Error saving XDI file - Invalid data base directory

[wigglyrat]

Hi:

In order to re-order the elements in an existing TM1 dimension (which was created manually using dimension editor) I have exported the dimension (as a cma file - the only option it gave me), reordered the elements to the desired order, saved as an .xdi file.

But when I try to save it back to TM1 in Perspectives using 'Developer', 'Dimension Save', and I get the error 'Invalid data base directory: "..\samples\tm1\PData"TM1P.INI ="C:\Users\Hd\AppData\Roaming\Applix\TM1\\tm1p.ini"

In 'TM1', 'Options' this is the data directory of the local server so this seems fine.

I am an admin/have write access.

We have not used dimension worksheets/xdi files before (we use the dimension editor) so there are no other xdi files on the server.

Many thanks in advance for any advice on where I am going wrong.

[jim wood]

XDI's use your local database directory, not the directory of the server. Also have you made sure that the file your working on fits with the structure required for an XDI? I only ask to help you avoid pain later on.

[Alan Kirk]

In order to re-order the elements in an existing TM1 dimension (which was created manually using dimension editor) I have exported the dimension (as a cma file - the only option it gave me), reordered the elements to the desired order, saved as an .xdi file.

But when I try to save it back to TM1 in Perspectives using 'Developer', 'Dimension Save', and I get the error 'Invalid data base directory: "..\samples\tm1\PData"TM1P.INI ="C:\Users\Hd\AppData\Roaming\Applix\TM1\\tm1p.ini"

In 'TM1', 'Options' this is the data directory of the local server so this seems fine.

Ah.... yeah. No. It doesn't. It really, really doesn't.

The database directory is supposed to be exactly that; a directory. What you have there is part of a directory with a relative reference ("but relative to what?", Perspectives is probably wondering; ..\ just means "the folder above me") and part of what looks like an config file entry which is pointing to the location of your client .ini file, which will leave TM1 scratching its head when it comes to saving an .xdi.

It should look more like:

Code: Select all

\\ServerName\ShareName\FolderPath\ToWhere\YouKeep\YourXDIs

or, if you have that location mapped as a local drive (say, the X drive):

Code: Select all

X:\FolderPath\ToWhere\YouKeep\YourXDIs

The name Database Directory is slightly misleading these days, at least when it comes to source (.xdi / .xru) files for remote servers. Way back when I started {Grampa Simpson} we used to keep .xdis (or .ldis back then) in the server's database directory (where it keeps its .cube files, etc) and have that as a shared network folder mounted on our client machines. The .xdis would then reside alongside the .cube and .dim files etc. so that the whole database could be conveniently picked up and moved to another machine{/Grampa Simpson}. You can still do that but I think most people have moved away from that practice to keeping them in a separate folder. However the name "Database Directory" has stuck.

(Of course for local servers, that path really is the Database Directory. For remote servers, it's "the place where .xdi / .xrus are stored, which may or may not be the server's real database folder".)