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
What to do next
You can now publish the package.