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    Portal Tree
    • 26 Apr 2024
    • 29 Minutes to read
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    Contents

    Portal Tree

    • Updated on 26 Apr 2024
    • 29 Minutes to read
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    Article summary

    Introduction

    This document describes the proprietary MetaManagerTM Portal Tree view seen throughout the various modules of the application.

    MetaManagerTM Portal Tree

    The proprietary view of the IBM Cognos Connection environment in a tree view provides powerful navigation and search capabilities for locating content in the Content Store

    Enhanced Portal Tree

    The enhanced portal tree provides many capabilities to allow users the ability to quickly and easily browse the portal, make selections, search for content, save favorites, view information and perform actions via a context menu. The content displayed in this control is tailored to the module it is being used within (i.e. Report Validator supports reports, queries, analysis & PPES objects whereas Pagelet Blasters supports portal tabs - the tree will not display reports in Pagelet Blasters).

    The root node will always display the following 5 child nodes:

    • 1) Public Folders

    • 2) Directory

    • 3) The current user’s account

    • 4) The favorites folder

    • 5) The saved searches folder

    If the property grid at the bottom of the tree is displayed, the selected object’s properties will be displayed here.

    Navigating the Portal Tree

    MetaManagerTM's patented tree view rendering of the IBM Cognos Content Store enables easy navigation of the contents within the Cognos Connection environment. Since MetaManagerTM inherits IBM Cognos security applied to an environment, only the content and capabilities available to the user logged into IBM Cognos via MetaManagerTM will be displayed and available through MetaManagerTM.

    Public Folders will contain all packages, folders, supported objects, etc.… available based on the module the user is working within.

    Directory will contain the default Cognos namespace and any additional namespaces available in the selected environment.

    1) MetaManagerTM supports an unlimited number of namespaces based on the number of namespaces established within Cognos Configuration for any given environment.

    2) Users can pre-establish their authentication credentials for each namespace when setting up the environment in the Tools, Options within MetaManagerTM. Alternatively, users can authenticate to any namespace within MetaManagerTM's tree view by right clicking on the namespace and selecting Logon.

    3) Users can logon to one or multiple namespaces simultaneously through MetaManagerTM

    Administrator - In this example, Administrator notates the currently authenticated user logged into IBM Cognos Connection via MetaManagerTM. This node is dynamic based upon the user that is logged in and makes it easier to navigate directly to your personal My Folders.

    Favorites - The Favorites node is customizable per user and represents objects that can be reused over time. Any object from within the Public Folders or Directory can simply be added to Favorites by right clicking and selecting Add to Favorites.

    • Favorites are stored per user and will be available through the life of the product unless they are deleted by the user or deprecated in the environment.

    Searches - The Searches node is customizable per user and represents searches that can be reused over time. Any simple or Advanced SearchPath search can simply be added to the Favorites by right clicking on the search once conducted and selecting Add to Favorites.

    • Searches are stored per user and will be available through the life of the product unless they are deleted by the user or deprecated in the environment.

    Portal Tree Functionality

    The portal tree is a multi-select tree. Multiple objects can be selected by clicking a node, holding down shift or ctrl and then selecting a second node, etc. Holding shift while clicking on the tree will select everything from the first node to the second node clicked. Holding down ctrl will simply add the second node clicked to the list of selected nodes.

    • Users can also use the keyboard to make selections by using the arrow keys and using the shift or ctrl key.

    • Users can de-select a selected node by clicking on it again while holding the ctrl key.

    The tree is a virtual tree. When a user expands a branch for the first time, a query will be issued to the server to load the contents of that branch.

    • A “Loading….” node will display while this query is executing. When the query completes the results will be displayed in the tree.

    • If the query returns only a subset of the children, then a “More…” node will display.

    • If the user clicks the More… node or selects it with the keyboard, another query will be issued to the server to load the next batch of results.

    • If all of the children are loaded, then the More… node will no longer be displayed.

    Objects can be selected in the tree and added to the “grid area” by dragging and dropping them or by right clicking on the object and selecting “Add to grid”.

    Search

    Using the primary Search... text box, users can perform simple, complex, and advanced searches for content in the Content Store

    The following criteria are supported while searching:

    • Search for object Name, Description or Both fields.

    • The Search field must Contain, Match or Start with the search text.

    • The modification property of the object falls in specified date range.

    • The search location is the Entire Content Store, Public Folders or any namespace within the selected environment.

    NOTE: Users can use a combination of one or more of these search criteria to get more specific in your search.

    NOTE: Users must select a namespace in the location criteria when searching for usernames.

    Search

    If you know the object name(s) and / or description(s), you can simply enter any part or all of the text in the search box. The search ignores capitalization. When you hit the magnifying glass icon🔎 the entries matching the search criteria and for which you have permissions to view appear at the bottom of the screen under Results.

    Method

    If you know the object name(s), you can simply enter any part or all of the text in the search box. The search ignores capitalization. When you hit the magnifying glass icon🔎, the entries matching the search criteria and for which you have permissions to view appear at the bottom of the screen under Results. The following table shows examples of a Method search criteria and results.

    Method

    Search Criteria

    Results

    Contains the exact string

    List 1

    "List 1", "list 100", "Copy of List 1"

    Starts with the exact string

    list

    "List 1", "list 100"

    Matches the exact string

    List

    "List", "list"

    Modified

    In the Modified dropdown, select the date range that the entry was last modified. For example, if you want the search to return entries that were updated in the last week, click “In the last week”. The search ignores capitalization. When you hit the magnifying glass icon🔎, the entries matching the search criteria and for which you have permissions to view appear at the bottom of the screen under Results. The following table shows examples of a Method search criteria and results.

    Modified

    Results

    Any

    This is the default selection, which has no restriction on the last modified date.

    Today

    When selected, the results will be filtered on objects modified on the current system date of the machine running MetaManagerTM.

    In the last 3 days

    When selected, the results will be filtered on objects modified on or after the current system date of the machine running MetaManagerTM minus 3 days.

    In the last week

    When selected, the results will be filtered on objects modified on or after the current system date of the machine running MetaManagerTM minus 7 days.

    In the last month

    When selected, the results will be filtered on objects modified on or after the current system date of the machine running MetaManagerTM minus 1 month.

    In the last 3 months

    When selected, the results will be filtered on objects modified on or after the current system date of the machine running MetaManagerTM minus 3 months.

    In the last 6 months

    When selected, the results will be filtered on objects modified on or after the current system date of the machine running MetaManagerTM minus 6 months.

    In the last 12 months

    When selected, the results will be filtered on objects modified on or after the current system date of the machine running MetaManagerTM minus 1 year.

    In the last 36 months

    When selected, the results will be filtered on objects modified on or after the current system date of the machine running MetaManagerTM minus 3 years.

    Location

    In the Location dropdown, select the scope of where you want the search to be conducted within. For example, if you want the search to return entries that are located only in Public Folders, select the Public Folders option. When you hit the magnifying glass icon🔎, the entries matching the search criteria and for which you have permissions to view appear at the bottom of the screen under Results. The following table shows examples of a Location search criteria and results.

    Location

    Results

    Entire Content Store

    When selected, the results will be filtered on objects located in the entire Content Store (Public Folders and all My Folders within the environment's namespace(s)).

    Public Folders

    When selected, the results will be filtered on objects located in the Public Folders only (excluding all My Folders within the environment's namespace(s)).

    Environment Specific Namespaces

    When selected, the results will be filtered on objects located in the various My Folders within the environment's namespace(s) only (excluding all Public Folders).

    Common Actions

    • When a search is executed, the standard portal tree is hidden, and the search portal tree is displayed with the search results.

    • The user must select the clear button to clear the search and return to the portal tree.

    • If the user modifies the search criteria either by changing the search text or the search options, the will change back to

      a 🔎 so that the user can execute the new search.

    • During this time there is no button to clear the search and return to the portal tree. If the user decides not to execute the new search, they must clear the contents of the search box so that the button will return to a .

    • Once done, the user can click the to exit search mode.

    • Performing a standard search will return containers (e.g. package, folder, namespace, namespace folder, account) and objects that are supported by that module. You will not be able to retrieve objects that are not supported by the current module (i.e. that cannot be dragged to the grid area).

    Advanced Searches

    If the combination of the various filtering options does not produce the desired results, there are other advanced techniques to search for content.

    Advanced SearchPath Mode

    The search control generates a SearchPath query based off of the selections in the user interface. The selection criteria discussed above represent several selectable hard coded, pre-defined SearchPath queries.

    Advanced SearchPath Mode allows users the opportunity to supply a hand-crafted SearchPath query to be executed by MetaManagerTM in the form of a search. The user should exercise caution as to not execute a query that could be laborious for the server to process. Please refer to the IBM Cognos Software Development Kit documentation for a listing of various SearchPath syntax that can be used.

    MetaManagerTM’s Portal Tree Selection Options

    NOTE: In order to conduct an Advanced SearchPath query, the Advanced SearchPath Mode checkbox must be selected. When this is selected, the simple search methods (the filters above) will be ignored. If not selected, the syntax will be treated as a simple search.

    NOTE: Search respects the More… limit options, so even conducting a search for everything in the entire content store “//*” will not impact the server too adversely because only the first X objects will be loaded. However, if the user drags this search to the grid area which must load the entire list, then this query could have a negative impact on the server.

    An example Advanced SearchPath query would be this:

      //*[containsReferences(@owner, ~)]

    This query finds all objects in the content store that the current users own.

    Complex Searches

    Within the Search text box, there are a few built-in or wildcard search features that can be used:

    Search String

    Results

    *

    The asterisk will search for all objects (not containers) that are supported by the current module.

    Searching for “*” in a module that modifies reports may return an undesirably large amount of results. It may therefore be better to drag Public Folders and Directory to the grid area instead.

    “*” is most effectively used when coupled with the modified search criteria. For example, searching for “*” with Modified in the last week is a common action to return all content modified within the last 7 days.

    “*” can also be very useful in the Pagelet Blaster module. While a Content Store may contain thousands of reports, it generally contains only dozens or less pagelets. Rather that navigating the portal tree or searching for a Pagelet, the user can search for “*” to list all of the pagelets in the Pagelet Blaster module.

    Built-In Searches

    In addition to the various search filtering that can be applied, several other common searches have been provided for in the Built-In Searches. By selecting the arrow next to the magnifying glass in the search  pane you will see several Built-In Searches.

    Built-In Search

    Results

    Content

    Entire content store

    When selected, the results will return all objects located in the entire Content Store (Public Folders and all My Folders within the environment's namespace(s)). The syntax used here is //%ALL%, where %ALL% represents a variable known by MetaManagerTM.

    Content that has a schedule

    When selected, the results will return all scheduled objects located in the entire Content Store (Public Folders and all My Folders within the environment's namespace(s)). The syntax used here is //schedule/...

    Content built off a specific package.

    When selected, the results will return all objects located in the entire Content Store (Public Folders and all My Folders within the environment's namespace(s)) that have been designed against the selected package. A separate popup will display if this option is selected enabling you to select the desired package.

    The syntax used here is //%ALL%[containsReferences(@metadataModelPackage, %VAR_PACKAGE%)], where %ALL% and %VAR_PACKAGE% represent variables known by MetaManagerTM.

    The syntax used here is //%ALL%[containsReferences(@metadataModelPackage, %VAR_PACKAGE%)], where %ALL% and %VAR_PACKAGE% represent variables known by MetaManagerTM.

    Content owned by a specific user.

    When selected, the results will return the selected user account and related My Folders from within the environment's namespace(s)). A separate popup will display if this option is selected enabling you to select the desired user.

    The syntax used here is //%ALL%[ownedBy(%VAR_ACCOUNT%)], where %ALL% and %VAR_ACCOUNT% represent variables known by MetaManagerTM.

    Content created during a specific period

    When selected, the results will return all objects located in the entire Content Store (Public Folders and all My Folders within the environment's namespace(s)) created during a selected date range. A separate popup will display if this option is selected enabling you to select the desired date range.

      

    The syntax used here is //%ALL%[(@creationTime > '%VAR_STARTDATE%') and (@creationTime < '%VAR_ENDDATE%')], where %ALL% and %VAR_STARTDATE% and %VAR_ENDDATE% represent variables known by MetaManagerTM.

    Content modified during a specific period

    When selected, the results will return all objects located in the entire Content Store (Public Folders and all My Folders within the environment's namespace(s)) modified during a selected date range. A separate popup will display if this option is selected enabling you to select the desired date range.

    The syntax used here is //%ALL%[(@modificationTime > '%VAR_STARTDATE%') and (@modificationTime < '%VAR_ENDDATE%')], where %ALL% and %VAR_STARTDATE% and %VAR_ENDDATE% represent variables known by MetaManagerTM.

    Content modified during a specific period

    When selected, the results will return all objects located in the entire Content Store (Public Folders and all My Folders within the environment's namespace(s)) modified during a selected date range. A separate popup will display if this option is selected enabling you to select the desired date range.

    The syntax used here is //%ALL%[(@modificationTime > '%VAR_STARTDATE%') and (@modificationTime < '%VAR_ENDDATE%')], where %ALL% and %VAR_STARTDATE% and %VAR_ENDDATE% represent variables known by MetaManagerTM.

    Content that contains history with failures

    When selected, the results will return objects in the database that contain failures in the run history.

    Content that references an e-mail address

    When selected, the result will return any object in which there is an e-mail referenced

    Unowned content

    When selected, the result will return any unowned content.

    Disabled objects

    When selected, A pop up will display asking where to search for Disabled objects and the result will return all objects disabled in the location selected.

    Reports

    Reports that are not linked to a package

    When selected, the results will return all reports that are not linked to a valid package.

    Reports that a specified account is watching

    When selected, the user will be prompted to choose an account, and the reports that will be returned are those in which that specific account is watching.

    Reports using a specified trigger name

    When selected, the user will be prompted to enter text. If this text is related to a trigger name given to a schedule on a report it will be returned as the results.

    Reports containing a specific stored parameter

    When selected, the user will be prompted to select a location and then be asked to enter the text searching for. It will return the reports that contain the parameter specified.

    Report Views

    Broken report views

    When selected, the results will return all report views that are invalid or broken.

    Report views based on a particular report

    When selected, the user will be prompted to choose a report, and the objects that will be returned are the Report Views built from the specific report that was selected.

    Schedules

    Schedules run by a specified account

    When selected, the user will be prompted to choose an account, which will return all schedules that account is running.

    Users with scheduled reports

    When selected, this will return a list of users that have scheduled reports in the environment.

    Schedules that have failed the last X times

    When selected, the user will be prompted to select a number of failures and it will return all schedules whose last X number of runs have been failures. Schedules that have less run than X, but whose runs are all failures will also be returned.

    Schedules sent to a specific address

    When selected, the user will be prompted to select a location and then be asked to enter an e-mail address or user name. It will return all schedules that r

    Security

    Accounts that have an IBM Cognos profile

    When selected, the results will return all accounts in the namespace that have a profile in the Content Store. A profile is created automatically when a user logs into Cognos Connection, or by MetaManagerTM when blasting to account with no profile

    Group and role membership of a specific user

    When selected, the user will be prompted to select a group, role, or account. MetaManagerTM will return all of the security objects that the selected object is a member of.

    Members of a specific security object

    When selected, the results will return all accounts that are members of this group or roll and any accounts from nested groups or rolls.

    Deleted accounts

    When selected, returns all deleted IBM Cognos accounts.

    Misc.

    All My Folders

    When selected, returns all users My Folders.

    All pagelets in the content store

    When selected, the results will return all pagelets located in the entire Content Store (Public Folders and all My Folders within the environment's namespace(s)). The syntax used here is //pagelet.

    Jobs with broken steps

    When selected, the results will return all jobs with steps that are invalid or broken.

    Large report outputs

    When selected, the user is prompted to select a minimum size they would like to search for and it returns all reports larger than the selected criteria.

     

    Shortcuts referencing a specific report

    When selected, the user will be prompted to choose a report, and the objects that will be returned are the Shortcuts referenced from the specific report that was selected.

    Datasources connecting to PowerCubes

    When selected, this will return all datasources that are connected to PowerCubes.

    Recent Searches
    Above the Built-In Searches is a group displaying a context menu of Recent Searches. You can go back to several of your recent searches if desired.

    Other Search Information

    • The search query will be available in all modules; however, searches may return different results based upon the module that the search is executed within.

    • For example, while in Screen Tip generator, a search for “list” will retrieve a list of Report Studio reports that contain the text “list”. Since Screen Tip Generator only supports report objects, this is all that will be returned.

    • If you save this search and reuse it in Report Validator, the same search will produce the same results, not returning query or analysis objects.

    • However, if you perform a new search for “list” in the Report Validator module, you will see reports, queries and analysis objects. That is because the executed search is automatically filtered for object types based upon the module the search is created within.

    • In this example, if the search is created and saved within the Report Validator and then executed inside Screen Tip Generator, it will return reports, queries and analysis objects in the results even though queries and analysis objects cannot be used by the module.

      • In this case, if the search query is added to the grid area within Screen Tip Generator, the unsupported objects will be filtered out and only the report type objects will be added to the grid.

    Context Menus within the Portal Tree

    Within the Portal Tree, various right-click or context menus exist depending on the module and the object selected. Below is a listing of the various context menus available.

    Context Menu

    Description

    Logon

    Display the Cognos Connection logon dialog and refresh the server node.

    Logoff

    Issue a logoff request to the server and collapse the server node.

    Open

    Display the location in a browser in Cognos Connection.

    Run

    Run the report in a browser in Cognos Viewer.

    Refresh

    Reload the children for this container as the contents may have changed on the server.

    Delete

    Permanently deletes the selected item, and its descendants, from the Content Store.

    Rename

    Allows you to rename an object within the Portal Tree.

    Add to Grid

    Adds a container (e.g. folder, search) to the grid as a Query row or an object (e.g. report) as an Object row

    Add to Favorites

    Adds the selected object under the root favorite’s folder for quick access.

    Export list of Objects

    From the Favorites folder this will export all object to a text file.

    Validate

    Validates a report, query or analysis against the report service and displays the result in message box.

    Copy Specification

    Copies the report specification to the clipboard as text.

    Paste Specification

    Updates the report specification with the contents of the clipboard. The report will be validated and the user will be prompted to revert if the validation fails.

    Copy Object(s)

    Copy any selected object(s) from the content store

    Paste Object(s)

    Paste any copied object(s) into the content store

    New Folder

    Within Favorite folders only. Adds a new “green” favorite folder for organizing favorites.

    Remove from Favorites

    Removes the favorite folder or object in a favorite folder from the favorite’s area.

    Export list of Objects

    Exports a list of searchPaths from all selected objects to a file.

    Import list to Favorites

    Imports objects to the Favorites Folder from a list of searchPaths.

    Rename

    Within sub Favorite folders only. Allows the user to rename the green favorites folder.

    Browse Model

    For packages only. Ability to browse the model a package is built off of, for a Data Item.

    Find Related Reports

    For packages only. This performs a built-in special search which displays all of the reports in the content store that were built off of this package (in Public folders & User’s My Folders). This can be very useful in Find / Replace when attempting to fix a “package wide” problem like replacing a data item or updating the package reference in the specification.

     

    Find Pagelet Consumers

     

    For pagelets only: This performs a built-in special search which displays all of the accounts that are using this Pagelet.

    Copy Search Path

    Copies the SearchPath of the object. This can be used as a starting point to develop an advanced search.

    Add to Built-In Searches

    For Search Nodes only: Ability to add any search you save to the Built-in Searches dropdown for easy access to a frequent search

    Remove from Favorites

    Ability to remove any object from your favorites folder

    Export Groups and Roles

    Saves a .csv file of groups and roles that can be later used for importing. Saves a .csv file of assigned memberships which can also be used for later importing.

    Properties

    Displays the property grid if it is not already displayed.

    Inspect

    Sends an object to Object Editor and opens it in Advanced Mode (must have license for Object Editor to open).

    Validate Datasource

    You can right-click on Datasource(s) from the Portal Tree and Validate.

     

     

    Property Grid

    The property grid, when selected, will display a predefined list of properties and values for the selected object in the tree.

    MetaManagerTM Property Grid

    • Certain properties are editable, including:

      • Disable

      • Hide

      • Description

      • Screen Tip

    • Changes to updatable properties are immediately sent to the server.

    • The properties can be sorted by selecting the A->Z button at the top of the property grid.

    Object Types Supported by Module

    Though the Portal Tree navigation within MetaManagerTM on the surface appears to be the same throughout the various application modules, in fact each module's portal tree view will only display supported objects for that module. It is not necessary to display the IBM Cognos objects that cannot be used within particular Modules. For instance Preferences Blasters does not need to display Public Folder information, because that Module is only used to update Accounts, Groups, and Roles.

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