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  • Book Overview & Buying IBM Cognos 10 Report Studio Cookbook
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IBM Cognos 10 Report Studio Cookbook

IBM Cognos 10 Report Studio Cookbook - Second Edition

By : Ahmed S Lashin, Abhishek Sanghani
3.6 (9)
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IBM Cognos 10 Report Studio Cookbook

IBM Cognos 10 Report Studio Cookbook

3.6 (9)
By: Ahmed S Lashin, Abhishek Sanghani
Buy this Book

Overview of this book

IBM 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, this book is designed to take the reader beyond the basics and into the world of creating more sophisticated, functional business reports.IBM Cognos 10 Report Studio Cookbook, Second Edition 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.Written in a recipe style, this book offers step-by-step instructions for IBM Cognos Report Studio users to author reports effectively, allowing a reader to dip in and out of the chapters as they desire. You will see a new fictional business case in each recipe that will relate to a real-life problem and then you will learn how to crack it in Report Studio. This book covers all the basic and advanced features of Report Authoring. It introduces 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. You will discover how to build and use Cognos Active Reports, a new addition in IBM Cognos 10. Provide richness to the user interface by adding JavaScript and HTML tags and using the different chart types introduced in IBM Cognos 10. The main focus is on the practical use of various powerful features that Report Studio has to offer to suit your business requirements. Learn numerous techniques and hacks that will allow you to make the best out of your IBM Cognos 10 Report Studio.
Table of Contents (16 chapters)
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Preface
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Preface
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What this book covers
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What you need for this book
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Who this book is for
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Conventions
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Reader feedback
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Customer support
Lock Free Chapter
1
1. Report Authoring Basic Concepts
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1. Report Authoring Basic Concepts
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Introduction
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Summary filters and detail filters
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Sorting grouped values
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Aggregation and rollup aggregation
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Implementing if-then-else in filters
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Formatting data – dates, numbers, and percentages
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Creating sections
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Hiding columns in crosstabs
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Prompts – display value versus use value
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2. Advanced Report Authoring
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2. Advanced Report Authoring
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Introduction
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Adding cascaded prompts
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Creating a nested report – defining the master-detail relationship
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Writing back to the database
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Adding conditional formatting
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Formatting negative values
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Playing with conditional styles
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Using conditional blocks – many reports in one
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Defining drill-through from crosstab intersection
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Overriding crosstab intersection drill-through definitions
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3. Using JavaScript Files – Tips and Tricks
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3. Using JavaScript Files – Tips and Tricks
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Introduction
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Defining dynamic default values for prompts
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Changing the title of the value prompt
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Validating textbox prompts
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Showing/hiding prompt controls at runtime
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Selecting and submitting values automatically
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Manipulating the Date Time control
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Creating a variable width bar chart using JavaScript
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4. The Report Page – Tips and Tricks
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4. The Report Page – Tips and Tricks
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Introduction
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Showing images dynamically (traffic light report)
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Handling the missing image issue
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Dynamic links to an external website (a Google Maps example)
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Alternating drill links
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Showing tooltips on reports
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Merged cells in Excel output
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Worksheet name in Excel output
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Conditional column titles
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5. Working with XML
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5. Working with XML
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Introduction
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Changing drill targets quickly
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Copying and pasting drill links
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Removing references to old packages or items
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A hidden gem in XML – row level formatting
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6. Writing Printable Reports
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6. Writing Printable Reports
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Introduction
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Controlling the container size and rows per page
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Eliminating orphan rows
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Defining page orientation and size (and overriding them for one page)
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Avoiding page title repetition
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Horizontal pagination
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Page numbering with horizontal pagination
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Choosing the output format from a prompt
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Choosing the right colors
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Defining page sets
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Cautions about HTML items and JavaScript files
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Displaying the report name in a footer
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7. Working with Dimensional Models
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7. Working with Dimensional Models
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Introduction
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List report or crosstab report
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Filtering rows or columns
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Filtering a whole report
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Adding a prompt into Slicer and its limitations
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Achieving zero suppression
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Aggregation versus preaggregated values
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The roleValue() function
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Swapping dimensions using MUN manipulation
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8. Working with Macros
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8. Working with Macros
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Introduction
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Adding data-level security using the CSVIdentityMap macro
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Using the Prompt macro in native SQL
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Making prompts optional
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Adding a token using macros
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Using the prompt() and promptmany() macros in query subjects
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Showing the prompt values in a report based on security
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String operations to get it right
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Showing a username in the footer
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9. Using Report Studio Efficiently
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9. Using Report Studio Efficiently
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Introduction
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Using Report Studio's environmental options
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Copying and pasting partial or full reports
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Upgrading report specifications
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Setting the execution timeout
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Setting the maximum row limit
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Handling slow report validation
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Capturing a query
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Browsing values from the data expression window
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Viewing the page structure
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Picking up and applying styles
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Using the "grab them all" practice
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Using Default Data Formats
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10. Working with Active Reports
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10. Working with Active Reports
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Introduction
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Building tabbed reports
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Working with Decks
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Working with the Data Deck
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Filtering data using Data Check Box Group
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11. Charts and New Chart Features
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11. Charts and New Chart Features
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Introduction
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Chart formatting options
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Converting a chart to another chart type
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Working with pie charts
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Getting started with bullet charts
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Getting started with scatter charts
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12. More Useful Recipes
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12. More Useful Recipes
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Introduction
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Timing report execution
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Missing values versus zero values
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Overriding data formatting using patterns
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Setting up conditional drill-throughs
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Dynamically switching between reports using an iFrame
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Freezing column titles
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13. Best Practices
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13. Best Practices
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Introduction
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Reducing the number of query items
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Highlighting hidden items
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Using relative paths for images
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Controlling JavaScript file execution
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Customizing classes for report-wide effect
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Creating templates
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Regression testing
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Commenting the code
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Naming data containers (lists, crosstabs, and charts) for use in Cognos Workspace
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Enabling a larger worksheet size for Excel 2007
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A. Recommendations and References
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A. Recommendations and References
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Introduction
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Version controlling
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Recommendations for prompt types
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Cognos Mashup Service
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SDK and third-party tools for Cognos
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IBM Cognos Analysis For Excel (CAFE)
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IBM Cognos for Microsoft Office
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IBM Cognos Workspace
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IBM Cognos Workspace Advanced
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IBM Cognos Cloud
15
Index
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Index

Sorting grouped values

The output of the previous recipe brings the right information back on the screen. It filters the rows correctly and shows the highest selling product per product line for the selected shipment month.

For better representation and to highlight the best-selling product lines, we need to sort the product lines in descending order of quantity.

Getting ready

Open the report created in the previous recipe in Cognos Report Studio for further amendments.

How to do it...

In the report created in the previous recipe, we managed to show data filtered by the shipment month. To improve the reports look and feel, we will sort the output to highlight the best-selling products. To start this, perform the following steps:

  1. Open the report in Cognos Report Studio.
  2. Select the Quantity column.
  3. Click on the Sort button from the toolbar and choose Sort Descending.
  4. Run the report to check if sorting is working. You will notice that sorting is not working.
  5. Now go back to Report Studio, select Quantity, and click on the Sort button again. This time choose Edit Layout Sorting under the Other Sort Options header.
  6. Expand the tree for Product line. Drag Quantity from Detail Sort List to Sort List under Product line as shown in the following screenshot:
    How to do it...
  7. Click on the OK button and test the report. This time the rows are sorted in descending order of Quantity as required.

How it works...

The sort option by default works at the detailed level. This means the non-grouped items are sorted by the specified criteria within their own groups.

Here we want to sort the product lines that are grouped (not the detailed items). In order to sort the groups, we need to define a more advanced sorting using the Edit Layout Sorting options shown in this recipe.

There's more...

You can also define sorting for the whole list report from the Edit Layout Sorting dialog box. You can use different items and ordering for different groups and details.

You can also choose to sort certain groups by the data items that are not shown in the report. You need to bring only those items from source (model) to the query, and you will be able to pick it in the sorting dialog.

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IBM Cognos 10 Report Studio Cookbook
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