EVENT STUDIO

EVENT STUDIO
With Event Studio, you can establish a threshold or assign a specific event that sends a notification to the decision makers in your organization. You create agents that monitor your thresholds or event, and when the threshold is reached or event occurs, the agent sends the notification. Notifications can include an e-mail, adding information to the portal or running reports.


EVENT MANAGEMENT THROUGH EVENT STUDIO
Many organizations require up-to-date notification of data changes to drive business decisions. For these organizations, it is important that the information be delivered promptly so that decisions enhance the value of the business.

PURPOSE
*With Cognos event notifications can be sent based on business rules that define areas that need attention.
*Event Studio allows you to create agents that identify critical information and quickly deliver
it to the business.
*With Event Studio, your organization can be alerted to events as they happen to make effective and timely business decisions
*Event Studio is driven by agents that look at data you specify, to detect specific events that may occur within your business.

WHEN EVENT TRIGGERED ?
*An event is triggered when specific actions occur, or when data conditions previously defined are met.
*You specify the event condition or the change in data.
*when the agent detects this change, Event Studio performs a set of tasks, such as sending an e-mail notification, adding information to a portal, running reports, and starting other Cognos administrative jobs.

WHAT EVENT AJENT CONSIST OF?
*An agent is made up of events, conditions, and a list of tasks.

EXAMPLE
for example, that you are part of the sales team for a sporting goods company. You want to be the sales manager for a specific product line, but before that happens, you have to prove that you can sell. A new product is about to hit the market and you think it’s a great one. In fact, you believe this is the product that will get you the promotion you have been working toward. You tell your manager that you can sell $1 million worth of this product every month for the next three months, and that if you do this, you want the promotion. Your manager agrees, and off you go. You do all the things a sales person does, and you wait for the monthly sales results to arrive.

In this example, the event of interest to you, the ambitious salesperson, is the monthly
sales reports, specifically the numbers for your product. The condition, is this:
Did my product produce at least $1 million in sales this month? Finally, the task will be to
send an e-mail to the manager when sales are $1 million or more.

Accessing Event Studio
You access Event Studio from Cognos Connection. Event Studio opens in a separate web
browser.

Navigation in Event Studio
*The Event Studio screen is split into four areas:
I Want To,
Insertable Objects,
Summary, and
Content

1)I Want To area shows the tasks and functions available when you are creating an agent. You can specify an event condition, add additional tasks, manage the task execution rules, and schedule the agent from this area.
2)The Insertable Objects area is divided into six tabs: Source, Data Items, Functions,
Parameters, Run History Items, and Member Search Results.

---• Source tab Displays a hierarchical list of the source items, relational or dimensional,from your Framework Manager package.
• Data Items tab Provides a quick reference to a list of the data items and calculations contained in the agent.
• Functions tab Displays a list of functions, such as operators and summaries,which you can use in event conditions and to create calculated data items.
• Parameters tab Displays a list of the defined parameters, indicated by the parameter icon. Parameters are used when specifying an event condition.
• Run History Items tab Lists system environment variables that you can include in On Error events. These items include the date/time of the error, the person who ran
the task, and other information.
• Members Search Results tab Shows search utility results. The search utility displays at the bottom of the tree when a level has more members than can be displayed due to space onstraints.

3)The Summary area shows the basic sequence for your agent, consisting of the event and
the tasks to be executed when the event is triggered.
4)The Content area displays the details of the item in focus. When specifying an event condition, the expression entered displays here. When viewing tasks, the details of each task display in this area.

What Is an Event?
*Events are the driving force behind the agent; they look for conditions in the data that meet
the specifications required for an action to occur.
*When a condition is met, the event tells the agent to trigger the list of actions defined within the agent.
*Events are made up of event instances, an event list, an event key, and task execution rules
*An event instance is a row of data that meets the criteria of the event condition.
*An event list shows the events that have been processed by the agent and are categorized
by the following statuses:
• New This is the first time the event has occurred.
• Ongoing But Changed The event occurred before but the results are different this time.
• Ongoing And Unchanged The event occurred before and the results are the same this time.
• Ceased The event has stopped occurring.

An event key is a unique combination of fields from your data source that identifies an event and is used to determine the status of an event.
Task execution rules define the event status for which each task is executed

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN AJENT EXECUTES?
*When an agent executes, it looks at the data for any event instances.
*The agent uses the event key at runtime to compare the most recent event instances to the event instances from the previous run.
*From the comparison, the agent allocates a status to each event and stores the event in the event list.
*The task execution rules then determine which tasks are executed.

Creating an Agent
*Agents can be set to accept prompts, which provide the flexibility to reuse an agent for multiple users or business cases
*Prompt values can be provided through the schedule or by passing in the values of a source item from the events of another agent.
*Within Cognos Connection, you can create a view of the agent
*Views are used to share the specifications of an agent to be used in another agent.
*With an agent view, different prompt values or an alternative schedule can be set.
*The source for an Event Studio agent is a package published in your Cognos Connection
environment.
*Event Studio uses the package, whether it is relational, dimensionally modeled relational (DMR), or a cube, to specify the event condition with data from the source, and then this data is monitored by the agent.
*Items from the source can also be used to define calculations and/or parameters to be included in the event condition.
(Agents monitor data to find instances of an event, and then they perform tasks associated
with the event. These tasks can provide immediate notification of these events to businesses.
When an agent runs, it checks the data for occurrences of the event and, if detected, performs
the tasks using the task execution rules. Tasks can be run at the same time or in the order that
you have specified.)

Specify a Condition
1. In Event Studio, click either the Detail or the Summary tab in the content area. Click Detail if you are defining an event condition that applies to individual values in the data source. Click Summary if you are defining an event condition that applies to aggregate values.
2. In the Expression text box, shown next, create a query expression by dragging items and/or functions from the Insertable Objects pane or by typing directly in the Expression text box. For this example, we define “[Revenue] > 1000000” as the expression.
3. Optionally, from the Actions menu, select Preview to check the event list to ensure that you have specified the event condition correctly.
4. Optionally, from the Actions menu, select Count Events to view the number of event instances for the event condition you have specified.

Define a Parameter
*Parameters can be defined to be used within an event condition.
*When the agent is manually run, the user will be prompted to enter a value for the parameter.

1. From the Insert menu, select Parameter. The Define The Parameter screen displays.
2. In the Parameter Name text box, type a name for the parameter.
3. Click OK. The parameter displays on the Parameters tab in the Insertable Objects pane,
as shown next:

Define a Calculation
A calculation uses multiple data items to derive a single value.
1. From the Insert menu, select Calculation. The Define The Data Item screen displays.
2. In the Name text box, type a name for the calculation. For this example, we name the calculation Gross Profit %.
3. In the Expression text box, define the calculation by dragging items and/or functions from the Insertable Objects pane or by typing directly in the Expression text box. For this example, we define the expression for the calculation as Gross Profit divided by Revenue,
4. Click OK. The calculation displays in the Data Items tab. You can include the calculation when specifying an event condition or task. For this example, we add the Gross Profit % calculation to the event condition.

Test an Agent
*Early testing allows you to find and fix any errors while they are still easy to identify.
*There are two types of errors: logic and syntax
*This test confirms that any functions being used have the correct number of parameters, the
correct data types, available requested parameters, and so on.
*Testing the logic is performedby selecting Preview All from the Actions menu.

TESTING PROCEDURE
1. From the Actions menu, select Validate. If any syntax errors are found in the agent,they display in the View The Validation Results dialog after the validation is complete.
2. From the Actions menu, select Preview All. A new window displays each task in the agent. Examine the steps to determine whether they are correct.

Adding a Task
*Multiple tasks can be added to an agent, but only one condition can be defined per agent.
*Tasks can be used for things such as sending a notification to the business as data changes, providing automation to workflow, or running administrative tasks.
The following tasks are available:
• Send an email
• Publish a news item
• Run a report
• Run a job
• Run an agent
• Advanced
• Update a database
• Call a web service
• Run an export
• Run an import
• Run a content maintenance task
• Run a metric task
• Run a migration task

Run a Job
Add a job task whenever you want the agent to run a job. A job is a group of executable entries, such as reports, that are executed as a batch and share the same schedule settings

1. In the I Want To area, click Add A Task.
2. Click Run A Job. The Select The Job (Navigate) screen displays:
3. Navigate to an existing job that you want to run and select the radio button next to the job.
4. Click OK. The Specify The Job To Run screen displays.
5. Click Save. The agent is saved with a job task. When the task is executed, the job will run.

Run an Agent
Add an agent task when you would like the agent to run another agent. Running more than one agent in sequence allows the output from one agent to be used as the input for another agent. An agent task can also be used to allow agents pulling from different data sources to interact.

1. In the I Want To area, click Add A Task.
2. Click Run An Agent. The Select The Agent (Navigate) screen displays:
3. Navigate to the saved agent that you want to run and select the radio button next to the agent.
4. Click OK. The Specify The Agent To Run screen displays.
5. Optionally, in the Prompt Values area, specify the prompt values to be used to satisfy any parameters of the agent.
6. Click Save. The agent is saved with an agent task. When the task is executed, the agent that you specified runs.

Update a Database
*Add a database task to update the information in a database by executing an existing stored procedure that is part of the database.
*Databases that have a package in the Cognos environment based on them are available for this task
*Stored procedures must be marked as a data modification stored procedure in Framework Manager to be available in Event Studio.

STEPS TO CREATE UPDATE
1. In the I Want To area, click Add A Task.
2. Move your pointer over Advanced. The Advanced submenu displays.
3. Click Update A Database. The Specify The Database To Update screen displays, as shown in the next illustration.
4. From the Package drop-down list, select the Framework Manager package that contains the stored procedure that you need.
5. From the Data Modification Stored Procedure drop-down list, select the stored
procedure to use.
6. Click Save. The agent is saved with a database task. When the task is executed, the
agent executes the stored procedure, updating the database.

Call a Web Service
Add a web service task to run applications on either internal or external web servers using standard Internet protocols.

Run an Export
You can use an agent to run a saved content export process. This is useful when different
installations of Cognos 8 are used for your development and production environments and you want an export to be deployed dependent upon a specific event.

Run an Import
The import task goes hand-in-hand with the export task. You can use an agent to run a saved
import task; this will move migrated content from an export file into the target environment.

Run a Content Maintenance Task
You can use an agent to run a previously defined Content Maintenance task. The Content
Maintenance tasks do one of two things: a consistency check or a report upgrade. A consistency
check can confirm that each Cognos 8 user defined in the Cognos namespace is a valid user in
the Authentication namespace. Report upgrade attempts to upgrade any reports in the defined
location to the currently installed version of Cognos 8. Report upgrades should be done only
for very simple reports, as the conversion process can be complex and usually requires some
sort of manual intervention.

Specify the Task Execution Rules
Task execution rules define the event status for which each task is executed. By default, tasks are executed for all new and all ongoing instances of events. You can modify this behavior through the Manage The Task Execution Rules option in the I Want To area. This option allows you to define when a specific task will or will not run based on the status of the event.

Here’s how to specify the task execution rules:
1. In the I Want To area, click Manage The Task Execution Rules. The Set The Task
Execution Rules screen displays:
2. From the Task drop-down list, select the task for which you want to modify the execution ules.
3. From the Select When To Perform This Task area, select the For Selected Events option to specify under what circumstances to perform the task, or select the When The Agent Or Any Of Its Tasks Fail option to perform the task when the agent or a task fails.
4. If the For Selected Events option is selected, select or clear the checkboxes for the following options to specify the situation(s) in which to perform the task: New Events; Ongoing Events; Ceased Events; When The Following Item Is True For Selected New, Ongoing, And Ceased Events; and/or No Events.
5. Click the Event Key tab in the content area. The Event Key screen displays, where you can specify the items that uniquely identify the event:
6. From the Event Key area, select the Include All Items (Default) option to include all items or the Include Only Selected Items option to select the items that you want to include.
7. If the Include Only Selected Items option is selected, select or drag the items from the Insertable Objects pane to the text box.
8. Click OK. The Event Studio screen displays.
9. Click Save. The agent is saved with the task execution rules as set.

Scheduling an Agent
Setting a schedule for an agent allows you to set the agent to run at a later date and time or on a recurring basis. The agent monitors data and performs tasks according to its schedule and does not need to be run manually.
Only one schedule can be associated with an agent.

Maintaining an Agent
Requirements for your agent may change over time. The event condition may need to be updated or additional tasks may need to be removed from the agent. Listed here are steps for some of the most common actions performed for an already created agent.

Modify an Event Condition
It is likely that an event condition can change, especially early in the life of a new agent. You might find that a logical condition is not quite what you thought or that the threshold on a condition is set too high or too low. In this case, you can update your condition

Modify a Task
When you want to make changes to a task, you can modify the task. For example, you might need to update the recipient list in an e-mail task or change options on a report task

Change the Order to Run Tasks
In an agent, you can either run tasks all at the same time or in sequence. You can define the order in which tasks are run only when you set them to run in sequence. You should specify
tasks to run in sequence whenever a task in the sequence is dependent upon the outcome of
a task earlier in the sequence.
For example, if you have a database update task that changes the information that will be included in a report, you would want that task to execute completely before the report task executes.

Create an Agent View
An agent view can be created of an agent to share the agent specification. This can be useful
when you want different agents with the same event condition and tasks set with different sets of prompt values or set on varying schedules.

1. In Cognos Connection, navigate to the saved agent for which you would like to create an agent view.
2. In the actions column, click the Create an Agent View of This Agent icon. The Specify A Name And Description screen displays.
3. Edit any properties you want and then click OK. The agent view has been created in the specified location.
4. Optionally, in the actions column of the agent view, click the Schedule icon to specify a different schedule than the original agent or to select alternate prompt values.