How to schedule Business Rule to launch through the Planning Utility

Say you have to schedule a Business rule to run nightly in version 11.1.2.3.700

It being version 11.1.2.3, we have Calc Manager to handle the Business Rules - remember no EAS BRs.

In this version there is a utility - "CalcMgrCmdLineLauncher.cmd" in the Planning1 folder (D:\oracle\Middleware\user_projects\epmsystem2\Planning\planning1)

So, in order to run the Business Rules, we can go to the Planning1 folder and run "CalcMgrCmdLineLauncher.cmd /A:AppName /U:admin /D:DatabaseName /R:BusinessRuleName /Validate"
Validate if optional for validation.
In this case, we will be prompted for a password.
We can also use Password encripted file with "-f" syntax, which would look something like this
CalcMgrCmdLineLauncher.cmd -f:D:\oracle\Middleware\user_projects\epmsystem2\Planning\planning1\passwordFile /A:AppName /U:admin /D:DatabaseName /R:BusinessRuleName

This script can be scheduled by including the lines in a batch script.
Create a batch file and include the lines ---
call D:\oracle\Middleware\user_projects\epmsystem2\Planning\planning1\CalcMgrCmdLineLauncher.cmd -f:D:\oracle\Middleware\user_projects\epmsystem2\Planning\planning1\passwordFile /A:AppName /U:admin /D:DatabaseName /R:BusinessRuleName

Oracle Smart View 101 - Smart View Error (503)

Say for example you are running a large query via Oracle Smart View and you get an error:
"Cannot connect to the provider. Make sure it is running in the specified host/port. Error (503)."

CAUSE -
The cause of this issue is that the time to complete the query in Smart View exceeds specified maximum session timeout value.

When this error occurs, user must close MS Excel and then re-open and re-login to continue working.


SOLUTION -

In order to resolve the issue, we need to modify the session timeout setting, which is specified in "mod_wl_ohs.conf" in the Weblogic Managed server. In the specified file, modify the parameters for WLIOTimeoutSecs and WLSocketTimeoutSecs or add the lines if missing. 
Also make sure to restart the Oracle HTTP Server (OHS) and the WebLogic managed server for the Analytic Provider Services (APS) server for the new setting to take effect.

Take the following steps:
1. Shutdown Essbase services/processes.
2. Back up current mod_wl_ohs.conf file, which is found in the Windows environment in D:\Oracle\Middleware\user_projects\epmsystem\httpConfig\ohs\config\OHS\ohs_component folder.
3. Open mod_wl_ohs.conf file in a text editor and add or modify the parameters for the        “WLIOTimeoutSecs” and “WLSocketTimeoutSecs” properties within the location section for APS.
Here is a sample:
<Location Match ^/aps>
SetHandler weblogic-handler
WeblogicCluster <aps-server-name>:13080
WLIOTimeoutSecs 1800
WLSocketTimeoutSecs 1800

</LocationMatch>

4. Restart Oracle HTTP Server and WebLogic managed server services. 

EPM patch 11.1.2.3.700 - this is how I applied them.

The EPM patch 11.1.2.3.700 resolves several issues that we see in previous versions of the 11.1.2.3 patches. For example, we were in 11.1.2.3.500, and two of the major issues were:

a. IE 11 Enterprise mode- In order to log in to Workspace in version 11.1.2.3.500, IE 11 has to be set to Enterprise mode. It does not work in regular IE 11. 

b. Accessing Workspace reports (R&A) via SmartView throws error.

There might be other issues as well, however, the ones mentioned above were the ones that were the main issues. 

My environment: Windows Server 2008 R2. Oracle DB 11G, EPM 11.1.2.3.500, IE 11.

Following are the patches that I applied in order to upgrade to version 11.1.2.3.700. Well Oracle has a list of the patches, however, a list and sequence always helps.

NOTE:

The two first patches to be applied are:

1. Shared Services patch 20675028

2. Workspace patch 20612400 (Pre-requisite patch - 17529887 )

After applying these patches, the other patches could be applied in any sequence. However, make sure to go over the READ ME and make sure the pre-requisites are met. In my case, I went through the following path:

Financial Reporting Patch 20838970   

Reporting And Analysis Framework patch 20768325

Web Analysis patch 20880421

Planning patch 20643564

Calculation Manager patch 21292109

ADF patch 21240419 

NOTE ** ADF patch has a slightly different syntax as compared to the other patches. Check the READ ME. sample ADF patch syntax --- 

D:\oracle\Middleware\EPMSystem11R1\OPatch\21240419\oui -oh D:\oracle\Middleware\oracle_common -jre D:\oracle\Middleware\jdk160_35

Patches, sometimes, are intimidating, especially in the case of applying patch 500 or patch 700. Moreover, every environment could be different. Also in the processing of applying the set of patches, there are so many times we need to uninstall or reinstall or reconfigure certain products while also deleting some folders, such as TMP, cache, etc. Therefore, it is always recommended to go through the READ ME very carefully and also backup the system before taking any step or applying each patch.

Happy patching. 

Acknowlegements

Two entities I would like to thank for some suggestions - Oracle Support and John Goodwin