Webinar with Quebit

I will be hosting a webinar with Quebit around their ReportWorq solution for bursting TM1 excel based reports via email and sharepoint.

If interested you can register here: http://www.tridant.com.au/broadentm1capabilities/

CDM - Advanced Scripting with Query Variables

When setting up data queries within CDM you have the full power of MDX available to you.
You can then create the right syntax to return any element within TM1.
As an example lets assume we have a Scenario dimension in TM1 and we take a static snapshot of the Budget every year e.g. Budget2014. We now in CDM want our queries to be dynamic and we have setup a query variable YYYY which is currently set to 2014.
When creating my queries i can use the Advanced Scripting option and then use the following syntax

[Scenario].[Budget{YYYY}]

This should resolve to:

Budget2014

No Servers displaying in TM1Web in TM1 10.2 FP1

If you are applying 10.2 FP1 then make sure you read the following article:

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg24036618

Especially these bits:

a. Delete the config.ini file which can be found <TM1 install>\tomcat\work\Catalina\localhost\pmhub\eclipse\configuration.
This is required when using TM1 Operations Console, Cognos Analysis for Microsoft Excel® or Cognos TM1 Mobile Contributor.
b. Open Cognos Configuration.
c. When you first open Cognos Configuration after applying FP1 a message displays that the configuration files have been upgraded. Click OK to continue.

Otherwise you will end up with tm1web displaying no servers

Deprecated and discontinued functionality in IBM Cognos TM1

Its worth being aware of this link
The two bigs ones that people should be aware of as they plan there upgrade are:

• The Advanced Rule Editor no longer being supported in 10.2. This is a trend you will continue to see of a movement towards performance modeller for creation and maintenance. 
• 10.2 being the last release to support CQM. If your BI reports on TM1 are not using DQM then you need to start converting them

TM1 10.2 FP1

As an early christmas present there was a release of TM1 10.2 FP1 on Dec 24th.
For more information see this link

TM1Web 10.2 url api

Worth noting that if you are looking to upgrade to TM1 10.2 and you use the tm1web url api then the syntax has chnaged. See here:

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg27039576

TM1 and CAM Failover

If you are using TM1 with CAM security and you have Cognos setup with multiple gateway dispatchers then I would recommend checking out this post on the IBM website:

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21645974&myns=swgimgmt&mynp=OCSS9RXT&mync=E


You may set multiple ServerCAMURI as follow in tm1s.cfg

 ServerCAMURI=http://server1:9300/p2pd/servlet/dispatch
 ServerCAMURI=http://server2:9300/p2pd/servlet/dispatch
 ServerCAMURI=http://server3:9300/p2pd/servlet/dispatch
 ServerCAMURIRetryAttempts=5

Remarks:

ServerCAMURIRetryAttempts specify the retry count for access each dispatcher

Powershell with TM1Server.log

The tm1server.log is not the easiest thing to extract information from but contains golden nuggets of information.

Ideally you want to timestamp the tm1server.log after any restarts and then you can analyze a clean single session of information.

One of the easiest things you can do is use Windows powershell to then extract just the messages you want.

e.g. if i just want to explore the cube dependencies the server is producing then I just the following line within powershell

Get-Content .\tm1server.log | Where-Object {$_ -match 'TM1.Cube.Dependency'} | Set-Content tm1server.log-out.txt

You can alter the above statement to do any filtering you need

TM1 Cafe

Great overview of TM1 Cafe in 10.2 from Quebit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4abO-5snYWI

IBM TM1 Watchdog

Some explanations around how to setup and use watchdog in TM1 10.2

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21654154&myns=swgimgmt&mynp=OCSS9RXT&mync=R

New Releases and Product Notifications for November 2013

It was interesting to see this month the notice of withdrawal from IBM on Executive Viewer and FSR:

https://www-304.ibm.com/connections/blogs/basupportlink/entry/new_releases_and_product_notifications_for_november_2013?lang=en_us

Top 20 Developments in IBM TM1 in recent years

Just realised a presentation that Andrew Stephens and myself did for an IBM Cognos User Group is available for download from the IBM website.

In what will always be a controversial list we called out at the time the Rule function Continue as being a real game changer for TM1 developers.

Those who have been doing TM1 for 10+ years since the days of TM1 714SR2 will remember when there was no Continue function and constant nested Ifs made for ugly looking rule files.

Check it out here:

http://public.dhe.ibm.com/software/au/downloads/Top_20_Developments_in_IBM_TM1_in_recent_years.pdf

TM1 CFG File - ViewConsolidationOptimizationMethod

I see a lot of client's cfg file and its amazing how many of them are out of date or contain the wrong settings for the version of TM1 they are on.
One of the parameters that I always suggest adding in is ViewConsolidationOptimizationMethod=TREE
The reason why is because of the documentation you can find here: http://pic.dhe.ibm.com/infocenter/ctm1/v10r1m0/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.ibm.swg.ba.cognos.tm1_inst.10.1.0.doc%2Fc_viewconsolidation_optimizationmethod_1.html&path%3D0_1_21_2_93

Specifically its says "This setting provides the best performance in normal operations"

Cognos Report Studio RAVE - Visualization Customizer

There is now a utility available on AnalyticsZone where you can now edit the visualizations available within Cognos Report Studio:

https://www.analyticszone.com/homepage/web/displayMarketplacePage.action#search/-/:Utility

Missing TM1 Subset Editor

If using dual screens you may occasionally move your machine to a projector or another monitor and then find you can't see your subset editor when it opens.

Somehow its thinking its still on the 2nd screen but you don't want to have to go back to your desk and plug everything back in to then move the subset editor back to the original single screen.

One quick way to get round it is to edit your tm1p.ini file but a quicker way that doesn't involve shutting down Excel is to press:

1. ALT with Space Bar
2. Then press M (which is the shortcut for Move)
3. Then use your cursor keys to bring the subset editor back to your screen

TM1 10.1.1 FP2

TM1 10.1.1 FP2 has been released to IBM Fix Pack Central  for download:

www.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/

Cognos on Google Android

There is now a native App available on the google play store:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ibm.cogmob.artoo

Enterprise Reporting with TM1: The New Landscape

The best overview of TM1 10.2 I have seen is available here at Quebit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPAa9_jeIuU

TM1 10.2 and .xls

As of TM1 10.2 the tm1web will no longer support Excel 2003 .xls files.

Fear not though as there is a conversion tool available.

Just go into Architect/Perspectives and right click on your .xls file to find a conversion tool.

Mine converted all fine without error.

For more details see: http://pic.dhe.ibm.com/infocenter/cbi/v10r2m1/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.ibm.swg.ba.cognos.tm1_op.10.2.0.doc%2Fc_tm1_web_converting.xlsworksheets.html

TM1 Server Monitoring

as of TM1 10.2 you no longer get tm1top available to you.
On the bright side though there has been massive improvements to OperationsConsole.
This of course gives you monitoring on your TM1 service but not the whole box.
A really useful and not expensive option is to use a complete monitoring tool like http://www.mobilepcmonitor.com/
This way you can even log onto the box via your iphone to restart any service.