Manage data source connections
Updated: 2008-11-14
On the Data Sources page, you can perform the following management tasks for data source connections.
Add or delete connections. Multiple connections can exist for a data source.
Edit existing connections by changing the server name, database name, or source type. You can also limit the data that is exposed to users in Planning Business Modeler by filtering the tables and views in the data source.
Activating or deactivate existing connections. Active connections will be available for use in Planning Business Modeler.
For information about data sources, see Data connections.
You must belong to the Global Administrator role to manage data source connections. In addition, you must grant the Planning Server Service Identity (SI) account the fixed database role of db_datareader for adequate permissions for the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 database to which you are connecting. If you are using a DSV file, the Planning Server SI account must have Read permissions to the network share location that contains the DSV file.
Important For security reasons, work performed by members of the Data Administrator role should be reviewed carefully because those users can browse databases.
To learn how to add, edit, delete, activate, and deactivate a data source connection, view the following procedures.
To add a data source connection
On the Data Sources page, from the Application menu, select the application to which you want to add the data source connection.
Select the option button next to the model site to which you want to add the data source connection.
Note
If data source connections exist for the application, they appear in a table. The Activated column in the table indicates if a data source connection is active.
Click Add. The Create a Source Data Connection dialog box opens.
In the Connection Details section, enter the following information:
Connection name. Type a name for the new data connection. This name will be used in Planning Business Modeler. Names are meant to be user-friendly descriptors for objects. A name must be from one to 256 alphanumeric characters long. It is not case sensitive.
Label. Type a unique label for the new data connection. A label must begin with an alphabetical character. It must be from one to 40 alphanumeric characters long, and it is not case sensitive. The following characters are not permitted: . , ; ' ` : / \ * | ? " & % $ ! - + = ( ) [ ] { } < > ^ ~
Description. (Optional) Type a description of the data connection. 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 data connection. The description can be up to 512 characters long.
Select Database or Data Source View as the source type, and then enter the server and database name. If you select Data Source View, you must also provide the location of the DSV file. A DSV is an XML file that contains metadata about the structures and relationships in a data source.
Server name. Type the name of the server that is running Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and that contains the source data.
Database. Type the name of the database that contains the source data. This database must already exist on the specified server.
File location. (Applies to a DSV only.)Type the location of the file by using the Universal Naming Convention (UNC) format: \\<server name>\<folder name>. Or, locate the file by clicking the Browse button.
Select the tables and views that you want to expose in Planning Business Modeler. If you do not specify any tables or views, the data source will not be available in Planning Business Modeler.
Click Show Tables/Views. Available tables and views appear in the Available Tables/Views box.
Move the tables and view that you want to expose in Planning Business Modeler into the Selected Tables/Views box by selecting items in the Available Tables/Views box and clicking the > button. Or, click the >> button to move all tables and views.
Click OK. The new data source connection appears on the Data Sources page in the Data Connection table.
To modify a data source connection
On the Data Sources page, from the Application menu, select the application that contains the data source connection.
Click the option button next to the model site that contains the data source connection.
From the Data Connection table, click the option button next to the connection that you want to modify.
Click Edit. The Edit Data Source Connection dialog box opens.
In the Connection Details section, modify the name or description. You cannot modify the label**.**
Connection name. Type the name for the data connection. This name will be used in Planning Business Modeler. Names are meant to be user-friendly descriptors for objects. A name must be from one to 256 alphanumeric characters long. It is not case sensitive.
Description. Type the description of the data connection. 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 data connection. The description can be up to 512 characters long.
Select Database or Data Source View as the source type, and then enter the server and database name. If you select Data Source View, you must also provide the location of the DSV file. A DSV is an XML file that contains metadata about the structures and relationships in a data source.
Server name. Type the name of the server that is running Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and that contains the source data.
Database. Type the name of the database that contains the source data. This database must already exist on the specified server.
File location. (Applies to a DSV only.)Type the location of the file by using the Universal Naming Convention (UNC) format: \\<server name>\<folder name>. Or, locate the file by clicking the Browse button.
Select the tables and views that you want to expose in Planning Business Modeler. If no tables or views are specified, the data source will not be available in Planning Business Modeler.
Click Show Tables/Views.
Move the tables and view that you want to expose in Planning Business Modeler into the Selected Tables/Views box by selecting items and clicking the >, <, >>, << buttons as needed.
Click OK to save your changes to the source data connection.
The changed data source connection appears on the Data Sources page in the Data Connection table.
To delete a data source connection
On the Data Sources page, from the Application menu, select the application that contains the data source connection.
Click the option button next to the model site that contains the data source connection.
From the Data Connection table, click the option button next to the connection that you want to delete.
Click Delete.
Click OK to confirm the deletion.
To activate or deactivate a data source connection
On the Data Sources page, from the Application menu, select the application that contains the data source connection.
Click the option button next to the model site that contains the data source connection.
From the Data Connection table, click the option button next to the connection that you want to activate or deactivate.
Click Activate or Deactivate.
The Activated column of the in the Data Connection table will display True if the connection is active or False if the connection is not active.