Oracle DAC is an essential part of BI Apps, which is seldom being introduced in a systematic training

course, although we use them all the time. There can be quite a lot of things to as about when it comes
to woring with DAC, especially during inter!iews for BI Apps related pro"ects. #o I am going to
gather some of the common inter!iew questions with regard to DAC.
$. O!er all architecture of DAC %
DAC ser!er and DAC Client. They must co&locate with Informatica Integration ser!ice, repository
ser!ice and Informatica repository
'. (hy we should use DAC and not control all e)ecution through informatica %
*or better performance management, such as creating inde), dropping inde), truncating before load.
(ithout DAC a custom +T, process will be needed, which has to sur!i!e the upgrate
-. Can we run multiple e)ecution plan at the same time in DAC %
.es. only if the e)ecution plan are not loading into the same table or using the same phyiscal table
source
/. +)plain DAC e)port0import
A way to import or e)port DAC repository metadata for upgrade or bacup. ,ogica, #ystem, runtime
ob"ects can be import0e)port
1. 2a!e you change any of the DAC parameters % If so which one and why %
.ou ha!e to understand what are the DAC parameters and the purpose of each. *or e)ample,
Initial3e)tract3date can be modified when configure for initial full load, so the !alue for initial e)tract
date will be used to filter out records from the source that are older than this date.
4. 2ow do you Determine the Informatica #er!er 5a)imum #essions 6arameter #etting in DAC%
One you register informatica ser!er in Dac client
7. Can dac send an email "ust in case of any failures %
In DAC Client, toolbar, clic email recipient, then in Tools&&8 DAC #er!er setup, +mail configuration
9. Can you e)ecute the sql scrip through DAC % If yes how %
.es, at tas le!el, in e)ecution type, select #:, file. As a bonus to this answer, this article e)plains how
to run store procedures in DAC.
;. in DAC 2ow you can disable table inde)es before loading and enable the inde) once load is
complete %
<ust drop and recreate inde)
$=.,et say you are running the normal incremental load. But "ust for today you want to e)tract data
from A63I>?OCI+#3A,, from $'0$'0'=$$% 2ow you can achie!e this %
5odify the refresh date to be $'0$'0'=$$
$$.2ow DAC Determines the Order of Tas +)ecution within an +)ecution 6lan %
Based on tass source0target table, Tas phase @e)tract dim, load fact etcA and Btruncate alwaysB
properties, to run them in particular order, create tas group
$'.(hat are 5icro +T, +)ecution 6lans % 2ow can you Build and run them %
According to Oracle documentC
5icro +T, e)ecution plans are +T, processes that you schedule at !ery frequent inter!als, such as
hourly or half&hourly. They usually handle small sub"ect areas or subsets of larger sub"ect areas. The
DAC tracs refresh dates for tables in micro +T, e)ecution plans separately from other e)ecution plans
and uses these refresh dates in the change capture process.
in design && sub"ect areas, create copy of sub"ect area, inacti!e the unwanted tass and create new
e)ecution plan for this sub"ect area
$-.*rom you past e)perience D e)plain scenario where 5icro +T, +)ecution 6lans produced wrong
results on reports%
According to Oracle DocumentC
CAETIO>C 5icro +T, processes can cause issues with data inconsistencies, data a!ailability, and
additional load on the transactional database. Therefore, you should consider the following factors
before implementing a micro +T, processC
*or related star schemas, if one schema is omitted from a micro +T, e)ecution plan, the cross&star
reports may be inaccurate. *or e)ample, if the 6erson fact table is refreshed more frequently than the
Fe!enue fact table, a report that spans the 6erson and Fe!enue dimensional schemas may produce
inconsistent results.
If you omit dimension tables from a micro +T, e)ecution plan, the foreign eys for the fact tables will
point to Enspecified rows for the new dimension records. The foreign ey references will be resol!ed
when the Complete +T, e)ecution plan is run, but users of the reports should be aware of such
inconsistencies.
If you do not include aggregate tables in micro +T, e)ecution plans, the reports that use data from
these tables will be inconsistent with the reports that use data from the detailed fact tables. 2owe!er, if
aggregate tables are included in the micro +T, e)ecution plan, the aggregate calculations are
performed for each +T, process, which will tae a constant amount of time and may be inefficient to
perform at such frequent inter!als.
2ierarchy tables are rebuilt during e!ery +T, e)ecution plan by querying the base dimension tables.
This operation taes a constant amount of time. If the base tables are big, this operation may tae a
long time and may be inefficient if the micro +T, e)ecution plan runs se!eral times a day. 2owe!er, if
you a!oid populating the hierarchy tables during micro +T, processes, data inconsistencies will occur.
(ith micro +T, e)ecution plans, caching will occur more frequently, which may ha!e performance
implications.
5icro +T, e)ecution plans will put more load on the transactional database because of the frequent
e)tracts.
$/. ,et say you can not use DAC scheduler to schedule you e)ecution plan. (hat other options do you
ha!e % 2ow you can achie!e this %
Ese Informatica scheduler.
$1.Does DAC eeps trac of refresh dates for all the source0target tables %
According to Oracle DocumentC
Fefresh dates are traced only for tables that are either a primary source or a primary target on tass in
a completed run of an e)ecution plan. The DAC runs the full load command for tass on which a table
is a primary source or target if the refresh date against the table is null. (hen there are multiple
primary sources, the earliest of the refresh dates will trigger a full load or an incremental load. If any
one of the primary source tables has no refresh date, then the DAC will run the full load command.
$4.Consider the scenario as below for tas T$
6rimary #ource has not null last refresh date
6rimary Target has null last refresh date
(ill tas T$ e)ecutes in full or incremental %
Based on answers pro!ided from question $1, what do you thin%
$7.+)plain the upgrade0merge options for DAC 7.9./ G below and new !ersions %
Ese upgrade0merge wiHHard.
$. Fepository Epgrade @DAC 79/A &&& upgrade Dac
'. Fefresh Base &&& *or upgrading BI Apps
-. #implified Fefresh *rom Base && This option is similar to the Fefresh Base option. It allows you to
upgrade the DAC Fepository from an older release of Oracle BI Applications to a new release without
comparing repositories and creating a Difference Feport.
/. Feplace Base &&& Epgrade when phasing out older transaction system to newer one
1. 6eer to 6eer 5erge &&& 5ergre different DAC instance of repository
$9. Esing DAC command line D write a script to chec weather informatica ser!ices are up or not %
use dacCmd,ine Informatica#tatus. Below is the list of all commend lines according to OracleC

$;.Can we ha!e two DAC ser!er on the same machine %
.ou can run two DAC ser!ers on the same machine as long as they are listening on different ports and
pointing to two different repositories
'=.+)plain briefly (hat ind of DAC Fepository Ob"ects 2eld in #ource #ystem Containers %
#ub"ect Areas && A logical grouping of tables related to a particular sub"ect or application conte)t. It
also includes the tass that are associated with the tables, as well as the tass required to load the
tables. #ub"ect areas are assigned to e)ecution plans, which can be scheduled for full or incremental
loads
tables && 6hsyical tables in DB
Inde)es && <ust lie your physical DB inde)es
Tass && Enit of wor for loading tables
Tas groups &&&& Irouping of tass that can be bundled to run as a group
+)ecution plans && A data transformation plans defined on sub"ect areas that needs to be transformed at
certain frequencies of time
#chedules && Determine how often e)ecution plan runs.
'$.(hat is Authentication file % If you ha!e dac client installed can you access DAC repository without
Authentication file %
According to Oracle DocumentC
(hen you configure a connection to the DAC Fepository, the configuration process includes creating a
new authentication file or selecting an e)isting authentication file. The authentication file authenticates
the database in which the repository resides. If you create a new authentication file, you will specify the
table owner and password for the database.
''.+)plain Inde), Table and Tas Actions in DAC %
According to Oracle DocumentC
Inde) actionC O!erride the default beha!ior for dropping and creating inde)es
Table actionC O!erride the default beha!ior for truncating and analyHing tables
Tas actionC Can add new functionality of tas beha!ior, such as precedinf action, success action,
failure action, upon failure restart
'-.2ow DAC 2andles 6arameters at Funtime %
According to Oracle DocumentC
During an +T, e)ecution, DAC reads and e!aluates all parameters associated with that +T, run,
including static and runtime parameters defined in DAC, parameters held in flat files, and parameters
defined e)ternally to DAC. DAC consolidates all the parameters for the +T, run, deduplicates any
redundant parameters, and then creates an indi!idual parameter file for each Informatica session. This
file contains the e!aluated name&!alue pairs for all parameters, both static and runtime, for each
worflow that DAC e)ecutes. The parameter file contains a section for each session under a worflow.
DAC determines the sessions under a worflow during runtime by using the Informatica pmrep
function ,istOb"ectDependencies.
The naming con!ention for the parameter file is
....t)t
DAC writes this file to a location specified in the DAC system property
Informatica6arameter*ile,ocation. The location specified by the property
Informatica6arameter*ile,ocation must be the same as the location specified by the Informatica
parameter property J65#ourcefileDir.
'/. 2ow DAC Determines Tass Fequired for any gi!en sub"ect area %
According to Oracle DocumentC
.ou define a sub"ect area by specifying a fact table or set of fact tables to be the central table or tables
in the sub"ect area. (hen a sub"ect area is defined, DAC performs the following process to determine
the rele!ant tassC
DAC identifies the dimension tables associated with the facts and adds these tables to the sub"ect area.
DAC identifies the related tables, such as aggregates, associated with the fact or dimension tables and
adds them to the sub"ect area definition.
DAC identifies the tass for which the dimension and fact tables listed in the two processes abo!e are
targets tables and adds these tass into the sub"ect area.
Tass that DAC automatically assigns to a sub"ect area are indicated with the Autogenerated flag @in the
Tass subtab of the #ub"ect Areas tabA.
.ou can inacti!ate a tas from participating in a sub"ect area by selecting the Inacti!e chec bo) @in the
Tass subtab of the #ub"ect Areas tabA. (hen the Inacti!e chec bo) is selected, the tas remains
inacti!e e!en if you reassemble the sub"ect area.
.ou can also remo!e a tas from a sub"ect area using the Add0Femo!e command in the Tass subtab of
the sub"ect Areas tab, but when you remo!e a tas it is only remo!ed from the sub"ect area until you
reassemble the sub"ect area.
DAC identifies the source tables for the tass identified in the pre!ious process and adds these tables to
the sub"ect area.
DAC performs this process recursi!ely until all necessary tass ha!e been added to the sub"ect area. A
tas is added to the sub"ect area only once, e!en if it is associated with se!eral tables in the sub"ect
area. DAC then e)pands or trims the total number of tass based on the configuration rules, which are
defined as configuration tags. This process can be resource intensi!e because DAC loads all of the
ob"ects in the source system container into memory before parsing.
'1.Difference between 2omogeneous and 2eterogeneous e)ecution plans.
According to Oracle DocumentC
2omogeneous
This type of e)ecution plan e)tracts data from multiple instances of the same source system. *or
e)ample, a business might ha!e an instance of Oracle +B# $$i in one location and time Hone and
another instance of Oracle +B# $$i in another location and time Hone. In such cases, the timing of data
e)traction from the different instances can be staggered to meet your business requirements.
2eterogeneous
This type of e)ecution plan e)tracts data from one or more instances of dissimilar source systems. *or
e)ample, a business might ha!e an instance of #iebel 7.9 in one location, an instance of Oracle +B# $$i
in another location, and a second instance of Oracle +B# $$i in yet a third location. .ou can also
stagger the timing of data e)traction when you use this type of e)ecution plan.
'4. >ame some of the DAC source system parametersC
T.6+'3*,AI, I,OBO,$3CEFF3COD+, Initial3e)tract3date etc.. @The goal is "ust to name a few
and of course, nobody remembers e)actly the spellingA
'7. To configure for initial full load, what are the things that needs to be doneC
A, in DAC, set the !alue for initial3e)tract3date to a!oid loading way too many data into target
B, to load base table (3DA.3D, nullify all of the refresh date to enable to full load. Do the same for
all other aggregated time table lie (3(ee3D etc. At each tas le!el where day dimension is being
part of @#I,3daydimensionA, set the JJstart date and JJend date parameter !alues at the tas le!el to
determine how long period your day dimension should store.
C. If your company does ha!e multiple currency, then you need to configure currency in DAC by
assigning currency code and e)change rate to DAC parameters lie globol$ @',-A3curr3code and
globol$ @',-A3curr3rate3type. BI Apps support up to - types of currency.
D. Configure I, 2ierarchy so the info stores in (32ierarchy3D. >o DAC configuration needed
+. DATA#OEFC+3>E53ID is a DAC parameters that determine which datasource system the
e)traction is taing place. In physical data source tab under BsetupB !iew, this field can be edited with
integer number from $ to $= to represent different DB source.
'9. +)plain how to set up metadata in DAC to load data into the target
*or basic intro on how DAC wor in terms of e)ecuting the tass, find out here
';. 2ow to configure incremental loading in DAC
A. The refresh date under physical data source stores the last +T, run time, by nullifying this, the DAC
will run full load or it will run incremental load based on the refresh date !alue.
B. Ender tas, there is Bincremental loadB commend, by checing this, it will do either full load or
incremental load regardless of refresh date.