TIPS & TRICKS FOR EFFECTIVE DASHBOARDSHOW TO BUILD PRACTICAL WIDGETS USING IBM COGNOS REPORT STUDIO

Introduction

Understanding the relationship between Cognos Workspace and Report Studio

Knowing where to focus the development effort

Todays Agenda

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USING REPORT STUDIO EFFECTIVELY

Workspace and Report Studio

Cognos Workspace is a web-based tool to create self-service dashboards, or workspaces

Assemble and personalize existing content via a drag-and-drop interface

Examine Cognos Workspace

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Report parts are added as widgets on the workspace

Widgets can be customized by the end-user

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Examine Cognos Workspace

Workspace users typically add report components, not whole reports to a workspace

Creates new challenges for report authors

Headers and footers do not show up on the dashboard

Naming of objects becomes crucial

List1, Crosstab1, PieChart1 will not work for end users

Good Widget Design in Report Studio

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BUILDING A FIXED SIZE WIDGET

DEMO

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Issues with different resolutions

Reports return more rows than expected

Fixing a widget to a common size

Allows for more flexibility in delivery method

Challenges & Goals

Demo

CREATE A FIXED SIZE WIDGET

Purpose:

We need a widget for our users that may return a large number of rows. We want to

eliminate the page down option and keep the screen from scrolling

1. Create a new Blank report.

2. From the Toolbox, drag a List to the Page Body. Enter MainList as the Name and click OK. Center the Page Body.

3. Use the Query Explorer and rename Query1 to MainListQuery.

4. Return to Report Page1, select the Page Header and set the Padding property as follows: Top padding: 10px, Bottom padding: 20px.

5. Select the Page Footer and set the Padding property as follows: Top padding: 10px, Bottom padding: 10px.

6. Save the report as Dashboard Widget.

7. From the Source tab in the left pane, expand Sales (query), expand Time and drag Year into the List.

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Demo

21. Expand Products and drag Product into the List to the right of Year.

22. Expand Sales and drag Revenue to the right of Product. Group the List by Year.

23. Save the report and run it.

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CREATE A FIXED SIZE WIDGET

Demo

24. Return to Report Studio and lets compress the report so that it renders on a single HTML page.

25. From the Toolbox, drag a Block onto the Page Body.

26. Select the Block and set the Size & Overflow property to 3in Wide by 4.5in High. Click the Always use scrollbars radio button and click OK.

27. Drag the List into the Block. Set the Lists Rows Per Page property to 1000.

28. Save and run the report again.

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CREATE A FIXED SIZE WIDGET

Demo

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CREATE A FIXED SIZE WIDGET

Adding the Widget to Workspace

Demo

Purpose:

Now that we have our widget, lets add it to a workspace

1. Close Report Studio and return to the portal.

2. From the icon screen click on Create workspaces on the web. From the main portal screen (Public Folders), click Launch Cognos Workspace

3. From the Content Pane, click on My Folders. Expand out Workspace Widget and drag Dashboard Widget onto the workspace

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ADDING THE WIDGET TO A WORKSPACE

Widget Recommendations

Widget Recommendations

Remember to name all objects

Improves ease of adding widgets

Can be leveraged when designing templates

Group widgets in similar folders

Dont make folder structure overly complex

Add multiple widgets to single Report Studio reports to make navigation easier

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Q & A

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