Questions and Answers from 7/11/2013 Introduction to IBM Cognos Workspace Advanced

1. How does CWA compare with Analysis Studio?

In general, CWA has all of the functionality of Analysis Studio, and more.

2. Is share set written back to the Package, hence available to all users?

A reference to the “source” report containing the shared set is written to the package, and the shared set would then be available to your authors. Changes to the shared set in the “source” report in which it is contained will cascade to all the reports using it.

3. Can we format the prompts?

CWA does not allow for a prompt page or formatting of prompts.

4. Can you show example of external data please?

We’d be happy to demonstrate external data for you – please contact us and schedule a demonstration!

5. Did you say you cannot drill down when running as a consumer?

You cannot drill down when running as a consumer UNLESS you have enabled drill-downs on that report using the drill behaviors menu item. In Preview Mode you can drill regardless of this setting – but in consumer mode you must explicitly enable drilling.

6. When going from Cognos 8 Query Studio w/ a Business Author license, is a license upgrade required to go Cognos 10 and Workspace Advanced?

No license upgrades are required to go from C8 to C10 if you are current with your Cognos support contract. If you have let support lapse on your C8 environment then you must reinstate support before you can upgrade.

All of your licenses will transfer to C10 – however they may not include access to the new features of C10 that you might wish to use.

For example, in order to use Cognos Workspace Advanced you must have the “Advanced Business Author” level of licensing or above (e.g. Professional Author, Administrator). The “Query User” license level does not include access to CWA, so you will need to upgrade those licenses for those users if you wish to roll CWA out to them.

7. Can you have multiple prompts? You can have a prompt for each filter you include in your report if desired.

8. Can you talk a bit more about create shared set?

In a nutshell, the steps to create a shared set are as follows:

- Create the set you wish to share (ex: by adding that set to a crosstab)

- Assign a name to the set using the “Sharing” property in the property sheet for that set

- Save the report.

Now the report contains a set that can be shared. To actually share the set:

- Right-click on the model in the insertable objects pane of CWA (or report studio)

- Click Add Shared Set Report

- Navigate to the report containing the shared set

- The shared set(s) associated with the model appear at the bottom of the source tree and can be used by others who use the same package

9. How does shared set works? Does it stored in the package level so next report can make use of it?

Please see the other questions/answers in this document for more information on shared sets.

10. Does CWA support multicube reporting? Need data for multiple cubes side by side.

You can create a report in CWA or Report Studio from a package that contains multiple cubes. However you cannot populate an object on your report page from 2 different cubes. Ex: You can have a chart/crosstab from cube 1 and a separate chart/crosstab from cube 2 on your page… but you cannot have a single chart/crosstab that contains data from both cube 1 and cube 2.

11. And is shared set only available via CWA?

Shared sets are available in CWA and Report Studio.

12. Can you add a filter to a list on a item which is not displayed?

Yes, by right-clicking on the item in the package display and choosing “Filter for Report”. 13. Is there a way to send these CWA reports to user not have access to Cognos Connection?

You distribute CWA reports to recipients in exactly the same way as you distribute Report Studio, Analysis Studio or Query Studio reports.

14. If my users have Analysis Studio access would they also have CWA access?

Not necessarily – if the level of license your users have is “Analysis User” then they do not have access to CWA… the minimum level of license necessary to use CWA is Advanced Business Author

15. When sharing data, can you restrict permission?

If you are referring to row-level data security: You restrict permissions on shared data accessed via a CWA report in the same way you restrict data accessed via reports written in any other studio – this is typically done in the model (framework, transformer, dynamic cube, etc.) or database layer.

If you are referring to Shared Sets: Once a shared set is created, authors can reference it ONLY if they have access to the “source report” in which the shared set is defined. In addition, authors can only add shared sets to package to which they have write privileges.

16. Is shareset wiped out when package is re-pubilished?

Shared sets are retained when the package is republished.

17. Can you import external data, such as a spreadsheet to be used a filter? (this function was available in Brio/Hyperion)

There is no explicit “use spreadsheet as a filter” function in Cognos that we are aware of. However you can cut and paste data from a spreadsheet into a filter or a prompt in Cognos, or use the External Data functionality and an inner-join to achieve the same result.

18. Workspace contains selected value filters and slider filters, it also has the expandable region on the left to display filters - is that a topic for another day?

That’s a topic for Cognos Workspace (a different product than Cognos Workspace Advanced). Please view our CW webinar playback, available on our website, for more information about the Global Area which is what you’re referencing in your question. 19. Seems like formattable prompting is covered in Workspace rather than Workspace Advanced. Is this true?

Formattable prompting is covered in Report Studio.

20. What are package tree settings for?

Package tree settings control how you view the dimensional data source (members view or metadata view). Members view is like the view you get in Analysis Studio. Metadata view is the view you get in Query Studio. You can use either view in CWA. These are located in the upper left of the insertable objects pane.

There are also settings in that same area that control what is inserted when you drag a member from the model to your report (member inserted, member and children inserted or just children inserted). Finally it also allows you to indicate whether or not you are inserting sets or individual members when dragging two or more members to the report at once.

21. Do CWA reports support bursting?

No, only Report Studio supports setting burst options on a report… so while you can author a report you wish to burst using CWA, you will need to use Report Studio to setup the burst options on that report before you can burst it.