More Fun With Vista And TM1
Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 12:06 am
I discussed my early encounters with Vista in the thread The Vista From My Windows (http://forums.olapforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=485) in the General forum, but I'm putting this one in the TM1 forum since it has a specific relevance to TM1 use.
Now, before we begin, everybody please pretend that I've just done a 10 minute spray of invective and obscenities in the general direction of Redmond.
(Oh come on, y'all know that you don't need to pretend.)
I was setting up a blank session of TM1, planning to create a couple of small dummy cubes to test out some theories that I had relating to feeders as per our recent discussions.
As you know, when you install TM1 these (9.4) days it goes by default to C:\Program Files\Cognos\TM1. The database files go into a sub-folder called Custom, or more precisely into some sub-folders under that. (The default location has been changing for the last couple of versions, of course, and no doubt the next version will go to C:\Program Files\CognosAnIBMCompany\, but let's not worry about that for now.)
So I created a blank folder for my test database. And then I started a server session pointing to that folder.
And then I began to create dimensions, via .xdi, naturally. And I created a cube from the dimensions.
And all was well.
Then as a precaution I shut down the server and Excel and restarted both, and lo, a strange thing happened.
I wanted to create a further dimension. So I went Dimension Worksheets -> New, created a new sheet, entered the elements, and went to save it, and... it didn't ask me which server I wanted to save it on.
What the...??? Yes the server is running, yes I'm logged in, yes I'm pointing to the correct directory.
And so I closed the new .xdi sheet, and Excel asked me, "Do you want to save the changes to Sheet1?" I looked at the title bar... yes, it says "DimName.xdi", not "Sheet1". Soooo... what exactly DID happen when I "saved" the sheet?
Nothing, as it turned out, but we'll come back to that.
So I went to open my previous .xdis, and... they weren't there. None of them. They vanished, into the ether.
So I went to my new database folder. And it was empty.
That's right, completely empty. No cube files, no dim files, no xdis, NOTHING.
But, but... I can SEE the dims! I can SEE the cube! What evil, satanic curse has afflicted this server session???
So I do a search for my Years.xdi file that I created in the first session. "LOOK UNDER EVERY ROCK!!!", I tells the search dialog, "DON'T COME BACK WITHOUT THAT FILE IF YOU KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR YOU!"
And indeed, it found it. In a folder under the path C:\Users\MyAccount\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\
And lo when I looked at that folder, I found the cube file and all of the other files from the server session.
"What the HELLO is a VirtualStore??", thinks I.
As it turns out it's another Daddy Knows Best "improvement" that Microsloth inflicted on Vista users. The intention is to prevent that massive security risk of keeping .ini files in the same folder as program files. Apparently the program files are supposed to sit there in grand isolation.
Now, this makes sense in a way. If the program files, and files within the program files folder can't be modified except during an install process, it does minimise the risk of nasties.
I have no issue with this.
However the fact that they shove all of your data files off into another folder WITHOUT TELLING THE USER THAT THEY ARE DOING THIS and breaking the gorram functionality of the application in the process, that I DO have an issue with. That's Microsloth all over.
The moral of the story, boys and girls, is that if you're installing TM1 on a Vista system make sure that you do a custom install and redirect the database folder(s) to one(s) which do NOT live in the Program Files along with the TM1 application itself.
I'm going to be posting an enhancement request with Iboglix to modify the installation program accordingly.
And now, the time wasted in trying to find out why my app didn't work has burnt up all of the time that I WAS going to use to run my tests.
Now, before we begin, everybody please pretend that I've just done a 10 minute spray of invective and obscenities in the general direction of Redmond.
(Oh come on, y'all know that you don't need to pretend.)
I was setting up a blank session of TM1, planning to create a couple of small dummy cubes to test out some theories that I had relating to feeders as per our recent discussions.
As you know, when you install TM1 these (9.4) days it goes by default to C:\Program Files\Cognos\TM1. The database files go into a sub-folder called Custom, or more precisely into some sub-folders under that. (The default location has been changing for the last couple of versions, of course, and no doubt the next version will go to C:\Program Files\CognosAnIBMCompany\, but let's not worry about that for now.)
So I created a blank folder for my test database. And then I started a server session pointing to that folder.
And then I began to create dimensions, via .xdi, naturally. And I created a cube from the dimensions.
And all was well.
Then as a precaution I shut down the server and Excel and restarted both, and lo, a strange thing happened.
I wanted to create a further dimension. So I went Dimension Worksheets -> New, created a new sheet, entered the elements, and went to save it, and... it didn't ask me which server I wanted to save it on.
What the...??? Yes the server is running, yes I'm logged in, yes I'm pointing to the correct directory.
And so I closed the new .xdi sheet, and Excel asked me, "Do you want to save the changes to Sheet1?" I looked at the title bar... yes, it says "DimName.xdi", not "Sheet1". Soooo... what exactly DID happen when I "saved" the sheet?
Nothing, as it turned out, but we'll come back to that.
So I went to open my previous .xdis, and... they weren't there. None of them. They vanished, into the ether.
So I went to my new database folder. And it was empty.
That's right, completely empty. No cube files, no dim files, no xdis, NOTHING.
But, but... I can SEE the dims! I can SEE the cube! What evil, satanic curse has afflicted this server session???
So I do a search for my Years.xdi file that I created in the first session. "LOOK UNDER EVERY ROCK!!!", I tells the search dialog, "DON'T COME BACK WITHOUT THAT FILE IF YOU KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR YOU!"
And indeed, it found it. In a folder under the path C:\Users\MyAccount\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\
And lo when I looked at that folder, I found the cube file and all of the other files from the server session.
"What the HELLO is a VirtualStore??", thinks I.
As it turns out it's another Daddy Knows Best "improvement" that Microsloth inflicted on Vista users. The intention is to prevent that massive security risk of keeping .ini files in the same folder as program files. Apparently the program files are supposed to sit there in grand isolation.
Now, this makes sense in a way. If the program files, and files within the program files folder can't be modified except during an install process, it does minimise the risk of nasties.
I have no issue with this.
However the fact that they shove all of your data files off into another folder WITHOUT TELLING THE USER THAT THEY ARE DOING THIS and breaking the gorram functionality of the application in the process, that I DO have an issue with. That's Microsloth all over.
The moral of the story, boys and girls, is that if you're installing TM1 on a Vista system make sure that you do a custom install and redirect the database folder(s) to one(s) which do NOT live in the Program Files along with the TM1 application itself.
I'm going to be posting an enhancement request with Iboglix to modify the installation program accordingly.
And now, the time wasted in trying to find out why my app didn't work has burnt up all of the time that I WAS going to use to run my tests.
I've yet to get past a problem with the mouse cursor getting "stuck" on the VMWare image though so I've pretty much given up for now.