Attaching a data module to package of existing report

[asmfloyd]

Hello,
  I have an existing report (20page) which uses a package. I need to add a new data module (sourced from a flat file) as part of this package so that I can create a  new additional report page which uses this data module. How can we add the new data module to be used as part of the report package?

PS: I get that I can create a new data module (by adding the existing data module and the package together) and create new reports from that new data module.

Thanks,

[dougp]

That's backwards.  A data module can use a package.  A package can't use a data module.
Create a new data module that references your data model and your package.

20-page report.  Do you mean printed, or are there 20 page objects in the report?  What's really important is how many queries and query items.  You'll be updating the data item expressions for everything that is sources from the package.  Headphones, good music, lots of copy/paste.

[asmfloyd]

  I meant 20 page objects/ queries in the report for the pages. O! Boy! Seems insane (:
Thank you @dougp for the reply.

[cognostechie]

If your package uses Dynamic Query Mode then you can also add another package to the report instead of creating a data module. Data Modules have a problem refreshing data automatically (haven't used recently but this is what I remember from last time used it).

[asmfloyd]

I doubt how that is going to help me. Instead of creating additional package, it will be better to add a flat file source to the existing package via FM. I was trying to avoid the FM side and rely the data module.
Thanks anyway.

[cognostechie]

That depends on how you understand it and whether your goal is to build a robust solution or to make your own life easy.

[dougp]

add another package to the report

I think what cognostechie is saying is that if the package is DQM,  you can add the data module as another source in the report.  That way you are not creating a new package or a new data module to combine the two data sources.  The risk is that the relationships between elements of the two sources must be made by the report developer.  And while this is possible and has been promoted by IBM, I abandoned the concept long ago because, at least for me, it is super glitchy and fails far more often than it works.  (not the relationship part, just plain broken reports because they can't find the packages)  Your mileage may vary.

[asmfloyd]

Thanks for translating @dougp.
   I was looking for something similar. But I am getting lost there. My package is DQM. But I am unable to see an option to add the data module inside the existing report as a new data source. It simply does not show datamodule as a source to be added as a separate query; to do the join later with the package object.
Any guidance?
Thanks.

[dougp]

Click the + button (select a source) in Insertable Objects | Sources

[asmfloyd]

I tried that way only @dougp. But when I go to the folder, it does not show the source file or data module.
    I can see that when I do not go through the existing report. Thanks.

[cognostechie]

If a report is using a DQM package then it will allow you to add another DQM package and use it for another query but data modules are not allowed in conjunction with packages. This is useful when you have data distributed in different packages and you want to make a report to show those data sets in different layouts/pages. This does not mean that there would be any relationship between those packages. This is useful when you are creating something like a Balance Scorecard to show company wide activity.

If you want to use data from a data module and also use the data from an existing package then the only way to do that is to create a new data module which will include data from the flat file and also include data from that package and then use the new data module in your report which would mean you will have to repoint all queries to use that data module. This is why I had told you to use the flat file in Framework Manager and publish a package or add that to the existing package.

[asmfloyd]

OK Thank you both for the detailed explanation.