Connection Mapping

Overview

XLCubed Web Edition supports the re-targeting of connections for reports published to the web server.

To enable this feature, the ConnectionMapping.xml file must be created in the Xml subfolder of the XLCubed Web installation folder.

Using

The ConnectionMapping.xml file can contain:

• one or more connectionmap nodes (for cube connections) each of which must contain a from connection definition and a to connection definition
  • connectionmap can map published connections by setting the appropriate XL3_CONNECTION_TYPE and XL3_WEB_CONNECTION... properties, as found in the published connection file. These take priority over a standard match on server/database/cube (from Version 8.1)
• one or more sqlconnectionmap nodes (for relational connections) each of which must contain a match Regular Expression element and a connectionstring to replace it (from Version 8)
  • Note that as the match is a regular expression any \s must be escaped by using \\. These often occur in named instances.
  • You can have multiple match elements, in which case all must match for the connection to be mapped.
  • sqlconnectionmap nodes may contain an equals element rather than match (from Version 8.1)

After modifying this file, IIS must be restarted.

• New in Version 9: connectionmap and sqlconnectionmap can optionally include a "path" attribute, so the connection mapping only applies to the path specified. The mapping will apply to sub-folders unless there is any mapping with the same path:

 <connectionmap path="Folder\Sub Folder">

When a user loads a Report to view, the Web Edition will automatically search for any connections matching a from or match definition, and replace them with the corresponding definitions. For cube connections, the match is done using the Type, Server, Database and Cube of the from connection.

The ID number and name for the connection will be left unchanged.

Example XML file

This example:

• matches cube connections to the DEVELOPMENT server and replaces them with connections to the PRODUCTION server
• matches SQL connections to any of the servers DEVELOPMENT1, DEVELOPMENT2 and DEVELOPMENT3 and replaces them with connections to the PRODUCTION server

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<connectionmapper>

  <connectionmap>
    <from>
      <connection id="0" name="">
        <type>AnalysisServices</type>
        <variable type="String" name="server"><value>DEVELOPMENT</value></variable>
        <variable type="String" name="database"><value>Demo Database</value></variable>
        <variable type="String" name="cube"><value>Demo Cube</value></variable>
      </connection>
    </from>
    <to>
      <connection id="0" name="">
        <type>AnalysisServices</type>
        <variable type="String" name="server"><value>PRODUCTION</value></variable>
        <variable type="String" name="database"><value>Demo Database</value></variable>
        <variable type="String" name="cube"><value>Demo Cube</value></variable>
        <variable type="Boolean" name="requirespassword"><value>0</value></variable>
        <props />
      </connection>
    </to>
  </connectionmap>

  <sqlconnectionmap>
    <match>Provider=SQLOLEDB;Data Source=DEVELOPMENT[1-3];Initial Catalog=MyDatabase;Trusted_Connection=Yes</match>
    <connectionstring>Provider=SQLOLEDB;Data Source=PRODUCTION;Initial Catalog=MyDatabase;Trusted_Connection=Yes</connectionstring>
  </sqlconnectionmap>

</connectionmapper>

See Also

• Bulk Connection Editor for direct remapping of connections in XLCubed Excel workbooks
• Connection Parameter Web Extension for controlling connection mapping through Web Parameters