Introduction to Cognos User Handbook 7800 E Orchard Road, Suite 280 Greenwood Village, CO 80111
Table of Contents... 3 Logging In To the Portal... 3 Understanding IBM Cognos Connection... 4 The IBM Cognos Connection Toolbar... 5 Navigating in IBM Cognos Connection... 5 Folder Tools... 6 Creating a New Folder in Public Folders... 6 Personalizing the Portal... 7 Using Help... 8 Understanding Public Folders... 9 Searching for a Report in Public Folders... 10 Sorting Reports... 11 Using Page Up and Page Down... 13 Report Actions Menu... 13 Viewing and Running a Report... 15 Understanding IBM Cognos Viewer... 17 Run with options, Advanced Options... 18 Running a Report with Prompts... 23 Report Email Options... 25 Schedule Reports... 25 Scheduling a Report... 26 Viewing Schedules... 28 Understanding How to Renew the Credentials... 28 Page 1 of 35
Create a Shortcut to Save a Report... 29 Create a Report View to Save a Report... 31 Create a Copy of a Report... 32 Cut, Copy, Paste and Delete Reports and Folders... 33 Copying Reports and Folders... 34 Comparison of Shortcut, Copy, and Report View Functions... 34 Page 2 of 35
Logging In To the Portal In Internet Explorer type the following URL into the address bar to access the My CDHS portal: https://my-cdhs.state.co.us/ 1. In the fields provided type the Username and Password provided by your instructor. Click Login. 2. Click the CBMS tab. 3. Under Applications click CBMS Cognos UAT. 4. In the fields provided type the Cognos User ID and Password provided by your instructor (may be the same as the portal login provided). Click OK. Page 3 of 35
The Welcome page may appear, with links to IBM Cognos Connection (IBM Cognos content) and My Actions available to you. 5. Under My Content click IBM Cognos content. Understanding IBM Cognos Connection Once you have successfully logged into IBM Cognos, or selected IBM Cognos content from the Welcome page, the portal appears. Public Folders All reports available to more than one person exist here My Folders Your personal workspace If your permissions allow Page Up and Page Down If there are more entries on a page, use page down to see everything in the folder Page 4 of 35
The IBM Cognos Connection Toolbar Refresh Click this button to refresh the portal My Area Options Personalize and manage your portal view here Help Access IBM Cognos Help Menus and documentation Search Field Use this tool to search for folders or reports in Public Folders. Home Click Home from anywhere in Cognos to return Home. Launch Use this menu to access Cognos report writing tools Permissions based Navigating in IBM Cognos Connection 1. In Public Folders click the Application Reports folder. 2. Click the 8401 Archive folder. Page 5 of 35
3. Use the breadcrumbs and click on the Public Folders link to navigate back up and to the top of the Public Folders structure. Folder Tools As you navigate through the Public Folders and My Folders tabs, a Toolbar of available options displays. The Toolbar shows the actions that can be performed in the portal. The actions are described below. Refresh the portal Show entries in a List View Show entries in Detail View Create a New Folder New Workspace New Job - run multiple reports Cut selected entries Copy selected entries Paste selected entries to the current location Delete selected entries Set Properties for the current folder or package Set the Order for folders or reports New Page Creating a New Folder in Public Folders 1. Click the My Folders tab. Page 6 of 35
2. In My Folders in the Folder tools click New Folder. 3. In the Name field type [First Name Last Name] Report Folder. You can also type a Description or a Screen tip. Make note of the location of the new folder. 4. Click Finish. Personalizing the Portal 1. In the upper right section of the portal click the My Area Options drop-down arrow and select My Preferences. Page 7 of 35
In My Preferences, you can personalize your portal view. 2. In the General tab, you can adjust the number of entries viewed. 3. For Separators in list view you can adjust the setting to Alternating background. 4. Click OK. Using Help In the upper right hand corner of the IBM Cognos Connection window is a question mark. The drop-down provides access to Help features. Page 8 of 35
Click Help and a Cognos Connection User Guide window opens, providing access to a PDF that you can search by topic or keyword. Understanding Public Folders Blue folders Yellow folders designate Package folders. (Least common) contain reports and report output. (Most common) The standard icons that appear next to reports help identify the class to which the entry belongs. PDF CSV (delimited text file) Excel 2002 Excel 2007 Report View(s) Report Studio report HTML Report Report View Page 9 of 35
Searching for a Report in Public Folders 1. From Public Folders click the Application Reports folder. 2. In the Application Reports folder, at the top of the screen click on the down arrow next to the Search box and select Name field. 3. In the Search box type Detailed Timely Processing and click Search (the magnifying glass). To narrow the results further, you can click the Advanced link next to the Search field. Page 10 of 35
An expanded Search menu opens. 4. At the top of the Search screen, click the Return arrow to return to the Application Reports folder. The Return arrow is provided in Cognos Connection to help you navigate through folders and screens. When you click Return, you are taken back to the previous page or screen. Return is not available on all screens in Cognos Connection. The Home button is available on all screens and is also a helpful navigation tool. When you click Home, you are taken by default back to the top of the Public Folders. Click the down arrow next to Home to change the default Home settings: Sorting Reports In addition to using Search functions to locate reports, you are also able to sort reports and folders ascending or descending by Name or Modified (date). In the Application Reports folder, notice that the reports are sorted alphabetically ascending by Name by default. 5. In the Application Reports folder, next to the Name column header, click Sort twice to apply a Descending sort. Page 11 of 35
Notice the Name column is now sorted Descending and the Sort indicator shows the bottom triangle is selected. Also notice that folders always appear at the top. 6. Next to the Modified column header, click the Sort button once to sort Ascending. Page 12 of 35
7. Next to the Modified column header, click the Sort button once more to sort Descending. 8. Next to the Name column header, click the Sort button once to return to the default sort (Ascending by Name). Using Page Up and Page Down If there are more reports or folders to display than your current settings allow, the buttons will be activated and look like this: Report Actions Menu The Actions Menu options change relative to the type of report. You may not see all of these icons for every report. 1. In the Application Reports folder scroll down to find the Detailed Timely Processing of Medical Applicant Determinations Ad hoc report and notice the Actions Menu and the options available: Page 13 of 35
Set/modify properties View the output versions Open with Cognos Workspace Advanced* Create a report view (shortcut) Run with options Schedule recurring jobs Open with Report Studio* All available report options *access based on permissions 2. In the Actions Menu for the Detailed Timely Processing of Medical Applicant Determinations Ad hoc report click Set properties. The Set properties window opens. Notice, at the bottom of the Set properties window you can see the Package used to build the report. This report was written using the DSS_APPLICATIONS package. If the source package was moved or deleted, the text reads "Unavailable." 3. Click Close. 4. In the Actions Menu for the same report click More. The Perform an action menu opens. Page 14 of 35
5. Click Cancel to return to the Application Reports folder. 6. Click the Home button to return to the top of the Public Folders. Viewing and Running a Report 1. In IBM Cognos Connection, from the Public Folders tab, click to open the IBM Cognos Training-SDC folder. 2. Click to open the Introduction to Cognos Connection and Report Navigation Training folder. 3. Find the Running a Report report specification and in the Actions Menu click Run with options. Page 15 of 35
4. In the Run with options window, from the Format dropdown select HTML. This is the default run format for reports. You can change this setting for your own personal login, or the report developer makes the change in the report settings. You can change the format here, or after the report runs. Format Options -- HTML PDF EXCEL 2007 EXCEL 2002 Delimited text (CSV) XML Advanced Options For time scheduling and distribution options 5. Always ensure the Prompt for values box is checked. We discuss Prompts and Prompt pages in a later lesson. 6. Click Run. Page 16 of 35
Understanding IBM Cognos Viewer IBM Cognos Viewer is the interface used to display reports in IBM Cognos. The default output is in HTML format. When you view a report in IBM Cognos Viewer, there are many actions available in the Toolbar: Click the blue arrow to run the report again. This is a quick way to access the Prompt page, update Prompt selections and run the report again. Click the View options drop down to change the View output of the report. Options include: HTML, PDF, XML, and Microsoft Excel. Navigating in the Report in Cognos Viewer To check if there is more data that isn t displayed on the initial page. Click the Page Down option at the bottom of the report. 1. At the bottom of the Cognos Viewer window click Page down. 2. Next, click Bottom. Change the View of the Report PDF, Excel, CSV 1. In the Cognos Viewer Toolbar click the View in dropdown and select View in Excel 2007 Format. Page 17 of 35
2. Click Open. The report opens in a new Microsoft Excel window. From this window you can edit the report in Excel, save the file to your network or desktop, or print it. 3. In the upper right hand corner of the Viewer Window click Home to return to IBM Cognos Connection and the Public Folders. Run with options, Advanced Options 1. In IBM Cognos Connection, from the Public Folders tab, click to open the IBM Cognos Training-SDC folder and the Introduction to Cognos Connection and Report Navigation Training folder. 2. Find the Running a Report and in the Actions Menu click Run with options. 3. In the Run with options window, click the advanced options link. Page 18 of 35
The Run with advanced options window opens. 4. Under Time and mode, click the radio button for Run in the background. In this example, we schedule the report to run in the background now. Another option is to use the date and time fields to schedule the report to run sometime in the future for example, after regular business hours when there is not as much traffic on the database. Page 19 of 35
5. Under Formats click the checkboxes for HTML, PDF and Excel 2007. Under Delivery are options to create a report view, which is like a shortcut to a report. We discuss Report Views further later in this handbook. 6. Next to Save the report as a report view, click Edit the options. In the Save as report view window, notice the option to change the name of the report as well as select another location. This feature allows you to run the current report as a report view and save the output to the folder of your choice. 7. Click Select My Folders. Page 20 of 35
8. Click OK. Permissions and security settings apply to printing and emailing reports. Report Email Options 1. Under Delivery, next to Send the report by email click Edit the options. The Set the email options window opens. Here you specify the recipients and contents of the email. To add recipients, click Select the recipients or type the email addresses separated by semi-colons. To include an HTML report as the message body, leave the Body box empty and select the report as the only attachment. If you include a link to the report, the recipient Page 21 of 35
must have Cognos login credentials and will be asked to log in before they can view the report. Next, we finish the process of setting up Advanced options. 2. Always ensure the Prompt for values box is checked. We discuss Prompts and Prompt pages later in this handbook. 3. Click Run. Cognos verifies your run selections. 4. Verify the selections and click OK. Run with advanced options provides the advantage of running reports in the background and allows you to do other tasks in Cognos while not having to watch the spinning hourglass icon on your screen! 5. Click on My Folders to see if the Report View and the associated output versions have appeared. 6. You may have to click Refresh to refresh the portal. The Report view output of the Running a Report report is now ready to review. 7. In the Report Actions menu for the report, click Output versions. Page 22 of 35
The View report output versions window opens. There are three output versions of the report HTML, Excel 2007 and PDF. Each version has the same data just in a different format. Under Actions for the Excel and PDF output is a download download and save the file to your network or desktop. 8. Click Close. button that allows you to Running a Report with Prompts 1. In IBM Cognos Connection, from the Public Folders tab, click to open the IBM Cognos Training-SDC folder. 2. Click to open the Introduction to Cognos Connection and Report Navigation Training folder. 3. Find the Running a Report with Prompts report specification and in the Actions Menu click Run with options. Page 23 of 35
4. In the Run with options window ensure the Prompt for values box is checked. 5. Click Run. The Prompt page appears. You can select Counties and Program filters here. The orange asterisk and the orange dotted line indicate that the prompt is required and some value must be selected or entered for the report to run. 6. Click Finish. The report executes and displays the results in IBM Cognos Viewer. 7. Review and explore the report output. 8. In the Cognos Viewer window click Run. Page 24 of 35
The Prompt Page appears again and allows you to make different prompt selections and rerun the report. 9. Make different prompt selections. 10. Click Finish to execute the report. Report Email Options 11. At the top of the viewer window click Keep this Version and select Email Report. The Set the email options window opens. Here you specify the recipients and contents of the email. Schedule Reports You can schedule IBM Cognos reports to run at a time that is convenient for you. After you create a schedule, the report or job runs at the time and date specified. You can then view the scheduled reports or jobs and manage them. PROMPTS IN SCHEDULED REPORTS If a report or job that contains prompts is scheduled, you must save the prompt values or specify default values to ensure that values exist when the report runs according to the schedule. In a job, you can specify prompt values for job steps. When a report runs as part of a job, the prompt values saved in the job definition are used instead of the values saved with the report. If no values are specified in the job definition, IBM Cognos software uses the values saved in the report. PRIORITY FOR SCHEDULED REPORTS When you schedule a report or job, you may be able to select a run priority from 1 to 5. For example, a report with priority 1 runs before an entry with priority 5. If there is more than one entry with a specific priority, the one that arrived in the queue first runs first. The default is 3. If you do not have permissions for entry priorities, the priority appears but you cannot change it. When you schedule a job, you can set priority for the whole job only, not for individual entries within a job. However, you can change the priority of individual entries when they are pending in the queue. Page 25 of 35
Scheduling a Report 1. In IBM Cognos Connection, in Public Folders and the Cognos Connection and Report Navigation folder, find the Running a Report with Prompts report. In the Report Actions menu, click Schedule. The Schedule window opens. 2. Under Frequency, select how often you want the schedule to run by Day, by Week, by Month, by Year or by Trigger. The Frequency section is dynamic and changes with your selection. If you select By Day, select how often you want the schedule to run each day. You can schedule an entry either by the minute or by the hour. When you specify a daily frequency, you also have the option to select a time period when you want the entry to run during the day, for example, between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm. In this way, you can restrict the running of entries to periods during the day when updates are required. 3. Under Start, select the date you want the schedule to start. 4. Under End, select the date you want the schedule to end. Page 26 of 35
Tip: If you want to create the schedule but not apply it right away, select the Disable the schedule checkbox. To later enable the schedule, clear the checkbox. You also have the option under Options to select the Override the default values checkboxes to select formats, languages and delivery method (including how to save report output files). We do not make any changes to these settings in this example. 5. Under Prompt values place a check in the box to Override the default values. 6. Click Set The Prompt page for the report opens. Make selections for prompts here that you want to apply each time the schedule runs. 7. For County select the county in question. For office name Select your Office and Unit name. Current Assigned user will be selected from the drop down list. 8. Click Finish. Page 27 of 35
9. Confirm all selections and click OK. A schedule is created and the report runs, with the selected prompt values, at the next scheduled time. Viewing Schedules Once you ve set up a schedule, there are two ways to view and manage report schedules. Go to the report and in the Actions Menu click the Schedule button. This action allows you to manage schedules for reports individually. Go to My Area Options and select My Activities and Schedules. 10. In IBM Cognos Connection click My Area Options and select My Activities and Schedules. The My Activities and Schedules window opens. 11. Click Schedules. You can disable or enable the schedule from this view, or from the Schedule menu for the report. Understanding How to Renew the Credentials Every time your Cognos password changes, you are encouraged to Renew Credentials in IBM Cognos. 1. Click My Area Options and select My Preferences. Page 28 of 35
2. On the Set preferences window click the Personal tab. 3. Halfway down the page, under Credentials, click Renew the credentials. A confirmation message appears: Create a Shortcut to Save a Report 1. In IBM Cognos Connection locate a report you want to create a shortcut to. In this example, we are in Public Folders and the Application Reports folder and want to create a shortcut of the Detailed Timely Processing of Medical Applicant Determinations report. 2. In the Actions Menu for the report click More The Perform an action menu opens. Page 29 of 35
3. Click Create a shortcut to this entry. The Specify a name and description New shortcut wizard window opens. 4. In the Name box, edit the name of the shortcut (if desired). You can also enter a Description or Screen tip. Page 30 of 35
Under Location, you can click to Select another location (folder) in Public Folders or Select My Folders. 5. Click Select My Folders. 6. Click Finish. Note, the description only appears in the portal when you set your preferences to use the details view. Create a Report View to Save a Report 1. In IBM Cognos Connection locate a report you want to create a view for. In this example, we are in Public Folders and the Application Reports folder and want to create a report view of the Detailed Timely Processing of Medical Applicant Determinations report. 2. In the Actions Menu for the report click More The Perform an action menu opens. 3. Click Create a report view of this report. The Specify a name and description New Report View wizard opens. Page 31 of 35
4. In the Name box, edit the name of the view (if desired). You can also enter a Description or Screen tip. Under Location, you can select another folder in Public Folders or Select My Folders. 5. Click Select My Folders. 6. Click Finish. In the portal, report view entries are identified by the report view icon. The report view has the same run options and properties as the original entry. Create a Copy of a Report A copy is an independent version of the original report. Coding changes in the original report will not affect the copy. Deleting the original report will also not affect the copy. 1. In IBM Cognos Connection locate a report you want to create a copy of. 2. In the Actions Menu for the report click More The Perform an action menu opens. Page 32 of 35
3. Click Copy. The Save as a copy window opens. 4. In the Name box, edit the name (if desired). Under Location, you can select another folder in Public Folders or Select My Folders. 5. Click Select My Folders. 6. Click Finish. Cut, Copy, Paste and Delete Reports and Folders Page 33 of 35
The cut, copy, paste and delete functions in Cognos Connection are available in the Folder Tools. Copying Reports and Folders 1. In IBM Cognos Connection locate the report you want to copy. In this example, we are in Public Folders and the Application Reports folder and want to create a copy of the Detailed Timely Processing of Medical Applicant Determinations report. 2. Place a check in the box to the left of the report name to select the report. 3. In the Folder Tools click Copy. 4. Click the My Folders tab. 5. In the Folder Tools click Paste. The folder refreshes to show the pasted report. 6. In My Folders you also see the Shortcut, Report View and Copy you created in the three previous lessons. Comparison of Shortcut, Copy, and Report View Functions There are slight, but significant, differences between the functionality of a Shortcut vs. a Copy vs. a Report View. The best functionality is supplied with a Report View which keeps a link to the source report and changes made to the source report also affect any Report Views that are based on that source. Here is a summary of the functions: Page 34 of 35
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