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IBM Cognos 10 Report Studio Cookbook, Second Edition - Second Edition

Book Image

IBM Cognos 10 Report Studio Cookbook, Second Edition - Second Edition

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.

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IBM Cognos 10 Report Studio Cookbook, Second Edition - Second Edition
Aug, 2013 | 364 pages
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Table of Contents (21 chapters)
IBM Cognos 10 Report Studio Cookbook Second Edition
IBM Cognos 10 Report Studio Cookbook Second Edition
Credits
Credits
About the Authors
About the Authors
About the Reviewers
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Preface
Free Chapter
1
Report Authoring Basic Concepts
Report Authoring Basic Concepts
Introduction
Summary filters and detail filters
Sorting grouped values
Aggregation and rollup aggregation
Implementing if-then-else in filters
Formatting data – dates, numbers, and percentages
Creating sections
Hiding columns in crosstabs
Prompts – display value versus use value
2
Advanced Report Authoring
Advanced Report Authoring
Introduction
Adding cascaded prompts
Creating a nested report – defining the master-detail relationship
Writing back to the database
Adding conditional formatting
Formatting negative values
Playing with conditional styles
Using conditional blocks – many reports in one
Defining drill-through from crosstab intersection
Overriding crosstab intersection drill-through definitions
3
Using JavaScript Files – Tips and Tricks
Using JavaScript Files – Tips and Tricks
Introduction
Defining dynamic default values for prompts
Changing the title of the value prompt
Validating textbox prompts
Showing/hiding prompt controls at runtime
Selecting and submitting values automatically
Manipulating the Date Time control
Creating a variable width bar chart using JavaScript
4
The Report Page – Tips and Tricks
The Report Page – Tips and Tricks
Introduction
Showing images dynamically (traffic light report)
Handling the missing image issue
Dynamic links to an external website (a Google Maps example)
Alternating drill links
Showing tooltips on reports
Merged cells in Excel output
Worksheet name in Excel output
Conditional column titles
5
Working with XML
Working with XML
Introduction
Changing drill targets quickly
Copying and pasting drill links
Removing references to old packages or items
A hidden gem in XML – row level formatting
6
Writing Printable Reports
Writing Printable Reports
Introduction
Controlling the container size and rows per page
Eliminating orphan rows
Defining page orientation and size (and overriding them for one page)
Avoiding page title repetition
Horizontal pagination
Page numbering with horizontal pagination
Choosing the output format from a prompt
Choosing the right colors
Defining page sets
Cautions about HTML items and JavaScript files
Displaying the report name in a footer
7
Working with Dimensional Models
Working with Dimensional Models
Introduction
List report or crosstab report
Filtering rows or columns
Filtering a whole report
Adding a prompt into Slicer and its limitations
Achieving zero suppression
Aggregation versus preaggregated values
The roleValue() function
Swapping dimensions using MUN manipulation
8
Working with Macros
Working with Macros
Introduction
Adding data-level security using the CSVIdentityMap macro
Using the Prompt macro in native SQL
Making prompts optional
Adding a token using macros
Using the prompt() and promptmany() macros in query subjects
Showing the prompt values in a report based on security
String operations to get it right
Showing a username in the footer
9
Using Report Studio Efficiently
Using Report Studio Efficiently
Introduction
Using Report Studio's environmental options
Copying and pasting partial or full reports
Upgrading report specifications
Setting the execution timeout
Setting the maximum row limit
Handling slow report validation
Capturing a query
Browsing values from the data expression window
Viewing the page structure
Picking up and applying styles
Using the "grab them all" practice
Using Default Data Formats
10
Working with Active Reports
Working with Active Reports
Introduction
Building tabbed reports
Working with Decks
Working with the Data Deck
Filtering data using Data Check Box Group
11
Charts and New Chart Features
Charts and New Chart Features
Introduction
Chart formatting options
Converting a chart to another chart type
Working with pie charts
Getting started with bullet charts
Getting started with scatter charts
12
More Useful Recipes
More Useful Recipes
Introduction
Timing report execution
Missing values versus zero values
Overriding data formatting using patterns
Setting up conditional drill-throughs
Dynamically switching between reports using an iFrame
Freezing column titles
13
Best Practices
Best Practices
Introduction
Reducing the number of query items
Highlighting hidden items
Using relative paths for images
Controlling JavaScript file execution
Customizing classes for report-wide effect
Creating templates
Regression testing
Commenting the code
Naming data containers (lists, crosstabs, and charts) for use in Cognos Workspace
Enabling a larger worksheet size for Excel 2007
Recommendations and References
Recommendations and References
Introduction
Version controlling
Recommendations for prompt types
Cognos Mashup Service
SDK and third-party tools for Cognos
IBM Cognos Analysis For Excel (CAFE)
IBM Cognos for Microsoft Office
IBM Cognos Workspace
IBM Cognos Workspace Advanced
IBM Cognos Cloud
Index
Index

Merged cells in Excel output

Let's say there is a list report with many columns. The report shows the title in the page header. Users mostly access this report in Excel format.

When the output is generated, Cognos puts the output in the first cell (A1). This stretches the A column as shown in the following screenshot:

In this recipe, we will see how to get Cognos to generate merged cells so that the columns are not stretched.

Getting ready

Create a simple list report. Put a report title in the page header as shown in the following screenshot:

How to do it...

We can merge cells in Excel in the same way we merge columns in a table in Cognos. In fact, this is what we are going to do:

  1. Insert a Table from the Toolbox pane into the report header.

  2. Set the Number of columns to 4. Keep Number of rows at 1. Click on OK as shown in the following screenshot:

  3. Now select the first cell of the table. Hold down the Shift key and select the last cell of the table. This should select all the cells.

  4. From the menu, select...

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