Cognos Analytics 12 > Manage > Data Server Connections > {Data Server} > Assets > {Asset} > Load Metadata:  fails with error message MSR-SMT-2190 with no information provided as to which Asset is at fault or what the problem is with the Asset.

I have 55 tables and views defined, so have had to trawl through, in a, very time-consuming, trial and error approach, to identify the problem (= not happy!).

It appears there are many errors that can result in an MSR-SMT-2190 error message being displayed.  So, identifying the errant table/view was only the 1st troubleshooting step.

Having eventually identified the SQL view causing the problem, and reviewing it's definition, it became clear that, in this instance, Cognos did not like a ROW_NUMBER() generated column view.  I would have expected Cognos 12 to handle this standard SQL feature. Or I would have accepted an error message indicating an issue with the particular view/column.  The biggest issue with Cognos failing to handle this feature, is that the resolution requires a source database change to remove/hide the source column.

For anyone interested in the ROW_NUMBER() solution, Cognos provides an equivalent as: running-count ( rank (orderbyfield ASC/DESC  for partitionfield) for partitionfield). So,the resolution is to swop the source SQL view column for the Data Module equivalent, and remove the SQL view column from the Data Module.

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Mr Minihan
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Hi,

From Assets, when you click on Load options, you need to uncheck Retrieve sample data.

It is working fine if you choose to disable Retrieve sample data.

Best regards,

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Patrick Neveu
IBM Champion
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Hi Patrick, thanks for replying.

Thanks for pointing out that the load works having un-ticked Retrieve sample data.  However, that significantly degrades the capability of the product from a developer's perspective.  While I suspect it makes little difference to the end-user, it does raise doubts as to the accuracy of the generated output - if Cognos has errors sampling the data, why are there no errors reading the data?  And what does that mean for data accuracy?

We have had numerous data accuracy issues since upgrading to Cognos 12 which I had put down to the new caching approach - adjusting settings, logging on/off and using different browser sessions/devices have mostly resolved our issues.  Maybe there was also some Load issues that we didn't notice...

I accept that the sampling and processing engines may be different but it's not very reassuring that a standard SQL feature causes a problem in a core Cognos function and is not properly reported...

Regards,.

John Minihan

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Mr Minihan
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Original Message:
Sent: Thu May 15, 2025 03:13 AM
From: Patrick Neveu
Subject: MSR-SMT-2190 Internal error trying to create smart metadata.

Hi,

From Assets, when you click on Load options, you need to uncheck Retrieve sample data.

It is working fine if you choose to disable Retrieve sample data.

Best regards,

------------------------------
Patrick Neveu
IBM Champion
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I have spent HOURS trying to resolve this problem and your post fixed it for me! Thanks Patrick!

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John Wilkinson
Senior Data and Analytics Consultant
Sempre Analytics
London
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Original Message:
Sent: Thu May 15, 2025 03:13 AM
From: Patrick Neveu
Subject: MSR-SMT-2190 Internal error trying to create smart metadata.

Hi,

From Assets, when you click on Load options, you need to uncheck Retrieve sample data.

It is working fine if you choose to disable Retrieve sample data.

Best regards,

------------------------------
Patrick Neveu
IBM Champion
------------------------------

Hi @John Wilkinson,

You've made my day with this great answer.

Best regards,

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Patrick Neveu
BSL Consulting
IBM Champion
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Original Message:
Sent: Tue March 24, 2026 05:20 PM
From: John Wilkinson
Subject: MSR-SMT-2190 Internal error trying to create smart metadata.

I have spent HOURS trying to resolve this problem and your post fixed it for me! Thanks Patrick!

------------------------------
John Wilkinson
Senior Data and Analytics Consultant
Sempre Analytics
London
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: Thu May 15, 2025 03:13 AM
From: Patrick Neveu
Subject: MSR-SMT-2190 Internal error trying to create smart metadata.

Hi,

From Assets, when you click on Load options, you need to uncheck Retrieve sample data.

It is working fine if you choose to disable Retrieve sample data.

Best regards,

------------------------------
Patrick Neveu
IBM Champion

*SIGH*     MSR-SMT-2190.

We need to make the logging during import better. Please log a defect.


Unchecking the sampling option during metadata import is a work around, albeit bought at the price of additional manual work by the modeler in the review metadata after import stage, which is part of the Cognos proven practices.

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IAN HENDERSON
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Hi Ian,

Thanks for replying - I will log a defect.

As it happens, I've found another SQL feature that causes the MSR-SMT-2190 error.  In this case, we had a View that performed an INNER JOIN that had join specifications on the JOIN but also on the WHERE clause. E.g. SELECT a1, b1 FROM a INNER JOIN b ON b2 = a1 WHERE b3 = a3.

The load Metadata worked when redesigned to put the join specifications on the INNER JOIN.  I.e. SELECT a1, b1 FROM a INNER JOIN b ON b2 = a1 AND b3 = a3.

It's possible that this specific issue was due to data volumes/timeout somewhere - but I'm not sure.

Regards,

John Minihan

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Mr Minihan
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: Thu May 15, 2025 07:11 AM
From: IAN HENDERSON
Subject: MSR-SMT-2190 Internal error trying to create smart metadata.

*SIGH*     MSR-SMT-2190.

We need to make the logging during import better. Please log a defect.


Unchecking the sampling option during metadata import is a work around, albeit bought at the price of additional manual work by the modeler in the review metadata after import stage, which is part of the Cognos proven practices.

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IAN HENDERSON
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There should be something written into the cognosserver.log, which you will probably be asked to supply.

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IAN HENDERSON
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: Thu May 15, 2025 08:15 AM
From: Mr Minihan
Subject: MSR-SMT-2190 Internal error trying to create smart metadata.

Hi Ian,

Thanks for replying - I will log a defect.

As it happens, I've found another SQL feature that causes the MSR-SMT-2190 error.  In this case, we had a View that performed an INNER JOIN that had join specifications on the JOIN but also on the WHERE clause. E.g. SELECT a1, b1 FROM a INNER JOIN b ON b2 = a1 WHERE b3 = a3.

The load Metadata worked when redesigned to put the join specifications on the INNER JOIN.  I.e. SELECT a1, b1 FROM a INNER JOIN b ON b2 = a1 AND b3 = a3.

It's possible that this specific issue was due to data volumes/timeout somewhere - but I'm not sure.

Regards,

John Minihan

------------------------------
Mr Minihan
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: Thu May 15, 2025 07:11 AM
From: IAN HENDERSON
Subject: MSR-SMT-2190 Internal error trying to create smart metadata.

*SIGH*     MSR-SMT-2190.

We need to make the logging during import better. Please log a defect.


Unchecking the sampling option during metadata import is a work around, albeit bought at the price of additional manual work by the modeler in the review metadata after import stage, which is part of the Cognos proven practices.

------------------------------
IAN HENDERSON