Wondering if using Cognos is correct solution for requirement

[timfost]

Folks,

In the shop I work in we have cognos decision stream which I understand is an ETL tool. I have a requirement to retrieve some data from a sql server database and write it to an output file. The data is basically order data and when written to the file each order will create multiple batches of records

1) a header record for the order
2) detail records for each product in the order
3) a summary record for the order

the records need to be fixed length format.

ie the product code field in the file will be 10 characters long. If the code from the database is only 4 then the field will be right justified and padded with spaces.

Someone in the shop has used decision stream in the past and suggested that it might be able to do this type of processing.

I am not very familiar with decision stream but to me it does not seem like the best choice for trying to do this as it is really a tool for transforming data and storing it in a data warehouse, not creating a fixed length flat file.

What do you folks think? Would cognos be able to do this easily or at all. If it can do it would it be a good use of the tool or would I end up using it in a way it wasn't really designed to be used?

Thanks in advance.

 

[goldsmt]

cognos decision stream can do the job, however its a bit like asking a sledge hammer to crack a nut, you could get the same results using any reporting to with a save as option (ie impromptu, crystal etc) or dts. If this is your only requirement then its abit heavy weight but would work. I'd use dts, its part of SQL server and simple to use