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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
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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
cscogpp@ca.ibm.com .

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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

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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.

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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.

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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…

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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