COGNOSPRESENTATION1.ppt

COGNOS PRODUCT FEATURES

FEATURES OF IMPROMPTU AND POWERPLAY- AN OVERVIEW

BY Devnarayan & Biranchi

•Cognos is Founded in 1969 .

•Cognos does business with 17,000 customers in more than 120 countries and employs some 2,500 people worldwide.

•Cognos has more than two million business intelligence licenses.

•Cognos business intelligence solutions and services are sold directly and are also available from more than 2,900 worldwide partners and resellers.

Cognos Enterprise Business Intelligence Software consists of :

Cognos 4Thought, brings the power of predictive modeling to business planners.

Cognos Accelerator, unleashes the Business Intelligence stored in SAP applications.

Cognos BI for the Small Enterprise, a complete BI solution for small-to-midsize companies, gives users immediate insight into the key factors driving the business.

Cognos DecisionStream, builds and deploys enterprise BI-ready data marts.

Cognos e-Applications, pre-defined data marts, along with ready-to-use reporting and analysis solutions to reduce the time and effort required to create a data mart and get started with Business Intelligence.

Cognos Finance, for financial reporting, consolidation, budgeting and forecasting.

Cognos Enterprise Business Intelligence Software consists of :

Cognos HeadStart Solutions, predefined analysis and reporting modules for delivering immediate value from corporate data stores.

Cognos Impromptu, the industry standard for enterprise query and reporting.

Cognos Impromptu Web Reports, the managed reporting solution for easy distribution and navigation of standard reports via the Web.

Cognos PowerPlay, for powerful OLAP reporting and analysis across the enterprise in a centrally managed, single-application-server environment.

Cognos PowerPlay Web, for instant deployment of multidimensional analysis capabilities via the Web.

Cognos NovaView, For Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 OLAP Services

Cognos Enterprise Business Intelligence Software consists of :

COGNOSuite, the industry's most complete BI solution.

Cognos Scenario, for uncovering hidden patterns and relationships in corporate data.

Cognos Upfront, a portal service that provides end users with a single, Web-based point of personalized access to Cognos BI information and non-BI content.

Cognos Visualizer, for interactive, multi-metric, data visualization.

Cognos Application Development Tools:

Cognos Axiant 4GL: the market's leading graphical client/server application development environment.

Cognos PowerHouse : the world's leading 4GL for building server-based minicomputer production systems.

PowerHouse Web : for building and deploying Web-based applications in conjunction with PowerHouse 4GL.

APL 2000 : a rapid application development language often used in financial applications.

Impromptu Features

Impromptu Supported Databases

Teradata

DB2

dBASE

HotFile

Informix

InterBase

Microsoft SQL Server

OpenIngres

Oracle

SQLBase

Sybase Adaptive Server and Sybase System 11

Administering Impromptu Includes

1. • analyzing user requirements

2. • creating catalogs

3. • making joins

4. • organizing folders

5. • setting up user classes and security

6. • creating calculations, conditions, and prompts

7. • automating and updating Impromptu –With Macros

8. • optimizing performance – With HotFiles and Snapshots

9. • integrating PowerPlay and Impromptu

Other Features include

1. * Web Enabling with HTML files

2 * Portfolio briefing books.

Database

Impromptu Request Server

Scheduler

Impromptu ReportsImpromptuCatalog

IMPROMPTU FUNCTIONING

Server Client

Impromptu ServerConnector

2. A catalog provides users with a logical view of the physical data .Impromptu catalogs contain information that Impromptu needs to access and retrieve data from a database.

• Folders—meaningful groups of information representing columns from one or more tables They present a logical view ,a business view of the database.• Columns—individual data elements that can appear in one or more folders

• Calculations—expressions used to compute required values from existing data Example : if ((Price - Prod Cost) <= 0.20 * Price) then (‘Low Margin’) else NULL

• Conditions—used to filter information so that only a certain type of information is displayed Example Country in (‘United States’, ‘Canada’, ‘Mexico’)

• Prompts—pre-defined selection criteria prompts that users can include in reports they create Example Enter the Start Date of the date range ,Enter the End Date of the date range

• Other components, such as metadata, a logical database name, join information, and user classes. names of the columns in the selected tables , join relationships between tables

Catalogs enable You to• run predefined reports• create custom reports• change catalog organization

As an administrator, you can create four types of catalogs:

• personal

• distributed

• shared

• secured

A personal catalog is a catalog that you do not intend to make accessible to other Impromptu users

A distributed catalog consists of an original master distributed catalog that the administrator controls and maintains, and one or more local catalogs that are created when users open the master distributed catalog

A shared catalog is generally stored on a LAN to provide access for all users.The creator of a shared catalog can change and grant privileges to specific users that enable them to

• organize the contents of the catalog by creating new folders, editing folders you've created, and changing their location

• work with conditions and calculations stored in the catalog

• connect and disconnect from the database

A secured catalog is a read-only catalog that only the Creator can change.

3.Joins define the relational links between tables in the physical database

Joins - Type Description

Equi Retrieves all of the rows from one table and the rows in another table when the values of the linked columns are equal. The most common join.

Non-Equi Retrieves all of the rows from one table that meet certain criteria in another table. The criteria are defined using expressions.

Outer Retrieves rows from one table even if there are no matching rows in another table.

Self (Reflexive) Required to compare data in a table column to itself. Can be used only by defining an alias table.

Compound Useful where two columns will generate a unique key to join to another table. Can also be used in combination with a non-equi, self, or outer join.

Complex Uses an expression created with the Expression Editor to join tables.Not used frequently.

A HotFile is a local data table you can create from database columns.Once created, a HotFile is independent of the database columns from which it was created, and you can use it in any report or catalog.

You can join a HotFile to database tables, reports, or other HotFiles. • HotFiles exist on the client. They are not supported by Impromptu Request Server.

• HotFiles are not indexed, therefore, joins may take longer than expected to execute.

• HotFile size is limited only by available disk space. However, you should not use HotFiles to store very large query results as they could slow computer performance.

A user class is a group of users (or a single user) who need access to the same data in a catalog and who have the same privileges.

5. User Classes and Security

• assign passwords to user classes• limit table access by user class (field-level security)• limit folder access and restrict select values by user class (folder-level security)• filter values by user class (security by value)• set governor values by user class• set database tab values by user class

To open a catalog, Impromptu requests User Class , user To open a catalog, Impromptu requests User Class , user class Password information ,database User ID and class Password information ,database User ID and database Password .database Password .

With IMPROMPTU You can• generate reports using data from multiple databases. • use HotFiles as lookup tables or in report prompts.

• use HotFiles as a database.

• add data items to a report not included in your catalog by addingthem directly from a HotFile.

• share HotFiles by including them in your catalog.

• create sub-reports, that is, sophisticated multiple queries contained in a single report, that provide users with comprehensive information

• drill through to information behind a value in your report

• take advantage of server speed to deliver efficient, remote snapshotsthat many users can quickly access without running a query

• enhance reports that will be viewed with a Web browser by including HTML

IMPROMPTU REPORTS HAS FACILITIES LIKE

• print a wide list report on a single page

• print a wide list report with columns that repeat on every printed page

• optimize template creation with optional, required, or multi-column placeholders

• have report column titles automatically match the names of the data items in the placeholders

• manage and re-use report prompts

• moving-average ,•moving-total ,• tertile ,• quantile ,•percentage ,• running-difference

Types of Impromptu Reports

•List Report

•CrossTab Report

•Mailing Labels

•Form Letter

•Freestyle Report

•Drill Through Reports

•Sub Reports

•Demo in c:\program files\cognos\impromptu 5.0\imp 5.0 tour

Request Server is the component of Impromptu that runs on UNIXplatforms and retrieves source data from relational databases forImpromptu reports.

• Request Server works with Impromptu, Scheduler and Impromptu Server Connector, all of which must be installed on users’ computers.

• store results in a database instance or server other than the one being queried

The request database is a set of tables, views, indexes, and storedprocedures that contain• detailed information about current requests• settings for Request Server’s operation

The Request Server periodically polls the requests that are queued in the request database, and acts on any that are scheduled for processing.

Packaged with both the user and administrator versions of Impromptu,Scheduler is used to set requests to run at definable times. A request can be run once only, or recurringly.

Scheduler can accept requests from Impromptu to run queries locally forany database accessible from Impromptu.

Users can let the server do the processing by submitting scheduled requests to Request Server. They can also schedule requests to be executed at off-peak times.

Impromptu Server Connector : Impromptu Server Connector gives Scheduler the ability to submit requests to Request Server. Without Impromptu Server Connector, only local reports can be scheduled.

Cognos Scheduler launches reports, programs, and macros based on times and dates that you specify. These scheduled launches are called “tasks.”

Supported Operating Systems

Request Server supports the following operating systems:

• IBM RS/6000 AIX 4.1, 4.2 or higher

• Hewlett Packard 9000 HP-UX 10.20 or higher

• Sun Solaris SPARC 2.4, 2.5 or higher

• DEC UNIX 4.0 or higher

Impromptu Request Server supports the following databases:

• Oracle 7.3 and 8.0 Teradata

• Informix Online 7.2 or higher

• Sybase SQL Server System 11 and Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise

11.5

7. Five Ways to Automate Impromptu

Impromptu has features to help you automate and maintain your Impromptu environment. You can:

• create standard reports and templates

• take advantage of Impromptu’s inheritance feature

• distribute a revised Impromptu.ini file to users

• mail shortcuts

• automate tasks (used to create, test, debug, and schedule ) with CognosScript Editor, CognosScript Dialog Editor,and Cognos Scheduler

automating and updating Impromptu –With Macros

You can use macros to:

• generate reports

• use existing library functions and subroutines or ones that you create

• perform complex string and numeric operations

• open and close files

• activate other applications

• generate snapshots and HotFiles

• integrate applications using OLE

8. Optimize Impromptu’s performance using

• Client/Database-Server Balancing

• Table Weighting

• Qualification Settings

• Governor Settings

• Alternative Data Sources

• User-Defined Functions

8 a) Client/Database-Server Balancing You can choose to perform query processing by Database Only, Limited Local Processing, or Flexible Processing.

8 b) Table weighting specifies the order in which tables will be retrieved and joined. The more detailed the table, the bigger the weight that should be assigned.

8 c) Qualification Settings :When using more than one database that has a table with the same name, you can use the Qualifications tab of the Tables dialog box to qualify tables in SQL queries.8 d) Using the Governor tab of the User Profiles dialog box, you can make settings that affect processing variables.

The Governor tab of the User Profiles dialog box also has settings that affect data access options.

These settings include:

• Limit Retrieval of Large Text Items to <n> Characters. This controls the size of BLOBS (Binary Large Objects) that users can retrieve. If your database supports BLOBs, Impromptu truncates the BLOB to the size you specify.

• Limiting the number of records is also required if each record has a large BLOB field. Impromptu lets you restrict data volumes using both the number of records and the size of BLOB fields.

A snapshot retrieves all the information for a report and stores it in a permanent cache on the PC.

8 e) Alternative Data Sources•snapshots • thumbnails • HotFiles

Impromptu can retrieve a specified number of records from the database and store them in a temporary cache on the PC called a thumbnail.Unlike snapshots, thumbnails allow you to apply less restrictive filters and add one or more columns, and Impromptu will automatically go back to the original database to get new information. Thumbnails are suitable for testing purposes.A HotFile is a flat sequential file.A HotFile is similar to a snapshot, but unlike a snapshot a HotFile can be:

• added to your catalog and used like a table

• used to create new reports

• used to join multiple databases from the same or different vendors

• used to create multiple query reports

• created automatically using macros

8 f) User-Defined Functions (UDFs) are custom functions that you can create and use within SQL statements to query your datasources. You can create UDFs to

• standardize custom functions for your organization

• leverage Impromptu’s database support, enabling report users to get data-specific answers from your databases

Impromptu Other Features :.Portfolio is a program for creating “briefing books” of standard Impromptu and PowerPlay reports.Administrators can simply cut and paste reports from PowerPlay and Impromptu into a briefing book ,which displays the reports and also serves as a pointer back to underlying Powercubes.

With MDI Database Gateway Datatype Support for Teradata

Impromptu supports the following Teradata datatypes

• BYTEINT • INTEGER

• CHAR • LONG VARCHAR

• DATE • SMALLINT

• DECIMAL • VARCHAR

• FLOAT

Impromptu does not support the following Teradata datatypes

•BYTE

• VARBYTE

Oracle Datatype Support

Impromptu supports the following Oracle datatypes

:•RAW • LONG RAW

• CHAR(size) • INTEGER • CHARACTER • LONG • LONG VARCHAR

• DATE • DECIMAL • NUMBER • DECIMAL(*) • NUMBER(*)

• DECIMAL(*,s) • NUMBER(*,s) • DECIMAL(p) • NUMBER(p)

• DECIMAL(p,s) • NUMBER(p,s) • DOUBLE PRECISION • REAL

• FLOAT • SMALLINT • FLOAT(*) • VARCHAR(size) • FLOAT(b)

Impromptu does not support the following Oracle 7 datatypes:

•RAW

• LONG RAW

Supported Microsoft SQL Server Datatypes

Impromptu supports the following MS SQL Server datatypes.

• CHART • FLOAT(n) where n is 1 through 23

• VARCHAR • REAL

• TINYINT • FLOAT (24-53)

• SMALLINT • MONEY

• BIT • SMALLMONEY

•INT •DATETIME

• NUMERIC • TEXT

• DECIMAL

PowerPlay Features

Available Flavours

•PowerPlay for Windows

•Supported Windows Operating Systems

•PowerPlay 6.x is a pure 32-bit version, supported under Windows NT 4.0, Windows 95, and Windows 98 only.

•PowerPlay for Excel

•PowerPlay Web

•PowerPlay Enterprise

Corporate Data Transformer Cube

PowerPlay

Reports

PowerPlay Interaction With Other Components

Dimensions are broad groupings of data that represent major segments of your business information, such as products or locations.

Drill-down paths are one or more vertical paths within each dimension , used for analytical purposes.Categories are the operational details of your organization,

A category is an occurrence at some level in the model - for example, May in the Month level.

Measures are numerical data used to gauge performance within the organization. Measure values are derived from a transactional query or calculated in Transformer by using specified formulas.

Transformerhelps in 1. Building New Model

2. Adjusting the Time Dimension

3. Building a New Model Manually

4. Issues about DATA1. Data Sources can be heterogeneous

2. Data formats can be fixed , with headings

3. Smaller data sets are faster

4. Incremental update and changes in source data are handled automatically by scheduler.

•Source values often change regularly. For example, new sales data might be added daily or monthly, or new products might be added quarterly.

•Can rebuild your PowerCubes as needed or you can use the Scheduler program that comes with the PowerPlay package to refresh your PowerCubes automatically.

• Can easily examine all the key performance indicators in your organization. Key performance indicators are the measures you use to evaluate your business.

With PowerPlay We Can

1. Drill Down

2. Slice & Dice

3. Filter

4. Change the Display Type ex :To graphs

5. Determine Percentage of business

6. Rank

7. Highlight Exceptions

8. Calculate

9. Drill Through to Impromptu

10.Publish Reports as HTML Documents

PowerPlay Reports

• Business Mix Report

• Top Ten Report

• Trend Over Time Report

• Variance Report

• Exception Report

• Quarterly Revenue Statement

Business Mix Report

Trend Over Time Report :identify developing trends

Variance Report : Examines the difference between actual & expected results.

Exception Report

Quarterly Revenue Statement

Impromptu Data From Relational

Databases Has catalog ,Request

Server Scheduler automates

the process of generating reports

Can be web enabled

PowerPlay Data from PowerCubes

Has Transformer

Can be web enabled OLAP functions can be

used in generating reports

Comparison of Impromptu And PowerPlay

Thank You