Essbase XTD Administration Services Release 6.5.3 |
Readme File
This file contains the following sections:
Note: References in the documentation to the Hyperion Download Center pertain only if your site has access.
What is Essbase XTD Administration Services?
Essbase XTD Administration Services is the new administration tool for managing and maintaining Essbase XTD. Administration Services consists of a client console (Administration Services Console) and a middle tier server (Administration Server) that communicate directly with Essbase OLAP Servers. The Administration Services Console provides a single point of access for viewing, managing, and maintaining the Essbase environment. For more information, see the Essbase Administration Services Online Help.
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Installation Updates
- If you plan to use Essbase Administration Services with OLAP Server Release 6.5.x, you need to upgrade to OLAP Server Release 6.5.1, 6.5.2 (Linux-only release), or 6.5.3. These releases are available on Hyperion Download Center. Administration Services also works with OLAP Server Release 6.2. Administration Services does not work with OLAP Server Release 6.5.0.
- If you are downloading software from Hyperion Download Center, see the Start Here document on the appropriate product page for instructions on downloading the installation files.
- If you are installing software from the 6.5.3 CD, find the installer for your platform in the appropriate product directory.
- If you are upgrading from a previous release of Administration Services and you want to migrate Administration Services users to this release, you need to manually run a migration utility installed with this release. See the instructions in the Installation Guide (eas_install.pdf).
- AIX 5L is not supported in this release, contrary to what is stated in the Installation Guide.
- Complete information about installing Administration Services is provided in the following documents:
Installation Checklist (eas_install_checklist.pdf)
Installation Guide (eas_install.pdf)
Look for these documents in one of the following locations:
- In the installation documentation zip file on Hyperion Download Center
- In the \eas directory on the 6.5.3 CD.
- In the Information Map: open launcher.htm from the \eas directory after installation.
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New Features
Essbase XTD Administration Services Release 6.5.3 includes several new features. For documentation on these new features, see the Documentation Addendum.
These features are not yet documented in the Essbase Administration Services Online Help, which has not been updated for this release.
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Problems Fixed
The following problems are fixed in this release. Numbers in parentheses are internal reference numbers for Hyperion Solutions.
- After opening a log for viewing in Log Analyzer, you can double-click in a cell and overwrite the existing information. (28586)
- In the Modifications tab of the Database Properties window, the following operations performed within EAS are not displayed, or the time that the operation was performed is incorrect: data loads, calculations, and outline changes. (30677)
- When connecting to a remote OLAP Server, the Administration Server may terminate when you expand the server node in Enterprise View after a long period of inactivity for that connection. (33794)
- After using the Calculation Script Editor in Essbase Administration Services to add lines to a calculation script, opening that script in Application Manager displays a control character at the end of each added line. (35281) This problem is fixed on Windows platforms only. On UNIX, editing a script in Calculation Script Editor causes the script to be all one line in Application Manager. (60213)
- In the Location Aliases window, the default field widths are very small, and the Help button does not work. (37004)
- After creating and closing a multi-line formula in Outline Editor, when you re-open the formula, it is displayed on one line. (37633)
- Partitions that were originally created using Application Manager, including the sample partitions provided with Essbase, cannot be overwritten with partitions created using Administration Services. (43387)
- When connecting to OLAP Server Release 6.2, importing linked reporting object (LRO) files does not work when the LROs were exported to a directory on the OLAP Server. (54912, fixed with OLAP Server Release 6.2.3 or higher only)
- You cannot use a single quote in an Administration Server username (e.g., O'Brien). (55062)
- If the Administration Services Console times out, and you click Cancel when prompted with the login dialog box, the Administration Server terminates and sends exceptions to the console. (55370)
- Migrating an application that has a Hybrid-Analysis-enabled dimension migrates the application properly but causes the console to hang. (55719)
- When you rename an application whose name begins with a number, custom-defined functions and macros associated with the application are not changed to reflect the new application name. Specifically, the "Statement" part of the function or macro is not updated. (55765)
- Substitution variables are not copied with applications when you copy to the same server. (55771)
- When the Administration Server and console are running on one machine, and a connection to an OLAP Server on a second machine is created using an IP address instead of the machine name, partitions are not displayed. (55860)
- Before attempting to work with or copy the sample partitions provided with Essbase, you must create the user "partitionuser" (password = "password") on the OLAP Server. This problem is now fixed since you can repair invalid partitions in the Repair Partitions dialog box. (55864, 55868, 55829, fixed with OLAP Server Release 6.5.3 or higher only)
- If a partition user is deleted, you cannot work with the associated partition. This problem is now fixed since you can repair invalid partitions in the Repair Partitions dialog box. (55829, fixed with OLAP Server Release 6.2.3 or higher only)
- When copying a group from one OLAP Server to another and choosing to replace the existing group on the target server, the existing group is not replaced. (55870)
- When Data Prep Editor encounters a null data field, the rest of the record is ignored. (56032)
- If an OLAP Server machine name begins with a number (for example, "2machine" or "408220"), partitioning will not function. (56160, 56161)
- Any custom views you create from the Enterprise View tree are incorrectly displayed for all other Administration Server users. Custom views should only be displayed for the user who created them. In addition, all users can delete custom views created by other users. (56174)
- In the Dimension Build Settings dialog box (Dimension Build Settings tab), if you enable the "Add as child of" option under Build Method, the setting is not saved after you close the dialog box. In addition, no parent members are listed under the "Add as child of" option when it is enabled. (56180, 56176)
- When you change the password for an OLAP Server user through whom an Administration Server user is connected to Essbase, the password is not updated in the Administration Server user's OLAP Server connection definition. This results in the Administration Server user not being able to connect to the OLAP Server unless the password is updated manually on the OLAP Servers tab of the Administration Server User Properties dialog box. (56198)
- When you copy an application from one OLAP Server to another, and the application contains a database with currency properties set up in the Database Properties window (Currency tab), the currency properties are lost after the copy operation. This problem occurs when copying an application using Migration Wizard or when copying an application using the Copy Application dialog box. (56224)
- Administration Services incorrectly allows you to rename a filter to the same name as an existing filter; after refreshing the filter list, the filter is not renamed and the existing filter is deleted. (56270)
- After updating and verifying a filter, closing Filter Editor does not prompt you to save your changes. (56274)
- A rules file that passes validation in Application Manager does not pass validation in Administration Services, and the attempted validation writes exceptions to the Administration Server window. (56643)
- If you attempt to save an outline containing a comment that is greater than 255 characters, a Java exception occurs on the Administration Server. (56990)
- After saving an outline that does not require the database to be restructured, all data in the database is deleted. (57103)
- When you click a top parent node in Outline Viewer, a Java exception occurs on the Administration Server. (57188)
- After Administration Services is idle for a long period of time, attempting to edit database properties terminates the Administration Services Console. (57207)
- When you click on a user node under Security > Users in Enterprise View, a Java exception occurs on the Administration Server. (57228)
- The "refresh list of partitions" command does not work. (57409)
- Opening an Excel file into an existing rules file in Data Prep Editor may terminate the Administration Server. (57531)
- The Administration Services Console may hang after you rename an application that contains a source or target database in a partition. (57577)
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Known Problems and Limitations
Every effort has been made to ensure that Administration Services is as free of bugs as possible. The following are selected known problems and system limitations, with workarounds when appropriate.
Partitioning limitations
The following limitations apply to the partitioning feature when using Essbase Administration Services Release 6.5.3 to connect to OLAP Server Release 6.2.x or 6.5.1:
- When connecting to a Release 6.2.x OLAP Server, you cannot delete invalid partitions. Also, you cannot work with partitions for which the host name in the partition definition is "localhost" (this includes the sample partitions included with Essbase).
- When connecting to a Release 6.5.1 OLAP Server, you can create new partitions and you can open, validate, export, copy, and lock/unlock existing valid partitions. You cannot repair invalid partitions (new feature in EAS 6.5.3).
To use the most up-to-date partitioning functionality, upgrade OLAP Server to Release 6.5.3. To use partitioning with previous releases of OLAP Server, use Application Manager.
Help buttons on new dialog boxes
Help buttons on dialog boxes that are new to this release are not linked to help topics. New dialog boxes are documented in the Documentation Addendum.
Exception when creating invalid OLAP Server connection
When you attempt to create a connection to an invalid OLAP Server, an exception is returned. (57993)
Exception when deleting valid OLAP Server connection
When you attempt to delete a connection to a valid OLAP Server, an exception is returned. (58041)
Administration Server crashes when expanding outline member with a comment > 255 characters
In Outline Editor, when you try to expand a member that has a comment containing more than 255 characters, the Administration Server crashes. (59826)
Administration Server crashes when doing a Find on a formula with > 4096 characters
In Outline Editor, performing a Find operation on a formula with more than 4096 characters crashes the Administration Server. (60112)
Administration Server crashes when importing an alias table from another OLAP Server.
When you try to import an alias table from another OLAP Server, the Administration Server crashes. (60065)
Problem with Japanese characters on AIX
On AIX, the Administration Services Console does not display Japanese characters correctly. This is due to a general problem with JRE on the AIX platform.
No refresh in console after importing or migrating users
If the Administration Services Console is open when you import or migrate Administration Services users, there is no way to refresh the list of users after the import or migration is complete. You need to close and restart the console to see the refreshed list of users.
Calculation script permissions lost after cross-server application/database copy
When copying an application or database across servers, the security settings for limiting what calculation scripts a user can execute are lost. (24532).
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Documentation
For Release 6.5.3, only the Readme file, Installation Guide, and Installation Checklist have been updated. These updated documents are only available online. If you order a printed copy of the Installation Guide or Installation Checklist, you will receive the Release 6.5.1 version.
Accessing Documentation
To access Essbase XTD Administration Services documentation:
- To access Essbase Administration Services documentation after installation, go to the Information Map, which contains live links to all online documentation. Launch the Information Map in one of the following ways:
- On Windows platforms, launch the Information Map from the Windows Start menu (Start > Hyperion Solutions > Essbase Administration Services > EAS Documentation), if you chose to add shortcuts to the Start menu during installation.
- Open launcher.htm from the \eas directory after installation.
- Most documentation files can also be launched directly from the Help menu in the Administration Services Console.
Known Problems with Documentation
- Known issues with the content of the documentation are listed in the Documentation Addendum.
- The Essbase Administration Services online help is best viewed in Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.x or higher. Although the online help system can be viewed in Netscape Navigator (version 4.7 or later), certain features of the help system are not supported by any version of Netscape Navigator.
- The Essbase Administration Services online help contains many links to the online Database Administrator's Guide. If you follow one of these links, scroll to the top of the file, and click the Show button, the Table of Contents for the Database Administrator's Guide is not displayed, as it should be. To view the entire Database Administrator's Guide, select that option from the Help menu in the Administration Services Console.
- If your default Web browser is Netscape, you might need to open Netscape Navigator before you attempt to launch the help system.
- If your default Web browser is Netscape, make sure that the Netscape browser executable file is added to your PATH environment variable before attempting to launch online documentation.
- If your default Web browser is Netscape (any version), you may experience problems when launching "Help Topics" from the Help menu in the Administration Services Console. If you experience problems, try launching the help system directly from the file system on the machine hosting the Administration Server:
/eas/server/tomcat/webapps/ROOT/easdocs/eashelp/eas_help.htm
- Make sure that you don't have older versions of Netscape Navigator (prior to version 4.7x) installed on your machine. In some cases, when you launch "Help Topics" from the Help menu in the Administration Services Console, the older version may be used instead of version 4.7x.
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Tips and Troubleshooting
- How do I troubleshoot problems if I'm not seeing error messages in the Administration Services Console?
When the Administration Server is running, a Java console window displays debugging and execution messages for that server. There may be information in this window that is not currently being displayed by the Console user interface. If you are having problems, check this window for additional error messages and relay them to Technical Support.
- I don't see any entries on the Start menu for Essbase Administration Services. How do I start the server and console?
Start the Administration Server by launching the following file from the directory in which you installed the Administration Server (by default, in the ARBORPATH directory, usually hyperion/essbase):
- Windows: /eas/server/bin/adminsvr.exe
- UNIX: /eas/server/bin/startEAS
Then start the console by launching the following file from the directory in which you installed the Administration Services Console:
- Windows: /eas/console/bin/admincon.exe
- UNIX: /eas/console/bin/admincon
- How do I know if the Administration Server has started properly?
When the Administration Server starts properly, you see the following message in the Essbase Administration Server window:
Starting service Tomcat-Standalone
Apache Tomcat/4.0.2
Starting Service Tomcat-Apache
Apache Tomcat /4.0.2
If you do not see this message, the Administration Server has not started properly.
- I get a "Login failed" error message when I try to log in.
Possible solutions:
- If this is the first login to this installation of Essbase Administration Services, enter the default login information for the administrator account (username: admin; password: password).
- If this is not the first login to this installation of Essbase Administration Services, enter the login information for an existing Administration Server user. Your username and password for the Administration Server are not necessarily the same as those for the OLAP Server. Contact your Essbase Administration Services administrator to find out this information.
- If the login failure is not related to your username and password, make sure you are entering the correct Administration Server name. This name should be the same as the machine name on which the Administration Server is installed. It may not be the same as the OLAP Server name.
- I can see the Administration Server in Enterprise View, but no OLAP Servers.
In the Administration Services Console, launch the User Setup Wizard (Wizards > User Setup Wizard) to help you set up users and access to OLAP Servers. Also, make sure you are logged in to the console as a valid Administration Server user. For more information, see the Essbase Administration Services Help, or click the Help button from the User Setup Wizard.
- I can see my OLAP Server in Enterprise View, but I can't do anything to it.
Make sure you have already started the OLAP Server. You cannot start the OLAP Server from the Essbase Administration Services Console. After you start the OLAP Server, you can operate on that server from Enterprise View.
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