Dodeca PBCS/EPM Cloud Connector - Version {pbcs-connector-version}
Background
The Dodeca PBCS Connector provides integration between Dodeca views and a PBCS/EPM Cloud server. It uses the PBCS REST API to perform data and metadata operations, such as grid retrieves and fetching member information.
In this document, the names "PBCS Connector" and "EPM Cloud Connector" are used interchangeably. This connector can also be used to provide support in Dodeca for FCCS (Financial Consolidation and Close), PCM (Profitability and Cost Management), and other EPM Cloud modules that use the same core Planning REST APIs.
Connector Settings
Proxy Configuration
The Dodeca PBCS Connector can be configured to use a proxy for communications between itself and your PBCS (EPM Cloud) server. In order to do so, two settings will need to be added to your wrapper.conf configuration file:
wrapper.java.additional.4=-Dhttps.proxyHost=localhost
wrapper.java.additional.5=-Dhttps.proxyPort=8080Configure the name and port for your proxy server instead of localhost and 8080. If you already have additional settings in the configuration file, use the next available number if it is not 4 (so that you end up with a continuous set of settings numbers).
Connection Configuration
The PBCS Connector currently only supports using credentials from a native PBCS account (this is a limitation in the PBCS REST API). A future release will add additional support for other user types.
In order to create a PBCS connection in Dodeca, create an Essbase connection as usual. The fields that need to be configured are the following:
- Server
-
The PBCS/EPM Cloud server. This will typically be a server name such as
companyname.epm.us-phoenix-1.ocs.oraclecloud.com - Application
-
The name of the PBCS application, such as
Vision - Database
-
The name of the plan type (cube). The database setting is also used to explicitly define the names of the dimensions in the cube. In order to specify the dimensions, the value of the Database parameter should be in the following format:
Plan1?dimensions=Account;Currency;Entity;Period;Scenario;Version;Years. In other words: the name of the plan type/cube, followed by a question mark, the worddimensions, an=symbol, and then the semicolon delimited list of dimensions in the plan. The dimension list is important as it allows the connector to understand the dimensions available without having to reach into other Oracle APIs that may have permissions issues or report the wrong dimension list. - ServletPath
-
Address to the server running the connector, including protocol and port, such as
http://pbcs-connector.example.com:9440. - Username
-
You will likely want to include the username of a fixed admin or otherwise native user to use for connecting.
- Password
-
You will likely want to include the password of a fixed admin or otherwise native user to use for connecting.
Once the connection details are filled in, save and test the connection. You may now build views that use the PBCS data in a retrieve range.
Release Notes
Version 1.6
-
You can now launch a business rule (calc) with a given name (uses the
CalculateFromFileconnector method) -
Attribute dimensions are now properly supported in retrieve grids (make sure to add attribute dimension name to connection string, such as
Basic?dimensions=Scenario,Account,…,Market Size)