Configuring the Contributor application using Cognos

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Configuring the Contributor application using Cognos

Source Book

ISBN	978-1-847196-84-2
Publisher	Packt Publishing
Author(s)	Jason Edwards, Ned Riaz, Rich Babaran

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1 Configuring the Contributor application for the user web interface
- 1.1 Configuring commonly used options
- 1.2 Understanding uncommonly used options
2 Deploying a Contributor application to the Web: The GTP and Reconciliation process
3 Source

[edit] Configuring the Contributor application for the user web interface

In this section, we will first discuss the most commonly-used configurations in greater detail, and then briefly cover some less-commonly-used configurations.

[edit] Configuring commonly used options

You will most likely configure these seven options for a Contributor application in addition to configuring e.List, rights, and access tables.

Navigation

Orientation
Breakback
Multi-view
Slice and dice
Multiple Owner
Planner Only Cubes

The following screenshot of the Contributor Administration Console shows the location of these options in the development branch of the Contributor application. A pane appears on the right-hand side when you click on each folder. Each pane provides several configuration options.

The topics of e.List, rights, access tables, saved selections, and data validation are covered comprehensively in Tutorial 10. These options significantly impact the user web interface.

[edit] Navigation

The Navigation option reorders cubes on the Contributor client web site. The following screenshot displays the order of cubes on the Navigation screen of the Contributor Administration Console, and demonstrates the same order of tabs on the Contributor client web site.

The following screenshot shows how the Set Cube Order appears on the Contributor client's screen:

An Analyst D-Cube is called a Tab in Contributor. The terms cubes and tabs are used interchangeably.

It is a good practice to group related tabs together in an application. For instance, you may group input tabs together and output tabs together, so that users can easily follow the model flow. Unlike previous versions (8.3 or before), version 8.4 allows users to change the order of the tabs.

[edit] Orientation

A multi-dimensional cube can have one or more column dimensions, one or more row dimensions, and one or more pages. The Orientation option allows the cube's dimension to become a column, a row, or a page. Using the slice and dice feature, a user can re-orient default rows, columns, and pages, once they are inside the application on the Web. Additionally, the orientation feature allows the combining or nesting of two dimensions as a row or a column. Unlike previous versions (8.3 or before), version 8.4 allows users to nest and un-nest dimensions. For the ABC Company's application, we have oriented the dimensions as follows: Depreciation Calc as rowrows; Periods as columncolumns; e.List (country) as a page/context; Asset Type as a page/context. The first screenshot shows the orientation configured in the Contributor Administration Console. The second screenshot shows the row, column, and contexts/pages on the Contributor Web Client.

The following screenshot shows the default orientation appearing on the Contributor client's screen:

Financial users favor the timescale dimension, for example, calendar months, as a column. Using the Orientation feature, and selecting the period D-List as a column for all cubes in an application, provides a consistent look-and-feel to financial users.

The major difference between both configuration options is that the navigation option applies to all cubes in an application, whereas the orientation option applies to a specific cube.

[edit] Breakback (Grid options)

When you enter an amount to breakback a subtotal, for example, a year subtotal made up of twelve months; the yearly amount (say, $1200) changes the values of monthly numbers equally (say, $100), or changes the values of monthly numbers in the ratio of previously stored values.

You can activate or disable this feature for individual cubes. All formulas and subtotal cells are grayed out when you turn off the breakback feature for a cube. Moreover, users cannot enter values into these cells.

Although breakback is a powerful feature, it may mess up the budget templates if users don't fully recognize its power. For example, if a user inadvertently enters a value on a net profit subtotal for a group of cost centres, the breakback feature would change the sales, cost of sales, and expense values, because the net profit subtotal is normally dependent on those P&L accounts.

[edit] Multi-view

As demonstrated here, when the multi-view option is on, a user can see all of the Europe nodes in one window. On the other hand, when this option is off, a user can only see one UK node (e.List item). This shortcoming intensifies in a scenario when a user is responsible for planning many nodes, and they have to open and close individual nodes to finish their planning submissions or when they want to breakback a target number over the e.List items.

Compared to the above illustration, where planners can see all nodes, the following screenshot shows that planners can view only one UK node:

Turning the multi-view feature on and off involves a trade-off between usability and performance. When users open the Contributor client web site, the Contributor program loads the budget model into the computer's memory. Opening one slice of the model takes less memory, whereas opening multiple slices takes more memory, hence slowing the client's computer's processing power. Therefore, when this feature is on, users can open all nodes under a roll-up node in one view simultaneously, but it can affect program performance. The opposite is true when the feature is off. With multi-view turned on, the web client may not be able to open an application having many child nodes under a roll-up node.

[edit] Slice and dice

Slice and dice is a great analysis feature in OLAP applications, such as IBM Cognos Planning. Compare the illustration given here, where we have sliced the version/budget dimension as a row in the "After" view, and analyze the gross revenue amounts between the current year's budget and the last year's actual. In the following illustration, the store dimension is a context/page.

In the second illustration below, a user replaces the Products dimension (now a context/page) with the Stores dimension (now a row). Slicing and dicing provides analytical insight to plan data.

A likely challenge occurs when a new user, unfamiliar with the OLAP tool, slices and transposes the dimensions in a cube, and then gets lost in the cube orientation. Hence, consider your user's experience when you turn this feature off.

[edit] Multiple owner

When this option is turned on, users can take the ownership of nodes or e.List items from each other. Imagine a situation in which a planner, responsible for submitting the Canada node, is sick on budget submission day. If this feature is turned-on, another business user, if allowed, can take ownership of the Canada node and submit the budget on behalf of their sick colleague.

[edit] Planner Only cubes

The Contributor client web site has two key roles: Planner and Reviewer. Planners enter and submit budget holders, and Reviewers can review the budget submission. When you assign a cube as the Planner Only cube, it does not become visible in the Reviewer's view or node.

The following screenshot shows that, when certain cubes are configured as Planner Only they don't appear in the Reviewer's view. A reviewer of the Europe node only sees the Profit and Loss tab.

In the following illustration, reviewers can view only the Profit and Loss tab.

There are two key benefits of this feature. First, when a reviewer opens the aggregation node, the Planner Only cubes do not initiate the aggregation algorithm that takes place behind the scenes. Non-initiation of the algorithm speeds up the aggregation process and the appearance of the aggregated view. Secondly, reviewers see a less cluttered view, as they don't see the Planner Only cubes.

[edit] Understanding uncommonly used options

In practice, you will most likely not change the following options, and leave them set to their defaults:

Data color
Recalculate after every cell change
Audit annotation
Users instructions
Translation

[edit] Deploying a Contributor application to the Web: The GTP and Reconciliation process

The GTP and Reconciliation process moves the application from development to production, and prepares the application for Web use. We will discuss the topics of GTP and Reconciliation in the following sections.

[edit] Understanding GTP

As discussed previously in this tutorial, you complete application changes in the Development Area, and then move those changes to the Production Area.

You will need to run the GTP in the following situations:

After creating the application
After changing the application's configurations
After updating the e.List
After adding, deleting, or editing access tables and saved selections
After importing data
After changing or synchronizing the Analyst model
After setting up data validation rules

The GTP operation moves the development model to production. It is a demarcation line between the development and production models with no point of return, once the GTP is executed. Make sure that you are satisfied with your development model changes before you execute the GTP operation.

[edit] Executing the GTP the process

We will GTP the ABC Company application to walk you through the GTP steps:

1. Select the application and click on the green arrow button on the Contributor Administration Console menu.

2. Click on Next, on the welcome screen.

3. Click on Next on the Go To Production Options screen, after changing any necessary options, as shown:

Backup Datastore: This option backs up the development and production application and stores them in the location specified by the database administrator during the application creation process. In practice, your database administrators will advise against using this feature as most organizations have already implemented a comprehensive database backup/restore plan.

Create Planning Package: To access Contributor applications, you, having the directory capability, must select the option to create the package when you run Go to Production. A Planning package, appearing as a folder in IBM Cognos Connection, contains only information regarding the connection to the cubes in a Planning application. The option of Create Planning Package also gives users access to IBM Cognos 8 studios from the Contributor application if they have BI studios installed, and enables users to report against live Contributor data by using the Planning Data Service (See Tutorial 13).

Cognos Connection, a portal to IBM Cognos 8, provides a single access point to all IBM Cognos 8 reporting, planning, score carding, and notification products.

Display Invalid Owners and Editors: Select this option to show invalid owners and editors. Example: Joe was responsible for submitting the monthly forecast of the Canada node last month, Sarah replaces Joe this month when Joe is promoted; you update the ownership of the Canada node to reflect the node ownership change. When you run the GTP next time, the Show Changes screen will show that the Canada node has an invalid editor/owner.

Workflow States: This option resets the state of the e.List items in the Contributor client web site (See Tutorial 12).

4. Select Next on the Show Changes screen. The message that appears next will vary depending whether this is a first-time GTP or a subsequent GTP. The Show Changes screen shows the following tabs: Analyst model changes, data import details, invalid owners and editors, e.List items to be reconciled.

5. Click on Finish on the last screen to kick off the GTP. The Contributor Administration Console will show a message to confirm (OK)or Cancel the GTP.

[edit] Understanding the Reconciliation job

You may have two separate versions of the application, namely a development model or application and a production model or application. A discrepancy between the two can occur when you have made changes, for example, adding a few new e.List items or importing actual from the general ledger system to the model, in the development model and have not run the GTP to reflect those changes in the production model. Kicking off the GTP process moves the development changes to production behind the scenes. It fires up an admin job called "Reconciliation". This job reconciles the development model with the production model and ensures that the copy of the application that the users will see on the web is up-to-date. Reconciliation is an admin job and uses Contributor job architecture for job processing. Analogously, the process of reconciliation is no different than the process that you use to reconcile the difference between your bank statement and your check tutorial.

Many factors determine the speed and performance of the Reconciliation job. A small model, a smaller e.List, and the availability of many job servers will speed the Reconciliation job.