Here is a sneak-peek of the InfoBurst® Shell to be presented in the Report Bursting, Scheduling, Delivery & Administration talk at the InfoBurst User Conference – IBIS 2013.
Welcome back to the second part of my sneak peak for the my InfoBurst API and Shell talk. We last talked a little about the InfoBust API and how it’s leveraged in our product user interface. Well, there’s another interface that was build for more administrative, debugging, and management purposes. This is the IBShell, or sometimes referred to as just “the Shell”. This utility was actually born with the function of simply testing each new API function as they came out. But then it became apparent that we needed to blow away and rebuild our name times over during our initial alpha phase. It was then that IBShell scripting was born. We build scripts that enabled us to quickly reset our repository. And actually, I still use those same scripts regularly. So, What can be done with InfoBurst Enterprise‘s IBShell utility? I’ll go over some of the things that you can do in this sneak-peak.
Commonly the shell is used for debugging purposes and adjusting InfoBurst settings. But you can do other things too like modify objects in InfoBurst, adjust processing queues to increase the simultaneous workload InfoBurst can perform, and even manage users’ logon sessions. To start IBShell you’ll need to open a command prompt in the InfoBurst Enterprise program files directory. Then, just type “ibshell” and it will start up. Now that we have that running, how about we get into some examples?
First thing you’ll always need to do is connect to the InfoBurst Enterprise Server. This is done with the “connect” command. Executing just the “connect” command will use it’s default values. So it will connect using the local machine name and use the default soap port. You can adjust the port by using the “port” parameter.
> connect port=8080
You can also target other InfoBurst Enterprise environments, say a development or production environment, by using the “server” parameter.
> connect server=full.server.name"
Once you’ve connected then you’ll need to get a token. As you may have remembered from the InfoBurst API sneak peek an authentication token is always needed so the commands you execute fall into a security context. To do this we will need to use the “get token” command. The shell does support some interactivity when required parameters are not provided. Here’s an example of what it could look like for the get token command.
> get token Enter Value for 'user' : admin Enter Value for 'password' : ***** * OK >
Now that we have a token we can do a whole lot of different things. Commonly a support technician might as for your configuration options, to get those simply type “list config” (example output has been truncated).
> list config # Items = 80 AccessTokenTimeout : 20 AddEmailDisclaimer : False AdminPassword : ***** AdminServicePort : 8552 ADSyncEvery : 15 ADSyncGroup : AllowRepoSwitchWhileRunning : False AndroidPackagePrefix : com.mycompany AuthMode : AuthIB ...
You can list other things as well using the “list” command, like folders, users, groups, etc. Now that you see the options you can set the configuration options by using the “set config” command.
> set config MaxBursts=22 * maxbursts = '22' OK
Next up, you will probably be asked to get around in the system and display the details of a burst object. You’ll have to use two different commands “dir” and “cd”. The “dir” command is used to list the contents of a directory. Since upon logon you are placed in your home folder, the “dir” command will display the objects inside your home folder.
> dir 2 Item(s) sorted by Name ID Rdy Name Type Created Changed #CH ----------------------------------------------------------------- 2076 Y AdminNote Text 4/11/2012 5/15/2013 1 9626 Y MyFolder Folder 5/15/2013 0 >
If you have directories you’d use the “cd” command to change directory. Just type “cd” and the name of the folder.
> cd MyFolder *OK
And now you can use the “disp” command to display the details of an object. In this example we are going to display a simple text object.
> disp "A Little Note" Object: Text ID: 9627 Name: A Little Note Path: \users\ADMIN\MyFolder\A Little Note Text: Here is my little note.
At this point you should be able to look around in your environment and see what’s there. Like I mentioned earlier there’s even more that you can do. Like create users and group. Modify bursts, XDCs, schedules and other objects. You can even get into scripting to automate your environment a little and potentially control it from another process running on the server.
Well, that’s it for now on this sneak-peek. Obviously, I’ll be going into much more detail during my talk and I’d hope to see you there. I’m very excited for our first ever InfoBurst User Conference. Not only will this topic be discussed, but many more in a very open format. Check it out on our InfoBurst User Conference webpage. I’ll be looking forward to seeing you there! You can register for the InfoBurst User Conference online just by clicking on the “Register” button at limitlessbi.com.
Having the opportunity to teach what I love has played out a few times in my life. From guiding students into the depths of the Pacific Ocean as a Scuba Dive Master to leading a class of business users in working with one of my favorite Business Intelligence Solutions, I have noticed almost everything in life can encompass a similar theme: deep dive with everything you do. Take the plunge, the next step, strive for the depths of informing yourself while gaining insight around what is out there.
I take great pleasure in presenting to you the 2031 Nobel Prize winner in Physics, Kolby Austin Durda. In case you didn’t hear, my nephew was born on Saturday. That’s right; I’ve already presented his name to the Nobel Committee for his solution of global climate change. Please phone in or text your votes.
Data is the most important piece of the puzzle called BI dashboards. Actually it plays a critical role in running modern business, at least it should, and hence it ranks first in my D list.
This is one very important consideration many dashboard developers put aside until towards end of the project which results into lot of unexpected changes at the last hour – something every developer must do everything to avoid. It is very crucial to ask the end user/ business analyst of the dashboard project very early on how they want their dashboards to be delivered to them – sent via email? Accessed from a portal? Need offline capability once delivered? Sent to mobile device? Need customized data bursting? Non-BOE environment? BOE security enforced? All these questions and more should be asked during requirement gathering and evaluated/re-evaluated at the various phases of iterative development cycle. Not every capability comes out of the box, many of them can be achieved with partner add-ons and integration kits but they are often the burning requirements for our customers. We will discuss different design considerations to keep in mind to meet your end users’ goal.
Why should a technical developer care about this? For business what will matter is ROI, but for IT $ will translate to the duration and deadline of the project. BI projects often face scope, schedule and consequent budget creep. Though it is common it is not completely unavoidable. Thorough requirement gathering, timely availability of the right resources, involvement of business, proper change control, mockup building with the decision making team and correct iteration cycle can prevent many unplanned changes and schedule slippage. IT needs to clearly communicate any realistic estimation and understand the consequences of budget overrun. Wise planning will not only stop a project from being scrapped but also gain substantial credibility from business for any future deployment. You can also limit or extend the functionality of your dashboard with use of third-party add-ons available across SAP ecosystem based on approved budget. We are going to discuss several useful add-on features you can enrich your dashboard with and how to conduct the aforementioned activities in most efficient manner.
