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This two-day course has been designed to bring developers up to
speed on all the new features and functionality that has been added
to System 9 for Essbase (called Analytic Services in System 9).
The first part of the course focuses on Foundation Services components
in System 9; License Server, Shared Services, BPM Architect, and
Smart View. Next, we focus on enhancements that have been made to
Block Storage databases. The last part of this class shifts to exploring
the exciting possibilities that Aggregate Storage databases present.
We start by covering key differences with Block Storage databases
and then show you how to convert from BSO to ASO for cubes where
this may be appropriate. The last section of the course covers the
essentials of MDX – the new formulas and query language introduced
in System 9.
Here is the course description for this 2 day class in detail:
License Server centralizes licensing for all Hyperion Products.
We talk about the license server architecture, key files used by
the license server and how to interpret them. We also go over the
sequence for starting Foundation Services and configuration using
the configuration utility.
Shared Services is now the central point for managing security across
Hyperion’s various products. Although it is possible to manage
security in Native Essbase through the AAS console, in company environments
with several of Hyperion’s products, Shared Services allows
for a more integrated tool to provision users across all the applications.
We cover the basics for managing both Native and network users for
Essbase and touch upon how to apply security for the BI + reporting
suite.
BPM architect was released first in System 9.3. This tool can be
used to manage both Metadata and data across Essbase cubes. It also
allows for the creation of calculation logic for both Essbase and
HFM. Although we think it is too early to throw away Dimension and
Data load rules, we believe BPM architect will become more and more
central for developing applications. In this section, we go through
some of the basics for working in the BPM architect such as creating
dimensions. We also show you how dimensions or subsets of dimensions
can be shared across databases.
Many users of Essbase may be familiar with the Excel Add-In for
interfacing with Essbase. As of System 9, the new Smart View client
provides similar functionality. Hyperion’s vision is that
Smart View will become the sole Excel interface for all of their
applications – Essbase, HFM, and Planning. We cover the mechanics
of building reports that interface with Essbase including drilling,
pivoting, limiting selections with keep only. We also cover the
underlying rules governing their validity, as well as focus on some
of the more advanced features such as understanding the options,
POV selections, and working with asymmetric reports. For those students
already familiar with the Excel Add-In we talk about key differences
between Smart View and the Excel Add-In including both what we consider
enhancements and limitations that we find.
Block storage databases have been greatly improved throughout the
versions of Essbase. We cover what you need to know about them including
compression, new calculation functionality, server licensing changes,
and more. In addition, we make sure to review important new features
that were added in earlier versions but may have slipped through
unnoticed.
In this section, we cover the ASO basics. We start by uncovering
the architecture and stepping through the limitations of ASO databases
so that developers can learn to identify the best fits for either
ASO or BSO databases. We walk through the process of converting
an existing BSO database outline into an ASO outline. We wrap up
this section by loading data and performing an Aggregation on the
database. Here again, we focus attention on important differences
ASO loads and aggregations have for developers accustomed to BSO.
After establishing a foundation in ASO, we show you a variety of
techniques to get around some of the initial limitations. Subjects
include getting around the units*rates calculations, solutions for
Time Balance and Time Series functionality, and possible architectural
solutions that combine strengths of BSO with ASO by using Transparent
Partitioning. This last subject is designed as a review of Partitioning
with a focus on how to get the most out of ASO with minimal design
changes.
MDX is the new formula calculation language used in Essbase v7.
We introduce you to MDX by walking you through the basic syntax
of working with MDX and then quickly begin to solve common formula
requirements; variance analysis, relationship based ratios, working
with ranges of members, cross-referencing dimensions, recursive
functions, and more. Next, we walk through how to convert existing
calculation logic into MDX equivalent functions. We finish the class
by showing you how to write custom reports to extract data using
MDX.
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