Editor’s Note: This blog was originally posted on April 14, 2011, and has been reviewed on October 5, 2020 to reflect Cognos analytics changes. Exporting Cognos report data in CSV is one of the most frequently used output formats, and it is very common to leverage those CSV files in other applications and tools. For example, for data integration or as data feed in other system. Thus we find that knowing how to address text encoding issue is still a very helpful topic, specifically when transfer CSV file between different operation systems, which default character set and encoding maybe different. Many populate text editor like Notepadd++, Textpad can switch encoding easily, an alternative method to convert encoding of CSV file outside Cognos. Let’s know what are the solutions or challenges in your unique scenarios. Read more
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
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Dynamic query Mode Read more
Released in October of 2010, IBM Cognos 10 is a vastly improved release and sets the bar high for integrated business intelligence platforms and performance management.
Here are ten reasons to consider upgrading to (or making an initial investment in) IBM Cognos 10.
Read more
In this month’s Tech Tip we will extend the capability introduced in last month’s article “Creating IBM Cognos Portal Pages” by linking various portal pages in Cognos Connection dashboard applications. To demonstrate this technique, we will explain how to pass your prompt selections from one dashboard portlet to other report portlets within the same dashboard page. Read more
How to build a dashboard in IBM Cognos 8.4.x?
As we engage with our hundreds of customers, one question that inevitably arises, is how do we build good dashboards? The questions begs at least a cursory understanding of IBM Cognos 8’s capabilities and options. That being said, I am purposely not discussing capablities introduced in Cognos 10, like Business Insight, Business Insight Advanced, or Active Reports. Mainly due to the fact that many existing IBM Cognos customers have not upgraded their platform to IBM Cognos 10.1. We will cover those tools in depth separately. That being said, with the exception of GoDashboard, all of the these techniques/descriptions also apply to IBM Cognos 10, extended of course by BI, BIA, and the Active Reports capability.
Cognos 8.4.x provides the following options for building dashboards: Read more
As we mentioned in last month’s newsletter we will be featuring articles regarding IBM Cognos 10 for the next several months in order to bring our subscribers up to speed on the newest IBM Cognos offering. In prior months we had discussed our initial reaction to IBM Cognos 10, Active Reports and this month we will be reviewing the all new Business Insight interface.
This new interface is geared towards the business user, providing them with a suite of powerful tools to access, analyze, and format BI content with minimal training. Let’s go ahead and get started with how best to make use of this new tool. Read more
Overview:
This month’s Tech Tip article is a two part article that will review the implementation of global filters in Cognos Connection dashboard applications. To demonstrate this technique, we will explain how to pass your prompt selections from one dashboard portlet to other report portlets within the same dashboard page.
In an effort to facilitate the recreation of the samples provided in this article, all examples were written using the “GO Sales (query)” sample package (provided with the default Cognos sample pack) and have been broken down to two simple steps:
- Creating the Report Studio prompts and parameterized reports.
- Creating pages in Cognos Connection. Read more
Over the next few months we will be bringing you a number of articles on the new capabilities found in Cognos 10 (last month: IBM Cognos 10: Initial Thoughts and Reactions) with a goal towards providing our fellow developers, implementers and users with our impressions and the associated benefits and drawbacks of the new tool.
One of the most discussed features of IBM Cognos 10 is the availability of Active reports, which has been billed as an ideal solution for managed dashboards aimed at Business Managers, Executives and Front Line users. As with all tools, there are a number of pros and cons that should be considered before making any strategic decisions around the implementation of new functionality. Read more
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. Read more
The Ironside Group is excited to once again publicly offer both our Fundamentals and Advanced Framework Manager Training courses in back-to-back fashion. As with all of our course offerings, this curricula is lead by our veteran consultants who have decades of in-depth real-world technical experience with IBM Cognos software. Take advantage of this special combined offering and become a Framework Manager expert in a weeks time.
Course: IBM Cognos 8 Framework Manager Fundamentals (View Description)
When: March 7-9, 2011
Course: IBM Cognos 8 Framework Manager Advanced (View Description)
When: March 10-11, 2011
Where: Ironside Group Lexington, MA (Boston)
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Ironside is a data, analytics, and AI consulting and technology implementation company. We work with clients to understand their business objectives and day-to-day challenges, then employ our deep expertise in data strategy, architecture and engineering, integration, business intelligence, AI, and generative AI. We create technical solutions and practical approaches designed to drive smarter, data-driven decisions across a company and help it move further and faster toward its business goals.