How to use same BI Connector DSN for connecting Tableau with both OBIEE Subject Areas and OBIEE Reports?

You can either use different DSNs for connecting Tableau with both OBIEE Subject Areas and OBIEE Reports or you can use same DSN for connecting to both.

NOTE: You can use same DSN for connecting to both only if you are trying to connect with Tableau. For PowerBI, you need to have two different DSNs.

To use same DSN for connecting to both Subject Areas and Reports, follow the below steps.

Step 1: Create a new User DSN common for connecting to both OBIEE Subject Areas and Reports. In the User DSN tab, click Add. 

Step 2: In the Create New Data Source UI, select (1) BI Connector Driver and (2) Click Finish.

Step 3: Now configure the OBIEE as a data source. 

In the Create a New Data Source UI for BI Connector,  input the following information.

1. Give a name to your Data Source, e.g., OBIEE Connect.
2. Give a description of the Data Source, e.,g MY OBIEE Connection.
3. Enter the Server Name for your OBIEE instance.  The server name would come from the URL that you use to access the OBIEE Answers in your organization.  If your OBIEE URL is "https://obieedev.mycompany.com/analysis/saw.dll",   you should enter "https://obieedev.mycompany.com"   in the Server Name field.
4. Enter the OBIEE URL port in the Port field.  This is typically:
   1. If your OBIEE URL starts with http:// and does not have a port number, then port number is typically 80.  
   2. If your OBIEE URL starts with http:// and has a port number (e.g., 9704), then use that port number (e.g., 9704).   
   3. If your OBIEE URL starts with https:// and does not have a port number, then port number is typically 443.  
   4. If your OBIEE URL starts with https:// and has a port number (e.g., 9804), then use that port number (e.g., 9804). 
5. If you are using Single Sign-on(SSO) in your organization, please check this article to understand authentication supported by BI Connector.  
6. Enter your OBIEE username in User Id field.  This is the userid that you would normally use to log in to OBIEE Answers.  Do not use the Admin username.  
7. Enter your OBIEE password in Password field.  
8. Click on Test connection to verify the connection to OBIEE.  
9. Select "Reports" radio button if you want to use "Manage Reports List" option to select Reports or Folders containing reports to keep in the cache for faster access while working in Tableau/PBI/Qlik Sense. Please check this article for more information. Else Select "Subject Areas" radio button.
10. Click on Save button.

Step 4: When you want to connect with OBIEE Subject Areas through Tableau, Open Tableau and connect to Other Databases (ODBC) using the above same DSN but Select "Subject Areas" radio button and click OK.

Or if you want to connect with OBIEE Reports through Tableau, Open Tableau and connect to Other Databases (ODBC) using the above same DSN but Select "Reports" radio button and click OK.

By this way, you can use single DSN for connecting Tableau to both OBIEE Subject Areas and Reports.