IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence

NEW FEATURES

Product Information
This document applies to IBM Cognos 8 Version 8.4 and may also apply to subsequent releases. To check for newer versions of this document, visit the Cognos Software Services Web site (http://support.cognos.com).

Copyright
Copyright 2008 Cognos ULC (formerly Cognos Incorporated). Cognos ULC is an IBM Company. Portions of Cognos ULC 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; 6,986,135 B2; 6,995,768 B2; 7,062,479 B2; 7,072,822 B2; 7,111,007 B2; 7,130,822 B1; 7,155,398 B2; 7,171,425 B2; 7,185,016 B1; 7,213,199 B2; 7,243,106 B2; 7,257,612 B2; 7,275,211 B2; 7,281,047 B2; 7,293,008 B2; 7,296,040 B2; 7,318,058 B2; 7,325,003 B2; 7,333,995 B2. Cognos and the Cognos logo are trademarks of Cognos ULC (formerly Cognos Incorporated) in the United States and/or other countries. IBM and the IBM logo are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, or other countries or both. Other company, product, or service names may be trademarks or service marks of others. 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 the information contained in this 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 dis closure by the Government is subject to the restrictions in subparagraph (C)(1)(ii) of the Rights in Technical Data and Computer clause at DFARS 252.227-7013, or subparagraphs (C)(1) and (2) of the Commercial Computer Software - Restricted Rights at 48CFR52.227 as applicable. The Contractor is Cognos Corporation, 15 Wayside Road, Burlington, MA 01803. This document contains proprietary information of Cognos. All rights are reserved. No part of this document 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.

Table of Contents
Introduction

5 9

Chapter 1: Whats New in IBM Cognos 8? Chapter 2: Targeting Information

11

More User Preferences in Query Studio 11 Prompt Types for Levels in Query Studio Can be Defined in Framework Manager 11 Extended Support for Dimensionally-modeled Relational Data Sources 11 Chapter 3: Extended Reporting and Analysis

13

Extended Suppression Capabilities in all Studios 13 Lineage 13 New Features for Report Authors 13 Crosstab Measures in Report Studio can be Formatted Based on a Another Crosstab Measure 13 Drill Up and Down can be Synchronized for Multiple Queries in Report Studio Reports 14 The dataItem Element in Report Studio Supports Calculated Members and Measures 14 Shared List Queries in Report Studio 14 Generated Background Images 14 New Charts in Report Studio 14 RootMember Function in Report Studio 14 Excel Color Palettes 14 More Report Graphics 15 Enhanced Sorting and Filtering in Query Studio 15 New Features for Business Analysts 15 Multiple Intersections (Tuples) can be Selected for Suppression in Analysis Studio 15 The Update Date for a Cube can be Displayed 15 Chapter 4: Enhanced Deployment and Administration

17

Enhanced Drill-through Capabilities 17 Additional User Capabilities and Easier Organization for Packages 17 Extended Support for Single Signon 17 Objects Can be Hidden in the Portal 17 Namespaces Can be Hidden in the Login Page 18 Improved Performance for Reports that Require Prompt Values 18 Enhancements to Data Manager 18 Appendix A: Supported Environments Index

19

21

New Features 3

Table of Contents

Introduction
This document provides an organized view of the new features of IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence. For more information about new and changed features, see the specific product user guide.

Audience
This guide is for information technology administrators, data modelers, report authors, users of IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence, and others who are interested in IBM Cognos 8.4. To use this guide effectively, you should be familiar with one or more of the following items, depending on your role in your organization: IBM Cognos 8 and its components the existing server environment and security infrastructure in your organization your companys business requirements your companys business intelligence environment database and data warehouse concepts security concepts

Related Documentation
Our documentation includes user guides, getting started guides, new features guides, readmes, and other materials to meet the needs of our varied audience. The following documents contain related information and may be referred to in this document. Note: For online users of this document, a Web page such as The page cannot be found may appear when clicking individual links in the following table. Documents are made available for your par ticular installation and translation configuration. If a link is unavailable, you can access the document on the Cognos Software Services Web site (http://support.cognos.com). Logon credentials are available either from your administrator or by request from support.login@cognos.com.

Document

Description

IBM Cognos Connection User Using IBM Cognos Connection to publish, find, manage, organize, Guide and view IBM Cognos content, such as scorecards, reports, ana lyses, and agents IBM Cognos 8 Administration Managing servers, security, reports, and portal services; setting and Security Guide up IBM Cognos samples; troubleshooting; and customizing IBM Cognos 8 Report Studio Professional Authoring User Guide Authoring reports that analyze corporate data according to spe cific needs

New Features 5

Introduction

Document
Report Studio Express Authoring User Guide Event Studio User Guide

Description
Authoring financial reports that analyze corporate data according to specific needs Creating and managing agents that monitor data and perform tasks when the data meets predefined thresholds Understanding the IBM Cognos 8 architecture, developing installation strategies, including security considerations, and optimizing performance Exploring, analyzing, and comparing dimensional data Creating and publishing models using Framework Manager

IBM Cognos 8 Architecture and Deployment Guide

Analysis Studio User Guide Framework Manager User Guide Metric Studio User Guide

Authoring scorecard applications and monitoring the metrics within them Creating self-service business intelligence reports

Query Studio User Guide

Map Manager Installation and Installing and using Map Manager to import and manage maps User Guide that are used in map reports IBM Cognos 8 Migration Tools User Guide Moving metadata and applications from IBM Cognos Series 7 to IBM Cognos 8

IBM Cognos 8 Go! Office User Using IBM Cognos 8 Go! Office to retrieve content from IBM Guide Cognos reporting products within Microsoft Office

Finding Information
To find the most current product documentation, including all localized documentation, access the Cognos Software Services Web site (http://support.cognos.com). Click the Documentation link to access documentation guides. Click the Knowledge Base link to access all documentation, technical papers, and multimedia materials. Product documentation is available in online help from the Help menu or button in IBM Cognos products. You can also download documentation in PDF format from the Cognos Software Services Web site. You can also read PDF versions of the product readme files and installation guides directly from IBM Cognos product CDs.

Introduction

Using Quick Tours

Quick tours are short online tutorials that illustrate key features in IBM Cognos product components. To view a quick tour, start IBM Cognos Connection and click the Quick Tour link in the lowerright corner of the Welcome page.

Getting Help
For more information about using this product or for technical assistance, visit the Cognos Software Services Web site (http://support.cognos.com). This site provides product information, services, user forums, and a knowledge base of documentation and multimedia materials. To log a Service Request, go to IBM Cognos Insight! at http://support.cognos.com/en/support/insight. For general inquiries, contact your local Cognos Software Services office. Contact information can be found at http://support.cognos.com/en/support/about/contact.html. For information about education and training, click the Training link.

Printing Copyright Material

You can print selected pages, a section, or the whole book. You are granted a non-exclusive, nontransferable license to use, copy, and reproduce the copyright materials, in printed or electronic format, solely for the purpose of operating, maintaining, and providing internal training on IBM Cognos software.

New Features 7

Introduction

Chapter 1: Whats New in IBM Cognos 8?

IBM Cognos 8.4 consists of two major packages. One package includes IBM Cognos 8 BI PowerPlay and the other package includes all IBM Cognos 8 BI components except IBM Cognos PowerPlay. This new features guide is for the latter package. The new features in IBM Cognos 8.4 BI provide benefits to business managers and analysts, business modelers, report authors, and system administrators. All studios include a new feature for suppressing rows and columns that contain zero values, missing values, or overflow values. A new lineage feature in Report Studio, Query Studio, Analysis Studio, and the report viewer, allows you to view life cycle information on each piece of data.

Business Managers and Analysts

In Query Studio, the addition of more user preferences and the enhancement of filtering and sorting options make it quicker for Business Analysts to set up and run reports. Also, because modelers can set default filters in a Framework Manager model, it is easier for users to set up and run reports. Analysis Studio includes a new feature that makes it easier to apply suppression across multiple items. From within Analysis Studio, you can also display the date on which a cube was last updated.

Business Modelers
Business modelers using Transformer can now use fact data from SAP BW OLAP data sources. This means they can create Transformer models based on existing dimensional models. Transformer also supports Excel spreadsheets as data sources.

Report Authors
Report authors now have more drill-through capabilities, including the ability to pass filters from the source report to the target report. They can also conditionally style crosstab cells based on values in other cells. More types of charts and more graphics are included with Report Studio for use in reports and dashboards.

System Administrators
Support for IBM Cognos 8 is extended to include more operating systems, data sources, browsers, application servers, and portals. For more information see Appendix A: "Supported Environ ments" (p. 19). It is now easier for Administrators to organize packages and control which packages specific users can see in the portal.

New Features 9

Chapter 1: Whats New in IBM Cognos 8?

10

Chapter 2: Targeting Information

IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence provides features that help you to efficiently target information to different types of users.

More User Preferences in Query Studio

You can now save more user preferences in Query Studio. New preferences include the following: You can choose a data retrieval mode that allows you to run a report with all data, preview it with limited data, or preview it with no data You can specify a default template for reports You can select the type of filter dialog to use by default. Types include picklist, type-in, or select with search.

Prompt Types for Levels in Query Studio Can be Defined in Framework Manager
Query Studio provides a metadata tree that is level based. You can easily create a report based on levels by dragging levels from the metadata tree to a report list or crosstab report. For a dimension ally-modeled relational data source you can now specify in the model the default type of the filter dialog that is supplied to the user.

Extended Support for Dimensionally-modeled Relational Data Sources

There is now support for multiple hierarchies of a single dimension for dimensionally-modeled relational data sources. In addition, the sorting of data by member is enhanced. A member can appear sorted in the metadata tree and on the report without slowing performance. Also, members of a level are sorted in the context of their ancestor levels. This means that the hierarchical relationship of a level is considered when member sorting is applied.

New Features 11

Chapter 2: Targeting Information

12

Chapter 3: Extended Reporting and Analysis

IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence provides enhancements for report authors working with Report Studio or Query Studio, and business analysts working with Analysis Studio.

Extended Suppression Capabilities in all Studios

You can now suppress rows, columns, or rows and columns based on the following: zero values divide by zero values missing values overflow values

This can be done on any suppression-enabled package such as relational, dimensionally-modeled relational, and OLAP data sources. Suppression can be enabled at the discretion of the Transformer or Framework Manager modeler during publishing.

Lineage
It is now easier to view information on the life cycle of a data element and see the major transform ations that occurred as it traveled through a system. For technical users, this may include in-depth information about the data sources, data types, calculation expressions, and details of ETL trans formations. For business users, the information may be as simple as the point of origin of the data and when it was last updated. You can launch Lineage from Report Studio, Query Studio, Analysis Studio, and the report viewer.

New Features for Report Authors

New features in Report Studio and Query Studio provide advantages for report authors.

Crosstab Measures in Report Studio can be Formatted Based on a Another Crosstab Measure
You can now apply conditional styles to crosstab cells based on an adjacent value in the crosstab. For example, you can conditionally color the bubbles in a bubble chart based on any combination of the measures, and you can conditionally color an entire row of the crosstab based on any measure in the columns.

New Features 13

Chapter 3: Extended Reporting and Analysis

Drill Up and Down can be Synchronized for Multiple Queries in Report Studio Reports
You can now link groups of data items from different queries in a report so that when you drill up or down on one query, data items in the other query also drill up or down.

The dataItem Element in Report Studio Supports Calculated Members and Measures
The dataItem element is now extended to support calculated members and measures. This allows sorting by calculated members.

Shared List Queries in Report Studio

Report Studio now provides an option to share the database query between two list frames that have the same logical query. This improves performance by minimizing the number of queries executed against the database.

Generated Background Images

The Report Studio author can now define background images for objects, such as charts, to enhance the presentation quality of a report. The new capabilities include borders with rounded corners, transparent background fills and images, drop shadows, and background gradients.

New Charts in Report Studio

The following new chart types are available in Report Studio: microcharts These miniature charts are useful for improving the visualization of data in crosstabs, lists, and dashboards. They are smaller versions of column charts, bar charts, and line charts. Column microcharts and bar microcharts are also available in stacked and 100 percent stacked config urations. Another type of microchart is a win-loss chart in which the value of each column is either 1 or -1, often denoting a win or loss. Marimekko charts A Marimekko chart is a 100 percent stacked chart in which the width of a column is proportional to the total of the column's values. Line charts now include an option for creating step line charts. Step line charts are similar to line charts but use vertical and horizontal lines to connect the data points, forming a step-like progression.

RootMember Function in Report Studio

A new function, rootMember, returns the root member of a single-root hierarchy.

Excel Color Palettes

There is now an easy way to match the palette of Report Studio charts with charts from Excel. The Palette dialog box provides new palettes that match those from various versions of Excel. 14

Chapter 3: Extended Reporting and Analysis

More Report Graphics

Additional colorful graphics are now available for dashboards and reports.

Enhanced Sorting and Filtering in Query Studio

In Query Studio, you can now filter without adding a column. A context menu in the metadata tree allows you to add filters directly from the tree without first having to add the metadata item to the report. Text filters now include multi-line text control. You can paste text from other applications into type-in filters. You can also use wildcards to define filters.

New Features for Business Analysts

Analysis Studio provides new features for the business analysts.

Multiple Intersections (Tuples) can be Selected for Suppression in Analysis Studio

It is now easy to add or remove sparsity tuples. Previously, you had to invoke suppression on each measure multiple times for each nested group to ensure that only rows with zero or null values were suppressed. You can now invoke suppression across multiple items at the same time and verify against a list of items to show how suppression was applied.

The Update Date for a Cube can be Displayed

In Analysis Studio you can now display the date on which a cube was last updated.

New Features 15

Chapter 3: Extended Reporting and Analysis

16

Chapter 4: Enhanced Deployment and Administra tion

The new IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence release provides new functionality to support enterpriseclass BI deployments.

Enhanced Drill-through Capabilities

In earlier versions of IBM Cognos 8, model-based drill-through supported only reports created in Analysis Studio, Query Studio, or Report Studio as targets. Other types of drill-through targets are now supported. For example, you can drill through to PowerPlay Studio reports saved in the content store, or to a PowerCube. There is now dynamic filtering of data in Report Studio reports. You can automatically apply filter data from a report to a drill-through target from that report. When you drill through from a Report Studio report to a target report, if what you have selected is in a query in the target report, the results are automatically filtered. A Report Studio author can now define a drill definition that allows a report to be shown on the Go To page only when a specific measure, dimension, hierarchy, alternate hierarchy, level, or query item exists in the source report. This allows the author to restrict when the drill path is available to users.

Additional User Capabilities and Easier Organization for Pack ages

You can specify user capabilities for individual packages. Also, there is more flexibility when organizing packages in the content store.

Extended Support for Single Signon

IBM Cognos 8 now provides for single signon through LDAP namespace authentication for an Essbase OLAP data source. In addition, single signon support is added for Teradata and DB2. For more information see the Administration and Security Guide.

Objects Can be Hidden in the Portal

Multiple packages in the root folder can be hidden from the UI. Administrators can control whether users can choose a preference to view hidden objects.

New Features 17

Chapter 4: Enhanced Deployment and Administration

Namespaces Can be Hidden in the Login Page

Administrators can now register trusted signon namespaces without having them shown on the namespace selection list that appears at logon. This is useful if you want to integrate single signon across your system while maintaining the ability for customers to authenticate directly to IBM Cognos 8 without being prompted to choose a namespace.

Improved Performance for Reports that Require Prompt Values

You can specify that prompt values for a report are stored in a cache. This enables the report server to render a prompt page without having to run a prompt query and access the database for each report. The first time that a report is open, the cache is created. Then, for each user who subsequently opens the report, the cache is used. This results in performance improvements for reports that have prompt pages.

Enhancements to Data Manager

The bulk loader support in Data Manager is extended to support Netezza, Sybase, and SybaseIQ. Also, the SQLTXT Designer UI in Data Manager is extended to provide a quick method for duplicating a table definition.

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Appendix A: Supported Environments

This release of IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence adds support for the following environments:

Type
Operating systems

Item
AIX 6.1 Linux RedHat Enterprise 5.0 AS Microsoft Windows Server 2008

Data sources

DB2 UDB 9.5 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows Netezza 4 NCR Teradata V2 R12 NCR Teradata via ODBC from Linux Oracle 11G Sybase IQ 12.7 ESD3 Applix TM1 IBM Cognos Now! Cubes Unicode ODBC

Web servers

Microsoft IIS 7 (cgi and isapi) Apache 2.2 Web Server

Application servers Portals Other

Sun Java System Application Server 9.1 BEA Aqualogic User Interaction 6.1 Transformer 8 SAP BW fact support Transformer 8 Excel 2007 support Framework Manager support for Visual SourceSafe 2005

New Features 19

Appendix A: Supported Environments For complete up-to-date information about supported environments, see the Cognos Software Services Web site (http://support.cognos.com) under Product Information, Supported Environments.

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Index
A
Analysis Studio add or remove sparsity tuples, 15 date of last cube update, 15 authoring professional, 13

E
environments supported, 19 Essbase OLAP data source single signon, 17

F B
background images, 14 business analysts, 15 filtering dynamic filtering of drill-through targets, 17 Query Studio, 15 finding information, 6 formatting of crosstab measures, 13 Framework Manager prompt types for levels in Query Studio, 11

C
capabilities for packages, 17 charts Excel color palettes, 14 in Report Studio, 14 Cognos Software Services Web site, 7 color palettes Excel, 14 conditional formatting of crosstab measures, 13 copyright material printing, 7 crosstab measures conditional formatting, 13 cube update date, 15

G
graphics Report Studio, 15

H
help getting, 7 hidden namespaces, 18 hiding objects in the portal, 17

D
dataItem element in Report Studio supports calculated members and measures, 14 data lineage, 13 Data Manager bulk loader support, 18 Dimensionally-modeled relational data sources multiple hierarchies of a single dimension, 11 drill-through dynamic filtering, 17 new capabilities, 17 drill up and drill down synchronized with multiple queries in Report Stu dio, 14

I
information finding, 6 targeting, 11

J
JBOSS versions, 19

L
lineage, 13 login hide namespaces, 18 single signon, 17

New Features 21

Index

M
Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Service versions, 19 MSSAS see Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Service, 19 multiple hierarchies of a single dimension dimensionally-modeled relational data sources, 11

dataItem element, 14 Excel color palettes in charts, 14 generated background images, 14 professional authoring, 13 rootMember function, 14 shared list queries, 14 synchronized drill up and drill down, 14 rootMember function in Report Studio, 14

N
namespaces can be hidden, 18 Netezza, 18

S
shared list queries, 14 single signon Essbase OLAP sources, 17 sparsity tuples, 15 SQLTXT designer, 18 statement-style reports, 13 supported environments, 19 suppression reports or rows or columns, 13 SUSE Linux Enterprise Server versions, 19 Sybase, 18

O
Oracle Application Server versions, 19

P
packages easier to organize, 17 hiding, 17 user capabilities, 17 Performance reports with prompt pages, 18 preferences in Query Studio, 11 printing copyright material, 7 prompt pages improved performance, 18

T
table definition duplicating, 18

U Q
Query Studio filtering, 15 prompt types can be defined in Framework Man ager, 11 user preferences, 11 quick tours using, 7 update date for a cube, 15

R
related documentation, 5 reporting extending, 13 reports statement-style, 13 Report Studio additional graphics, 15 charts, 14 22