Guideline

Cognos Controller Reporting

Optimization
Product(s): Controller 2.3
Area of Interest: Upgrade/Migration
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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 ENHANCE REPORTING OPTIMIZATION ........................................................ 4
2.1 TECHNICAL INFORMATION ......................................................................................... 4
2.2 DETAILED PROCESS ................................................................................................. 4
2.3 STEP BY STEP CONFIGURATION ................................................................................... 5
2.4 FILE-SHARE: WITHOUT SPECIFIED USER INFO .................................................................. 7
2.5 FILE-SHARE: WITH SPECIFIED USER INFO ....................................................................... 7
2.6 FILE-SHARE: FTP SERVER ......................................................................................... 7
2.7 DATABASE RIGHTS ASSIGNMENT ................................................................................. 8
2.8 ERO CONFIGURATION ............................................................................................ 10
2.9 ERO CONFIGURATION USING FTP ............................................................................. 13
2.10 CONFIGURING REPORTS TO USE ERO REPORTS ............................................................. 16

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1 Introduction
1.1 Purpose
This document will provide information on converting large volumes of data
in Controller database. This document will cover the conversion of controller-
defined reports.

1.2 Applicability
Controller 2.3

1.3 Exclusions and Exceptions

There are no known exclusions and exceptions at the time this document was
created.

2 Enhance Reporting Optimization

2.1 Technical Information
Transferring large amounts of data to the database may be a time-consuming
operation. Since this is the case with large user defined reports and large
Excel-link reports, we have implemented an alternative solution specific for
reports, which uses the Bulk Insert technology in Microsoft Sql Server/Oracle,
rather than using the Insert statement as defined by the Sql language. This
alternative solution can be switched on and off per report (not per Controller
installation) to allow more choice and optimisation

2.2 Detailed Process

The steps performed by an ERO report are:

1. And ERO report is run on a Cognos Controller client.

2. Excel sends a string via the Application Server to a file on a share on
the database server.
3. The file is inserted into the database using bulk insert.
4. From there the report is run as usual.

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2.3 Step by Step Configuration

The following steps should be completed before the configuration can be
performed:

• A working installation of Cognos Controller (3-tier or Server with Client)

should be completed and tested.
• A file area needs to be defined on the database server.
• Database rights assignments need to be set up correctly.
• ERO configuration through the Cognos Controller Configuration utility
per database

The Controller installation instructions can be found in the documentation on

the application CD. All other steps are covered in this chapter.

Database Server File Area

The file area can be configured in several ways depending on how your
environment looks.

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2.4 File-Share: without specified user info

Using Windows built in file shares to transfer a file by:

1. Share a folder on the database server.

2. Give the Controller administrative user full read & write access to the
folder. NOTE: the account can be found by checking the identity tab of
the properties dialog for the COGNOSCONTROLLER package in
component services.

3. Set read & write access for the database server. NOTE: This account
can be found both in Oracle and SQL Server by checking what user is
running the database service.

2.5 File-share: with specified user info

Using local accounts on the file-share works just like the previous section
except for the second step:

1. See step 1 from file-share: without specified user.

2. Create a local account and give it read & write access to the shared
folder.
3. See step 3 from file-share: without specified user.

2.6 File-share: FTP Server

Controller does not include an FTP Server, nor does Cognos recommend a
specific FTP server, so the instructions regarding FTP server configuration are
generic.

1. Set up the FTP server you choose on the database server.

2. Create a shared directory with a user that has full read & write access.
3. Check so the database has read & write access to the directory
(Windows: check what account is running the database service and give
that user rights to the directory, this is typically the system account).

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2.7 Database Rights Assignment

Microsoft SQL Server Rights step by step process:
1. Find the Cognos Controller SQL user i.e. the ‘dbowner’ for the
CNOTE: Can be found by checking the owner of the tables: in
Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise Manager open the Controller
database and the tables view. Check the owner of the tables
(excluding the system tables).
2. In Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise Manager go to Security/logins
and take properties on the Cognos Controller SQL user and Grant
it the server role “Bulk Insert Administrators”

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3. ff Give the user access to the tempdb and the model database
database and add the db_owner role for both databases. NOTE:
The tempdb is rebuilt with the model database as template each
time the Sql Server is restarted. This is why the Controller SQL
user needs to be db_owner of the model database as well as
tempdb.

Oracle Rights

Set the UTL_FILE_DIR parameter to point to the local path of the

shared directory.

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2.8 ERO Configuration

The configuration of ERO is done per database through the Cognos Controller
Configuration utility. Detailed instructions are shown in the step-by-step
guides below.

ERO Configuration using File Copy (Windows Share) – Step by Step Process

1. Start Cognos Controller Configuration from: Start\Programs\Frango

Controller\ Cognos Controller Configuration
2. Select the tab Enhanced Reporting Optimisation.

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3. Choose the database you want to configure ERO for.

4. Check the Use Enhanced Reporting Optimisation box.

5. Fill in the fields as follows: Server: The network name (e.g. sql1 or
sql1.company.com) or IP address (e.g. 192.168.1.11) of the server.
Share: The share name given to the previously shared directory. Server
Directory: Optionally a path in the share can be used, e.g. a directory can
be used per database. User ID: Optionally specifies a user account that
connects to the share in the form domain\user or machine\user. NOTE:
Used with the ‘file-share with specified user’ configurations as shown in
the ERO selection diagram above. If the User ID is left empty the
Controller Administrator account is used. Password: The password for the
selected User ID (only used when Used ID is filled in).

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6. Press the save button to complete the configuration.

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2.9 ERO Configuration using FTP

Step by Step Process:
1. Start Cognos Controller Configuration from: Start\Programs\Cognos
Controller\Cognos Controller Configuration
2. Select the tab Enhanced Reporting Optimisation.

3. Choose the database you want to configure ERO for.

4. Check the Use Enhanced Reporting Optimisation box and select File
Transfer (FTP).

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5. Fill in the fields as follows: Server: The network name (e.g. sql1 or
sql1.company.com) or IP address (e.g. 192.168.1.11) of the server.
Server Directory: Optionally a path can be used, e.g. a directory can be
used per database. User ID: Specifies a user account that connects to the
share. Password: The password for the selected User ID. The remaining
options are used only when traversing a proxy server. Ask the
administrator of your proxy server for the relevant configuration
parameters.

6. Press the save button to complete the configuration.

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2.10 Configuring reports to use ERO Reports

Reports are configured individually to use ERO. In order to trigger ERO you
must define the name “Optimise2” in cell A1 in the first Excel Worksheet in
the report as follows:

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