COGNOS Development Standards and Guidelines

Version : 1.2

TCS Confidential
 Table of Contents
1 Naming Conventions........................................................................................................4
1.1 Impromptu Catalog....................................................................................................4
1.2 Impromptu Reports....................................................................................................4
1.3 PowerPlay Models and Cubes...................................................................................5
1.4 Visualizer...................................................................................................................5
1.5 KPI Business Pack.....................................................................................................5
1.6 Upfront.......................................................................................................................5
1.7 Access Manager.........................................................................................................5
1.8 Environment...............................................................................................................5
1.8.1 Developer Workstation Directory Structure.......................................................5
1.8.2 Server Directory Structure..................................................................................6
1.9 Visual consistency.....................................................................................................6
1.10 Formating.................................................................................................................6
2 Impromptu.........................................................................................................................8
2.1 Catalog.......................................................................................................................8
2.1.1 Dimension Folders..............................................................................................8
2.1.2 Fact Folders.........................................................................................................9
2.2 Drill Through Reports..............................................................................................10
2.2.1 Report Components..........................................................................................11
3 PowerPlay.......................................................................................................................12
3.1 Data Sources............................................................................................................12
3.1.1 Dimensions.......................................................................................................12
3.1.2 Facts..................................................................................................................12
3.2 Models......................................................................................................................12
3.2.1 Level Properties................................................................................................14
3.2.2 Number of Dimensions.....................................................................................15
3.2.3 Number of Levels/Categories...........................................................................15
3.2.4 Number of Measures.........................................................................................15
3.2.5 Incremental Build..............................................................................................15
3.2.6 Compressed Cubes............................................................................................15
3.2.7 Cross-Tab Caching ...........................................................................................15
3.2.8 Cube Groups (Detail & Summary)...................................................................15
3.2.9 Data Source Properties......................................................................................15
4 Visualizer........................................................................................................................16
5 KPI Business Pack..........................................................................................................17
6 Upfront............................................................................................................................18
7 Access Manager..............................................................................................................19
8 Design Guidelines...........................................................................................................20
8.1 Common Dimensions...............................................................................................20
8.1.1 Required Dimensions........................................................................................20
8.1.2 Optional Dimension..........................................................................................21
8.2 Performance.............................................................................................................21
9 Miscellaneous Tips & Techniques..................................................................................22
9.1 Nth Percentile Calculation.......................................................................................22

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 9.1.1 Quartile in MS-Excel........................................................................................22
9.1.2 Implementation in Impromptu..........................................................................23
9.2 V% / Vprime Calculation.........................................................................................25
9.3 Cumulative Trends...................................................................................................25
9.4 Alerts........................................................................................................................25
9.5 Partitioning...............................................................................................................25
9.6 Oracle ......................................................................................................................28
9.6.1 Fetch Settings ...................................................................................................28
9.6.2 Numeric Formats .............................................................................................29
9.7 General.....................................................................................................................29
9.7.1 Currency Conversion........................................................................................29
9.7.2 Fiscal Calendar..................................................................................................29
9.7.3 Dimension Hierarchy........................................................................................30
9.7.4 Modality............................................................................................................31
9.7.5 Company...........................................................................................................32

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1 Naming Conventions
In order to be able to leverage the excellent features of Cognos suite, a strict naming
convention needs to be adhered to. This will allow for optimal drill across and drill thru
to functionality. All file names should be in lowercase (with _ separator) to simplify the
UNIX case sensitivity issues. All other names (i.e. Impromptu Folders, Dimension
Levels) should be Mixed Case with a space separator.

1.1 Impromptu Catalog

Below are the naming convention used for existing Catalogs. General naming
convention is to use project prefix to all the objects
Genesis projects should use the following names for the catalogs:

genap Accounts Payable

genar Accounts Receivable
genbom Bills of Material
gengl General Ledger
geninv Inventory
genmfg Manufacturing/Finance
genom Order Management
genpo Purchase Orders
genwip Work in Progress

Any additional catalogs will have the same convention, , followed by 2-3 characters that
descript the functional area the catalogs are designed for.

1.2 Impromptu Reports

Report names should use the following convention:

genap_aaaa_dim Where the Dim signifies a dimension or structural query for

eventual use in building a PowerPlay model. The aaaa is a description
corresponding to the dimension. Examples could be Modality or Product.

genap_aaaa_fact Where the Fact signifies a transactional query for even

eventual use in building a PowerPlay model. The aaaa is a description
corresponding to the transaction data. Examples could be Orders or Sales.

Above two naming convention are used for IMR files used to generate iqd’s

genap_aaaa_drill Where the Drill signifies a drill through report. The aaaa is
an description corresponding to the function of the report.

Impromptu Query Definition files should always be created from and IMR and use the
same naming conventions. Under no circumstances are .iqd files to be edited
independently from the Impromptu .imr source file./Framwork query subject

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Impromptu Query Definition files are created using Report Net Framework Manager
model for all new Projects. If Reportnet Framework Manager cannot support any
requirements which was supported in Impromptu. BI Operations team will investigate
and take up this with Cognos Support

1.3 PowerPlay Models and Cubes

Models will follow this naming convention. Use the module name as above (project
name), followed by an alpha name that will briefly describe the intended audience.

Edw_ar_agingGENAP_BAL which would be for Genesis Accounts Payable,

Balances Owed.

In the instances when there are multiple cubes in one area, such as AP, use the remainder
of the naming convention to clarify its usage. Note that the naming convention should be
followed through to the cube name as well. This will facilitate finding the “stream of
evidence” from the model to the cube name to the published cube name in PPES.

Model Name edwargenar_aging.mdl Make sure to save both versions

edwargenar_aging.pyi
Cube Name edwargenar_aging.mdc Give this name in model for cube
Published Cube Name edwaregenar_aging Be sure to add a description

1.4 Visualizer
TBD

1.5 KPI Business Pack

TBD

1.6 Upfront
TBD

1.7 Access Manager

TBD

1.8 Environment
1.8.1 Developer Workstation Directory Structure
All developers should use the following directory structure to minimize the impact in a
team development environment.
\cognoswork
\project n (name of project)
\architect (contains Architect model files, used for Cognos Query - .cem, .cemx)
\catalog (contains the Impromptu catalog files - .cat)
\csv (contains any flat files used for Transformer - .csv, .asc, .xls, .txt)
\images (contains any images that are used within Impromptu Web Reports or PowerPlay
portable reports.bmp, .gif, .jpg)

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 \imr (contains the Impromptu reports - .imr)
\iqd (contains the Impromptu query definitions used to build the PowerPlay cubes - .iqd)
\model (contains the Transformer models for building cubes - .mdl, .pyi)
\viz (contains Cognos Visualizations - .vis)

1.8.2 Server Directory Structure

All projects must have the following directory structure on the server. Your project
Architect (promoter) will then be able place the project objects in the appropriate
directory for testing and migration to PRD.
This structure is created with the UNIX script – create_struct.sh

\cognoswork
\project n (name of project)
\architect (contains Architect model files, used for Cognos Query - .cem, .cemx)
\backup (contains the backups of the cubes)
\build (contains the cube file as it is being built)
\catalog (contains the Impromptu catalog files - .cat)
\csv (contains any flat files used for Transformer - .csv, .asc, .xls, .txt)
\cubes (contains the PowerPlay cubes - .mdc)
\flag (contains flag files noting database population and mirroring completion)
\images (contains any images that are used within Impromptu Web Reports or PowerPlay
portable reports.bmp, .gif, .jpg)
\imr (contains the Impromptu reports - .imr)
\iqd (contains the Impromptu query definitions used to build the PowerPlay cubes - .iqd)
\iwr (contains the Impromptu reports and catalog that will be published to the Upfront
-.cat, .imr)
\logs (contains the log files generated when Transformer builds a cube - .log)
\model (contains the Transformer models for building cubes - .mdl, .pyi)

\ppx (contains PowerPlay reports against the cubes in Enterprise Server - .ppr, .ppx)
\reportstore (is the location where IWR publishes the reports to during the publishing
process)
\script (contains shell scripts for automation)
\vis (contains Cognos Visualizations - .vis)

1.9 Visual consistency

1.10 Formating

Font Font Arial

Font style Regular (Data)
Bold (Summation, Report Heading,
Column Heading)
Size 8 (Data)
8 (Column Heading, Summation)
12 (Report Heading)
Effects None
Color Black (Data, Report Heading)
White (Column Heading)
Border Default
Border Line Style ½ pt

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 Color Black
Alignment Left (Data, Column Heading)
Right (Amount & Summation)
Center (Report Heading)
Patterns Pattern Clear (2nd pattern)
Foreground White (Data, Report Heading)
Navy (Column Heading)
Silver (Total)
Background White
Detail Numeric Normal 0.0000
Fields
(Fractional) Positive 0.0000
Negative (0.0000)
Zero 0.0000
Missing 0
Data & Normal 0.00
Summation
Positive 0.00
Negative (0.00)
Zero 0.00
Missing 0
Header Report oriented main information’s to be displayed. (Ex: Context
to Be selected: "Aging_f")
Footer Enter the page number
Currency Transactional Amount is displayed as given according to the
Display prior format of Data & Summation.
Functional Amount is displayed as given according to the prior
format of Data & Summation, with the “$” (dollar), sign in the left
side. $1000.00

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2 Impromptu
2.1 Catalog
Catalogs that are created for building PowerCubes and for IWR reports must have a
separate folder for users to use that contains the relevant columns from the fact table and
joined dimension tables.

For example:

If the above structure were to be included in a catalog, the appropriate joins would be
made on the tables. All common dimension tables should be included in the same folder
as the relevant fact table.
Most of the tables have geglb as their prefix. Please remove this part of the name from
the folder name for the catalog. The users prefer to see names that are meaningful and
not cryptic. Note, even if you remove this from the Folder view the fully qualified names
will be used in the .icr report.

2.1.1 Dimension Folders

A folder must be created that maintains all the Dimension/Structural tables. All the data
sources for the dimensions should be created only using these folders (unless a dimension
is required to be created with manual categories). This will ensure that all Column names
used for building dimensions & levels in PowerPlay have the same names across the
functional catalogs.

1. Add all the Dimension Tables / Views to the Tables list in the Catalog-Tables
window.
1. Do not make any joins to these tables in the Catalog-Joins window.
2. Create a new folder with the name “ALL Dimensions”.
3. Move all the folders that were created in step1 to this new folder.

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2.1.2 Fact Folders
Then, the developers need to create a separate folder that represents the hub of the star
schema as depicted above. Then, include the related, joined dimension tables underneath
the fact table folder as alias folders and label them accordingly.
Keep adding the other tables in the star schema to create a structure that is grouped for all
the dimension tables within the fact table.
This structure gives clarity of what dimension tables can be used with the fact tables.
Whenever there is a need to use additional attributes from the dimensions for any given
fact table they should be taken from the corresponding alias dimension folder. This will
ensure that there are no loops formed in the queries, in the event there is a need to join
multiple fact tables. However, an effort should be made to minimize the need to join
multiple fact tables as this could cause performance issues. With the combination of
Dimension and Fact Folders, developers should be able to create the main fact query and
the dimensional queries. The key columns will be used at the bottom of the dimensions
with any hierarchy used to create multiple levels in the dimension. If the fact table is
used with no joined columns from the dimension tables, the cube builds will be very
quick. There may need to be some joins in most cases, however.

1. Add one of the required fact tables to the Tables list in the Catalog-Tables
window.
2. Add all the dimension tables required to be used with the fact table added in
step1, with the following naming convention as aliases:
<Dimension table name> for <Fact group>
3. Create joins between these new alias dimension and the fact tables that were
added in steps 1 & 2.
4. Create a new folder for the functional group of the fact table. Ex. Revenue,
Orders, Quotes etc.
5. Move all the folders that were created as a result of Steps 1 & 2 into this new
folder.

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 6. If there are calculations needed, such as currency conversion, then there will need
to be alias versions of some dimension tables added to the catalog. Please use the
convention: DIMENSION NAME’ALIAS FOR fact table’. This will help
identify the source.
7. Join this version of the dimension table to the fact table by the known key
value(s). Create a separate folder, ALIAS DIMENSIONS to hold these folders.
Move the alias dimensions into the ALAIS DIMENSIONS folder. Use the
appropriate columns from the fact table and from the alias version of the
dimension table to compute the values needed.
8. Since the users will likely want to see the dimension column name instead of the
unique key value, alias tables for the dimensions needed should be created.
Again, use the naming convention DIMENSION NAME’ALIAS FOR fact table’.
Store these in the ALIAS DIMENSION folder. Make the necessary joins
between the fact tables and the alias dimension tables. Use the alias dimension
table as the source for the description column for the key column from the fact
table.

2.2 Drill Through Reports

To create the Drill Through report, start with the fact table Impromptu report. This will
have all the same column names that are needed to join the cube to the drill through IMR.
Note: If name changes are needed for the column names in the data source queries
in the Transformer model, make the changes in the Impromptu Query window.
Then the names will be identical in the Impromptu .iqd, in the Transformer data
source query and in the Drill Through report.
Before submitting a drill-thru report, its catalog must not be “Distributed Catalog”.

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2.2.1 Report Components
Use of DECODE statements is discouraged as it has a negative impact on performance.
All translations of this nature should be pushed to the ETL (Extract, Translate, Load)
layer.
Make certain that appropriate indexes exist on the tables and are being utilized in the
reports.
Reports that will be used for building a PowerCube should not use SORT or GROUP BY
operators as this is perform by the Transformer process of building cubes.

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3 PowerPlay
3.1 Data Sources
There are two main classes of queries in Transformer: dimension queries and fact queries.
Dimension queries are composed of columns whose values build category structures
within a Transformer model. The columns of dimension queries are associated with the
dimensions and levels of the model, and provide data that is used to generate categories
within these dimensions.
The most important point to remember about dimension queries is that they do not
contain columns that represent measure values. Instead, they establish category
structures, provide labels, sort values, descriptions, and so forth. A dimension query is
associated with a particular dimension, and provides all of the columns necessary for
"populating" it with categories.

3.1.1 Dimensions
Generally, dimension queries may not change as frequently over time as fact queries. For
this reason, they may not have to be re-executed each time a cube is generated. For
example, a structure query representing a geographic dimension may only need to be
executed once if the geography for a model does not change.

3.1.2 Facts
Fact queries provide measure values for a cube. The columns in a transaction query are
associated with measures, and with unique levels in the model. Unlike dimension queries,
fact queries will change frequently, representing the latest data to be added to cubes.
These queries will be the main drivers of cube generation, and are designed to minimize
the data source processing time during cube production. Consequently, these queries
should be designed to have small, concise records, with the absolute minimum amount of
information required to add new data to the PowerCubes.

3.2 Models
Within the Transformer model, all dimensions must contain a unique category at the
lowest level. This unique category (“Account Key” for example from Dimension
Hierarchy Queries above) should exist both in the dimension hierarchy query AND all
fact queries.

1. Using the Category Source Panel, populate the boxes as follows:

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 (a)
b. The Source value contains the code for the applicable level (i.e. “Account n” from
the Dimension Hierarchy Queries example above).
c. The Label value contains the description for the applicable level (i.e. “Account n
Desc” from the Dimension Hierarchy Queries example above).
d. The Description value is an optional field and contains the description for this
category label that will be displayed in the help window within PowerPlay web.
e. The Short Name is an optional field and will only be applicable in PowerPlay
Client reports.
f. If left empty, the Category Code will inherit the value from the Source. This
should remain empty under most circumstances.
(a) NOTE, at the lowest level of the dimension, the Unique checkbox
must be checked.
2. Using the Category Order By Panel, populate the box as follows:

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 a. The Order By value will generally contain the label value from A2 above.
b. The Sort Order radio button should be selected as applicable (either Ascending or
Descending).
c. The Sort As radio button should be selected as applicable (either Alphabetic or
Numeric).
3. The model name will be used as the name of the cube file (.mdc) and therefore the
model name should be populated as follows:
a. Within the model, select File and click on Model Properties.
b. In the Model Name textbox, enter a valid name:
i. The model name should NOT contain any spaces (use _ to substitute).

The model name will be the name of the .mdc file (which also appears in the Upfront title
bar within the PowerPlay cube), so give it a meaningful name.

3.2.1 Level Properties

Specify a “Category Code” whenever possible. By default this is the same as the “Source
Value”. This is used across the cube as a unique reference indicator. This is required for
Manual Categories.
With the separation of structural and fact queries PowerPlay must be able to identify each
category in the level by its source alone. Therefore, levels should be unique, especially
when there is a convergence level. If this is not implemented invalid results will occur
when Transformer attempts to associate values with these categories.

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3.2.2 Number of Dimensions
Kimball’s “Dimensional Scorecard” implies that 10 dimensions are practical in a single
analysis module and that drill across functionality be deployed to optimize the business
solution. When at all possible a single level dimension should be avoided.

3.2.3 Number of Levels/Categories

Drill-down performance is dependent on the number of categories it must display and
simultaneously roll-up. As such, each dimension should be limited to no more than 5
levels and the numbers of categories in a hierarchy should ideally be distributed with a 1
to 64 ratio and should not exceed 1000.

3.2.4 Number of Measures

The total number of measures request in a cross tab display will impact the performance.
Each measure can add 10-15% to the overall cube size which is also known to directly
relate to cube performance. The total number of measures should be limited to 10.

3.2.5 Incremental Build

Incremental update is an effective way to optimize cube production by adding only the
newest data to an existing PowerCube without reprocessing all previous data. Updates are
much smaller than the entire rebuilding of the cube and are usually done much quicker.
Incremental update can only be employed for cubes that have a static structure and where
incremental transaction data is available.
This is not applicable to the GENESIS EDW.

3.2.6 Compressed Cubes

This feature is only available for 32-bit Windows platforms.
This is not applicable to the GENESIS EDW.

3.2.7 Cross-Tab Caching

This feature caches the initial cross-tab of a PowerCube view in order to improve
performance when a PowerPlay user first opens the PowerCube.

3.2.8 Cube Groups (Detail & Summary)

3.2.9 Data Source Properties

Enable Multi-processing, Transformer will use up to 2 processors to load balance the
PowerCube generation process. Turning on this feature is highly recommended for
queries that have calculated columns defined in Transformer. However, this has not
proven to be advantageous on the GEMS infrastructure.

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4 Visualizer
TBD

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5 KPI Business Pack
TBD

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6 Upfront
TBD We have to follow the Standard News Box structure for placing the Cognos Objects

NewsIndex will have Individual Project News Boxes and Administartion Newsboxes.
Each project Newsboxes can have newsboxes and other objects as per the requirement.

Administartion folder is secured to have access only to Architects who publish the
cognos objects to Cognos Upfront.

Upfront publishing standards

PowerPlay
All cubes must be published to “//NewsIndex/Administration/PublishedCubes/<Project
Folder>/<modelname>/”. If a link to the base cube is required in your project folder
then copy a shortcut into your project folder. The same applies to PPXs that are
published to PowerPlay Enterprise Server. All other references to this cube will
be “saved views” and may be placed directly into your project folder structure.
IWR
All Drill Thru reportsets must be published to
“//NewsIndex/Administration/IWRDTR/<Project Folder>”. All source objects that
reference this reportset can then use this common location.
All standalone reportsets must be published to
“//NewsIndex/Administration/PublishedReports/<Project Folder>/<reportsetname>”. Place
a shortcut to these reports into your project folder.
VIZ
All visualizations must be published to
“//NewsIndex/Administration/PublishedViz/<Project Folder>”. A copy (not a shortcut as
is required for powerplay and iwr) of these links can then be placed into your
project folder.

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7 Access Manager
Implementation of security has been limited to associating the DBMS logon with the
environment. There are no requirements for UserClass security at this point. In the near
term UserClass views may be defined to clarify the users content. This implementation
should be defined such that only one UserClass need be assigned to a User.

There are two types of Security can be inplimented for Series 7 objects.

1. Dynamic Sceurity
2. Static Security

Dynamic Security is achieved by generating and implementing security scripts

dynamically after reading the database. In case of Cubes security related scripts can be
added MDL script and that can be executed before the cube builds to generate Models.
This Model will have dimensional Views for each Userclass. Security script regenerated
each time asper the schedule by reading stored parameters in Database.

Static Security is achieved by assigning User Class to a

Cube/Newsitem/Newsbox/Reports .

Creation of Users and User Classes for Dynmaic Security scripts are done through batch
maintenance scripts. For Static Security Objects Userclasses are created manually

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8 Design Guidelines
8.1 Common Dimensions
To provide the benefit of drill across and drill thru while passing along the filters, strict
naming conventions need to be adhered to. These are the common dimensions required
for GENESIS. Additional dimension definitions are included but are optional for the
cubes.

8.1.1 Required Dimensions

TIME
Fiscal Year
Fiscal Quarter
Fiscal Month
Fiscal Week
Calendar Day

NOTE: For the Time Dimension, always use the “Tim Csm Gems Fiscal D V” folder in
the catalog as the source. The Column Name on the transaction data source that pertains
to the date needs to be labeled “Calendar Date” so that the dimension ties out. Rename
the Dimension relative to the date referenced.
Include a “Current Period” data source in the model that includes one row of data from
the same source.

Geography
Pole
Region
Zone
LCT
*** This is being redefined as a Cost Center Hier

PRODUCT
Product Segment
PSI Group
PSI Code

Organization
Business Group
Set of Book
Legal Entity
Operating Unit

Modality
Parent Modality
Submodality

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Modality
Material Class

8.1.2 Optional Dimension

Here are some common dimension definitions but are not required in all models.

Sales Rep
Operating Unit
Sales Rep

Customer
Customer Type
Customer Category
Customer Class

Rev Rec Terms

Rev Rec Terms

As a starting point for all projects baseline set of CAT, IMRs, IQDs and MDL can be
located in Quickplace with these prebuilt.

8.2 Performance
Dependency factors include

• Speed of the network

• Size of the PPDS cache
• Operations performed in the report, such as calculations, ranking, exception
highlighting and zero suppression

Always use auto partition .

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9 Miscellaneous Tips & Techniques
9.1 Nth Percentile Calculation
Nth Percentile is a statistical calculation available in MS-Excel. Following section
(Excerpt from Microsoft Corporation web site) describes the algorithm for Quartile
function:

9.1.1 Quartile in MS-Excel

In Microsoft Excel, the QUARTILE() function returns a specified quartile in an array of
numeric values. QUARTILE() accepts 2 arguments: Array and Quart. Array is the range
of values for which you want to find the quartile value. Quart indicates the value you
want to return, where:
0 - Minimum value (Same as MIN())
1 - 1st quartile - 25th percentile
2 - 2nd quartile - 50th percentile (Same as MEDIAN())
3 - 3rd quartile - 75th percentile
4 - 4th quartile - 100th percentile (Same as MAX())

NOTE: In Microsoft Excel versions 5.0 and later, you can use the Function
Wizard to insert the QUARTILE() function, by clicking Function on the Insert
menu. The Function Wizard gives you information about the function, as well as
required and optional arguments.

Following is the algorithm used to calculate QUARTILE():

1. Find the kth smallest member in the array of values, where:

K = (quart/4)*(n-1))+1
If k is not an integer, truncate it but store the fractional portion (f) for use in step 3.
quart = value between 0 and 4 depending on which quartile you want to find.
n = number of values in the array

2. Find the smallest data point in the array of values that is greater than the kth smallest,
the (k+1)th smallest member.

3. Interpolate between the kth smallest and the (k+1)th smallest values:
Output = a[k]+(f*(a[k+1]-a[k]))
a[k] = the kth smallest<BR/>
a[k+1] = the k+1th smallest

Example
To find the 3rd quartile in the array of values, 0,2,3,5,6,8,9, follow these steps:

1. Find k and f:

k=TRUNC((3/4*(7-1))+1)=5

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 f=(3/4*(7-1))-TRUNC(3/4*(7-1))=.5

2. The 5th (kth) smallest value is 6, and the (5+1)th smallest value is 8.

3. Interpolate:
6+(.5*(8-6))=7

9.1.2 Implementation in Impromptu

As PowerPlay does not have a built-in function for calculation of Nth Percentile, there
will be a need to calculate the same in Impromptu and feed as an externally rolled-up
measure to PowerPlay model. Following example gives steps involved for achieving P01
(for a column called TAT) in Impromptu:

1. Create a regular report along with the column on which the Nth Percentile need to be
calculated.
2. Add the following additional columns shown below:

Fig. 1

Data Element Name Dscription Calculation

TAT for Pxx Source Data Column for NA
which Nth Percentile need
to be calculated.
Running Count of TAT Common for all Nth Running-count(TAT for Pxx)
for Pxx Percentile Calculations.
Count of TAT for Pxx Total Count of Data Count(TAT for Pxx) – 1

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 Column entries less 1

3. Create the additional column P01 Data using the formula shown in Fig.2.

Fig. 2 This Data element captures the Kth & (K+1)th elements per the following
algorithm from the previous discussion:
k=TRUNC((N/100*(Total Count-1))+1)

4. Create the final column for P01 as shown below:

Fig. 3 This data element implements the following equation:

Kth Element +(f*((K+1)th Element – Kth Element))
where in f=(N/100*(Total Count-1))-TRUNC(N/100*(Total Count-1)

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9.2 V% / Vprime Calculation

9.3 Cumulative Trends

We have seen requests for different rolling time periods in our cubes. To be consistent
across cubes, we should establish the following three rolling categories in our time
dimensions in Transformer:

• Rolling 4 Weeks
• Rolling 13 Weeks
• Rolling 26 Weeks

9.4 Alerts
New calculated measures are being added, and these measures will be color-coded per alert
specifications. This is because you cannot color a column based on an evaluation of other
columns.

Whenever possible, employ custom exception highlighting in PowerPlay Web Explorer cube
views rather than in PDFs. This is because views are interactive, and PDFs are static. If alerts
are employed in views, then the alerts will be retained when drilling and slicing/dicing.

9.5 Partitioning
Always use auto-partitioning!

If a critical level within the dimensions can be identified, this can be used to improve
performance significantly by assigning to similar partition numbers.

Partitioning is a process by which Transformer divides a large PowerCube into a set

of nested "sub-cubes" called partitions. Partitioning optimizes run-time performance
in PowerPlay by reducing the number of data records searched to satisfy each
information request.
For Large PowerCubes consisting of millions of rows, you should set up partitions to
speed up cube access for PowerPlay users. Partitioning pre-summarizes the data in a
PowerCube and groups it into several subordinate partitions so that it can be
retrieved significantly faster than if the cube were not partitioned. Creating a very
large cube without using partitions can result in poor run-time performance for
PowerPlay users.
While partitioning does significantly improve run-time access for large PowerCubes,
there are some associated processing costs at PowerCube creation time. These are:

1. PowerCube size. Partitioned cubes are larger than non-partitioned cubes.

2. PowerCube creation time. Partitioned cubes take longer to create than non-
partitioned cubes.

Consider the following diagram:

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This represents the trade-off with respect to the effect of partitioning. On the left end
of the spectrum, we have the time it takes to build cubes, on the other end we have
the time it takes to navigate the cube for the end user. If partitioning is not
employed, the build performance will be optimal, however, this comes at the
potential cost of query performance for end users as they are navigating the cube.
As the number of levels of partitioning increases, the time it takes to build the cube
increases proportionally. However, this yields performance gains for the end users.

Transformer supports for auto-partitioning during cube building has greatly simplified
the partitioning process as it determines the best partitioning strategy as it is
creating the cube. In addition, the partitioning strategy is specific for each cube
being created by a model. Unlike manual partitioning, the user does not have to
have a strong understanding of partitioning to be able to effective partition
PowerCubes. The auto-partition feature is controlled through an optimization on the
‘Processing’ tab of the PowerCube property sheet. When the auto-partition
optimization is used, it enables the ‘Auto-Partition’ tab seen below.

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Figure 3. Auto-Partition Tab of the PowerCube Property Sheet.

Control Description

Estimated Number Default: 10,000,000 rows

of Consolidated
Rows This control is used to serve as an estimation of the number of rows
after consolidation the cube would contain. The default value is set to
the published maximum number of consolidated rows a cube can
have in PowerPlay 5.21. This value can be changed and is used to
scale the desired partition size controls.

Desired Partition Default: 500,000 rows or 5% of the Estimated Number of

Size Consolidated Rows control.

These controls are used to set the desired size for each partition in
the cube. The slider control conveys the trade-off between optimizing
for cube build performance and end user query performance in
PowerPlay clients.

The slider control is gauged at 1% increments with the maximum

being 100% of the Estimated Number of Consolidated Rows control.
The maximum desired partition size(100%) will be set with the slider
at the cube build performance side, and minimum(1%) at the end
user query performance side of the control.

The Desired Partition Size edit control will reflect the desired partition
size as a number of rows as reflected by the position of the slider
control. Also, the desired partition size can be set by typing a value in
the edit control. The slider will reflect this setting as a percentage of
the Estimated Number of Consolidated Rows.

Maximum Number Default: 5

of Levels of
Partitioning The value of this control is used as a safeguard in the case in which
the Desired Partition Size is too small compared to the number of
rows added to the Cube.

This value also safeguards against "shallow" models that lack depth
in terms of dimension levels.

Each level of partitioning represents additional passes of a portion of

the original source data. As the number of levels of partitioning
increases, a subsequent increase in the number of passes of the data
will occur.

Use Multiple Default: Unchecked

Processes
If a cube has this option set, the cube generation phase will exploit
the use of multiple processes when possible.

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When specifying the auto partitioning strategies using these controls consider the
following:

• The estimated number of rows is merely an estimate used to allow you to

scale the desired partition size controls. This setting does not have to be
accurate.
• When setting the desired partition size, don’t hesitate setting it larger that
you would have set the ‘Maximum number of transactions per Commit"
setting in 5.21. The auto-partition algorithm does a very good job creating
near equivalent sized partitions, thus the query time performance is on
average much better than PowerCubes partitioned manually by 5.21.
• The maximum number of levels of partitioning should only be modified when
it is clear that the auto-partitioning algorithm is performing extra passes that
are not improving the performance of the PowerCube.

When a cube is built using auto-partitioning, Transformer will employ a dynamic

weighting algorithm to choose each candidate dimension for partitioning. This
algorithm tends to favor dimensions with more levels that have category parent-child
ratios that are consistent throughout the dimension. Next the auto-partitioning
algorithm will dynamically assign a partitioning strategy to the categories in the
dimension, which represent equivalent sized partitions as close to the desired
partition size as possible.
As Transformer processes each pass of partitioning the number of rows and
categories left in the summary partition decreases. This is evident both through the
animation and in the log file.
A number of features are not supported by the auto-partition algorithm. They include
externally rolled up measures, before rollup calculated measures, other cube
optimizations. Before rollup calculated measures can be replaced by creating
calculated columns. If the model includes settings that are not supported by the
auto-partitioning algorithm then check model will indicate this with a warning.
Incremental update only supports auto-partitioning during the initial load of the
PowerCube. Incremental updates to the PowerCube will have performance
comparable to that of 5.21. Refer to Section 2.2.3 for using incremental update and
auto-partitioning.
Certain dimensions are not good candidates for auto partitioning. They mainly
consist of few levels, and large numbers of categories. It is possible to exclude these
dimensions from the auto-partitioning algorithm by checking

check box found on the general tab of the

dimension property sheet.

9.6 Oracle
This section provides information that can be used to optimize the read performance
for data sources stored using Oracle.

9.6.1 Fetch Settings

When reading Oracle data sources, two settings are used to control the size of the
buffer and number of rows when fetching rows. These two settings can be seen in
the cogdmor.ini file located in the Transformer executable directory. These settings
are as follows:
Fetch Number of Rows. This setting is used to determine the number of rows to fetch
each time a fetch operation is performed. The current limit for this setting is 32767.

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The default value for this setting is currently 10. However increasing it may yield a
performance increase. In one experiment, we changed the value from 10 to 100,
which yielded roughly a three-fold increase in performance. It should be noted,
however, that increasing this number arbitrarily might cause performance
degradation.
Fetch Buffer Size. This setting can be used to control the size of the buffer used to
fetch data. This value may also yield a performance increase depending on the
situation. Fetch Number of Rows will take precedence if both settings are set. By
default, this setting is disabled.
It should be noted, that these settings can yield differing performance benefits
depending on the system, although, through experimentation noticeable benefits
may be realized.

9.6.2 Numeric Formats

While source data is read from Oracle, integer values, that are greater than 10
digits, undergo a conversion to a double representation that Transformer uses to
internally represent the values. If possible, consider storing the numeric values using
a double equivalent in Oracle. This will eliminate the overhead of performing any
conversions as Transformer is processing the data. This may be accomplished by
using a temporary table to store the data records destined for Transformer.
If storing the values using a double equivalent is not possible, you can force Oracle to
perform the conversions by simply multiplying each numeric column by 1.0 in the SQL.

9.7 General
9.7.1 Currency Conversion

Join the fact table to the alias for OM_MOR_OP_RATES_V using:

Invoice date = Conversion Date and
Currency Key = From Currency and
To Currency = ‘USD’

The AGING fact table already has a conversion rate included. The conversion
rate from transactional to functional. To make that conversion, developers need
only multiply the values by the conversion rate to go to functional.

To convert to USD, there must be a change. First, there must a rate for every date
that has the USD to USD conversion rate of 1.0. Then, developers can compute
the USD equivalent for the numeric values in the fact table.

9.7.2 Fiscal Calendar

GE Medical Systems operates on a modified 5-4-4 calendar. As such, the time wizard
feature offered in Cognos PowerPlay will not be useful in designing the time dimension.
As an alternative, the following technique should be applied:

1. Create a Time Hierarchy query from the applicable data source using Impromptu.

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 a. Include Fiscal Year, Fiscal Quarter, Fiscal Period, Fiscal Week (if applicable) and
Day (if applicable)

b. Include a unique key for the time period that can be used by the fact query(s)

i. If the cube will drill down to the Day, then the Day can be used as the
unique key
ii. If the cube drills down to the Fiscal Week, then a concatenation of the
Fiscal Week and Fiscal Year should be used as the unique key
iii. If the cube drills down to the Fiscal Period, then a concatenation of the
Fiscal Period and Fiscal Year should be used as the unique key

2. Create a Current Period query that will determine the unique key from 1b that can be
used for the current period

3. Include the unique key identified in 1b in all applicable fact queries.

4. Within the cube, manually define the Time dimension as follows:

a. Drag the applicable attributes from your Time Hierarchy query to the Dimension
Map.

b. Rename the dimension “Time” and double click on the Time label

c. Change the dimension type from “Regular” to “Time”

5. Ensure that the Current Period query is the ONLY query used to set the current period

a. Right click on the Current Period query and select the “General” tab

b. Ensure that the “Sets the current period” checkbox is checked

c. Right click on the other queries in the model and uncheck the “Sets the current
period” checkbox.

6. Manually define the necessary relative time dimensions

7. Place the Time Dimension as the first dimension in your Dimension Map.

9.7.3 Dimension Hierarchy

Many of the dimension tables defined within GE Medical Systems use a pattern of “Level
n” for the level code and “Level n Desc” for the level description. As a best practice,
both of these attributes should be used when constructing the dimension queries.

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1. Category text labels must be renamed within the Impromptu Report (.imr) and
associated Impromptu Query Definition (.iqd) in order to maintain unique category
names within the Transformer Model.
2. Using the Account dimension table (“GEGL5_ACCOUNT_HIER_D” in DP…), the
following convention should be used.
i. “Level n” should be renamed “Account Level n”
ii. “Level n Desc” should be renamed “Account Level n Desc”
iii. This naming convention should be used for all attributes (i.e. Level 1,
Level 2, etc.) within the dimension table.
3. The lowest level of the hierarchy within the Impromptu Report (.imr) and associated
Impromptu Query Definition (.iqd) must be unique.
i. Using the Account dimension table (“GEGL5_ACCOUNT_HIER_D” in
DP…), the following key and associated description attributes meet this
condition.
(1) “Account Key”
(2) “Account Desc”
4. Only group and sort when necessary.
i. Because Transformer inherently groups category values during the cube
build process, it is unnecessary to group within the Impromptu query in most
situations.

All sorting of dimension categories is done during the cube build process, and therefore it
is unnecessary to sort within the Impromptu query. Note that sorting is done
automatically when the grouping feature is used.

9.7.4 Modality
This is used to categorize the product types for GE Medical System. There are four
levels of hierarchy including the lowest level of product key. The first level in the
structure is a single value and does not provide any additional analysis capability, so it
will be omitted from cubes. The dimension table used is geglb_modality_hierarchy_d in
the Genesis system and should be a similarly named table in other systems.

1. Create a Modality Hierarchy query from the applicable source, using

Impromptu.
a. Include Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, Level 1 Desc, Level 2 Desc, Level 3
Desc, Modality Desc, and Modality Key
b. Rename in the Impromptu Query window as follows:
i. Level 1 to Modality Level 1
ii. Level 2 to Modality Level 2
iii. Level 3 to Modality Level 3

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 iv. Level 1 Desc to Modality Level 1 Desc
v. Level 2 Desc to Modality Level 2 Desc
vi. Level 3 Desc to Modality Level 3 Desc
c. Save the report and query files to their appropriate directories.
d. Note that Modality Key is unique and will be at the lowest level of the
dimension
2. In the Transformer model, include the Modality Hierarchy query.

Create a dimension using the Modality Level 1, 2 and 3 columns in that order, from
highest hierarchy to lowest. Use the corresponding columns Modality Level 1 Desc, 2
and 3 as the Label. Order the categories by the Modality Level x Desc columns. Insert
Modality Key at the bottom of the dimension. Declare it Unique in the Properties
window and used Modality Desc as the Label. Order it using Modality Desc.

9.7.5 Company
This is used to categorize the hierarchy of the company. There are five levels of
hierarchy, including the lowest level of company. The first level in the structure is a
single value and does not provide any additional analysis, so it will be omitted from any
cubes. The dimension table used in Genesis is geglb_company_hier_d, and should be
similarly named in the other systems.

1. Create a Company Hierarchy query from the applicable source, using

Impromptu.
a. Include Level 2, Level 3, Level 4, Level 5, Level 1 Desc, Level 2 Desc,
Level 3 Desc, Level 4 Desc, Level 5 Desc, Company Key and Company
Desc.
b. Rename in the Impromptu Query window as follows:
i. Level 2 to Company Level 2
ii. Level 3 to Company Level 3
iii. Level 4 to Company Level 4
iv. Level 5 to Company Level 5
v. Level 2 Desc to Company Level 2 Desc
vi. Level 3 Desc to Company Level 3 Desc
vii. Level 4 Desc to Company Level 4 Desc
viii. Level 5 Desc to Company Level 5 Desc
a. Save the report and query files to their appropriate directories.
b. Note that Company Key is unique and will be at the lowest level of the
dimension
3. In the Transformer model, include the Company Hierarchy query.
a. Create a dimension using the Company Level 2, 3, 4 and 5 columns in that
order, from highest hierarchy to lowest. Use the corresponding columns

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 Company Level 2 Desc, 3, 4, and 5 as the Label. Order the categories by
the Company Level x Desc columns. Insert Company Key at the bottom
of the dimension. Declare it Unique in the Properties window and used
Company Desc as the Label. Order it using Company Desc.

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