BIP Reports - Chapter 13: Performance Optimization for BI Publisher Reports (Global HR Use Case)

 

🚀 Chapter 13: Performance Optimization for BI Publisher Reports (Global HR Use Case)

As data grows, BI reports can slow down or even time out. In this chapter, you’ll learn how to:

• Optimize SQL for speed and scalability

• Use bind variables correctly

• Avoid common layout rendering pitfalls

• Manage data volumes effectively

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✅ 1. Key Performance Issues in BI Reports

Issue	Symptoms
Unoptimized SQL	Slow data retrieval
No bind variables	Query parsing issues, slowness
Fetching too much data	Excessive memory use
Complex layouts	Slow rendering, Excel crashes
Too many templates	Complicated report maintenance

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✅ 2. SQL Optimization Techniques (HR Example)

❌ Bad:

 
WHERE hire_date > TO_DATE(:P_HIRE_DATE)

✅ Better (Bind-aware):

 
WHERE hire_date > :P_HIRE_DATE

Oracle optimizer treats bind-aware queries more efficiently, especially in Fusion Cloud.

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🧠 Tip: Use Indexed Columns in WHERE Clause

Indexes help speed up large joins like in this Global HR query:

sql
SELECT ...
FROM per_all_people_f per
JOIN per_all_assignments_f assign ON per.person_id = assign.person_id
WHERE per.person_id = :P_PERSON_ID

Ensure columns like person_id, business_unit_id, and department_id are indexed.

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✅ 3. Reduce Data Size

Method	Benefit
Use date filters	Only current/active employees
Limit columns	Avoid unused fields
Apply pagination in layout	Prevents layout overload
Avoid SELECT *	Only select needed columns

📉 Example:

sql
WHERE TRUNC(SYSDATE) BETWEEN per.effective_start_date AND per.effective_end_date

Only fetches active employees, reducing load.

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✅ 4. Optimize Layouts (RTF/Excel)

Problem	Fix
Long looping in RTF	Use grouping & fewer nested loops
Too many calculated cells	Push logic into SQL
Excel freeze/crash	Keep file under 50K rows per sheet
Large images or logos	Compress them before use

🛠️ Tip: Move logic from layout to SQL

E.g., Instead of:

xml
<?if:salary > 5000?>High<?end if?>

Use:

sql
CASE WHEN salary > 5000 THEN 'High' ELSE 'Normal' END AS salary_flag

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✅ 5. Use Bursting with Limits

If bursting is used (from Chapter 12), limit records per recipient.
Don’t send 10,000 rows to every manager — use filters like:

sql
WHERE business_unit_id = :P_BU_ID
AND ROWNUM <= 1000

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✅ 6. Schedule Wisely

Action	When
Large HR headcount	Off-peak (midnight)
Monthly payroll	End of payroll cycle
Email burst	Non-business hours

Use BI Scheduler > Job Sets for chaining or staggering heavy reports.

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✅ 7. Monitor and Debug Performance

📊 Tools:

• Fusion BI Scheduler Logs

• BI Publisher Runtime Diagnostics

• Database AWR Reports (if accessible)

• Session Monitor (for real-time SQL tracing)

These help identify long-running SQLs or layout bottlenecks.

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✅ 8. Tips for Better Performance in HR Reports

Tip	Why it helps
Push all logic into SQL	Reduces layout processing load
Limit results	Improves load time and readability
Use scheduled jobs	Avoids UI report overload
Avoid nested for-each loops	Reduces rendering time
Always use bind variables	Better DB plan & caching

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✅ 9. Summary

You’ve now learned how to:

• Optimize your queries and layouts

• Prevent timeouts and crashes

• Schedule large reports strategically

• Monitor and fix performance issues

These techniques are crucial when scaling HR reports in large organizations with tens of thousands of employees.

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📌 Next Chapter Preview:

Chapter 14: Creating Interactive BI Publisher Dashboards

• Embed reports in Fusion apps

• Use buttons, filters, and drill-downs

• Combine multiple reports on one page