ReportNet Framework 1

[cogjai]

Hi
I need some info regarding ReportNet. Where exactly ReportNet fit in Cognos suite. Whats the functionality of ReportNet. Is it a replacement for any of the existing Cognos products?

thanks in advance

 

[crok]

Although COGNOS states they will keep supporting their other products, it is obvious to anyone who has used Reportnet that it is designed to replace Impromtu,Access manager,Designer,Query and Upfront......all in a much more managable environment that greatly extends its capabilities.

Impromtu was always an "in-between" product...to much for casual report builders and not enough for heavy duty report builders....that is now split into 2 products Query studio (easy for just about anyone) and Report Studio (great for building just about anything you can imagine)

The catalog building part of Impromtu is replaced with Framework manager, which builds frameworks (similar to catelogs) in a graphical environment for Query studio users and Report studio users. It also exports the frameworks in iqd format for Transformer/Powerplay (although I would bet that soon Transformer will read frameworks directly.

Framework manger also allows for much greater number of datasources (multi database too) including xml as a datasource. In fact, Frameworks themselves are stored as xml and i've created Frameworks that report on other Frameworks (kinda cool) as well as web services.

There is a lot to Reportnet, with a lot of still undiscovered uses, and it is obvious that COGNOS have created a product that they can add a wealth of functionality to.

 

[flex13]

The previous statement is true, with the exception that ReportNet was designed to replace the other tools. This couldn't be further from the truth as there is still a VERY large market of client's that can't afford ReportNet and still want to use BI tools. With that in mind, the other tools will be kept alive in one form or another for some time to come.

 

[talsani]

HI Crok,

I heard that Report Studio is web based tool and it is zero client??
I have not yet worked with ReportNet but i was wondering how it could launch a reporting tool which develops complex reports and still be zero client.
Does it atleast launch a Applet or ActiveX?
Is it just plain html?

How slick and quick is the usability of Report Studio?

Thanks in advance

 

[flex13]

Report Studio is as powerful as you want to make it. No applet is invoked as it's all XML based which is then interpreted by the underlying application server to render the report. It truly is 'zero client'!

To create simple reports is a small learning curve, but the more familiar you are with HTML/XML programming, the easier it gets to produce complex reports. You do not need programming knowledge per say, but the knowledge of the concepts is an asset.

 

[stacybost]

talsani,

You have it right, ReportNet does use ActiveX.

Also, as flex13 said, there is only a small learning curve for simple reports, but building more complex reports can be... well, complex.