Data source and solution licensing

Users have unlimited licenses to Microsoft Excel and CSV files. All other data sources are available by default and are licensed by the number of data source connections.

Note

The data model feature license is required to have access to any data source.

Solutions are licensed separately from data sources

Solution resources

A solution can be thought of as a template that is used to create pre-built models. A solution can be created from a model, then distributed to others to make it easy for them to create models containing all the settings and associated analytics needed to report from a particular source database, such as AX or CRM, for a particular purpose, such as marketing or retail sales. ZAP provides several pre-built solutions for AX, CRM, and other sources.

Pre-built solution licensing

Several pre-built solutions are available for Data Hub. Each solution must be licensed individually before you can use it.

Once you are licensed for the solution, you may download it from us. The downloaded solution may be used to build models in your Data Hub instance.

Custom solution licensing

Custom solutions are solutions that are not downloaded from us and are instead created using the solution resource. Installing a licensed custom solution requires specific license permission for that solution.

Note

When importing a custom solution, we recommend that you put the solution in its own folder under the Public folder, so it is accessible to all users with permission to use it. Pre-built solutions downloaded using the Solutions screen are placed in the Public\Installed Content folder. You may also prefer to store manually imported custom solutions in that folder.

Create a new solution resource

Creating a solution resource is usually performed by ZAP, an ISV, or a partner. Most regular users will simply use an existing solution to create a pre-configured data model with pre-built analytics.

Note

Credentials for other data sources are not automatically removed from the solution. If you don't want a non-primary data source's credentials in the solution, remove the credentials from the data source, save it, then export the model.

Create a licensed solution

Note

To use a licensed solution, users must obtain license permission. License permission is issued after you approve the transaction.

  • Verify that you have the License Solution license permission, which is needed to create licensed solutions and gives you access to the License Solution check box and the Licensed Solution Name text box. To obtain the License Solution license permission, contact your account manager or partner.

  • Verify that the users who need to create licensed solutions have the correct permissions to do so. Administrator and Full Designer user types are normally able to create licensed solutions.

  • Select the Licensed Solution check box to activate licensing for the solution.

  • In the Licensed Solution Name text box, enter the name of the license permission associated with your solution. Contact your ZAP account manager or partner to obtain the correct text.

Click Update to initially populate the solution resource with all data sources in the specified folder.

Note

Select Update to quickly update the model and all analytics in the specified folder (when changes are made via the folder after the initial creation of the solution resource).

  • The data sources in the model are detected and displayed with the date of the update.

  • If multiple data sources are included in your solution, you are prompted to specify a primary data source.

  • Specify a custom icon for the solution resource using the Upload Icon button. This icon will default to the primary data source's icon if no custom icon is specified.

Note

After you add a custom icon, you can remove it by clicking the Delete Icon button. This button only appears after you have added a custom icon.

  • From the Category drop-down list, select a group in which this solution will be displayed. These groups appear on the data model wizard's Select Source screen.

  • Specify the following additional resource information, as desired:

    • Publisher name. The name of the company or individual who created the solution resource. This name is read-only and automatically designated.

    • Version. The version number of the solution resource.

    • Help URL. A URL that points to the online help for this solution resource. The URL will appear as the More help link for the solution when it is viewed in the model creation wizard.

  • Save the solution resource.