The first thing to look at is the Aggregate Storage outline Conversion Wizard. you access this by opening Essbase Administration Services (EAS) and going to File > Wizards >
Aggregate Storage outline Conversion, as shown in Figure 5.1.
Although the Wizard contains the mechanism to convert a flat file outline object that is not set up as a cube on your server (File System tab), I have found the conversion process to be easier to work with if you have already set up the outline as a BSo cube. An even better situation is to have data loaded so you can do a before-and-after comparison using reports or the data preview option in EAS. While having the loaded cube on a different server will work fine, I like to eliminate potential issues by having my source and target objects co-existing on the same server. As a result, I have fewer unanswered questions and the comparative process (if there is a need to debug something) is much simpler. In some cases, loading data may not be possible, or you may not want to load data for some other reason. That is okay and will not change your experience when using the Wizard.
If you are doing the conversion on a Development Server, and the source cube is on a Production Server, simply copy the application across servers. Again, you do not need data loaded because the conversion process only converts the outline, it does not do anything
at all with the data. It does not discard the data; it ignores the data. The process only works with the outline object and disregards everything else within the application fold-ers, including data. In most cases, you can do an export from the BSo cube and import that file directly into the ASo cube once it is built. The only instance where this would be a problem is if you had dimension members that were removed by the Wizard. you would have to re-create those members to complete the import successfully. note that the most likely reason the Wizard would remove a member is if the member name violates a naming convention in the ASo cube. For instance, you cannot use the word “log” as a member name in an ASo cube; I am not sure why you would ever actually have a mem-ber with that name, but it is my example. In this instance, you would want to rename that member in the BSo cube prior to doing the outline conversion, so that no members are deleted and the members used in the export will match the members used for the import.
It is important to point out a nuance in conversions that often creates an issue later on in the process. The Wizard does not do anything with existing rules files (for data loading and dimension building), report Scripts, or Calculation Scripts. moving and converting these objects will be subsequent tasks that need to be completed manually.
After opening the Wizard, point to the Essbase Server tab and select the Essbase outline you want to convert.
Note: If you highlight the application in the application navigation panel prior to open-ing the Wizard, the proper application and database selection will be made for you.
you can either drill down in the window on the database object to get to the out-line object or click next (and the wizard will drill for you). The outout-line name will then appear in the File name window as shown in Figure 5.2. Click next to continue to the verify Corrections to outline window.
The verify Corrections window will address the outline members that the system is unable to change in order to convert the outline member. It picks up things like member labels that do not meet ASo rules, outline member formulas that are not in the dimen-sion tagged as Accounts, and member names that violate ASo naming conventions,
Figure 5.1 File Path to start the ASO Wizard. (From Oracle Essbase Administration Services. With permission.)
to name a few issues. keep in mind that this Wizard does not flag calculations that need to be converted in the dimension tagged as Accounts, neither does it convert your formulas to mDx. That is a separate step you will take in the conversion process. once you have looked through the items flagged by the Wizard and made note of things you may need to manually update later when the conversion process is finished, look to the bottom of the window and note there is a radio option to allow you to pick whether to automatically correct these or do an interactive correction. typically, users leave this at the default value of Automatic outline correction, as shown in Figure 5.3.
An interactive outline correction is often not done because it is understood that you will have a great deal of changes you are going to have to make manually. most of these changes are to deal with member formulas that must be converted to mDx. hence, the path of least resistance is to go ahead and allow the system to change what it can, know-ing you will do the rest of the changes manually after the conversion process is complete.
The verification information shown is a redisplay of the same screen that is shown when you are working on an outline inside of EAS and you click the verify outline button.
Something to note when you take the Automatic outline correction option: The system can and will delete members if it finds a serious enough conflict that it cannot either ignore or resolve. you will know this happened when you click next to continue. The next screen you move to inside the Wizard will provide a message on how many members were modified and how many were deleted. The message in Figure 5.4 is an example of what you would see if you converted the Demo Basic BSo cube to an ASo cube. (my examples will revolve around that very conversion to keep the conversation as simple as possible.)
If any members were deleted, this will affect your ability to load in an export file from your BSo cube. If you choose to take the interactive correction, it will open up
Figure 5.2 Wizard Select Source outline screen. (From Oracle Essbase Administration Services. With permission.)
the outline in the outline editor and allow you to make the changes immediately. If you have already forgotten what the errors were from the previous Wizard screen, just click on the verify checkmark and they will be displayed again. you may not be prepared to write new mDx formulas, so you may want to comment out the current formula that is causing the error and continue making corrections until clicking the verify button produces no errors.
After reviewing the summary messages on the necessary modifications the system made to be able to create the ASo cube, click next to continue. At this point you are ready to provide the destination for your converted outline. you can click on the File System tab and put the converted outline back onto your file system to be imported at a later time. Conversely, you can click the button near the lower right-hand corner of the screen to “Create Aggregate Storage Application,” as shown in Figure 5.5.
typically, most developers would choose to “Create Aggregate Storage Application”
so that they can immediately continue working on the converted ASo cube. After pro-viding the application and database name, click ok and you are done. Click Finish to exit the Wizard unless you have another outline to convert, in which case you can take
Figure 5.3 Wizard Verify Corrections to Outline Screen. (From Oracle Essbase Administration Services. With permission.)
Figure 5.4 Essbase modification error message. (From Oracle Essbase Administration Services. With permission.)
that option and start the process anew. The most essential part is now complete; you can now begin to work with your ASo cube. however, there are several more tasks to complete before your conversion can be considered finished.