IBM Cognos 8 Report Studio Cookbook

Book description

Over 80 great recipes for taking control of Cognos 8 Report Studio

  • Learn advanced techniques to produce real-life reports that meet business demands
  • Tricks and hacks for speedy and effortless report development and to overcome tool-based limitations
  • Peek into the best practices used in industry and discern ways to work like a pro
  • Part of Packt's Cookbook series-each recipe is a carefully organized sequence of instructions to complete the task as efficiently as possible

In Detail

Cognos Report Studio is widely used for creating and managing business reports in medium to large companies. It is simple enough for any business analyst, power user, or developer to pick up and start developing basic reports. However, when it comes to developing more sophisticated, fully functional business reports for wider audiences, report authors will need guidance.

This book helps you understand and use all the features provided by Report Studio to generate impressive deliverables. It will take you from being a beginner to a professional report author. It bridges the gap between basic training provided by manuals or trainers and the practical techniques learned over years of practice.

This book covers all the basic and advanced features of Report Authoring. It begins by bringing readers on the same platform and introducing the fundamental features useful across any level of reporting. Then it ascends to advanced techniques and tricks to overcome Studio limitations.Develop excellent reports using dimensional data sources by following best practices that development work requires in Report Studio. You will also learn about editing the report outside the Studio by directly editing the XML specifications.

Provide richness to the user interface by adding JavaScript and HTML tags. The main focus is on the practical use of various powerful features that Report Studio has to offer to suit your business requirements.

Learn techniques and hacks to make the best out of your Cognos 8 Report Studio

Table of contents

  1. IBM Cognos 8 Report Studio Cookbook
    1. Table of Contents
    2. IBM Cognos 8 Report Studio Cookbook
    3. Credits
    4. About the Author
    5. About the Reviewers
    6. Preface
      1. What this book covers
      2. What you need for this book
      3. Who this book is for
      4. Conventions
      5. Reader feedback
      6. Customer support
        1. Errata
        2. Piracy
        3. Questions
    7. 1. Report Authoring Basic Concepts
      1. Introduction
      2. Summary filter and detail filter
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
          1. Detail filter
          2. Summary filter
        4. There's more...
          1. Before/After aggregation
        5. See also
      3. Sorting grouped values
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
      4. Aggregation and rollup aggregation
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
          1. Aggregation property
          2. Rollup aggregation
            1. Multiple aggregations
        4. There's more...
      5. Implementing IF THEN ELSE in filters
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
      6. Data formatting options: Dates, numbers, and percentages
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
          1. CAST function
          2. Numerical format
          3. % Margin
        4. There's more...
      7. Creating sections
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
        5. See also
      8. Hiding column in crosstab
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
      9. Prompts: Display value versus use value
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
    8. 2. Advanced Report Authoring
      1. Introduction
      2. Adding a cascaded prompt
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
          1. Cascaded source
        4. There's more...
          1. Auto submit
          2. More info
        5. See also
      3. Creating nested report: Defining master detail relationship
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
          1. Master Detail relationship
        4. There's more...
        5. See also
      4. Writing back to the database
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
      5. Adding conditional formatting
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
          1. String variable
          2. Boolean variable
          3. Report language variable
        4. There's more...
          1. Style variable property
          2. Text source variable property
      6. Running difference: Negative values in brackets and red
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
          1. Running difference
          2. Showing negative values in red and brackets
      7. New conditional styling with v8.3 onwards
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
      8. Conditional block: Many reports in one
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
      9. Drill-through from crosstab intersection
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
      10. Overriding crosstab intersection drill-through definition
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
    9. 3. Tips and Tricks: JavaScripts
      1. Introduction
      2. Dynamic default value for prompt
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
          1. SPAN
            1. GetElementsByTagName
            2. SelectedIndex
            3. CanSubmitPrompt
        4. There's more...
      3. Changing title of the dropdown box
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
      4. Listbox: Applying Deselect All on rerun
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
      5. Validating textbox prompts
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
      6. Show/Hide prompt controls at runtime
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
          1. More Info
      7. Automatic selection and submission of values
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
      8. Manipulating Date Time control
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
        5. See also
      9. Variable width bar chart using JavaScript
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
    10. 4. Tips and Tricks: Report Page
      1. Introduction
      2. Showing images dynamically (Traffic Light report)
        1. Getting ready
        2. How it works...
        3. There's more...
          1. More info
      3. Handling missing image issue
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
      4. Dynamic links to external website (Google Map example)
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
      5. Alternating drill link
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
          1. Render variable
        4. There's more...
      6. Showing tool tip on reports
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
        5. See also
      7. Achieving minimum column width
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
      8. Merged cells in Excel output
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
      9. Worksheet name in Excel output
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
      10. Conditional column titles
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
    11. 5. XML Editing
      1. Introduction
      2. Quickly changing drill targets
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
      3. Copy-pasting drill link
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
      4. Removing references to old package and namespaces
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
      5. A hidden gem in XML—row level formatting
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
        5. See also
    12. 6. Writing Printable Reports
      1. Introduction
      2. Container size and rows per page
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
      3. Eliminating orphan rows
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
      4. Defining page orientation and size (also override for one page)
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
      5. Avoiding page title repetition
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
      6. Horizontal pagination
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
      7. Choosing output format from prompt
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
      8. Choosing right colors
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
      9. Defining page set
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
      10. Caution about HTML items and JavaScript
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
    13. 7. Working with Dimensional Models
      1. Introduction
      2. List report or crosstab report
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
      3. Filtering rows or columns
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
      4. Filtering whole report
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
      5. Adding prompt into slicer and its limitation
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
          1. More Info
      6. New feature for zero suppression
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
      7. Level independent MUN for parent child hierarchy
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
      8. Aggregation versus pre-aggregated values
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
      9. RoleValue() function
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
      10. Swapping dimensions using string manipulation
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. See also
    14. 8. Macros
      1. Introduction
      2. Add data level security using CSVIdentityMap macro
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
      3. Using prompt macro in native SQL
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
      4. Making prompt optional
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
          1. Optional_defaultValue
          2. Pure_Optional
        4. There's more...
      5. Adding token using macro
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
      6. Using prompt and promptmany macros in query subject
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
      7. Showing the prompt values in report based on security
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
      8. String operations to get it right
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
      9. Showing user name in footer
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
    15. 9. Using Report Studio Better
      1. Introduction
      2. Report Studio environmental options
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
          1. View | Visual Aid
          2. Structure | Crosstab Node Creation Option
          3. Tools | Options | View | Reuse Cognos Viewer Window
          4. Tools | Options | Report Options
        4. There's more...
      3. Copy-pasting partial or full report
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
      4. Copy-pasting whole reports—8.2 to 8.4 possible
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
      5. Setting execution time out
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
      6. Setting maximum rows limit
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
      7. Handle slow report validation
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
      8. Capturing query
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
          1. Why make filters mandatory?
            1. Query formatting
            2. Capture the query for database
      9. Browsing values from data expression window
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
      10. Page structure view
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
      11. Pick-up and apply style
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
      12. Grab them all practice
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more…
    16. 10. Some More Useful Recipes
      1. Introduction
      2. Timing report execution
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
          1. Report view
          2. Scheduling
        4. There's more...
      3. Missing value versus zero value
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
      4. Over-riding data formatting defined in database
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
      5. Conditional drill-through
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
      6. Dynamically switching reports using iFrame
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
    17. 11. Best Practices
      1. Introduction
      2. Reducing number of query items
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
          1. Alias member unique name
          2. Delete unreferenced query objects
          3. Dragging items from data items pane
      3. Highlighting hidden items
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
      4. Relative path for images
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
      5. Taming the JavaScripts
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
      6. Customize classes for report-wide effect
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
      7. Creating templates
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
      8. Regression testing
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
        4. There's more...
      9. Code comments
        1. Getting ready
        2. How to do it...
        3. How it works...
    18. A. Recommendations and References
      1. Introduction
      2. Version controlling
      3. Recommendation for prompt types
      4. Cognos Mashup Service
      5. Third-party tools for Cognos
      6. Express Authoring Mode
      7. CAFE
      8. Cognos Go Office
    19. Index

Product information

  • Title: IBM Cognos 8 Report Studio Cookbook
  • Author(s): Abhishek Sanghani
  • Release date: June 2010
  • Publisher(s): Packt Publishing
  • ISBN: 9781849680349