Working with Generated Models, Packages, and Report Templates
This section provides information about the generated models and report templates (NoetixAnswers), managing security, and the best practices for using NoetixViews and Noetix Analytics with IBM Cognos BI.
Generated Project and Model Files
Angles for Oracle-Generator saves the Cognos project and model files it creates to a “Generated Models” folder under the generated model folder specified on the Target Parameters tab of the generator interface. One project and model file will be created for each Oracle E-Business Suite organizational unit if using NoetixViews Standard or Cross Operations, or for each NoetixViews subject area if using NoetixViews Global Extension or Noetix Analytics.
These Cognos project files can be opened and inspected in IBM Cognos Framework Manager. If desired, the packages contained within the generated models can be published from IBM Cognos Framework Manager. They should be published initially using Angles for Oracle-Generator, however, because the security roles that govern access to the query subjects within the packages are created during the publish step of the generation process.
Generated Model File Structure
Once generated, the Cognos model files will contain the objects listed below.
Noetix Security Groups Namespace: This namespace contains namespaces for each NoetixViews role or Noetix Analytics folder defined in the source system. Each child namespace will contain shortcuts to the query subjects associated with each role/folder. In NoetixViews Global edition, a namespace is created for each single structure key flexfield hierarchy.
Noetix Query Subject Definitions Namespace: This namespace contains a flat list of generated query subjects. The query subjects will be separated into two child namespaces for Noetix Analytics generations (“Noetix DM Business” and “Noetix ODS Business”).
Each view/table column is generated as a query item on the associated query subject. Columns that have List of Values (LoV) objects associated with them have Prompt Info settings configured on the query item to redirect requests for a list of values automatically to the LoV object. This optimization decreases the time necessary to load the list of values when a report is executed.
The generator also creates a measure dimension for each Noetix view and for Noetix Analytics where appropriate. These objects have the same name as the base query subject, with a suffix of “$FACT” and contain all of the query items from the base view/table that have a usage of “Fact”.
Finally, the generator creates regular dimensions for each key flexfield hierarchy and for the Noetix Analytics date dimensions. The segments of the flexfield will be described as different levels in the hierarchy, which provides automatic drill down capability in Cognos when a regular dimension query item is selected.
NOTE: Angles for Oracle-Generator no longer makes the measure dimensions it generates visible to end users in order to avoid confusion among a large portion of the end users that utilize Noetix-generated packages. Angles for Oracle-Generator’s configuration can be modified to make these objects visible for backward compatibility reasons, or to support more advanced users. To do this, modify the CreateMeasureDimensions setting in Generator.config to have a value of “true” then restart Angles for Oracle-Generator and perform a regeneration of the Cognos models.
Custom Objects Namespace: This namespace contains any custom query subjects or other objects that were added to the corresponding namespace in the template model.xml file. See Extending and Modifying Generated Models for more information on adding custom objects to a generated model.
Data Sources: The data sources that were added to the template model.xml file will exist in each generated model file.
Packages: Each generated model file will contain a package containing all the generated objects in the model and any custom objects manually added.
Backing up XML Files
Insightsoftware recommends that template model.xml and generated project and model files be backed up and managed using a source control system. Assuming the generated project and model files are managed in this way, administrators may want to use a string replacement utility to filter out commonly changing fields such as dates prior to check-in.
XML Formatting Utility
A simple command line XML formatting utility, FormatModel.exe, is provided with the generator. This utility will format and indent any model.xml file to match the Angles for Oracle-Generator output format. This utility can make it easier to compare model files using tools that find differences in text files.
Working with NoetixAnswers
After a generation of NoetixAnswers is complete, you can find the generated report templates in the folder in IBM Cognos Connection specified in the Answers Folder setting in Angles for Oracle-Generator. This folder contains all of the pre-built report templates that were generated, organized by organizational units (sets of books, inventory organizations, etc.) for the Standard and Cross Operations editions of NoetixViews or by subject area for the Global edition. If the Answers Folder specified is identical to the Packages Folder where the generated Cognos packages were published, Angles for Oracle-Generator will create report templates in the package folders if they coincide with answer folders with the same name. The report templates can be found in folders named after the NoetixViews role associated with each template. This folder hierarchy follows the organizational structure of the Insightsoftware NoetixViews Help file.
The generated report templates will be named after a question that the template is meant to answer. Users with the appropriate privileges can execute the report templates. They can also create their own custom reports based on the report templates, assuming they have access to IBM Cognos Report Studio.
Each report template may contain parameter prompts, summary tables, charts, detail tables, multiple levels of subtotals, and grand totals, based on the definition of each unique report template.
The look and feel of the report templates can be modified by an administrator to incorporate the company’s colors, logo, and other information. For instructions on making these modifications, see Customizing NoetixAnswers in “Customizing Generated Models, Packages, and Report Templates.”
NOTE: The generated report templates should not be modified directly in IBM Cognos Connection or IBM Cognos Report Studio. Any changes made to the templates will be overridden during the next regeneration. NoetixAnswers is meant to be either run as generated, or used as a starting point to make a new report. For information about modifying the templates, see Customizing NoetixAnswers in “Customizing Generated Models, Packages, and Report Templates.”
Managing Security
After a generation is complete, users must be given access to the generated query subjects and report templates before they are able to write or execute reports against them in IBM Cognos BI. Access to the generated objects (packages, query subjects, and NoetixAnswers) is provided by granting the generated roles to users, groups or other roles. This section provides information about how to use these roles to manage access to the generated objects.
Role Organizational Structure
During the Publish generated packages step, the product name here BI generates roles into the Cognos namespace folder in the following structure:
Security Namespace Folder: A namespace folder named after the Security Namespace specified during the generation is created in the Cognos namespace folder. Cognos roles are created in this folder for each NoetixViews role (e.g. AP_PAYABLES or HR_MANAGER) and for each folder in Noetix Analytics. Roles created for NoetixViews Global edition will be prefixed with the subject area name.
Package Master Roles: A namespace folder named “Package Master Roles” is created in the Security Namespace folder. The Package Master roles are generated into this folder and named after the packages they correspond to. For more information, see Introduction in “product name here BI.”
Package Viewer Roles: A namespace folder named “Package Viewer Roles” is created in the Security Namespace folder. The Package Viewer roles are generated into this folder and named after the packages they correspond to. For more information, see Introduction in “product name here BI.”
Granting Data Access to Cognos Users
The NoetixViews and Package Master roles can be directly or indirectly granted to Cognos users to give them access to the corresponding packages, query subjects, and NoetixAnswers. These grants may be made in IBM Cognos Connection by a user with sufficient administrative privileges. For more information on granting roles within IBM Cognos BI, see the Cognos documentation.
The guidelines below should be followed when granting access:
The generated Cognos roles should be granted to groups or other roles whenever possible, rather than directly to individual users. Adhering to this guideline will leverage Cognos’ permission inheritance capabilities and minimize the time spent administering data security.
Because a Package Master role has access to an entire package, granting a Package Master role is equivalent to granting each of the individual roles associated with the package. Therefore, Package Master roles should be granted whenever possible instead of using the individual roles. If it is determined that granting a Package Master role would provide too much access, individual roles should be granted.
Users should never be granted Package Viewer roles directly. Grants to Package Viewer roles are designed only to manage package visibility, and are automatically re-created each time the generator is used to repopulate the model.
Security Example
The following example describes when to grant Package Master roles and individual roles. In this security scenario, two packages exist:
Set of Books1 contains the roles GL1 and FA1.
Set of Books2 contains the roles GL2 and FA2.
Two users need access to these sets of books:
User1 needs access to GL1 and FA1.
User2 needs access to GL1, GL2 and FA2.
User1:
User1 should be granted the Package Master role for Set of Books1 because this set of books contains each of the roles that User 1 needs access to.
User2:
User2 should be granted the GL1 role because granting the Package Master role for Set of Books1 would provide too much access. In addition, User 2 should be granted the Package Master role for Set of Books2 because it contains the GL2 and FA2 roles, which User2 needs access to.
Granting Access to NoetixAnswers
For NoetixViews, the individual and Package Master roles that provide access to the generated packages also provide access to the associated NoetixAnswers. For example, users that are members of the GL_Ledger role will be able to see and execute all of the report templates built on the GL query subjects. Users that are members of a Package Master role will be able to see and execute all of the report templates associated with that package.
Users will only see NoetixAnswers folders if they have access to one or more of the report templates contained in those folders. If a user has not been given access to any of the generated packages, he or she will not see the top level folder that contains NoetixAnswers.
NOTE: The generator modifies the roles it creates to grant them permission to NoetixAnswers folders. It assigns read, execute, and traverse permission. This permission set should not be modified to provide users with the ability to modify the generated report templates. Any changes made to the templates using IBM Cognos Connection or IBM Cognos Report Studio will be overwritten during subsequent NoetixAnswers generations. Users should save their own copy of report templates that they want to customize.
Row Level Data Security
Starting with version 6.0, NoetixViews Global Extension enables security administrators to take advantage of the data access privileges that they have already set up in Oracle E-Business Suite. Reports built against the global views will have their data sets automatically filtered based on the access privileges configured for a user.
Global views look up a given user’s access privileges using the business intelligence tool user’s login name. This section defines the process that must be undertaken to configure the data source connection in Cognos to enable this login name look up. See the NoetixViews documentation for more information on the specifics of row level security in global views.
NOTE: This section only applies to the Global Extension in NoetixViews 6.0 and higher. This form of row level security is not available for NoetixViews Standard or Cross Operations, or for Noetix Analytics.
To configure a data source connection for row level security:
Open IBM Cognos Connection and navigate to IBM Cognos Administration.
Find the data source you wish to modify and click on the Properties icon.
Click on the Connection tab and then enter the following XML block as the Open session command:
<commandBlock>
<commands>
<sqlCommand>
<sql>
begin dbms_session.reset_package; end;
</sql>
</sqlCommand>
<sqlCommand>
<sql>
begin apps.xxnao_map_user_apps_init(
'[NOETIX_SYS Schema Name]',
#sq($account.personalInfo.userName)#,
'[Registered BI Tool Name]'
); end;
</sql>
</sqlCommand>
</commands>
</commandBlock>
Replace [NOETIX_SYS Schema Name] in the PL/SQL block from the previous step with the name of the NOETIX_SYS schema associated with the global views generation, in upper case.
Replace [Registered BI Tool Name] in the PL/SQL block from the previous step with the name of the IBM Cognos BI server, as it was registered in Insightsoftware NoetixViews Administrator. See the Insightsoftware NoetixViews Administrator Help file for more information on registering a BI tool server.
Click OK to save the command block.
Enter the following XML block as the Close session command:
<commandBlock>
<commands>
<sqlCommand>
<sql>
begin dbms_session.reset_package; end;
</sql>
</sqlCommand>
</commands>
</commandBlock>
Click OK to save the command block.
Save the data source.
Modify the sign on associated with the data source connection. Change it to use the Oracle E-Business Suite database’s APPS account. Provide the password for the APPS account.
NOTE: The APPS account is required for row level security to work for certain modules because they utilize Oracle E-Business Suite security capabilities that require the APPS account.
Save the sign on.
Best Practices for Using NoetixViews with IBM Cognos BI
The following recommendations will improve the functionality of NoetixViews in IBM Cognos BI.
Best Practices for Cognos Administrators
Following are some of the best practices for Cognos Administrators.
Set IBM Cognos Query Studio to Preview with No Data
By default, when a query is built in IBM Cognos Query Studio, data will be returned as soon as a query item is moved into the work area. Some Noetix views require filters before they can return data, so attempting to build a query in the default mode of Run with All Data will not work. Insightsoftware recommends that the default mode be set to Preview with No Data.
To set the Preview with No Data option:
On the Cognos server, navigate to <cognos_install>\c8\templates\ps\async.
If there is a file named system.xml, add the following:
<param name=“limitedDataMode”>nodata</param>
If there is no system.xml file, copy the system.xml.sample to system.xml, and ensure that the line above is included in the file.
Stop and restart the Cognos8 service.
For detailed information on how to do this, see Cognos Knowledge Base Article 1028168.
Turn off Auto Group & Summarize in IBM Cognos Report Studio
By default, both IBM Cognos Query Studio and IBM Cognos Report Studio will build queries that filter out duplicate records. This filtering forces additional report processing, which can negatively impact the performance of the report and produce unexpected results. There is no way to turn off this setting by default. For more information, see Cognos Knowledge Base Article 1023529. The method suggested by this article is to create a custom template and set the query property Auto Group & Summarize to No.
Best Practices for Cognos Report Authors
Following are some of the best practices for Cognos Authors.
How to Use LoV Views in IBM Cognos Report Studio
LoV views are designed to improve performance when filtering data in a report. To create a filter in IBM Cognos Report Studio that uses the LoV information generated by Noetix for a query item, use Tools > Build Prompt page to create the filter instead of using Data > Filters. If there is an LoV defined for the query item, it will automatically be picked up by using Build Prompt page. You can verify that the LoV view is the source of the filter by looking at the Detail Filter information in the Query Explorer for your main query. The source will be a query subject whose name starts with “LOV.”
NOTE: LoV views will be used by default in IBM Cognos Query Studio.
Turn off Duplicate Suppression
By default, both IBM Cognos Query Studio and IBM Cognos Report Studio will build queries that filter out duplicate records. This filtering forces additional report processing, which can negatively impact the performance of the report and produce unexpected results. Insightsoftware recommends that suppression of duplicates be turned off. This must be done on each query.
In IBM Cognos Query Studio:
On the Run Report menu, select Advanced Options.
Clear the Automatically summarize detail values, suppressing duplicates check box.
Click OK.
In IBM Cognos Report Studio:
View the query properties.
Set the Auto Group & Summarize property to No.