#Kscope

HFM, Workspace, and FDM – Voiding Your Warranty

Charles Beyer

#Kscope

About the Speaker

● 15+ years professional development experience in various languages/technologies (6 years w/ Hyperion products)

● Significant experience reverse engineering software

● Loves to help others solve problems● Posts under beyerch2 on OTN Discussion

Boards

#Kscope

OverviewWhy Void Your Warranty?● OOTB functionality doesn’t exist● API Doesn’t exist or isn’t practical● Learn more!

#Kscope

Will they really void my warranty?!?!● No… But you might have support trouble!

● If you are reporting a known issue, shouldn’t be a problem.

● If you have a mysterious issue that they have never heard of ……

“For Oracle operating systems software, technical support is provided for issues (including problems you create) that are demonstrable in the currently supported release(s) of the operating system, running unaltered, and on a certified hardware configuration, as specified in your order or program documentation.”

http://www.oracle.com/us/support/library/hardware-systems-support-policies-069182.pdf

#Kscope

Why Would I want to change things?● Out of the Box Functionality Not Sufficient● You Want to Experiment to Get a Better

Understanding of the Technology

#Kscope

What about APIs & Support?● ANY product change will make the product

non-standard…. ● Using API in a standalone program – OK● Altering existing Web Pages with additional API calls

– Not OK

● API may be too much overhead for what you want or doesn’t cover what you need.

● You may have requirements restricting what you can do● No DLLs / Libraries installed on machine (i.e. Smart

View)

#Kscope

How Do I Learn?

● Understand Basic Software Design / Operation● Memory, Disk, Registry, U/I, Database

● Understand Basic Operation of Hyperion Programs● Read Lots of Product Documentation● Talk to Other People about Products● “Be the Program”

● Experiment● Trial and Error, Mostly Error

#Kscope

How Do I Learn? (cont.)● Use Tools to Help Gather Information● Re-Research on New Information● Leverage Existing Code / API ● Test, Test, Test● Test More● Deploy to Production

#Kscope

Tools

#Kscope

Tools

● Product Info● http://support.oracle.com – Knowledgebase, Patches &

Update, and “Communities”

#Kscope

Tools (cont.)

● Product Info● OTN Discussion Forum (http://forums.oracle.com)

#Kscope

Tools (cont.)

● Product Info● Product Documentation

● System 11.1.2.1 - http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E24674_01/index.htm● System 9.3.x - http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E10530_01/welcome.html

● NOTE : These move periodically! Google ‘Hyperion documentation library’ if you cannot find what you are looking for

#Kscope

Tools (cont.)

#Kscope

Tools (cont.)● Knowledge Tools

● Tips and Tricks from EPM System Infrastructure Development

● Issues 1 to 72 - http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/middleware/bi-foundation/epm-tips-issues-1-72-427329.pdf

● Issues 73 and up - http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/middleware/bi-foundation/epm-tips-issues-73-up-399995.pdf

● NOTE: Constantly updating, so there will be more, etc.

#Kscope

Tools (cont.)

#Kscope

Tools? (cont.)

● Google● +50 IQ Points

#Kscope

Tools? (cont.)

● SQL Mgmt Studio / Oracle Enterprise Manager● Review Database Structure (Tables, Views, Queries,

etc.)

#Kscope

Tools? (cont.)

● SQL Profiler / Oracle Enterprise Manager● Monitor Databases / Tables / Users / Processes to

understand how the data is moving

#Kscope

Tools? (cont.)

● SQL Profiler / Oracle Enterprise Manager● Monitor Databases / Tables / Users / Processes to

understand how the data is moving

#Kscope

Tools (cont.)

● Fiddler – Web proxy that allows you to monitor (and simulate) HTTP/HTTPS traffic. http://fiddler2.com/fiddler2/● Great Tool for HTTP/HTTPS traffic

● Warning : You can sniff / decode HTTPS traffic

● Warning : Some programs may send logins / passwords in plain text.

#Kscope

Tools (cont.)

#Kscope

Tools (cont.)

#Kscope

Tools (cont.)● Wireshark – Network traffic analyzer – http://www.wireshark.org● Network packet analyzer● Monitors ALL network traffic, not just HTTP/HTTPS● Warning : Can intercept all types of traffic such as:

● Streaming Audio / Video● VoiP● Types of Encrypted Data● Plain Text User Name / Password

#Kscope

Tools (cont.)

#Kscope

Tools (cont.)

● Service Manager (services.msc) – View services to see which are running

#Kscope

Tools (cont.)

#Kscope

Tools (cont.)

● Process Monitor – Allows you to monitor processes’ file use, registry access, memory utilization, etc. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896645

#Kscope

Tools (cont.)

#Kscope

Tools (cont.)

● WinGrep – Windows text searching tool.

#Kscope

Tools (cont.)

● SQLLocator – Database Searching Tool

#Kscope

Tools (cont.)

#Kscope

Tools? (cont.)● Oracle Application Testing Suite / LoadRunner / Jmeter● Stress testing for validation of changes● Create execution scripts for repeatable test cases

● Good for Testing● Good for Trying to ‘Reverse Engineer’ functionality

#Kscope

Tools? (cont.)

● Dependency Walker● Give it EXE / DLL and it will list all other files needed

by the EXE / DLL

#Kscope

Tools? (cont.)

● Dependency Walker● Also inspect function calls in each DLL

#Kscope

Tools? (cont.)

● Reflector - .NET Reverse Engineering Tool● If you don’t obfuscate / pack your compiled

program….

#Kscope

Tools? (cont.)

● Reflector - .NET Reverse Engineering Tool● Perfectly readable source code / logic…..

#Kscope

Tools? (cont.)

● Reflector - .NET Reverse Engineering Tool● Could lead to a bad day ….

#Kscope

Tools? (cont.)

● Reflector - .NET Reverse Engineering Tool● You can even recreate the whole project!

#Kscope

Tools? (cont.)

● IDA Pro – General Reverse Engineering Tool● Not for the faint of heart….

#Kscope

Tools? (cont.)

● IDA Pro – General Reverse Engineering Tool● Not for the faint of heart….

#Kscope

Tools? (cont.)

● IDA Pro – General Reverse Engineering Tool● But even if you are not an expert, you can glean

useful info!

#Kscope

Precautions● Use a Development Environment!● Limits Risk● Easier to ‘Reverse Engineer’ when you are the only

one in the system● Virtualized Environment may be best since you can

take snapshots● Don’t forget about data files and databases though!

(back those up too)

#Kscope

HFM DEMO

Fix User Drop Down

#Kscope

HFM User Drop Down Example● Problem – Drop Downs not in order!

#Kscope

HFM User Drop Down Example (cont.)

● IDEAS??● How do we figure out what page(s) has

the problem in question?

#Kscope

HFM User Drop Down Example (cont.)

● Web Browser Properties menu

#Kscope

HFM User Drop Down Example (cont.)

● Sometimes ‘Properties’ is disabled, use Fiddler!

#Kscope

HFM User Drop Down Example (cont.)

● IDEAS??● How do we figure out WHERE the page

is?

#Kscope

HFM User Drop Down Example (cont.)

● Use File Search by filename!

#Kscope

HFM User Drop Down Example (cont.)

● IDEAS??● Now how do we find what to fix???

● HINT: Look at the screen again. Is there anything unique about the field??

#Kscope

HFM User Drop Down Example (cont.)

● Use Notepad / Text search for User Name and look in the vicinity for something making a drop down…

#Kscope

HFM User Drop Down Example (cont.)

● IDEAS??● m_straActivityUserNames is a text

array of user names in no particular order…. What now???

#Kscope

HFM User Drop Down Example (cont.)

● Increase your IQ by checking Google for premade sorting scripts!

#Kscope

HFM User Drop Down Example (cont.)

● A free quicksort routine, which is just dropped on your page

#Kscope

HFM User Drop Down Example (cont.)

● Update page to pass array through sort routine..

#Kscope

HFM User Drop Down Example (cont.)

● Update page to pass array through sort routine..

#Kscope

HFM User Drop Down Example (cont.)

● Test Output

#Kscope

HFM DEMO

Fix Orphaned Data

#Kscope

HFM Orphaned Data● Original Data

#Kscope

HFM Orphaned Data● Original Data

#Kscope

HFM Orphaned Data (cont.)

● Load new Metadata….

#Kscope

HFM Orphaned Data (cont.)

● Houston (San Antonio), we have a problem…

#Kscope

HFM Orphaned Data (cont.)

● IDEAS??● What happened?

#Kscope

HFM Orphaned Data (cont.)

● A quick scan of database tables, gives a clue…

#Kscope

HFM Orphaned Data (cont.)

● IDEAS??● How could we confirm this table is

involved?

#Kscope

HFM Orphaned Data (cont.)

● Looking at the table and it should be obvious..

#Kscope

HFM Orphaned Data (cont.)

● IDEAS??● But what about the data????

#Kscope

HFM Orphaned Data (cont.)

● SQL Profiler and some test data will help!

#Kscope

HFM Orphaned Data (cont.)

● SQL Profiler and some test data will help!

#Kscope

HFM Orphaned Data (cont.)

● SQL Profiler and some test data will help!

#Kscope

HFM Orphaned Data (cont.)

● SQL Profiler and some test data will help!

#Kscope

HFM Orphaned Data (cont.)

● How about we check for orphaned rows?

#Kscope

HFM Orphaned Data (cont.)

● IDEAS??● So we identified one table where the

data we put in went, is that it?

#Kscope

HFM Orphaned Data (cont.)

● Another look at database tables…

#Kscope

HFM Orphaned Data (cont.)

● IDEAS??● How do we attempt to verify?

#Kscope

HFM Orphaned Data (cont.)

● Lets plug our clues into Google

#Kscope

HFM Orphaned Data (cont.)

● Jackpot…..

#Kscope

HFM Orphaned Data (cont.)

● Or… we can use some SQL magic to find all tables with a reference to entity!

#Kscope

HFM Orphaned Data (cont.)

#Kscope

HFM Orphaned Data (cont.)

● IDEAS??● Now that we know what to fix, what

should we do to fix this? (HINT)

#Kscope

HFM Orphaned Data (cont.)

● IDEAS??● Should we change the ID of Lanai to

match Stamford (20)?● Should we go through every data table

and replace Stamford (20) to Lanai (26)?

#Kscope

HFM Orphaned Data (cont.)

● Lets change out the ID, but be careful

#Kscope

HFM Orphaned Data (cont.)

● Not just ENTITY_ITEM table, but ENTITY_LAYOUT!

#Kscope

HFM Orphaned Data (cont.)

● Is everything fixed and is life good?

#Kscope

HFM Orphaned Data (cont.)

● No! The App is still in memory and has cached the old info….

#Kscope

HFM Orphaned Data (cont.)

● After a restart of the app (Reboot Server / Kill HsvDatasource.exe / Log off all users)

#Kscope

HFM Orphaned Data (cont.)

● Other thoughts● What if we didn’t realize this right away

and loaded data to the new entity?● Could we prevent entities with data

from being deleted?● Does this apply to accounts?

#Kscope

Tips and Tricks● Make Small / Frequent Changes!● Limiting the number of changes and testing

immediately after making a change simplifies testing by limiting variables….

● Practice, Practice, Practice● Frequent Discussion Boards (OTN / Network 54) and

when people have issues, try to solve them. You are doing someone a favor AND learning something new.

#Kscope

Other Samples

● Workspace● Bulk Renaming of Objects (Fix Invalid Characters)● Add Links to the Install Menu

#Kscope

Other Samples ● FDM● User Synchronization Between Applications (System

9)● Global Import Format Updates● Global Mapping Updates● Remove Domain from Login Functionality

● Other● Poor Man’s Smart View Emulation

#Kscope

Questions?● If you have any questions with the sample code or presentation, feel free to ask/contact me● charles@charlescbeyer.com