Create an application
Updated: 2008-11-14
In Planning Server, applications often reflect the organization of your enterprise. For example, suppose your corporate forecast team and human resources team have very different needs but share hardware and IT staff. In this case, you might want to create a separate application for each team.
To create an application in the Planning Administration Console, enter information about the application as described in the following procedure. You must belong to the Global Administrator role to create an application. In addition, to automatically create an application in a multi-server deployment, a database administrator must grant dbcreator permissions to the Planning Server Service Identity (SI) account. For more information, see the PerformancePoint Server 2007 Deployment Guide.
To create an application
On the Applications page, click Create. The Create an Application dialog box opens.
In the Name box, type a name for the application. Names are meant to be user-friendly descriptors for objects. The name must be from one to 256 alphanumeric characters long. It is not case sensitive.
In the Label box, type a unique label for the application. The label must begin with an alphabetical character, must be from one to 40 alphanumeric characters long. It is not case sensitive. The following characters are not permitted: . , ; ' ` : / \ * | ? " & % $ ! - + = ( ) [ ] { } < > ^ ~
Use of an underscore character (_) in labels may cause naming conflicts when you use it in labels for applications and model sites. Because Planning Server uses an underscore to link these objects for internal representation, you may unintentionally create a duplicate internal name by using an underscore. Planning Server will not create an object if it has a duplicate internal name. For example, the following two application and root model site combinations produce the same internal name (Company_Sales_Category).
A dimension labeled "Company" with a hierarchy labeled "Sales_Category"
A dimension labeled "Company_Sales" with a hierarchy labeled "Category"
(Optional) In the Description box, type a description of the application. This can include the type of data that it contains or other information that may be helpful to users who are not familiar with the application. The description can be up to 512 characters long.
In the SQL Server computer name box, type the name of the server that will contain the application database and optional staging database. The application database contains system settings and information about application objects such as model sites, users, and roles. The staging database is used to transition external data into the Planning Server system or to transition Planning Server data to an external database.
This computer must be running Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and must be using a case-insensitive default collation. To use a named instance of SQL Server, use this format: server name\instance name. For information about how to configure SQL Server for Planning Server, see the PerformancePoint Server 2007 Deployment Guide.
In the Application database name box, type a unique name for the application database.
(Optional) In the Staging database name box, type a unique name for the staging database for the application. If you do not create a staging database now, you can create one later by using the Edit Application dialog box.
The results of this step are based on your selection in the Application Scripts section. This is where you specify that you want to create the application automatically or to generate SQL Server Data Definition Language (DDL) scripts. The potential results are described in the following scenarios:
If you type a name for the staging database and you select Automatically execute application creation scripts, the staging database that has the specified name will be created.
If you type a name for the staging database and you select Generate application creation scripts for manual execution, a database administrator must run the script to create the staging database that has the specified name.
If you do not type a name for the staging database and you select Automatically execute application creation scripts, no staging database will be created.
If you do not type a name for the staging database and you select Generate application creation scripts for manual execution, the script to create a staging database will be generated. To create the staging database, a database administrator must add the database name to the script and then run the script. Then, you will have to attach the database to the application in the Edit Application dialog box.
In the Locations section, type the URL or URI for the network share or Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies Web site that stores the supporting documents for assignments in the application.
Note
It is important that you specify locations for the first three folders. If you do not, some workflow features will not work, PerformancePoint Add-in for Excel users may receive errors, and Planning Business Modeler will not be able to display supporting documents such as form templates.
For security reasons, make sure that permissions are enforced on the directories that store these documents. Give Read, Write, and Modify permissions to these folders to the Planning Server system account (or accounts) only. The reports storage location is an exception. PerformancePoint Add-in for Excel users need Read permission for the reports storage location to view reports. Report authors need Read, Write, and Modify permissions to create shared reports.
You can find the identities of the Planning Server system accounts in the following locations:
On the Identity tab in the PPSPlanningWebServicesAppPool Properties dialog box (in the Application Pools folder in Internet Information Services Manager).
On the Log On tab in the Planning Process Service Properties dialog box (in Services in Administrative Tools).
Type the URL or URI locations for the forms and reports folders:
In the Form templates location box, type the location for the form templates that are associated with assignments. This location is required to support workflow features.
In the Report storage location box, type the location for the supporting reports that are distributed to PerformancePoint Add-in for Excel users through assignments. This location is required to support workflow features.
In the Assignment forms location box, type the location for the associated assignment instances for the application. This location is required to support workflow features.
In the Assignment master forms location box, type the location for the master forms for the application. This location can be used to store backup versions of reports that have been published as form templates. When users want to edit a form template, they have to edit the original report and then republish it as a form template. By saving a copy of the report to this location, published reports will be easier to locate if changes are needed.
Select the Enable native SQL/MDX rules check box to enable business analysts to use rules that are written in SQL, MDX Query, or MDX Script. Planning Business Modeler passes rules that are written in native SQL or MDX to the designated underlying system without change.
Note
When this feature is enabled, it may pose a security risk because users will have more processing capabilities that could affect many database objects. As an added layer of security, before a new or edited native rule can be run, a database administrator must set its isActivated property to TRUE in the RuleSetsOrRules table in the application database.
Select the Enable Excel macro support check box to enable PerformancePoint Add-in for Excel users to use macros that can be run with Planning Server forms and reports. This setting applies only to Excel macros that are related to Planning Server.
In the Application Scripts section, make the appropriate selection. You can either create the application automatically or generate DDL scripts that a database administrator can run to create the application.
To automatically run the scripts, select Automatically execute application creation scripts. This will create an application that uses default configuration settings such as the database data file, log file size, and file group data. This option is intended for Planning Server pilot or test deployments that are not in a production environment.
If you select the option of automatically running the scripts, the default model site for the application will also be created. Enter the following information for the default model site:
Root site name. A unique, user-friendly name for the default model site. The name must be from one to 256 alphanumeric characters long. It is not case sensitive.
Root site label. A unique label for the default model site. The label must begin with an alphabetical character, must be from one to 40 alphanumeric characters long. It is not case sensitive. The following characters are not permitted: . , ; ' ` : / \ * | ? " & % $ ! - + = ( ) [ ] { } < > ^ ~
Analysis Services computer name. (Optional) The name of the server that will contain the data for the model site. This computer must be running SQL Server Analysis Services. If you do not type a computer name, the computer that is running SQL Server and contains the application database will be used.
To generate DDL application creation scripts, select Generate application creation scripts for manual execution. This option enables a database administrator to review and customize the DDL scripts (for example, partition tables or create file groups) before they are run. After the scripts are run, you must initialize the application to make it available to users. For instructions, see Initialize an application.
If you select the option of generating the creation scripts, type the location in the Output folder location box where you want the scripts to be generated. The location must be an existing folder on a network share, and you must use the Universal Naming Convention (UNC) format: \\<server name>\<folder name>. In addition, the Planning Server SI account must have write permissions to the folder. For more information about how to run the creation scripts, see the next procedure.
Note
If the folder does not exist or if the Planning Server SI account does not have appropriate permissions, you will receive a message informing you that the application scripts could not be created. To edit the Output folder location box, you may have to select Automatically execute application creation scripts and then reselect Generate application creation scripts for manual execution.
Click OK.
To manually run application scripts
As a user who has database administrator permissions, browse to the location that was entered in the Output folder location box when the DDL scripts were generated.
Edit the configuration settings in the scripts, as necessary, and then run them in the following order:
CreateAppDB.sql. This script contains the CREATE DATABASE statement. You can change the initial size of the data and log files and add SQL FileGroup data for the application database.
TypeLibMasterSchema.sql. This script contains the CREATE TABLE statements. You can add SQL FileGroup data to this script.
UpdateApplicationsStatusScript.sql. This script moves the application to an online state.
CreateStagingDB.sql. (Optional) This script creates a staging database. You can customize the initial sizes of the data and log files. If a name for the staging database was not entered in the Create an Application dialog box, edit the script to add the name before you run the script. Even if a name was entered, this script must be run to create a staging database.
In the Planning Administration Console, on the Applications page, select the new application and perform the following tasks. You may have to refresh the page to see the new application.
Initialize the application.
Attach the staging database to the application by using the Edit Application dialog box. This step applies only if you run CreateStagingDB.sql. For instructions, see Edit an application.