If I delete a Universe via the CMC and then try to open the associated .unv file in designer I get an error message telling me that the universe could not be found in the CMS.
Surely when I delete from the CMC, I am deleting the exported universe (hence the CMS record being removed). When I try to open the .unv am I not in effect opening the source code from I which I should be able to re-export the universe again if I wish ?
I have deleted the Universe that I have “exported” to the repository and am then having problems opening the .unv file in designer.
Why would this be any different to opening the .unv file prior to ever having exported it to the CMS ?
What happens if you want to clean up some universes and then reinstate them at a later date, by opening hte .unv file and exporting them again ?
Once you have exported a universe a security tag is attached to it. If you delete the universe then, even a local copy of the universe cannot be opened anymore, because of that security tag.
Your options:
Before deleting a universe, open the universe with Designer and do a save as… or create a backup using BIAR files (with the import/export wizard).
just to add. the universes are located in (your installation directory)\business objects 12.0\filestore\ (this is for xi 3.0). but all the universe here are named as codes. it will take time to check if your universe still exist on your machine.
btw, thanks for the information andreas! i didn’t know about that security thing.
Another option is to play with recycle bin. Instead of deleting stuff like universes move them to a recycle bin universe folder… If needed you can then restore it …
The reasoning is simple, actually. Once a universe (or any resource including reports and so on) is exported it is a secured resource. No secured resource is allowed to be opened unless you have the key, and the key in this case is logging in to the CMS.
For years I have been asking Business Objects to change the message that is returned in this situation in order to make it more clear what is happening. Here is the flowchart:
Designer tries to open universe
Select * from CMS where user = Designer and unv access = TRUE
A record is found for the user, but no record is found for the universe since it has been deleted
There are two reasons why a denied message could be issued. First is the designer legitimately has had his or her access revoked, in which case the “you are not authorized” message is fine. In that case a record of the universe was found, but no access rights were granted. Second, the universe could have been deleted, in which case access is neither granted nor revoked, it simply does not exist. In this case the designer still gets the “you’re not authorized” message but the real reason is the universe does not exist, so no access can be found. I think it would be better to have a different message in this case.
In the old days (6.x and earlier) a General Supervisor (special roll like “root” or “admin”) could always open the universe. Folks realized this was a loophole so it was closed in XI. Suppose I get a universe that I am not supposed to have. I try to open it and get the “not authorized” message. All I have to do to circumvent this is create a local repository and log in as the General Supervisor and I can open the supposedly secured universe. Not very secure.
Today what happens is even if I have a local CMS, it is not the CMS that hosts the universe, so I still can’t open it. They fixed that loophole, but now they have introduced a problem where if a universe is deleted by mistake (or if it gets corrupted) the process to recover it is very complex.
Thanks for the explanation Dave. I would have thought though that if the Universe file itself (ie the .unv file) is held in a secure location accessible only by the trusted administrator or Universe designer, then they would be able to reopen and subsequently reexport the universe.
Thankfully we were able to reopen an accidently deleted universe via the route of creating a dummy and then renaming the .unv over the top of it.
The following workaround worked for me on BOE XI 3.1
Create a new universe in Designer -> Saved the universe -> export it to the repository.
Go to the location (folder) where the universe is locally saved -> copy the name of the new universe and replace the new name with the universe which is giving error.
Log on to the Central Management Console (CMC).
Go to the universe option.
Click on the new universe name.
Click the Properties tab. There you will find the “Filename”. For example:
frs://Input/a_061/001/000/46/abc.unw.
Make a note of that path.
On the server/client, browse to the directory:
Install dir\program files\Business Objects\Business Objects11.5\File Store
Replace the universe.
Import the universe from the repository in Designer -> one window pop up saying to “replace the local universe”-> click ok.
(BOB member since 2008-02-28)
(BOB member since 2008-10-28)
(BOB member since 2002-06-20)
(BOB member since 2002-06-06)
(BOB member since 2009-09-30)