Cognos 8.

2
Introduction

Cognos 8.2
User Guide

Cognos Connection

Getting Started
 Cognos 8.2
Introduction

Table of Contents

1 Introduction ..........................................……………………………………………………………4
1.1 What is Cognos Connection? ......................................................................................4
2 Getting In and Out of Cognos ..............……………………………………………………………5
3 Navigation ............................................……………………………………………………………6
3.1 The Public and Private Folder .....................................................................................6
3.2 Navigating to a Report .................................................................................................6
3.2.1 Searching for a Report .........................................................................................8
4 Opening Reports..................................……………………………………………………………9
4.1 Opening with the Report Name ...................................................................................9
4.1.1 Emailing a Report ...............................................................................................10
4.1.2 Go To Links ........................................................................................................10
4.1.3 Running a Report from View ..............................................................................10
4.2 Running a Report.......................................................................................................11
4.2.1 Prompt Pages .....................................................................................................12
4.2.2 Printing a Report.................................................................................................12
4.2.3 Open in Excel .....................................................................................................13
4.3 View Historical Reports..............................................................................................13
5 Closing a Report ..................................………………………………………………………….16
6 Creating Quick Links to Reports ..........………………………………………………………….17
6.1 My Folder Shortcut.....................................................................................................17
6.2 Browser Bookmark.....................................................................................................18

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 Cognos 8.2
Introduction

1 Introduction

WELCOME!

Welcome to Cognos User Guide for the Cognos Connection function.

This guide is intended to help you understand the basic functionality of the Cognos Connection
portal. For ease of use it is divided into several chapters, each one covering one stage in the
process.

Each chapter is a step-by-step guide to what you need to type, click on or look at, and each
chapter assumes no previous knowledge of the system or of other chapters.

Cognos Connection is an infinitely configurable application; this guide is intended to get you
started with Cognos Connection as a report user. An electronic user guide that covers all the
Cognos Connection functionality is available via Help within Cognos Connection itself.

We hope you find this guide easy to follow informative and helpful.

1.1 What is Cognos Connection?

Cognos Connection is a Web page that provides a single access point to all corporate data
available in the Cognos 8 Business Intelligence (BI) environment. This commonly means access
to reports created in Report Studio, queries created in Query Studio and analysis created in
Analysis Studio.

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 Cognos 8.2
Getting In and Out of Cognos

2 Getting In and Out of Cognos

Cognos Connection can be accessed via a webpage from anywhere in the university.

To make the website secure, it is only available to people with a RAVEN ID and password –
RAVEN is the University’s website security system, controlled by Computer Services. You might
have already been issued with a RAVEN ID and password – if you have not, you will need to
obtain one before you can access the Cognos LIVE system. To apply for a RAVEN ID and
password, please contact Computing Services, not the Cognos Team.

To access Cognos Connection, open your web browser, and navigate to the Cognos web page:

https://reporting.admin.cam.ac.uk/live/cognos8/
This will take you to the Cognos 8 Welcome Page.

To access
Cognos
Connection, click
onto the link.

The Cognos connection page will open. Your screen might not look exactly like the one below,
as what you see is dependant on the access level you have.

To get out of
Cognos
Connection, click
on Log Off.

Closing your
browser will also
take you out of
Cognos
Connection.

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 Cognos 8.2
Navigation

3 Navigation

3.1 The Public and Private Folder

When you open Cognos Connection, you will see reports are held in one of two folders: the
Public Folders or My Folders. You navigate between the folders by clicking on their headed tabs.

My Folders – a private area containing reports you might have created as well as any links to
shared reports you might have made (see 6.1).

Public Folders – a shared space containing multiple user reports.

The reports are organised into packages, folders and sub folders.

Folder and Sub folders – Contains links to various published reports.

Package – Contains links to various published reports and if you have

the authority to create your own reports, it is also a link to a specified data
source (a Cube or Star Schema)

NOTE – By default Cognos Connection shows a

maximum of fifteen entries in a list at a time. Use
the arrows to move to the next fifteen or type the
number of entries you want to see, then click on
the Return icon.

3.2 Navigating to a Report

To access a report, you need to drill through the folders and packages until the link to the report
you wish to open is in view.

To open a folder
or package, click
on its heading.

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 Cognos 8.2
Navigation

The folder or
package you
selected will
open.

In this example,
the package we
opened contains
further sub-
folders as well as
links to reports.

If you need to go
down a further
level into a sub-
folder, click on
the folder
heading.

As you drill down

into the folders
and packages,
the path you have
taken is shown
below the
PUBLIC and MY
FOLDER tabs.

To go back up a
level, click on the
heading for the
level you wish to
return to.

See chapter 4 for details about viewing and running reports.

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 Cognos 8.2
Navigation

3.2.1 Searching for a Report

You can search for reports whose name or description match the search string you enter.

Enter the text and

click on the
Search icon

The results of
your search will
appear toward
the bottom of the
screen.

See chapter 4 for details about viewing and running reports.

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 Cognos 8.2
Opening Reports

4 Opening Reports

Once you have located your report there are two ways to open and view it. This section explains
both methods and the differences between them.

Run Action – allows you to choose the format the report appears in (HTML, PDF or Excel) and
picks up the latest available data in Cognos
Report Name – opens the report using the default format set by the reports creator (HTML, PDF
or Excel) and then either: retrieves the latest data (as with running a report) or offers you a view
of the report with data as it was the last time it was run and saved. This option is commonly used
for reports that are scheduled to run at regular time intervals (monthly, weekly etc)

4.1 Opening with the Report Name

When a report is created the reports author sets the default actions for the report. They set the
format the report should appear in and whether they want the report to open with a view of the
data as it was the last time it was run and saved (so not necessarily the latest data available in
Cognos) or it opens after retrieving the latest data from Cognos. The icons next to the report title
indicate which option the report author has set.

Retrieves the latest available data in Cognos

View the report as it was the last time it was run and saved.

To open a report
using the Report
Name, click on its
name in the list.

In this example the

report was set to
View so opened in
the predefined format
of HTML and the data
as it was the last time
the report was saved.

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 Cognos 8.2
Opening Reports

4.1.1 Emailing a Report

To email a copy of
the report, select the
email icon from the
toolbar.

Complete the
fields as you
would for any
other email.

Then click OK to
send.

4.1.2 Go To Links
Reports can be created with links to other HTML pages. These might be links to other reports or
Web pages of interest to the viewers of the report. Links are added by the person who created
the report.

To view a list of the

links attached to a
report, select the GO
TO icon from the
toolbar.

If any links have been

created for the report,
they will appear in a
list on the screen.

4.1.3 Running a Report from View

Having opened the report as a view only report, you might want to update the data and/or access
the additional features offered by running a report.

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 Cognos 8.2
Opening Reports

Select RUN from

the toolbar to
RUN the report.

See chapter4.2 for the additional functionality this offers.

4.2 Running a Report

Running a report ensures you are viewing the latest available data in Cognos as well as allowing
you to choose the format the data appears in on your screen. To run a report from Cognos
Connection, select the ‘Run’ option for the report you wish to access.

Click the Run

Options button

The Run with Options screen will open.

Select the FORMAT you

want the report to run in
(HTML, PDF etc)

NOTE: HTML is the

default format.

Select the appropriate

DELIVERY method.

Finally, click on RUN.

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 Cognos 8.2
Opening Reports

The report will open

4.2.1 Prompt Pages

Some reports are created with a Prompt Page. A Prompt Page allows you to select specific
items to appear in your report. If your report has a prompt page it will appear just before your
report arrives on your screen. Below are some examples of prompts you might see.

Date Prompt List Prompt Search and Select Prompt

4.2.2 Printing a Report

The report you are viewing is in HTML format. If you wish to print a copy of the report, you need
to change it into a PDF document.

From the toolbar, select:

VIEW IN PDF FORMAT

The report will open as a PDF

document. From here you
print the report as you would
any other PDF document

Select the PRINT icon from

the toolbar.

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 Cognos 8.2
Opening Reports

Complete the print options

and click on OK to print the
report.

4.2.3 Open in Excel

Opening a report in Excel is a similar process to printing a report. You convert the existing HTML
document into Excel.

From the toolbar, click on the

drop down arrow on ‘VIEW IN

EXCEL 2000’

Then select the format you wish

to view it in.

4.3 View Historical Reports

Reports can be scheduled to automatically run at a recurring date and time (daily, monthly etc)
copies of these reports are then saved and stored in the reports historical area You can then
access the history of a scheduled report from Cognos Connection.

From Cognos
Connection,
select the VIEW
OUTPUT icon for
your report.

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 Cognos 8.2
Opening Reports

The REPORT
OUTPUT
VERSION
window will open.

VERSION lists
the dates the
report was run.

FORMATS list
the various
formats the report
was run in.

First choose the

report date by
clicking on the
black arrowhead
and selecting the
desired date.

A list of the
FORMATS the
report was run in
on that date will
appear.

To view the report,

click on the blue
HYPERLINK for the
format you wish to
see.

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 Cognos 8.2
Opening Reports

The report will

open.

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 Cognos 8.2
Closing a Report

5 Closing a Report

When you have finished viewing your report, you have two ways of returning to Cognos
Connection.

Home

To return to the
Cognos
Connection Home
Page select
HOME

Return

To return to the
last screen you
were viewing in
Cognos
Connection,
select RETURN

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 Cognos 8.2
Creating Quick Links to Reports

6 Creating Quick Links to Reports

To make accessing reports in the shared folders easier, you can create and save quick links to
reports and/or folders. There are two ways of doing this: Bookmark a report in your Web browser
or create and save a shortcut to My Folder in Cognos Connection.

6.1 My Folder Shortcut

You can use shortcuts to organise information that you use regularly. A shortcut is a pointer to
another entry such as an individual report or a folder containing many reports.

To create a shortcut, you first need to locate the entry that you wish to create the shortcut to.

Click MORE next to

your entry.

The Available Actions window will open.

From the available

actions window
select:
CREATE A
SHORTCUT TO
THIS ENTRY

NOTE: Your authority might not offer all the other options on the screen shot above..

The Shortcut Wizard will open.

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 Cognos 8.2
Creating Quick Links to Reports

Enter an appropriate NAME

for the shortcut.

Select the LOCATION to

save the shortcut.

The location will change to

show My Folders.

Finally click on FINISH

You will be returned to Cognos Connection with the shortcut saved to the location you told the
system to save it to.

6.2 Browser Bookmark

In addition to saving shortcuts to reports within Cognos Connection, you can add a report
bookmark to Favourite’s within your browser.

As described above with creating a shortcut, the first step is to find the report you wish to add the
bookmark to and select:

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 Cognos 8.2
Creating Quick Links to Reports

From the available

actions window,
select ADD TO
BOOKMARKS

Your browsers Favourites facility will open.

Locate where you

want to save the link
to the report and click
OK

The shortcut will now appear as one of your Favourite’s within your browser. Now you will be
able to run the report direct from your browser without having to first open and navigate Cognos
Connection.

Note: Security will still be attached to the report. Therefore when running a report from your
browser, you will be required to enter your Raven log in details before the report opens.

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