If, when opening Excel (2007 or 2003), after installing the PerformancePoint Add-In for Excel, you can't find the ribbon (2007) or the menu/task pane (2003) of PerformancePoint, then probably your Regional Settings are not set to English (United States). The CTP2 version of the Add-In for Excel only works with those regional settings, and if you configure your system to use different ones, the Add-In will not start.  

Solution: Change the regional settings to English (United States).

The post PPS 2007 Tip #2: The Excel Add-In Is Not Working appeared first on Blog IT.

If you've used PerformancePoint Server 2007 to build Business Models (using PerformancePoint Business Modeler), you might have noticed that the created models (which correspond to Analysis Services OLAP Cubes) only have one measure and one measure group, and there is no way to add new measures or measure groups. That is a Business Modeler interface limitation but, by no means, a PerformancePoint or Analysis Services OLAP Cubes limitation.

In the current release (CTP4), the only way to create a model with more than one measure is to export the application metada to a XML file, manually edit it and import the updated metada. That can be achieved following the steps listed below. 

1. In Business Modeler, create the model with the desired dimensions

2. Using the windows console (cmd), goto:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server\3.0\BizModeler

3. Run the command:
PPSCmd.exe exportXml /server http://localhost:46787 /application MyApplication C:\temp\MyApplication.xml
(Assuming the application's name is MyApplication and that you're executing PPSCmd locally in the server)

4. Edit the exported file: C:\temp\MyApplication.xml

5. Find the section where the model's measures are described:
(…)
<MeasureGroups>
  <MeasureGroup>
    <Measures>
      <Measure>Value</Measure>
    </Measures>
  </MeasureGroup>
</MeasureGroups>
(…)

6. Add the new measures replacing the above lines with, for instance:
(…)
<MeasureGroups>
  <MeasureGroup>
    <Measures>
      <Measure>MyMeasure1</Measure>
      <Measure>MyMeasure2</Measure>
      <Measure>MyMeasure3</Measure>
      <Measure>MyMeasure4</Measure>
    </Measures>
  </MeasureGroup>
</MeasureGroups>
(…)

7. Save the file C:\temp\MyApplication.xml

8. In Business Modeler, delete the model you've created before. This step is very important because, if the model already exists, the next step will yield no effect.

9. Run the command:
PPSCmd.exe importXml /server http://localhost:46787 C:\temp\MyApplication.xml

10. In Business Modeler, press refresh

I believe that the Business Modeler's interface will eventually allow you to manage a model's measures and measure groups, but while it does not here is the procedure.

The post PPS 2007 Tip #1: Creating Models with Multiple Measures appeared first on Blog IT.