Sacha Tomey's blog

Molding the Microsoft BI Stack

PerformancePoint Server 2007 PPSCMD GUI

I've built a really simple GUI for a couple of commands of the PPSCMD utility.  I always take far too long to work out the syntax and navigate to the appropriate directory (Yes, I ought to update the PATH environment variable) that I felt I could justify building a simple front end to help speed up the usage.

So far I've only implemented the MIGRATE and REPROCESS commands - I use these quite a lot outside of any automated SSIS package so they seemed the most sensible to implement in the GUI first.  I do intend on extending it to encompass some of the other commands and I would welcome any feedback towards prioritisation, usage, features and the inevitable bugs.  It's currently version 0.1 and more or less ready for 'Community Preview' - there are some omissions such as full error handling and validation that I do intend on implementing over time along with the other commands.

It's a .NET 3.5 application so you will need to deploy it to a client where you are happy to install .NET 3.5 if it's not already present.

You can download version 0.1 from here - (You will need to create a login first)

Below are the screen shots:

Migrate

The migrate command: both import and export variations can be set and executed directly from the GUI.  In addition, the command line is generated so you can cut and paste into a command window, batch file or SSIS package.

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Reprocess

Need to reprocess a model quickly?  Rather than wait for PBM/SSMS to open you can reprocess a model directly from the GUI.  Just like Migrate, the command is generated for cut and paste.

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Console

Any output you would normally see in the command window is reported in the console as the command is being executed.

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Log

You can enable logging to a log file of your choice to record all commands processed through the GUI.  Useful for additional auditing and for creating batch files of multiple PPSCMD operations.

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Preferences

Preferences and options are set on the preferences dialog.

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Comments

awhitehouse said:

Very cool.  Can't wait to give it a try.  Will it also upload dimensions and dimension members and hierarchies?  I find that to be the biggest pain.

# August 29, 2008 1:41 PM

Блог Войцеховского Максима said:

Отличную утилиту разработал Sacha Tomey - PerformancePoint Server 2007 PPSCMD GUI . Не всегда хочется

# August 30, 2008 2:01 PM

ramuvalleti said:

I'm getting an error saying " PPSCMD cannot be found. Plese ensure the file location is set correctly in preferences "

But if i try using Command prompt, its working fine..

Help pls?

# September 5, 2008 7:59 AM

sachatomey said:

Hi Ramuvalletti,

The first time you run it you will need to go into the preferences screen and ensure that the PPSCMD path is correct for your environment.

This setting is saved per user so once you have set it you need not set it again.

Hope this helps

Regards

Sacha

# September 5, 2008 8:25 AM

sachatomey said:

Hi Alan,

Do you mean the StagingDB command?  No - that's not yet implemented (but is included on my product backlog!).

Regards

Sacha

# September 5, 2008 8:27 AM

ramuvalleti said:

Hi Sacha,

Thanks a lot.. :)

Its working...!

Regards,

Ramu

# September 5, 2008 9:57 AM