Managing Cubes

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Cube managing activities include:

  • Publishing Cubes in O3 Server to make them accessible to users
  • Generating Cube configuration files for their update
  • Removing a cube from O3 Sever
  • Putting a cube offline

Publishing Cubes in O3 Server

Before the O3 Server's client users can access a cube, it is necessary to add it to the list of available cubes, also know as publishing the cubes.

O3 Server Administrator arranges the required information in the Properties Pane of each cube in the following tabs:

  • General, to enter the basic necessary parameters to publish a cube in the server
  • Access Profiles, to define the dimensions and measures the users will have access to
  • Views, to administrate the views of the cubes
  • Profiling, to activate the specific monitoring of each cube
  • Update Parameters, to configure the parameters that will be used to to update each cube
To publish a cube in O3 Server
  1. Start the O3 Server Administrator
  2. Expand the Services | Cubes | Available cubes branch in the Administration Tree
  3. Righ click on the Available Cubes node and use the Add Cube command.
    The Add Cube command is context sensitive and will also be enabled in the Toolbar and the File menu when the Available Cubes node is selected.

At least, in order to publish a new cube you must fill the following information in the General section of the Properties Pane:

  • Cube name
  • Tick the Available option
  • Physical path to the generated cube file (.cube file)
  • Add the authorized roles to establish the users that will have access to it
    Click on the Add button and enter the role ( the Administrators role will be added by default)
    If no profile is indicated, (default value (none)) all users in the entered role will have access to all dimensions and measures of the cube.
  • Click on the Apply button. The cube will be published and accessible to all users in the authorized roles.

The General Tab

A cube's General tab lets you define the basic necessary parameters  to publish a cube in the server. In particular, the physical path of the cube (URL), the name it is published by, the authorized roles, etc.

The properties in the General tab of each cube are the following:

Property

Description

Cube name

The name the cube is published by in the server.
This is the name the end client tools will use to refer to the cube.
This name can be completely different to the name of the physical file of the cube

Help page

It lets you set up the URL to a help page with relevant information about the cube that the end user will have access to

Available

It indicates if the cube is available to be queried.
It is possible to disable this option when maintenance or administrative tasks related with cubes are carried out

O3 Native Cube or XMLA

To indicate the type of cube to publish, O3 Native or from an XMLA provider

URL (O3 Native Cube)

Physical path to the cube (.cube file).
It may be a network path in the file:drive:/path/file.cubeformat, or an URL
This property is only valid for O3 Native Cubes

Model URL (O3 Native Cube)

Physical path to the cube model (.mdl file).
This property is only valid for O3 Native Cubes

Loading Priority on Startup (O3 Native Cube)

It establishes the cube loading priority at the time of server startup.
This lets you open more frequently used cubes automatically before any other user attempts to access them, thus reducing wait time.
This property is only valid for O3 Native Cubes

WebService URL (XMLA)

Physical path of the WebService.
This property is only valid for XMLA providers

Catalog (XMLA)

XMLA provider catalog.
This property is only valid for XMLA providers

Cube (XMLA)

Name in the XMLA provider.
This property is only valid for XMLA providers

Username (XMLA)

XMLA provider username.
This property is only valid for XMLA providers

Password (XMLA)

XMLA provider password.
This property is only valid for XMLA providers

Authorized Roles

List of roles and access profiles assigned to access the cube.
In order to add a new role click on the Add button and a new row will appear to enter a new role and indicate its access profile. To remove an authorized role, select it and click on the Remove button

Role

They are the authorized roles to access the cube

Profile

Access profile assigned to the role.
By means of access profiles the dimensions and measures the users can access are limited.
Access profiles are defined in the Access Profiles Tab in each cube

Can synchronize

It indicates if the authorized role can synchronize views in the cube

Add Button

It adds a new role to the list of Authorized Roles

Remove Button

It removes the selected role from the list of Authorized Roles

The Access Profiles Tab

Access profiles are a mechanism to limit the dimensions and measures users can access.

Profiles are defined for each cube as they refer to specific information of its dimensions and measures. By assigning profiles to roles, access of the users defined in O3 Server is restricted. Roles and users are defined in a general way in the O3 Server. 

In this tab the necessary access profiles are added, including two internal tabs for each profile where dimensions and measures are specifically defined.   


The properties of the Access Profiles tab for each cube are shown below:




Property

Description

Profiles

List of access profiles defined for the cube.
Click on the Add button, and a new row will appear to define the new name.
To remove a profile, select it and click on the Remove button

Name

The name of the selected Access Profile

Dimension Access

It contains a list of the cube dimensions from which access policies for each profile is defined

Name (Dimensions)

Name of the dimensions

Accessible (Dimensions)

It indicates if the dimension is accessible by the defined access profile

From level (Dimensions)

Level number from which the profile will have access

Restriction (Dimensions)

Logical expression that dynamically determines if the profile will have access to every member in the dimension's hierarchy

To level (Dimensions)

Level number up to which the profile will have access

Measure Access

It must be indicated whether each measure of the cube will be visible or not when the cube is accessed through that profile

Name (Measures)

Name of the measures

Visible (Measures)

It indicates if the measure is visible to the defined access profile

The Views Tab

From this tab you may see and manage the set of views defined for each cube.

It is a centralized mechanism for the Administrator to control the views authorized users have been creating.

Basically, this section shows information about views and lets the Administrator remove them if necessary.



Here are the properties in the Views Tab: 

Property

Description

Storage Level

Type of view defined.
It lets you select Public views, those specific for a role or those private to each user

Name

Name of the rule or view

Creation Date

Creation date of the view

Generated by

User who generated the view

Modify Allowed

It indicates if users can modify the selected view

Remove Button

It lets the administrator remove the selected view

The Profiling Tab

O3 Server has a Profiling service that lets you generate access and general performance information for each cube.

By default, profiling at the level of each cube is not activated. To activate profiling at the level of each cube, the service must be activated in the Profiling Tab.



The properties of the profiling tab are shown below:

Propiedad

Descripción

Profiling Active

It activates monitoring of cube usage (See Monitoring O3 Server)

Profiling File name

Location of the log file.
This file is generated when monitoring is activated

The Update Parameters Tab

This pane lets you set up the parameters that will be used to perform updates in each cube when they are published in the server and being accessed by users.



The properties of the Update Parameters tab for each cube are as follows:

Property

Description

Create cube configuration file

It indicates if the file is created or not when changes are applied through the "Apply" button

IP or Server Name

Identification of the machine where the O3 server where the cube is published is executed

Publish type

It states the type of publication of the cube to build.
Options: None, Upload the Cube to server once built, Send Cube Contents while building

Force Available

It forces cube availability while the cube is being built

Delete Previous Cube

It deletes the previous cube once the new one has been built

Delete Downloaded File

It deletes the newly built cube file

Use default configuration file's path

It uses the default path where to generate the configuration file (.srv file)
By default, the path is the same as for the cube (.cube file)

Configuration file's path

Specific path where to generate the configuration file

Configure exchange path

It indicates if an exchange path is used where to generate the cube while it is being built

Exchange path

Specific Exchange Path where to generate the cube

Login Information

Login, Password and Password confirmation to access O3 Server.
This login will be used by O3 Builder to connect to the server and must be administrated

Apply button

It confirms changes. When confirming changes, if applicable, the O3 Builder configuration file is created

Refresh Button

It lets you view the latest information that has been confirmed with the Apply button

Generating Cube Configuration Files

From O3 Server Administrator, it is possible to generate a configuration file that contains all the necessary information for O3 Builder to update cubes.

Using this option simplifies cube update process, centralizing configuration and preventing errors when entering the parameters required by O3 Builder

The Update Parameters tab of the cube lets you enter information to generate the configuration file (.srv file)

To generate the cube configuration file:

  1. Start O3 Server Adminstrator.
  2. Expand the Services | Cube | Available cubes branch in the Administration Tree. 
  3. Select the cube for which you wish to generate or update the configuration file. 
  4. Complete or update the properties in the Update Parameters tab of the cube. 
  5. Click on the Apply button and the configuration file will be generated in the specified location. 

Removing a Cube from O3 Server

Removing a cube means removing the corresponding node in the Available Cubes branch in O3 Server Administrator.

This action does not remove the actual cube file in the filesystem, it just removes the references to them in O3 Server.

To Remove an available cube from O3 Server:

  1. Start O3 Server Administrator.
  2. Expand the Services | Cube | Available Cubes branch in the Administration Tree.
  3. Right-click on the cube on the Available Cubes branch. A menu will drop down.
  4. Select the Remove command. The cube is removed from the list of Available Cubes.

Putting a Cube Off Line

Sometimes it will be necessary to temporarily deny access to a registered cube in the server to perform maintenance and administrative tasks.

To put a cube off line:

  1. Start O3 Server Administrator.
  2. Expand the Services | Cubes | Available Cubes branch in the Administration Tree.
  3. Select the cube you wish to disable.
  4. Disable the "Available" mark for that cube in the General Tab of the Properties Pane.
  5. Press the "Apply" button to make changes permanent. Users connected to the cube will receive a disconnection message and will be switched to offline mode, not being able to perform any more queries until the cube is enabled again.

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