Cognos Reporting Tool

COGNOS(R) 8 BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
NEW FEATURES
Cognos(R) 8 Business Intelligence Readme

Cognos(R) 8 Business Intelligence New
NEW FEATURES
TM
THE NEXT LEVEL OF PERFORMANCE
Product Information
(R)
This document applies to Cognos 8 Version 8.1 and may also apply to subsequent releases. To check for newer versions of this document,
visit the Cognos support Web site (http://support.cognos.com).
Copyright
Copyright (C) 2005 Cognos Incorporated.
Portions of Cognos(R) software products are protected by one or more of the following U.S. Patents: 6,609,123 B1; 6,611,838 B1; 6,662,188
B1; 6,728,697 B2; 6,741,982 B2; 6,763,520 B1; 6,768,995 B2; 6,782,378 B2; 6,847,973 B2; 6,907,428 B2; 6,853,375 B2.
Cognos and the Cognos logo are trademarks of Cognos Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. All other names are
trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
While every attempt has been made to ensure that the information in this document is accurate and complete, some typographical errors or
technical inaccuracies may exist. Cognos does not accept responsibility for any kind of loss resulting from the use of information contained in
this document.
This document shows the publication date. The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice. Any
improvements or changes to either the product or the document will be documented in subsequent editions.
U.S. Government Restricted Rights. The software and accompanying materials are provided with Restricted Rights. Use, duplication, or
disclosure by the Government is subject to the restrictions in subparagraph (C)(1)(ii) of the Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software
clause at DFARS 252.227-7013, or subparagraphs (C) (1) and (2) of the Commercial Computer Software - Restricted Rights at
48CFR52.227-19, as applicable. The Contractor is Cognos Corporation, 15 Wayside Road, Burlington, MA 01803.
This software/documentation contains proprietary information of Cognos Incorporated. All rights are reserved. Reverse engineering of this
software is prohibited. No part of this software/documentation may be copied, photocopied, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
transmitted in any form or by any means, or translated into another language without the prior written consent of Cognos Incorporated.
Table of Contents
Introduction 7
Chapter 1: Overview of New Features 9
Chapter 2: Open Data Access 11
Any Studio, Any Data 11
Dimensionally Modeled Relational Data 11
Dimensional Modeling of Relational Data Sources in Framework Manager 11
Analysis of Dimensionally-modeled Relational Databases 11
Support for OLAP Data Sources 11
Enhanced OLAP Data Access 12
Reporting on Cognos Enterprise Planning and Cognos Finance Data 12
High-quality Presentation and Enterprise Distribution for OLAP Reports 12
Support for Data Source by Studio 12
Chapter 3: Web-based Analysis 13
Analysis of Relational Data 13
Features for Analyzing Large Data Sets 13
Managing the Amount of Data Retrieved 13
Summarizing Your Results 13
Support for Dimensional Attributes 14
Controlling When Data is Retrieved 14
Overview Area 14
Advanced Analysis for Comparison 14
Top or Bottom Filters 14
Flexible Filtering 15
Multilevel Ranking 15
Statistical Functions and Compound Expressions 15
Custom Sets 15
Flexible Data Insertion and Layout 15
Chapter 4: Managed Reporting 17
Report Authoring on OLAP Sources 17
Improved Report Authoring 17
Multidimensional Expressions 17
Class Styles 17
Reusable Layout Components 17
Drag-and-drop Creation of Union Crosstabs 18
More Powerful Reports 18
Model Joins in Queries 18
Conditional Rendering of Objects in Reports 18
Dashboard Support 18
Maps 18
Charting 19
Simplified Chart Authoring 19
Drill Capabilities in Charts 19
Formatting for Chart Elements 19
Support for Data-driven Baselines, Markers, and Notes 19
Multiple Queries for Multi-part Charts 20
Additional Chart Types 20
New Chart Options 20
New Features 3
Chapter 5: Self-service Reporting 21
Queries on OLAP Sources 21
Templates 21
More Powerful Self-service Reports 21
Formatting Features 21
Conditional Formatting 21
Improved Filtering 22
Support for Hierarchies 22
Chapter 6: Event Lifecycle Management 23
Open Data Access 23
Event Detection, Qualification, and Escalation 23
Event Tasks 23
Chapter 7: Performance Management using Scorecarding and Metrics 25
Integration with Other Components of Cognos 8 25
Support for Multiple Metric Applications 25
Improved Calendar 25
Objectives and the Status of Groups 25
Enhanced Diagrams 26
Projects and Actions 26
End User Edits 26
Chapter 8: Enhanced Portal Capabilities and Integration 27
Integration With Enterprise Portals 27
Support for Plumtree Corporate Portal 27
Lightweight, URL-based Portal Integration 27
Portal Pages and Portlets in Cognos Connection 27
Using Portlets Inside of Cognos Connection 27
Sharing Portal Pages 27
Improved Communications Between Cognos Portlets 28
Other Cognos Connection Enhancements 28
Access to Styles Controlled Through User Preferences 28
User-defined Home Page and a Customizable Welcome Page 28
Connect to Cognos Contributor from Cognos Connection 28
Chapter 9: Enterprise Administration 29
Secure and Easily Scalable Architecture 29
Open Data Access 29
Integrated Installation and Configuration 29
Common Open API 29
Extended Metadata and Data Support and Functionality 29
Dimensional Modeling of Relational Sources 29
Ability to Model Conformed Dimensions Stored as Separate Tables 30
Native Metadata Support for OLAP Sources 30
Importing System Tables 30
Improvements to Third-party Metadata Imports 30
Support for Additional SQL 99 Data Types 30
Customizing Functions Listed in a Package 30
Generating a Model Report 30
Improvements to Context Explorer 31
Viewing Dependencies for a Model Query Subject 31
Dimension Information Replaced by Determinants 31
Improved Application Administration 31
Server Affinity 31
Increased Scheduling 31
Connection Testing 31
Model-based Drill-through Support 31
Graduated User Interface Capabilities 31
4
Enhanced User Account Management 32
Index 33
New Features 5
6
Introduction
This document summarizes the new features introduced in Cognos 8 Business Intelligence.
Cognos 8 Business Intelligence is an integrated enterprise solution built on the proven Web
services architecture developed for ReportNet. It provides secure, easy-to-deploy, zero footprint
reporting, analysis, monitoring, and scorecarding to all users in your enterprise. Cognos 8
combines major upgrades from ReportNet, PowerPlay Web Explorer, Metrics Manager, and
DecisionStream, and further integrates these components. It includes new versions of Report
Studio, Query Studio, and Cognos Connection. PowerPlay Web is replaced by Analysis Studio,
Metrics Manager is replaced by Metric Studio, DecisionStream is replaced by Data Manager, and
Event Studio is added to provide event lifecycle management.
This guide does not include the new features in Data Manager. For more information, see Data
Manager New Features.
For more information about using this product, visit the Cognos support Web site
(http://support.cognos.com).
The following documents contain related information, and may be referred to in this document.
Note that the availability of the studios described in these documents depends on your licensing
permissions. To change your licensing permissions, see your administrator.
Document Description
Cognos Connection User Using Cognos Connection to publish, find, manage, organize, and
Guide view Cognos content, such as scorecards, reports, analyses, and
agents
Query Studio User Guide Creating self-service business intelligence reports
Analysis Studio User Exploring, analyzing, and comparing dimensional data

Guide
Report Studio User Guide Authoring reports that analyze corporate data according to specific
needs
Event Studio User Guide Creating and managing agents that monitor data and perform tasks
when the data meets predefined thresholds
Metric Studio User Guide Authoring scorecard applications and monitoring the metrics within
for Authors them
Cognos 8 Administration Managing servers, security, reports, and Cognos Portal Services;
and Security Guide setting up Cognos samples; and customizing Cognos 8
Cognos 8 Architecture Planning the Cognos 8 architecture, developing installation

and Planning Guide strategies, and optimizing performance
Map Manager Installing and using Map Manager to import and manage maps that
Installation and User are used to create map reports
Guide
Framework Manager Creating and publishing models using Framework Manager

User Guide
This document is available as online help and as an online book.
New Features 7
Introduction
From within the online help, you can click the following link to open a printable version of this
document (PDF).
Our documentation includes user guides, tutorial guides, reference books, and other materials to
meet the needs of our varied audience.
You can also read the product readme files and the installation guides directly from Cognos
product CDs.
Online Help
All information is available in online help. Online help is available from the help button in a Web
browser, or the Help menu and help button in Windows products. You can also download the
online help from the Cognos support Web site (http://support.cognos.com).
Books for Printing

The information in each online help system is available in online book format (PDF). However,
the information from a given help system may be divided into more than one online book. Use
online books when you want to print a document or when you want to search the whole
document.
You can print selected pages, a section, or the whole book. Cognos grants you a non-exclusive,
non-transferable license to use, copy, and reproduce the copyright materials, in printed or
electronic format, solely for the purpose of providing internal training on, operating, and
maintaining the Cognos software.
Online books are available from the introduction to the online help for each component.
All online books are available on the Cognos documentation CD.
You can also read the product readme files and the installation guides directly from Cognos
product CDs.
8
Chapter 1: Overview of New Features
Cognos 8 Business Intelligence provides an open data strategy that makes information visible
across your organization. You can use all parts of the powerful business intelligence capabilities of
Cognos 8 on both your relational and multidimensional data assets.
Depending on the package you purchased, you may not have all the components mentioned in this
guide. The following table lists the components included with each Cognos 8 package.
Cognos 8 Cognos
Business Cognos Cognos Metrics Cognos Data
Component Intelligence ReportNet PowerPlay Manager Manager
Cognos
Connection
Cognos Viewer
Query Studio
Report Studio
Analysis Studio
Event Studio
Metric Studio
Metric Designer
Data Manager
Framework
Manager
Composite
Transformer
PowerPlay
Windows
Map Manager
For more information about using this product, visit the Cognos support Web site
New Features 9
Chapter 1: Overview of New Features
Answering business questions is now easier with Analysis Studio. It provides enhanced top or
bottom filtering, dynamic subtotals, more ways to insert data, and enhanced data access. Flexible
filtering and intelligent data management make analyzing large amounts of data more efficient.
PowerPlay Web Explorer, the previous version of Analysis Studio, supported analysis on
industry-standard OLAP data sources, including PowerCubes. In Analysis Studio, data access is
extended to include features unique to those OLAP data sources as well as to data stored in
dimensionally-designed relational databases.
Due to the open data access architecture of Cognos 8, both Query Studio and Report Studio can
now be used for building reports from multidimensional data sources.
New features in Report Studio facilitate the building of dashboards. These features include maps
and gauge charts, greater control over chart coloring and layout, and the ability to define and
control drill-down interactivity in reports.
When creating reports in Query Studio, you can now control layout elements such as fonts and
colors. You can also apply a template created in Report Studio to achieve a standard corporate
look.
Event Studio is a new component that delivers complete event lifecycle management. You can
define event-driven agents that notify users of key operational or performance events that affect
your business.
Metric Studio, an upgrade from Metrics Manager, helps you manage the performance of your
organization by monitoring and analyzing metrics. With Metric Studio you can create integrated
plans, forecasts, reports, analyses, and scorecards that show how your organization is performing,
why it is performing that way, and what you can do to improve performance.
Due to enhancements to Cognos Connection and Cognos portlets, you can now use
industry-standard portlets inside of Cognos Connection, and use content from Cognos
Connection in other portals. Portal pages are new objects that provide a visual arrangement of
multiple reports and other content. They can be shared across users and deployed as content.
The architecture of Cognos 8 Business Intelligence, now provides better security and scalability.
New features help you to deploy and manage an efficient Web-based business intelligence
environment.
10
Chapter 2: Open Data Access
Cognos 8 Business Intelligence provides full business intelligence capabilities regardless of how
your data is stored. Building on the success of ReportNet and PowerPlay, it provides advanced
enterprise reporting and analysis capabilities for both relational and OLAP sources.
Any Studio, Any Data

Cognos 8 Business Intelligence provides a common interface and data access engine that supports
many data sources. You can report on, analyze, use in scorecards, and monitor data from the
following sources:
• relational (IBM, Oracle, SQL, Teradata, Sybase, ODBC, etc.)
• modern (XML, JDBC, LDAP, WSDL) through the Composite Information Server
• Cognos PowerCubes, Cognos Planning Contributor Cubes, and Cognos Finance Cubes
• OLAP (Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services, IBM DB2/OLAP, Hyperion Essbase, SAP
BW)
For more information about supported data sources, visit the Cognos support Web site
Dimensionally Modeled Relational Data

By modeling relational data using dimensional concepts, you can create a package that looks and
acts like a cube when used in the studios, including Analysis Studio.
Dimensional Modeling of Relational Data Sources in Framework Manager

Framework Manager, the modeling component of Cognos 8, uses dimensional concepts to better
reflect the business view of your data and enable online analysis. A new modeling paradigm is a
powerful addition to traditional relational modeling. It includes:
• hierarchy-specific query items
• measure scoping capabilities
• conformed dimensions, even when the data is stored as separate tables.
• multiple logical hierarchies per dimension
For more information, see the Framework Manager User Guide.
Analysis of Dimensionally-modeled Relational Databases

Cognos 8 provides interactive analysis on dimensionally-designed relational data while leveraging
the increasing aggregate-awareness strengths of the Relational Database Management System
(RDBMS). This includes support for IBM DB2 cube views and Oracle 10G materialized views.
Support for OLAP Data Sources

Cognos 8 provides enhanced analysis and reporting on OLAP data sources. It supports more
capabilities of OLAP data sources and provides more options for generating and distributing
high-quality reports.
New Features 11
Chapter 2: Open Data Access
Enhanced OLAP Data Access

Cognos 8 provides better access to industry-standard OLAP data sources. It takes advantage of
the unique capabilities of the following OLAP data sources:
• Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services (MSAS) cubes: security, member properties, named
sets, and actions
• IBM DB2 OLAP and Hyperion Essbase cubes: substitution variables and member properties
• SAP BW
For more information, visit the Cognos support Web site (http://support.cognos.com).
Reporting on Cognos Enterprise Planning and Cognos Finance Data

The following new features make it easier to report from live and published Cognos Enterprise
Planning and Cognos Finance data:
• All studios can now directly access Cognos Planning Contributor and Cognos Finance cubes
in addition to published plans.
• A best practices Framework Manager model is generated from Cognos Enterprise Planning.
This makes it easier to report from Cognos Enterprise Planning published tables.
High-quality Presentation and Enterprise Distribution for OLAP Reports

In Cognos 8, the successful reporting capabilities of ReportNet are now extended to include
support for OLAP data. With Cognos 8 you can create highly-formatted, distributable reports
based on OLAP data sources. You can access OLAP data directly from Report Studio or Query
Studio to create published or self-service reports. In Report Studio, you can open an analysis
created in Analysis Studio to convert it to a managed report. You can lay out the report to meet
your corporate standards, define bursting rules, or modify the query expressions to improve
performance.
For more information, see the Report Studio User Guide and Query Studio User Guide.
Support for Data Source by Studio

The following table provides an overview of the data sources supported by the Cognos 8 studios.
Analysis Query Report Event Metric

Data Source Studio Studio Studio Studio Studio
Relational no previously previously new previously
supported supported supported
Dimensionally- new enhanced enhanced new new

modeled
relational
OLAP enhanced new new new previously

supported
12
Chapter 3: Web-based Analysis
Analysis Studio is a major upgrade from PowerPlay Web Explorer for Cognos Series 7. It provides
zero footprint Web-based analysis and includes enhancements for improved analysis of large data
sets and support for more complex views of the data.
Analysis of Relational Data

Whereas PowerPlay Web supported analysis of only multidimensional data sources, Analysis
Studio supports analysis of both multidimensional and dimensionally-modeled relational data
sources.
Dimensional modeling of relational data can be performed in Framework Manager.
For more information, see the Analysis Studio User Guide and the Framework Manager User
Guide.
Features for Analyzing Large Data Sets

The Web-based interface in Cognos 8 Business Intelligence provides improvements for exploring
and analyzing data sets that are large and flat. It is now easier to search for and retrieve only the
data that is of interest to you.
Managing the Amount of Data Retrieved

When viewing a very large report, many people simply view the first and last pages. For example,
they are unlikely to read page 28 of a 55 page report. Analysis Studio accommodates this behavior
by showing the first and last page of the report and summarizing all the intermediate pages in a
single subtotal named More. You see a large enough data sample to quickly understand your
business problem and you can focus on the most important information. When all pages of a
report are required, you run the report as you would any other report in Cognos 8 Business
Intelligence.
The Data Tree in Analysis Studio also limits the number of members shown when you are
browsing data. You can change the number of members shown in the Data Tree by right-clicking
an item and clicking Set Maximum to Show. This allows you to see data at any level while
avoiding the usability and performance problems caused by showing lists of thousands of
members. You can also right-click an item and click Search to locate data related to your business
problem.
For more information, see the Analysis Studio User Guide.
Summarizing Your Results

Automated subtotals and summary calculations provide an informative overview of your data and
are particularly useful when you are analyzing large data sets.
The automated subtotals allow you to retain the context and relative importance of the results as
you focus your analysis on specific information.
There are options for showing any of the following subtotals:
• subtotal of items displayed
• subtotal of items exceeding the retrieval limit (More)
• subtotal of all items that meet your filter criteria
New Features 13
• subtotal of items that do not meet your filter criteria

• grand total
Summary calculations such as count, average, and standard deviation can also be added to your
analysis.
To add an automated subtotal, click the Subtotals button on the toolbar and select an option. To
add a summary calculation, click the Summarize button on the toolbar and enable the option for
each calculation that you want to include. For more information, see the Analysis Studio User
Guide.
Support for Dimensional Attributes

Dimensional attributes, sometimes called member properties, describe the facts and members you
are analyzing. They greatly expand the criteria you can use for sorting, filtering, and displaying
data, and are particularly useful when accessing large amounts of data. For example, dimensional
attributes allow you to retrieve data on retail outlets with less than 1,500 square metres of floor
space or cost centres that start with the characters BE09.
You can show dimensional attributes by right-clicking a set in Analysis Studio and clicking Show
Attributes. When you create a filter you can select Attribute as one of the filter types.
For more information, see the Analysis Studio User Guide and the Framework Manager User
Guide.
Controlling When Data is Retrieved

The Explain feature in the previous version of PowerPlay was redesigned and is now an interactive
properties pane. In the Properties pane you can specify a number of steps such as sort, filter, and
show subtotals before applying all the changes at once. This provides greater control over when
and how data is retrieved.
In addition, when a long query is accidentally initiated, it can be cancelled directly in Analysis
Studio. If some data has already been retrieved, Analysis Studio shows partial results along with
an option to retrieve the remaining data.
Overview Area
The Dimension bar in PowerPlay Web is enhanced in Analysis Studio and now provides an
interactive overview area that improves readability in cubes containing many dimensions. The
overview area, at the top of the work area, is a convenient place to explore and change the
contents of the crosstab quickly. In the overview area you can see which groups of items have
filters and sorting applied, swap individual groups of rows and columns, and drill up or down. It
provides context for the values shown in the crosstab.
Advanced Analysis for Comparison

Analysis Studio adds more capabilities for complex analysis. It includes features previously
available only in PowerPlay Windows.
Top or Bottom Filters

Questions such as, "Who are my top ten customers per region?" or, "Which products contribute
to the bottom five percent of revenue?" are quickly answered with the enhanced top or bottom
filters in Analysis Studio. By default, as you change context, the top or bottom rule is
automatically updated, giving you the results you want and letting you focus on the data, not the
tool.
14
By clicking the Top or Bottom button on the toolbar you can select a set and define criteria for the
filter.
Flexible Filtering
Multiple filter rules may be specified and then combined using AND or OR to create a complex
filter. These filters can be combined with top or bottom and zero suppress filters, allowing you to
focus on the most critical data. In addition, specific individual items may be excluded where
anomalies or special cases are detected.
Multilevel Ranking
Analysis Studio incorporates the ranking calculations of quartile, quantile, percentile, and rank as
provided by the ReportNet architecture. Rank has been enhanced so that you can answer
questions such as, "What is the rank of tents relative to other camping equipment?" or, "What is
the rank of products within each year?" You can also specify options to control the scope of the
analysis.
The new ranking features are accessed by clicking the Calculate button and clicking Custom. For
more information, see the Analysis Studio User Guide.
Statistical Functions and Compound Expressions

Analysis Studio takes advantage of the open data architecture of ReportNet and incorporates the
same statistical functions previously available in ReportNet only. You can use statistical functions,
such as standard deviation or variation, when applying calculations to your data. You can also
define compound expressions, such as 2003-2004/2003, in the Calculations dialog box without
having to build the calculation, one operator at a time.
The new statistical functions are accessed by clicking the Summarize button on the toolbar. For
more information, see the Analysis Studio User Guide.
Custom Sets
When you need to save a step of your analysis for future use, you can use a custom set to save the
filter rules, calculations, and sort criteria that define a set created in Analysis Studio. This ability
to preserve the entire definition allows you to return to a previous step in your analysis without
any loss of work.
Custom sets are created using the Save as Custom Set button on the toolbar. They are shown in the
Analysis Items tab of the Insertable Objects pane and can be reused within an analysis.
Flexible Data Insertion and Layout

In Analysis Studio you can insert the following types of data:
• A single item, with or without details (e.g., 2001)
• Multiple items from any place in a hierarchy (e.g., 2004, Q1 2005, April 2005)
• A level (e.g., Countries)
• A custom set
These items can be nested above or below, or to the left or right of data already on the crosstab.
They can be from the same or different dimensions. This flexibility allows you to compare
different aspects of the data to better understand relative importance or possible relationships. For
example, the rows in an analysis may show the top 10 products followed by the top 10 sales
locations.
New Features 15
When sets are stacked, you can create different nesting layouts for each set. This allows some
areas within a single analysis to show more details than other areas.
16
Chapter 4: Managed Reporting
Managed professional reports are created in Report Studio. The new version of Report Studio
provides report authors with increased flexibility and control when creating reports from
relational or multidimensional sources.
Report Authoring on OLAP Sources

In Report Studio, you can now author reports on OLAP and relational sources or combinations of
these sources. Combinations are accomplished by using master detail queries.
When used with dimensional data, Report Studio can build reports with interactive drill-down
support in both text reports and charts. It provides control over which areas of a report can be
drilled down on. In addition, report authors can specify that drilling down in one area of a report
determines the output in another area of the report.
For data sources that are accessed through MDX rather than SQL, Report Studio supports type-in
MDX queries.
For more information, see the Report Studio User Guide.
Improved Report Authoring

Report Studio provides report authors with new features to improve the efficiency of creating
reports. These include support for multidimensional expressions, features for quickly applying
formatting, and more drag and drop functionality.
Multidimensional Expressions
In addition to support for OLAP data and dimensional analysis in RDBMS data, Cognos 8
Business Intelligence supports multi-dimensional expressions. OLAP features, such as time-based
queries on both OLAP and RDBMS-based data, are supported.
Class Styles
Class styles store a combination of formatting characteristics, such as font, font size, and border.
They are similar to Styles in Microsoft Word. When you apply a class style, all of the formatting
instructions in that class style are applied at one time. This saves you time when creating reports
and encourages the visual consistency of reports throughout your organization. Class styles can be
created for the current report only. To change the layout for all reports you must modify the
default layout style sheet.
Classes are created in the Page Explorer. For more information, see the Report Studio User Guide.
Reusable Layout Components

Layout components are now objects that can be shared between reports. An example of a layout
component is a standard page footer. Report authors can determine if the shared component is
automatically updated each time the report is run or only when the author specifies an update in
Report Studio.
New Features 17
Drag-and-drop Creation of Union Crosstabs

In Report Studio, union crosstabs can now be created by dragging rows or columns in the crosstab
user interface.
More Powerful Reports

New features in Report Studio allow the creation of more powerful reports. Report authors can
create complex queries, specify conditional rendering of objects, build sophisticated dashboards,
and add maps to their reports.
Model Joins in Queries

You can now explicitly create joins between queries using them as derived tables. You can also set
optionality. This provides report authors with more flexibility in creating complex queries that
contain optional data elements. You can specify that elements be included or excluded from
reports depending on the values in the data source.
Conditional Rendering of Objects in Reports

In Report Studio, objects can be conditionally included or excluded from a report. For example,
columns within a list can be displayed conditionally based on an expression value or user prompt.
This helps you build reports that are highly customizable by users.
You specify conditional rendering for an object by assigning a variable to it, then defining a value
for the variable in the Properties pane.
Dashboard Support
A dashboard is a style of report that shows a wide variety of data in a single interface. It usually
provides a high-level graphical view of company performance indicators. A compact presentation
of information is achieved through the use of maps, advanced charts, and interactivity.
Dashboards can be created in Report Studio as a single complex report. Alternatively,
enhancements in Cognos Connection enable consumers to assemble their own dashboard as a
Web page combining many small reports.
The ability to create effective dashboards in Report Studio is enhanced by the following new
features:
• access to data from a variety of sources including OLAP data sources.
• additional charts, including gauges, horizontal progress charts, and combination charts.
• drill-down capabilities that provide interactive reports
Maps
Maps can be used to represent any data that can be displayed spatially. A map may show such
things as a geographical area, a floor plan in a building, seats in an airplane, or parts of the human
body. Sample maps are provided.
Data can be plotted against a map using feature names such as city or country. Regions, such as
countries, can be colored to represent data that you select. For example, all countries with annual
revenue over 20 million dollars may be colored red, while countries with revenue between 15 and
20 million dollars are colored blue, and so on. Points, such as cities, can be shown in different
sizes and colors to represent values from your data.
18
Administrators and modelers use a Windows utility named Map Manager to import maps and
update labels for maps in Report Studio. For map features such as country and city names,
administrators and modelers can define alternative names to provide multilingual versions of text
that appears on the map.
A map is created in the same way as any other report, such as a chart report. When you create a
new a report you select Map from the New dialog box. For more information, see the Report
Studio User Guide.
Charting
New charting features in Report Studio make it easier to create presentation-quality charts with
informational overlays such notes, baselines, and markers. Additional chart types are included
with this release.
Simplified Chart Authoring

Charts are now easier to create. Chart authoring has been simplified by
• presenting only enabled elements in the interface
• allowing you to change chart types with a single click
• defining stacks and clusters through drag-and-drop
These improvements make it easy to design sophisticated charts.
Drill Capabilities in Charts

You can now define drill up or down or drill through from elements in a chart.
For more information, see "Create a Drill-Through Report" in the Report Studio User Guide.
Formatting for Chart Elements

Formatting is provided for chart segment (slide, column, line), baselines, and markers. Features
include selectable line styles, colors, and weights, and selectable pointer shapes and colors. This
extended formatting can be defined as part of the report or can be conditional on the data
retrieved.
A chart element is changed by selecting it and changing the property values in the Properties pane.
Support for Data-driven Baselines, Markers, and Notes

Charts can be enhanced by applying informational overlays such as baselines, markers, and notes.
These elements can be positioned based on
• a value or an expression that resolves to a value
• the mean or a specified number of standard deviations from the mean
• the minimum or maximum data value
• the percentile or percent of axis values
• a member (e.g., middle plus or minus a percent offset)
These elements can be applied from the Chart Annotations section of the Properties pane. For
more information, see the Report Studio User Guide.
New Features 19
Multiple Queries for Multi-part Charts

In multi-part charts you can specify that multiple queries are to be plotted on the x-axis and share
a y-axis. For example, top five employees and top five regions for revenue can be plotted on the
same chart.
Additional Chart Types

The following new chart types are provided:
• gauge charts
• horizontal progress charts
• combination charts involving stacked charts (100% or absolute)
• metric target charts
• bipolar-axis combination charts
• 3D-point charts
The new chart types are available from the Insert Chart dialog box. For more information, see the
Report Studio User Guide.
New Chart Options

The following options are now available when authoring charts:
• regression lines on scatter (or x-y) charts
• minor grid lines for log scale
• skip labels
• patterns in palettes for black-and-white printing
20
Chapter 5: Self-service Reporting
Self-service reports can be created in Query Studio. The new version is improved to provide a
more flexible and powerful environment for querying and viewing data from relational or
multidimensional sources.
Queries on OLAP Sources

When used with dimensional data, Query Studio provides automatic recognition of hierarchies
and automatic drill up and down in both text reports and charts, without the need for authoring
by the user.
For more information, see the Query Studio User Guide.
Templates
Query Studio can now use templates that are authored in Report Studio. Templates may include
layout components in headers and footers. You can customize the data presentation in lists and
crosstabs by using class styles. Templates make it easy to convert queries to corporate-standard
layouts and color schemes. They reduce the effort required to maintain reports.
The Apply Template command in the Change Format menu allows you to select and apply a
template to a Query Studio report.
More Powerful Self-service Reports

Query Studio allows the creation of more powerful self-service reports. It has more options for
adding and formatting layout components and allows conditional formatting. New filtering
features are added and you can create reports with drill-up and drill-down support.
Formatting Features
Query Studio has new formatting features that provide more control over fonts, colors, borders,
headers, and footers. There is also improved support for multilingual titles and texts.
The new formatting features are accessible from the Change Format menu in Query Studio.
Conditional Formatting
Query Studio provides conditional styles that let you format values based on conditions. For
example, you can specify that a value be highlighted in red if revenue is less than a specified
number.
The Define Conditional Styles command is available from the Change Format menu in Query
Studio.
New Features 21
Chapter 5: Self-service Reporting
Improved Filtering
Query Studio now allows you to create complex filters by using the operators AND or OR to
combine filters. You can do this by clicking Combine Filters on the Edit Data menu.
Support for Hierarchies

Query Studio reports on cubes and dimensionally-modeled relational data can be enabled for
drilling up and down on each dimensional hierarchy. This exploration feature can be turned on or
off by the Query Studio user as a preference.
22
Chapter 6: Event Lifecycle Management
With Event Studio, a new component in Cognos 8 Business Intelligence, you can automatically
notify users of key operational or performance events that may affect your business. You create
agents to define conditions that identify events and the tasks used to handle them. You can qualify
events, escalate actions if they continue, or close the loop as an event completes.
Open Data Access

Data access for event detection is based on Framework Manager packages. It supports the same
security rules and relational and multidimensional data sources as the other Cognos 8 Business
Intelligence studios.
Event Detection, Qualification, and Escalation

Event Studio provides the following features for event detection, qualification, and escalation:
• You can define events by specifying conditions that signify exceptional items in your data.
Agents monitor your data automatically and perform actions when events are detected.
• You can manage ongoing events and status changes.
Event Studio compares the results of each agent run with those of the previous run. Events are
categorized as new, ongoing-changed, ongoing-unchanged, and stopped. Event Studio
recognizes that events have a lifecycle and can handle each event differently according to its
status.
• Agents maintain a list of all active events and can be used to track events.
You can see all currently open issues detected by an agent.
• Different actions can be triggered by an event status.
You can also specify that an action be triggered if no event is detected.
For more information, see the Event Studio User Guide.
Event Tasks
Events can trigger the following tasks:
• Email alerts can be sent to users notifying them of significant events.
• Messages can be sent to Web portals.
Messages might include headlines along with links to detailed reports.
• One or more reports can be run.
Prompts can use values from the event to generate conditional reports. After reports are run,
an agent can send all the outputs attached to a single email message.
• Agents can run other agents to create an automated workflow of tasks.
Data from different Framework Manager models can be accessed and correlated.
• Agents can run database stored procedures and Web services, passing them values from the
event.
For more information, see the Event Studio User Guide.
New Features 23
Chapter 6: Event Lifecycle Management
24
Chapter 7: Performance Management using
Scorecarding and Metrics
Metric Studio helps you manage the performance of your organization by monitoring and
analyzing metrics at all levels of your organization. You can create integrated plans, forecasts,
reports, analyses, and scorecards that show how your organization is performing, why it is
performing that way, and what you can do to improve performance.
Metric Studio, a major upgrade from Cognos Metrics Manager, is fully integrated into Cognos 8.
It includes new and enhanced features for improved power, flexibility, and ease of use.
Integration with Other Components of Cognos 8

The integration of Metric Studio with other Cognos 8 components provides ease of deployment
and the ability to build integrated business intelligence applications. Administrators benefit from a
single interface for managing Metric Studio along with the other components of Cognos 8.
A secured Framework Manager model allows organizations to build their own custom reports
against metric databases. It supports a package of enhanced analyses and visualizations that are
included with the product.
Cognos 8 reports can be picked interactively and associated with a metric to provide extra detail
and context. This avoids the need for users to set up such a relationship to deal with URL strings.
Cognos Connection now includes a Metrics Watchlist portlet type. This allows a user to display
the metrics critical to their job as part of any portal page.
Support for Multiple Metric Applications

Cognos Metric Studio supports multiple metric databases. A single instance of Metric Studio can
support many independent scorecard applications within your organization. You can quickly
deploy new scorecard applications to different parts of the organization.
Improved Calendar
With the improved calendar you can see metric types of different granularities on the same
scorecards. For example, daily values are now supported in the same way as monthly values and
can be combined on the same scorecards.
Previous versions of Metrics Manager supported only rollups to months, quarters, and years.
Metrics Studio now supports a virtually unlimited number of levels so that calendars can be
customized to meet all your organization’s scorecarding requirements.
Objectives and the Status of Groups

Metric Studio has an enhanced grouping feature for capturing all the attributes that make up an
objective, including status and the actions related to an objective. You can now represent the
status of a goal or functional area based on a group of metrics. Objectives can be included in
diagrams to build strategy maps.
New Features 25
Chapter 7: Performance Management using Scorecarding and Metrics
Enhanced Diagrams
Metric Studio provides improved diagrams for creating more effective scorecards. Major
improvements include the following:
• Richer diagrams that support group status, more object types, and more information on each
object.
• Inherited diagrams.
• Explorable Impact Diagrams. More than one diagram can be associated with each metric and
scorecard.
• Support for complex diagrams such as strategy maps without the need for external drawing
tools
• Diagram templating for rapid rollout of diagrams to multiple scorecards.
Projects and Actions

You can track initiatives and other projects alongside your metrics. You can also track the actions
being undertaken to correct metric performance.
End User Edits

Business users can now edit scorecard information. Secured data entry allows users, with the right
permissions, to edit values and update their application from the same interface used to monitor
status.
26
Chapter 8: Enhanced Portal Capabilities and
Integration
Enhancements in this release provide increased flexibility within Cognos Connection and
improved integration of Cognos 8 content into other portals.
Integration With Enterprise Portals

Cognos Connection is enhanced to provide better integration with other industry-standard, and
non-standard portals.
Support for Plumtree Corporate Portal

Cognos Connection now supports the Plumtree Corporate portal. This is in addition to Enterprise
Information Portals previously supported in ReportNet.
Lightweight, URL-based Portal Integration

The ability to call any Cognos portlet via a URL enables the integration of non-standard portals.
Web developers can call any Cognos-supported portlet by using a URL link from any frame in any
of their Web applications. The called portlet can then apply a custom CSS file to achieve the
appropriate corporate look.
Portal Pages and Portlets in Cognos Connection

Enhancements in Cognos 8 allow portal pages to be shared and customized by users.
Industry-standard portlets can be used in Cognos Connection and there is an improved ability for
Cognos portlets to communicate with one another.
Using Portlets Inside of Cognos Connection

You can use industry-standard portlets inside of Cognos Connection. Cognos Connection now
complies with Web Services for Remote Portlets (WSRP). It is enhanced to be a WRSP consumer
application, which enables third-party WRSP portlets to be registered and used inside of Cognos
Connection. This includes support for the new Cognos Metric Studio watchlist portlet.
Sharing Portal Pages

Pages are now objects that appear in the Cognos 8 folder structure like other objects, such as
reports. Portal pages can be shared across users and deployed as content. This lets you create and
manage standard Web pages for your corporation or group. The portal of each user can be
unique, showing a user-defined combination of public, group, and personal pages. Pages can be
cut, pasted, and deleted using standard object behavior. This means that users do not need special
tools to administer them. Pages are consumable by third-party portals as customizable assemblies.
This offers a wide range of possibilities for Web application development.
New Features 27
Chapter 8: Enhanced Portal Capabilities and Integration
Improved Communications Between Cognos Portlets

Cognos Portal Services portlets were formerly stand-alone, except in their shared use of a single
signon feature. Now Cognos portlets can share a session and respond to events triggered from
other Cognos portlets. For example, in a navigator-style portlet you can browse the content store,
select a report, and have the report output shown in an associated viewer portlet. To achieve this
degree of integration, portlets must be designed to share sessions and respond to common events.
As a result, inter-portlet communications are restricted to Cognos portlets.
Other Cognos Connection Enhancements

Other enhancements in Cognos Connection include user-controlled styles, user-defined home
pages, a customizable Welcome page, and access to Cognos Contributor.
Access to Styles Controlled Through User Preferences

In Cognos 8, styles (formerly referred to as skins) are specified by CSS files, and are exposed to
administrators and SDK developers as securable objects. The style files can be edited or
interchanged with other CSS files to achieve a different corporate look and feel. All Cognos 8
users have preference profiles that allow them to select from the list of styles or display formats
available for use by their group or user class. Administrators can edit user preferences separately
or maintain profiles across the system to effectively push preferences like styles to users.
User-defined Home Page and a Customizable Welcome Page

The Cognos Connection welcome page is improved. In addition, users can disable the launch of
the welcome page and define any shared Page as their default welcome page.
Connect to Cognos Contributor from Cognos Connection

Cognos Connection now provides access to the Cognos Contributor Web user interface.
28
Chapter 9: Enterprise Administration
Cognos 8 Business Intelligence provides features that help you to deploy and manage an effective
Web-based business intelligence environment across your enterprise. More platforms are
supported and APIs are provided for reporting, analysis, and event management. Cognos 8 is
designed to meet the conformance and localization requirements of global enterprises including
support for Linux operating systems and internationalization standards.
Secure and Easily Scalable Architecture

Cognos 8 is built on the proven Web Services architecture developed for ReportNet. This ensures
a single internal communication layer and a secure, easily-scalable architecture. The platform
provides new features for improved enterprise administration and deployability.
Open Data Access

The architecture is now extended to provide access to Cognos PowerCubes, Cognos Contributor
and Finance Cubes, and industry-standard OLAP data.
Integrated Installation and Configuration

Installation and configuration procedures in all Cognos 8 components, including Metric Studio,
use a common dispatcher, authentication provider, and scheduling system.
Common Open API

For Cognos 8, the ReportNet SDK is extended to provide methods and services for all studios and
data sources as well as for enhanced functionality.
Extended Metadata and Data Support and Functionality

Cognos 8 provides extended support and functionality for data and metadata.
Dimensional Modeling of Relational Sources

The following new features were added to Framework Manager for dimensional modeling of
relational data sources.
• Regular dimension includes the concepts of hierarchies and levels. It supports the definition of
alternate hierarchies on a single dimension.
• Measure dimension provides the ability to define a list of measures as well as a hierarchy to
control rollup of measures.
• With Scope Relationship you can control rollups by defining the scope of a measure with
respect to existing dimensions.
• With the Dimension Map you can view the measures and dimensions you have created and
view or modify the scope from a whole-model perspective.
These features allow all of the studios to provide the user with a dimensional data view on top of
relationally-stored data. With relational metadata, you also can work with query subjects. It is
recommended that you use query subjects when working with legacy models. When creating new
models, you should use dimensions and measures instead of query subjects.
New Features 29
Ability to Model Conformed Dimensions Stored as Separate Tables

In relational data sources you can use the Define Query Set command to model conformed
dimensions that are stored as separate tables. This allows you to conform similar data from
disparate sources to get a complete picture of your data.
You can define set operations (union, except, intersect) between query subjects. The ability to
model query set relationships is very useful when modeling conformed dimensions across
heterogeneous sources.
Native Metadata Support for OLAP Sources

Cognos 8 studios can access OLAP data without the need for explicit modeling in Framework
Manager.
By defining a connection to an OLAP source in Framework Manager, the native metadata is
leveraged without the need to do additional modeling. Access to OLAP sources is dynamic so
metadata changes made in the OLAP tool are automatically made available to users. This does not
apply to SAP BW. Although SAP BW is considered an OLAP data source, it continues to be
supported in the same way as in previous versions.
Importing System Tables

When importing metadata from relational data sources, system tables are now available in
addition to the existing tables, views, synonyms, and procedures.
Improvements to Third-party Metadata Imports

Enhancements were made to expression support when importing metadata from third-party
sources.
In previous versions of the software, expressions were imported with native syntax that was not
compatible with ReportNet. In the new version, expressions are translated to syntax that is
compatible with Cognos 8.
Support for Additional SQL 99 Data Types

Support is provided for national char, numeric, date, time, year-month intervals, and time zones.
Customizing Functions Listed in a Package

Modelers can customize the function list included in a package. They can also add information to
functions that help users to correctly use functions and understand the level of performance that
can be expected from specific functions.
Generating a Model Report

The model report feature provides a customizable and printable html or xml representation of the
Framework Manager model for documentation purposes.
30
Improvements to Context Explorer

With Context Explorer, you can perform modeling actions while viewing a subset of the model.
This feature is designed to improve usability for large models.
Viewing Dependencies for a Model Query Subject

You can now explore a Framework Manager model by object dependency. This simplifies model
maintenance and analysis.
Dimension Information Replaced by Determinants

For improved control over relational data granularity when reporting, dimension information has
been replaced by determinants. Determinants appear as a tab in the query subject editor. For an
imported relational data source, a determinant exists for any keys or indexes defined on the
underlying object in the database. Determinants allow the modeler to remove index and key
information that is unnecessary or in conflict with the intended use of the data for reporting.
Determinants can also be used to add additional metadata to assist in the prevention of double
counting.
Improved Application Administration

The features in this section provide administrators with greater efficiency, control, and flexibility
when managing Cognos 8.
Server Affinity
With report server affinity, you define a subset of servers in a Cognos 8 distributed installation
that can serve content initiated by specified users and groups or associated with a particular
metadata package. This is particularly useful if you have servers that different departments pay
for, or servers that do not have access to all the data sources.
Increased Scheduling
Deployment imports and exports can now be regularly scheduled. Metric Studio packages can be
scheduled to refresh metrics information.
Connection Testing
In Cognos 8, you can test Content Store, Audit Database, External Namespace, and Notification
Mail Server configuration settings entered in Cognos Configuration to ensure that each works
prior to starting the product.
Model-based Drill-through Support

You can define and manage drill paths between all relational and dimensional data sources
through Cognos Connection, instead of at cube design time. You define drill paths in a package so
that they can be used in any report that uses that package. This provides equal drill-through
capabilities for all supported data sources.
Graduated User Interface Capabilities

To maximize the flexibility of your application deployment, Cognos 8 provides graduated user
interface capabilities. New, Open, Save, Save As, and Advanced Options such as filters,
expressions, formats, and styles, can be switched off by user group. Capability controls are
provided for all studios except Event Studio.
New Features 31
Enhanced User Account Management

The following features make it easier for administrators to manage user accounts:
• You can copy or move one or more reports into a user’s MyFolder.
• You can transfer a user account from one external namespace user to another.
• You can remove content from a user's account.
• Deleted user accounts are automatically detected.
You can specify the automatic removal of user accounts in Cognos 8 that no longer have
associated accounts in third-party namespaces.
32
Index
A dimensional attributes in Analysis Studio, 14

dimensional modeling, 29
ad hoc reporting, 21
dimensional modeling of relational data, 11
administration, 29
document
analysis, 13
version, 2
relational data, 13
drill through, 31
Analysis Studio
drilling down in Query Studio, 22
analysis of relational data, 13
large data sets, 13
managing the amount of data retrieved, 13 E
named sets or groups, 15 Event Studio, 23
API, 29 event detection qualification and escalation, 23
architecture, 29 open data access, 23
tasks, 23
C event tasks, 23
explain feature in Analysis Studio, 14
calendar in Metric Studio, 25
expressions
charting
multidimensional, 17
data-driven baselines markers and notes, 19
drilling, 19
formatting, 19 F
multi-part charts, 20 filtering in Query Studio, 22
multiple queries, 20 filters in Analysis Studio, 15
new chart types, 20 formatting charts, 19
new options, 20 formatting in Query Studio, 21
Report Studio, 19 Framework Manager, 11
class styles, 17
Cognos Connection
portals, 27
G
Cognos Contributor, 28 graduated user interface, 31
Cognos Enterprise Planning data, 12
Cognos Finance data, 12 H
compound expressions in Analysis Studio, 15 hierarchies in Query Studio, 22
conditional formatting in Query Studio, 21 home page, 28
conditional rendering in Report Studio, 18
connection testing, 31
Context Explorer, 31 I
copyright, 2 installation and configuration, 29
crosstabs
drag-and-drop creation of union crosstabs, 18 L
custom sets in Analysis Studio, 15
large data sets, 13
layout
D reusable components, 17
dashboards, 18
data access, 11, 29 M
Event Studio, 23
data insertion in Analysis Studio, 15 managed reporting, 17
data retrieval in Analysis Studio, 13, 14 maps, 18
data source support by studio, 12 markers in charts, 19
database available functions, 30 metadata imports, 30
determinants, 31 metadata support, 29
diagrams in Metric Studio, 26 Metric Studio, 25
dimension information, 31 calendar, 25
diagrams, 26
New Features 33
Index
Metric Studio (cont'd) Report Studio (cont'd)

end user edits, 26 dashboard, 18
integration with other components, 25 drilling from charts, 19
objectives and status of groups, 25 formatting charts, 19
projects and actions, 26 maps, 18
support for multiple metric applications, 25 model joins in queries, 18
metrics, 25 multidimensional expressions, 17
model conformed dimensions, 30 multiple queries in charts, 20
model joins in queries, 18 new chart options, 20
model lineage, 31 OLAP, 17
model report, 30 reusable layout components, 17
multilevel ranking in Analysis Studio, 15 simplified charting, 19
union crosstabs, 18
N reporting, 17
conditional rendering, 18
notes in charts, 19 OLAP, 17
O S
objectives in Metric Studio, 25 scheduling, 31
OLAP scorecarding, 25
authoring reports, 17 self-service reporting, 21
data access, 12 server affinity, 31
native metadata support, 30 show attributes, 14
presentation and distribution, 12 skins
queries, 21 user preferences, 28
open data access, 11 SQL 99 data types, 30
overview area in Analysis Studio, 14 statistical functions in Analysis Studio, 15
styles, 17
P user preferences, 28
performance management, 25 subtotals in Analysis Studio, 13
Plumtree portal, 27 summarizing results in Analysis Studio, 13
Portal Services, 27 system tables, 30
portals
inside Cognos Connection, 27 T
Plumtree, 27 tasks, 23
sharing portal pages, 27 templates in Query Studio, 21
URL-based integration, 27 testing
portlets connections, 31
communication between Cognos portlets, 28 top or bottom filters in Analysis Studio, 14
projects and actions in Metric Studio, 26
U
Q
user account management, 32
Query Studio, 21 user interface
conditional formatting, 21 graduated, 31
filtering, 22 user-defined sets or groups, 15
formatting, 21
queries on OLAP, 21
templates, 21 V
version
R document, 2
ranking in Analysis Studio, 15
relational data W
analysis, 13 welcome page, 28
relational databases, 11
Report Studio, 17
baselines markers and notes in charts, 19
chart types, 20
charting, 19
class styles, 17
conditional rendering, 18
34

Cognos Reporting Tool

Enviado por

Dados do documento

Descrição original:

Título original

Direitos autorais

Formatos disponíveis

Compartilhar este documento

Compartilhar ou incorporar documento

Opções de compartilhamento

Você considera este documento útil?

Este conteúdo é inapropriado?

Direitos autorais:

Formatos disponíveis

Cognos Reporting Tool

Enviado por

Direitos autorais:

Formatos disponíveis

COGNOS(R) 8 BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE

Cognos(R) 8 Business Intelligence Readme

Query Studio User Guide Creating self-service business intelligence reports

Analysis Studio User Exploring, analyzing, and comparing dimensional data

Cognos 8 Architecture Planning the Cognos 8 architecture, developing installation

Framework Manager Creating and publishing models using Framework Manager

This document is available as online help and as an online book.

Books for Printing

Any Studio, Any Data

Dimensionally Modeled Relational Data

Dimensional Modeling of Relational Data Sources in Framework Manager

Analysis of Dimensionally-modeled Relational Databases

Support for OLAP Data Sources

Enhanced OLAP Data Access

Reporting on Cognos Enterprise Planning and Cognos Finance Data

High-quality Presentation and Enterprise Distribution for OLAP Reports

Support for Data Source by Studio

Analysis Query Report Event Metric

Dimensionally- new enhanced enhanced new new

OLAP enhanced new new new previously

Analysis of Relational Data

Features for Analyzing Large Data Sets

Managing the Amount of Data Retrieved

Summarizing Your Results

• subtotal of items that do not meet your filter criteria

Support for Dimensional Attributes

Controlling When Data is Retrieved

Advanced Analysis for Comparison

Top or Bottom Filters

Statistical Functions and Compound Expressions

Flexible Data Insertion and Layout

Report Authoring on OLAP Sources

Improved Report Authoring

Reusable Layout Components

Drag-and-drop Creation of Union Crosstabs

More Powerful Reports

Model Joins in Queries

Conditional Rendering of Objects in Reports

Simplified Chart Authoring

Drill Capabilities in Charts

Formatting for Chart Elements

Support for Data-driven Baselines, Markers, and Notes

Multiple Queries for Multi-part Charts

Additional Chart Types

New Chart Options

Queries on OLAP Sources

More Powerful Self-service Reports

Support for Hierarchies

Open Data Access

Event Detection, Qualification, and Escalation

Integration with Other Components of Cognos 8

Support for Multiple Metric Applications

Objectives and the Status of Groups

Projects and Actions

End User Edits

Integration With Enterprise Portals

Support for Plumtree Corporate Portal

Lightweight, URL-based Portal Integration

Portal Pages and Portlets in Cognos Connection

Using Portlets Inside of Cognos Connection

Sharing Portal Pages

Improved Communications Between Cognos Portlets