Two of our recent blogs described the great benefits of TM1Compare and Pulse that can be used to document your TM1 model and be useful tools to control Change Management. I am sure some of you are like, “Great! Another piece of software to buy/use.” No need to fret. Starting with version 10.2, Cognos TM1 Performance Modeler (Click Here For More Info) now has built-in functionality to create TM1 model flow charts and can generate reports that define your objects and rules. TM1 Performance Modeler can even suggest rule changes that can help performance. These built in tools are not as robust as the other products, but for those of you that do not have the budget, time, or need for full-blown documentation, you will find that TM1 Performance Modeler will still be a very helpful asset.

You can generate a model report that exports into Excel which summaries your objects as well as listing your dimensions, subsets, cubes, views and links. It also will show the formulas for Dimension and Cube calculations. The rule and feeder analysis reports will be exported to HTML files. If you run and save these reports with time-stamped file names periodically, you can keep track of your changes.

Show Data Flow in Cognos TM1 Performance Modeler

You can see a graphic representation of your application using the Show Data Flow option in Cognos TM1 Performance Modeler. To see a graphic representation of your application:

1. Import the application into Cognos TM1 Performance Modeler.
2. Right-click the name of the application in the Application Design tab.
3. Select Show Data Flow.

Here is a diagram of the application's cube and rules displays. You can take the following actions on the flow diagram:

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• Select or unselect the Rule Links, Process Links, Rules, or Feeders to control the display of those elements in the current application.
• control the zoom with + and -
• Use Reset Layout to organize the diagram in the most logical fashion.
• Drag the elements to new locations. Or, when one or more diagrams are open in the pane and a clicked objected is the kind of object that can be added, use the Add Data Flow Diagram option.
• Double-click the elements to display their values in the Properties pane.
• Double-click the Rule or Link icons within the model to display the Link and Rule editing windows.
• Double-click the object name to open the dimension for editing. Close the new tab to return to the flow diagram.
• Drag an Object from the TM1 Objects pane into the diagram to add it to the model and display the relationships between the new and existing objects.
• Export diagram to file.
• Group and ungroup. You can also create a new diagram from grouped data.
• Remove from diagram.
• Remove from group.The Show Data Flow feature cannot be used to change any structure of your model. It is used simply to provide a visual representation of the existing structure.

Creating a Feeder Analysis Report

You can generate a report with TM1 Performance Modeler that analyzes the rules in your model and displays the proposed feeders for each rule. Generating a report does not commit any proposed feeders to your model or otherwise alter your model. The report allows you to review the proposed generated feeders before you either enable automatic feeder generation on your server or generate feeders on demand.

To generate a feeder analysis report:

1. On the Model Design pane, right-click the TM1 server at the top of the Model Design tree.
2. Click Generate Report.
3. Select Rule/Feeder Analysis.
4. Specify the folder where you want to save the analysis report.
5. Click OK.

To review the proposed feeders:

1. Navigate to the folder where you saved the analysis report.
2. Open index.html.

The Feeder Analysis Report contains four tabs:

Problems - This tab displays all the rules for which feeders could not be generated. Rules are referenced by a link, which you can click to view the rule in context.

Difficult Rules - This tab contains two sections. The Inefficient Feeders sections show feeders that were generated, but which are not very efficient. The Feeders That Are Not Dynamic section shows feeders that were generated, but which may not work in a dynamic way.

Suggested Feeders - This tab lists all the cubes for which rules exist on your server. Click a cube name to view the suggested feeders. If you choose to generate feeders in TM1 Performance Modeler, there are the feeders that will be written to the model.

Rules Analysis - This tab lists the rules for each cube, and provides an icon and hyperlink to show the suggested feeder relating to that rule.