Oracle^® Business Intelligence Server Administration Guide > Creating and Maintaining the Presentation Layer in an Oracle BI Repository > Presentation Layer Objects >

Working with Presentation Catalogs

In the Presentation layer, presentation catalogs (subject areas) allow you to show different views of a business model to different sets of users. Presentation catalogs have to be populated with contents from a single business model. They cannot span business models.

When creating a presentation catalog, selecting the option Export logical keys causes any columns in the Presentation layer that are key columns in the Business Model and Mapping layer to be listed as key columns to any ODBC client. This is the default selection. In most situations, this option should be selected. Many client tools differentiate between key and nonkey columns, and the option Export logical keys provides client tools access to the key column metadata. Any join conditions the client tool adds to the query, however, are ignored; the Oracle BI Server uses the joins defined in the repository.

If you set an implicit fact column this column will be added to a query when it contains columns from two or more dimension tables and no measures. The column is not visible in the results. It is used to specify a default join path between dimension tables when there are several possible alternatives.

The Presentation Catalog dialog box has three tabs: General, Presentation Tables, and Aliases. The functionality provided in each tab is described in the following list:

To create a presentation catalog

1. In the Presentation layer, right-click and select New Presentation Catalog.
2. In the Presentation Catalog dialog box, in the General tab, type a name for the presentation catalog and click Permissions.
3. In the Permissions dialog box, assign user or group permissions to the catalog folder, and then click OK.

   For more information about assigning permissions to a presentation catalog, refer to Setting Permissions for Repository Objects.

4. In the Presentation Catalog dialog box, from the Business Model drop-down list, select a business model.

   After you add columns to the presentation catalog, the drop-down list becomes inactive because you can add columns from only one business model in each presentation catalog.

5. To expose the logical keys to other applications, select the option Export logical keys.

   NOTE:  If you are using a tool that issues parameterized SQL queries, such as Microsoft Access, do not select the Export logical keys option. Not exporting logical keys stops the tool from issuing parameterized queries.

6. (Optional) Type a description of the catalog folder.

   This description will appear in a mouse-over ToolTip for the presentation column in Oracle Business Intelligence Answers.

   CAUTION:  When you move columns into presentation catalog folders, be sure columns with the same name or an alias of the same name do not already exist in the catalog.

7. Set an Implicit Fact Column.
8. Click OK.