For those folks wanting to run 11G OLAP and see their OLAP data in a front-end tool things have been limiting. I have worked with the Oracle BI beans based tools for years now and have been searching for a way to use them against 11g OLAP. Well I think I have found a way to use Discoverer for OLAP (D4O) against 11g Cubes (11g and 10g mode!). This way is currently not certified by Oracle but it sure seems to work for what I needed to do.

It is quite simple really but does take a few non-standard steps to run D4O. So here are the steps:

1. You will need a copy of the D4O executable jar file (that jar that is downloaded to the machine cashe) . The file is named d4o.jar. (If you need instructions on where to find this send me an email and I can send you instructions).
2. You need to install the Java JDK 1.5 or higher. To test which version you have you can execute the following command: java -version

This is what I have on my machine (OSX)

java version “1.6.0_07”
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.6.0_07-b06-153)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 1.6.0_07-b06-57, mixed mode)

If you need to install new version go to www.java.com to get it.

3. Now for the fun part. You will need the olap_api.jar file from the 11g AWM. This is usually found in the $ORACLE_HOME/olap/api/lib directory. But it will vary depending on the OS. Just do a search for olap_api.jar in your 11g directories. You should be able to find it.
4. Once you have found it you might want to copy it to the same directory that you have put the d4o.jar file, for simplicity.
5. Now to get it running! Go to a command prompt and change to the directory where you have your 2 jar files (call this JARHOME for this examle).
6. Issue this command:

java -Xmx256m -classpath /JARHOME/olap_api.jar:/JARHOME/d4o.jar oracle.dss.d4o.gui.D4OFrame

You should now get a login screen for D4O. Enter in the host/port/sid for your 11g instance and the login credentials for the schema that has either a 10g cube or 11g cube.

You should be able to build a workbook and view your 11g data, just like you do in 10g!

The one thing that is not working is the Disco Catalog so you can only save data to the Schema Root. But at least it is a start.

Now if you just want to see 10G Cubes you will need to add the following files to your DB parameters (and bounce the instance):

_XSOLAPI_SUPPORT_MTM=YES
_XSOLAPI_METADATA_READER_MODE=10_ONLY

Remember! This is not Certified and not supported so don’t call Tech Support! IF you want this to be supported please let Oracle know and maybe they will finish tying up the loose ends and offer support!

With respect to using BI Beans applications and the Worksheet Addin. I am working on BI Beans and have not had any success getting Worksheet Addin working… “Where there is a will there has to be a way!” I will blog about my success if I have any!

Good Luck! Let me know how this works for you!
Chris Claterbos