IBM Cognos User Manual page 29

OLAP Packages
Cognos Transformer allows you to leverage metadata from published OLAP
packages. As a result, Cognos Transformer PowerCubes can be used as high speed
data access cache methods for distributing smaller or focused areas of your
business information.
Consider the size of the resulting cube when you use another OLAP package as a
PowerCube data source. OLAP sources, such as Essbase, can include significant
amount of data that is not appropriate for PowerCubes. However, taking a specific
segment of data from these sources can be very useful, particularly if you intend to
mix that data with other data sources for further reporting or analysis.
When you use OLAP sources to populate your Cognos Transformer models
v Import the dimensions that you require.
SAP variable prompts are supported and should be used where necessary to
limit the data to a specific segment of your data source. For more information,
see "Working with SAP BW Data Using a Package in Framework Manager" on
page 339.
v Create the time dimension in the same way that you create fact queries.
Cognos Transformer does not support importing time dimensions from any
OLAP source, including PowerCubes. To create the Cognos Transformer time
dimension with relative time categories, import your time information from
either an IBM Cognos relational package or report, or from a flat file exported
from IBM Cognos BI or the original OLAP vendor.
In Cognos Transformer, you add dimensions from OLAP packages directly from
the Dimension Map. This is a practical way to begin creating conformed
dimensions and, to some extent, reusing portions of the published metadata from
the source dimension.
Using the Insert Dimension from Package option on the Dimension Map, you
can select the dimensions, hierarchies, or levels that you want to import from any
OLAP package on to the Cognos Transformer Dimension Map.
SAP BW Packages
You can use Cognos Transformer to import both dimensional and fact data from an
SAP BW query source. To do so, the SAP BW query package must be in a specific
format. The Cognos Transformer PowerCubes you create with these specifically
constructed SAP query packages can be used as high speed data access cache
methods for distributing smaller or focused areas of your business information.
There are three stages to importing an SAP BW query to access both dimensions
and facts using IBM Cognos BI:
"Creating a BW Query in SAP Business Explorer Query Designer" on page 340
v
"Creating a Package in Framework Manager" on page 343
v
"Creating a Model in Cognos Transformer" on page 347
v
Guidelines for Using IBM Cognos Packages and Reports as Data
Sources
This section contains guidelines, best practices, and tips to help you create Cognos
Transformer models using the IBM Cognos packages and reports as data sources.
Chapter 3. Data Sources for Your Model
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