Creating or modifying packages

You create a package to make metadata available to your users. A package is a subset of a project. It must contain all the information that a specific user or group of users needs to create reports. You can also apply security to the package.

For example, if your data source contains information from different areas of a business, you might decide to create different packages for Human Resources and Finance. Ensure that your package meets a broad, but related reporting need. Each report can contain information from a single package only.

When creating or modifying packages, consider the following information:

  • Reusing packages

    You can reuse packages by creating nested packages. When you create nested packages, you create a master package that is based on other existing packages. Using nested packages saves you time, and they are easier to maintain. Another advantage of using nested packages is that you publish only the master package.

    For example, you create three separate packages named Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Each package contains the project objects and security appropriate for that package. You can create one master North America package and include the packages Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

    You can also reuse packages to create a consolidated package with connections to multiple data sources.

  • Selecting, hiding, or unselecting objects

    When you create a package, you can choose whether objects in a project can be selected based on the requirements of your users.

    Option

    Description

    Select

    The object can be used in reports and can be selected by your users.

    Hide

    The data within the object cannot be used in reports because it cannot be selected by your users.

    For example, you include a model query subject in a package. Because model query subjects are dependent on data source query subjects Query subjects, you must add the data source query subject to your package. If you do not want your users to see the data source query subject, hide it.

    Unselect

    The object is not published. It cannot be used for reports and cannot be selected by your users.

    Note: IBM® Cognos® Framework Manager supports Ctrl+shift and Alt+shift functionality. Use these keystrokes to select multiple objects that you wish to include or hide. For example, if you wish to only include two items in a large branch, select the entire branch, then use Ctrl+shift to deselect the items you wish to include, and hide the remaining selected items.

  • Including a model query subject in a package

    If a model query subject references other query subjects in a macro or a prompt, ensure that you include the referenced query subjects in the package.

    This can occur in the following situations:

    • A macro for the model query subject references query items in another query subject.
    • Another query subject is referenced in the Prompt Info properties.

After a package is published to the server, it is available to your users.

Procedure

  1. Click the Packages folder, and from the Actions menu, click Create, Package.
  2. In the Provide Name page, type the name for the package and, if you want, a description and screen tip. Click Next.
  3. Specify whether you are including objects from existing packages or from the project and then specify which objects you want to include.

    If you created other packages, we suggest that you add package references by clicking Using existing packages.

  4. Choose whether to use the default access permissions for the package:
    • To accept the default access permissions, click Finish.
    • To set the access permissions, click Next.
  5. Specify who has access to the package, and click Next.

    You can add users, groups, or roles.

  6. Move the language to be included in the package to the Selected Languages box, and click Next.
  7. Move the sets of data source functions you want available in the package to the Selected function sets box.

    If the function set for your data source vendor is not available, make sure that it was added to the project. For more information, see Selecting function sets.

  8. Click Finish and choose whether to publish the package.
  9. If you want to modify the package later, from its Actions menu, click Edit Definition.
    Click the objects that you want to add to or remove from the package. To add or remove package references to the package that you are modifying, click Edit.
    Tip: To toggle through the options for an object, click the object icon, or select an option from the list.

What to do next

You can now publish the package.