Smart View Command Line Install

Though this is in the documentation I thought I would push this out with a few more details as we get a good amount of requests on this topic.  Most are looking for two things:

1. Install SV silently (no prompts)
2. Install SV and pass in the Shared Connections URL

The Smart View installer is built with Install Shield and therefore it supports most Install Shield command line switches along with standard windows installer switches.  To properly understand how these switches work you should understand the basics of the Smart View install along with most windows installers.  There are really two main parts:

1. Setup.exe this is a bootstrapper that does thing like handles languages and dependencies and also contains and launches an MSI.
2. Smart View MSI file is the windows installer file that controls the rest of the setup like laying down files and writing to the registry among other things.

Each part of the installation accepts various command line switches:

Switch	Description	Applies To
/s	Runs in silent mode	Setup.exe
/v	Passes command line parameters to the MSI file	Setup.exe
/a	Runs as an administrator	Setup.exe
/qn	Runs in silent mode	MSI File
URL=	Shared Connections URL	MSI File

Note:  Any thing you need to pass to the MSI must be passed from setup.exe using /v and must be in quotes.

Examples:

Run in silent mode:

SmartView.exe /s /v"/qn"

Run in silent mode with the Shared Connection URL:

SmartView.exe /s /v"/qn URL=http://server:port/workspace/SmartViewProviders"

Run in normal mode with the Shared Connection URL:

SmartView.exe /v" URL=http://server:port/workspace/SmartViewProviders"

 

You can also find this documentation in the Oracle Hyperion Enterprise Performance Management System Installation and Configuration Guide:

http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E17236_01/epm.1112/epm_install_11121/frameset.htm?ch03s07s01.html

Using Fiddler to Debug Smart View Issues

When we get customer issues with Smart View often the first thing we ask for is a “Fiddler” log.  The first response is often “What is Fiddler?” so I thought I would take some time to go over what fiddler is and how it can be used to debug a Smart View issue.

What is Fiddler?

http://www.fiddler2.com/fiddler2/

From the fiddler web site: “Fiddler is a Web Debugging Proxy which logs all HTTP(S) traffic between your computer and the Internet. Fiddler allows you to inspect traffic, set breakpoints, and "fiddle" with incoming or outgoing data.”

Simply put for Smart View; it is a tool that can be used to monitor the HTTP/XML traffic that Smart View uses to communicate with most of it’s providers.

Example Request/Response for Smart View:

 

How To Use Fiddler with Smart View

1. Download and install fiddler on the client where you are experiencing the Smart View issue.  http://www.fiddler2.com/fiddler2/ – Remember this is a client tool and needs to be installed on the same machine as the Smart View add-in.  There is no need to install fiddler on any server (provider).
2. Launch Fiddler and make sure you are capturing traffic (File | Capture Traffic)
3. Recreate the Smart View issue while fiddler is capturing traffic.  When doing this is best if other applications are closed as many application use http requests and these will also be captured.  Things like email, iTunes, and any browser based application.  This will not be an issue but when sharing logs with support you do not want to share traffic dealing with emails or other personal items.  Plus it will be a lot easier to read if the only traffic is related to Smart View.
4. The last step is to share these logs with Smart View support or development.  It is always best to have this along with a SR logged.  This way the issue can be properly tracked.

 

How to Read the Fiddler Log

There are tons of options in Fiddler but there are a few things we are looking for and a few areas in Fiddler where we find this information.

Statistics:

Inspectors:

Inspectors has many sections be we are usually looking at the XML sections and seeing what is happening with each request/response to narrow down the issue.

 

Fiddler is a great tool for debugging but be sure to have a support case opened so that support can help guide you and interpret what you are seeing.  For additional details you can review a short tutorial on this same topic.  http://www.oracle.com/webfolder/technetwork/tutorials/demos/hyp/CollectingLogs/CollectingLogs.htm

Smart View R&D–Clearly Not Supported Yet…

Doing a little R&D and thought I would share that I am having some good success with Smart View on Windows 8 Developer Preview (64-Bit) running in Office 2010 (64-Bit).

We all know this is not supported but it is nice to see that on the surface it works. 

Don’t even think about calling support on this…

CDF Sample Code

Recently the Essbase CDF sample code was moved and I thought it would be a good idea to let every one know where the new code can be found.

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/indexes/samplecode/essbase-sample-522117.html

or

download.oracle.com

Click Sample Code Index on the left

Click on Essbase

Add-in Load Times

Recently we found a setting that improves add-in load time drastically, this setting applies to any Office add-in but Smart View will gladly benefit.

In Internet Explorer options uncheck the option “Check for publisher's certificate revocation".  Doing this should noticeably speed up the time for add-in loading.  We have only done informal tests but the results have been positive.  If you want to check out some of the boring details you can read this http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/office-2003-resource-kit/how-office-performs-certificate-revocation-HA001140308.aspx or you can just uncheck it and see if it loads faster…

 

My Excel now loads fully in less than 3 seconds (2.66s)!

---

Update:

Please work with IT departments and understand the security implications prior to making any change like this.  This TechNet article describes why the setting was put in place for Windows Vista and above.  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee619730(WS.10).aspx

Smart View is 2 words…

OK I wanted to do a mindless post so I selected a stupid topic.  Just so everyone knows it is 2 words; “Smart View”.  Not SmartView, I see this a lot (also 2 words) and wanted folks to know.

I suck at grammar so feel free to rip me in the comments.

PSU 102 New Features Tutorial

Some folks have told me that are interested in the new features in Smart View 11.1.2.1.102 but are not ready to upgrade.  If you want to see the features prior to doing an upgrade check out this awesome tutorial. 

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/middleware/smart-view-for-office/tutorials/index.html