4.

5 Create and configure a package

Up to this point, we have imported, validated, modeled, and organized metadata
to address the requirement to report and analyze sales and sales target
information by products, time, and order methods. This modeling was done for
both traditional relational reporting (query) and OLAP-style reporting (analysis)
using DMR. The next step is to publish packages to IBM Cognos Connection to
make both the query package and analysis packages available to authors and
analysts.
You create packages, which are a subset of your model, to make metadata
available to users. A package must contain all the information that a specific user
or group of users needs to create reports. Each report can contain information
from a single package only.
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To create packages:
1. In the Project Viewer, right-click the Packages folder, point to Create, and
then click Package.
2. In the name box, type GO Sales DW (Query), and click Next.
3. Clear the Model namespace, expand Presentation View Query, and
select Sales Target and Sales as shown in Figure 4-90.
Figure 4-90 Create Package, Define objects dialog box
4. Click Next, and then choose the set of functions that you want to be available
in the package.
By default, all function sets are included unless you specify which function set
is associated with a data source in the Project Function List dialog box
located in the Project menu.
5. Click Finish.
6. When prompted to launch the Publish Package wizard and publish your
package to the server, click Yes.
7. In the Select Location Type dialog box, select a location where you want to
publish your package. We leave the default location of Public Folders, but you
can browse to any location in IBM Cognos Connection to which you have
write access.
8. Clear Enable model versioning.
This option is checked by default. It allows you to keep multiple copies of a
model on the server, which can be useful if you want to publish a new version
of the model but want existing reports to continue using an earlier copy. Note
that all new reports that you author always use the most recent version of a
published model. Opening an existing report in one of the studios will also
cause the report to become associated with the latest version of the model.
9. Click Next.
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10.Specify who has access to the package. Use the Add and Remove buttons to
specify which groups or roles will have access to the package. When you
have finished adding security, click Next.
We discuss security in more detail in 4.6, “Apply security in IBM Cognos
Framework Manager” on page 124.
11.To verify your package before publishing, ensure that the “Verify the package
before publishing” option is selected. Click Publish.
When this option is selected, IBM Cognos Framework Manager performs a
validation of your package and alerts you to any potential issues.
12.Click Finish to close the Publish Wizard.
Informational warnings that might display indicate that items in the package
reference other items in the model and that those items are included in the
package as well but are hidden from authors.
13.Click Close.
14.Repeat these steps to create and publish a package called GO Sales DW
(Analysis). Select only the Sales Target Fact and Sales Fact namespaces in
the Analysis namespace as shown in Figure 4-91.
Figure 4-91 Create Package, Define objects dialog box
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The packages are now available in IBM Cognos Connection, as shown in
Figure 4-92, and are ready for use by authors in one of the studios.
Figure 4-92 IBM Cognos Connection, Public Folders
Chapter 4. Create reporting packages with IBM Cognos Framework Manager 121
Figure 4-93 shows the GO Sales DW (Query) package in IBM Cognos Report
Studio.
Figure 4-93 IBM Cognos Report Studio, Insertable Objects pane
This package displays query subjects and query items for use in studios that
support relational only packages.
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Figure 4-94 shows the GO Sales DW (Analysis) package in IBM Cognos Report
Studio.
Figure 4-94 IBM Cognos Report Studio, Insertable Objects pane
With this package, you can work with hierarchies, levels, members, attributes,
and measures. This package allows for OLAP-style queries on a relational data
source.
4.5.1 Analyze publish impact
Before you publish your package, you can see how the changes that you make to
a model will affect the package and any reports that use it. You can see details
about each change that was made to the package and which reports are affected
by a specific change.
Reports that are authored using the package can be impacted by changes that
you make to the model. For example, adding a new object to the model will not
affect any existing reports. Changing the name of a query item in the model or
Chapter 4. Create reporting packages with IBM Cognos Framework Manager 123
deleting a query item does affect a report. The report definition will not be valid
because the query item that it references is not in the package definition. It is
important to note that changes to the model do not impact reports until the
package is republished. Reports use the published package, so your changes do
not have any impact until the package is republished.
The analysis is done on objects that a package uses directly as well as the
underlying objects. For example, you have a model query subject that references
a data source query subject. If you change the model query subject, it appears
as a modified object in the analysis results. If you change the underlying data
source query subject, it also appears as a modified object in the analysis results.
The following types of objects are analyzed:
_ Query subjects
_ Query items
_ Measures
_ Regular dimensions
_ Measure dimensions
_ Hierarchies
_ Levels
_ Stand-alone filters
_ Stand-alone calculations
To analyze a publish impact:
1. In the Project Viewer, click a package that was published.
2. From the Actions menu, click Package Analyze Publish Impact.
3. The results of the analysis display, and you can choose to search for
dependant reports. You can then take whatever action is necessary.
4. When you are finished, click Close to close the Analyze Publish Impact dialog
box.
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4.6 Apply security in IBM Cognos Framework Manager
This section discusses security at a high level. We do not implement security in
our model directly but discuss generic steps about how to apply security.
In IBM Cognos Framework Manager, security is a way of restricting access to
metadata and data. There are three different types of security in IBM Cognos
Framework Manager:
_ Object level security allows you to secure an object directly by allowing or
denying users access to the object, or keeping it hidden from all users.
_ Row level security allows you to create a security filter and apply it to a
specific query subject. This level of security controls the data that is shown to
the users when they build and run their reports.
_ Package level security allows you to apply security to a package and identify
who has access to that package.
Each type of security relies on users, groups, and roles to define access. Before
you add security in IBM Cognos Framework Manager, ensure that security was
set up correctly in IBM Cognos BI.
4.6.1 Object level security
You can apply metadata security directly to objects in a model. When you add
object-based security, you apply a specific user, group, or role directly to the
object. In doing so, you choose to make the object visible to the select users or
groups.
If you do not set object-based security, all objects in the model are visible to
everyone who has access to the package. The object inherits the security that
was defined for its parent object. When you explicitly allow or deny access to an
object, you override the inherited setting. When you apply security to a parent
object, all of the child objects inherit the security settings. After you set security
for one object, you must set it for all objects. You can set security for all objects by
setting security on the root namespace.
You might want an object to be visible only to one selected group or role. For
example, in your project you might have a Salary query subject. You might want
this query subject visible to a Manager role but not visible to an Employee role.
If a user is a member of multiple groups or roles and if one group is allowed
access to an object and another is denied access, the user will not have access
to the secured object. In cases of conflicting access, the denied access group or
role membership will have priority.
Chapter 4. Create reporting packages with IBM Cognos Framework Manager 125
There are two basic approaches to implementing object level security in your
model:
_ Allow access to all objects and then restrict access to certain objects as
required
_ Restrict access to all objects and then grant access as required
To add object level security:
1. Click the object that you want to secure, and from the Actions menu, click
Specify Object Security.
2. Select the users, groups, or roles that you want to change. You can also click
Add to add new users, groups, or roles.
3. Specify security rights for each user, group, or role by completing one of the
following steps:
– To deny access to a user, group, select Deny next to the name of the user,
group or role. Remember that Deny takes priority over Allow.
– To grant access to a user, group or role, select Allow.
4. Click OK.
To remove object level security from the model:
1. In the middle pane, click Explorer.
2. In the Project Viewer, double-click the Packages folder to give it focus in the
Explorer. A list of all packages and any security objects that are applied in the
model display.
3. Select any of the security objects that you want to remove from the model,
and click Delete.
4.6.2 Row level security
You can restrict the data that is returned by query subjects in a project by using
security filters. A security filter controls the data that is shown to users when they
author their reports.
For example, sales managers at the Great Outdoors company want to ensure
that Camping Equipment sales representatives see only orders that relate to the
Camping Equipment product line. To accomplish this, create and add members
to a Sales Managers and Camping Equipment Reps groups. Then apply a
security filter to the Products query subject to restrict their access to camping
equipment data.
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To specify row level security:
1. Click the query subject with which you want to work, and from the Action
menu click Specify Data Security.
2. To add new users:
a. Click Add Groups.
b. In the Select Users and Groups window, add users, groups, or roles.
c. In the Select Users and Groups window, click OK.
3. If you want to base the group on an existing group, click the Based On
column.
4. If you want to add a filter to a group, in the Filter column, click either
Create/Edit Embedded filter or Insert from Model. These options allow you
to either select an existing filter from your model to use or define the
expression for a new filter.
4.6.3 Package level security
Package access refers to the ability to use the package in one of the IBM Cognos
BI studios or to run a report that uses the package from IBM Cognos Connection.
Users without these permissions are denied access, although they can still view
saved report outputs if they have access to the reports. You can also grant
administrative access to packages for those users who might be required to
republish a package.
You define package level security during the publish process the first time the
package is published.
To modify access to your package after it has been published:
1. Click the package that you want to edit, and from the Actions menu click
Package Edit Package Settings to invoke IBM Cognos Connection in a
new window.
2. In IBM Cognos Connection, click the Permissions tab.
3. Create, add or remove groups or roles as required.
4. After you modify the package access permissions, click OK to return to IBM
Cognos Framework Manager.
Multiple groups or roles: If a user belongs to multiple groups or roles, the
security filter that is associated with these roles are joined together with ORs.
If a group or role is based on another group or role, the security filters are
joined together with ANDs.
Chapter 4. Create reporting packages with IBM Cognos Framework Manager 127
4.7 Model troubleshooting tips
This section provides some tips for troubleshooting your models.
4.7.1 Examine the SQL
When testing query objects in IBM Cognos Framework Manager, you can view
the SQL that is generated for the query on the Query Information tab. Viewing
this information can be a useful way to verify expected results and can be a
valuable troubleshooting technique to help you debug a model.
In particular, you can verify query path and join conditions and determine if
elements of the query are being processed locally by comparing the Cognos and
Native SQL. Items that appear in the Cognos SQL but are not replicated in the
Native SQL indicate that additional processing of the data is required on the IBM
Cognos servers. This issue might be due to unsupported functions in the vendor
database.
You can also select the Response sub-tab in the Query Information tab to view
the request and response sequence to and from the data source. Any warning or
error messages generated are recorded here.
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To test a query and examine the generated SQL:
1. Right-click a query subject or multiple selected query items, and click Test.
2. Test the results, and then click the Query Information tab to view the SQL
generated for the query as shown in Figure 4-95.
Figure 4-95 Query Information tab
Chapter 4. Create reporting packages with IBM Cognos Framework Manager 129
3. To view the request, the response, and any warning messages that were
generated, click the Response tab, as shown in Figure 4-96.
Figure 4-96 Response tab
4.7.2 Object dependencies
You can find objects easily that depend on other objects or show the
dependencies of a child object. To determine object dependencies:
1. In the Project Viewer, click an object.
2. From the Tools menu, click Show Object Dependencies. The objects that
depend on the selected object display under Dependent objects.
3. To show the object identifier for the dependent objects, select Show Object
ID.
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4. If the selected object has children and you want to see the dependencies for a
child object, click the plus sign (+) beside the object that contains the child
object.
5. Click a child object under the parent object. The objects that depend on the
child object display under Dependent objects.
You can also show object dependencies using the following methods:
_ Use the Project Viewer by right-clicking an object and selecting Show Object
Dependencies.
_ Use the Context Explorer window by right-clicking an object and selecting
Show Object Dependencies.
_ Use the Analyze Publish Impact window by clicking the Show Dependencies
icon under Actions in the row that contains the object.
4.7.3 Search the model
When working with a large project, it can be difficult to locate the objects that you
need to complete a task. Use the Search tab to find objects quickly by applying
different search criteria, such as the location, the class, a condition, or a property.
If the Tools pane is not visible, from the View menu, click Tools. You can drag the
Tools pane to the bottom of the IBM Cognos Framework Manager window and
resize it to have a better view of the search results.
To search the model:
1. In the Tools pane, click the Search tab.
2. In the Search String field, type the text that you want to find.
You can use uppercase, lowercase, or mixed case strings. The search is not
case sensitive. Valid wildcard characters are an asterisk (*) and a question
mark (?).
3. Click the double down arrow button to show the search criteria boxes.
4. In the “Condition” list, select a condition to apply to the search string.
The Condition box determines how the Search string value is matched with
text in the model. It contains a list of possible search conditions. If you want to
search using wildcard characters, use the equals condition.
5. In the “Search in” list, select the part of the model hierarchy that you want to
search.
6. In the “Class” list, select the single class of objects that you want to search.
Chapter 4. Create reporting packages with IBM Cognos Framework Manager 131
7. In the “Property” list, select the type of property that you want to search.
The (All Properties) property searches all properties. The Object Name
property restricts the search to the name of each object. The Text Properties
property searches the set of properties that contain text strings, such as
Description or Screen Tip, but not the object name.
8. Click Search.
The results are listed at the bottom of the Search tab. After you do one
search, the Subset check box becomes available. If you select Subset, the
next search operates on the existing search results. The Subset option is
cleared after each search.
9. To see an object in the Project Viewer, click an object in the Search tab.
10.To see an object in the diagram, right-click an object in the Search tab, and
click Locate in Diagram.
Now that you have seen the basics of developing a simple IBM Cognos
Framework Manager model, it is a good idea to augment this knowledge with
formal training to ensure the success of your IBM Cognos BI project.
The model that we describe in this chapter is just a small subset of the more
robust sample models that ship with the product. For the remainder of the book,
we use the sample models that ship with the product to demonstrate authoring
business intelligence reports and analysis in IBM Cognos BI.
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