Clarity

We tend to add/edit/Delete attributes from Clarity as the organization matures. Jaspersoft adhoc reports also mature and grow exponentially with time.

When we delete an attribute from Clarity we face issue where we have to consider about all the user reports that use that attribute in data, filter, calculation etc.

secondly we have developed SQL views and pull data from these views into custom jasper domain. It gets complicated here as well as we want users to stop using an attribute when it is deleted but it very hard to make this happen smoothly.

Have you faced this problem? What approach did you take?

We keep the attribute in SQL View and add new one for time being but that is not at all a solution. Who wants to maintain a pile of obsolete columns/attributes?

As you have SQL views, why for each deleted attribute not just either

• Return dummy value
• Return new attribute with same purpose

As long the SQL view is valid, all custom domains should work as expected

That is the short term fix and that (dummy) is what I called obsolete columns which I personally hate to have in the domains and having to answer unnecessary questions users raise about those.

Regards,

Suhas Kamble

This is an interesting question Suhas. I think apart from what has been already mentioned above, I would probably make sure that:

1. Every attribute included is included for purpose. It's easier to include less of them than looking how to get rid of them. I think that I would probably make users justify any attribute they want to add.
2. Try to document very well everything included, where it's used etc., add the justification the users provided here. Use the information to retrieve the use when deleting.
3. If you don't have that many attributes, what you could do is leave them. I would say that you don't always have to delete them from PPM, if you remove them from CA PPM Views or make it read-only etc. people will no longer see/be able to modify it. This give you some time to look and find it's safe to delete it.

Lastly - I think this is a valid point so I will see if we have any enhancements raised about this, especially the ability to see where the attribute is used. I think it's worth it to raise this as idea.

Perfect! I feel that a feature to find out where all it is used is going to be very helpful. When you try to delete a field from domain Jaspersoft warns you with notice showing where all it is used but that is a scary path to get there. A more simpler and “makes sense” option would be ideal.

It is superhard to grab this information from database, even if I can write a query on PPM_DWH or PPM_JASPERSOFT that should be enough as upgrading for every problem is not always feasible.

Regards,

Suhas Kamble

Hi Suhas,

We'll get this logged and let you know on the progress.

In the meantime, we thought of a better workaround for you, and there is one that you may like. What you can do when you have a deleted attribute:

1. Export the entire content in Manage - Server Settings - Export
2. Save the export.zip content, extract it to a folder
3. Search all the xml files contained for the exact attribute name

This will give you the information where exactly the attribute is used. So the system administrator will be able to check for each attribute that's scheduled for deletion.

Hope this helps -Nika

Nice, thanks for helping on this.

Regards,

Suhas Kamble