How to solve a problem with two different times?

[Valdyn]

Hello,

I've recently finished my apprenticeship and started working with Baan ERP and Cognos Impromptu. 'Cause I'm very new to these programs, I am about to face a problem that seems absolutely insolvable to me.

The problem is that I have i difference in time between the database (Oracle) that we use for Baan ERP and my report in Cognos Impromptu. The difference ranges from one hour to two hours (in summertime). For example: database time = 2004-01-30 12:30:45 / displayed time in my report = 2004-01-30 11:30:45!!!

Can anybody give me an advise what I have to do? I have absolutely no solution for that. Probably it is a difference in timeformats...but how can i solve it?

Thank you very much for your help.

Bye and take care,
Valdyn

And please try to overlook grammatical mistakes. I come from Germany and therefore my English is obviously not the best.

 

[DoubleD]

Valdyn,
First of all your English is excellent. I wish more people were this clear.

Second, where are you seeing the time difference? Is it when you run an Impromptu Report including any of the Date/Time fields from Oracle? Or is it actually the Now() function that shows different?
I don't know how Impromptu could be changing the time of a Date/Time field, but I do know the Now() function could return different times based on desktop, server, and regional settings. This was a bug at one point in IWR that the server was an hour off.

If you could give us a little more detail regarding your configuration and product versions, we should be able to help.

I am what I am based on the decisions I have made.

DoubleD

 

[Valdyn]

Hello DoubleD,

thank your for your reply. I'm sorry for giving less details. I wasn't quite sure what to write.

Here are some details on product versions:

Database: Oracle8
Baan: Baan ERP (iBaan Windows 7.3a.05.141)
Cognos Impromptu - Version 7.0.716.0

The Now() function displays the correct time. The difference is actually when I run an Impromptu report on date/time fields from our database.
For example: I want to run a report on table "tdpur4500m000" (Orders) from Baan ERP, where I want to get a list with all orders displayed with the correct order date. I always get a difference in the displayed time that ranges from one hour to two hours. The field "tdpur400.odat" (order date) is type UTC. I've heard that there are problems concerning this time format in the Baan forum, but I'm not sure if my problem has the same reason and if this problem is a Baan ERP or Cognos Impromptu or Oracle problem.

All timezones (Oracle, Baan, Cognos) are correct, so I guess it refers to the timeformat, but like I had written in my first posting....I'm quite new to this.

With best regards.

Take care,
Valdyn

 

[DoubleD]

Ok, so Baan ERP shows the correct date/time. Impromptu shows the wrong date/time. Have you verified that the date/time stored in Oracle is correct?
Impromptu does nothing more than report the data existing in Oracle. I've never seen it change any info on it's own.

My guess would be that although Baan displays one date/time, it might be storing the time differently. For instance, although the system displays the Order Date/Time for the location of the order, it stores the Date/Time based on the location of the server.

This is only a guess as I have not worked with Baan ERP, but looking at the data directly in Oracle using something like TOAD should tell you. Another option would be to link to the Oracle table from MS Access, then view the data. You'll be viewing what Oracle has stored, and that should match what Impromptu is displaying. If not, you'll know Impromptu is the problem.

I am what I am based on the decisions I have made.

DoubleD

 

[Valdyn]

Hello DoubleD,

me neither. I havent't seen such a phenomenon before, too.
But your idea of checking the time that is stored in Oracle sounds good to me.
I've never heard of any tool or program that is called "TOAD", except for the animal. Hmm, little embarassing for me. :-/
I haven't worked too much with Oracle, since the work with Baan ERP and Cognos Impromptu is a brand new chapter in my working life.

But I' going to check your suggested solution and hopefully it's crowened with success.

Best regards and a nice day,
Valdyn