Linking Universes 1

[Shoot]

Hi

If we need to link two universes, does it mean that both the universes needed to be created using the same connection or can we use different connections for each and would still able to link the universes.

Any suggestions or Comments on Linking Universes?

Keep Smiling,
Shoot

 

[skrandel]

Both universes MUST use the same connection.

Steve Krandel
Westbay Solutions

http://www.westbaysolutions.com

 

[Shoot]

Hi Steve,

We have a DB2 environment and our universes point to the Same Database i.e. DB2 UDB but each using different Connections to the production environment.

May be I am confused but wouldn't it be possible to link the two Universes which has the same database environment but different connections?.

Note: Tables/view differ basing on the connection per each universe. We need to embed the same functionality of one Universe into the other universe. So I thought Universe Linking would be a better choice.

Keep Smiling,
Shoot

 

[skrandel]

I understand what you are saying, but BO has a requirment that the universes involved in a link use the EXACT same connection. You simply can't get around it. How would BO be able to generate a piece of SQL if it ran with different connection strings.

Steve Krandel
Westbay Solutions

http://www.westbaysolutions.com

 

[josephjmendicino]

Not to be argumentative, but we have a BO environment deployed across multiple regions within our company. Each region is using a unique Oracle instance, with the same data structure. We wanted to enforce BO commonality across all the regions, so we have built a 'parent' universe which links in multiple 'child' universes. Each 'parent' universe points to a different DB connection, while the 'child' universes, because they are used across the multiple regions, have a different connection than the 'parent'. BO seems to be using the 'parent' connection and ignoring the connection in the 'child', and it is working fine (so far). We do not, however, try to access data from multiple connections simultaneously. but only data for the 'parent' instance.

 

[nimmy99]

Try creating document with objects from both parent and child universes.

 

[skrandel]

I think it may depend on versions of BO. I believe that in old versions, Designer actually validated the connection string to ensure it was the same one. It may not do that now and only uses the connection of the parent. This actually makes more sense. You're just trying to bring in definitions with the link.

Bottom line is that BO is a SQL generator. It isn't going to solve the problem of the join between diaparate data sources at the SQL level.

Centerboard sells a great product that does exactly this.

Steve Krandel
Westbay Solutions

http://www.westbaysolutions.com

 

[josephjmendicino]

We do have reports that use objects from both the parent and child universes simultaneously. Actually, there are very few objects in our parent universes, only special fields that are unique to one region's business model and not applicable to the other regions. The technique allows us to build universes pretty quickly that have a standard look and feel, and have the added benefit of reducing the level of production support when changes have to be made. The biggest trick is being sure that changing an object in a child universe to accomodate one region doesn't have a negative impact on another region.