upload xml with TI?

[Sabke]

Hello,

Is it possible to upload xml file with TI?

Thanks,
Sabke

[David Usherwood]

If you read the docs and/or create a new process you will see that XML is not a supported source. You could possibly write your own XML parser in TI but I doubt it would be fun to do.

[hardstep]

Hi Sabke

If you model the XML document via Framework Manager you can import it into TM1 via TI.
This will require you to have a Cognos 8/10 BI implementation and it will require you to model the XML document using VVM (Virtual View Manager).
VVM will allow you to model the XML document and its associated schema and allow you to expose the structure to FM (Framework Manager) as a package.

I have done this for a number of customers - it's a bit fiddly to get setup, but once setup it works a treat !.
It is also useful if you have web services that need calling to update on a more regular basis.

Kind Regards
Nick

[Sabke]

Thanks all.
A pitty that we don't have Cognos BI. I 'll try to remember when we're planning to install Cognos 10 BI.

Kind regards,
Sabke

[rmackenzie]

A pitty that we don't have Cognos BI.

I worked on an IBM PoC model where they had successfully used Business Viewpoint (I think this is it) to allow ODBC queries to run against XML files - thus allowing TI to 'read' the XML. IIRC, this can be installed independently of the C8 BI stack, but also IIRC costs a fortune. Maybe you can get a deal

Ultimately, the client didn't go for it and so I had to write an XML->CSV processor to get over the line with this requirement (TI then reads the CSV). Depending on how you handle the XML input this can be a fairly robust solution but obviously - a) something in TI, or b) something like BV - would be preferable.

Because you can call VBScript or Powershell from the TI ExecuteCommand then, if you want to have a go writing your own, you could check these references:
If you want to use VBScript
If you want to use Powershell
Another Powershell link

[hardstep]

From past experience (having worked at Cognos and IBM) - Business Viewpoint licensing can be quite expensive.
If you purchase a single Cognos 10 BI administrator license - this should be relatively inexpensive and will give you access to the VVM (Virtual View Manager) component which will answer all your problems
without the need for writing complex parsing scripts or conversion programs.

Or of course you can go down the code monkey approach for free of course !.

Good Luck
Nick

[tomok]

Google "ODBC drivers for XML". There are third-party products out there that can present your XML data via ODBC that don't cost an arm and a leg. If you have a SQL server (2005 or later), you can also load the XML data to it as an intermediate step. SQL server has an XML data type to make the loading easy.