How to filter for a range of dates?

Typically, users create two date prompts: A Start date prompt and an End Date prompt to get data for a period.

IBM Cognos Report Studio lets you accomplish this using one Date prompt and using “in_range “ operator.
Steps:
1. Drag and Drop a Date prompt
2. Enable the Create a Parameterized filter
3. Select a date field ( such as ship date, Order date etc)
4. Select the Operator as “in-range” as shown below:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5. Click Finish and run your report

What does Select and Search prompt do?

IBM Cognos Report Studio provides a ‘Select & Search’ prompt. This prompt searches for a keyword and returns all matching values.

For example if you were searching for employees with the name ‘Jack’. The prompt searches and returns the values ‘Jack’, ‘Jackie’ or Jackzie’. Users can then choose the required employees and run the report.

Use a Select & Search prompt in 2 scenarios:

1. When you have too many values (too many to fit into a Value prompt)

2. When your values are case sensitive (For example, ‘Test’, ‘test’)

For example, in the image below we are searching for all employees with the name Jack

How to filter reports at different levels of data?

How do you retrieve data for last quarter in previous year and all of the current year?

Tree Prompts allow you take advantage of hierarchically structured data such as Time periods( Years, Quarters and months) and other hierarchies.
Tree Prompts displays all members in a hierarchy and allow users to select the level of detail they want to filter on.

For example, in the image below, we have a tree prompt with values selected for 1999 December and 2000 Q1.

How to standardize the numbers of rows per page on a report?

IBM Cognos Report Studio allow report authors to set the number of rows per page, the orientation of the report and default output for reports.

Steps:
1. Create a List or Crosstab report
2. Go to “Run” menu and select “Run Options”
3. Select the required report format, orientation, output and the numbers of rows per page.

Why do you see date/year or customer number or invoice number fields with values like 2016, 2032, 8022?

The reason is aggregate property was set incorrectly by the modeler. The modeler set the aggregate property to ‘Total’.

The aggregation for Attributes should be set as None, unsupported or maybe count.
Summarization should be performed only on Facts and not on attributes.
You as a report developer can set the aggregate property to ‘None’.

How to quickly display your Measures either as Values or percent of values?

IBM Cognos PowerPlay Studio allows you to display your measures as Values or percent of totals or percent of sub totals.

Steps to do this:

1. On the report Right-Click on the intersection of row and column labels

2. Choose either Values or percent of totals options.

How to display your reports on the Dashboard?

IBM Cognos Report studio allows you to display selected reports on your Dashboard.
Steps to do this:
1. Click on new Page Icon give it a name “My Daily Watch List”. Click Next
2.Select the Dashboard Layoutat the bottom click on “add”
3.Select Dashboard utilityand select "Multipage"
4.Click Next and enable ‘add the page to portal tabs’ and click Finish

5.Click on the edit button

6.Click on  and choose a folder or package with reports

7.See the output