Cognos Basics!

[coggykid]

Hello All,

I'm new to Cognos. I have a few basic doubts.

1. What is the relationship between Impromptu and Transformer. I was told that one could do reports in Impromptu itself then why should we need Transformer and Powerplay.
2. What is the purpose of calculations and conditions in Impromptu.
3. How do i create a Impromptu query definition which can be used in Transformer.
4. Is it possible to give filter(where conditions) for a measure.
5. How do i do a report in Powerplay without a measure(metric) i.e. i want to display just the attributes.

Can someone give / point me to some guide on fundamentals to start with Cognos.

Still lot more to follow. Hope someone help this new kid in a wild jungle.

Million thanks for your responses

coggykid

 

[griffindm]

coggykid,

I'll take a crack at some of the questions. Anyone else join in.

1) Impromptu is a general reporting tool use to access database information directly. It can report either summary or transactional data. It can also be used to create a SQL-like IQD file used by transformer to retrieve data to be used in a Powerplay cube.

2) Calculations and conditions in Impromptu are used to create calculated columns, data not directly stored in the database. An example might be to look at name prefixes (Mr., Ms, Mrs.) and calculate a column called 'Gender' that was not present in the data. They can also be used in conditional formatting and in the filter expressions.

3) Write your query or report in Impromptu and choose 'Save As' then look for 'Query Definition (IQD)' third from the bottom of the list of options.

4) Yes. An example might be changing signs on Income Statement measures where the account type is revenue (usually stored as a negative number for positive results).
There are other ways to do this in Transformer as well.

5) I'm not sure I understand this one. One of the fundamentals of an OLAP cube is that there are dimensions (attributes not directly involved in a measurement), and there are measures, usually aggreations of some numeric values in the data. A Powerplay cube without measures would be a different animal for sure.


There are a number of good Powerplay experts that frequent the forum (I'm not one of them), so feel free to post questions as you go forward exploring the product.

Hope this helps,

Dave Griffin ;-)

 

[coggykid]

Dave Griffin ,

Thanks very much for your good reply. Regarding my question 5 let me make it clear. Suppose I have created a cube which contains measures and dimension attributes as well. Is it possible to do a report in Powerplay where i don't use the measures instead use only dimensions and display the report (eg. displaying employee details where there is no need for measures to be displayed). Let the created cube contains measures.

Regards

coggykid

 

[CognosProfessional]

Never saw a PowerPlay Report without measures. Have seen it in Excel though. Where you use Impromptu linking.
CP