new feature in 6.5

Hyperion Solutions Corporation

Hyperion® Essbase®

Release 6.5

New Features

Copyright 1998–2001 Hyperion Solutions Corporation. All rights reserved.

U.S. Patent Numbers: 5,359,724 and 6,317,750

Hyperion and Essbase are registered trademarks, the “H” logo and Hyperion Solutions are trademarks of Hyperion Solutions Corporation.

All other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

No portion of this manual may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval systems, for any purpose other than the purchaser’s personal use, without the express written permission of Hyperion Solutions Corporation.

Notice: The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice. Hyperion Solutions Corporation shall not be liable for errors contained herein or consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, performance, or use of this material.

Hyperion Solutions Corporation 1344 Crossman Avenue Sunnyvale, CA 94089

Printed in the U.S.A.

■ iiiNew Features Guide

Contents

Preface ......................................................................................................................... vii

Audience .......................................................................................................................... viiDocument Map................................................................................................................. viiConventions..................................................................................................................... viiiMore Information .............................................................................................................. ixAdditional Support ............................................................................................................ xi

Chapter 1: What’s New in Release 6.5......................................................... 13

Relational Data Support ................................................................................................... 13Calculation, Load and Retrieval Improvements............................................................... 14

Parallel Calculation .................................................................................................. 14Simulated Calculation .............................................................................................. 15Calculation Size Estimation ..................................................................................... 15EQD Filter Support for Negative Numbers.............................................................. 15Enhanced Keyboard Accessibility in EQD .............................................................. 15Empty Outline Support in Dimension Building ....................................................... 15Substitution Variable Support in SQL Interface ...................................................... 16

API Improvements ........................................................................................................... 16Connection Information Support .............................................................................. 16API External Authentication Support....................................................................... 16Backward Compatibility Support ............................................................................. 17

MaxL Improvements ........................................................................................................ 17MaxL External Authentication Support ................................................................... 17MaxL Improved Variable Support ........................................................................... 17MaxL Special Characters Support............................................................................ 18MaxL Shell Message Level Support ........................................................................ 18MaxL Read-Only Export Support ............................................................................ 18

Contents

iv ■ New Features Guide

MaxL I/O Settings Support ....................................................................................... 18MaxL Partition Validation Changes ......................................................................... 18MaxL Shell User Name and Password Prompt......................................................... 19

Administration Improvements .......................................................................................... 19Server Log Enhancements ........................................................................................ 19I/O Setting Changes .................................................................................................. 20File Header Changes ................................................................................................. 21Fragmentation Quotient ............................................................................................ 21Read-only Access During Export ............................................................................. 21

Platform Support Changes ................................................................................................ 21Documentation Improvements.......................................................................................... 22

Documentation Installation Program ........................................................................ 22New Gateway to Essbase Documentation ................................................................ 22Readme File, Quick Path Card in HTML ................................................................. 22SQL Interface Guide in HTML and PDF.................................................................. 23Error Message Documentation Improved ................................................................. 23

Chapter 2: What’s New in Release 6.2 ......................................................... 25

New Functionality ............................................................................................................ 25New Interface for Administration Tasks................................................................... 26

About the Essbase Administration Services Console ....................................... 26New Features .................................................................................................... 26

Parallel Data Load..................................................................................................... 28Limits on Query Duration and Time......................................................................... 28New Control of Agent-Server Threads and User Logins.......................................... 29Log Delimiters .......................................................................................................... 29New Calculation Functions ....................................................................................... 30New API Functions ................................................................................................... 30

List of Native and Custom-Defined Calculation Functions.............................. 30New API Function to Create Filter ................................................................... 31

External Authentication ............................................................................................ 31Export/Import LROs ................................................................................................. 32Export of Databases Larger than 2 GB ..................................................................... 32New CALCMODE Configuration Setting................................................................ 32

Improved Functionality .................................................................................................... 32

Contents

■ vNew Features Guide

Improved Handling of Sessions and Requests.......................................................... 33Multiple Essbase Agents on a Single Server Computer ........................................... 34Case Sensitivity Improvement .................................................................................. 34Improved Add-in Support of Excel in Browsers ...................................................... 35Member Set Function Support in FIX ...................................................................... 35New Dimensions Sparse by Default ......................................................................... 35Custom-Defined Functions and Macros ................................................................... 35Attribute Association Memory Use .......................................................................... 36Buffered I/O Default ................................................................................................. 36

Platform Changes ............................................................................................................. 36Spreadsheet Add-in Support of Citrix ...................................................................... 37Personal Essbase Not Available for Windows 98 or 95 ........................................... 37Essbase Release 6.2 Clients Not Available for Windows 95 ................................... 37

Improvements to Documentation ..................................................................................... 37New Error Messages Document ............................................................................... 38Database Administrator’s Guide Improvement ........................................................ 38Technical Reference Now Available Online Only ................................................... 38


Custom-Defined Macros and Functions........................................................................... 40New Release 6.1 Calculator Functions............................................................................. 40Dynamic Calculator Cache............................................................................................... 42MaxL ................................................................................................................................ 42Improved Diagnostics....................................................................................................... 43Improved Password Protection......................................................................................... 43Parallel Export .................................................................................................................. 43New Formula Validation Options .................................................................................... 43Release 6.1 ESSCMD Commands ................................................................................... 44Release 6.1 Configuration Settings .................................................................................. 44MERANT ODBC Drivers ................................................................................................ 46New Spreadsheet Add-in Platform................................................................................... 46


Sophisticated, Economical Attribute Analysis ................................................................. 48ESSCMD Commands: New and Updated........................................................................ 49Parallel Login and Application Startup Tasks.................................................................. 50

Contents

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Enterprise Architecture ..................................................................................................... 50Support for Large Outlines ............................................................................................... 51New API Features............................................................................................................. 51New Features in the Essbase Kernel................................................................................. 54New Settings in the Configuration File ............................................................................ 55New Features in the Spreadsheet Add-in.......................................................................... 56

A More Powerful Interface to Create Queries .......................................................... 56Support for Attributes ............................................................................................... 56New Client Platforms................................................................................................ 56

New Functions in the Calculator ...................................................................................... 57New Features in Partitioning ............................................................................................ 60New Features in Security Filters....................................................................................... 60Large Data Export Capability ........................................................................................... 60New Features in Report Writer......................................................................................... 60

■ viiNew Features Guide

Preface

This preface provides information about Hyperion® and this document:

● “Audience” on page vii

● “Document Map” on page vii

● “Conventions” on page viii

● “More Information” on page ix

● “Additional Support” on page xi

AudienceThis guide is for anyone who needs to know what new features ar available in the Essbase OLAP Server beginning with Release 6.0.

To use the information in this book, you need an understanding of relational databases and ODBC drivers, and knowledge of Essbase database outlines.

Document MapThis document contains the following information:

● “What’s New in Release 6.5” on page 13




viii ■ New Features Guide

ConventionsUse this table to understand the conventions used in this guide:

Table i: Conventions Used in This Document

Item Meaning

Arrows indicate the beginning of a procedure consisting of sequential steps.

Brackets [] In examples, brackets indicate that the enclosed elements are optional.

Bold Bold text indicates words or characters that you type exactly as they appear on the page. Bold in procedural steps highlights major interface elements.

CAPITAL LETTERS Capital letters denote Essbase commands, functions (except MaxL), and configuration settings. (Example: CLEARBLOCK command)

Example text Courier font indicates that the material shown is a code or syntax example.

Ctrl + 0 Keystroke combinations shown with the plus symbol (+) indicate that you should press the first key and hold it while you press the next key. Do not type the + symbol.

Courier italics

ARBORPATH

n, x

• Courier italic text indicates a variable field in command syntax. Substitute a value in place of the variable shown in Courier italics.

• When you see the environment variable ARBORPATH in italics, substitute the value of ARBORPATH from your site.

• Italic n stands for a variable number; italic x can stand for a variable number or an alphabet. These variables are sometimes found in formulas.

Italics Italics may be used to indicate emphasis, or a variable whose value you should supply. Italics also mark the first occurrence of a word that is in the glossary.

Ellipses (...) Ellipsis points indicate that text has been omitted from an example.

■ ixNew Features Guide

More InformationIf you do not find what you need in this book, refer to the Essbase Information Map to locate other documents provided with Essbase. The Essbase Information Map is in the root directory of your installation CD or in the \docs directory of your Essbase installation. The file is essdocs.htm.

For answers or comments on technical documentation, contact Hyperion Essbase Technical Publications:

● Phone: 408.744.9500

● FAX: 408.744.0400

● E-mail: [email protected]

Clients in Europe, Asia, or other areas should call their local support number.

If Hyperion Software is not your software provider, contact your software provider’s Technical Support hotline.

If you have a current maintenance contract with Hyperion Software, you can gain access to Hyperion’s programs, Tech Tips, on the World Wide Web. Using Tech Tips, you can get answer to frequently asked questions, optimization, and platform issues using your browser. Contact your Hyperion Essbase system administrator for your company’s access code to Tech Tips.

Mouse orientation This document provides examples and procedures using a right-handed mouse. If you use a left-handed mouse, adjust the procedures accordingly.

Menu options Options in menus are shown in the following format: Menu name > Menu command > Extended menu command

For example: File > Desktop > Accounts

The suffix.DLL A dynamic link library file has the suffix .dll. Your operating system might use the term shared object or shared library files instead.

Table i: Conventions Used in This Document (Continued)

Item Meaning

./essinf.pdf

x ■ New Features Guide

You can also visit these Hyperion Solutions sites for more information:

● http://www.essbase.com

● http://www.hyperion.com

➤ To access the documentation from the Hyperion Solutions Web site:

1. Log on to http://www.hyperion.com.

2. Select Support from the menu bar.

Tip: Enter your user name and password, and click Login. If you do not have a user name and password, click New User Registration on the left side of the login page to request them.

3. Select Order/Download Documentation.

4. From the Product list box, select the appropriate Hyperion Essbase OLAP Server release.

5. From the Display list box, select Documentation, then click Submit.

➤ To install the entire documentation suite unrelated to a product installation from the Download Center or www.essbase.com:

1. Go to the Hyperion Download Center using the instructions in your Product Letter, or log on to www.essbase.com and navigate to Support Library > Documentation.

2. Download the appropriate zip or tar file for your product.

3. Unzip or untar the file.

4. Run the downloaded file for the product you wish to install. It will self-extract and run the product installer.

➤ To order printed documentation:

● Visit the Hyperion Solutions Web site at http://www.hyperion.com.

● In the United States, call Hyperion Solutions Customer Support at 877-901-4975.

● From outside the United States, including Canada, call Hyperion Solutions Customer Support at 203-703-3600. Clients who are not serviced by support from North America should call their local support centers.

http://www.essbase.com



http://www.hyperion.com



■ xiNew Features Guide

Additional SupportIn addition to providing the documentation and online help, Hyperion offers the following support for product information:

● “Education Services” on page xi

● “Consulting Services” on page xi

● “Technical Support” on page xii

Education ServicesHyperion offers a variety of training options, including instructor-led training, custom training, and eTraining. This education covers all Hyperion applications and technologies and is geared to administrators, end users, and information systems (IS) professionals.

Instructor-led training is delivered in formats and in locations suited to Hyperion’s diverse, global customers. Hyperion Authorized Training Centers are certified to deliver courses developed by Hyperion. Custom Education Services—training on the configured and tailored applications that employees use on the job—is another option to enhance user productivity and to ensure smooth day-to-day operations. A service called eTraining—including computer-based training, Web-based training, and interactive Virtual Classroom training—provides a cost-effective means of giving users a hands-on introduction to product features and functions. Computer-based training (CBT) and Web-based training (WBT) provide high-quality, self-paced training at the user’s convenience, regardless of location.

For more information about training, contact your Regional Education Manager or visit the Hyperion Solutions Web site at http://www.hyperion.com to see a list of all training classes.

Consulting ServicesHyperion Consulting Services assists customers in maximizing the use of, and the return on investment in, Hyperion products. Experienced Hyperion consultants and Hyperion Alliance Partners assist organizations in tailoring solutions to their particular requirements, such as reporting, analysis, modeling, and planning. Specific services include implementation consulting, custom business solutions, data integration, and technical consulting. Additionally, Hyperion offers a variety of Services Packages and Reviews.


xii ■ New Features Guide

For more information about Consulting Services, Services Packages and Reviews, as well as the services offered by Alliance Partners, contact your local consulting services representative, or visit the Hyperion Solutions Web site at http://www.hyperion.com to see a list of all Hyperion Alliance Partners.

Technical SupportHyperion provides Web-based and telephone support to ensure that clients resolve product issues quickly and accurately. This support is available for all Hyperion products at no additional cost to clients with a current maintenance agreement.

● For Web-based support, or to see complete information on available support options, visit the Hyperion Solutions Web site at http://www.hyperion.com.

● In the United States, call 877-901-4975 for Hyperion Solutions Customer Support.

● From outside the United States, including Canada, call Hyperion Solutions Customer Support at 203-703-3600. Clients who are not serviced by support from North America should call their local support centers.



■ 13New Features Guide

ChapterChapterChapterChapter

1What’s New in Release 6.5

Hyperion provides these new features in Essbase 6.5:

● “Relational Data Support” on page 13

● “Calculation, Load and Retrieval Improvements” on page 14

● “API Improvements” on page 16

● “MaxL Improvements” on page 17

● “Administration Improvements” on page 19

● “Platform Support Changes” on page 21

● “Documentation Improvements” on page 22

Relational Data SupportEssbase supports Hybrid Analysis, a method of accessing the lowest level members of an Essbase database from a relational database. This relationally stored data is not physically loaded into Essbase. The data is mapped to the appropriate Essbase hierarchies.

Use Essbase Integration Services and the Hybrid Analysis manager to create applications that access relational data using Hybrid Analysis. The manager generates queries dynamically against the relational source, and runs as part of the OLAP Server.

For more information about how to use Hybrid Analysis, see these documents:

● Technical Reference in the docs directory, in the Report Writer and Configuration Settings sections

● Essbase Integration Services Online Help and Intelligent Help

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What’s New in Release 6.5

New Features Guide

● Essbase Database Administrator’s Guide in the appendix about accessing relational data using Hybrid Analysis.

Calculation, Load and Retrieval ImprovementsHyperion provides improvements to several retrieval or load features:

● “Parallel Calculation” on page 14

● “Simulated Calculation” on page 15

● “Calculation Size Estimation” on page 15

● “EQD Filter Support for Negative Numbers” on page 15

● “Enhanced Keyboard Accessibility in EQD” on page 15

● “Empty Outline Support in Dimension Building” on page 15

● “Substitution Variable Support in SQL Interface” on page 16

Parallel CalculationIn addition to the standard means of performing a calculation, where each task is performed in sequence or serially, Essbase now supports parallel calculation.

If you enable parallel calculation, Essbase analyzes all the tasks in a calculation pass and breaks them down into subtasks. The subtasks that can run independently of each other are scheduled to run simultaneously on up to four threads, each on a separate CPU.

See these documents for information about enabling parallel calculation:

● For information about when to use parallel calculation, and how it interacts with other Essbase features, see the chapter on optimizing calculations in the Essbase Database Administrator’s Guide.

● The Technical Reference in the docs directory contains entries in the configuration setting and calculation commands sections. You can enable and adjust parallel calculation by adding CALCPARALLEL (and optionally CALCTASKDIMS) to your essbase.cfg configuration file, or you can issue the calculation commands SET CALCPARALLEL and SET CALCTASKDIMS.


1


Simulated CalculationUse the calculation command SET MSG ONLY to perform simulated calculations. A simulated calculation estimates the amount of time needed to perform a default calculation. The simulated calculation can also help you to select dense and sparse settings for the dimensions in your outline.

See the Technical Reference in the docs directory for instructions about how to add the command to a calculation script. See the Essbase Database Administrator’s Guide for information about how to use the results from SET MSG ONLY.

Calculation Size EstimationEssbase now provides an ESSCMD command, ESTIMATEFULLDBSIZE, which can estimate number of actual blocks that will be created, from a full data load or from randomly loaded data samples:

This information can help you estimate the size of your database. For instructions, see the Technical Reference in the docs directory.

EQD Filter Support for Negative NumbersThe Essbase Query Designer (EQD) provides the ability to design queries with filtering criteria. With Release 6.5, EQD supports the ability to use negative numbers in the filtering criteria.

Enhanced Keyboard Accessibility in EQDKeyboard accessibility for EQD is greatly enhanced in Release 6.5. When launching EQD, focus is set to the first item in the tree in the navigation panel. From there, users can access most EQD functionality using the keyboard.

For more information, see the Spreadsheet Add-in online help topic, Keyboard Shortcuts for Essbase Query Designer.

Empty Outline Support in Dimension BuildingEssbase can now build dimensions in empty outline files. When a new database is created, Essbase creates an empty outline file.

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In previous releases, before building outlines from a data source, you needed to add at least one dimension member to the empty outline manually. With Release 6.5, Essbase no longer requires the manual step.

Substitution Variable Support in SQL InterfaceYou can use substitution variables in SQL strings, similar to substitution variable use in report scripts and calculation scripts. For details, see the Essbase SQL Interface Guide, available in PDF or HTML.

API ImprovementsHyperion provides new features and enhancements for improved API functionality:

● “Connection Information Support” on page 16

● “API External Authentication Support” on page 16

● “Backward Compatibility Support” on page 17

For additional API changes, see also “I/O Setting Changes” on page 20.

Connection Information SupportIn Release 6.5, client API programs can access information about users currently connected to Essbase.

The new function EssListLogins() provides a count of the users logged in to a specified connection and returns information on the connected client names and IP addresses.

API External Authentication SupportIn Release 6.5, you can use the API to create and list external users. The new functions in the C Main API are EssCreateExtUser, EssGetUserEx, and EssSetUserEx. A new structure, ESS_USERINFOEX_T, has been added. For more information, see the essapi.h header file in the api\include directory, or the API Reference in your docs directory.


1


Backward Compatibility SupportIn Release 6.5, client API programs can access older Essbase OLAP Servers, beginning with OLAP Server Release 6.2.

Thus, you can run a program in an environment with multiple servers of different versions. For any feature that is incompatible with a previous server, Essbase generates an appropriate error message.

MaxL ImprovementsEssbase provides new features and improved performance in these areas of MaxL:

● “MaxL External Authentication Support” on page 17

● “MaxL Improved Variable Support” on page 17

● “MaxL Special Characters Support” on page 18

● “MaxL Shell Message Level Support” on page 18

● “MaxL Read-Only Export Support” on page 18

● “MaxL I/O Settings Support” on page 18

● “MaxL Partition Validation Changes” on page 18

● “MaxL Shell User Name and Password Prompt” on page 19

For more information, see the MaxL Language Reference What’s New section.

MaxL External Authentication SupportRelease 6.2 introduced the ability to create externally authenticated users in Essbase. With Release 6.5, the MaxL create user statement enables creating externally authenticated users with the MaxL language interface.

MaxL Improved Variable SupportIn the MaxL Shell, you can use variables as placeholders for any data that is subject to change or to which you refer often. Prior to Release 6.5, the MaxL Shell allowed variables to be either positional parameters or environment variables. In Release 6.5, the flexibility of positional parameters is increased; also, a new type of variable can be used: locally defined shell variables.

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MaxL Special Characters SupportThe MaxL Shell allows single quotation marks to be used within user or group names. Single quotation marks are used to separate units of MaxL statements that contain special characters, and can now be used within user and group names as well, with backslash used as an escape sequence.

For example, this command creates the user O’Brian:

create user ’O\’Brian’ identified by ’password’;

MaxL Shell Message Level SupportYou can invoke the MaxL shell with the -m flag to control the level of messages that the shell returns.

For example, this command instructs Essbase to return only error messages:

essmsh -m error

MaxL Read-Only Export SupportDatabase exports allow users to log in and perform read-only operations during the database export.

This change is server-wide: all methods of export now leave the database in a read-only state until the export finishes.

MaxL I/O Settings SupportMaxL supports changes to the access mode (I/O) settings in Essbase. For more information, see “I/O Setting Changes” on page 20.

MaxL Partition Validation ChangesYou can use MaxL to validate partitions at times other than partition creation. You can also obtain full information about the partition.


1


MaxL Shell User Name and Password PromptYou can now invoke the MaxL shell using any of these flags in any combination:

● -u user name

● -p password

● -s host name (Prompts for user name and password, and hides password.)

For example, this command invokes the MaxL shell and prompt for the password:

> essmsh -u user1Enter Password > ******

Administration ImprovementsHyperion provides additional or improved administration functionality:

● “Server Log Enhancements” on page 19

● “I/O Setting Changes” on page 20

● “File Header Changes” on page 21

● “Fragmentation Quotient” on page 21

● “Read-only Access During Export” on page 21

Server Log EnhancementsMessages in the server log dealing with user logins and security changes now include additional details:

● The user name of anyone entering an incorrect password or changing a password

● The IP address of the computer on which a user logs in

● The user name and group name when the user or group is deleted

In addition, Essbase logs additional security activities in the server log, including the name of the user and group being changed and the user performing the change:

● Adding users to groups and removing users from groups

● Granting and revoking database and application access

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I/O Setting ChangesIn Release 6.2, the default mode of I/O access was buffered, but you could change that to direct I/O at the server level with the configuration setting DIRECTIO.

With Release 6.5, buffered I/O is still the default, but DIRECTIO controls only the I/O mode used for databases when they are created or upgraded to 6.5.

If a DIRECTIO setting exists in the server configuration file essbase.cfg, all newly created Release 6.5 databases and all databases migrated to Release 6.5 will read the I/O access mode setting from essbase.cfg during creation or migration only, and copy that information to the Essbase security file essbase.sec.

Thereafter, if you want to change the I/O access mode used by any database, you must change it at the database level by adjusting the database setting, using any of these methods:

● Start Application Manager and navigate to the Database Settings window, Storage tab, I/O Access Mode and Direct I/O settings.

● Use the MaxL statement alter database set io_access_mode.

● Use the Essbase API. Additional fields in the ESS_DBSTATE_T structure are now provided for setting the I/O access mode.

You can verify the current I/O access mode being used and the current I/O access mode setting, using any of these methods:

● Open Application Manager and navigate to Database > Information, Storage tab, I/O Access Mode and Direct I/O settings.

● The ESSCMD command GETDBSTATE displays I/O information.

● Use the MaxL command display database.

● Use the Agent DUMP command to output the contents of the Essbase security file to a text file. For example:

DUMP security_file.txt

The file security_file.txt will contain information for each database about the I/O access mode being used and the current I/O access mode setting.

● Use the Essbase API. Additional fields in the ESS_DBSTATE_T structure are now provided for viewing the I/O access mode.


1


For more information about using any of these techniques, see the documentation that corresponds to the method you want to use.

Note: For important information about how direct I/O affects database cache-size migration, please see the Essbase Installation Guide.

File Header ChangesHeader files contain new information and structures that enable Essbase to run more quickly and efficiently. You need not do anything for new or upgraded installations, the changes are made automatically.

Two header files, esbapi.h and esbotl.h, are no longer needed, and therefore no longer shipped with Essbase. One new header file, esstsa.h, has been added.

Fragmentation QuotientThe ESSCMD command GETDBSTATS now returns a fragmentation quotient statistic, indicating the degree of fragmentation in an Essbase database. For more information, see the Technical Reference in the docs directory.

Read-only Access During ExportEssbase now supports read-only access of databases during an export process initiated by any regular Essbase procedure, such as the API, MaxL, or Application Manager. For more information, see the documentation for the method that you choose.

Platform Support ChangesHyperion supports these new platforms for clients and OLAP Server:

● AIX 5L for OLAP Server

● Windows XP for Personal Essbase and Essbase clients

● Excel XP for Spreadsheet Add-in (supported beginning Release 6.2)

● Merant 4.0, except AIX, which still uses Merant 3.6

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Documentation ImprovementsEssbase provides improved documentation for Release 6.5:

● “Documentation Installation Program” on page 22

● “New Gateway to Essbase Documentation” on page 22

● “Readme File, Quick Path Card in HTML” on page 22

● “SQL Interface Guide in HTML and PDF” on page 23

● “Error Message Documentation Improved” on page 23

Documentation Installation ProgramYou can now install all Essbase documentation separate from any product installation. The documentation installation program is available from the Download Center, or from essbase.com. For more information, see the Essbase Installation Guide.

New Gateway to Essbase DocumentationYou can access all Essbase documentation from a single HTML file, the Information Map. Access this gateway in any of these ways:

● On Windows, use Start > Programs > Hyperion Solutions > Hyperion Essbase 6.5 > OLAP Server Documentation.

● Navigate to the ARBORPATH directory and open essdocs.htm.

Readme File, Quick Path Card in HTMLThe file readme.txt is now readme.htm, in HTML format to provide more navigation tools than are available with a simple text file. The file resides in your ARBORPATH directory. You can also use the Information Map to find it.

The Essbase Quick Path Card is now distributed as an HTML document.



1


SQL Interface Guide in HTML and PDFThe Essbase SQL Interface Guide is now available in HTML as well as PDF. Use the Information Map to access either version.

Error Message Documentation ImprovedThe Error Messages Guide now includes these error message ranges:

● Lock Manager Errors: messages 1014004 to 1014042

● Grid API Errors: messages 1120000 to 1120001

● Agent Errors now includes messages 1052001 to 1054030

Use the Information Map to access the Error Messages Guide. You can also open the guide directly from ARBORPATH/Docs/Errmsgs/erhelp.htm.

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Chapter


Release 6.2 provides new functionality, improves existing functionality, and presents improved documentation:

● “New Functionality” on page 25

● “Improved Functionality” on page 32

● “Platform Changes” on page 36

● “Improvements to Documentation” on page 37

New FunctionalityRelease 6.2 provides new functionality for better performance and ease of use:

● “New Interface for Administration Tasks” on page 26

● “Parallel Data Load” on page 28

● “Limits on Query Duration and Time” on page 28

● “New Control of Agent-Server Threads and User Logins” on page 29

● “Log Delimiters” on page 29

● “New Calculation Functions” on page 30

● “New API Functions” on page 30

● “External Authentication” on page 31

● “Export/Import LROs” on page 32

● “Export of Databases Larger than 2 GB” on page 32

● “New CALCMODE Configuration Setting” on page 32

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New Interface for Administration TasksEssbase® Administration Services is the new framework for managing and maintaining Essbase. Essbase Administration Services consists of a client console and a middle tier server that communicate directly with Hyperion OLAP Servers. Both of these components can run on any platform supported by Essbase.

Essbase Administration Services is a Preview Release for the new cross-platform Essbase administration tool. If you have technical questions or enhancement suggestions for this new product, contact your authorized technical support number. For more information, see the Essbase Administration Services Online Help.

About the Essbase Administration Services ConsoleThe Essbase Administration Services Console is the graphical user interface that enables administrators to manage the Essbase environment. The console provides a single point of access for viewing, managing, and maintaining OLAP Servers and the Administration Server. The console incorporates much of the functionality of Essbase Application Manager with other Essbase administration tools, such as MaxL.

The console simplifies Essbase administration tasks by providing a graphical representation of the Essbase environment, based on access rights. You can operate on Essbase objects quickly, in a visual, familiar setting. You can perform multiple tasks simultaneously, run processes in the background, perform cross-server operations, analyze Essbase logs, and manage user sessions and locks.

New FeaturesEssbase Administration Services provides several new Essbase features that are not available in Application Manager.

Application and database migration across OLAP Servers

You can migrate applications and databases from one server to another, regardless of platform. When you migrate, you can also migrate user/group security, including filter associations.


2


User and group migration across OLAP Servers

You can migrate Essbase users and groups from one server to another, regardless of platform. You can migrate individual users and groups, or you can migrate multiple users or multiple groups at one time.

Password propagation

You can change a user’s password and then propagate the new password to other OLAP Servers.

Single sign-on to Essbase enterprise environment

When you log on to Administration Services, the Administration Server handles your connections to OLAP Servers, applications, and databases.

Log analysis

Using Log Analyzer, you can filter, search, and analyze OLAP Server logs and application logs.

New MaxL Script Editor

A new MaxL Script Editor is integrated with the Administration Services Console. From this editor, you can create, edit, save, and execute MaxL statements and scripts. You can also use the editor to type and execute MaxL statements interactively, to perform one Essbase operation at a time. Results from MaxL statements are displayed within the editor.

Background processing

You can execute calculations in the background. You can then perform other tasks or exit the console while the process continues to run. A message panel in the console window tells you when the process is completed.

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Multiple platform support

Both the middle tier Administration Server and the client console are Java products that run on multiple platforms. You can now manage Essbase with a user interface that runs on any platform supported by Essbase.

Printing of Essbase information

You can print the contents of many windows in the console. For example, you can print the contents of the Database Properties window or the Log Analyzer window.

Graphical view of Essbase

You can use the graphical Enterprise View in the console to operate directly on Essbase objects and to create custom views of the Essbase environment.

Parallel Data LoadEssbase now supports parallel data loading. You can specify the number of processing threads to be used in parallel at different stages in data load processing. Allocating processing threads across processors on multiple CPUs provides the performance advantages of true parallel operation.

Limits on Query Duration and TimeWhen users create and execute a report or spreadsheet add-in query, they may unintentionally create a very large query. Some large queries may require too much time to execute or may access too many blocks to run efficiently.

To help administrators, Essbase now provides these new features:

● Administrators can limit the amount of time a query can run before completion.

● Administrators can limit the number of blocks that a query may access.

● Administrators can set the new limits at the server, application, or database level.

This new ability is available using new essbase.cfg file settings.


2


New Control of Agent-Server Threads and User LoginsTwo new configuration settings provide more control over agent activity:

● AGTSVRCONNECTIONS specifies the number of server threads that the OLAP Server creates during startup to connect to the agent. This subset of server threads, along with the agent threads controlled by AGENTTHREADS, is needed when users connect from an agent to the server in order to connect to an application and database. These threads are unrelated to the threads used in direct client queries, which are specified by SERVERTHREADS or have default specification based on the number of licenses purchased.

● MAXLOGIN specifies the maximum number of users that can simultaneously log on to a single application at a time. This number includes all instances of the same user on the same computer and application. Both the server and agent use this setting. MAXLOGIN is unrelated to threads controlled by AGENTTHREADS, AGTSVRCONNECTIONS, or SERVERTHREADS.

Use these settings to match resources to load patterns:

● To support a small number of users, you could lessen the amount of memory that the OLAP Server uses by decreasing the value of MAXLOGIN.

● To support a large number of users trying to access the same application at the same time, you might want to increase the value of AGTSVRCONNECTIONS and AGENTTHREADS.

● To support many users issuing queries at the same time, you might increase the value of SERVERTHREADS.

Log DelimitersIf you need to use external reporting tools or import log data into an Essbase database, Essbase now provides the ability to specify a delimiter between fields in Essbase log files:

● The essbase.cfg configuration file now supports an optional setting DELIMITEDMSG and DELIMITER. When DELIMITDMSG is set to TRUE, Essbase inserts a tilde (~) between each field of a message and writes each entry on a single line. If DELIMITER is set to one of three symbols, that symbol is used instead of the tilde.

● Log files contain standardized fields and field ordering. For example, an entry with a date and time stamp uses the stamp as the first field in the message.

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New Features Guide

New Calculation FunctionsEssbase provides three new calculation functions in this release:

● Use @PRIORS and @NEXTS to skip #MISSING values, zero (0) values, or both, or neither during a calculation. @PRIOR and @NEXT, which do not skip, are still available.

● Use @NAME to pass a member name, as a string, to another function.

● Use @ALIAS to pass a member alias, as a string, to another function.

See the Technical Reference in the docs directory for details.

New API FunctionsThere are new API functions in two areas:

● “List of Native and Custom-Defined Calculation Functions” on page 30

● “New API Function to Create Filter” on page 31

See the API Reference in your docs directory for details.

List of Native and Custom-Defined Calculation FunctionsEssbase Release 6 included expanded abilities to write custom functions and macros. The Outline Editor and the Calculation Script Editor provide dialog boxes that contain functions and operators that clients can copy into member formulas and calculation scripts. In Release 6.2, the list of functions and operators is now available to any client applications that you create.

Essbase Release 6.2 includes an API function, EssListCalcFunctions, that lists all available customer-defined macros and functions, all Essbase native functions, and all calculator functions. This information gives application programs the ability to write new functions automatically when needed.

Note: Application Designer privilege is required to get a list of local functions, and Supervisor privilege is required to get a list of global functions.


2


New API Function to Create FilterRelease 6.2 of Essbase includes a new API function, EssCreateFilter, that creates a filter and starts setting its contents. To finish setting the filter contents, you must also use EssSetFilterRow.

EssCreateFilter differs from EssSetFilter in this respect:

● EssCreateFilter returns an error if a filter of the same name already exists on the database.

● EssSetFilter overwrites a filter of the same name if it already exists on the database.

External AuthenticationEssbase now supports external authentication of users against a non-Essbase server. For this release, Essbase installs a protocol that can authenticate users against an LDAP v3 server.

To enable external authentication, administrators use this procedure:

1. Set the AUTHENTICATIONMODULE configuration setting in the server and client configuration file essbase.cfg.

2. Restart OLAP Server.

3. Create the user in Essbase with a reference to the LDAP protocol, using either Application Manager or Essbase Administration Services.

For instructions about how to set the configuration parameter, see the Technical Reference in the docs directory. For instructions about how to create users with external authentication, see the security chapters of the Essbase Database Administrator’s Guide.

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New Features Guide

Export/Import LROsThe ability to export and re-import linked reporting object (LRO) information from a database has been added to improve backup capabilities and calculation performance.

You can use export lro and import lro (MaxL) to perform these tasks:

● Export the catalog that maps LROs to data cells, from a database to a single file on the server

● Load a file containing the exported LRO information.

For more information about using MaxL, see the Technical Reference in the docs directory.

Export of Databases Larger than 2 GBSome file management systems do not support ASCII files larger than 2 GB. To avoid exceeding this limit, if Essbase anticipates that an export file will be larger than 2 GB, it breaks the file into two or more export files, as needed. Use the ESSCMD commands, EXPORT and PAREXPORT, and the MaxL statement, export to export databases.

This new feature works the same on all operating systems.

New CALCMODE Configuration SettingYou can now set CALCMODE to BLOCK or BOTTOMUP using the configuration setting CALCMODE in the server configuration file essbase.cfg, and give it server, application, or database scope instead of using the @CALCMODE function. For more information, see the configuration settings in Technical Reference in the docs directory.

Improved FunctionalityRelease 6.2 provides these improvements to existing functionality:

● “Improved Handling of Sessions and Requests” on page 33

● “Multiple Essbase Agents on a Single Server Computer” on page 34

● “Case Sensitivity Improvement” on page 34


2


● “Improved Add-in Support of Excel in Browsers” on page 35

● “Member Set Function Support in FIX” on page 35

● “New Dimensions Sparse by Default” on page 35

● “Custom-Defined Functions and Macros” on page 35

● “Attribute Association Memory Use” on page 36

● “Buffered I/O Default” on page 36

Improved Handling of Sessions and RequestsEssbase system administrators can log out all users of a particular application or database or log out instances of particular users from a selected scope: an application, a database, or the entire OLAP Server system. If a user request is active when the administrator tries to log off the user, the administrator can “force” the user off. Using force safely terminates the request and then logs the user off.

Additionally, administrators may terminate specific requests that have become problematic. For example, if a user loses the connection to the OLAP Server during a request (for example, a calculation), the abandoned request may cause the application to stop responding to subsequent requests.

Each user session has a unique ID number, which can be displayed and used by the administrator to terminate the current request associated with that session. When the administrator terminates a request, the user session remains active.

The improved handling of sessions and requests can be found in any of these areas:

● Application Manager (Security > Connections)

● The MaxL language interface (Alter System Kill Request and Alter System Logout Session)

● The Essbase Administration Services Console

The improved handling of sessions and requests is also available to API programmers, who can incorporate the following request management functions:

● EssListRequests()

● EssKillRequest()

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New Features Guide

Multiple Essbase Agents on a Single Server ComputerThree new settings in the Essbase configuration file enable a single computer to run multiple Essbase agents at the same time. These settings provides two important improvements:

● Increased service to clients.

● Essbase administrators can research new systems without the need to use a different server computer. Previous releases required a single communication port per Essbase agent, per OLAP Server. This constraint has been removed.

● These settings must be in essbase.cfg configuration files on both the client and server.

The new configuration settings are: AGENTPORT, SERVERPORTBEGIN, SERVERPORTEND, and PORTINC.

Case Sensitivity ImprovementEarlier releases of Essbase automatically changed the case of application and database names when they were created: the first letter was converted to uppercase and other letters were all lowercase.

With this release, Essbase creates the database name exactly as it is entered.

Some backward compatibility with previous clients is provided:

● If a pre-6.2 release of a client (Application Manager for example) is used to create a database or application name, the name is created with the first letter uppercase and all other letters lowercase.

● If scripts specify the incorrect case for an application or database name, Hyperion Essbase searches for different versions of case for that object.

Some error messages have been rewritten to provide clarity.

With this release, behavior on NT and UNIX platforms is identical.


2


Improved Add-in Support of Excel in BrowsersEssbase supports the ability to access the Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in features when Microsoft Excel is invoked from Internet Explorer.

If you drill down in an Excel spreadsheet accessed from Internet Explorer, Excel refreshes the browser and displays the requested data automatically. Users do not need to perform any additional steps to refresh the browser view.

Member Set Function Support in FIXAll functions that return a member or set of members are now supported when they occur within FIX statements. Member and member set functions in FIX is also supported for partition definitions and security filters. For a list of member functions, follow these links from the Technical Reference in the docs directory:

Essbase Functions -- List --> Types of Functions --> Member Set

New Dimensions Sparse by DefaultWhen you add a dimension to an existing outline, Essbase makes it a sparse dimension. Prior to Release 6.2, Hyperion Essbase made new dimensions dense by default.

Custom-Defined Functions and MacrosSeveral changes have been made to custom-defined functions (CDF) and custom-defined macros (CDM):

● You no longer need to install the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) to create or use CDMs. CDFs still require the JVM.

● Essbase no longer validates function records before completing the creation process. Errors are detected only when an application loads the CDF. Typically, this occurs during server startup and when the MaxL Refresh Custom Definitions statement is executed. The Essbase Agent checks the function for a valid name but does no other validation.

This means that there is no longer a need to start an application in order to create a function.

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New Features Guide

● You can now use MaxL to create and drop function records without loading or unloading an application.

● The rules for specifying Java classes and methods are now stricter.

● MaxL and Application Manager must be Release 6.2 to create or delete CDFs and CDMs on the 6.2 server. For details, see the Essbase Database Administrator’s Guide chapters about CDFs and CDMs.

Attribute Association Memory UseEssbase has improved memory management for processing attributes requiring less memory. This improvement is most noticeable for applications using many attributes.

Buffered I/O DefaultRelease 6.2 includes buffered I/O as the default. If you want to use direct I/O, as was the default for Releases 6.0 and 6.1, you can use the configuration setting DIRECTIO TRUE.

Because buffered I/O may affect some Essbase caches, you may need to adjust cache size as well as change the DIRECTIO configuration setting. For more information about DIRECTIO, see the Technical Reference in the docs directory. For more information about adjusting cache sizes, see the Sizing Caches section of the Essbase Database Administrator’s Guide.

Platform ChangesRelease 6.2 includes these platform changes:

● “Spreadsheet Add-in Support of Citrix” on page 37

● “Personal Essbase Not Available for Windows 98 or 95” on page 37

● “Essbase Release 6.2 Clients Not Available for Windows 95” on page 37


2


Spreadsheet Add-in Support of CitrixEssbase supports the Spreadsheet Add-in for both Excel 2000 and Lotus 1-2-3 Release 9.6 on Citrix Metaframe 1.8 on a Windows 2000 server. The Citrix software enables users to access and execute client applications from the Citrix server, thereby eliminating the need to install these client applications on individual client computers.

Personal Essbase Not Available for Windows 98 or 95Personal Essbase is no longer supported on Windows 98 or 95. Personal Essbase is fully supported on Windows NT, ME, and 2000.

Hyperion supports retrieving data from a Release 6.2 server on any platform, using 6.1 or earlier Personal Essbase.

Note: Clients such as Application Manager and Spreadsheet Add-in must be at the same release level as Personal Essbase. You cannot, for example, use Application Manager 6.2 to retrieve information from Essbase Release 6.2 to Personal Essbase 6.1.

Essbase Release 6.2 Clients Not Available for Windows 95Essbase clients such as Application Manager and the Spreadsheet Add-in, Release 6.2 are not available for Windows 95.

Improvements to DocumentationHyperion has improved the documentation in these significant ways:

● “New Error Messages Document” on page 38

● “Database Administrator’s Guide Improvement” on page 38

● “Technical Reference Now Available Online Only” on page 38

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New Features Guide

New Error Messages DocumentHyperion now provides HTML documents describing what to do when you receive certain error messages. Each documented error message includes the message number, message text, potential problems that caused the error, and potential solutions. For Release 6.2, messages involve data loading, calculation, data cache, networking, and the agent. In future releases, more functional areas will be explained.

Database Administrator’s Guide ImprovementThe Essbase Database Administrator’s Guide is now divided into three volumes:

● Volume I includes an introduction to the OLAP Server and provides the information that you need to begin planning and designing your applications and databases.

● Volume II contains information about loading, calculation, and retrieval.

● Volume III contains information about maintaining and automating your OLAP Server applications, and optimizing your OLAP Server for performance or resource use. This volume also contains the index and glossary for all three volumes.

This arrangement of information according to user tasks should help you find information quickly.

Technical Reference Now Available Online OnlyThe complete Technical Reference is now available in HTML format only. Hyperion no longer produces the Quick Technical Reference.


Chapter


Use this section to review the new features for Release 6.1:

● “Custom-Defined Macros and Functions” on page 40

● “New Release 6.1 Calculator Functions” on page 40

● “Dynamic Calculator Cache” on page 42

● “MaxL” on page 42

● “Improved Diagnostics” on page 43

● “Improved Password Protection” on page 43

● “Parallel Export” on page 43

● “New Formula Validation Options” on page 43

● “Release 6.1 ESSCMD Commands” on page 44

● “Release 6.1 Configuration Settings” on page 44

● “MERANT ODBC Drivers” on page 46

● “New Spreadsheet Add-in Platform” on page 46

For additional information about any feature related to a configuration file setting, command, or function, see the Technical Reference in the docs directory. Sources of additional information for other new features are listed in the relevant section.

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New Features Guide

Custom-Defined Macros and FunctionsThe Hyperion Essbase calculator language can now be extended through the creation of custom-defined macros and functions.

● Custom-defined macros enable you to combine existing calculator functions into a single new function called a macro.

● Custom-defined functions enable you to use your own customized calculator functions within the Essbase calculator framework. These custom-developed functions must be written in the Java programming language and are called by the Essbase calculator framework as external functions.

New Release 6.1 Calculator FunctionsThese functions are new in Release 6.1:

Table 1: New Calculator Functions for Release 6.1

Function Description

Member Set Functions

@IRDESCENDENTS Returns all descendants of the specified member (optionally up to the specified generation or level), including the specified member and the descendants of shared members.

@RDESCENDENTS Returns all descendants of the specified member (optionally up to the specified generation or level), including descendants of shared members, but not the specified member.

@MEMBER Given a character string, the function returns the member with the name specified by that character string.

Mathematical Functions

@EXP Returns the value of e (the base of natural logarithms) raised to the power of the specified expression.

@LN Returns the natural logarithm of a specified expression.

@LOG Returns the logarithm to a specified base of a specified expression.

@LOG10 Returns the base-10 logarithm of a specified expression.


3


@MAXS Returns the maximum value among the expressions in the specified member list, with the ability to skip zero and #MISSING values, or skip zero or #MISSING values.

@MINS Returns the minimum value among the expressions in the specified member list, with the ability to skip zero and #MISSING values, or skip zero or #MISSING values.

Range and Financial Functions

@MAXSRANGE Returns the maximum value of a member across a range of members, with the ability to skip zero and #MISSING values, or skip zero or #MISSING values.

@MINSRANGE Returns the minimum value of a member across a range of members, with the ability to skip zero and #MISSING values, or skip zero or #MISSING values.

Relationship Functions

@ATTRIBUTEBVAL Returns the value (TRUE or FALSE) of the attribute from the specified Boolean attribute dimension associated with the current member.

@ATTRIBUTESVAL Returns the text value of the attribute from the specified text attribute dimension associated with the current member.

String Functions

@CONCATENATE Returns a character string that is the result of appending a member name or specified character string to another member name or character string.

@SUBSTRING Returns a substring of characters from another character string or from a member name.

Calculation Method Function

@CALCMODE Override the execution mode chosen by Hyperion Essbase for a formula in order to maximize performance. For example, you can use this function to change the execution of sparse member formulas that run more slowly in top-down mode to run in a faster bottom-up mode. You can also use @CALCMODE to change the execution of formulas that calculate correctly without cell mode to run in the faster block mode.

Table 1: New Calculator Functions for Release 6.1 (Continued)


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New Features Guide

Dynamic Calculator CacheHyperion Essbase Release 6.1 includes a new dynamic calculator cache. The dynamic calculator cache helps manage memory usage for calculations involving Dynamic Calc members. Managing data blocks in the dynamic calculator cache also reduces the overall memory space requirement and can improve performance by reducing the number of calls to the operating system to do memory allocations.

Release 6.1 includes five new essbase.cfg settings that you can use to establish the size of this cache and define how it is used.

MaxLMaxL is the multi-dimensional access language for Hyperion Essbase OLAP Server. MaxL is a practical, expressive interface for administering Hyperion Essbase system administration in these ways:

● Provides an intuitive, language interface to the Hyperion Essbase OLAP Server, enabling programmatic management of Essbase applications without a prerequisite knowledge of C, Visual Basic, or the Essbase API.

● Includes the MaxL Shell, which can be used interactively or for running scripts. Command-line argument processing, environment variable processing, nesting of MaxL scripts, and shell escapes are supported in the MaxL Shell. These features offer the flexibility needed to create a highly automated Essbase production environment.

● Includes an optional Essbase Perl Module (Essbase.pm), which extends the power of MaxL by enabling Perl programmers to embed MaxL queries in Perl scripts.

For more information, see the Technical Reference in the docs directory.


3


Improved DiagnosticsTwo performance statistics commands, GETPERFSTATS and RESETPERFSTATS, have been updated in Hyperion Essbase Release 6.1. The GETPERFSTATS command returns short, medium, and long performance statistics for the thread, database, and application. The statistics appear as tables in the ESSCMD window.

The RESETPERFSTATS command resets statistics gathering for a specified persistence and scope.

Improved Password ProtectionHyperion Essbase Release 6.1 provides an enhanced encryption algorithm for transferring login information over the network. The encryption takes place at the API level, so all of the tools should be compatible with this change. Hyperion Essbase Release 6.1 uses the Blowfish algorithm from Counterpane Internet Security, Inc. For more information, see http://www.counterpane.com/blowfish.html.

Parallel ExportIn previous versions of Hyperion Essbase, export was a single-threaded process. In Release 6.1, the PAREXPORT command enables administrators to export Hyperion Essbase databases natively using multiple threads. The export process is therefore multithreaded and allows users to leverage the full power of their hardware investment.

New Formula Validation OptionsThrough new menu options in Outline Editor and Formula Editor, users can choose whether Hyperion Essbase validates formulas on the client or on the server.

For more information, see the Essbase Database Administrator’s Guide, the OLAP Server Installation Guide, and the API Reference in your docs directory.

http://www.counterpane.com/blowfish.html

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New Features Guide

Release 6.1 ESSCMD CommandsUse this information to understand the new and updated ESSCMD commands:

Release 6.1 Configuration SettingsUse this section to understand the new and changed essbase.cfg settings for Release 6.1:

Table 2: New and Updated ESSCMD commands for 6.1

ESSCMD Command Name Description

New Setting

PAREXPORT Executes a parallel export by enabling you to specify the number of export threads to be used, export filename(s) for the data, the type of data to export, and how the data is to be exported.

Updated Settings

EXPORT Sends the data values of a database to an ASCII text file. Updated to include a format option setting to allow export of data in column or non-column format.

GETPERFSTATS Added performance statistics to the report to help users analyze the effectiveness of their dynamic calculator cache configuration settings.

GETVERSION Displays the patch number in addition to the version number.

Table 3: New and Updated Configuration Settings

essbase.cfg Setting Name Description

New Settings

AGENTLOGMESSAGELEVEL Specifies the level of messages written to the Agent Event Log.

LOGMESSAGELEVEL Specifies the level of messages written to the Application Event Log.


3


DYNCALCCACHEMAXSIZE Specifies the maximum size Hyperion Essbase can allocate to each dynamic calculator cache on the server.

DYNCALCCACHEONLY Specifies whether Essbase performs Dynamic Calc calculations in memory outside the dynamic calculator cache. Used when the dynamic calculator cache has no more room.

DYNCALCCACHEWAITFORBLK Specifies whether Hyperion Essbase waits until space becomes available in the dynamic calculator cache or immediately writes and calculates the data blocks in memory outside the dynamic calculator cache.

DYNCALCCACHEBLKTIMEOUT Specifies how long Hyperion Essbase waits for available space in the dynamic calculator cache.

DYNCALCCACHEBLKRELEASE Specifies whether Hyperion Essbase writes and calculates the blocks immediately outside the dynamic calculator cache or uses space in the dynamic calculator cache that it makes available by swapping out blocks and temporarily compressing them in a dynamic calculator cache compressed-block buffer.

DYNCALCCACHECOMPRBLKBUFSIZE

Specifies the size of the dynamic calculator cache compressed-block buffer.

EXPORTTHREADS Enables the user to set the number of export threads that can be used to export data.

JVMMODULELOCATION Specifies the Java Virtual Machine library to be used by Hyperion Essbase.

Updated

EXCEPTIONLOGOVERWRITE Default values is now FALSE.

Table 3: New and Updated Configuration Settings (Continued)

essbase.cfg Setting Name Description

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New Features Guide

MERANT ODBC DriversMERANT ODBC drivers version 3.6 are provided with Hyperion Essbase Release 6.1 SQL Interface. The MERANT ODBC drivers come with the following documents: MERANT DataDirect Connect ODBC Installation Guide and MERANT DataDirect Connect ODBC Reference. These documents are in PDF for online viewing and printing in Adobe Acrobat Reader (version 3.0.1 or later). Acrobat Reader is available in the \ADOBE directory on the Hyperion Essbase CD-ROM.

New Spreadsheet Add-in PlatformHyperion Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in supports Microsoft Excel 2000 and Lotus 1-2-3 Millennium Release 9.5.

More information: See the Hyperion Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in Help, the Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in User’s Guide for Excel or the Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in User’s Guide for Lotus 1-2-3.


Chapter


Use this section to review the new features for Release 6.0:

● “Sophisticated, Economical Attribute Analysis” on page 48

● “ESSCMD Commands: New and Updated” on page 49

● “Parallel Login and Application Startup Tasks” on page 50

● “Enterprise Architecture” on page 50

● “Support for Large Outlines” on page 51

● “New API Features” on page 51

● “New Features in the Essbase Kernel” on page 54

● “New Settings in the Configuration File” on page 55

● “New Features in the Spreadsheet Add-in” on page 56

● “New Functions in the Calculator” on page 57

● “New Features in Partitioning” on page 60

● “New Features in Security Filters” on page 60

● “Large Data Export Capability” on page 60

● “New Features in Report Writer” on page 60

For additional information about any feature related to a configuration file setting, command, or function, see the Technical Reference in the docs directory. Sources of additional information for other new features are listed in the relevant section.

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New Features Guide

Sophisticated, Economical Attribute AnalysisAttributes are characteristics of your data. For example, products can have attributes such as colors, sizes, or flavors.

Hyperion Essbase Release 6.0 provides a number of attribute-related features that help you define and store attribute information and analyze attribute data in meaningful ways:

● You can use attribute dimensions and members in the outline to define attributes. Attribute dimensions and members are Dynamic Calc. Therefore, attribute data is not stored in the database and outlines may be smaller.

● Through the system-defined Attribute Calculations dimension, Hyperion Essbase provides access to five consolidations of all attribute data: sums, counts, averages, minimums, and maximums.

● Flexibility at retrieval time means that viewing attribute data is optional.

● You can create useful summaries of the data using crosstabs. Crosstabs are a way of displaying summaries of data, based on multiple characteristics of that data. For example, you can group different attribute information by columns and rows to see the total sales of grape-flavored soda packaged in 12-ounce cans.

● Through text, numeric, Boolean, and date based comparisons, you can selectively view only the data that you want to see.

● Optionally, you can use numeric attributes to group and summarize attribute data by ranges of values. For example, you can analyze data by population ranges such as 0 through 1000000, 1000001 through 2000000, and so on.

● Hyperion Essbase provides three new attribute-related functions: @ATTRIBUTE, @WITHATTR, and @ATTRIBUTEVAL. In addition, all relevant functions have been enhanced to support attribute processing or calculations.

For more information, see the Essbase Database Administrator’s Guide and the Technical Reference in the docs directory.


4


ESSCMD Commands: New and UpdatedUse this table to identify new and updated ESSCMD commands:

Table 4: New and Updated ESSCMD commands

ESSCMD Command Description

New Commands

CREATELOCATION Creates a new location alias.

DELETELOCATION Removes a location alias from the current database.

LISTLOCATIONS Displays all location aliases of a given database.

GETATTRINFO Returns member, dimension, and data information for given members.

GETATTRIBUTESPECS Returns the format specifications for a given attribute.

LISTFILES Supplies accurate index and data file information.

GETPERFSTATS Returns performance statistics tables.

RESETPERFSTATS Enables, disables, or resets performance statistics gathering.

Updated Commands

GETDBINFO Returns information on the internal structure of a database. Updated to include information on the data file cache and cache memory locking.

GETMBRINFO Returns information on a specific member. Updated to include attribute information.

GETDBSTATE Returns information on the state of the currently selected database. Updated to include information on the data file cache and cache memory locking.

SETDBSTATEITEM Defines database settings by number. Updated to include settings for the data file cache size and cache memory locking.

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New Features Guide

Parallel Login and Application Startup Tasks● Users can now log into the Hyperion Essbase server in parallel.

● Speed up parallel login processing by using a new command-line parameter, quicklogin, which caches the security file and writes it to disk at specified time intervals. This parameter is not available for AIX.

This example shows how to use the new quicklogin parameter:

Essbase password –quicklogin

Enterprise ArchitectureHyperion Essbase Release 6.0 supports concurrent agent operations so that you can now deploy a larger number of applications, databases, and users on one or more Hyperion Essbase servers. The new multitasking agent executes certain tasks in parallel.

You can perform the following tasks simultaneously:

● Starting multiple applications.

● Stopping multiple applications.

● Logging on multiple users. Users can log in when an application is loading. When a database is recovering, users can log in to other databases on the OLAP Server.


4


Support for Large OutlinesHyperion Essbase Release 6.0 supports large outlines by improving performance for outline-related operations, including the following:

● Outline editing

● Dimension building

● Restructuring

● Calculating

New API FeaturesUse this section to understand new C and Visual Basic APIs and the enhanced functionality of existing C and Visual Basic APIs:

Table 5: Functions and Structures for the Kernel

For the Essbase kernel (previously called Storage Manager)

Enhanced C Structures:

• ESS_DBSTATE-T

• ESS_DBINFO-T

Enhanced C Functions:

• EssGetDatabaseState( )

• EssSetDatabaseState( )

• EssGetDatabaseInfo( )

Enhanced Visual Basic Structures:

• ESB_DBSTATE_T

• ESB_DBINFO_T

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New Features Guide

Table 6: Functions and Structures for Attributes

For Attributes

New Visual Basic Structures:

• ESB_ATTRIBUTEINFO_T

• ESB_ATTRSPECS_T

• ESB_ATTRIBUTEQUERY_T

Enhanced Visual Basic Structures:

• ESB_DIMENSIONINFO_T

• ESB_MEMBERINFO_T

• ESB_MBRINFO_T

New Visual Basic Functions:

• EsbCheckAttributes()

• EsbGetAssociatedAttributesInfo()

• EsbGetAttributeInfo()

• EsbGetAttributeSpecifications()

• EsbOtlAssociateAttributeDimension()

• EsbOtlAssociateAttributeMember()

• EsbOtlDisassociateAttributeDimension()

• EsbOtlDisassociateAttributeMember()

• EsbOtlFindAttributeMembers()

• EsbOtlGetAssociatedAttributes()

• EssOtlGetAttributeInfo()

• EsbOtlGetAttributeSpecifications()

• EsbOtlQueryAttributes()

• EsbOtlSetAttributeSpecifications()

• EsbOtlVerifyOutline()

Enhanced Visual Basic Functions:

• EsbGetDimensionInfo()

• EsbGetMemberInfo()

• EsbQueryDatabaseMembers()

• EsbOtlAddDimension()

• EsbOtlAddMember()

• EsbOtlGetMemberInfo()

• EsbOtlMoveMember()

• EsbOtlRenameMember()

• EsbOtlSetMemberInfo()

New C Structures:

• ESS_ATTRIBUTEINFO_T

• ESS_ATTRIBUTEVALUE_T

• ESS_ATTRSPECS_T

• ESS_PARTOTL_DIMASSOCCHG_API_T

• ESS_PARTOTL_MBRASSOCCHG_API_T

• ESS_ATTRIBUTEQUERY_T

Enhanced C Structures:

• ESS_DIMENSIONINFO_T

• ESS_MEMBERINFO_T

• ESS_PARTOTL_DIMCHG_API_T

• ESS_PARTOTL_MBRCHG_API_T

• ESS_PARTOTL_OSN_RELATIVES_API_T

• ESS_MBRINFO_T


4


EssQueryDatabaseMembers() and EsbQueryDatabaseMembers() now enable you to specify an output of two or more items of information on a member. If you specify ATTRIBUTES as an item, the output is the number of attributes followed by a tab-separated list of attribute names.

New C Functions:

• EssCheckAttributes()

• EssFreeStructure()

• EssGetAssociatedAttributesInfo()

• EssGetAttributeInfo()

• EssGetAttributeSpecifications()

• EssOtlAssociateAttributeDimension()

• EssOtlAssociateAttributeMember()

• EssOtlDisassociateAttributeDimension()

• EssOtlDisassociateAttributeMember()

• EssOtlFindAttributeMembers()

• EssOtlFreeStructure()

• EssOtlGetAssociatedAttributes()

• EssOtlGetAttributeInfo()

• EssOtlGetAttributeSpecifications()

• EssOtlQueryAttributes()

• EssOtlSetAttributeSpecifications()

Enhanced C Functions:

• EssGetDimensionInfo()

• EssGetMemberInfo()

• EssQueryDatabaseMembers()

• EssOtlAddDimension()

• EssOtlAddMember()

• EssOtlGetMemberInfo()

• EssOtlMoveMember()

• EssOtlRenameMember()

• EssOtlSetMemberInfo()

• EssOtlVerifyOutline()

Table 6: Functions and Structures for Attributes (Continued)

For Attributes

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New Features Guide

New Features in the Essbase KernelIn Hyperion Essbase Release 6.0, the Essbase kernel (previously known as the Storage Manager) uses direct I/O (input/output) and no-wait I/O on most server platforms and file systems. This means that Hyperion Essbase directly caches the index and data files (page files) and is able to perform asynchronous, overlapped I/Os, providing the following benefits:

● Faster response time. A user waits less time for Hyperion Essbase to return data.

● Better scalability and predictability. It is easier to determine the optimal cache sizes for Hyperion Essbase databases with Hyperion Essbase Release 6.x.

In previous releases, the file system did most of the index and data file caching.

Hyperion Essbase Release 6.0 introduces these new kernel features:

● A new cache, the data file cache.

● A new database setting, the cache memory locking setting. Using this setting you can lock the memory used for the index cache, data file cache, and data cache into physical memory. This improves performance for a Hyperion Essbase database because the system memory manager does not need to swap and reserve space for the memory used by its caches. By default, Cache Memory Locking is turned off. You can turn on this setting using the SetDbStateItem ESSCMD command or the Storage tab of the Database Settings dialog box. In Application Manager, select Database > Settings.

Because Hyperion Essbase now caches the index and data files, to maintain or improve performance, you must allocate to the Essbase index and data file caches the memory previously allocated by the file system to the file system cache. For information about minimum RAM and disk space requirements for running Essbase applications, see the Start Here booklet, the Essbase Installation Guide for information pertaining to your server platform, and Chapter 15, “Estimating Disk and Memory Requirements for a Database” in the Essbase Database Administrator’s Guide for Release 6.0.


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To view the database settings currently in effect, use the GetDbInfo ESSCMD command. To view the database settings most recently entered (but not necessarily yet in effect), use the GetDbState ESSCMD command.

Note: Direct I/O, no-wait I/O, and Cache Memory Locking are not supported on Windows 95 or Windows 98 platforms. No-wait I/O and Cache Memory Locking are not supported on AIX. Cache Memory Locking is not supported on HP-UX. No-wait I/O is not supported on Solaris or Linux. See the Start Here booklet for more information.

Note: On Windows NT with NTFS only: to obtain accurate index and data file size information, use Application Manager or the new LISTFILES ESSCMD command. The index and data file size information provided by the Windows NT operating system may be inaccurate.

New Settings in the Configuration FileUse this section to understand the new settings now available in essbase.cfg, the configuration file for Essbase:

● DATACACHESIZE specifies the initial value for the data cache size for any new databases that are created after Hyperion Essbase is restarted.

● DATAFILECACHESIZE specifies the initial value for the data file cache size for any new databases that are created after Hyperion Essbase is restarted.

● INDEXCACHESIZE specifies the initial value for the index cache size for any new databases that are created after Hyperion Essbase is restarted.

● LROONSHAREDMBR specifies whether shared member LROs are unique from those of their corresponding regular members.

● SUPNA specifies whether the Suppress #Missing Rows option in the Hyperion Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in suppresses the display of cells for which a user has no access (in addition to suppressing #MISSING rows).

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New Features Guide

New Features in the Spreadsheet Add-inThese new features are available in Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in:

● “A More Powerful Interface to Create Queries” on page 56

● “Support for Attributes” on page 56

● “New Client Platforms” on page 56

A More Powerful Interface to Create QueriesHyperion Essbase Query Designer (EQD) replaces the Retrieval Wizard to create queries for reports. This feature enables you to:

● Design a layout for the report

● Select members (including attributes) for the report

● Perform member filtering

● Perform data filtering

● Perform data sorting

CAUTION: Manipulation of worksheets in VBA such as naming worksheets or moving worksheets may not work when EQD is running.

Support for AttributesYou can view attributes in reports by typing the name of the attribute directly in the spreadsheet, using member selection, or using Hyperion Essbase Query Designer. You can also apply styles to attributes to identify them in the spreadsheet.

New Client PlatformsHyperion Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in supports Microsoft Excel 2000 and Lotus 1-2-3 Millennium Release 9 and 9.1.


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For more information, see the Hyperion Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in Help, the Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in User’s Guide for Excel or the Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in User’s Guide for Lotus 1-2-3.

New Functions in the CalculatorUse this section to understand the new functions for Release 6.0:

Table 7: New Calculator Functions


Member Set Functions

@ANCEST Returns the ancestor at a specified generation or level for the current member being calculated in a specified dimension.

@CURRMBR Returns the current member being calculated for a specified dimension.

@LIST Creates and distinguishes lists to be processed by functions that require list arguments. @LIST acts as an aggregation of parameters, treating a collection of parameters as one entity.

@MERGE Merges two member lists so another function can process the list. Duplicate values from both lists are included only after the list is merged.

@RANGE Returns a member list that crosses a specified member from one dimension with a specified member range from another dimension.

@REMOVE Removes values or members in one list from another list.

@PARENT Returns the parent of the current member being calculated in the specified dimension.

@ATTRIBUTE Returns all base members that are associated with a specified attribute member.

@WITHATTR Returns all base members that are associated with attributes that satisfy the conditions you specify.

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New Features Guide

Statistical Functions

@CORRELATION Calculates the correlation coefficient between two parallel data sets.

@COUNT Calculates the number of values in a specified data set.

@MEDIAN Calculates the median, or middle number, in a specified data set.

@MODE Calculates the mode, or the most frequently occurring value, in a specified data set.

@RANK Calculates the rank of a specified member or value in a data set.

@STDEV Calculates the standard deviation of specified members, based upon a sample.

@STDEVP Calculates the standard deviation of specified members, based upon the entire population.

@STDEVRANGE Calculates the standard deviation of specified members, across a range of members.

@VARIANCE Calculates the statistical variance of a specified data set, based upon a sample.

@VARIANCEP Calculates the statistical variance of a specified data set, based upon the entire population.

Allocation and Forecasting Functions

@ALLOCATE Allocates values from a member, cross-dimensional member, or value across a member list within the same dimension, based on a variety of criteria.

@MDALLOCATE Allocates values from a member, cross-dimensional member, or value across multiple dimensions, based on a variety of criteria.

@MOVAVG Applies a moving average to a data set, where each term in the list is replaced by a trailing average. This function modifies the data set for smoothing purposes.

@MOVMAX Applies a moving maximum to a data set, where each term in the list is replaced by a trailing maximum. This function modifies the data set for smoothing purposes.

Table 7: New Calculator Functions (Continued)



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@MOVMED Applies a moving median to a data set, where each term in the list is replaced by a trailing median. This function modifies the data set for smoothing purposes.

@MOVMIN Applies a moving minimum to a data set, where each term in the list is replaced by a trailing minimum. This function modifies the data set for smoothing purposes.

@SPLINE Applies a smoothing spline to a set of data points. A spline is a mathematical curve that is used for purposes of smoothing or interpolation.

@TREND Calculates future values based on curve-fitting to historical values.

Relationship Functions

@ATTRIBUTEVAL Returns the numeric value associated with a level 0 attribute member from a numeric, Boolean, or date attribute dimension, for the current member combination.

@XREF Returns a data value from another database to be used when calculating a value from the current database.

Date and Time Functions

@TODATE Converts date strings to integers that can be used in calculation formulas.

Calculation Method function

@CALCMODE Specifies the calculation method that Hyperion Essbase uses when calculating a formula that contains the @ISMBR function.

Table 7: New Calculator Functions (Continued)


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New Features Guide

New Features in PartitioningHyperion Essbase can use attribute functions to base partitions on attribute values associated with a base dimension. To use this feature, you can use @ATTRIBUTE and @WITHATTR to partition a dimension based on its characteristics.

New Features in Security FiltersHyperion Essbase can use the attribute functions @ATTRIBUTE and @WITHATTR to define filters on attribute values associated with a base dimension.

Large Data Export CapabilityHyperion Essbase imposes no limitation on the size of data files you can export. The only limitations are the maximum file size and volume size allowed by your operating and file systems. Import file size remains limited to 2 GB.

New Features in Report Writer● Use the new <ATTRIBUTE command to extract information based on the data

characteristics of members of a base dimension.

● Use the new <WITHATTR command to display all base dimension members associated with the specified attribute.

● Use the new <TODATE command to extract data for a specific date or for a time period before or after a specific date.

new feature in 6.5

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