Quando omni flunkus, mortati. Die dulci fruere.

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Monday, January 26, 2009

Freeze rows and columns on Report Studio crosstab

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I had a request recently by a business user who wanted to know if Cognos could freeze the header rows and columns of a crosstab (an Excel-like functionality). I found a fairly simple technique on how to accomplish this.

Steps:

  1. 1. Add two blocks on a blank report page.
  2. 2. Add a table with one cell and one row in the top block (assuming the report contains only one column).
  3. 3. Add a list on the lower block, and a data item from the model (order number).
  4. 4. Select the page, and associate the Query to the page.
  5. 5. Drag a text item in the cell of the table (in the top block).
  6. 6. Select the text item, and in the properties under query items, select order number (see step 3) and content as Label.
  7. 7. Select the second block containing the list.
  8. 8. Under Properties, Positioning, Size and Overflow, set Height = 12 cm and select Use scroll bar when necessary.
  9. 9. Select the Order Number column title in the list. Set its Box Type properties to None.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Set default "from date" in a date range prompt

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I discovered recently that you can't set the "default" of any Cognos prompts to a dynamic (non-static) value.

Let me explain: In my example, within Report Studio, I needed to change a date range prompt. I needed the "from date" to default to the beginning of the current year (i.e. Jan. 1, 2009), and the "to date" to default to the current date (today's date).

The best (non-Javascript) method of handling this as I discovered, is to create a radio-button prompt with the static choices of "From Start of Year" and "Select From Date". Next, I set these to values of 1 and 0 respectively. Finally, in the filter, I used the following logic:

(?DateType?=1 AND [MyDate] > _make_timestamp(extract('year',currentdate),01,01))

OR

(?DateType?=0 AND [MyDate] > ?FromDate?)

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Recommended reading: The Challenge of Good Performance Management

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A short article on Enterprise Systems magazine features a Q&A with the IBM Cognos VP of Worldwide Research and Development, Peter Griffiths. The article includes a concise and simple description of Performance Management (bookmarking this for my own reference) and how the new Cognos now under IBM management will continue to be effective in this space.

Read the complete article here: The Challenge of Good Performance Management