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IBM Cognos Business Intelligence 10: The Official Guide

IBM Cognos Business Intelligence 10: The Official Guide

Authors: Dan Volitich and Gerard Ruppert

Published: March 2012

eISBN: 9780071775922 0071775927 | ISBN: 9780071775939

IBM® Cognos® Business Intelligence 10: The Official Guide

Contents at a Glance

About the Authors

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Who Should Read This Book?

Approach and Organization of the Book

Part I: Introduction to Business Analytics and IBM Cognos 10

Part II: Accessing and Using IBM Cognos 10

Part III: Authoring Content with IBM Cognos 10

Part IV: Administration of IBM Cognos 10

Part I: Introduction to Business Analytics and IBM Cognos 10

Chapter 1: Introduction to Business Analytics

Types of Business Analytics

Analytical Reporting

Trending

Scenario Modeling

Predictive Modeling

Starting the Business Analytics Journey: Solid Business Intelligence

The IT Perspective of BI

The Business Perspective of BI

The Pursuit of Business Analytics

Chapter 2: Monitoring Performance Using Dashboards and Scorecards

Dashboards Show Current Information

Viewing Metrics with Scorecards

Value of a Balanced Scorecard

Planning for Dashboards and Scorecards

Understand Your Needs

Choose Metrics

Benefits of a Successful Implementation

Chapter 3: Introduction to IBM Cognos 10 Business Analytics

Cognos 10 User Roles

Non-Author Roles

Remote Recipient

Recipient

Active Report Recipient

Consumer

Mobile Consumer

Enhanced Consumer

Author Roles

Business Author

Business Analyst

Business Manager

Advanced Business Author

Professional Author

BI Professional

BI Administrator

Cognos Connection and Cognos 10 Studios

Cognos Connection

Cognos Business Insight

Cognos Query Studio

Cognos Analysis Studio

Cognos Business Insight Advanced

Cognos Report Studio

Cognos Event Studio

Cognos Metric Studio

IBM Cognos Mobile

Accessing IBM Cognos Mobile

Run a Report

Add a Report to Home Page and/or Favorites

Remove Reports from Favorites or Recently Run Reports

Search for Reports

IBM Cognos Mobile for iPad App

Run a Report

Highlight a Report

Chapter 4: Enhanced Analytics

Business Analytics—Enhanced

Elements of Enhanced Analytics

Statistical Analysis

Self-Service

Mobility

Analytics with Microsoft Excel

Part II: Accessing and Using IBM Cognos 10

Chapter 5: IBM Cognos Connection

Getting Started with IBM Cognos Connection

IBM Cognos Connection Welcome Page

IBM Cognos Connection Interface

IBM Cognos Connection Toolbar

Performing Actions

Setting Properties

General Properties

Report Properties

Running Reports

Viewing Output Versions

Creating Report Views

Scheduling Reports

Performing Other Actions

Managing Entries

Organizing Entries

Setting Permissions

Managing Versions

Viewing Run History

Creating Jobs

Creating Pages

Customizing IBM Cognos Connection

Setting Your Home View

Working in My Area

My Inbox

My Watch Items

My Preferences

My Activities and Schedules

Using IBM Cognos Viewer

Chapter 6: Microsoft Office Solutions

Getting Started with IBM Cognos for Microsoft Office

Connecting Microsoft Office to Cognos 10

Logging on to Cognos 10 Through Microsoft Office

Importing IBM Cognos 10 Content into an Office Application

Using IBM Cognos Analysis for Microsoft Excel

Accessing IBM Cognos Analysis for Microsoft Excel

Creating a List-Based Report

Creating a New List

Previewing with No Data

Creating an Exploration

Creating a Cell-Based Analysis

Expanding and Drilling Through Items

Comparing Data from Different Data Sources

Viewing an Analysis as an Exploration

Publishing Microsoft Office Documents in Cognos 10

Refreshing Cognos 10 Content in Microsoft Office

Your Presentation

Chapter 7: IBM Cognos Business Insight

Getting Started with IBM Cognos Business Insight

Opening IBM Cognos Business Insight

Using the Cognos Business Insight User Interface

Application Bar

Content Pane

Content Tab

Toolbox Tab

Creating a New Workspace

Adding Content

Adding Toolbox Widgets

Rearranging Content

Searching for Content

Saving Your Workspace

Adding Your Workspace as a Favorite

Working with Widgets

Using the Widget Toolbar

Customizing Widgets

Sorting Widget Content

Maximizing and Restoring a Widget

Deleting an Item from a Table

Setting the Widget Display Type

Setting Widget Properties

Modifying Widget Communications

Viewing the Widget Information Bar

Changing the Widget Color Palette

Swapping Rows and Columns

Resizing a Widget to Fit Its Content

Adding Comments to Widgets

Deleting a Widget

Customizing the Workspace

Choosing a Workspace Layout

Editing the Workspace Style

Setting Preferences

Sharing a Workspace Link

Part III: Authoring Content with IBM Cognos 10

Chapter 8: IBM Cognos Business Insight Advanced—Relational

Getting Started with IBM Cognos Business Insight Advanced

Opening IBM Cognos Business Insight Advanced

Using the Cognos Business Insight Advanced User Interface

Standard Toolbar

Style Toolbar

Content Pane

Work Area

Page Navigation

Properties Pane

Setting View Options

Working in Preview Mode and Design Mode

Working with List Reports

Creating a List Report

Filtering Reports

Grouping Reports

Summarizing Data

Adding Summary Lines

Removing Summary Lines

Sorting Reports

Adding Calculations to Reports

Creating a Custom Calculation

Adding Advanced Calculations to Reports

Formatting Reports

Formatting Data

Formatting Column Titles

Formatting the Report Header

Applying a Table Style

Using Conditional Formatting

Creating Crosstab Reports

Creating Chart Reports

Using Predefined Page Layouts for Reports

Running Reports

Chapter 9: IBM Cognos Business Insight Advanced—Dimensional

Dimensional Data Sources

Getting Started with IBM Cognos Business Insight Advanced

Generating Crosstab Reports

Inserting a Hierarchy

Nesting Members

Adding Filters

Adding a Context Filter

Suppressing Rows and Columns

Deleting a Context Filter

Creating a Custom Filter

Creating a Calculation

Creating Page Layers

Enabling Drill-Down and Drill-Up

Creating Custom Groups

Chapter 10: Report Authoring— Relational Data

Getting Started with IBM Cognos Report Studio

Opening IBM Cognos Report Studio

Using the Cognos Report Studio Interface

Standard Toolbar

Style Toolbar

Insertable Objects Pane

Explorer Bar

Work Area

Properties and Information Panes

Object Hierarchy

Creating List Reports

Grouping Data

Filtering Data

Filtering on an Existing Item

Creating an Advanced Filter

Adding Query Calculations

Formatting Data

Summarizing Data

Adding Summary Lines

Modifying the Aggregation Method

Adding Prompts to Reports

Adding a Cascading Prompt

Formatting Prompt Pages

Displaying Prompt Values in Reports

Formatting Reports

Creating a Header

Changing the Font Size

Setting a Background Color

Adding a Border to an Object

Applying Conditional Highlighting

Formatting Titles

Creating Crosstab Reports

Creating Chart Reports

Chapter 11: Report Authoring— Dimensional Data

Model Types and Dimensional Structure

Navigating Dimensional Structures

Generating a Report from a Dimensional Model

Inserting Hierarchies into Reports

Attributes in Reports

Focusing Dimensional Data

Dimensional Query Behavior

Creating Efficient Dimensional Queries

Set Function

Filter Function

Except Function

Slicer Filter

Context Filter

Page Layers

Simple Prompting

Dimensional Prompt Expressions and Tree Prompts

Navigating with Dimensional Functions

Family Functions

Children and Parent Functions

Cousin Function

Ancestor Function

Relative Functions

Relative Time Functions

Complex Functions

Prompt Macro

Chapter 12: Advanced Report Authoring

Create Drill-Through Access

Set Up a Target Report for Drill-Through Access

Set Up a Source Report for Drill-Through Access

Master Detail Relationship

Create a Master Detail Relationship

Adding a Microchart to a Report

Selecting Ancestors

Modify the Style for Multiple Items

Query Management

Query Types

Creating a Join

Specify What Appears When No Data Is Available

Dynamic Data Formatting Using Variables

Dynamic Column Rendering in a List Report Using Variables

Bursting Reports

Advanced Prompting

HTML Items

Singleton

Insert a Singleton Object

Edit a Query Associated with a Singleton Object

Associate Multiple Singletons to One Query

Table of Contents

Set Up the Table of Contents

Add a Table of Contents Entry for a Particular Data Item

Add Bookmarks to the Table of Contents

Active Reports

Create an Active Report

Add a Control with Static Data

Add a Control with Dynamic Data

Add Interactivity to Controls

Save an Active Report

Chapter 13: Statistical Reporting Overview

Basic Concepts

Variable Types

Statistical Analyses

Descriptive Statistics

Means Comparison

Nonparametric Tests

Correlation and Regression

Business Scenario: Shampoo pH Levels

Creating a New Statistics Analysis

Basic Descriptive Statistics

Histogram

One-Sample t-Test

One-Way Chi-Square Test

Correlation and Regression

Control Charts

Chapter 14: Event Management

What Is an Event?

Creating an Agent

Opening Cognos Event Studio

Navigation in Cognos Event Studio

Specify a Condition

Define a Parameter

Define a Calculation

Adding a Task

Send an Email

Publish a News Item

Run a Report

Run a Job

Run an Agent

Run an Approval Request

Run a Notification Request

Update a Database

Call a Web Service

Run an Export

Run an Import

Run an Index Update

Run a Content Maintenance Task

Run a Metric Task

Test an Agent

Specify the Task Execution Rules

Preview the Data

Save an Agent

Scheduling an Agent

Maintaining an Agent

Modify an Event Condition

Modify a Task

Delete a Task

Change the Order in Which Tasks Run

Specify Default Options for Tasks of an Agent

Specify Default Options for Report Format

Specify Default Options for Import Tasks

Using Agents in Cognos Connection

Run an Agent Manually

Schedule an Agent in Cognos Connection

Create an Agent View

Chapter 15: Scorecards and Metrics

Cognos Metric Studio

Opening Cognos Metric Studio

Accessing Metrics

History

Actions and Projects

Reports

Diagrams

Details

My Folders

Scorecards

Metric Types

Strategies

Metric Security

Cognos Metric Designer

Create a Cognos Metric Designer Project

Import Sources

Create a Metrics Extract from a Cube Package Source

Create a Metrics Extract from a Relational Package

Execute Metrics Extracts

Publish to Cognos Connection

Ensure that Scorecards Have Unique ID Codes

Choose the Best Time Setting

Use All Time Periods

Use the Current Time Period

Use the Last Completed Period

Use the Selected Time Periods

Metric Maintenance

Part IV: Administrationof IBM Cognos 10

Chapter 16: IBM Cognos Framework Manager Fundamentals

A Crash Course in Model Design Accelerator

The Results of the MDA

Building the Model by Hand

Metadata

Metadata Modeling

Components of a Framework Manager Project

Architecture

Views and Namespaces

Star Schema and Snowflake

Fact Table

Dimension Tables

Role Playing (Aliases) Tables

SQL Generation

Minimized SQL

Creating Components

Projects

Relationships

Joins

Cardinality

Create a Relationship

Namespaces

Rename a Namespace

Create a New Namespace

Query Subjects

Data Source Query Subjects

Model Query Subjects

Query Items

Adding New Query Items

Test a Query Subject

Renaming Query Items

Query Item Usage, Aggregation, and Other Attributes

Folders

Create a New Folder

Shortcuts

Star-Schema Groupings and the Presentation View

Packages

Create a New Package

Analyze Publish Impact

Tools

Model Advisor

Run the Model Advisor

Update Objects

Update a Query Subject

Context Explorer

Chapter 17: Queries, Relationships, and Determinants in IBM Cognos Framework Manager

Car Rental Example

Business Rules

Sample Data

Building an IBM Cognos Framework Manager Project

Importing the Metadata

Creating the Relationships

Building the First Model: Mistakes, Traps, and Determinants

The 99.9 Percent Mistake

The Trap

Determinants: “Get Out of the Trap Free” Card

Building Relationships to Build SQL

Star Schemas

Query Types

Single Table Queries

Single Fact–Single Grain Queries

Multiple Fact–Multiple Grain Queries

The Model Is Not the End

Chapter 18: Maintaining Models in IBM Cognos Framework Manager

Macros

Creating a Macro

Session Parameters

Anatomy of a Macro

Parameter Maps

Make a Macro

Macro Functions

Additional Macro Examples

Using Macros in Multilingual Implementations

Using Macros to Point to the Correct Database

Security

Configure Package Access

Specify Object Security

Specify Data Security

Dimensionally Modeled Relational Models

Why Dimensionally Model Metadata?

A Dimensional Primer

Regular Dimensions

Measure Dimensions

Time (Date) Dimensions

Why Dimensionally Model Metadata? Because of the Second Question

Building the Dimensionally Modeled Relational Model

Build a Regular Dimension

Build a Time Dimension

Build a Measure Dimension

Scope Relationships

Other Interesting Features

Dynamic Query Mode

Document the Project

Diagram Copy and Paste

Chapter 19: Security

Authentication

Authorization

Organization

Users, Groups, and Roles

Default Users

Default Groups

All Authenticated Users

Everyone

Default Roles

System Administrators

Consumers

Query Users

Analysis Users

Authors

Report Administrators

Server Administrators

Directory Administrators

Securing the Default Roles

Remove the Everyone Group

Users, Group, Roles, Capabilities, and Licensing

Customizing the Cognos Namespace

Adding Users, Groups, and Roles to the IBM Cognos 10 Namespace

Creating New Folders, Groups, and Roles

Assigning Users to Groups and Roles

Access Permissions

Setting Access Permissions

Grant or Deny Permissions for a Role

Access Permissions Interaction

IBM Cognos 10 Capabilities

Accessing Capabilities

Capabilities You Might Want to Change

Groups and Roles: What Is the Difference?

Using Roles, Access Permissions, and Capabilities

Business Case: Configuring Initial Security

Add a User to the System Administrators Role

Set Access Permissions

Business Case: Wait! That’s Not What I Wanted!

User Modes and Licenses

Creating License Roles

Modify the Default Capabilities

Executive Dashboard Capability

Report Studio Capability

Modify the User Interface Profiles

Modify the Custom and Standard Roles

Troubleshooting and Testing

Chapter 20: IBM Cognos Connection Management

Organize Content

Administering Properties

Status

Activities

System

System Metrics

System Settings

System Logging

Schedules

View Schedules

Modify Schedules

Security

Accessing My Folders Content

Accessing a User’s Properties

Default User Profile

Configuration

Data Source Connections

Create a Data Source

Modify a Database Connection

Content Administration

Export Content

Import Content

Distribution Lists and Contacts

Add a Contact

Create a Distribution List

Printers

Styles

Portlets

Dispatchers and Services

File System Location

Query Service Caching

Index Search

Chapter 21: IBM Cognos Lifecycle Manager

Introduction to IBM Cognos Lifecycle Manager

Location

Validation Project

Create a New Validation Project

Compare Results

Tasks Summary

Benchmark Project

Create a New Benchmark Project

Run the Second Benchmark

Index