Essbase21c Data Export Fun

Recently, when working with a customer around some custom MAXL scripting, I ran into an interesting issue. 

Historically, the MAXL export command allowed you to move file to a specific path, rather than the default location of an export, under the Essbase/app folder for the application you’re trying to export.

In this case, the command might look something like:

• export database Sample.Basic data to local data_file ‘D:\MyDataFolder\SampleBasic.txt’

The above command would export data and place the file or files in the D:\MyDataFolder.  The syntax would essentially be the same in a LINUX/UNIX world, but the only difference would be the targets file path which would look something like:

• export database Sample.Basic data to local data_file ‘/MyDataFolder/SampleBasic.txt’

This is all straight-forward, but the challenge I ran into was that no matter what the syntax I tried to use for the path to output an export, it always landed beneath the application folder for Sample.Basic.

After some research, I found Doc ID 2744504.1.  This document makes the statement that:

• Customizing the export path to another location is not possible as it is hard-coded to export to the server location for security and performance purpose.

So there you have it, you can still export data via MAXL, but you can’t direct it somewhere else as part of that process.  You just have to programmatically move files around in your .sh or .bat/.cmd scripts after the fact.

I’ve been your host Jeff Henkel, and I’m happy to assist with any EPM or Cloud Solutions questions you may have, so please reach out to us for your technical needs.