Classic Dashboards & Analyses¶
Last updated: 2026-04-27 Tags: analysis, dashboard, answers, criteria, filters, prompts, actions, views, pivot, subject area
📖 Full Oracle Documentation: Visualizing Data and Building Reports — Dashboards
Summary¶
Classic Analyses and Dashboards are OAC's enterprise-grade reporting layer, inherited from OBIEE. Analyses are parameterized, multi-view queries against Subject Areas. Dashboards assemble analyses and other content into governed, multi-page portals. This layer supports complex conditional formatting, drill-down hierarchies, dashboard prompts, and action links.
Analyses (Answers)¶
What Is an Analysis?¶
An Analysis is a saved query against a Subject Area that can have multiple Views (table, chart, pivot, gauge, etc.) displayed simultaneously. It is the fundamental building block for Classic Dashboards.
Creating an Analysis¶
- Home → Create → Analysis
- Select a Subject Area
- Criteria Tab: drag columns to the analysis
- Results Tab: view and add visualization types
- Save to catalog
Criteria Tab¶
- Columns pane: selected columns (dimensions + measures)
- Filters pane: conditions applied to the query
- Column Properties: format, conditional format, interaction, data format
- Column Formulas: override the default column formula with Logical SQL expressions
Column Formula Override¶
-- Override a measure to calculate running total
RSUM("Sales"."Facts"."Revenue")
-- Override to rank
RANK("Sales"."Facts"."Revenue" BY "Sales"."Product"."Category")
-- Time comparison
AGO("Sales"."Facts"."Revenue", "Sales"."Time"."Month", 12)
Views (Results Tab)¶
Each Analysis can have multiple simultaneous views:
| View Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Table | Flat tabular display |
| Pivot Table | Cross-tab with row/column/section pivoting |
| Chart | 30+ chart types (bar, line, pie, scatter, etc.) |
| Gauge | KPI dial / speedometer |
| Funnel Chart | Stage conversion |
| Heat Matrix | Density grid |
| Trellis | Small multiples (grid of charts) |
| Map | Spatial visualization |
| Narrative | Dynamic text with embedded measure values |
| Ticker | Scrolling marquee for KPI values |
| Title | Report header with date/time stamps |
| Logical SQL | Display the generated Logical SQL (debug) |
| No Results | Custom message when query returns no data |
Filters in Analyses¶
Column Filters¶
- Applied in the Criteria tab
- Operators:
is equal to,is in,is between,contains,starts with,is null, etc. - Protected filters: hidden from dashboard prompts
- Optional filters: user can toggle on/off
Selection Steps¶
Applied after the query — rank-based, condition-based, or explicit member selection (useful for hierarchical data).
Saved Filters¶
Reusable filter conditions saved to the catalog and applied across multiple analyses.
Conditional Formatting¶
Applied per-column in Column Properties → Conditional Format:
- Highlight cells by threshold (Green/Yellow/Red traffic lights)
- Apply to measures or attributes
- Supports gradient coloring
- Conditional format on a different column (e.g., color Revenue based on Margin)
Rule: If Revenue < 50000 → Background = Red, Font = White
Rule: If Revenue between 50000 and 100000 → Background = Yellow
Rule: If Revenue > 100000 → Background = Green
Dashboards¶
What Is a Dashboard?¶
A Dashboard is an organized collection of Dashboard Pages, each containing analyses, images, text, links, embedded content, and Dashboard Prompts.
Dashboard Structure¶
Dashboard: "Sales Executive Dashboard"
├── Page 1: "Summary"
│ ├── Dashboard Prompt: Year (applies to all analyses on this page)
│ ├── Section: KPI Row
│ │ ├── Analysis: Total Revenue (Gauge)
│ │ └── Analysis: YTD vs Target (Gauge)
│ └── Section: Trend
│ └── Analysis: Revenue by Month (Line Chart)
├── Page 2: "Product Detail"
│ └── Analysis: Product Performance (Pivot Table)
└── Page 3: "Map View"
└── Analysis: Sales by Region (Map)
Creating a Dashboard¶
- Home → Create → Dashboard
- Add pages
- Drag analyses and other objects from the catalog onto the page
- Add Dashboard Prompts
- Configure page layout (columns, sections)
- Set as default dashboard or publish
Dashboard Prompts¶
Dashboard Prompts are interactive filters on the dashboard page that filter all analyses on that page (or across pages if scoped globally).
| Prompt Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Column Prompt | Filter on a specific column value |
| Variable Prompt | Set a presentation variable used in column formulas |
| Image Prompt | Clickable image triggers a filter |
| Currency Prompt | Switch currency display |
Column Prompt Options¶
- Control type: Select List, Check Box, Radio Button, Text Field, Slider, Calendar
- Default values: no default, specific value, SQL-based dynamic default
- Cascading prompts: values in Prompt B depend on selection in Prompt A
Actions (Action Links & Action Menus)¶
Actions enable navigation and interactivity:
Action Types¶
| Type | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Navigate to Analysis | Drill from one analysis to another |
| Navigate to Dashboard Page | Navigate between dashboard pages |
| Navigate to URL | Open any URL (pass column values as parameters) |
| Navigate to BI Publisher Report | Link to a Publisher report with parameters |
| Invoke a Web Service | Call a SOAP/REST endpoint |
| Invoke an Agent | Trigger an OAC Agent delivery |
| Navigate to E-Business Suite | Deep link to EBS form |
| Navigate to Siebel CRM | Deep link to Siebel record |
Action Links¶
Attach actions to column values, column headings, or graph elements.
Named Actions¶
Saved reusable actions in the catalog.
Analysis Interactions¶
Drill¶
Click a hierarchy member to drill to the next level:
- Drill is enabled by default for hierarchy columns
- Behavior defined in Subject Area hierarchy settings
Sort¶
Click column headers to sort ascending/descending.
Move Columns¶
Drag columns in results to reorder.
Include/Exclude¶
Right-click a value → Keep Only / Remove for ad-hoc filtering.
Catalog Management¶
Analyses and Dashboards are stored in the Catalog:
/Shared Folders/— shared content, governed/My Folders/— personal content, not shared- Folders support permissions (Full Control, Modify, Read, No Access)
Best Practices¶
💡 Tip: Store production dashboards under
/Shared Folders/with restricted modify permissions.⚠️ Warning: Objects in
/My Folders/are deleted when a user is removed from the system.