Establishing Connectivity
We will assume a basic understanding of
Cognos PowerPlay throughout the article, as well as a proper installation of
the software in general, as we noted in the introduction above. This article
assumes a "default" installation of Cognos PowerPlay (PPES and
PPWIN components), as well as the correct installation of Cognos
Connect. I am assuming, furthermore, that you are configured as a Cognos
user in Access Manager and have the appropriate rights / privileges to
complete the steps in this article, or that you have been allowed temporary
privileges. (I will be acting as the Administrator on my server, with my
user set up in Access Manager, but with little else configured in the
way of sophisticated security.) Finally, the article assumes you have access
to the MSSQL Server / the Analysis Services sample cubes, be it via Windows
Authentication Mode or Mixed Mode (for purposes of this article, I'm using SQL
Server authentication). Keep in mind that the multiple potential security
configurations in our individual environments may result in some differences in
the steps (log in requests, etc.) as we proceed.
Enable Connections
to MSSQL Server OLAP Cubes in Configuration Manager
The following steps are critical in
establishing connectivity to cubes that reside on a server with PowerPlay
client; we also must have connectivity established to view cube data from the
web. We begin by taking the following steps to configure PPES to access
the appropriate driver:
1.
Click the Start button.
2.
Select Programs -> Cognos
EP Series 7.
3.
Select Tools from the Submenu
that appears.
4.
Select Configuration Manager,
as shown in Illustration 1.
Illustration 1: Select
Configuration Manager
The Configuration
Manager Welcome dialog, Introduction tab appears, as shown in
Illustration 2, unless the feature has been disabled prior to this use.
Illustration
2: The Configuration Wizard - Welcome Dialog, Introduction Tab
The Configuration Manager Welcome
dialog, Start tab appears, as shown in Illustration 3.
Illustration
3: The Configuration Wizard - Welcome Dialog, Start Tab
6.
Click the Open the Current
Configuration button on the Start tab (shown circled in Illustration
3 above).
The Configuration Manager dialog
(my Current Configuration appears as "Untitled") appears, as
shown in Illustration 4.
Illustration
4: Current Configuration Dialog (Compressed View)
Note: If
the Configuration Manager dialog did not appear as shown above, simply select File
> Open Current Configuration to reach the same point.
7.
Expand the server (in the left
pane), as shown in (partial view) Illustration 5 (mine appears in the
illustration as MOTHER), by clicking the "+" sign to
its left, if necessary.
Illustration
5: Expand the Server (Shown as MOTHER) ...
8.
Expand Services within
the hierarchy of the tree.
9.
Expand OLAP Data Access
under Services, as shown in Illustration 6.
Illustration
6: Expand OLAP Data Access, under Services (Partial View)
10.
Select 3rd Party
OLAP Server.
11.
Change "0"
(the default) to "1" in the right pane, just to the right of Microsoft
OLAP Service, as depicted in Illustration 7.
Illustration
7: Enabling MSSQL Server OLAP Cube Selection (Compressed View)
12.
Right-click OLAP Data Access in the left pane.
The context menu shown in Illustration
8 appears.
Illustration
8: OLAP Data Access Context Menu
13.
Click Apply Selection to
apply the change made in Step 11 above.
A warning message box appears.
A status meter indicates update
progress, and then a message box appears confirming successful application of
all properties.
15.
Click File ->
Save to save our change within
Configuration Manager. If prompted to assign a name / location for the .ccs
file, do so.
16.
Select File ->
Exit to close Configuration
Manager.
We have enabled the creation of
connections with MSSQL Server OLAP cubes. Now, let's take the steps to connect
to our Analysis Services cube. First, we'll introduce PowerPlay Connect.
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