Sage 300 Template

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Introduction

The Templates installation will provide you with a ready-to-use set of Views, Dashboards and Reports. Some Templates also provide cubes.

Their installation (assuming the Central Point is freshly installed and empty), will consist of two steps:

  • Configuring the Data Sources for the ERP and Data Warehouse (optional) databases.
  • Importing the Templates into the Central Point.
  • There may be other steps including building and loading the OLAP Cubes.

Data Sources Configuration

Environments and Data Sources

Tip

The description given to a Data Source created for the first time is used throughout the environments to describe this specific Data Source.

Give a generic description for the first time (e.g. ERP Data Source, Cube Data Source) and if necessary rename it after the first environment has been completed.

The following information is needed to configure the Data Sources:

  • Database server credentials: Server name, Instance, Authentication strategy.
  • Main ERP database information: Database and schema name.

ERP Data Source

  1. In the upper-right hand corner, click on the to access the Administration section.
  2. On the left pane, select Env. & Data Sources.
  3. By default, there is already an environment called Production, which you can rename by double-clicking in the name box. Once changed, press the Enter key.
  4. In the Data Sources section, click on Add to create the first Data Source.
  5. Complete the ERP Data Source configuration. See instructions for MS SQL Server below.

Datasource description:
Sage 300 Data Source
Type:
SQLSERVER
Server:
Database server of Sage 300
Database name:
Name of the Sage 300 database (beware of the case sensitivity)
Database schema name:
Create the 2 following entries by clicking on the icon (replace DatabaseName by the appropriate value):
DatabaseName.dbo
DatabaseName.SEI_CUSTOM_SCHEMA
Note

This second line contains the SEI Custom Schema.

You can use a different one, but we highly recommend following this naming convention:

  • Start with SEI
  • Use all capitals
  • Separate words by underscore
Important

Choose a unique Custom Schema name for each Environment.

SEI schema:
Enter the chosen SEI custom schema for the current environment
Authentication stategy:
UseSpecific
User Name:
SQL User accessing the Sage 300 database. For example, sa.
Password:
Password of the user.
  1. Click on Validate then on Save to complete the configuration of the Data Source.

Oracle Database

Instructions for MS SQL Server precede

Datasource description:
Sage 300 Data Source
Type:
ORACLE
Server:
Name of the Oracle server
SID and Port:
SID and Port of the Sage 300 database instance
Database schema name:
Create 2 entries by clicking on the + icon:
dbo
SEI_CUSTOM_SCHEMA
Note

This second line contains the SEICustom Schema.

You can use a different one, but we highly recommend following this naming convention:

  • Start with SEI
  • Use all capitals
  • Separate words by underscore
Important

Choose a uniqueCustom Schema name for each Environment.

SEI schema:
Enter the chosen SEI custom schema for the current environment.
Authentication stategy:
UseSpecific
User Name:
For example: system.
Password:
Password of the user.
  • Click on Validate then on Save to complete the configuration of the Data Source.

Cube Data Source

In the same Environment as the ERP Data Source, create a new Data Source for the OLAP Cube.

Complete the Data Source Definition with all the appropriate information.

An example screenshot follows

Server:
Database server where the package: SEI OLAP For SQL Server is installed.
Database name:
SEICube.
Database schema name:
SEICube.SEI_FOLDER (replace FOLDER by the folder name) .
Where SEI_FOLDER (replace FOLDER by the folder name) is the schema used in the ERP Database of the same environment.
SEI schema:
Enter the chosen custom schema for the current environment
  • At this point, click on Validate then on Save.
  • Click on Set as Data Warehouse to define the Data Source as a Data Warehouse then enter the following information:
Database warehouse schema:
Enter again the chosen SEI custom schema
Use MARS during the cube loading:
Unchecked
  • Click on Validate then on Save.
    Tip

    Refer to Environments and Data Sources in the Administrator section for more details about the MARS option .

Oracle Database

Instructions for MS SQL Server precede

Server:
Name of the database server where the Central Point is installed
SID and Port:
SID and Port of the Oracle database instance
Pooling:
Activating this option will improve performance (Refer to Environments and Data Sources in the Administrator section for more details).
Database schema name:
SEI_CUSTOM_SCHEMA
Where SEI_CUSTOM_SCHEMA is the custom schema used in the ERP database of the same environment
SEI schema:
Enter the chosen SEI custom schema for the current environment.
Database warehouse schema:
After saving the data source and set it as a data warehouse, enter the chosen SEI custom schema for the current environment.
  • Click on Validate then on Save to complete the configuration of the Data Source.

Import Templates

For each environment, the following previously configured information will be required:

  • ERP Database Name
  • SEI Custom Schema
  • ERP Schema

Download the Template file: TPL_9.X_Sage300.zip.

The X represents the build number of the template (use the highest available).

Running the Import Template

  1. In the upper-right hand corner, click on the to access the Administration section.
  2. In the Administration section, click on the Templates drop-down menu in the left pane.
  3. Select Import Template.
  4. Choose the specific location where the new templates will be installed and click on Next.
    Note

    Usually, the Root folder is used.

  1. In the Import Template window, click on Select files....
  2. Browse to the folder where you saved the Template.zip file in order to select it then click on Open.
  3. In the Data Sources Mapping screen, associate the Data Sources (ERP) listed in the Received Data Sources Description column (those from the template) with the Data Sources you previously defined in the Central Point (listed in the Current Data Sources Description column)
    • In the Received Data Sources Description column, only keep ticked the Data Sources checkboxes you want to use from the template.
    • In the Current Data Sources Description column, click on Bind a Data Source to access the drop-down list containing the existing Data Sources and click on Next.

In the next screen all the content of the Templates will be displayed, compared with what Central Point already has.

By default, on the first install, everything will be set as Add (leave everything by default) .

  • In the case of a first installation, the first four columns will display None and Never Installed, the next three will detail the Template content, and the last three gives you the choice to Add, Update or Skip during the installation.
    Note

    In the case of an update, you can refer to Update template for more details.

  1. Click on Next (this can take time).
  1. Once this has been completed, a window will be prompted to input the necessary parameters to create the custom objects.
  2. If more than one Environment have been created, you will see a column per Environment.You can untick an Environment checkbox, in which case the Global Scripts will not run in it.


  1. Complete the parameters, see examples below, and click on Next.
  1. After importing, an Execution Report will be produced, as shown below.
    Note

    It has a first section for the ERP Data Source and a second one below for the Cube Data Source.

    You can click on the button to see the details of each script individually. If no failures are reported, close the window.

  1. If any of the scripts failed to run, a fail icon will be displayed. Click on the fail symbol to view the Report Preview window, which shows the respective SQL script.
  • Copy this script, debug, and run separately if needed. Users who are very proficient with SQL can debug it straight in the Report Preview window and run it by clicking on the Try to rerun button.

Update template

Important

Some considerations you must take into account before starting:

  • It is highly recommended to make fresh backups of both the SEI database and Central Point before doing a template update.
  • It is highly recommended to check if customizations had not been done to SEI Data Models or SEI custom SQL objects that were delivered with the initial template version since those customizations might get lost with the update.
  • You must have a template version that matches with the software version installed. If you are using SEI 9, the template should be also 9.

When doing an upgrade of the SEI software, it will only update the software and not the template. In other words, the existing SEI Data Models and Views won't be affected.

Note

After a software upgrade, it is not mandatory to systematically perform a template update. A template update is useful if you have encountered problems with specific SEI Data Models or SEI custom SQL objects as it includes fixes.

To update a template:

  1. After having mapped the Data sources, tick the checkboxes of the objects you want to upgrade an click on Next.
    Note

    By default, no checkbox in the Update column will be ticked. If there is a new Data Model / View the Add checkbox will be ticked. Select Skip if you want to ignore it.

    Important

    If you tick the Update checkbox, it will overwrite the existing SEI objects associated with that Data Model or connected to the others (dependencies). Please note that if any customizations have been done, they will be lost.

  1. Select the environment in which the scripts will be executed and click on Next.
  2. Complete the parameters and click on Next.
  3. In the Execution report window, If any of the scripts failed to run, a fail icon will be displayed. Click on the fail symbol to view the Report Preview window, which shows the respective SQL script.
  4. Copy this script, debug, and run separately if needed. Users who are very proficient with SQL can debug it straight in the Report Preview window and run it by clicking on the Try to rerun button.

Building and Populating OLAP Cube

To create the Cubes database structure in the SEICube database previously installed, you need to Build the Cube.

  1. In the upper right hand corner, click on the to access the Administration section.
  2. In the left pane, click on OLAP Manager.
  3. In the right pane, click on Manage.
  4. In the left section, select all the Cubes to build by ticking the checkbox next to the Description column.
  5. In the Manage window , select Build in the Action drop-down list then the environment(s) and click Confirm.
  6. In the Confirmation window, tick the checkbox and click on Yes.
  7. If errors occur refer to Logs in the Administrator section to activate the logging feature.

Now that the Cubes are built, you can now populate them.

  1. In the right pane, click on Manage.
  2. In the left section, select all the Cubes to load by ticking the checkbox next to the Description column.
  3. In the Manage window , select Load All in the Action drop-down list then the environment(s) and click Confirm.
  4. In the Confirmation window, tick the checkbox and click on Yes.

The template installation is now complete.

Regular data refresh jobs for the Cubes can now be scheduled. For this, you can refer to Scheduler in the Administrator section for more details.