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Connectors

Reporting

Oracle BI Publisher

Oracle BI Publisher is an enterprise reporting solution that streamlines the process of generating reports and forms.

OvalEdge uses web services to connect to the data source, which allows users to crawl and build lineage.

Connector Capabilities

The connector capabilities are shown below:

Crawling

Features	Supported Objects	Remarks
Crawling	Reports Report Columns	-

Features

Supported Objects

Remarks

Crawling

Reports

Report Columns

Lineage Building

Lineage entities	Details
Report lineage	Supported
Report Column lineage	Supported
Lineage Sources	Supported

Prerequisites

The following are prerequisites for connecting to the Oracle BI Publisher:

Drivers

The APIs/drivers used by the connector are given below:

Sl.No	Driver / API	Version	Details
1	SOAP Services	V2	Used wsdl files for SOAP Services

Configuring Environment Variables

Configuring environment names enables you to select the appropriate environment from the drop-down list when adding a connector. This allows for consistent crawling of schemas across different environments, such as production (PROD), staging (STG), or temporary environments. It also facilitates schema comparisons and assists in application upgrades by providing a temporary environment that can later be deleted.

Before establishing a connection, it is important to configure the environment names for the specific connector. If your environments have been configured, skip this step.

Steps to Configure the Environment

Log into the OvalEdge application.
Navigate to Administration > System Settings.
Select the Connector tab.
Find the key name “connector.environment”.
Enter the desired environment values (PROD, STG) in the Value column.
Click ✔ to Save.

Service Account Permissions

Create an Oracle BI Publisher Service account to connect to OvalEdge with the following permissions to crawl metadata into OvalEdge. Required permissions and corresponding Oracle BI Publisher commands are given below for your reference:

Operation	Access Permission
Connection Validation	API Read permission to run the xmlpserver URL.
Crawl Report Groups (based on the connector folders or projects)	ReportGroups and Reports: Able to read this API response /xmlpserver/services/v2/CatalogService?wsdl
Lineage Permissions	Read Permission for source code to Publisher Reports and DataModel.

Establish a Connection

To connect to Oracle BI Publisher using the OvalEdge application, complete the following steps:

Log in to the OvalEdge application.
Navigate to Administration > Connectors.
Click on the + (New Connector) icon.
The Add Connector pop-up window is displayed, and you can search for the Oracle BI Publisher connector.
The Add Connector with Connector Type specific details pop-up window is displayed. Enter the relevant information to configure the Oracle BI Publisher connection.
Note: An asterisk (*) denotes a mandatory field for establishing a connection.

Field Name		Description
Connector Type		This field allows you to select the connector from the drop-down list provided. By default, 'Oracle BI Publisher' is displayed as the selected connector type.
Credential Manager*		Select the option from the drop-down menu where you want to save your credentials: OE Credential Manager: The Oracle BI Publisher connection is configured with the basic Username and Password of the service account in real-time when OvalEdge establishes a connection to the Oracle BI Publisher database. Users must manually add the credentials if the OE Credential Manager option is selected. HashiCorp: The credentials are stored in the HashiCorp database server and fetched from HashiCorp to OvalEdge. AWS Secrets Manager: The credentials are stored in the AWS Secrets Manager database server and fetched from the AWS Secrets Manager to OvalEdge. For more information on Azure Key Vault, refer to Azure Key Vault. For more information on Credential Manager, refer to Credential Manager.
License Add Ons		By default, all the connectors will have a Base Connector License, which allows you to crawl and profile to obtain metadata and statistical information from a data source. OvalEdge supports various License Add-Ons based on the connector’s functionality requirements. Select the Auto Lineage Add-On license that enables the automatic construction of the Lineage of data objects for a connector with the Lineage feature.
Connector Name*		The connection name refers to the Oracle BI Publisher database connection in the OvalEdge application.
Connector Environment		The Connector Environment drop-down list allows you to select the environment configured for the connector from the drop-down list. For example, you can select PROD or STG (based on the items configured in the OvalEdge configuration for the connector environment). The purpose of the environment field is to help you identify which connector is connecting what type of system environment (Production, STG, or QA). *Note:* The Configuring Environment Variables section explains setting up environment variables.
Host Name*		This is the Hostname or IP address of the Oracle BI Publisher server.
Port*		Enter the port number.
Username*		Enter the Service Account Username of the Oracle BI Publisher Server.
Password*		Enter the password of the Oracle BI Publisher server name.
Default Governance Roles
Steward*		Select the Steward from the drop-down list options.
Custodian*		Select the Custodian from the drop-down list options.
Owner*		Select the Owner from the drop-down list options.
Governance Roles 4, 5, 6*		Select the respective user from the drop-down options. *Note*: The drop-down list displays all the configurable roles (for a single user or a team) according to the configurations made in the OvalEdge *Security* > *Governance Roles* section.
Admin Roles
Integration Admins*		To add Integration Admin Roles, search for or select one or more roles from the Integration Admin options, then click the Apply button. The Integration Admin's responsibilities include configuring the connector's crawling and profiling settings and deleting connectors, schemas, or data objects.
Security and Governance Admins*		To add Security and Governance Admin roles, search for or select one or more roles from the list and click the Apply button. The Security and Governance Admin is responsible for: Configuring role permissions for the connector and its associated data objects. Adding admins to set permissions for the connector's roles and associated data objects. Updating governance roles. Creating custom fields. Developing Service Request templates for the connector. Creating approval workflows for Service Request templates.
No. of Archive Objects*		The number of archive objects indicates the number of recent metadata modifications made to a dataset at a remote/source location. By default, the archive objects feature is deactivated. However, users may enable it by clicking the Archive toggle button and specifying the number of objects they wish to archive.
Select Bridge*		With the OvalEdge Bridge component, any cloud-hosted server can connect with any on-premise or public cloud data source(s) without modifying firewall rules. A bridge provides real-time control, making data movement between source and destination easy. For more information, refer to Bridge Overview.

After entering all the required connection details, select the appropriate option based on your preferences:

1. Validate: Click the Validate button to verify the connection details. This ensures that the provided information is accurate and enables successful connection establishment.
2. Save: Click on the Save button to store the connection details. Once saved, the connection will be added to the Connectors home page for easy access.
3. Save & Configure: For specific Connectors requiring additional configuration settings, click the Save & Configure button. This will open the Connection Settings pop-up window, allowing you to configure the necessary settings before saving the connection.
Once the connection is validated and saved, it will be displayed on the Connectors home page.

Note: You can either save the connection details first or validate the connection first and then save it.

Connection Validation Details

S.No	Error Message(s)	Description
1	Error_validate_connection	An alert message is displayed when the provided details are incorrect.
2	Failed to establish a connection. Please check the credentials.	Invalid credentials are provided, or the user or role does not have access.
3	Connection Timeout	Invalid credentials are provided, or the server is not running.
4	Errors while downloading the File	403: Access denied [Provide appropriate access to user or role using in connection] 404: No such key [The object does not exist in the remote.]
5	Broken Pipeline	Due to heavy traffic. Hit the same API after some time to avoid errors.

Note: If you have issues creating a connection, please contact your assigned OvalEdge Customer Success Management (CSM) team.

Connector Settings

Once the connection is successfully established, various settings are provided to fetch and analyze the information from the data source.

The connection settings include Crawler, Access Instruction, Business Glossary Settings, Lineage, and Others.

To view the Connector Settings page,

Go to the Connectors page.
From the 9- dots, select the Settings option.
This will display the Connector Settings page, where you can view all the connector settings.
When you have finished making your desired changes, click on Save Changes. All setting changes will be applied to the metadata.

The following is a list of connection settings and their corresponding descriptions.

Connection Settings	Description
Crawler	Crawler settings are configured to connect to a data source and collect and catalog all the data elements in metadata.
Access Instruction	Access Instruction allows the data owner to instruct others on using the objects in the application.
Business Glossary Settings	The Business Glossary Settings provide flexibility and control over how users view and manage term association within a business glossary at the connector level.
Lineage	The lineage settings allow you to configure multiple dialects (by selecting Source Server Type for lineage) and connection priority lists to pick the tables to build lineage.
Others	The Enable/Disable Metadata Change Notifications option sets the change notification about metadata changes of the data objects. You can use the toggle button to set the Default Governance Roles (e.g., Steward, Owner Custodian, etc.). Using the Roles and Teams, you can select the role and team to receive the notification of metadata changes.

Note: For more information, refer to the Connector Settings.

Crawling of Schema(s)

A Crawl/Profile button allows you to select one or more Report Group Names for crawling.

Navigate to the Connectors page and click Crawl/Profile. This allows you to select the Report Groups to be crawled.
Crawl option is selected by default.
Click the Run button to gather all metadata from the connected source into the OvalEdge Data Catalog. After a successful crawl, all the information is displayed in the Data Catalog > Report / Report Column Tab.
Note: For more information on Scheduling, refer to Scheduling Connector.

Click on the Run button. This gathers all metadata from the connected source and puts it into the OvalEdge Data Catalog.