18 Mar 2011
By Allen
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Learning the Microsoft BI Stack: SSRS

Microsoft SQL Server, SQL Server, SSIS, SSRS
I've been learning and working with IBM Cognos since it arrived on my desk in 1999.  It was an ugly brown box labeled Cognos 5.5.  Since then I've studied and learned 6.x then 7.x and finally made the painful transition to 8.x. Now I'm studying both the Microsoft Business Intelligence stack (SSAS, SSIS and SSRS) along with learning the new Cognos 10. I just want to list two WROX titles which are the best I've found for getting up to speed quickly. For learning SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) go get the Professional series book 'Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Reporting…
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13 Mar 2011
By Allen
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Cognos 10 Download

Cognos, , ,
Go to http://www-947.ibm.com/support/entry/portal Select "Downloads" from "Choose your Page". Don't use the "Featured Download links". Instead, look at the right hand side of the page where you should see 'Other IBM Pages' with a [+] to expand  drop down box. Within that you can choose "Software Trials and Downloads" and then download the Cognos 8 Develop Edition or Cognos 10 (Cognos BI Developer Edition). When you fill out the download form, it asks if you were referred by an IBM partner.  Answer 'yes' and list 'GAMA Health Technology, Inc.'.  Then contact me if you need assistance testing the product. I…
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13 Mar 2011
By Allen
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Cognos 10 – First thoughts

Cognos
Ok so this is just my first thoughts as I watch a Cognos 10 demo.  I have yet to get my hands on a demo to try it with some real data. The Demo Theme: Think, Connect, Do The focus is trying to remove barriers from what user wants to do with their data. Duh. Unified Workspace Adds, 'Progressive Interaction', ability to drill in for more information.  Adds ability to link in data from a spreadsheet, local, or network share.  One contractor in the room from Redlands BIDW uses Excel spreadsheets as a method for filtering reports for given departments,…
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05 May 2010
By Allen
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Hiding Crosstab row titles in Cognos 8.4

Cognos, , , , ,
Since 8.3, the (Don't Print) global class still reserves a full width space for the title object, even if the text is not displayed. One method is to set 'Box Type' to 'None' but that can mess up alignment with the column headers if you have nested row levels to hide. Hopefully this will be fixed in the next version of Cognos. Workaround: 1. Click the column/row header and set the 'Source Type' property to 'Text'. This creates a null string so it measures zero length of space to reserve. 2. In Page Explorer, go to the 'Classes' 3. Create…
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08 Apr 2010
By Allen
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Calling Cognos reports with URL parameters and removing headers

Calling Cognos reports with URL parameters and removing headers

Cognos, ,
When building dashboards with jQuery objects, there may be issues calling the report within the Cognos Portal Pages 'Cognos Viewer' object. The workaround is to use the 'HTML Viewer' in a portal page. The HTML Viewer is actually an iFrame calling a new instance of Cognos and may require re-authentication. The method we ended up for inserting reports is as follows. 1. Create the target report for the dashboard/portal page. 2. In Cognos Connection, navigate to the report and click on Properties. 3. In the upper right hand corner Click on 'View the search path, ID and URL'. 4. In…
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25 Mar 2010
By Allen
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Add a custom chart palette to Cognos.

Add a custom chart palette to Cognos.

Cognos, , , ,
While Cognos does many things well, most people have different tastes in colors.  This article will walk you through creating and installing a custom chart palette.  This example is for general charts, but the principles can be applied to maps and gauges in the same XML files. Example Charts 'Before' and 'After' 1. Choose your colors. These colors are from the 'Barn' palette and others I found at Colour Lovers They have great palettes to get you started. 2. Edit ChartPalettes.xml In windows this file is found in: C:\Program Files\Cognos\c8\webcontent\pat\res 3. You can either create a new palette or just…
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