Quick Information Source

This page deals with Quick Information Source related functionality.

Contents

 

Disclaimer

Note: The Quick Information Source functionality only supports online access, meaning that no data mart related access views or snapshot table functionality is supported.

 

Draft a Quick Information Source

In order to create a Quick Information Source it is necessary to first create a draft. This is handled in the Quick Information Source Drafts feature in Solution Manager.

By selecting the Draft a Quick Information Source (QIS) option, the following dialog opens up. Start by specifying if the source should be an ordinary LU view or an IAL view.

Form Section/Attribute Description
Data Access Source View Information
  • Create from a LU
  • Create from an IAL View
 Specify the source for the Quick Information Source Draft.
Either an ordinary LU view or an IAL view.
LU Information If Create from a LU is selected the LU Information is supplied here. Module, LU Name, View Name can be selected from List of Values.


If Draft New Quick Dimensions check box is selected, quick dimensions will automatically be drafted when drafting the Information Source.

If Connect Dimension check box is selected, dimensions will be connected to the Quick Information Source Draft.

IAL Information If Create from an IAL View is selected then supply the IAL view name. List Of Values is available.
QIS ID ID for the Quick Information Source (QID) to be drafted.

By default the ID is suggested as QFACT_<view_name>. E.g. QFACT_OBJECT_OPERATION.

The field is editable.
Navigator Folder Name Defines the name of the folder in the BR Client Navigator that will contain the Quick Information Source.

Note: The folder as well as the created Information Source will be directly available in IFS Business Reporter

Default Navigator Folder Name is Quick Information Sources. User can select a navigator name from List of Values or give a new name
List Columns Opens a list that shows all columns in the selected source view.

When drafting a Quick Information Source, follow these steps:

  1. Select Create from a LU or Create from an IAL View in Data Access Source View Information.
  2. If Create from a LU is selected, fill the LU Information, i.e. Module, LU Name, View Name
  3. If Create from a IAL is selected, fill the IAL Information, i.e. View Name.
  4. Select check boxes if Quick Dimensions needs to be drafted and if dimensions needs to be connected. This step is seldom useful if the source was an IAL view, mainly due to that IAL views do not contain any reference information.
  5. Edit QIS ID and/or Navigator Folder Name if necessary.
  6. Select OK.

The drafted QIS will be displayed in the QIS Dev Tool as follows:

Quick Information Source Details

Drafted details will be displayed as follows:

Attribute Description
Quick Information Source ID Quick Information Source ID which is given when drafting an information source, in Draft Quick Information Source window
Display Name Name of the QIS displayed in the client navigator
Source View Name Name of the source view
BA Client Navigator Folder Name Navigator folder name of the IFS Business Reporter client
Created View Name View name created when drafting/creating a quick information source.
Created View Definition View definition to be used when creating final source view.
Based on IAL View Will be selected if the Quick Information Source is drafted/created using an IAL view as source
Status Status of the Quick Information Source; either Drafted or Created
Warnings/Errors Warnings/Errors generating when drafting a quick information source. These needs to be reviewed before creating the quick information source
Initial Warnings/Errors Warnings/Errors generated from the source view before any processing is done. These are mostly related to the column references. Initial warnings and errors can sometimes be corrected by the processing.

QIS Item Details

By selecting the drafted Quick Information Source in the left hand navigator and then by selecting the Items folder, all details of drafted items will be displayed.

Attributes Description
QIS ID The ID of the information source. By default defined as QFACT_<view_name>.
Column ID A unique identification of a column in the source view, selected to be drafted/created in the QIS
Display Name The display name of the item
Display Order This is the display order of the column in the Information Source navigator in IFS Business Reporter client. The value is set even if the column is or will be marked as not visible. Use this column to modify the display order if the suggested order is not good enough.
Data Type Data type for the column in the dictionary (view definition). This field can be modified. Data types can be DATE, NUMBER, VARCHAR2
Include in IS This check box indicates whether the item is included in the Information Source. The parent keys, or if a dimension is connected, those columns will be included in the IS irrespective of the value of this column
Measure Item This check box indicates the item is a measure item
Visible This check box indicates the item is visible in the IFS Business Reporter client
Referenced LU Logical unit reference to which the quick or standard dimension is created/drafted.
Nullable This check box indicates whether the data returned via the view column can be null or not. Based on the value on this column the Dimension ID Definition will differ if a dimension is connected.
Dimension ID ID of the quick or standard dimension. Quick dimensions will be created only if the check box Draft New Quick Dimension is selected in Draft Quick Information Source window or a Reference is entered without a Dimension ID.
Standard Dimension This check box indicates that the dimension is a standard dimension
Connect Dimension By selecting this check box, user will be able to connect dimensions to the information source. If Connect Dimensions is selected, when drafting in the QIS in the Draft Quick Information Source window, the dimensions will be connected automatically while drafting the QIS. However, user can manually edit the check box.
Dimension Display Order This is the display order of the dimension in the Information Source navigator in IFS Business Reporter. Use this column to modify the order in which connected dimensions appear in the navigator.
Dimension ID Definition Definition of the dimension ID column used for joining the dimension. Created by concatenating parent keys and column name.
Dimension ID Definition Column Name The name of the dimension ID column. This is a new column that did not exist in the original source view.
Parent Keys Parent Keys of the dimension items
Warnings/Errors Warnings/Errors generating when drafting a quick information source. These needs to be reviewed and corrected before creating the quick information source.
Initial Warnings/Errors Warnings/Errors generated from the source view before any processing is done. These are mainly related to references. Contents of this column will not be modified. User should refer the column Warnings/Errors to find out the warnings/errors for the current state of the Quick Information Source.

The Dimension ID columns are created automatically but the format of the concatenated keys might not be correct, especially when the involved columns does not have the same data type. It is possible to modify the dimension ID columns. In the QIS Item Details window, select a column that has a reference to a dimension, column Dimension ID, use RMB Generate Dimension ID.

All columns involved in creating the dimension ID are presented. It is now possible for each column to select a format Function and also define a Format to be applied for the selected format function. The resulting ID Column Definition will be displayed in the dialog. When OK is pressed, the current definitions in the dialog will be used to create the final definition of the ID column.

 

Create an Information Source from Selected QIS Draft

All the drafted quick information sources will be listed in the Quick Information Sources Drafts page.

Following steps needs to be followed to create an Information Source from a Draft:

  1. Select one draft in the list of Quick Information Source Drafts to be created as an Information Source.
  2. Select Create an Information Source from Selected QIS Draft link.
  3. Only one Information Source can be created. If more than one QIS draft is selected, the Create an Information Source from Selected QIS Draft link is disabled.
  4. If the QIS was successfully created, the status of the Quick Information Source Details window will change from Drafted to Created.
  5. Created Quick Information Sources will be listed under Information Sources folder in the Information Source feature.

 

Delete Selected QIS Draft(s)

Use Delete Selected QIS Draft(s) link to delete QIS drafts. One or many QIS drafts can be deleted using this option.

Following steps needs to be followed to delete QIS draft(s):

  1. Select Information Source draft(s) to be deleted.
  2. Select Delete Selected QIS Draft(s) link.
  3. Only QIS which is the Drafted state can be deleted.
  4. If the QIS is successfully deleted, the QIS drafts will be removed from the list and also from the navigator items.

 

Export Selected QIS Draft(s)

Quick Information Source draft definitions can be exported and imported.

Export comes in two flavors:

To perform export, select QISes and click on the link Export Selected QIS Draft(s)

Export for Import/Deployment in the Database

This option can be used to export the metadata and source view related to a Quick Information Source. The metadata file has the extension INS and the view file has the extension APV.

It is required that selected Information Sources are in Created state.

The exported metadata file and source view file can e.g. be used in the following way:

 

Export for Import via IEE

This option can be used to export the Quick Information Source definitions from one environment and then to move it to another environment by importing it via the IEE client.

The selected Information Sources can be in any state. It is only the draft definitions that will be exported.

 

Export Dialog

Attributes Description
Export To The output folder location of the QIS related files export
QIS/QIS Dimensions to be Exported The list of Quick Information Sources to be exported. Export of Quick Dimensions uses the same dialog.
Export Meta Data (To import from IFS EE Client) By selecting this check box, an XML file with draft definitions will be exported for each Quick Information Source or Quick Dimension
Export Meta Data (To import from database) By selecting this check box, a metadata file will be exported for each Quick Information Source or Quick Dimension.
Export View Definition By selecting this check box the access view definition of each Quick Information Source or Quick Dimension will be exported.
Create Folder Structure Selecting this check box leads to creating a folder structure when exporting, i.e. suitable for adding files to the code handling system.
Dependencies Any dimension that is not selected but has a dependency to the QIS draft or Quick Dimension selected to be exported, will be listed here. User can export these if required.

Import QIS

The Import QIS option can be used to import previously exported QIS draft definitions.

It is only possible to import definitions exported as a XML file. Exported metadata file and/or source view file can not be imported via IEE.

Import can only be performed if the end user has been granted access to the activity ImportQuickInfoSrc.

A typical scenario is:

 

Note: The imported definitions will be in Drafted state

 

Validate Selected QIS Draft(s)

Select the link Validate Selected QIS Draft(s) to validate the source view to be used to draft the Quick Information Source with the current state of the view. It validates data type and column existence.

Successfully validated QIS drafts will be listed in the above window.

 

Recreate Selected QIS Database View

Select the link Recreate Selected QIS Database View, to recreate the view definition of the selected Information Source.

The following applies:

The recreation will fail if the view associated with the Quick Information Source has been altered by other means. If e.g. the view has been overwritten by an ordinary view definition, it will not be possible to recreate the view, due to that the view must have specific properties to be considered as the source for a Quick Information Source.

 

Add All Columns from QIS Source View

Select the link Add All Columns from QIS Source View to add all the columns that were not included when drafting a QIS.

If the source view has changed since it was originally drafted and a Quick Information Source has already been created, then it is necessary to:

  1. Remove the Information Source in the Information Source feature.
  2. Removing the Information Source leads to that the draft changes state from Created to Drafted.
  3. Use the Add All Columns from QIS Source View link.
  4. Modify drafted information.
  5. Recreate the Quick Information Source.

Note: The draft must be in state Drafted to enable addition of new source view columns.