Introduction to Cognos Cube Designer

IBM® Cognos® Cube Designer is the application that you use to model dimensional metadata and dynamic cubes. The Data Source Explorer tree, the Project Explorer tree, the object editors, and the Properties pane are the main parts of the Cognos Cube Designer user interface.

Getting Started page

The Getting Started page is shown when you start Cognos Cube Designer. You can also display this page at any time by clicking Show the Getting Started Page from the Help menu.

You can perform the following tasks:

Click Create New from Metadata to import metadata into a new project.
For more information, see Import metadata.
Click Create New Blank Project to create a project.
For more information, see Managing a project.
Click Open Existing to open a project.
For more information, see Managing a project.

Data Source Explorer

The Data Source Explorer shows the metadata that is imported from relational data sources. You can view the columns, keys, and joins by expanding a table in the Data Source Explorer tree.

You can perform the following tasks:

Right-click a table and select Explore Metadata to view a graphical representation of the metadata in the Relational Explorer Diagram tab.
You can view the columns in a table, the primary key and foreign keys, and its joins to other tables.
Right-click a table and select View Data to view sample data from the data source in the Tabular Data tab.
Data is retrieved from the data source and shown in IBM Cognos Viewer.
Right-click a fact table and select Generate, cube with basic dimensions or Generate, cube with dimensions using data sampling to create a dynamic cube.
Use one of these options to create a dynamic cube that is based on a fact table in the data source. The cube, including all required dimensional metadata, is added to the project in the Project Explorer. For more information about creating cubes, see Model a dynamic cube.

Relational Explorer

The Relational Explorer Diagram shows a graphical view of your data source metadata. Use the Relational Explorer Diagram to explore your metadata and view the relationships between objects.

Tip: When this tab is visible, you can drag tables from the Data Source Explorer tree to explore them.

Project Explorer

The Project Explorer shows all the dimensional metadata definitions and dynamic cube definitions included in a project. Use the Project Explorer tree to add objects to your dynamic cubes, access the object editors, and publish your cubes.

You can perform the following tasks:

Model dimensions and hierarchies.
For more information, see Dimensional metadata modeling.
Model dynamic cubes
For more information, see Model a dynamic cube.
Right-click and select Validate to validate an entire project or an individual object.
For more information about validation, see Validate a project and individual objects.
Right-click a cube and select Publish to deploy the cube and, optionally, publish a package to be used by report authors.
For more information about publishing, see Deploying and publishing dynamic cubes.

Tip: When you add a dynamic cube to a project, the data source on which it is based is added to the Data Sources folder in the Project Explorer tree. You can view the database catalog and schema that is referenced by the data source in the Properties tab.

Functions tab

From the Functions tab , you have access to the operators, summaries, constants, and functions that you use in expressions.

Object editors

There is an editor available for each object. When an editor tab is visible, you can also access other functionality that is related to the object. For example, when viewing the cube editor, you have access to the Aggregates, Security, and Implementation tabs.

To access an editor and its related tabs, right-click the object in the Project Explorer tree and select Open Editor.

Tip: To keep multiple editor tabs accessible, right-click the tab and select Pin. Because some of the editor windows are similar in appearance, verify your edit location on the tab.

Implementation tab

The Implementation tab shows a physical diagram of the current object. For example, to view the implementation of an entire cube, right-click the cube in the Project Explorer tree tab, select Open Editor, and then select the Implementation tab. For some objects, you can also add or edit relationships between the cube objects. Select an object and click to use menus to explore the diagram.

Object properties

On the Properties tab, you can view and edit the properties of an object.

To access the properties of an object, select the object in the Project Explorer tree. For more information about object properties, see Dimensional metadata modeling and Model a dynamic cube.

Validation issues

The Issues tab shows modeling errors and warnings for objects that must be fixed to validate them.

The Performance Issues tab shows a list of all the performance issues for objects. These issues affect how well a dynamic cube performs when it is published and started.

You can view validation issues for all objects in a project or for an individual object. Select the project or object in the Project Explorer tree and then click the Issues tab. For more information about validating objects, see Validate a project and individual objects.