·
Create nested mappings
·
Slowly changing dimensions
·
Design in RAC environment
·
More …
For
the latest licensing information regarding Enterprise ETL, see “Oracle Data
Integrator Enterprise Edition” in Oracle
Fusion Middleware Licensing Information.
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What features are part of the Data
Profiling & Quality Option?
This Database option supports the transformation of data
into quality information on an on-going basis. This option contains the
following functionality:
·
Discover Data Anomalies
·
Identify Data Rules
·
Auto-correction of Data Anomalies
·
Audit ETL jobs (and take action if data quality is
too low)
For the latest licensing information regarding Data
Profiling & Quality, see Oracle
Database Licensing Information.
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Is Name and Address Cleansing part of the Data Profiling &
Quality Option?
No. Name and Address and Match/Merge are both part of the
in-Database ETL features.
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Do we still need to get the Name & Address libraries from third
party partners, or are they included?
Yes. The transformation engine requires a ‘Name and
Address’ library to correct names and addresses. These libraries are provided
by partners such as Trillium, First Logic, Melissa Data and/or DataFlux. For
more information please refer to the Warehouse Builder Partner page on OTN.
http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/warehouse/htdocs/otn_partners.html
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What features are part of the Application Adapters?
Application Adapters enable you to quickly and easily
extract data from CRM and ERP applications. This following adapters are
available for OWB:
·
Oracle e-Business Suite Adapter
·
Peoplesoft Adapter
·
SAP Adapter (enables you to extract from and write to
SAP R/3)
·
Siebel Adapter
Each adapter is licensed separately. For example if you
have three e-Business Suite sources and the target is a single Oracle Database,
then you need only one e-Business Suite Adapter. If there are two target
Oracle Databases, then you would need to adapters.
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Is the eBusiness Suite Adapter required
to deploy/schedule using Concurrent Manager?
Yes. If you wish to use Concurrent Manager for deployment
and scheduling, the eBusiness Suite Adapter is required.
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Is OWB integrated with Oracle Business
Intelligence?
Yes. In OWB 10.2 and 11.1, you can deploy metadata models
into Oracle BI Standard Edition (aka Discoverer). Currently, there is no
direct deployment of metadata to Answers in Oracle BI Enterprise Edition.
However, you can leverage all the Database structures you built using OWB.
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What Experts are available out of the box?
There are no instances of Experts shipped out-of-the-box.
Experts are available at the Exchange website at:
http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/warehouse/htdocs/OWBexchange.html
All utilities posted on the Exchange are not part of any
Warehouse Builder production release and are, therefore, not supported.
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Can I upgrade to Warehouse Builder 10g Release 2 from an earlier release of
Warehouse Builder?
Yes. However, direct migration is only supported from
Warehouse Builder 10.1.0.4.
To upgrade from the earlier versions ((9.2.x, 9.0.x) to
Warehouse Builder 10g Release 2, it will be necessary to first migrate to
10.1.0.4.
More information on upgrading 10g Release 2 can be found in
the Installation and Configuration Guide, Chapter 3 “Upgrading to Warehouse
Builder 10g Release 2”.
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How do I migrate to Warehouse Builder 10g Release 2 from an earlier
release of Warehouse Builder?
More information on upgrading 10g Release 2 can be found in
the Installation and Configuration Guide, Chapter 3 “Upgrading to Warehouse Builder
10g Release 2”.
There is also an Oracle by Example available on OTN.
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Is it possible to import OLAP dimensions
and cubes built using Analytic Workspace Manager?
For OWB 10.2 and 11, there is no “Out of the box”
functionality to support this. However, there is an Expert than can be
downloaded from
http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/warehouse/htdocs/OWBexchange.html
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Can I create a mapping in
OWB and then view and edit it in AWM?
Yes. This is available starting with the OWB 10.2.0.3
database patchset.
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Is it possible to connect to an existing
Designer repository?
Yes. Using OWB 10.2 or 11.1, create an Oracle module, then
in the “Connection Information” step, edit the location so that it points to
a Designer 2000 database. After you create the module, edit the module and go
to the “Metadata Location” page. Inside that page, you can then switch to
Designer and fill in the workarea and container element information.
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Is there a demo schema for Warehouse Builder 10g Release2?
There is no specific demo project or related schemas
supplied with Warehouse Builder 10g Release 2. However, samples and utilities
can be downloaded from the Warehouse Builder Exchange site on OTN. The Oracle
Warehouse Builder Utility Exchange has been designed to provide the user
community with a place where Warehouse Builder utilities, code samples, tips,
tricks etc. can be exchanged on a non-profit, non-support basis.
We invite you to contribute to this exchange by sharing
your own Warehouse Builder tidbits. Please post on the Oracle Warehouse
Builder discussion forum and include your contact information if you would
like to see your extension listed.
All utilities posted here are not part of any Warehouse
Builder production release and are, therefore, not supported. Customers are
invited to post questions, comments and suggestions related to this topic on
the Warehouse Builder discussion forum.
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