Cognos 8.3 -- Framework Manager -- Model objects and shortcuts

I was recently tasked with creating a relational model in Cognos Framework Manager and got a little confused when deciding what kind of objects to use. I found myself asking if I should use a Query Subject or a Shortcut. Furthermore, it seemed there had been some changes to the Shortcut functionality since I had last used Cognos. I found the following that made it rather clear which object(s) I should use when creating my model.

Taken from the Cognos documentation . . .

The main difference between model objects and shortcuts is that model objects give you the freedom to include or exclude items and to rename them. You may choose to use model objects instead of shortcuts if you need to limit the query items included or to change the names of items.

Shortcuts are less flexible from a presentation perspective than model objects, but they require much less maintenance because they are automatically updated when the target object is updated. If maintenance is a key concern and there is no need to customize the appearance of the query subject, use shortcuts.

Framework Manager has two types of shortcuts:
● regular shortcuts, which are a simple reference to the target object.

● alias shortcuts, which behave as if they were a copy of the original object with completely independent behavior.

Alias shortcuts are available only for query subjects and dimensions. Regular shortcuts are typically used as conformed dimensions with star schema groups, creating multiple references with the exact same name and appearance in multiple places. Alias shortcuts are typically used in role-playing dimensions or shared tables.

Being able to specify the behavior of shortcuts is new to Cognos 8.3. When you open a model from a previous release, the Shortcut Processing governor is set to Automatic. When Automatic is used, shortcuts work the same as in previous releases, that is, a shortcut that exists in the same folder as its target behaves as an alias, or independent instance, whereas a shortcut existing elsewhere in the model behaves as a reference to the original. To take advantage of the Treat As property, it is recommended that you verify the model and, when repairing, change the governor to Explicit. The repair operation changes all shortcuts to the correct value from the Treat As property based on the rules followed by the Automatic setting, this means that there should be no change in behavior of your model unless you choose to make one or more changes to the Treat As properties of your shortcuts.

When you create a new model, the Shortcut Processing governor is always set to Explicit. When the governor is set to Explicit, the shortcut behavior is taken from the Treat As property and you have complete control over how shortcuts behave without being concerned about where in the model they are located.

Schedule a Cognos Report Outside of the Cognos Platform

Download Source Code


I know, I know . . . this isn't a Cognos blog. I apologize. However, I do think this is a good little tid-bit and it can also be applied to SQL Server based on some (very high level) similarities in their architecture.

The Cognos scheduler is not extremely robust (nor is SQL Job Agent at times) and even if it was, there are times when it is appropriate to run a job using an enterprise scheduler application such as AppWorx or Tidal Enterprise Scheduler.

By exposing most functionality through web services, Cognos (and SSRS) allow you do to things such as execute a report. So, if your scheduler can make web services calls or call executables (wrap the web service calls in a console app) you can bypass the Cognos scheduler and leverage your enterprise scheduler by running the report directly (or through a proxy app such as a .NET exe wrapped web service) by your scheduler of choice.

Below is an example of this using .NET and Cognos.


using System;

using System.IO;
using System.Web.Services.Protocols;
using cognosdotnet_2_0;
using System.Configuration;

namespace InformationCollaboration.Cognos.Utilities

{

class ExecuteCognos8BIJob
{

[STAThread]
static int Main(string[] args)
{
    string serverHost = System.Configuration.ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings["serverHost"];
    string serverPort = System.Configuration.ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings["serverPort"];

searchPathSingleObject jobPath = new searchPathSingleObject();
jobPath.Value = System.Configuration.ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings["jobPath"];

// Parse the command-line arguments.
bool exit = false;
string jobName = string.Empty;

for (int i = 0; i < args.Length; i++)
{
if (args[i].CompareTo("-job") == 0){
i++;
jobName = args[i];
jobPath.Value += "jobDefinition[@name='" + jobName + "']";
} else {
Console.WriteLine("Unknown argument: {0}\n", args[i]);
showUsage(jobPath.Value);
exit = true;
}
}

if (!exit)
{
try
{
string Server_URL = "http://" + serverHost + ":" + serverPort + "/p2pd/servlet/dispatch";

jobService1 jobService = new jobService1();
jobService.Url = Server_URL;

Console.WriteLine("Logging on.");
setUpHeader(jobService);

parameterValue[] parameters = new parameterValue[] { };
option[] runOptions = new option[] { };

asynchReply res = jobService.run(jobPath, parameters, runOptions);
Console.WriteLine("Show usage.");
Console.WriteLine("Successfully executed job " + jobName);
writeMessageToLog("Successfully executed job " + jobName, false);
return 0;
}

catch (SoapException ex)
{
Console.WriteLine("SOAP exception!\n");
Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
writeMessageToLog(ex.Message, true);
return -1;
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Console.WriteLine("Unhandled exception!");
Console.WriteLine("Message: {0}", ex.Message);
Console.WriteLine("Stack trace:\n{0}", ex.StackTrace);

writeMessageToLog("Unhandled exception!\n" + "Message: " + ex.Message + "\n" + "Stack trace:\n" + ex.StackTrace + "\n", true);
return -1;
}
} // if (!exit)
else
{
return -1;
}
} // Main

///

/// This function will prepare the biBusHeader
///
/// If no error was reported, then logon was successful.
///

static void setUpHeader(jobService1 jobService)
{
// Scrub the header to remove the conversation context.
if (jobService.biBusHeaderValue != null)
{
if (jobService.biBusHeaderValue.tracking != null)
{
if (jobService.biBusHeaderValue.tracking.conversationContext != null)
{
jobService.biBusHeaderValue.tracking.conversationContext = null;
}
}
return;
}

// Get authentication info from config file
string onyxUserId = System.Configuration.ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings["onyxUserId"];
string onyxPassword = System.Configuration.ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings["onyxPassword"];
string onyxApplication = System.Configuration.ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings["onyxApplication"];
string onyxSite = System.Configuration.ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings["onyxSite"];
string CAMNamespace = System.Configuration.ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings["CAMNamespace"];

// Set up a new biBusHeader for the "logon" action.
jobService.biBusHeaderValue = new biBusHeader();
jobService.biBusHeaderValue.CAM = new CAM();
jobService.biBusHeaderValue.CAM.action = "logonAs";
jobService.biBusHeaderValue.hdrSession = new hdrSession();

formFieldVar[] ffs = new formFieldVar[5];
ffs[0] = new formFieldVar();
ffs[0].name = "onyxUserId";
ffs[0].value = onyxUserId;
ffs[0].format = formatEnum.not_encrypted;
ffs[1] = new formFieldVar();
ffs[1].name = "onyxPassword";
ffs[1].value = onyxPassword;
ffs[1].format = formatEnum.not_encrypted;
ffs[2] = new formFieldVar();
ffs[2].name = "onyxApplication";
ffs[2].value = onyxApplication;
ffs[2].format = formatEnum.not_encrypted;
ffs[3] = new formFieldVar();
ffs[3].name = "onyxSite";
ffs[3].value = onyxSite;
ffs[3].format = formatEnum.not_encrypted;
ffs[4] = new formFieldVar();
ffs[4].name = "CAMNamespace";
ffs[4].value = CAMNamespace;
ffs[4].format = formatEnum.not_encrypted;

jobService.biBusHeaderValue.hdrSession.formFieldVars = ffs;
}

static void showUsage(string jobPath)
{
Console.WriteLine("Run a Cognos 8 BI job.\n");
Console.WriteLine("usage:\n");
Console.WriteLine("-job searchPath Search path in Cognos Connection to a job.");
Console.WriteLine(" " + jobPath);
}

static void writeMessageToLog(string message, bool error)
{
try
{
string errorLogPath = System.Configuration.ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings["errorLogPath"];
errorLogPath += "CognosJobServiceLog_" + DateTime.Today.ToString("dd-mm-yy") + ".txt";
if (!File.Exists(errorLogPath))
{
File.Create(errorLogPath).Close();
}
using (StreamWriter w = File.AppendText(errorLogPath))
{
string logText;
if (!error)
{
logText = message;
}
else
{
logText = "ERROR: " + message;
}
w.WriteLine("{0} {1}",DateTime.Now.ToString(), logText);
w.Flush();
w.Close();
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
}
}
}
}

Download Source Code