Converting an Esri Shapefile (.SHP) to a Cognos Map File (.

CMF)

Even though Cognos Analytics 11 is available, many organizations continue to use Cognos 10 because of its
familiarity. The following exercise guides you through the process of converting an Esri Shapefile (.SHP) to a
Cognos-recognized .CMF file for mapping functionality.

Software Requirements:

 Pitney Bowes MapInfo Professional (e.g., v15.2 – 64 bit)

 Cognos Framework Manager 10.2.1 (or earlier)
 Cognos Report Studio 10.2 (or earlier)

Start by getting yourself a shapefile! They’re all over the internet, or some of our customers get them from
geospatial or Esri teams within their organizations. Generally, shapefiles are zipped up with a bunch of other
files. You need the other files too, so keep everything you download. For this exercise, we use Idaho school
district information found at data.gov: https://catalog.data.gov/dataset/tiger-line-shapefile-2014-state-idaho-
current-unified-school-districts-state-based-shapefile.

1. Download the tl_2014_16_unsd.zip file:

2. Unzip all contents to a directory of your choosing. You should see a .SHP file alongside several other
files.

3. Open MapInfo Professional.

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 4. Open the shapefile you just downloaded and unzipped:

5. You are then prompted to specify a .TAB file name. Save the .TAB file in the directory of your choosing.
6. Save the new MapInfo Professional workspace to the directory of your choosing:

NOTE
As a rule, keep all defaults, such as “Use Projection In Source File.” However, you may
experiment with alternative projections for your specific map. Northern states are typically
stretched in traditional Mercator projections.

Next, you need to modify your table structure in MapInfo Professional.

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 7. Click Table, Table, and Modify Structure:

Within the Modify Table Structure window, many fields will appear:

NOTE
If you do not see several fields (as those shown the image directly above), do the following:

1. Click on the Home tab.

2. Click Save Copy As.
3. Save the Copy of Table in the directory of your choosing (with a slightly different file
name).
4. Click Close All.
5. Click Open.
6. Click Table.
7. Open your new MapInfo .TAB copy file.
Cognos only recognizes one field in your table to identify the individual polygons within it. EKS&H recommends
that you choose a descriptive field (NAME in this case) rather than an ID field (e.g., GEOID) for easier
readability.

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 8. Highlight each field (except the NAME field), and click Remove Field. When done, your window should
look as follows:

9. Click OK. Ignore the “one or more fields have been shortened” warning, and click OK.
10. Click Home and Close All (your change to the .TAB file has already been made).
11. Close MapInfo Professional.

NOTE
Use Framework Manager version 10.2.1 or earlier. GeosetManager installs during the
Framework Manager installation. Newer versions don’t come with the following directory and
do not use the GeosetManager application.

12. From C:\Program Files (x86)\ibm\cognos\c10\bin\mapx, run GeosetManager50.exe (ignore the

registry error if it appears):

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 13. Close out of the “Open” window that opens automatically:

14. Click File and New Geoset:

Next, you add the Idaho School District map layer.

15. Click Add in the Layer Control window and navigating to the .tab file you altered:

16. Click OK.

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17. The .TAB file imports and appears in the canvas:

18. Save the .GST file to a directory of your choice by clicking on File and Save As:

19. Open IBM Cognos Map Manager (10.2.1 or earlier):

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20. Click File and Import.
21. Navigate to your .GST file and open it.
22. It should appear as follows:

23. Click File and Save As.

24. Navigate to C:\Program Files\ibm\cognos\c10\maps (or your similar installation directory), and save
the file next to the existing .CMF files:

25. Your new map file can now be used in Report Studio or Cognos Analytics 11 when creating a new
report with a map tool.

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Alternative Instructions – Omitting the above GeosetManager.exe Steps

In order to skip the GeosetManager steps above, create an .XML file.

NOTE
The following instructions work for Cognos 10.2.1. EKS&H is working on a solution for Cognos
Analytics 11.

1. Save a new .XML file (be sure to add the .XML extension to your file name) in the same directory as
your .TAB file and change the .TAB reference (in green) to reflect your .TAB file therein:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Map Name="Senate">
<Layers>
<Layer Name="Senate" Path=".\SENATE_DST_CENSUS.TAB" Order="1">
<Color Red="245" Green="245" Blue="220" />
</Layer>
</Layers>
</Map>

2. Open Map Manager.

3. Import your .XML file.
4. Rename your layer by clicking on Tools and Define custom layers.
5. Save as a .CMF to C:\Program Files\ibm\cognos\c10\maps (or your similar installation directory) next
to your other .CMF files.
6. Open Report Studio, and you should see the new map.

Next Steps

EKS&H would love to discuss performing this work as a professional service to your organization. We have
dozens of business analytics consultants who are well-versed in Cognos. EKS&H would be delighted to learn
more about your organization’s goals and strategic direction for Cognos and/or other business analytics
initiatives, such as business intelligence and data integration. We have created .CMF files for many
referenceable customers, such as school districts, retail store floorplans, and even airplane seat maps.

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About the author:

DAVID TAYLOR

 Senior manager in the consulting service area

 Began working in consulting in 1994

 Serves public and privately held companies in a variety of industries

 Expertise in data science, reporting, data analytics, data

warehousing, data architecture, budgeting, planning, and predictive
analytics

 BA Mathematics and Economics magna cum laude St. Olaf College

For additional information about EKS&H's business analytics services, please contact Mark Richards at
mrichards@eksh.com or at (303) 740-9400.