Create a Signon
You create a data source signon in Transformer to facilitate
how Transformer accesses secured data sources when building cubes.
By defining a data source signon in the Transformer
model, you can avoid having to specify the signon information that
the data source requires to build the cube.
There are two types of Transformer signons: data source signons
and Cognos 8 signons.
Data Source Signons
Data source signons are either imported with .iqd files, or can
be created in Transformer when IBM Cognos 8 data sources
have a signon defined in Content Manager that does not have a password
associated with it.
Under normal circumstances, Transformer does not interact with
the IBM Cognos 8 data source signon defined in Content
Manager; the metadata is retrieved along with the signon and the
data is returned. However, when there is more than one data source
connection and each has more than one signon, and the signons are
configured to prompt for a password, the user must select the appropriate
signon before the data can be returned. When the data source is configured
to prompt for a password, you can create a Transformer signon to
enable cube builds in batch mode. For more information about building
cubes in batch mode, see Command Line Options.
The same ambiguity arises when there is no password associated
with the signon defined in Content Manager. This configuration is
used as a data source that prompts for user ID and password. When
a signon has been configured without a password, you can do one
of two things to build a cube in batch mode:
Ask the system administrator to create
a Content Manager signon with a valid password.
Create a data source signon in Transformer.
When you create
a signon, Transformer assigns the signon to the package or report
on which all subsequent queries are based.
If you do not
create a signon in Transformer, you will be prompted once during
the session to create a signon, and again prior to running the first
query based on the package or report when the saved model is reopened
in Transformer.
If you do not create a Transformer signon,
you will not be able to build cubes in batch mode.
Tip: When a data source has more than one signon configured,
the multiple signons are shown on the Content Store Data
Source tab in the Data Source property
sheet.
Cognos 8 Signons
You can configure IBM Cognos 8 to use authentication
to an external namespace, where users are prompted for credentials
as part of the IBM Cognos 8 logon process.
You can create Cognos 8 signons to build cubes in batch
mode in this environment. This signon maintains the user ID, password,
and associated namespace. Create as many Cognos 8 signons as
the number of Cognos 8 namespaces to which your users need
to log on. To enable Transformer to use the Cognos 8 signon
automatically, enable the Set as auto logon property.
For more information about Cognos 8 signons, see the
IBM Cognos 8 Administration and Security
Guide.
Tip: Cognos 8 signons must have an associated
namespace to be valid.
Steps to Create a Data Source Signon
Open the Transformer model.
Right-click in the Signons list, and
click Insert Signon.
Tip: If the Signons list is not shown,
from the View menu, click Signons.
Select the Data source signon check
box.
In the Signon name box, type the name
for the signon.
In the User ID box, type the user
ID.
Do one of the following:
To prompt for a password when accessing
the data source, select the Prompt for password check
box.
To bypass prompting when accessing the data source, clear the Prompt
for password check box and, in the Password box,
type the password.
Click OK.
The new data source signon appears in the Signons list
and is preceded by a special icon 
.
Steps to Create a Cognos 8 Signon
Open the Transformer model.
Right-click in the Signons list, and
click Insert Signon.
In the Signon name box, type the name
for the signon.
In the User ID box, type the user
ID.
In the Password box, type the password.
To set up an automatic logon when logging on to IBM Cognos 8,
select the Set As Auto Logon check box.
In the Namespace list, select the
appropriate namespace.
Click OK.
In the Confirm Password dialog box,
type the password again and click OK.
Click OK.
The new Cognos 8 signon appears in the Signons list
and is preceded by a special icon 
.
