OBIEE 11g: Deploying & Developing a Custom Skin Part 1

Deploying a Custom Skin Folder

We can completely customize the OBIEE appearance and design our own custom skin.

OBIEE comes with 2 default skins which can be applied from dashboard properties.

These skins are nothing but ‘blafp’ and ‘FusionFX’.

You can find these default skins at,

<ORACLE_HOME>/OracleBI1/bifoundation/web/app/res 

This directory should not be modified  it will get overwritten with any new installation.

So its suggested to create a new Static Directory for new custom skin.

In this post I will explain how to deploy and develop  the custom skin.

Creating a Static Directory in WebLogic Server

1 . The default installation for Oracle BI EE 11g creates a default directory that can be used for customization.This directory is, <ORACLE_INSTANCE>/bifoundation/OracleBIPresentationServicesComponent /coreappplication_obips1/analyticsRes To expose this directory, you must open the WebLogic Administration Console. Open a browser window and in the address bar, enterhttp://<hostname>:7001/console/login/LoginForm.jsp (for example, http://localhost:7001/console/login/LoginForm.jsp). The WLS Login window appears. 2 . Select Deployments from the Domain Structure pane on the left. The "Summary of Deployments" pane appears on the right. 3 . In the Change Center pane on the left (directly above the Domain Structure pane),  click Lock & Edit. All applications are made available for update within the table and the Install button is enabled. Note that the "Lock & Edit" button is now disabled. 4 . In the "Summary of Deployments" pane on the right, click the Control tab and then click Install, enabling you to install a new web application. The Install Application Assistant pane appears. 5 . a. Select the appropriate folders within the Install Application Assistant pane to navigate to<ORACLE_INSTANCE>/bifoundation/OracleBIPresentationServicesComponent /coreappplication_obips1. The path is automatically entered for you. b. Select the option button for analyticsRes. This is a valid application for deployment. 6 . Click Next and accept the default value "Install this deployment as an application." 7 . Click Next. In "Optional Settings - Source accessibility", select the radio button for I will make the deployment accessible from the following location and accept the default path. 8 . Click Next to review the summary. In the "Additional configuration" section, ensure that the radio button for Yes, take me to the deployment's configuration screen is selected, and then click Finish. 9 . The "Settings for analyticsRes" pane appears. Click Save. A confirmation message appears above the "Settings for analyticsRes" pane. 10.      In the Change Center pane on the left, click Activate Changes. A second confirmation message appears above the "Settings for analyticsRes" pane. 11.  Select Deployments in the Domain Structure pane. 12 . Click the Control tab and then select the check box for the analyticsRes application. Notice that the state for analyticsRes appears asPrepared. You need to start the application. 13 . Click Start and then select Servicing all requests. 14 . Click Yes in the Start Application Assistant pane. 15 . The "Summary of Deployments" pane reappears with a confirmation message. Note that analyticsRes now shows a state of Active. 16 . Open a browser window and enter http://<hostname>:7001/analyticsRes/test.txt (for example,http://localhost:7001/analyticsRes/test.txt). Your test file should appear in the browser window. That completes our custom skin folder deployment. In my next post I will write about developing custom skin. Developing a Custom Skin