Hi

I am trying to create a reporting object(.FEX) in DEV Studio - Managed Reporting, it is based on a .MAS file that is joined to another .MAS file. The join is on 'KEY' columns from the MAS file, I would like to hide these KEY columns for reporting. I can do it in the .MAS file but then I will not be able to create the JOIN.

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Try the method described here

http://techsupport.informationbuilders.com/sps/10942033.html

Sayed

rockon, welcome to the point.
what you want is called a 'Business View'.
Look that up on the tech support site and read all you can.
A 'Business View' is sort of an overlay, on top of a master file, that just presents your choice of certain fields with their fieldnames made user-friendly. I think you can change the order of them too, but i may be mis-remembering.
You have to perform the join IN THE MASTER of the source file.
You'll like this technique.

Thanks for the responses.
Sayed- I tried that method, got it to work but then realized that I am losing the 'KEY' columns before I make the JOIN in Managed Reporting. My JOIN in the Managed Reporting requires these KEY columns but I don’t want the users to use these in reports.

Susanna- I read a little about the Business Views and I think it might not be available to us in the version that we are on (Dev studio 717). I still have to confirm this with tech support . I also noticed that a Business View can be created on a particular .MAS file and not a .FEX(Reporting Object) that could have multiple MAS files Joined by KEY fields.

I might not be comprehending this well since its my first time but let me explain what we are doing. We are creating an ADHOC reporting environment for a datawarehouse that has, let’s say 3 FACT tables ( these have measure/amounts) and close to 10 Dimensions ( these have attributes). We wish to create one Reporting object for each FACT table and it should be joined to all the dimension .mas files for the attribute information.

I could technically create these joins in the .MAS file instead of the reporting object , which would give me 3 MAS files one for each FACT table ( this would include the dimension master information) , but in doing so I would have repeated the dimension information in all three MAS files.

In fact we already have another system that has JOINs the MASTER file, but from a maintenance perspective this means that every time I change /add/ modify an element in the Dimension table it needs to happen in all the three .MAS files. I was hoping that I could have a .MAS file for each Dimension and join it to the .MAS file for the FACT table in the reporting object and that way only maintain one file with the Dimension MASTER information.

So does this look like it’s something doable.

Thanks for your insights.

rock
you construct your JOINs actually IN the a master
then make a Business View over that master.
Read the manuals on Joins IN the master
They are added statements you type in at the bottom of a given master file, they're way cool.
its how its done.

I am familiar with how the JOINS are created in the MAS file, using multiple segments ( parent and Child) and then defining the JOIN fields in the .ACX file but my problem is that I would like to avoid including the common DIMENSION SEGMENTs in each of the .MAS files. Instead I would like each dimension table to have its own .MAS file that can then be joined to all the different FACT .mas files that share these common dimensions.

Repeating dimension segments in each of the MAS file just leaves us with more objects to maintain than we should have to.

Also, if the JOINS are meant to be in the .MAS file then what is the purpose of the JOIN option in Managed Reporting.

Thanks

That is what the Business View is for.

From what I have read, Business Views can only be created on a single .MAS file, I don’t think it has the functionality to join more than one MAS file to create the view.. just like we can create a DB View on multiple tables. Please correct me if I have got this wrong.

Does anybody know if the Reporting Object (.FEX in Managed Reporting ) can be manually edited. When I right click the object it only gives me the option 'Edit in Reporting Object Tool'

Thanks

Being a DBA I always prefer to do joins etc in the DBMS and then make the view available. However, since I'm usually both the DBA and developer I don't have to jump through hoops to get it done.

ah the perfect power combo

The only problem I see with doing the joins in the DB is that irrespective of what objects are selected in the report the JOIN will be between all tables that defined in the VIEW( FACTS and DIMS) , in our case we could have between 10 - 15 Dimensions that are associated with a FACT table.

When I do it using a .MAS file in DEV Studio, the SELECT will be on those tables from which an object has been selected in the report, hence avoiding JOINs to tables that are not required to fulfill the request.

Thanks