We have metrics that came with Sungard/Banner/Cognos. We’re now trying to figure out how to use our cubes and databases to the current metric package we have, instead of just typing a few in for demos. From what I understand, we can use Metric Designer to do this.
The metrics are already created. We just need to take information from our cubes and Oracles tables. I’ve been reading and it seems things are round and round and round about how to go about this. The documentation is horrible. From what I understand, I go into Metric Designer.
I have a project called victoria.
I created an import source called import source, which links to the package that we want to put the data in.
Under Metric Package References, I have the package that we want to place the data in there.
Now do I need to right click on the metric package reference and create an extracts folder, objects extract, or metrics extract? Or do I still need to put the data in the staging tables for that? I looked at the information on the staging tables, and it appears that they are all metrics related, there is nothing that specifically says “here is the table/tab delimited file that you utilize to put the data in”. Thanks for any help.
All these 3 ways always load there data into the staging tables. The staging tables are for checking your data before you load it in the ‘system’ table. Once the data is loaded in the ‘system’ tables, users can see it in Metric Studio.
Depending what you want to load scorecard structure or groups or metrics. Metics designer creates files like cmv (cognos metric value), cmo (cognos metic object), etc, depending on the type of extract. If you open these files you see the data which is loaded in the staging tables of the metric store.
Note: the file content (order and number of columns) is exactly the same as the staging table where it is loaded. For this loading a bulk load copy is done.
If I go to Metric Designer and export the “system” tables by using the database links I’ve got set up, once they go to the staging tables, I can review the structure and then figure out how I need to load them from our database tables?
Load Data from Staging Tables into the Metric Store
For the Cognos Metrics user manual:
In IBM Cognos Connection, a loading process moves rows of data from the staging area to the metric store and then recalculates data.
Alternatively, you can load the metric store from the command line. An external application can schedule or trigger a load, using batch files in a Windows environment or shell scripts in a UNIX environment.
When loading data that has owners, the owners must exist in the same namespace as the person who is loading the data. This is because checking user permissions for the data load requires searching the namespace, and to search a namespace you must be logged on to it. If the owners do not exist in the namespace, data in the stage policy, stage object note, and watchlist stage tables is rejected. Data in other tables, such as the object stage, metric type stage, and stage project tables, is loaded but the staged record appears in the rejects table with a warning that the owner could not be resolved.
Thanks. However, my question was about exporting the tables, and would I be able to view the data in the staging tables enough to figure out how to put the data we have now into those staging tables. I had read the Load Data from Staging Tables into the Metric Store, but that’s not what I want to do.
The “system” metric store tables are a “black box”, just like the content store tables. Cognos does not want you to mess around in these tables. You always fill the staging tables and the software takes care were and how the information is stored in the metric store “system” tables.
ie. if you upload 1 file with metrics values (cmv) to the staging table the format is exactly the same. But when you publish this to the “system” tables it affects multiple tables, with keys, IDs and data.
Thanks! Ok, I understand that. I went to the User Guide, and it told me how to export data. I received a successful export following those instructions. My understanding is that once I get the export, they would go to the staging tables. I don’t see any staging tables (or anything like the .equ and .eqi files that I’m to get with the equations). Is that an incorrect understanding of how this works?
Or are the staging tables themselves in the database schema?
Currently we have a created store with metrics, but its hand inputted data. What I’m attempting to do is to get rid of that data, change the business calendar, and use our cube/database information for that. I would have thought that if I exported the data to the staging tables (which I’ve seen listed in the documentation), I would have been able to see the structure, and then use a different import source. Am I wrong in that, or do I need to just recreate a whole new store from scratch?
Would have been nice if it was said in the documentation what happens with the export. I had to export some other stuff and now I know where my staging files are! YAY! One battle down.
