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IBM DB2 OLAP Server 8.1

Refreshed Release

Release Notes

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Service Levels:


Contents:


Read this before you start

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Welcome to the Refreshed release of DB2 OLAP Server V8.1.  The Refreshed release upgrades the server component from Essbase 6.5.0 to Essbase 6.5.0.3 and offers Spreadsheet Add-in and OLAP Miner clients in additional languages.

This Release Notes document and the Installation Guide are essential for installing DB2 OLAP Server products successfully.  Before you begin installing any DB2 OLAP Server products, read this Release Notes document, which supplements and corrects information in the Installation Guide.

The Installation Guide is available in the root directory of the DB2 OLAP Server CD and it can be downloaded along with DB2 OLAP Server, or from our Web site:

www.ibm.com/software/data/db2/db2olap

You can install all the documentation, including the Installation Guide, on your client computer by selecting the Custom option in the installation program, and selecting which books you want to install.


Moving to the Refreshed release

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If you have already installed the English-only edition of DB2 OLAP Server V8.1 (Essbase 6.5.0) and now want to upgrade to the Refreshed edition (Essbase 6.5.0.3), select one of the following scenarios:

Other installation updates

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This section provides information about changes to the installation process not documented elsewhere.
Operating System Java level
Windows 1.3.0-C
AIX
  • DB2 OLAP Server:  J2RE 1.2.2 IBM build ca122-19991217
  • DB2 OLAP Integration Server:  java version "1.3.0"

  • Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build 1.3.0)
    Classic VM (build 1.3.0, J2RE 1.3.0 IBM build ca130-20010330 (JIT enabled: jitc))
HP-UX
  • DB2 OLAP Server:  1.2.2.08B-01/04/20-PA_RISC2.0
  • DB2 OLAP Integration Server:  1.3.1.02-JPSE_1.3.1.02_20011206
Solaris Operating System
  • DB2 OLAP Server:  1.3.0
  • DB2 OLAP Integration Server: 1.3.0_02


Documentation updates

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The following information updates the published DB2 OLAP Server V8.1 documentation. You can also find additional information at the DB2 OLAP Server Web site:

http://www.ibm.com/software/data/db2/db2olap/library.html



Sample applications for OIS

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DB2 OLAP Integration Server V8.1 provides two sample databases based on a fictitious company named The Beverage Company. One sample database uses Hybrid Analysis while the other does not.

For each of the sample databases, a new sample OLAP Metadata Catalog (TBC_MD) contains sample OLAP models (TBC Model or HA TBC Model) and sample metaoutlines (TBC Metaoutline or HA TBC Metaoutline). The OLAP models and OLAP metaoutlines for the sample applications are provided in XML files.

The sample applications demonstrate how to create a Measures dimension recursively, using a sort on an alternate column in the relational data source, and how to load metadata from database columns. Additionally, the sample applications include UDAs and Date Time Series data, additional years, drill-through paths, and a Time table to demonstrate incremental update for data loads. The sample applications also demonstrate how to enable and use Hybrid Analysis.

For each of the sample databases, DB2 OLAP Integration Server V8.1 provides two drill-through sample spreadsheets based on the TBC sample data. These two spreadsheets are:

Both spreadsheets are located in \Hyperion\EssIntegration\samples\spreadsheets.

In order to use the sample drill-through reports, essdt.xls and essdt.123, you need to log in to a computer that has both the DB2 OLAP and DB2 OLAP Integration Server installed. You must perform a member and data load and calculate the data for the sample OIS database that you will access from the Spreadsheet Add-in.

Note:  When creating samples, make sure the user id TBC is in uppercase letters (TBC); otherwise you may get error messages indicating that some tables do not exist.



Known issues and workarounds

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Every effort has been made to ensure that DB2 OLAP Server performs without problems. However, some issues remained at the time of release, and they are listed below.  Some of the issues have workarounds.

Hybrid Analysis known issues

Hybrid Analysis supports only DB2 using native drivers or Merant drivers, and Oracle ODBC using Merant drivers. See the Installation Guide for details.

If your system has Oracle ODBC drivers and you plan to use Hybrid Analysis, you must upgrade to Oracle 8.1.6 or later (30531). Enabling Hybrid Analysis while using Oracle ODBC drivers earlier than 8.1.6 causes the following conditions:

Known issues with MaxL:

Version 8.1 of the MaxL Perl Module (essbase.pm) works with Version 8.1 of DB2 OLAP Server. It is not compatible with previous releases.

Although the limit for stored calculations is 64 KB, calculation scripts created in MaxL that have multi-byte characters cannot exceed 40 KB.

Some display output constants are not described in the MaxL documentation. The constant definitions are given below, and can also be found in maxldefs.h.

Possible values of the currency conversion field of the display database statement:
 
Constant Value
division 
multiplication 

Possible values of the file type field of the display disk volume statement:
 
Constant Value
index 
2 data 
index and data 

Possible values of the type field of the display privilege statement:
 
Constant Value
system privilege 
system role 
execute calculation 
filter 

Known bugs in DB2 OLAP Server:

Every effort has been made to ensure that DB2 OLAP Server and DB2 OLAP Integration Server are as free of bugs as possible. Some known problems and system limitations are listed below, with workarounds when appropriate. The numbers next to each bug are internal reference numbers.
 
Bug
Number
Description
IBM5810 Do not install the Arabic version of the product.  The Arabic version is currently not supported but will be in a future update.
IBM5801 If you installed Clients Only from the English-only release, do not install the clients from the Refreshed release. The English clients you already installed are fully-functional; the fixes in Essbase 6.5.0.3 are only on the server.  If you install the Refreshed clients on top of the English-only clients, the licensing program will be disabled and the clients will not work.  The workaround is to uninstall the English-only clients and reinstall the Refreshed clients.
IBM5809 If you install a Lotus 1-2-3 or Microsoft Excel spreadsheet program after you install DB2 OLAP Server, and you have a problem with the spreadsheet program, you must update your Windows PATH statement using the short format.  For example, on Windows NT, take these steps to update your PATH statement:
  1. On the Control Panel, select System.
  2. On the System Properties notebook, select the Environment tab.
  3. In the system variables box, copy the value for ARBORPATH to the clipboard.  The value might look like this:  C:\PROGRA~1\IBM\DB2OLA~1
  4. Add a semicolon to the end of the existing PATH value, and paste the ARBORPATH value after the semicolon.
  5. At the end of the value you just appended to the PATH statement, add: \bin  
  6. Click Set and then OK.
  7. Reboot your computer to apply the new PATH statement.
For Windows 98 and Windows Me, add <ARBORPATH>\bin to the end of the PATH
statement in the autoexec.bat file.  It must be in the short form.
IBM5725 If you migrated from Version 7.1 to the Refreshed Version 8.1 (Essbase 6.5.0.3) on UNIX, you might see an error message about two license numbers being registered when you launch DB2 OLAP Server.  Disregard this message.
IBM5816 If you install OLAP Miner and then uninstall it, the Spreadsheet Add-in for 1-2-3 might be disabled.  The workaround is to manually add the Spreadsheet Addin to Lotus 1-2-3.  Follow the instructions in "Adding Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in" in Chapter 2 of the Spreadsheet Add-in User's Guide for 1.2.3.
IBMNA1 If you use DB2 OLAP Server or DB2 OLAP Integration Server on UNIX, you might encounter problems with them after you install DB2 Universal Database V7, FixPak 2a or later, or DB2 Universal Database V8.  DB2 installs new ODBC drivers that support UNICODE, but DB2 OLAP Server does not support these new drivers.  The workaround is to switch your ODBC files to point to the non-UNICODE ODBC drivers.

The non-UNICODE drivers have been renamed to add "_36" in their names.  For example, for Solaris, the driver libdb2.so was renamed to libdb2_36.so, and for AIX,  the driver db2.o was renamed to db2_36.o.  For more information about changing ODBC drivers, see "Configuring the SQL Interface" in the Installation Guide.

Future FixPaks of DB2 Universal Database will continue to have this same restriction until the DB2 OLAP Server ODBC program is changed to accept UNICODE drivers.  See the Installation Guide for more information about supported software.

IBM5238 In the ESSBASE.CFG configuration file, when you specify a value for the HaMemoryCacheSize parameter, do not include a space between the numeral and the qualifier.  For example, "2M" is acceptable, but "2 M" causes an error.
18529 In Excel, in Query Designer, the server location radio button may not be active in the "Hyperion Essbase Query Designer Save As Query" window when you try to save a query. This occurs because a selected cell is in Edit mode. If you are typing in a cell, Essbase menu items do not function, although they appear enabled, until you get out of Edit mode.
19278 If a member name contains the ampersand (&), even if it is surrounded with quotation marks, and if the member name is in a calculation script, the script may fail validation if the user has Application Designer permission. DB2 OLAP Server incorrectly interprets the ampersand as the signal for a substitution variable. If you run the script without validation, it performs the calculation correctly. Users with supervisor privilege do not receive this validation error.
19593 DB2 OLAP Server does not support discontinuous selection in Lotus, although it does in Excel.
19614 At the end of a calculation started in Lotus, a dialog box appears with a message that the calculation is complete. Clicking on the dialog box does not close it. Press Esc/Cancel from the keyboard to close the dialog box.
20451 DB2 OLAP Server does not warn you if you request that export results be written to a file that already exists. DB2 OLAP Server overwrites the existing file.
20488 If you create a dimension build rule that uses "Create Using Text" on the last column, and if the last true field in the input file is an "Alias" column that has some blank records, the text generated by the "Create Using Text" feature will not be placed into the last column, but will be placed in any record where the "Alias" column is blank. The rule, which passes validation, will fail during the build. To correct, delimit the blank fields.
20562 Leaving the Spreadsheet Add-in idle for long periods of time may cause extra "Please Log In" messages, because the user may have been logged out due to inactivity. Click OK until the message stops appearing.
20600 DB2 OLAP Server may not be able to open a file if the directory location contains a space. This is true for all files such as load files, rules files, calculation scripts, etc. Consider moving the file so that there are no spaces in the directory path.
20606 When logged in with database designer privilege, the entire list of users is displayed in Security > Database, even though only the list of users that the database designer has privileges to modify should appear. Attempts to modify users for whom database designer should not have privileges will not be successful.
21012 If you use Set Member Filter in EQD, any MBCS values may display as broken characters. Type the values into Notepad, and then copy and paste them over the broken characters.
22235 Using Dynamic Time Series (DTS) members on a partitioned database may cause a server crash if these conditions are true: 
  1. The outline has DTS members defined in the Time dimension and 
  2. The partition definition doesn't mention the Time dimension, indicating it should include all members. 
Then you should mention the Time dimension explicitly, for example, @Idesc("Time-dimension-name").
22545 When compiling client API programs on NT, with MS VC ++ version 6.0 and higher, you may experience random API program crashes because when a workspace file is created a bug in MS VC++ causes the API program to crash.

Workaround: compile the program on the command line by using the compiler "cl" directly, after verifying that there are no problems with the API program itself.

22678 Valid calculation scripts with a FIX command and nested parentheses within the FIX command may not validate in the Calc Script Editor of the Application Manager and may report spurious errors. The same script will run without problems on the server.
23380, 30329 If you start DB2 OLAP Server as a service on NT, you can ignore this message, it is informational only:

The description for Event ID ( 0 ) in Source ( EssbaseService ) cannot be found. It contains the following insertion string(s): EssbaseService error: 0, Starting Essbase Service....

24037 When you view a drill through report via the Spreadsheet Add-In, all members at a particular generation or level in a dimension are displayed with highlighting, even if only one member of that generation or level is associated with the drill through report.
24106 If you use the Query Designer to change members in a spreadsheet, then select a dimension and choose Essbase > Cascade, and then in the Destination Options tab, select the option "One Workbook, Separate Sheets," you may receive the Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Library error:

Runtime Error! C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Excel.exe....abnormal program termination! error. 

25938, 27865, 27338 Running too many concurrent reports may overwhelm DB2 OLAP Server or operating system resources, especially against partitioned databases. If this occurs, reduce the number of such reports running concurrently.
26931 If, during outline revision, you delete a member with a particular alias name, and then create a new member with the same alias name, the alias will fail to register and DB2 OLAP Server creates the new member without an alias.

Workaround: Either delete the alias from the Outline Editor and save, or use a different alias name when revising.

27034 Due to a Microsoft bug, you may not be able to display the Spreadsheet Add-in in IE 5.0 if you are running on operating system NT4.0. If you try to open an .xls file from IE 5.0 on NT4.0, the spreadsheet may open in a separate window.
27370 The application log, when displayed via Application Manager, may incorrectly fail to show some log entries for the current day because it evaluates the time using GMT. To view missing log entries, select "All Dates."
27927 Whenever one process is logged out by another process (such as Application Manager running on another machine), the process doing the logout is logged off, and trying to access the server produces an error message even though Application Manager controls appear to still be active. 

Workaround: Log in again.

28064 Trying to associate an attribute with an implied shared member causes the association to be ignored, and DB2 OLAP Server writes a message to the application log. An implied shared member is a member with only one child.
28140 For EssOtlQueryMembers on UNIX, the currency conversion type returned is incorrect. 

Workaround: Use EssOtlFindMember instead.

28506 When the installation program for SQL Interface asks you to specify a driver, if you specify Merant, you won't be able to use DB2 Native drivers, and if you specify DB2 Native drivers, you won't be able to use Merant drivers.
28507 Some characters, such as those using umlaut or accent marks, cannot be typed in ESSCMD interactive mode.
30122 If you use a partition definition where one or more member functions in the definition resolve to an empty set, then DB2 OLAP Server may write more than one message in the application log when you validate the partition. Each message has the same information about a member function resolving to an empty set. All but the first message in the sequence can be ignored.
30600 If you enable parallel calculation (CALCPARALLEL or SET CALCPARALLEL greater than the default 0) on a database that is part of a transparent partition, increase the value of SERVERTHREADS for each source database that is part of the transparent partition, using these rules: 
  • If each source database is part of a different application on a different machine, increase SERVERTHREADS in the configuration file essbase.cfgon each machine. Increase the value by the same number you use in CALCPARALLEL.
  • If all source databases are part of the same application on the same machine, increase the value of SERVERTHREADS using this formula:

  •  (number of source databases) * (value of CALCPARALLEL)
30641 The index page size is now fixed at 8 KB. 
32024 If you use Hybrid Analysis with source data in Oracle, in either of these situations, you must use Oracle version 8.1.7 or higher: 
  • From Spreadsheet Add-in, you perform a Zoom with the All Levels option selected on a dimension that is Hybrid-Analysis enabled, and that zoom creates more than one rollup.
  • In a report script, you use a Hybrid-Analysis enabled dimension in a ROW report command and use the report command DESCENDANTS on that dimension, creating more than one rollup. For example: 
  • <ROW (Market) [HA-enabled dimension]
    <DESCENDANTS (Market) 
32060 If you use direct I/O, and have set DLTHREADSWRITE to a value of 16 or greater, DB2 OLAP Server may crash during a parallel data load. If you encounter this error, reduce the number of block write threads by lowering the value of DLTHREADSWRITE to 15 or less, then restarting DB2 OLAP Server.
32107 If you perform a calculation on a target database of a transparent partition, and at least one of the source databases is in the same application as the target, and you encounter these errors, your application may crash: 
  1. Error message 1042017 issued by the source.
  2. Error message 1023040 issued by the target.
  3. Error message 1023058, "Transparent operation involving [Source] timed out," issued by the target.
Workaround: Increase the value of NetRetryCount to prevent the source from timing out while waiting to receive data. Measure the time from when the last "Processing distributed request" message was issued by the source and the time at which the source issues the timeout message (1042017). Then increase the value of NetRetryCount so that the product of NetRetryCount and NetDelay (NetDelay * NetRetryCount) is greater than the time measured.
32317 DB2 OLAP Server only: You can no longer select 'DB2 relational' as a storage method when creating applications using Application Manager, because beginning with DB2 OLAP Server Release 8.1, the relational storage manager is not available.

Known bugs in DB2 OLAP Integration Server:

  1. Erroneous message displayed when Oracle is on same HP-UX system as DB2 Universal Database. When you run DB2 OLAP Integration Server with DB2 Universal Database on an HP-UX system and you also have Oracle installed on the same system, you might see an error message that contains the string "error-2."  Disregard this message (IBM5430)
  2. Automatic upgrade of OIS metadata catalogs does not work.  The Installation Guide incorrectly states that you can use the OLAP Metadata Catalog Setup dialog box to automatically upgrade your existing metadata catalogs to Version 8.1.  This feature is temporarily disabled, even though, when you select the upgrade option, DB2 OLAP Integration Server displays a message indicating that it successfully upgraded the catalog.  The workaround is to upgrade the metadata catalog manually, following the instructions in the "Creating OLAP Metadata Catalogs for DB2 OLAP Integration Server" chapter in the Installation Guide.  (IBM4655)
  3. Option for Administration Manager still visible (but grayed out) on Tools menu.  In Version 8.1, the Application Manager replaces Administration Manager.  All the function that was available previously in the Administration Manager is available in the Application Manager.  However, the Administration Manager option is still visible on the Tools menu; disregard it.  (IBM4691)
  4. Pass-through transformations using SQL functions not supported

  5. DB2 OLAP Integration Server V8.1 does not support Pass-through (Database Specific) transformations using SQL functions. Specifying a built-in RDBMS function, such as Substring, or Left, causes DB2 OLAP Integration Server to generate invalid SQL.
    (15131)
  6. Incorrect display of attached reports

  7. If you are using Excel and you drill down on Accounts, all account members are highlighted as having an attached report even though you have selected only one member.
    (23923)
  8. Lower case login id not recognized

  9. DB2 OLAP Integration Server does not recognize the login id 'tbc' when it is entered in lower case in the SQL server database.
    (26115)
  10. Drill-Through reports not functioning with multiple metaoutlines

  11. Drill-Through reports may not function correctly following incremental loads of two or more metaoutlines. Only the report which loaded with the last metaoutline is present.
    (29199)
  12. "Essbase Integration Services Shell" not displayed in client-only installations

  13. During the installation, in the Select Components dialog box, if you highlight the option Essbase Integration Services Console, the description reads "Essbase Integration Services Console." The description should also include "Essbase Integration Services Shell."
    (32390)
  14. Delete and Restore Database parameter not available

  15. In the System Administrator's Guide, the sections covering the LOADALL and LOADMEMBER commands incorrectly list [DELETE_DB=Delete and Restore Database;] as an optional parameter. This parameter is not available and all references to it should be disregarded.
    (32394)
  16. If you use DB2 OLAP Server or DB2 OLAP Integration Server on UNIX, you might encounter problems with them after you install DB2 Universal Database V7, FixPak 2a or later, or DB2 Universal Database V8.  DB2 installs new ODBC drivers that support UNICODE, but DB2 OLAP Server does not support these new drivers.  The workaround is to switch your ODBC files to point to the non-UNICODE ODBC drivers.  The non-UNICODE drivers have been renamed to add "_36" in their names.  For example, for Solaris, the driver libdb2.so was renamed to libdb2_36.so, and for AIX,  the driver db2.o was renamed to db2_36.o.  For more information about changing ODBC drivers, see "Configuring the SQL Interface" in the Installation Guide.  Future FixPaks of DB2 Universal Database will continue to have this same restriction until the DB2 OLAP Server ODBC program is changed to accept UNICODE drivers.  See the Installation Guide for more information about supported software.

  17. (n/a)
Known Limitations in OLAP Miner:

OLAP Miner mines the multidimensional data in Hybrid Analysis cubes.  You can use OLAP Miner to mine the multidimensional portion of cubes that are enabled for Hybrid Analysis.  OLAP Miner does not access the relational portion of Hybrid Analysis cubes.

Known Limitations in DB2 OLAP Integration Server:



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