managing access tables in analyst

Tip or Technique

Managing Access Tables in IBM Cognos Planning - Analyst

Product(s): IBM Cognos Planning – Analyst; IBM

Cognos Planning Contributor

Area of Interest: Modeling


2

IBM Cognos Proprietary Information

Copyright

Copyright © 2008 Cognos ULC (formerly Cognos Incorporated). Cognos ULC is an IBM Company. While every attempt has been made to ensure that the information in this document is accurate and complete, some typographical errors or technical inaccuracies may exist. Cognos does not accept responsibility for any kind of loss resulting from the use of information contained in this document. This document shows the publication date. The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice. Any improvements or changes to the information contained in this document will be documented in subsequent editions. This document contains proprietary information of Cognos. All rights are reserved. No part of this document may be copied, photocopied, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means, or translated into another language without the prior written consent of Cognos. Cognos and the Cognos logo are trademarks of Cognos ULC (formerly Cognos Incorporated) in the United States and/or other countries. IBM and the IBM logo are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, or other countries, or both. All other names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Information about Cognos products can be found at www.cognos.com

This document is maintained by the Best Practices, Product and Technology team. You can send comments, suggestions, and additions to [email protected] .


3


Contents

1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 4

1.1 PURPOSE ............................................................................................................4 1.2 APPLICABILITY .....................................................................................................4 1.3 EXCLUSIONS AND EXCEPTIONS ..................................................................................4

2 CREATING ACCESS TABLES IN COGNOS PLANNING - ANALYST .................. 4

3 IMPORTING THE ACCESS TABLE FROM ANALYST TO CONTRIBUTOR.......... 9

4 CONCLUSION .............................................................................................. 12


4


1 Introduction

1.1 Purpose

This document provides a method for managing Access Tables quickly and

easily in IBM Cognos Planning - Analyst. Managing Access Tables for large and highly distributed planning models

where the access rights change frequently can be a labor-intensive and time-consuming process for planning model administrators. The Contributor Administration Console - Access Tables editor interface may not be the preferred method of managing access for some users with large and frequently changing access tables. IBM Cognos Planning – Analyst provides an interface that may be more powerful and flexible in certain cases than the Access Tables editor for managing access tables. This document presents an alternative method for managing Access Tables via IBM Cognos Planning – Analyst.

1.2 Applicability

IBM Cognos Planning version 7.3 through version 8.1

1.3 Exclusions and Exceptions

None

2 Creating Access Tables in IBM Cognos Planning -

Analyst

In order to create and easily manage an Access Table in IBM Cognos Planning – Analyst, a D-cube in which the model administrator can quickly pick and choose READ, WRITE, HIDDEN, and NO DATA access levels for the particular dimension items that the access table is focused on is required. One Analyst D-cube will be required for each Access Table that is managed by this method. In the following example, there is a dimension called ICD-9 Codes which is a list of

diagnosis codes that hospitals use to categorize patients. Another dimension exists in this model called Hospitals, which is also the e-list for the Contributor application. The model administrator would like to be able to limit access to the ICD-9 Codes by

Hospital. To start creating this Access Table in IBM Cognos Planning – Analyst, a D-list format dimension will be added in order to make assigning the access levels as easy as possible and as consistent as possible. If the access level was formatted as

text then it would be very easy to introduce typing errors and to make the Access Table more labor-intensive than the Contributor Access Table editor. By creating a D-list format, we avoid these potential errors and reduce the potential labor involved in managing the Access Table.


5


Step1 - Create a D-list with 3 items: READ, WRITE, and HIDDEN as shown below:

Step 2 – Create the Access Table cube in IBM Cognos Planning – Analyst by

choosing the dimensions on which access levels will be determined. In this example, access to certain ICD-9 Codes will be based on the hospital facility, which is also the e-list. A cube is created with 3 dimensions (ICD-9 Codes, Hospitals and Values (a

generic single item dimension)). To format this cube for consumption by Contributor Administration Console as an imported Access Table a D-Cube format is applied.

Make sure the D-Cube is open and active, from the Analyst drop-down menus choose: D-Cube > Format. For format type choose D-List and select the D-List created in Step1.


6


Step 3 – The model administrator then populates the cells by choosing READ, WRITE, or HIDDEN from the drop-down D-list formatted items. The screenshot

below shows the example Access Table D-cube being populated. Note that not every cell needs to be populated, as a default access level can be specified when importing this Access Table into Contributor. Any blank values will be populated with

the default access level, in this case NO DATA.

Step 4 – Exporting the Access Table from IBM Cognos Planning - Analyst

Now that the Access Table D-cube has been created and populated, the next step is to export the table from IBM Cognos Planning – Analyst in a format that can be

easily consumed by IBM Cognos Planning – Contributor. This is accomplished by having the Access Table D-cube open and then selecting D-Cube from Analyst Main

Menu bar and then choosing Export…


7


Choose the following options from the Export D-Cube settings:

a) Select Ascii File and then click the ellipsis to set the export file location; b) In the Format box Select Tab as the separator c) In the Groups box Select Multiple Column

d) In the Dimension Order box ensure that the detail dimension is first, the e-list dimension is second (if applicable), and the data dimension is last.


8


Next, navigate to the Zeros tab and highlight the line that represents Rows. This will suppress any items that have not been granted READ, WRITE, or HIDDEN access

levels. When the import is executed, the Base Level Access will be set to NO DATA and any untagged dimension items will be set to NO DATA in the Contributor access table.


9


The exported file in this example appears as follows:

Note that rows without an access level defined in the Access Table D-cube do not show-up. These missing items will be assigned the Base Level Access during the

import process in Contributor.

3 Importing the Access Table from Analyst to Contributor

The second part of the process in managing Access Tables in IBM Cognos Planning – Analyst is to import the Access Table data into IBM Cognos Planning – Contributor


10


from the export that was created from IBM Cognos Planning – Analyst. To import the tab-delimited file that was created above, open Cognos Planning – Contributor Administration Console, expand the Datastores, expand the appropriate machine,

expand the application, expand Development, expand Access Tables and Selections, and choose Access Tables.

In Access Tables, select the correct dimension and cubes that the access table will be applied to and select the Import access table radio button. In this particular

example, the Include e.List checkbox will also be selected. The screenshot below shows the settings being applied to the example.

Next, click the Add button. After the SimpleAccessTable row has been added, select it and click on the Import button. Use the ellipsis to select the file that was exported from IBM Cognos Planning – Analyst. Choose the Base Access Level that will be applied to the access table that is being imported. In this example, NO DATA

is being chosen which will result in NO DATA being applied to any items not defined in the import file. Also, ensure that Options – Import is checked.


11


After these selections have been made click OK and the import should run with no errors.

After running a GTP the access table will function as expected.


12


4 Conclusion

Automation via macros can be applied to aspects of this process to make it more efficient. This method may offer improved efficiency and ease of administration of

access tables for certain situations where access table management via the Access Tables editor in IBM Cognos Planning - Contributor Administration Console is proving to be inefficient or time-consuming.

managing access tables in analyst

Documents