Chapter 10. Parameter Maps

This chapter introduces session parameters and parameter maps, both of which can be used to customize reports. Session parameters are values pulled from the user session. Parameter maps can be thought of as simple data look-up tables. Each parameter map has two columns, a key column and a value column holding the value that the key represents. A parameter map can be used to create a conditional query that allows for substitutions when a report is run. The following topics will be covered in this chapter:

• Creating and using session parameters

• Creating and using parameter maps

By the end of this chapter, you will understand how session parameters and parameter maps can be created and used within Framework Manager.

Session parameters

Every Framework Manager model has a set of built-in parameters that contain values related to the current session. These session parameters can be used by modelers in filters, calculations, and on reports.

The default session parameters include the following:

• account.defaultName: This returns the name of the current user as defined in the authentication provider, and examples of the values returned are the user's first and last name.

• account.personalInfo.userName: This returns the user ID used to log on to IBM Cognos BI if the user is logged in as Anonymous then this is not set.

• runLocale: This returns a code for the current active language in Framework Manager, and examples of the values returned by this parameter are en-gb, en-us, zh-cn, and zh-tw, which indicate English(United Kingdom), English(United States), Chinese(Simplified), and Chinese(Traditional) respectively.

• current_timestamp: This returns the current date and time.

• machine: This returns the name of the computer...

Parameter maps

When we looked at session parameters, we have seen that although they are useful they are very limited and each time we want to use a session parameter to return a particular value, we have to edit the session parameter to either add a default value or an override value. If we want to create a session parameter that can return different values for different keys, then we create a parameter map.

Parameter maps can be thought of as simple data look-up tables. Each parameter map has two columns, a key column and a value column holding the value that the key represents. You can enter the keys and values manually, import them from an external file, or base them on query items in the model.

It is possible to export parameter maps to a file and to import parameter maps from a file. This is particularly useful if you have a large or complex parameter map. You can export the parameter map values to a file, make changes, and then import the modified parameter map back into Framework Manager...

Summary

In this chapter, we learned about session parameters and parameter maps as a way of changing the behaviour of the queries in your Framework Manager model. By using session parameters we made the creation of multi-lingual reports easier for our report authors. This is just one aspect of using session parameters and parameter maps. There are many other ways these can be applied, including on things such as setting the security within the model.

We also looked at the user interface for Framework Manager, and the best practice for using the software. We developed a model by using the best practices from importing our data source to refining our model, to produce a final package for our report authors. We looked at some additional features for further improving our model and some new features for making model development easier.