Category Archives: survey

Stupid Essbase names for a fish

Happy Monday.

Do you love random, not-quite-Essbase-related posts? Well, I’m going to find a way to relate this to Essbase, believe it or not. I am the proud owner of an AquaFarm. Actually, I’m not sure if proud is quite the right word. I am very enthusiastic about aquaponics, but my current living arrangements don’t quite accommodate my interest. I received an AquaFarm as a gift a while back, which is a very miniature aquaponics setup. The kit has everything you need: the tank, pump, shale rocks, seeds, growing baskets… but no fish. Nicely enough they give you a coupon for a betta fish from Petco. Right now the fish is named Mr. Fish.

Just for fun and to cement my Essbase geek cred, I propose giving the fish an Essbase inspired name. Here are my thoughts so far:

  • Low Block Density
  • Inter-dimensional Irrelevance
  • Unable to Save Custom Views
  • Multiple Retrievals On A Single Sheet

Have your own stupid name for my new fish? I’d love to hear it. :D

Hyperion Health Check Hit List

I am asking for your Hyperion wisdom again, oh beloved readers! In particular, I am soliciting information from you consultanty types and those of you who otherwise hop into a lot of different Hyperion systems.

Oftentimes a client needs help with speeding up an Essbase/Hyperion process/server/cube that has become unwieldy and slow. So you take a look at things. When you happen to hop in to an environment and assess its health, what do you look for, from a Hyperion point of view? For example, on BSO cubes I go right for the stats and check out the block density and average cluster ratio. From there I can go in any number of directions, looking at the overall outline, automation, cache settings, and so forth. So I have this already:

  1. Check block density and other cube stats
  2. Review outline for any red flags
  3. Check size of index cache with respect to the size of the index itself
  4. Take a look at outline for things that can be removed/deleted/dynamic calc, etc
  5. Ensure logs are not huge
  6. Look for XCP files, if any
  7. And a few others

I am really, really, curious if you have something you look for, particularly if it’s something you might dive into with EAS. I’m working on something interesting and your feedback is very appreciated! It can be anything at all: checking the server, checking the app or the cube, checking the file system, calc scripts, business rules, automation, and so on. Thanks!

Survey Results: What is the one true MaxL script file extension to rule them all?

I was feeling a little bit whimsical last week and wanted to get a little use out of my SurveyMonkey account, so I decided to do a quick poll: what is the proper file extension for MaxL scripts?

This issue initially arose for me when I was heckling Cameron Lackpour at one of his presentations a few years ago. My memory must be a little faulty because at the time I could have swore that he liked .mxl, whereas I am more of an .msh guy. So I wanted to settle this once and for all.

Oracle, for its part, doesn’t provide a ton of consistency on this issue, as scripts created from EAS seem to suggest a .mxl extension, whereas the script interpreter and commands seem to suggest that .msh is a little more on the recommended side. I have seen both in environments. Literally both, as in, some scripts are .mxl and some are .msh, and sometimes this naming inconsistency even exists in the same set of automation. Shudder.

Without further ado, here are the results.

  • Total responses: 21
  • .msh: 9 (42.9%)
  • .mxl: 10 (47.6%)
  • .maxl 2 (9.5%)
  • Other: 1 (this wound up being entered in as .mxls)

So, there you have it. I would like to note, by the way, that if you chose other then I implied with your answer that you were a ‘monster’. I’m only half-joking. Way to think outside the box. Anyway, I haven’t personally seen .maxl scripts in production but someone on the Network54 forum commented that, hey, down with 8.3 file naming and in with the whole name as extension. I have to admit, I never really thought about this in the context of MaxL scripts, but oddly I do find it a little disgusting when HTML files have a .htm extension rather than a full .html extension.

Suffice it to say, I am more than a little disappointed with these results and than the .msh file extension lost in a neck and neck battle. I’m going to pretend that this survey never happened and that .msh is the one true script extension to rule them all.

Thank you all for submitting answers to this somewhat lighthearted survey. If you have ideas for further issues to explore and survey the community about, please send them to me and I’ll get another survey going!