Updating reports to use the latest version of a model

When you publish a package, you can specify the number of model versions to keep on the server. The next time you publish the package, the version of the model is updated in the existing package on the server.

When you publish a package for the first time, you create a corresponding package on the IBM® Cognos® Analytics server. The package contains a model, but no reports. With disabled model versioning, the package consists of a single model object named model. If model versioning is enabled, any new model that is published with the package is added as a new child object, leaving the older ones in place. The new model objects are named using the timestamp (date and time).

The report specification contains the search path of a specific model under the selected package. This is the version used when running the report. When editing the report, the current model in the report is replaced by the latest model in the package.

When a package is republished with model versioning enabled, some reports might continue to run using the old model version. The following use cases show how model versions work with reports:
  • When you run the report and the model version that is saved in the report specification still exists in the package, the report continues to run using the old model version, unaffected by the new versions.

    Open and save the report in Reporting if you want the subsequent report runs to use the new version of the model.

  • When you run the report and the model version that is saved in the report specification does not exist in the package, the report server (RSVP) tries to determine whether a newer model version exists. If the newer version is found, the report runs using the latest version. However, the switch to the latest version is not permanent, and the process of finding the latest model version is repeated every time you run the report.

    Open and save the report in Reporting to permanently point the report to the latest model version. The subsequent report runs will no longer try to find the latest version of the model.

  • When you open the report in Reporting, and a new model version is available in the package, this new model version is used. A validation check is performed against the new version. Also in this case, the upgrade to the latest model version is not permanent, and the verification process is repeated every time you open the report.

    Save the report to permanently point it to the latest model version to avoid the verification process every time you open the report.

In some cases, reports might not run because of a combination of reasons. For more information, see Model versioning issues that might cause errors during report runs.

Procedure

Use one of the following methods to update your reports to use the latest version of a model:
  • If you have one or a few reports to update, publish the package, and then open and save each report in Reporting.
  • If you have a large number of reports to update, select one of the following options when publishing the package:
    • In the Publish wizard, select the Enable model versioning checkbox, and then select the Delete all previous model versions checkbox.
    • In the Publish wizard, select the Enable model versioning checkbox, and type the value of 1 for the number of versions.