Cube Watcher

The Cube Watcher allows for the scheduling of jobs by monitoring changes to IBM Planning Analytics cube data.

Watch tasks can be set up to periodically check a cell's value. If a specified trigger value is found, a job is run. This makes it easy to orchestrate DataWORQ jobs from changes in PA data.

To use the Cube Watcher, click on Cube Watcher in the Settings menu under Jobs.

If Cube Watcher is currently active, its icon will be visible in the DataWORQ top bar. Any encountered errors will also be shown there.

Cube Watch Settings

Some settings specific to Cube Watcher must be configured before use. These include a Planning Analytics connection, the cell data to watch, and the jobs to run.

NB: Only one user can edit these settings at a time. Multiple users changing these settings at once can lead to unintended changes.

Persisting Cube Watch Changes

Any changes made to these settings must be Saved to preserve them. Any settings not saved will be lost on closing this window.

To revert to the last saved state, click Undo Changes.

Cube Watch Connections

Adding a New Connection

Cube watch requires a connection to Planning Analytics to first be set up; this can be a PA Local or Cloud connection.

In the Connection Type drop-down list, select the desired connection type.

Planning Analytics Cube Settings

After connecting to a PA instance, other Cube Watcher settings can be configured.

These include setting up a reference to an existing PA cube view, assigning Trigger and Status columns, and creating Watch Tasks.

Assigning a View

The Cube and View drop-down lists allow you to select a specific view to monitor. This view will contain all the cells that DataWORQ will watch for changes.

NB: The state of the view that appears in Architect or PAW is what will be polled in DataWORQ. I.e., if zero suppression is enabled for the view, it will be enabled for the watched cells as well.

Trigger Columns

The Trigger Column represents the view column that is actively watched. These values are pulled into DataWORQ and compared against the Trigger Value. If the Trigger Value matches the cell value, a job will be triggered.

After triggering the job, this value will be updated to the Reset Value.

The Data Type for the Trigger Value can be either String or Numeric. This should match the Planning Analytics cell type being compared against.

NB: It is recommended to use a String value for the trigger.

Status Columns

The Status Column represents the view column that is updated with the current status of the job being triggered. Valid states are RUNNING and COMPLETED.

NB: This must be a String value in the PA cube.

Watch Tasks

A Watch Task contains a reference to a row in the view, as well as a DataWORQ flow file.

If the value at the intersection of the Trigger Column and the Watch Task row is the Trigger Value, then the Run Profile in this Watch Task is run as a job.

Multiple watch tasks can be created for different rows in the view.

If notifications are enabled for the Watch Task, then the executed job will run and notify.

Cube Watch Settings Reference

Type	Description
`Planning Analytics Connection`	The active IBM Planning Analytics connection to use. Both local and cloud connections can be used.
`Check Every`	Period (in seconds) interval for checking the cube data.
`Cube`	PA cube to query.
`View`	PA view to query.
`Trigger Columns`	Columns in the view being checked for the trigger value. Each column has an element specified; if the cells under these columns evaluate to the trigger value, the appropriate watch task will run.
`Trigger Value Data Type`	`String` or `Numeric`. Should match the Planning Analytics cell type.
`Trigger Value`	Value to check for in the trigger columns.
`Reset Value`	After a watch task is run, the trigger value will be reset to the reset value.
`Status Columns`	Columns in the view that will be updated with the status value. Each column has an element specified.
`Watch Tasks`	Collection of watch tasks to be checked.

Watch Task Settings Reference

Type	Description	Usage
`Name`	Friendly name.
`Row Mappings`	Rows in the view being checked for the trigger value. Each row has an element specified; if the cells under these rows evaluate to the trigger value, the appropriate watch task will run.
`Flow`	Flow to be executed upon trigger.
`Run Profile`	Run profile to be executed upon the trigger.
`Notification Enabled`	Enable if you want to receive notifications previously set up within your Flow.	If notifications are not already set up in your Flow this setting will not work properly.