Connect to the
Analysis Services Cube using PowerPlay Connect - Simple Security
PowerPlay Connect is the Cognos mechanism for linking OLAP data from
servers other than their own into Cognos PowerPlay. Cognos offers many
integrated Business Intelligence applications, and will likely remain the major
player in its arena for at least the near-term. As I continually emphasize to
my clients, the future, at least from the perspective of the mainstream, of
what will become "third-party" (that is, non-RDBMS generated) cubes
is rather obvious. Connectivity between Cognos PowerPlay and Analysis Services
cubes provides an excellent opportunity to maintain existing reporting
capabilities, while performing background conversions to Analysis Services OLAP
data sources, as part of a forehanded long-term strategy.
You can begin the connect process by
taking the following steps:
1.
Click the Start button.
2.
Select Programs -> Cognos
EP Series 7.
3.
Select Tools from the Submenu
that appears.
4.
Select PowerPlay Connect,
as shown in Illustration 9.
Illustration 9: Initialize
PowerPlay Connect
PowerPlay Connect initializes, its first dialog appearing as shown
in Illustration 10. Notice that the Database type is defaulted
to PPDSRemote.
Illustration 10: PowerPlay
Connect Appears with Default Database Type
5.
Select MS SSOS ODBO
using the Database type dropdown selector.
(MS SSOS stands for Microsoft
SQL Server OLAP Services, referring to the MS SQL Server Version 7 name for
Analysis Services, OLAP Services. ODBO, as most of us are aware,
is an acronym for the Microsoft OLE DB for OLAP standard.)
NOTE: If MS SSOS ODBO does not
appear as an option, you need to return to the previous section to enable the
creation of connections with MSSQL Server Analysis Services cubes.
6.
In the Server box, type
in the name of the PPES server.
NOTE: The server name can be entered as "localhost"
if the PPES server is on the same PC. Mine appears as MOTHER in
the appropriate example screens throughout this article.
We can fill in the next box, Provider
information (Database...) as follows:
7.
Click the ellipses button to
the right of the Provider (Database...) box.
The Choose a Remote Cube dialog
appears.
8.
Click the Connections
button.
The Connections dialog appears.
The Add a Connection dialog
appears.
10.
Type Warehouse Analysis
Services Cube in the Connection box.
11.
Type the server name
(localhost, again, will work, if appropriate to your environment) in the Server
box.
12.
Select Microsoft SQL Server
OLAP Server in the Server Type selector toward the bottom of the of
the Add a Connection dialog.
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