Shortcuts (SAP BW)
For example, you create folders named Orders, Products, and Customers. If you want both Orders and Customers to contain the same dimension, you must create a shortcut to the dimension and add it to both folders.
When you create a shortcut, IBM® Cognos® Framework Manager does not set the Screen Tip and Description properties. Unless you define these properties, the values shown in the IBM Cognos studios are the same as those defined in the object that the shortcut references.
Shortcuts are less flexible from a presentation perspective than model objects, but they require much less maintenance because they are automatically updated when the target object is updated. If maintenance is a key concern and there is no need to customize the appearance of the query subject, use shortcuts.
IBM Cognos Framework Manager has two types of shortcuts:
- regular shortcuts, which are a simple reference to the target object.
- alias shortcuts, which behave as if they were a copy of the original object with completely independent behavior. Alias shortcuts are available only for query subjects and dimensions.
Shortcuts and dimensions
Shortcuts result in fewer dimensions to maintain. You can keep dimensions in the import view and keep shortcuts in the business view.
When you create a shortcut to a dimension, you cannot customize which query items are in the shortcut. The entire dimension is included in the shortcut.
The security you specify for an object is passed to shortcuts that reference the secured object. If you have a shortcut to a secured object, only users with permission to see the secured object can see the shortcut in the published package.
Right-click the query subjects, dimensions, or folders that you want to create shortcuts to, and click Create, Shortcut.