What is everyone out there using for general system reporting? We use the Excel query tool but have restricted its use to a small group due to the impact it has on system performace when large queries are running. We have looked at Enterprise Reporting and LBI but feel they are over-priced and don't fully meet our needs. We are currently toying with using SQL Server Reporting Services on a dedicated report server but are getting push-back from our IT dept. What is working for others? :nix:

Hi, tjones:

We are using LBI here. It has really taken off since it's been introduced!! Exponentially!
We can report off of anything we can get a standard Crystal connection to, so I don't understand why this wouldn't meet your needs. I do understand the price aspect, however!!!

We have it reporting off of Lawson, and 8 or 9 other data sources. You can control who has rights to use, who has rights to see portions of a report, etc. It's (I hate to say it) almost amazing what this tool can do.

I've got some downfalls and recommendations for you though if you decide to go with LBI. Nothing that really affects the ability of the product, just some tips & tricks for it's implementation and use.

Good luck with whatever you choose!

-Greg

Enterprise Reporting is no longer a viable option. Are you talking about Business Objects Enterprise (formerly known as Crystal Enterprise)?

LBI does have some advantages for a Lawson customer: delivered single sign on solution with Portal, publishing/bursting back office reports, etc

I'm pretty new to SQL Reporting Services (SRS), but I like it so far.

We use LBI. It replaces Cognos.

Using LBI like Cognos has given us some trouble. Our menu setup is "wrong" for LBI and gave us some performance hits until we figured out how to structure the dashboards.

The main thing about LBI is that it support Crystal. We are not only doing Crystal reports into LBI, we're also attaching other Crystal reports hitting other data sources & publishing them into LBI as well.

About the only thing we're NOT doing with LBI is pushing through 'standard' Lawson reports. But that's because our reporting is too complex for RW100, so we go it alone entirely with Crystal reporting.

Hey, MoesPlace [Greg] - I too have some hints and tricks I learned recently ... would you like to trade? email me at mtsukroff at edisonschools dot com ...

Hi Milo and Moesplace - any possibility you'd want to post your tips and suggestions, or, if you're willing to share - stephanie.harris@mail.house.gov. We're setting up LBI here next week - thanks and Happy Monday!!

Use WebSphere (I can't believe I just said that) as it will make things as you or your report/dashboard contents grow easier. We are on Tomcat right now, and are struggling something fierce.

Keep your dashboard content simple! Few bells and whistles are OK, but don't overdo it, you'll thank me in the long run. More dashboards are better than one or two very busy ones!

Really evaluate the dashboard reports and schedule all of the ones (in LBI) that do not need to be on-demand reports with real-time data. If you find you need to create 4 schedules to get the task accomplished for one report, do that rather than have an on-demand report.

If you are not using Lawson's Instant Messenger, there is a JavaScript file out there that I've modified (per Lawson's GSC) LIM.jsp - You will have 2 parameters to change.
setTimeout ( "limRefresh()", <time in ms between refreshes> ); and
setTimeout ( "limRefresh()", <time in ms between refreshes> );
Make sure that both of these are set to the same number. We are using 86400000

Otherwise, the dashboards will reload themselves every 60 seconds!!! Just for LIM!

There are probably more that I could share with you, but those are the big ones right off the top of my head!

Good luck,
-Greg (MoesPlace)

Here's something I can share, which I got from experience: It's 10:00 o'clock. Do you know where your logs are?

LBI logs are in 2 places, one under the IBM directory, tracking stuff down in the bowels of WebSphere; the other, under the LBI directory, showing you detailed LBI stuff. (This is for our own LBI 9.0.1 and WAS 6.0.1 You will have to fill in CORRECT values for your own installation. LBI 9.0.2 and WAS 6.1 may be slightly different. Reader beware!)

Websphere Logs:

d$\IBM\WebSphere\AppServer\profiles\AppSrv01\
. . . . . . . .activity.log – View with WordPad

. . . Folder “ffdc”
. . . . . . . . .Look for server1_exception.log (cumulative)
. . . . . . . . .Look for “server1_*.txt” type logs – These are crash logs
. . . . . . . . .These only appear when real trouble appears - they can contain important debugging information

. . . Folder “server1”
. . . . . . . . Look at SystemErr.log
. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . Can be viewed by NotePad
. . . . . . . . Look at SystemOut.log
. . . . . . . . Look for SystemOut_YY.MM.DD_HH.MM.SS.log backup logs
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Can be viewed by NotePad
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . These logs will show many different things, and details of problems – especially database error messages

Settings are in the WebSphere Admin Console, under Troubleshooting -> Logging and Tracing > server1 > JVM Logs – Configuration tab, General Properties. The default settings are only 1 Mb. When trouble occurs, the log files can fill up fast and you may only get the tail-end of what happened.

WARNING – Copy these files out of their folder to another folder for saving and viewing – because they will be rewritten and/or deleted automatically!

LBI Logs:

Logs are XML. View with XML editor (or I.E.); if not possible, use WordPad

d$\LBI\ReportingServices\Reporting Services.ear\erswar-9.0.1.10.war\logs
. . . . system_log.yyyy-mm-dd.xml – one for each day
. . . . . . . . Shows general activity – what was happening when – but poor on error messages
. . . . reporting_log.yyyy-mm-dd.xml – one for each day (not created if no trouble)
. . . . . . . . Shows reporting issues
. . . . repository_log.yyyy-mm-dd.xml – one for each day (not created if no trouble)
. . . . . . . . Shows (among other things) database error messages

d$\LBI\ReportingServices\Reporting Services.ear\erswar-9.0.1.10.war\scheduler
. . . . Look for a scheduler_log.YYYY-mm-dd.xml for each day
. . . . . . . . This log shows activity relating to Scheduler changes or views.