Oracle Warehouse Builder

Oracle Warehouse Builder (OWB) is a tool that enables to design a custom Business Intelligence application. It provides dimensional ETL process design, extraction from heterogeneous source systems, and metadata reporting functions. Oracle Warehouse Builder allows creation of both dimensional and relational models, and also star schema data warehouse architectures.

Except of being an ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) tool, Oracle Warehouse Builder also enables users to design and build ETL processes, target data warehouses, intermediate data storages and users access layers. It allows metadata reading in a wizard-driven form from a data dictionary or Oracle Designer but also supports over 40 metadata files from other vendors.

In modeling of the extraction processes following source systems are supported: Oracle databases, flat files, SAP R/3,DB2, Sybase, Informix, SQL Server and others via Oracle Transparent Gateways, ODBC, Mainframe.

Oracle Warehouse Builder supports Oracle Database (releases 8i, 9i and newer) and flat files as target databases. Moreover, it allows integration with Oracle AS Discoverer, Oracle Workflow and Oracle Enterprise Manager.
ETL mappings and code design

Modeling of ETL processes takes place in a graphical environment. Oracle Warehouse Builder enables mapping of multiple sources into multiple targets as well as PL/SQL transformations of the data. It allows automated or custom mappings. It also allows operations on data and transforms them into PL/SQL code stored in a transformation library to be used later. More advanced operations are supported as well. A test run for selected data is also possible with error reporting. Additionally, Warehouse Builder provides data cleanse function upon loading including complex Name and Address solution and Match-Merge operator.

The dependencies between the mappings can be recorded graphically to an Oracle Workflow engine and process flow definitions can contain multiple activities including external processes.
Deployment

Deployment of the actual code is carried out by a Deployment Manager for all kinds of supported objects and the process includes validation of metadata. The specification to a file system created by a user can be saved and stored for further use.
Managing Metadata

Oracle Warehouse Builder provides a possibility to save an image of the design object at any stage. The snapshot is then stored for comparison and restoration. The metadata repository operates in various languages and allows adjustment of users privileges. Users can also extend their objects definitions to enter information not yet supported. Moreover, Oracle Warehouse Builder contains build-in reporting templates and allows updates in metadata.
Business Intelligence system Management

Oracle Warehouse Builder contains Oracle Enterprise Manager that allows scheduling of the mappings in an Oracle database environment. Additionally, the platform provides Runtime Audit Browser, which is a HTML-based tool detecting errors while loading data, and Changes Management adjusting the warehouse to changes introduced by a user in a logical model.

Oracle Warehouse Builder supports OMG CWM (Object Management Group, Common Warehouse Metamodel) metadata standard and allows to exchange metadata with other tools supporting this standard.