Monday, June 17, 2013

Customizing Cognos URL Objects

Source:http://www.ironsidegroup.com/

June 2, 2010 by Susan Ma

How Do URLs Currently Work In Cognos
Within IBM Cognos, a URL object is a very easy way of linking to any external file or web site. Using URLs helps you keep the files and web sites you use most frequently at your fingertips. However, the default behavior of a Cognos URL object opens the file or web site in the current browser, causing the user to move off of the current Cognos page. After opening the URL, you will have to click on the Back button in the browser to return to Cognos portal.

Can You Drive a URL Object to Behave Differently?

Is there a way to open the URL link in a new re-sizable web browser window, allowing you to easily toggle between Cognos and an external file or web site? Luckily, the answer is Yes! Let’s explore how this can be accomplished.

Development Environment

Cognos 8.4.1
IE 6.0 or Fire Fox 3.0.5

Step by Step Demo Instructions

Login to Cognos and create a folder where you would like the URL object to be saved. In this example I create a folder called “test” under Public Folders.

Open the “test” folder by clicking on the folder link then copy and save the URL.

Here is my URL:
http://localhost/cognos8/cgi-bin/cognos.cgi?b_action=xts.run&m=portal/cc.xts&m_folder=i9D92B2A95AEC44118A9C7FB767EAB95D
In the upper right hand corner of the Cognos portal page, click on the new URL icon to launch the “Create a New URL” wizard.
When prompted, enter the following information:
1. Name Prompt: Type “Open in new URL”.
2. URL Prompt: Enter “http://localhost/cognos8/mywebsite.html” as the URL value.
3. Location Prompt: Make sure the location is set to the” Public>test” folder.
Click the Finish button to create this new URL object. You should now be able to see it under the “test” folder.
Open a Notepad instance , copy and paste the following code:
<html>

<head>

<meta http-equiv=”Content-Type” content=”text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1″>

<title>My Company Website</title>

<script type=”text/javascript”><!–

var windowWidth=(screen.width-200), windowHeight=(screen.height-200);

//target URL, replace this with your real target URL

var mycompanyURL=”http://www.ironsidegroup.com/”;

//folder URL,replace this with the real folder’s URL.

var testfolderURL=”http://localhost/cognos8/cgi-bin/cognos.cgi?b_action=xts.run&m=portal/cc.xts&m_folder=i9D92B2A95AEC44118A9C7FB767EAB95D”;

onload= function(){

var newwin = window.open(mycompanyURL, ‘mynewwindow’, ‘width=’+windowWidth+’, height=’+windowHeight+’, scrollbars=yes, resizable=yes’);

window.location.replace(testfolderURL);

}

//–></script>

</head>

</html>

Update the values of variables “mycompanyURL” and “testfolderURL” to reflect your environment.
Save it as “mywebsite.html” under the cognos root/webcontent folder.
Go back to the Cognos Connection “test” folder
Click on
You will see a new smaller window pop up (you may need to disable popup blocker in your browser). In the case of our example, it is the Ironside homepage. It is scrollable and re-sizeable. You can now freely jump between Cognos Portal and another website.

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Development Environment

Cognos 8.4.1
IE 6.0 or Fire Fox 3.0.5

Step by Step Demo Instructions

Login into Cognos and launch Report Studio, select “create a new List” report template and use the sample Go Sales (query) package.
Drag and drop Product line, Revenue, Quantity query items from Sales (Query) namespace to create a simple list report.

From the Insertable Objects tab, drag a HTML item before the list created in prior step. Type the following code as HTML item source text:

<a href=”javascript: void(0)” onclick=”window.open(‘http://www.ironsidegroup.com’, ‘mynewwin’, ‘width=450, height=377, resizable=yes,left=100,top=100,screenX=50,screenY=50′); return false;”>My Company Web Site</a>

Save and run the report. You will notice that a hyperlink “My Company Web Site” is shown on report. Click on that hyperlink, a new small window is popped up. In our example the Ironside Group company web page is displayed in this new resizable window.

You have just created an open-in-a-new-window style hyperlink! In next month’s News Letter let’s take a look on how to format the hyperlink in any style you want it to be. For example, you may want to format the hyperlink in a gray color and Arial font style without underline so that it has the same look-and-feel as your organization’s web site.
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WHICH ATTRIBUTIES OF HYPERLINKS CAN YOU CHANGE?

As you know, the IBM Cognos 8 suite is a collection of web based applications. The professional report you built from Report Studio is actually a web page when rendered in HTML format. Like any other ordinary web page, a report page is constructed of many HTML elements. For each HTML element, authors can use HTML language rules to specify its “appearance” and behaviors. The “appearance”, in formal HTML language, of each object is defined by its “Styles“. These styles define most of the common visual properties for each HTML element on a web page, such as font color, size, background and etc. Styles were introduced with HTML 4, and have become the accepted and preferred method to style HTML elements. With HTML styles, authors can add styles to HTML elements directly by using the style attribute (<style> tag), or indirectly in separate style sheets (CSS). Here we are going to look into how to use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to define the styles of a hyperlink in Report Studio.
There are four main selectors with respect to the CSS hyperlink style. You can specify any CSS supported style to each of these selectors. The four selectors are:
A:link – Defines the style for unvisited links.
A:visited – Defines the style for visited links.
A:active – Defines the style for selected links.
A:hover – Defines the style when the user mouse’s over a link.
Note: The hover selector is NOT supported by Netscape browsers prior to version 6.

You can read more information about CSS at
http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/present/styles.html.

Tested Environment

Cognos 8.4.1
IE 6.0+ and Fire Fox 3.0.5+

Step by Step Demo Instructions

Login into Cognos and launch Report Studio, select the “List” report template and use the sample Go Sales (query) package.
Create a simple list report as follows:
Group the list report by the Year and Country columns.
Enter “Product Sales by Year and Country” as the report title.
Set the list size to 70% and the page body to be center aligned.
From the Insertable Object tab, drag a HTML item and drop it before the list. Double click on the newly created HTML item and type the following code:

<style type=”text/css”>

.classA1 A:link {text-decoration: none; color: gray;font-weight:bold;}

.classA1 A:visited {text-decoration: none;color: #993366;}

.classA1 A:hover {text-decoration: underline; color: #777444;font-weight:bold;}

.classA1 A:active {text-decoration: none;color: #993366;}

</style>

<table style=”font-size: 8pt”>

<tr>

<td class=”classA1″>

<a href=”javascript: void(0)” onclick=”window.open(‘http://www.ironsidegroup.com’, ‘mynewwin’, ‘width=400, height=277, resizable=yes,left=100,top=100,screenX=50,screenY=50′); return false;”>My Company Web Site</a></td>

<td>   |  &nbsp</td>

<td class=”classA1″>

<a href=”javascript: void(0)” onclick=”window.open(‘http://www.ibm.com’, ‘mynewwinibm’, ‘width=400, height=277, resizable=yes,left=100,top=100,screenX=50,screenY=50′); return false;”>IBM Cognos Web Site</a>

</td>

<td>   |  &nbsp</td>

<td class=”classA1″>

<a href=”javascript: void(0)” onclick=”window.open(‘http://www.google.com’, ‘mynewwingl’, ‘width=400, height=277, resizable=yes,left=100,top=100,screenX=50,screenY=50′); return false;”>Business Glossary</a>

</td>

<td>   |  &nbsp</td>

</tr>

</table>
Save and Run this report. You will see three custom hyperlinks are created: My Company Web Site, IBM Cognos Web Site and Business Glossary. All three hyperlinks are displayed in a bold, gray color when the report page initially loads. If you click on the My Company Web Site link, it will open the Ironside Group Company home page in a new browser window. You should also notice that after the click, the My Company Web Site hyperlink changes its color to purple (#993366). If you mouse hover over any of the three links, for instance the IBM Cognos Web Site link, that hyperlink will dynamically change its color to greenish (#777444) and become underlined.

IBM Cognos 10 Business Insight Advanced: 5 Key Features that Can Transform Your Organization

Source:http://www.ironsidegroup.com/

April 21, 2011 by Greg Bonnett

One Studio for Everything

Prior to IBM Cognos 10, when a Cognos user wanted to create an ad-hoc report and their environment consisted of a mix of OLAP, Multidimensional and/or Relational data sources, they had to be aware of these underlying differences in order to select the studio that best suited the type of reporting they were looking to do. For fast, simple multidimensional analysis you would use Analysis Studio, and for tabular or detailed querying of relational data sources you would select Query Studio. If you wanted to create more complex reports based upon multidimensional data sources, a third option, Report Studio Express Authoring Mode was the instrument of choice. The act of choosing the appropriate tool for the job was neither complex nor time consuming in itself, but getting to that point organizationally meant training users on up to three different tools with three different user interfaces.

With the introduction of Business Insight Advanced, you or your users will no longer need to take into account the type of underlying data source or package before selecting a working environment. OLAP, Relational or Multidimensional – It no longer matters. Simply launch Business Insight Advanced and start authoring rich reports without any need for understanding the complexities of the underlying technology. All of the functionality of Analysis Studio, Query Studio, Report Studio Express, and more, have been condensed into Business Insight Advanced.
If your organization’s Business Intelligence Competency Center (BICC) develops and delivers their own training curriculum to empower their users and extract maximum value from their investment, consider how you can rapidly shorten your deployment and training process by focusing on only a single studio that is simultaneously more powerful and intuitive than its predecessors. The result is a population of end users who have spent less time in training and are more empowered and effective than ever before.

Pulling Out the Stops for Power Users

When working with our clients we often encounter situations where power users have outgrown the usefulness of either Query Studio or Analysis Studio and clamoring for more functionality. This is an encouraging problem to have because it means our power users are very well versed with the tools and is an excellent indicator that we are getting a great return on our investment in the solution. The next evolutionary step for these users would be an introduction to Report Studio. What we’ve found in practice is that the technological gap between the ad-hoc studios and the professional authoring studio is larger than anticipated, and some have struggled to make the jump despite their higher level of proficiency with the other studios.
Business Insight Advanced removes the handcuffs for these power users, and empowers then to create complex, rich, professional looking reports without layering in any of the complexity of Report Studio or steepening its own learning curve. A few of the advanced features that BIA offers over its predecessors are:

The ability to create reports with multiple query objects (Charts, Lists, Crosstabs)
The ability to modify report format and layout in ways previously only available to Report Studio users.
Access to the entire suite of report functions, permitting you to create complex calculations just as you can in Report Studio.
The ability to use all of the new charting options available in Cognos 10, right from BIA.
The power to integrate data from external spreadsheets on the fly.

All of the added functionality has been intuitively integrated into BIA, allowing curious users to peek under the covers and do more when they are willing and ready.

Bridging the Gap between Power User and Professional Author

For self-service oriented users, the hurdle of learning two disparate ad-hoc reporting tools in Query Studio and Analysis Studio (however simple they may be) has traditionally steepened the near end of the learning curve. As was mentioned earlier, BIA has remedied this by bringing together all of this functionality and more into a single, unified studio.
What is most interesting, and has been often overlooked by many analysts and observers is that the general experience of a Business Insight Advanced user is reflective of the Professional Authoring environment, Report Studio. The somewhat intangible benefit of this is once again, simplifying the training process and rapidly shortening time it takes a user to be proficient and effective within the broader toolset.
Whereas Query Studio and Analysis Studio were distinctly different user experiences from each other, and Report Studio; Business Insight Advanced is positioned as a natural and intuitive stepping stone to Report Studio. The look, feel, and development workflow, coupled with optional access to dive deeply into many of the advanced reporting functions that were previously only available within Report Studio means that BIA can now be used to further bridge the gap between a traditional Power User and the concept of the Professional Author.

Comparing Business Insight Advanced to Report Studio

Integrating External Data

The general theme of the 2010 TDWI World Conference in San Diego was “Creating an Agile BI Environment”. In 2011, this theme continues with “Evolving your Agile BI Environment.” The industry as a whole has spoken – we need to be able to get answers faster, and en route to those answers, be more able to cope with evolving requirements. Furthermore we need to be understanding of the fact that sometimes this evolution comes at the expense of quality control early on in the process.
In response to this overall push for rapid development and evolution of analytical requirements, with release of Cognos 10, we’ve been given the ability to upload and integrate local data from our own spreadsheets on-the-fly and marry it with data from existing packages. Even more exciting is that this incredibly powerful feature is enabled in not only Report Studio, but also Business Insight Advanced.
To no surprise, we have found the proposition of such a feature to be somewhat polarizing across a diverse group of stakeholders. End users are typically excited at the prospect of being able to integrate their spreadsheet data in a more structured manner. IT and Information Management support personnel recoil at the notion of “unauthorized” or “unclean” data being served out of their certified application environment. Fortunately we believe there is some middle ground.
The reality is that users have been bringing together their own spreadsheets with enterprise data and redistributing the results since the dawn of Excel. Depending on your organization’s analytical culture and with the appropriate policies in place, we believe that this feature can be a very effective tool for prototyping new solutions as well as uncovering and rapidly evolving new requirements well before the traditional development process would begin.

Cross Compatibility with Report Studio

For administrators or professional authors who work closely with power users during their development cycles, this new feature will be well received. In Cognos 8, reports developed in either Query or Analysis Studio could be opened using report studio, but any modifications made in that environment could not be saved back to the original ad-hoc view. With Business Insight Advanced, there is now full cross compatibility between reports developed in the two studios. Reports developed in Report Studio can be opened, edited and saved within Business Insight Advanced, and vice versa. This further blurs the line between Power User and Professional Author, encourages cross training and collaboration between those roles organically and extends the usefulness of content developed in either environment.

What’s new in IBM Cognos 10 Framework Manager

Source:http://www.ironsidegroup.com/

February 17, 2011 by Ralph Baker

While Framework Manager didn’t receive the dramatic changes in IBM Cognos 10 that some other areas did, there are still some interesting and useful new features, which might have slipped under the radar with the new release.
The main new features are:

The ability to create “Durable Models”
Model Design Accelerator
Dynamic query Mode

There have also been several minor improvements in the way the IBM Cognos 10 handles SAP BW sources. If that’s an option that you are using, either contact Ironside Group and speak to one of our expert IBM Cognos/SAP consultants or check out the Framework Manager manual for details.
There is one notable feature that is deprecated in Cognos 10. Native Support for CVS and Microsoft Visual Source Save has been removed. Support for these and other code repositories is still available, but in a more generic fashion.
Let’s take a look that the major changes.

Durable Models

This is probably my favorite of the new features. The problem this feature addresses, is the situation where you want to rename Framework Manager objects, such as query subjects, query items, filters or namespaces after reports have already been written. If you change the name in the model and republish the package, the report will error out with references to data items which cannot be found. While there have been some workarounds for a while, this feature provides an elegant solution.
The key to making this work is to start with a new model, and select an unused language or dialect for the design language. I usually choose “English (New Zealand)” (EN-NZ). Then choose standard English (EN) as the active language. Finally, there is a new project property Use Design Local for Reference. You must also set this to true. This causes the report object names to be referenced internally in the report using the design language (EN-NZ or English–New Zealand) rather than the language of the report author (EN or base English). This is similar to authoring reports in multi-language environments, but requires no special actions on the part of the report author.

In this example, we added a data item called EXPENSE_GROUP_EN to the report

The Framework modeler never applied a user friendly name to the column. We add it to the report anyway, and save the report. The modeler then uses Framework Manager to correct the “Active Language” (EN) data item name to a business friendly name, such as “Expense Account Group”. The design language (EN-NZ) object name must not change.Republish the package. By simply running the report with the updated package, the renamed query item name and column heading is now shown in the report. This because the internal object reference in the report is set to the design language (NE-NZ or New Zealand ) name, which did not change. At run time, the report executes using the language of the user, and so displays the updated object name.

Looking at report studio, you will see that the report structure will reference the original EN-NZ description of the object (EXPENSE_GROUP_EN), which did not change. At run time, it will execute using the active language (EN or English base) name and column header, and therefore isolate the name change. Essentially, the report is built in one language (English – New Zealand) and run in a different language (English – base language). But this is all done without any special actions by the report author. And regardless of the language in which the report was authored, the object names are always stored internally using the model design language.
There are a couple of caveats to this method. Most obvious is that once you set the Design language name for an object, you must never change it. Therefore, you’ll need to have meaningful object names from the start. I suggest using the native database column names, where possible, as they are meaningful, not likely to change and are not required to be “business friendly” at this point.
Also, this techniques works for renaming objects only. It will not compensate for major structural changes, such as moving an object from one namespace to another.

Model Design Accelerator

The Model Design Accelerator is a graphical “wizard” which walks you through the design process for a relational model, complete with physical, logical, and presentation layers. Like most wizards, it doesn’t do much that you can’t do on your own, but does make the steps easier, while enforcing good design principles. You have the complete ability to modify your design manually, as usual.
You launch Model Design Accelerator from the Tools menu. The wizard presents you with a blank star schema model. You drag-and-drop items from your data source onto the fact and various dimension tables as needed. Simply add or delete as many new dimensions as you need. You can rename query subjects and items within the wizard, or later. When you are finished, Model Design Accelerator presents you with any warnings, then proceeds to generate the model, complete with the three layers, in separate namespaces.

Interestingly, it doesn’t automatically create a Dimensionally Modeled Relational (DMR) layer. That step is made easier, by directing you to think dimensionally about the model based on the star schema, but you still need to manually apply the various levels to the hierarchies, which can take some thought.
While this tool doesn’t technically add any functionality that didn’t already exist, it’s a nice feature, targeted towards the mid-level or beginner model designer. It will assist the occasional or new model designer think in dimensional terms and develop a solid three-layer model with minimal effort, and it does that admirably.

Dynamic Query Mode

Dynamic Query Mode (DQM) is an option to speed up query performance of certain cubes, by providing in-memory data caching. Dynamic Query Mode is limited to three specific OLAP data sources in the current release, namely TM1 version 9.5.1, Essbase versions 9 and 11, and SAP BW, version 7.1. Furthermore, the specific performance improvements you can expect differ according to the data source. In general terms, they support better null suppression, and improved repeatable performance, which is useful for the typical ad-hoc analysis style of query for which these cubes are often used.
There is a separate document dedicated just to DQM plus more information in a “Cookbook” on the IBM web site (http://www.ibm.com/software/data/cognos/customercenter/).

Best Practices: Business Intelligence Project Management

Source:http://www.ironsidegroup.com/

November 9, 2010 by Susan Ma

Business Intelligence tools have been one of the most prolific software investments for many organizations in the last decade; from Fortune 100 companies to small 100 person organizations. Providing historical, current, and predictive views of business operations, BI tools offer limitless possibilities within your organization. From analysts identifying and analyzing opportunities and trends to helping business decisions makers such as CEOs and CFOs to quickly review and understand business issues, a well designed BI application can provide significant ROI to your corporation.
Business Intelligence projects are cross-organizational in nature. Managing a BI project is considerably more involved than managing traditional software application development. It requires different techniques and methodologies to succeed due to the complex business requirements and the various software and hardware technologies involved.
Typically a BI project has the following steps:
Business Requirement Gathering

In many cases business users will be responsible for gathering and prioritizing business needs; documenting them as formal business requirements; interacting with the business side on the data accuracy, quality and completeness; and ensuring the business provides feedback on how well the solutions generated meet their needs.
Gap Analysis

This step provides the necessary information to better understand the present state as well as the knowledge needed to properly plan for the amount of time, money and resources needed to accomplish project goals and objectives. Specifically it defines the project scope, effort (time), budget, and resources.
Technical Specification

Understanding requirements is critical. BI and IT professionals should thoroughly analyze business requirements and translate them into technical requirements. From a technical aspect this documentation will outline technologies, tools, resources involved and deliverables. The translation process also helps technical and business teams to ensure they are on the same page.
Technical Architecture and Design

Once the target is defined, BI architects will select the appropriate tools and technology, create data models, map the overall workflow from source systems to BI analytics, and oversees the database ETL and BI development teams from a technical perspective. Often BI development teams will work with Database ETL teams to define the business and data requirements, as well as the target data models to be used by BI applications.
Development

This stage includes but is not limited to creating and developing BI content such as models, metrics, reports, analysis, query, and ETL process to create well designed and performance focused data marts/data warehouse, as well as security implementation.
Testing

Extensive QA testing of the BI content, ETL processes, and system load are critical before go live. Obviously, business user testers will provide feedback on overall functionalities, features, and even data accuracy, while technical testing will ensure the integration and performance of entire system.
Deployment

The amount of work involved in this step is often overlooked. Many BI tools have out-of-box capabilities to easily transfer BI content between different environments. However setting up and configuring a production environment is not an easy task. Typically this will be a collaborative effort between IT and select BI teams. Tasks will involve but not be limited too; selecting appropriate hardware to ensure performance, putting tightened security in place, making the database/DW production ready, installing and configuring the necessary software and more. Each little detail is critical to ensure a successful go-live day. Standardizing the procedure and process is highly recommended.
Maintenance and Ongoing Administration

Whether you are supporting one BI application with only five users or multiple BI applications with thousands users, system administration and maintenance are vital. Increased BI adoption and user satisfaction are the key measurements for a BI tool investment.
Documentation Archive

One project’s success is often the starting point for another project. Well archived documents will not only make it easier for later project extensions but also help to identify and solve issues when they arise. Something as simple as a few lines of explanation in the code could save hours of development, while clear business requirement documents will help future developers quickly understand the business logic.

Leading a BI project to its successful implementation requires many skills and traits that range from common project management and software development abilities to unique knowledge and experiences. The cornerstone of any successful project is the project manager. Ironside Group Project Management Services ensure that all the pieces of the puzzle fit together. We work closely with your teams to understand your business initiatives and corporate priorities as well as the technologies being used. In addition, our project managers have the ability to keep a project on track and interact with analysts, developers and business champions in order to ensure success. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions on how to make your BI project successful.

IBM Cognos 8 Advanced Reporting – Hidden Prompts

Source:http://www.ironsidegroup.com/

December 14, 2010 by Susan Ma

In the past, we have introduced techniques around dynamic prompting by utilizing a number of Cognos Report Studio built-in features. Occasionally there are scenarios that will necessitate the need to set a report parameter without prompting the user to select a value. For instance, there may be a case where the report developer needs to pass both the selected year and the previous year to a stored procedure or pass in a calculated prompt value that would be based on previously selected prompt values. While there are a number of solutions for such scenarios, in this article we will focus on a Javascript based technique to provide the necessary functionality.
Development Environment

IBM Cognos 8.4 using Internet Explorer 6.0 or Higher
Note: This technique uses JavaScript against underlying report objects in a Cognos BI report. For this reason, there is no guarantee that this solution will work for other versions of Cognos due to the structural differences within the applications components when compared to the tested version. .

Step by Step Instructions

Launch report studio, select Go Sales(query) package.
When prompted, choose create a new report with a list template.
From the Sales(query) namespace, drag Quantity and Revenue data items from the Sales query object. Add in the Year data item from the Time dimension. Your list report should appear as follows:
Navigate to Page Explorer -> Prompt Pages, drag in a new prompt page.
Drag a value prompt to the prompt page, and set the parameter as “pYear” when prompted to create a new parameter in the prompt wizard .
Enter “Year” as the name of prompt object (Under properties/Miscellaneous)and click on Finish.
Add in a text item to describe the prompt.
Under the prompt properties, add in static choices values: 2005, 2006, 2007.
Set the data format property to number with zero decimal places.
Drag a text box prompt onto the prompt page. Set the parameter name to “pYearLess” in the wizard and set its object name to “YearLess”.
Your prompt page should now resemble the following:
Delete the default Finish button.
Add a HTML item after the Next prompt button.

Type in the following JavaScript code in the HTML item:
<button class=”bp” onClick=”setYearPrompts();”>Finish</button>

<script type=”text/javascript”><!–

function setYearPrompts()

{

var fW = (typeof getFormWarpRequest == “function” ?getFormWarpRequest() : document.forms["formWarpRequest"]);

fW._textEditBoxYearLess.value=fW._oLstChoicesYear.value -1;

promptAction(“finish”);
}

//–></script>
Navigate to the report page and add in the following filter to the report:
Run report and you will notice that the report is actually filtered by the hidden prompt value (User selected year minus one).

JavaScript is a very powerful technique available to report authors in IBM Cognos Report Studio. However, in many cases the code is tied to the underlying Cognos web page structure, which in return brings in some overhead on maintenance and upgrade oriented activities. For this reason, it is imperative that Javascript is used judiciously during report development.

IBM Cognos 8 Go! Mobile: The Next Step in BI Delivery

Source:http://www.ironsidegroup.com/

September 2, 2010 by Susan Ma

You’ve gone through the exercise of creating your data warehouse, developing a model and creating the most relevant and useful reports your organization could use. You’ve gone live: consumers have their logins and have been trained on how to receive their daily fill of data. There may be a few hiccups here and there but in general things are going well.
For the most part, users who begin to use Cognos will find themselves using it more and more, making requests as they discover the possibilities presented to them. Convenient as it already is, there will be several groups of users who may need or want even more accessibility. How do you deliver for them?
IBM Cognos on the GO!
Many organizations have or utilize a mobile workforce in some shape or form. Mobile employees spend very little time during the day in front of a computer (if at all), making it difficult for them to gain access to their reporting needs and preventing them from utilizing the analytical data to make the timely decisions necessary to ensure success. Most organizations attempt to provide for these employees by scheduling or bursting reports to their email addresses so that they may receive them on their mobile devices. While this certainly would allow these users to keep abreast of current data, it is not without its limitations. For example:

When reports are delivered to email and read on mobile devices, they are often sized or displayed in a difficult to read format often the result of generically designed viewing applications.
Reports lack functionality (tooltips, prompting, searching etc).
Scheduling and bursting require a notion of predictability (You know what the data that the consumer needs and know the ideal time to deliver it).
Report consumers cannot request reports on the fly and must rely on pre-defined schedules to deliver to them.

Cognos has a convenient extension that many are not aware about: Cognos 8 Go! Mobile. The extension is installed on a report consumer’s mobile device (BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and Symbian S60 3^rd Edition) and requires very little configuration.
With the Cognos 8 Go! Mobile extension even those who are on the road, off to a meeting or waiting for a flight can both push and pull data from Cognos Connection. Reports are sized appropriately for their mobile screen and many features from the Cognos environment are retained (tooltips, scrolling, prompting, zooming, and searching). Consumers can synchronize with the IBM Cognos application server to receive scheduled reports or request them as they are needed.
IBM Cognos 8 Go! Mobile Features

Tell your report developers to relax as there is no additional burden on their behalf. Go! Mobile does not require specialized report development.
Installation on mobile devices can be initiated by the user via OTA (Over the Air) programming or pushed to their device via a mobile device software tool. No user interaction is required for the install.
Data compression decreases data usage on mobile plans.
Security and password protection settings allow for secure transmission and protection of data if the mobile device is stolen or lost.
Both prompted and bursted reports are supported.
Location Based Prompting can cater to a user’s geographic location.
Automatic synchronization with the IBM Cognos application server.

Implementing IBM Cognos Go! Mobile
Installation and configuration of Go! Mobile is not difficult. Server side installation is flexible and can be done on a single server or distributed network. The installation includes a new application tier component, gateway and a mobile client. Once the server side installation is done, all you have to do is ensure that the mobile device can reach the Cognos Server. (For Blackberry support, MDS Services Connection Service Component needs to be enabled on the Blackberry Enterprise Server).
To complete the install you’ll need to install a mobile client on each device. This sounds like a daunting task but it is really quite easy. It can be approached in several ways. You can direct mobile users to a website where they can download the client with little to no interaction during the install process. This eliminates the IT installation burden. Users are also able to utilize a hard connection to a desktop to transfer the client files onto their mobile device. If you’d like to take the responsibility for installation out of the hands of your employees altogether you can also utilize OTA (Over the Air) programming to install and configure the mobile client. This method does use IT resources but would allow you to install as well as update the mobile client for all mobile users in a single job.
Go! Mobile is the last frontier in accessibility and adoption. It truly allows you to bring full featured Cognos 8 BI to everyone in your organization, even if they don’t regularly go to an office. Your mobile workforce will be well informed and able to make timely analytical decisions that are crucial to any organization’s success.

Driving User Adoption: How to Get the Most out of Your BI Investment

Source:http://www.ironsidegroup.com/

August 11, 2010 by Tim Kreytak

Most companies that invest in Business Intelligence technologies do so with high expectations of better decisions, more efficient processes and decreased cost. Others expect increased insight into spending, competition, and customer behavior or employee performance. The simple fact is that many BI implementations do not deliver on their expected value.
The real question is, why does this occur? As consultants we have the benefit of working with customers in situations where things are going well and the promise is being delivered. In other situations where that isn’t the case, our assistance is often requested to figure out why.
Business value is driven by providing the right information, to the right people at the right time. One often overlooked factor is whether the “right” people are taking advantage of the resources that have been provided. This brings us to the topic of user adoption.
In our experience there are some best practices that lead to increased user adoption. User adoption is driven by a number of facets. The value and timeliness of the business information are critical, as well as some other less obvious factors:
Data Quality – get the data right. Users will often not come back a second time if you deliver inaccurate or ambiguous information.
Marketing - Often times business user are not aware of the power and value of the BI investment. It is critical to communicate on a regular basis. A formal communication strategy for initial as well as add on roll outs is very important, and recommended in all but the smallest organization.
Training – Training is a tricky thing to time properly. Train too soon and the users are not engaged, and forget what they learn. Train too late and they will become frustrated with their lack of knowledge, potentially to the point of not wanting to use the technology, and will often go back to their old way of obtaining information (often via excel spreadsheets). We recommend providing formal training 1-2 weeks after roll out.
Super/Power User Programs- Hold regular meetings, no less frequently than once a quarter. Encourage your user base to share with each other. The practicality and format (web meeting vs in person) will be driven by the size and geographic factors at your company. We recommend at least one in person meeting per year. You will be very surprised by what you learn in these meetings.
The bottom line is that communication, education, and engagement are critical success factors in any BI implementation. Obviously delivering accurate ,timely, and relevant info is also important, but that alone is not enough. We find in our business and within our clients, our customers are very often our best evangelists. Take advantage of this and you will find success with your projects, and success with one project often leads to follow up projects. A Business Intelligence program that is delivering value to your business is an incredibly important business asset, especially in today’s trying times.

Best Practices in Cognos 8 Framework Manager Model Design

Source:http://www.ironsidegroup.com/

July 8, 2010 by Ralph Baker

For those starting out with Cognos 8, or even those who have worked with it for quite a while, Framework Manager model design can seem like a daunting or even overwhelming task. With so many options available, it can be hard to know what to consider during design, and how to promote stability and sustainability.
This is the first in a two-part article that will focus on the best practices, organization and overall methodology of Framework model development. As is often the case with complex tools, even developers who have worked with Cognos for a while can be confused on at least some of the concepts and considerations of model design. The focus of this first article will start from the beginning, and describe an overall 4 layer approach, detailing the purpose and reason for each of the four layers. Next month’s article will describe advanced best practices, and other tips.
Four Layer Approach
One of the basic tenets for best practice model design is to segment the model into four specific sections or layers (Data, Logical, Presentation and Dimensional). Each layer has a specific function and set of modeling activities. Generally, the layers build upon one another, with the data layer being the foundation of the model. Other areas, such as packages and connections are also important, but fall outside of the layers. Many of the best practices can be thought of in terms of what development activities should or should not be performed in each of the layers.

Data Layer

The data layer, also called the import layer, contains the data source query subjects, based directly on the underlying database objects. Whenever possible, use unmodified SQL ( “select * from Table Name”)to retrieve the table information. If you modify the SQL code or add a filter or a calculation to the data subject, it eliminates Framework Managers meta-data caching capabilities. This means that Cognos 8 will validate the query subject at report run time, adding overhead to the report load time. In some circumstances, this may be worth the trade-off, but should be avoided when possible.
Add joins, cardinality and determinants at this level. Cardinality, the definition of how joins should behave, is critical to a well developed model and can be confusing, even to seasoned veterans. In lieu of a lengthy discussion within this article, consider other IBM documents which offer a thorough discussion of cardinality, and the typical types of situations you may see.
Expect 20 to 40 percent of the model development to take place in the data layer.

Logical Layer

The logical layer adds the bulk of the meta-data to the model, and consequently is where most of the work is likely to occur. It provides business context and understanding to the data objects. Tasks include but are not limited to:

Organizing elements into logical query subjects. This may mean combining elements from multiple tables, as in a snowflake dimension.

Renaming element names, including descriptions and tooltips, and adding multiple language definitions if needed. Assign standardized and business-defined terms to the database columns, giving them business context.

Add calculations, and filters including stand-alone filters, embedded filters and security-based filters. Base these on the underlying data layer objects to make them less susceptible to errors when copying and reusing the query subject.
Arrange query subject items in a user-friendly manner. Make use of folders to group similar items, or when there are too many items. I suggest 12 or fewer objects per folder, although I have used more when the logical breakout calls for it. For example, if there are many dates in a query subject, it might be more intuitive to have all the dates in a single large folder, than to try to subdivide each into smaller, random folders. Arrange the contents of the folder in an intuitive manner, such as alphabetic, or with the most commonly used items at top. HINT: It can be useful to use the “Reorder” command available within FM for this purpose.

Assign output formats and usages to the reporting elements. This is easier if you create a small folder of trivial calculations, used only to provide standardized object format templates. The formats can easily be copied to target items by multi-selecting, and dragging the topmost format through the list.

Add prompts, including cascading prompts, and prompt-based calculations.

Roughly 50 to 70 percent of the modeling work occurs in this section.

Presentation Layer

The importance of making information easy for report writers to use is frequently underestimated, but is a critical component to driving user adoption. Fortunately, this can be a simple step. The presentation layer is used only as an organization structure in order to make it easier for report writers to more easily find their needed information. This layer includes only shortcuts to existing items in the logical layer, plus organization items such as folders and namespaces.
For example, create a namespace called Orders and include shortcuts to the ten or twenty relevant query subjects, out of perhaps a hundred or more query subjects in the logical layer. Also include shortcuts to relevant filters. Commonly used query subjects (such as Items or Customers) will appear in multiple areas. Rename the shortcuts to something which provides helpful business context.

For organizing major groupings, you can use either folders or namespaces. However be aware that namespace names must be unique, and that items within a namespace must likewise be unique. So, if you use folders for your major groupings, you cannot have a shortcut named “Items” in more than one folder. You must rename them to unique names, such as “Order Items”. For this reason in particular, I generally prefer to use separate namespaces.

The presentation layer takes approximately 10% of the overall model design effort.

Dimensional Layer

The dimensional layer is required only for models which include dimensionally modeled data. Leaving aside the trivial situations where cubes are simply imported into the model, this includes dimensionally modeled relational data (DMR).

Specifically, this is for creating Dimensional and Measure Dimension Query subjects. Much like the presentation layer, this layer also is built upon the logical layer, which leverages the effort put into that layer. Apply the element renaming, descriptions, tooltips in the logical layer, and they can be reused in the dimensional layer, with some help from the search tool.

Finally, note that when you are creating the final package, you should hide the data and logical layers so that the user will only see the presentation and/or dimensional layers.

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Data Sources

One area which many modelers neglect is the data sources. A key part of the data source is the Content Manager Data Source, which references a data source configured via the web interface in the Administration area of Cognos Connection. You should have as few of these as possible, ideally only 1 per database, unless there are very specific reasons (such as security). Even so, many security or logon issues can be addressed via multiple connections or signons within a data source.
Framework Manager will automatically create multiple data sources, (one per schema, for example), but they should reference the same Content Manager Data Source. The reason minimizing these is because multiple Content Manager data sources will open separate connections to the database and force Cognos to perform simple joins within the reporting engine instead of in the database where they belong.

Relationships and Cardinality

The area which causes much confusion and difficulties with modeling is relationships and cardinality. There are a number of documents which discuss the handling of data modeling traps, such as the Guidelines for Modeling Metadata document included in the documentation, and so I will not duplicate those discussions here, instead addressing other topics.
A common concern is when to alias a table in the data layer. In general, common dimension tables used across multiple fact tables, or contexts, should not be aliased. This is important in creating conformed dimensional reports. For example, a parts dimension is the same when used for reporting against sales or inventory fact tables. When a table has separate usages, or meanings, it should be aliased. For example, a general purpose address table, which contains branch, customer and employee addresses. These are often identified by having multiple join paths or filters which can signal different usage.
Another situation to use aliases is when there are multiple usages of a dimension table. The most common occurrence of this is the general-purpose date dimension table. Applications such as health and insurance can have many different joins to a date dimension, each of which has a different context. This can be complicated to track, because one usage, such as Admission Date must apply in a conformed manner to many fact tables, while a different usage (Treatment Date) must also be conformed across many of the same dimension tables. Obviously a meaningful naming convention is required!
If you do decide that you’re logical query subject requires a different alias, make sure to make liberal use of the Remap to New Source option, available by right-clicking on the query subject.

Controlling Stitch Queries

One frequent point of confusion, is how the model causes reports to create stitch (or multiple) queries. To resolve this requires a firm understanding of the cardinality in relationships. Also realize that stitch queries are sometimes best way of issuing a query.
Report studio will generate simple, consistent queries when there is consistent progression from “1 to many” relationships. This is a smooth progression from dimensions to facts. It can easily generate facts with correct aggregations with this simple scenario. Remember that Cognos will treat the query subject at the end of one or series of 1:N relationships as fact tables.

Similarly, it also works well in the case where multiple “dimensions” converge on a single fact table, as shown below. An easy visual check is to make sure that the 1:N relationships proceed in the same direction, with the ultimate fact table serving as the “Many” end-point of several dimensions.

The stitch issue occurs when there is more than one “Many” side along the same dimension path, as shown below.

A query which utilizes both of the rightmost, or “fact” tables will result in a stitch query as the only relationship is via a comnformed “dimension” table. In a query where i nventory (fact) and sales (fact) are compared at a product (dimension) level, a stitch query is the correct approach. However, if this is an unintentional or poorly modeled relationship, incorrect or inefficient queries will be generated. Understanding the implications of cardinality in relationships is the best defense against this.

Naming Conventions and Nomenclature

Another area of confusion is naming conventions and nomenclature, and areas surrounding these subjects. The best practice is to have the query subject and element names all carefully thought out and implemented before developing the model, but that doesn’t always happen.
First, let’s describe how Framework Manager and report studio considers element names. Each element name is uniquely identified within the package by a 3 part name: The element itself, the parent query subject (or shortcut) name, and the parent namespace to the query subject. Element names must therefore be unique within the query subject, and similarly for query subjects within the namespace. However, the namespace name must be unique within the entire model. So you can have multiple references to element “Part Name” within query subject “Part Master”, but the namespace, such as “Purchasing” or “Inventory” can only occur once within the model, making the fully qualified name unique. Notice that folder names do not come into play when defining names. They are used only for organizing other items.

Managing Name Changes

The result of all this, is that names within the model are very important, especially once report writing begins, because they are difficult to change without invalidating existing reports.
So, in order of preference, maintain consistent names across models by:

Get it right the first time. If multiple areas of the organization have a stake in naming conventions, involve all organizations early in the design process, even if the first stages do not apply to some of them.
Identify situations where a renamed item is used. Here the option “Find Report Dependencies” is invaluable in identifying reports where an item is used. Keep in mind, though, that if your model references a development server, it will not identify reports or queries which exist only in your production environment. Therefore it may not adequately identify issues in every environment.

Move the renamed item to a “deprecated” query subject folder, and create a similar element with the new name. While this relies on a certain amount of end-user training, to instruct report and query writers not to use objects within a folder named “DO NOT USE” or similar, it will ensure that existing reports will still run correctly, while using the new, correct name moving forward.

This article addresses some of the most common advanced issues around model design, but certainly not all of them. With modeling being part science and part art, it’s not possible to address all possible situations. If you have a specific modeling situation you would like me to address,

IBM Cognos Express – Ensuring Implementation Success

Source:http://www.ironsidegroup.com/

June 2, 2010 by Dan Hess

The late 2009 release of Cognos Express has generated quite a bit of interest from companies considering the benefits of a Business Intelligence (BI) implementation, but had previously been limited by financial considerations. While this entry into the market does provide an excellent solution at a relatively low cost, IT departments need to keep in mind that this type of BI software is never a turnkey solution. Many of the same strategic and tactical issues that larger companies have faced over the past decade in an effort to effectively undertake a BI initiative while retaining a high ROI will be faced, all be it on a smaller scale, by mid-market organizations. It is critical that the IBM Cognos Express team in these organizations realize that a complete implementation methodology is vital to the overall success and sustainability of the BI project, no matter the size of the company, the cost of the tool or the complexity of the project.

Keys to Success

The keys to success lie in understanding the critical steps that must be considered in this type of project. As mentioned above, while the scale of the project will be much smaller than many of the BI initiatives undertaken with IBM Cognos products in the past, the tactics utilized to make these projects a success are no less valid. In fact, the very same governance that is often applied to larger projects could and should be utilized on smaller scale efforts. The overall success of the BI initiative, as measured by user adoption, can hinge on recognizing all the factors that need to be considered when defining the scope of the project.

What Do I Really Need?

The first question that any organization, regardless of size, needs to ask: Who are the end users and what type of information is going to allow them to do their jobs more effectively? Once this information is gathered it becomes much easier to identify the type of data that will be consumed and where that data is located. An often overlooked and perhaps even more vital aspect of this type of information, especially in a mid-market company, is that it is going to allow the organization to purchase the specific product modules that will be necessary to ensure success without limiting the ROI by extraneous purchasing costs. This step is obviously not as critical to larger organizations that are going to have more disposable budgets and have no need to fine tune the exact number of licenses purchased. For this reason, it is imperative that organizations understand the components that make up the Cognos Express software package (IBM Cognos Express Reporter, IBM Cognos Express Advisor, IBM Cognos Express Xcelerator) and the type of users licenses required to sustain and utilize the software in order to ensure that limited budgets are spent on driving the most value out of the investment.

Don’t forget the Data!

While choosing the right software is important to keeping the cost of the initiative down, it is far from the only crucial factor to the success of the project. One of the largest and most often overlooked areas by mid market organizations is the location and structure of the relational data sources that will be used to provide the consumer with the necessary information. A well designed data source or sources and the resultant ease and speed of data manipulation is vital to getting the end user to accept and utilize the tool and therefore realize the potential ROI on the project. Too often we have seen organizations either need to reinvest in a data warehouse or mart or realize low user adoption due to badly designed data sources. If the native data source is not suited for reporting, a data warehouse may be the answer. This undertaking needs to be taken into account when looking at building out a BI initiative. The adage “The tool is only as good as the data that it sits on top of” is applicable regardless of the size of the company.

Thinking about the future

Considering the upfront tasks that are essential during the development phase is only part of the puzzle. Many organizations, regardless of size, never plan for the sustainment of the BI initiative after initial go-live. While larger organization may be able to absorb this into operating costs or secondary projects, mid markets do not often enjoy the luxury of having additional budget dollars. For this reason it is imperative that mid market organizations incorporate the development of a set of standards for current and future development requests into the initial project plan. While a full Business Intelligence Competency Center (as is often used in larger implementations) may not be required, many of the same ideas, such as the importance of specifications, standards and repeatable operations, can smooth the implementation of smaller projects as well.

Knowledge = Power

Another often over looked factor in the implementation and cost evaluation of a mid-market BI project is the need for administrator, developer and end user training. It is certainly not necessary to design large scale training classes for smaller organizations, but the skill sets to maintain the systems and ensure future growth in addition to user acceptance and adoption is critical to realizing the full potential of these systems. While training does not need to be a large part of the overall implementation cost, it is important that the right training for key individuals is included in the overall implementation plan.

Conclusion

Ensuring that all the necessary variables are taken into account when mid-market organizations decide to make the investment in a BI project is key to the success of the initiative. We have discussed just a few of the considerations that should be taken into account during planning and cost discussions. While many of the lessons that have been learned in larger organizations can be adapted to work in smaller installations, it is critical to understand the relationship and application of these lessons in the mid market arena. The Ironside Group has a proven track record of success at assisting mid market organizations navigate these often complex and overwhelming projects and can provide the necessary methodology to ensure a maximum ROI.

IBM Cognos Analytic Applications

Source:http://www.ironsidegroup.com/

June 2, 2010 by Tim Kreytak

As consultants the first question we are often asked by our customers is can we build reports directly against our transactional systems. While there are some exceptions our general best practice is to recommend against this type of architecture.
The reasons are long and detailed, but simply put, some high level reasons not to build reporting systems off of normalized databases are:

Query performance
General production system performance
Aggregate view of data vs transactional view
Complex SQL
Normalized databases are typically tuned for simple queries

The discussion then leads to questions surrounding data mart or warehouse creation. Typical initial concerns are time, money, maintenance, and flexibility. All which are real considerations when traveling this path.
With IBM-Cognos’s long history in this area, they have often heard feedback surrounding this classic problem. We believe, that IBM’s Analytical Application Framework (AAF), provides a good foundation to begin to solve this problem.
“IBM Cognos 8 Analytic Applications are packaged, adaptable software solutions to help improve business performance by providing actionable, cross-functional insight from information locked in ERPs and other data sources. Built on the Cognos 8 platform, they enable organizations to implement a solution quickly and easily extend it using the full range of Cognos 8 capabilities.”
How is this done you may ask? Before we delve into the technology portion of our discussion, it is important to note that the IBM Cognos AAF approach is rooted in business process and focused on business value. The technology, and all of the best practice to deliver this business value is embedded in the AAF process and development methodology.
Each Cognos AAF is created from the standpoint of a traditional business process, Workforce Performance, Supply Chain Analytics, Sales, Procurement or Finance. Using IBM’s common business models for data mart/business model definition provides a starting point for initial deployment of each module. While this is good, a standard business model often only meets a portion of then need for your business, typically 60-80%.
IBM Cognos has anticipated this need and has built flexibility/adaptability into the AAF process to handle this unavoidable reality. Management of changes or customizations are handled with a drag and drop gui, not expensive code changes. The goal is to allow IT/Business resources to “focus on the business, not the plumbing”:

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As a result AAF customers can:

Meet business change head on– to change as fast as your business does
Minimize your IT departments role in constantly managing the application
Ensuring that the application’s content is continuously relevant
Optimizing the TCO of the applications

Technology:
Cognos AAF, leverages existing foundational technology like Cognos Report Studio, Cognos Framework Manager, and Cognos Data Manager. Cognos has also provided a duo of configuration tools to make managing the environment easier. Adaptive Warehouse client, which allows for GUI level mapping of data fields from source ERP to target AAF Data Mart and Adaptive Analytics Modeler (AAM), which is the configuration client for the reporting layer. While Report Studio is also available to develop complex customized reports, AAM allows a less technical business user to “Configure” reports based upon a large number of templates. This provides easier report development and maintenance, plus makes management of updates, upgrades or changes easier to administer.
Licensing:
IBM has bundled all the licensing of this technology as well as the standard business data model and initially suite of reports into a single purchase price. Coupled with implementation costs at roughly 1x license price, IBM Cognos AAF’s provide a foundation that should be considered when your business is run from a standard ERP platform.
The Ironside Group is an enabled partner to implement Cognos AAF solutions for our clients. Please contact us to discuss applicability to your specific environment/business need.

[v.i]Designing Effective IBM Cognos Report Studio Templates

Source:http://www.ironsidegroup.com/

July 8, 2010 by Greg Bonnette

Step 1 – Prepare Your Environment

First we are going to create a new folder that will be used to store all of our custom template/branding content within our environment. Because this folder needs to be web accessible, it should be placed within the <Cognos Install>\webcontent folder for simplicity’s sake. In our example environment we will create the folder
C:\Program Files\Cognos\c8\webcontent\ironside
We will then create a sub folder called images which will be used to store all of our custom image content. In the future if we decide to add other types to files for use in branding or customizing our environment, we will create additional sub-folders to organize those files by their type (e.g. \css for Style Sheets, \js for JavaScript, etc.) Once we have created our images folder we will place all of our branding image content within it, and then make sure we enable directory browsing and WebDAV for this folder within IIS so that we may browse image thumbnails from Report Studio.

Step 2 – Create Layout Components

Once our environment is configured, and our images loaded onto our server, we are ready to begin creating our layout components for the portions of our template that we wish to centralize in order to simplify future changes or modifications to the template. Typically this is a header or footer that you will want to remain configurable in the event that logos or corporate standards change in the future.

Open Report Studio and Create a New Report Template

Customize the template header and footer to meet the standard needs of your organization.
Be sure to encapsulate your new header and footer within named Block objects so that they can be used as Layout Component Reference objects in the template we intend to build.
Save this template to a common area beneath Public Folders for which Everyone would have read, traverse and execute permissions. It is helpful to create a common administration folder in our environment where reusable objects can be stored.

There is no need to do any additional formatting to this particular template as we are only using it as a repository for Layout Component References. Save the heavy lifting for the next step.

Step 3 – Build Your Template

Now that our Layout Components have been finalized, it’s now time to build our template. Templates can be used not only as a way to standardize look and feel, but also as a tool to guide report authors in our environment into following report building best practices. You may be inclined to create a separate template for each possible report type (List, Crosstab, Chart, Repeater, etc) but please resist the urge. It’s much easier to maintain a single blank report template, and properly configure it so that any and all query object types are formatted to your specifications.

Start by creating another new Report Template in report studio.
Before doing anything, hover over the Page Explorer and select the Classes entry from the list to enter the class editor view. From here we can edit the look and feel for any object that will be created using our template. This is the preferred method of editing report style sheets because it does not impact any global settings within your environment (as opposed to editing the Global Style Sheet) and would permit you to dictate look and feel on a template-by-template basis, enabling you to have multiple templates in your environment if need be.
In our template, we will edit and extend the default classes so that the list and crosstab objects have grey row and column headers instead of the default light blue.
Once we are happy with how our global styles have been extended, we can now drag and drop the header and footer layout components that reference the template we saved in Step 2.
At this point we may also like to add features to our template that encourage report authors to use good report design practices. An example of this would be adding a prompt page to our template and also adding place holders in our report page headers to display prompt parameter values that would give the report the proper context.
We now save our newly created report template to the same folder as our layout component reference repository, and proceed with testing the report for all possible scenarios before we proceed with integrating the template into the Report Studio interface.

Step 4 – Install Your Template in Report Studio

Finally we have completed thorough testing of our template, and received the blessing of our end users. It’s now time to integrate our template into the Report Studio interface for ultimate ease of use.

For detailed instructions on how to do so, please refer to the chapter on customization in the IBM Cognos Administration and Security Guide.
Tip: If you don’t see your customizations taking effect in Report Studio, try clearing your browser cache.
At this point, if we need to make a global change to our headers and footers, all we need to do is edit them in our Layout Component Reference report in our environment and the changes will flow through to each and every report that was created using this template (as long as the report author has not overridden them at the report level). If you have multiple Cognos environments (Dev, QA, Production) it’s important that this repository report exist in the exact same path in each to ensure that the links to our layout components are not broken as we migrate content to production.

IBM Cognos Express: Addressing the Business Intelligence Needs of Mid-Size Companies

Source:http://www.ironsidegroup.com/

July 8, 2010 by Rebecca Ryan

During 2009, IBM Cognos introduced Cognos Express, its “one-stop BI and planning solution purpose-built to meet the needs of midsize companies”. While large organizations have been implementing Business Intelligence solutions for years, mid-size organizations were often left in a quandary wondering whether to spend time and money on a solution that did not necessarily fit their needs. With a more streamlined implementation, web and excel based interfaces, and attractive pricing, Cognos Express is a promising step in closing the gap between mid-sized companies and enterprise Performance Management Software.

The Solution

Designed to be business user friendly, Cognos Express is divided into three modules called Express Reporter, Express Advisor, and Express Xcelerator. These linked modules share a centralized web-based Admin console. All three modules can be purchased, installed and configured either separately or together. Express Reporter offers self-service reporting and ad-hoc query. The second module, Express Advisor, allows users to translate raw data into sophisticated analysis and rich presentations as well as slice and dice and drill down into their data. Finally, Express Xcelerator is used for Excel based planning and business analysis.

The Strategy

Like any Business Intelligence project, developing an implementation strategy is vital to the projects’ success. There are three main factors to consider: who will be accessing the information, what information will they be looking for (i.e. what types of reports will they create or what types of analysis will they do), and is the data behind the reports clean and organized? Once these questions are addressed, the implementation strategy can be developed and applied. Although Cognos Express initiatives are often smaller projects, the strategy is standard across all Business Intelligence projects and just as important to consider. The Ironside Group can help your organization by leveraging our experience in various industries to help you make smarter business decisions and gain a competitive edge. Although an initial investment is necessary, careful investments make sense and will pay off in the end.

User Adoption

After the initial data preparation and BI content development has taken place, user adoption will become the focus of organizations who have newly implemented. In order for a project to be successful, the users must adapt and embrace the solution. The best way to ensure the success of the users is through user training. Ironside offers both public and private classes in several subject areas that customers will find useful. Remember to consider this when developing your strategy.

Many see Cognos Express as a new commitment by IBM to focus on mid-sized companies.
The all-in-one capabilities of Cognos Express provide mid-sized businesses with the ability to integrate their reporting, analysis, and planning needs into one easy-to-use medium. Combining this more flexible solution with the implementation strategy and training we’ve discussed are just a few of the key elements in ensuring the success of a BI project. As a Software Value Net partner of IBM, Ironside account managers and consultants are prepared and certified specifically in IBM Cognos Express sales and implementations. We have a proven track record with large and small organizations alike.

Integrating an Enterprise Wiki with IBM Cognos 8

Source:http://www.ironsidegroup.com/

April 1, 2010 by Greg Bonnette

Beginning with IBM Cognos 8.4 and higher, IBM provides a means of linking package objects from within Cognos Viewer or any of the studios, to IBM Business Glossary to serve as a central, web-based repository for documentation. If you do not own Business Glossary but you do have an existing enterprise wiki that houses your own organizations business documentation, with a little bit of ingenuity we can integrate that resource using the same inline facilities.

Background

Before we can tackle our own Wiki, we need to have a better understanding of how IBM Business Glossary was designed to integrate with IBM Cognos 8. To begin, open any package in query studio, and right click on any object from within the metadata and a context menu will appear. Within that context menu you should see that the Glossary link which should be disabled.

Now let’s enable the business glossary by configuring the business glossary URI following the steps outlined in the IBM Cognos 8.4 Security and Administration Guide
Steps

In IBM Cognos Connection, click Launch, IBM Cognos Administration.
On the Status tab, click System.
Click the arrow next to System to display the Actions menu, and then click Set Properties.
Click the Settings tab.
For the Environment category, IBM Business Glossary URI, type the following URI:

http://server_name:port_number/bg/popup/popupSearch.do

For example, type

http://myserver:9080/bg/popup/popupSearch.do

All terms that contain the keyword specified in the search are returned.

Click OK.

If we simply enter the example string above, and then return to query studio (make sure you give the server a few minutes to pick up the configuration change) we should now see that the business glossary link is enabled.

If we click on it we should expectedly get an error, but by right clicking and viewing the properties of this error window, we can learn quite a bit about how the Business Glossary link works.

The value of the Address (URL) property of the window tells us exactly what the URL was that Cognos attempted to retrieve when we clicked on our Glossary link from within Query Studio.

http://myserver:9080/bg/popup/popupSearch.do?searchBy=Terms&searchText=Inventory

From this we can assume that IBM Cognos 8 will simply append the query string (bold) to whatever Business Glossary URI we configure in our System Properties. It is also important to note that IBM Cognos uses the name of whichever item you have right clicked within Query Studio to assign the value of the searchText parameter within the http query string. If we want to search our own Wiki or web based resource, all we need to do is translate this search query into something that can be understood by that resource.

Solution

In our example we will be using Google as our enterprise business glossary. When integrating your own wiki, you must first determine the correct URL and Query String for searching that resource. Google accepts search queries by URL in the following format:
http://www.google.com/search?q=searchTerms

This means we will have to dynamically rewrite our original search query to match this format.
Before:

http://myserver:9080/bg/popup/popupSearch.do?searchBy=Terms&searchText=Inventory

After:

http://www.google.com/search?q=Inventory
In our example we will achieve this with some simple JSP because it can be easily run within the Tomcat container that is included with IBM Cognos 8 by default, but the same result can be achieved with virtually any server side application language of your choosing (PHP, ASP, Perl/CGI, Apache w/mod_rewrite etc.)

Create a new text file called glossary.jsp that contains the following JSP code:

<%

 String searchType = request.getParameter( "searchBy" );

 String searchText = request.getParameter( "searchText" );

 String redirectURL = "http://www.google.com/search?q=" + searchText;

 response.sendRedirect(redirectURL);

 %>

Move this file to your IBM Cognos server and place it in the
<IBM Cognos 8 Install Root>\ webapps\p2pd folder.
Following the steps previously outlined, reconfigure your IBM Business Glossary URI to be the following:
http://myCognosServer:myCognosPort/p2pd/glossary.jsp

For example:

http://localhost:9300/p2pd/glossary.jsp
After allowing a minute for the server to pick up the change, return to Query Studio and once again attempt to click on the Glossary context menu item. You should now be presented with Google search results for the name of the item you have selected.

Additional Examples

Using PHP

File: glossary.php

<?php

 $BG_SEARCH_TYPE = $_GET['searchBy'];

 $BG_SEARCH_TEXT = $_GET['searchText'];

 $REDIRECT_URL = "http://www.google.com/search?q=" . $BG_SEARCH_TEXT;

 //Redirect to the wiki

 header( 'Location: ' . $REDIRECT_URL );

 die();

 ?>

Business Glossary URI: http://myPHPServer/glossary.php

Using Apache with mod_rewrite

File: .htaccess (placed in apache www root for this example)

RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^searchBy=Terms&searchText=(.*)$
RewriteRule ^$ http://www.google.com/search?q=%1 [L]
Business Glossary URI: http://myApacheWebServer/

Pages

Monday, June 17, 2013

Can You Drive a URL Object to Behave Differently?

Development Environment

Step by Step Demo Instructions

Development Environment

Step by Step Demo Instructions

Tested Environment

Step by Step Demo Instructions

One Studio for Everything

Pulling Out the Stops for Power Users

Bridging the Gap between Power User and Professional Author

Integrating External Data

Cross Compatibility with Report Studio

Durable Models

Model Design Accelerator

Dynamic Query Mode

Data Layer

Logical Layer

Presentation Layer

Dimensional Layer

Data Sources

Relationships and Cardinality

Controlling Stitch Queries

Naming Conventions and Nomenclature

Managing Name Changes

Keys to Success

What Do I Really Need?

Don’t forget the Data!

Thinking about the future

Knowledge = Power

Conclusion

Step 1 – Prepare Your Environment

Step 2 – Create Layout Components

Step 3 – Build Your Template

Step 4 – Install Your Template in Report Studio

The Solution

The Strategy

User Adoption

Background

Solution

Additional Examples

Using PHP

Using Apache with mod_rewrite