Referencing the required groups or roles in the system.xml file

Before you start implementing the customization changes in the IBM® Cognos® Connection user interface, you must identify the groups or roles on which your customizations will be based.

Add a reference about the groups or roles you want to use to the portal system.xml file. Modify this file by adding the ui_groups parameter and listing all required groups and roles within this parameter. Each group or role is represented by the group element that must contain a unique id attribute. The value of the id attribute is specified in the group or role search path in IBM Cognos Connection.

Include only the groups and roles you want to use for the purpose of hiding or adding user interface elements. The groups and roles must already exist in IBM Cognos software and can be associated with any namespace configured for your IBM Cognos environment. You can use the predefined groups and roles, or your custom groups and roles. For more information, see Initial security and Groups and Roles.

The predefined groups and roles that can be used include:

Table 1. Predefined groups and roles you can use when customizing the system.xml file

User

ID

Description

Anonymous

Anonymous

Users who can access IBM Cognos software without being prompted for authentication

Administrators

Administrators

Users who have the administration capability

Consumers

Consumers

All authenticated users, which includes Administrators, Query Studio Users, and Report Studio Users

Query Studio Users

QSUsers

Users who have the Query Studio capability

Report Studio Users

RSUsers

Users who have the Report Studio capability

Procedure

  1. Stop the IBM Cognos service.
  2. Open the c10_location/templates/ps/portal/system.xml file in an XML or text editor.
  3. Add a parameter named ui_groups and then do the following:
    • Add the group element for each group or role you want.
    • Specify a unique id attribute for each group or role.

      The IDs are case sensitive.

      For the custom groups or roles, the IDs cannot contain more than two characters, and cannot contain spaces. For example, the following IDs can be used: a1, b2, Ab, AB. The following IDs cannot be used: abc, A 1, a bc.

      For the IBM Cognos predefined groups, use the associated IDs as documented the preceding Predefined groups and roles table.

    • Specify a value for the id attribute for each group element.
      Tip: To find the ID in IBM Cognos Connection, open the group or role properties page and, on the General tab, click the View the search path, ID and URL link.

    The following example shows the syntax of the ui_groups parameter.

    <param name="ui_groups">
    	<group id="g1">xOm5ldyBncm91cHM6dWlHMV9lbg_</group>
    	<group id="g2">xOm5ldyBncm91cHM6dWlfUjI_</group>
    	<group id="55">xOf5ldyBnc4htcHM6dAlfUjI_</group>
    </param>
  4. Save the system.xml file.
  5. Restart the IBM Cognos service.