Cognos 8 Cognos Connection

HTTPS://POWAREHSE.MED.CORNELL.EDU/COGNOS8

Physician Organization Information Services Reporting Group

Weill Cornell Physician Organization Weill Medical College of Cornell University 575 Lexington Avenue, 3rd floor New York, NY 10022

Table of Contents
Cognos 8 - Cognos Connection Overview...1 Cognos Welcome Page2 Cognos Connection Navigator Screen.3 Tabs and Folders.3 Public Folders.4 My Folders..4 Folder Levels.......4 Sorting.....5 Document Count and Scroll Navigator....5 Cognos Connection Search and Preference Bar...6 Search Bar...6 Advanced Search.....7 Home - Setting and Viewing the Cognos Homepage ......8 Set up My Area Preferences.....8 My Watch Items..8 My Preferences.........9 General Preferences............9 Personal Preferences........10 Portal Tab Preferences10 My Activities and Schedules.......11 Launch Menu....11 Help Menu....11 Cognos Connection Toolbar (View, copy, order, sort, etc)12 Set Properties(folders)...12 Cut, Copy and Pasting a Report.....13 Sort Order of folders and reports..13 To change the sequence of a folder or report..13 Reports: Formats, Distribution and Scheduling.....15 Report Formats.15 Report Action Items..16 Set Properties (reports)....18 Saving a Report in Different Formats....23 Distributing Reports..24 Emailing to oneself....24 Emailing a report to others....25 Scheduling.27 Automating and Scheduling a Single Report27 Automating and Scheduling Multiple Reports..28 Managing Schedules.......29

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Overview of Cognos 8 Cognos Connection

Cognos Connection is the main interface in the Cognos 8 Business Intelligence software from which a user can navigate public and private folders to access Cognos reports and software. It is a web portal that helps you organize and collaborate reporting. Cognos Connection has many features and capabilities, some of which include accessing Analysis Studio, reviewing, scheduling and emailing reports and setting preferences. As a foldering system, Cognos Connection helps users manage their reports in a variety of formats that can be shared among other Cognos users or shared with others by email. The flexibility of Cognos at Weill Cornell Medical College can enhance your ability to manage data and reports. Please utilize this document as a reference guide. As this is a live document, content is subject to change.

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Cognos Welcome Page

This splash screen is the initial default page that appears when you log on to Cognos Connection.

My home - Goes to a Cognos homepage that you designate. Cognos content Is a link to the Public Cognos Connection area where you can access reports, files, folders and other Cognos content. Query my data - Lauches Query Studio to create simple queries and reports. Analyze my business - Launches Analysis Studio to work with cube packages. TIP: Analysis Studio must be launched in order to cube packages. Manage my events - Tracks changes in underlying data and reports. This feature opens a software utility that Weill Cornell Medical College does not presently provide training for. Checking this feature will keep the Cognos welcome page as the default screen when launching Cognos. Unchecking this will change the default screen to Cognos Connection screen. TIP: If the check mark is unchecked and the Cognos welcome page is desired, click on within the Cognos Connection page and select the and rechecking the Show this page in the future box to get the default Cognos welcome page back. - This will launch the various tutorials from the Cognos website. Log On screen notification - When logged on, the user log on information will be displayed with the department group first, followed by the user name. Cognos is set to use your Microsoft Windows log on information (CWID) and is an automatic process. Selecting Log Off will exit Cognos.

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The Cognos Connection Navigator Screen

Tabs and Folders

On the upper left hand side of the screen, you see Public Folders and My Folders (private folders). You can navigate to other folder and/or reports that you would like to access.

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New tab Selecting New Tab will give the option to add a new tab, remove a tab or modify the order of the tabs. TIP: The default tabs should be adequate, however if you need assistance creating new tabs then contact the POIS Reporting Team. Public Folders You will find various shared and private folders, standard reports and Cognos packages located within this tab. Cognos 8 Department NewsBoxes Public folders contained here are separated by departments. Only reports associated with your department will be accessable. Cube Packages This folder houses the cube packages and they cannot be opened directly from this location. To access a cube package you must launch Analysis Studio. DrillThrough This folder encompasses drill through files that are associated with a corresponding cube package. These files are intended for use with cubes only and are slow to respond when accessed directly. Please use Analysis Studio for any drill through features. FM Packages - Contains data and fields used to compile cubes and reports. Please do not use. My Folders Folders and reports located here can only be accessed by you or an administrator. Folder Levels As you navigate folders within Cognos Connection, the levels are displayed below the tabs. Clicking any folder level link will bring you to the contents of that folder.

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Sorting To the right of the Name and Modified columns folders from ascending and descending order. Clicking on the arrows will cycle three sorting schemes: Default order (typically ascending order) Ascending order Descending order , there are arrows that can toggle files and

Document Count and Scroll Navigator When navigating through the contents in each folder, items contained within a folder may exceed the amount of viewable items per screen. To scroll to the next page(s) of items, use the scroll arrows You can also find reports within a numerical range the right arrow icon. This will jump to the reports within that range. , enter those numbers and click

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Cognos Connection Search and Preference Bar

On the upper right hand side of the screen is the Cognos Connection Search and Preference Bar. There are several options that you can use to search for reports, folders or other modules in Cognos. In this section you can also set your preferences within Cognos, such as view preferences report output and format preferences.

User Log On department, Name indicator and Log Off option - Selecting Log Off will exit Cognos. Screen refresh - Cognos navigator screen refresh. Search bar Typing key word(s) and clicking the magnifying glass will initiate a search for reports, files or folders within the Public Folders or My Folders. Selecting the drop down arrow will bring you to another search bar with both simple or advanced search features.

TIP: The typical search default is on the name field, however the description field or both the name and description field can be chosen. Also note that this search occurs within the tab that is selected (Public Folders).

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Advanced Search Additional filter settings can be applied to narrow or focus a search.

Method- Choose the exact string, Starts with the exact string, or Matches the exact string. The default choice of Contains the exact string is recommended. Modified- Several last modification time frames are available. The default choice of Any is recommended. Type- There are many different file types that Cognos supports, however several types are not used. Some commonly searched files are documents, jobs, packages and reports. The default choice of Any is recommended. Scope- The folder search areas are at the discretion of the searcher, however the default option of This folder and its subfolders is recommended. TIP: The search feature will only search for items within the individual tabs. For example, when the Public folders tab is in the foreground , the search will only search within the Public Folder tab. To search within the My Folders tab, the My Folders tab should be selected.

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Setting and Viewing the Cognos Home Page Home Select this icon or the downward pointing arrow to invoke the drop down list with Home or Set

View as Home as a selection choice. Clicking Home will navigate back to your Cognos homepage. Clicking Set View as Home will set whichever page you are currently viewing to become your new home page. TIP: Any folder level within the Public Folder or My Folder tab can be set as a Cognos homepage. Set up My Area - Set Preferences Preference and activity settings where personal activities can be monitored within Cognos.

My Watch Items Any report that is added to your watch list will be displayed on the Alerts tab screen. An email notification will be sent to you when new versions of reports that have been added to the watch list become available. TIP: To access watched files, locate the file in the appropriate folder in Cognos Connection.

Remove me from the alert list - By clicking the check box beside a watched report and clicking the the report will no longer appear on your watch list. Note: Click to return to the previous page. When the My Area icon is selected again, only the two other choices (My Preferences, My Activities and Schedules) are displayed. This is consistent for the My Preferences or My Activities and Schedules sections.

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My Preferences - Personal preferences can be customized, such as: the number of items that can be viewed in public and private folders, report output formats, and portal view preferences. General Preferences Set the view preferences and output format settings for Cognos Connection.

Number of entries in list view Displays the number of items to appear on the Cognos Connection navigator screen. The maximum number of 999 entries is recommended. Separators in list view Displays files and folders in gridlines, alternating backgrounds, or no separator screens. Style Changes the style templates within Cognos. Report format Set the default report format for all reports (e.g., HTML, Excel 2002, Excel 2007). Automatic refresh rate in seconds The period of time before the portal interface refreshes. The default setting is recommended. Show the welcome page at startup Choose to display or not to display the welcome page when Cognos starts. Show a summary of the run options Display a summary of run options when executing reports. Default view The list view stacks folders and files on top of each other. The detailed view creates large icons separated in columns and provides details about an item whenever available. Number of columns in detail view This will display the amount of columns in the display view. Regional options Set your language preference. The default setting is recommended. Time zone This setting sets your location time. The default settings should remain.
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Personal Preferences This page primarily describes the Cognos user information. The default setting is recommended.

Portal Tabs Preferences Similar to the Public Folders and My Folders tabs; adding, removing or changing the order of the Cognos Connection tabs can be set here. Should you need assistance with creating additional tabs, please contact the POIS Reporting Group.

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My Activities and Schedules Is a central location to monitor scheduled Cognos reports. You can monitor current, past and upcoming report activities. Report schedules can also be enabled, disabled, and modified here. Within the past activities, you can monitor succeeded or failed scheduled reports. TIP: To alter report schedules (for example setting properties or modifying schedules) click the drop down arrow to the right of each report in the Schedules section.

Launch Menu As in the homepage menu, the Launch menu brings you to the various Cognos Studios. Please refer to the Cognos homepage for more information.

Help Menu Access the Cognos help menu. The Quick Tour allows for a tutorial of Cognos Connection and Analysis Studio.

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Cognos Connection Tool Bar

This tool bar is intended to help you organize Cognos reports and folders. You can create jobs or modify the display settings of reports and folders. You can alter the general view preferences in the Cognos Connection page. Add, remove or move reports and folders with features like cut, copy and paste.

List View Displays files and folders in rows. Detailed View Displays larger icons separated in columns and provides details about items whenever information is available. New Folder Creates new folders. New Job - Allows for the scheduling of multiple reports to run sequentially or at concurrently. New URL Creates website links that can be shared with others. This feature is not used at Weill Cornell Medical College. New Page Creates a new portal page that can contain multiple Cognos web parts, such as: Cognos Navigator, Viewers, or reports. Cut Move files or folders to other public/private folders. Copy Duplicates files or folders to be moved to other public/private folders. Paste Place cut or copied items into a selected location icon. Delete Removes selected files or folders. Set Properties Property preferences for folders. TIP: Preference options vary between file types as well as public and private files and folders. Order Display files or folders in specific sequences.

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Cut, Copy and Pasting a Report

To cut, copy and paste reports and folders: 1. Go to the Cognos Connection Navigator screen. 2. Check the checkboxes to the left of the report(s) or folder(s) desired. 3. Click the desired option, cut or copy. 4. Navigate to the desired folder. 5. Click paste icon to place the cut or copied report(s) or folder(s).

Sort Order of Folders and Reports

To change the sequence of a folder or report: 1. Click the order icon in the main Cognos Connection screen. 2. Click folder(s) or report(s) to highlight desired folder(s) or report(s), then click the right pointing arrow to move the folder(s) or report(s) to the Shown first box. 3. If the folders or reports do not appear in the sequence desired then highlight the item in the Shown first box and click a desired action (Up, Down, To top, To bottom), then click OK. TIP: Clicking the Ctrl button while selecting the folder(s) or report(s) will allow multiple folder(s) and report(s) to be chosen at the same time.

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Move selected report(s) or folder(s) to the Shown first box. Move selected report(s) or folder(s) in the Shown first box back to the Shown in default order box. Move all of the items in the Shown in default order box to the Shown first box. Move all of the items in the Shown first box back to the Shown in default order box.

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Reports
When creating and saving Cognos reports they are added to Cognos Connection. The reports can be saved in a variety of formats, such as Excel, Adobe Acrobat Reader, or HTML. Once saved, there are additional options that may be performed on each report that range from changing the formatting and properties of a report to automatically scheduling the report to be emailed to others.

Report Formats
When viewing reports, they can be viewed in several formats. The most common report view is in Excel or PDF. The following is a legend for the various report formats: Excel 2007 The report is viewable in Excel 2007. Excel 2002 The report is viewable in Excel 2002. Excel 2000 Single Sheet The report is viewable in Excel 2000. HTML The report is viewable in an internet browser, such as, Internet Explorer. Delimited text (CSV) The report can be viewed in many applications, but will not retain any formatting, such as, spaces or graphics. PDF The report is viewable in Adobe Acrobat Reader. XML - The report can be imported into an application. This option is mainly used by software developers. Analysis Studio The report is viewable only in Analysis Studio.

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Report Action Items

Set Properties - Property settings for reports. View all available output versions of report - Previously saved reports can be retrieved. They are viewable by date and report format (HTML, PDF, Excel). The reports captured will be as of when that report was run. Run report with options Generate a report on a one time basis in any format with the options to view, save, print or email the report. Open with Analysis Studio Opens a report in Analysis Studio. Create a Report View Creates different versions of a report using the underlying structure of the original report, but display the view in a format you choose. Schedule Schedule reports to run once or repeatedly. Scheduled reports can be saved in one or multiple formats and/or emailed each time the schedule runs. Displays all available actions that can be performed for a report. Inclusive of the options displayed in the actions menu, the additional options contain useful features like modifying or removing schedules, alert me about new versions or do not alert any about new versions. TIP: Items in this list vary depending on saved versions of the report. Many of the available actions repeat from the Cognos Connection Toolbar.

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Icons Revisited
Shortcut Creates a shortcut to a report within a folder in Cognos Connection Screen Bookmark - Creates a favorites link in the internet browser to point to the report via Cognos TIP: Bookmarks will only work for individuals with access to Cognos.

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Set Properties (reports): General Tab

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Zone 1 Type The type of entry the report is in, for example analysis or query. Owner The owner of the report. This defaults to the creator of the report. Contact This is the person responsible for the entry. 1. To change the contact person, click the Set the contact drop down and then click Select the contact to set the contact for the entry or 2. Click Enter an email address to enter the contacts CWID email address (i.e., test1234@med.cornell.edu). Location Displays the directory path of the report. Created The date the report was created. Modified The most recent date that the report was modified. Icon The icon for the report. Disable this entry When this is checked, users that do not have write permissions to the report will no longer be able to see the report in the portal. By default this setting unchecked. Zone 2 Name Displays the report name. Any changes entered in the name caption will change the name of the report. Screen tip Any caption entered in this area will appear on the main Cognos Navigator screen. When the cursor is paused over the report icon the screen tip caption will appear. Description Any caption entered in the description field will appear when viewing icons in the detailed view on the main Cognos Navigator screen or in the property window. Zone 3 Run History This setting displays the status of previous report runs, such as successful or failed report deployments. TIP: This is a good area to review, should an expected report result not appear. Duration Amount of time to retain report run history. If blank the history will remain until deleted or it is overwritten. Report output versions - The number of occurrences or period of time to keep report outputs. TIP: The amount of versions can be set from 1 to 999 entries, however it is recommended to have no more than 30 versions (less is usually appropriate). Package - The package that is associated with the entry.

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Analysis Tab

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Default action Select the dropdown list to: View most recent report, Run the report or open with Analysis Studio. Report icons will change depending on the drop down selection. TIP 1: When the Run the report option is chosen, the will appear next to the report icon This option will cause a report to run and re-compile. TIP 2: When View most recent report option is chosen, reports are saved into memory on Cognos 8. This allows for faster data retrieval for reports that were previously run. Report options 1. When this option is not checked, the default report format in which the report was saved will remain. 2. Clicking this option will allow for other versions of the report to be created (HTML, Excel 2007, Excel 2002, Excel 2000, Delimited Text (CSV), XML) TIP: When the Default action is changed to Run the report and the Override the default values checkbox is selected, the format version (HTML, Excel, and PDF) chosen will change the report icon to commensurate with the format version. Prompt values If you want to prompt for values to filter the data in the report, click select the Prompt for values check box under Prompt Values. Note: You are prompted for values only if the report specification or model includes prompts or if you have access to multiple data source connections or signons. Run as the owner Checking this option will run the report using the owner log-on credentials. It is recommended to keep this setting unchecked. Advanced options Number of rows per Web page in HTML reports Clicking the drop down list enables the amount of rows to be displayed or adjusted when a report is viewed in HTML format. Enable selection-based interactivity in HTML reports Allows features like drill up and drill down, drill through, Cognos Search when the report is viewed in Cognos Viewer. Enable alerts about new versions Allows users to receive alerts when new report output is generated. Enable enhanced user features in saved output versions This feature is used for other components of Cognos, which isnt being used at Weill Cornell Medical College. .

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Permissions Tab
The permissions should generally remain as the default settings and should not be changed.

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Saving a Report in Different Formats

To save a report other than the default format within Cognos Connection, such as HTML, PDF or Excel: 1. In the Cognos Connection screen, next to the report name, select the Run with Options icon in the Action menu. 2. Choose the desired Format in the drop down list and click the Save the report check box and click Run.

3. The icon of the original file will then be saved in the format selected.

Notice the change in icons, representing the change in report format. TIP: The refresh icon will need to be clicked for the change to be seen in the Cognos Connection screen.

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Distributing reports
There are several ways to share information within Cognos. Reports can be placed within folders that you have access to or emailed. Emailing a Report A convenient way to share reports is to email reports from Cognos. Cognos data can be emailed to yourself or others. There are several ways to distribute reports via email. To email a report (self): 1. Go to the desired report that you would like to email and choose the Run with Options icon 2. Click the Send me the report by email check box. 3. Click Run to email a report to your CWID account. .

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To email reports to others: 1. 2. 3. 4. Click the Run with Options icon of the desired report that you would like to email Click advanced options on right upper right hand side. Click Run in the background selection. Click Now or Later (scheduled date and time) to schedule when the report should be run/emailed. 5. Click Send the report by email box and click the Edit the options list to create the email. 6. Type CWID/s in the To: or CC: section of the email (semi-colons are needed to separate the emails).

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TIP: Selecting the Include a link to the report requires recipients to have Cognos access to launch and view the report via a link. TIP: It is good practice to select the Attach the report check box to provide the most flexibility to whomever the reports are shared with (both Cognos users and non-Cognos users).
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Scheduling
The Cognos Scheduling tool enables you to automate reports as well as distribute them (to both Cognos users and Non-Cognos users). Reports can be saved in one or multiple formats.

Automating and Scheduling a Single Report:

1. In the Cognos Connection Navigation Menu, click the check box of a desired report. 2. Click the scheduling icon under the Actions menu. 3. Select time interval for when you would like the report to be scheduled. Go to Start and click on the date icon and select the desired date and time. Go to End and click on the date icon and select the desired date and time. 4. Click Override the default values checkbox and select the desired report format(s) [HTML, PDF, Excel] 5. Under the Delivery option, click on the email checkbox and click the Edit the options link to send to multiple recipients. Please follow the To email to others section in this manual for emails settings. 6. Click OK. TIP: If a daily schedule is desired, remember to select an end by date and time.

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Automating and Scheduling Multiple Reports via Jobs:

In addition to scheduling a report within Cognos, multiple files can be scheduled simultaneously via a job. A job identifies a collection of reports, report views, and other jobs that are scheduled together and share the same schedule settings. When a scheduled job runs, all the entries within the job run. 1. Click the New Job icon 2. Enter the Name, a Description and Screen tip (optional). TIP: Ensure that the destination of the scheduled job created is in the My Folders location. 3. Click Add and select the reports desired to be scheduled.

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4. Once the reports are selected, click OK and click next on the following screen. TIP: Within the Selected entries box (upper right hand side); the reports scheduled will appear in the Selected entries box. 5. Choose Save and schedule and click Finish. 6. The Schedule screen will appear. Select the intervals desired. Please follow the Scheduling and To email to others section in this manual for assistance. 7. Click OK to confirm. TIP: The new job should automatically appear in the Cognos Navigator screen, but you may need to select refresh to see the newly created Scheduled Job.

Managing schedules
For ease of managing the various reports, Cognos has a centralized location to access the scheduled reports to the My Activities and Schedules please refer to the My Activities and Schedules section.

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