Creating an IBM Cognos Active Report Intermediate to Advanced

Jeff MacDonald, IBM Craig Taylor, IBM

© 2012 IBM Corporation 

Agenda

• Module 1 – Introduction • Module 2 – Active Report Basics • Module 3 – Active Report in Business Insight and on the iPad • Module 4 – Do’s and Don’ts • Module 5 – Troubleshooting • Module 6 – Common Techniques • Module 7 – Build a PoC Quality Active Report

2 

Module 1 Introduction
• • •
Course objectives Resources available

Participant experience

3 

What You Will Get Out of This Course
• A better understanding of Active Report • In depth knowledge of Active Report features and capabilities • Awareness of the ease of creating an interesting Active Report So that you can create and deploy rich and compelling Active Report content

4 

Resources You Will Get to Take Home
• Presentation slides • Common Techniques MHT files and report specs • Do‟s & Don‟ts MHT files and report specs • Workshop solutions • Image gallery used for workshop reports

5 

Additional Material
IBM Cognos Active Report 10.1.1 Cookbook
• Available for download on IBM developerWorks site https://ltsbwass001.sby.ibm.com/cms/developerworks/data/library/cognos/reporting/ advanced_report_design/page593.html

Video walkthroughs of common Active Report techniques
• Available for viewing on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/user/ibmbusinessanalytics#p/c/3C03311925AC1773

Active Report Gallery
• Downloadable MHT files and report specs http://w3.tap.ibm.com/medialibrary/media_set_view?id=17196&oB=0&oD=2

6 

7 

Module 2 Active Report Basics
• • •
Key benefits of the solution Supported functionality Building basic reports

8 

Interactive Dashboards with IBM Cognos Active Report
Extend the reach of BI and analytics to a broad audience of consumers so they can use interactive reports to uncover new insights and opportunities. Solution highlights:

• Disconnected • Portable • Highly Interactive • Details on Demand • Broad Distribution • Cognos Platform Integration
9 

Creating an Active Report

• • •

Blank Active Report provides empty Report Studio canvas
Active Report gives a default template with a ribbon styled header and footer Convert to Active Report allows object and query re-use from standard reports

10 

Active Report Specific Properties

• • • •

Window Title sets the text in the browser header
Window Startup Size is the default size of the browser when a report is launched Maximum Query Rows limits the result result for each query; an error is provided Access Code must be entered by the user before being able to consume the report

11 

Active Report Support for Report Studio Features
Supported Unsupported

• • • • • • • •

Charts, Lists, Crosstabs, etc… Prompt Pages Drill-Through HTML Item* Query Functionality Classes Layout Component References* Scheduling & Bursting

• • • • •

Inline Prompts JavaScript Traditional Drill Down Table of Contents Bookmarks

12 

Active Report Controls

• •

Data Controls have values populated by a query item
Static Controls have manually entered values by the author

• Organization
– Deck – Tab Control

• Multiple Item Selections
– Toggle Button Bar – Check Box Group – List Box

• Single Item Selections
– Button Bar

•

Sliders
– Discrete Values – Continuous Values

– Radio Button Group
– Drop Down List – Iterator – Charts, Lists, Crosstabs
13 

Decks & Data Decks

•
•

Decks have a manually controlled number of cards and different layouts can be built on each card
Data Decks have a number of cards equal to the number of records in the query and each card has the same layout – each card is filtered in a different way according to the Master Detail Relationship

15 

Using a Deck

Set Active Report Variable

Deck has Container Select for Active Report Variable

16 

Using a Data Deck
Set Active Report Variable

Data Deck has Container Select for Active Report Variable Master Detail Relationship between the Data Deck and the objects inside the Data Deck

Product Line n Product Types

Product Line 3 Product Types

Product Line 2 Product Types Product Line 1 Product Types

17 

Deck Selection

•
• •

Single Selection Controls are used to select the card to display in the Deck or Data Deck – multiple controls are needed if a Data Deck is driven by multiple query items
Default Card is displayed if a valid selection condition does not exist for the Deck – useful for displaying summary level data or providing the user with instructions No Value List Item is an effective way to give a user access to the default card – clears the variable driven by control when selected

18 

Making Connections
Create a New Connection Wizard provides an interface with everything in one flow – including setting a default value based on the controls being connected

19 

Making Connections
Interactive Behavior Menu provides a manual interface for configuring connections between controls – more granular control & the ability to work with multiple variables – also accessible through the Properties menu

20 

Clickable Regions

•

Active Areas are defined by the Clickable Region property – the options available in this dialog box change depending on what object is selected

21 

Active Report Control and Variable Views

• •

Control view shows how controls are connected to one another
Variable view shows where variables are used in the report

22 

Unique Active Report Functionality

•
• • •

Calculated Summaries ensure that output calculations are always correct as a user interacts with the Active Report
Row Numbers ensure that a list is sequentially numbered as a user sorts and filters Sorting can be enabled on lists and crosstabs with a single property Column / Row Visibility is used to show or hide columns based on a condition in an Active Report variable

23 

Laying out an Active Report

•
• • •

Plan the report before beginning to author – ensure the targeted form factor & layout standard (fix vs. flow) is understood
Map Interactivity to understand where Decks are needed and whether data or static controls are required – users most often begin looking for interactivity in the top left Consider Animation as it will impact the layout of the decks

Default Behavior on load can be used to help reveal interaction

Separate decks are required to support different animation options

24 

Styling an Active Report

•
• • • •

Seek Requirements from the customer before styling – preferences are very subjective and the styling choices have a large impact on a user‟s first impression
Pick a Style Theme for the report and ensure that the background, palettes, font, etc.. are consistent – if you are not graphically inclined use examples for ideas Background Styling provides a large portion of the look-and-feel of a report – solid colors work but often times subtle linear or radial gradients are used Use Custom Buttons to increase the visual appeal – clipart icons or custom background effects in a block can be used Chart Palettes can be difficult to design but impact the overall appeal of the Active Report – try using tools like http://kuler.adobe.com/ to help match with theme

25 

Module 2 Workshop Part 1: Build a Basic Report

26 

Module 2 Workshop Part 2: Bonus

27 

Module 3 Active Report in Business Insight and on the iPad
• • •
How to create and use Active Reports in Business Insight iPad specific guidance for Active Report design Connecting multiple Active Reports on the iPad

28 

Active Report in Business Insight

• •
•

Consume Active Report saved outputs in Business Insight
Interact with individual Active Report outputs or drag multiple Active Reports onto the workspace and share context between all of them Public Variables are used to communicate between Active Reports – they must have the same name and type in each report for the context to be shared

29 

Debugging Active Reports in Business Insight

• • •

Control Shift D on an Active Report will enable the right-click debug menu
Variable names and values and be confirmed Debugging can be done by interacting with the different reports or by manually setting variables to ensure proper reaction

30 

Benefits and Considerations

• Benefits
• Caching • No requirements to connect

• Considerations
• • • • “Do More” option not available Only connect to Active Reports Pre-run saved output Business Insight must be connected to the server

31 

Active Report on the Apple iPad
Download the new IBM Cognos Mobile app Available now in the App Store for free

• Seamlessly integrated with Active Report
• Consume indirectly from an email or directly in the app • Using scheduling to automatically send outputs to an iPad

• No new authoring environments to learn
• No new output formats to manage

•

Any Active Report can be consumed on the desktop, Business Insight and the iPad

•

Existing re-run Active Reports can be consumed as-is on the iPad in IBM Cognos BI 10.1.1

32 

Controls on the iPad

•

iOS Look and Feel controls are automatically generated when an Active Report is consumed on the iPad – optimized for touch and styled to fit the iPad environment

33 

Incorporating iPad Native Gestures – Swipe

• Swipe gesture can be
enabled on deck controls

• The deck control requires
set and select conditions and a slide animation direction

• Can be used to trigger
updates in the report through variables

• Can be coupled with the
iterator control (page dots UI) to give it a more native and familiar look and feel
34 

iPad Considerations

•

Screen resolution is 1024 x 768 but usable area is 1024 x 704

pixels

704

1024
35
pixels 

iPad Design Considerations

• Page Padding

• Set Page Body padding to 0 0 0 0 to prevent it defaulting to 2 • Scrollable regions within a report may be difficult to discover – iOS 4 and earlier require a 2 finger scroll • List box is replaced with drop-down list on the iPad • Clickable lists and crosstabs should have rows of a minimum comfortable height to press (Apple HIG recommends 44 px) • Chart areas may be too small to touch (eg: small bubbles or maps)

• Scrollable Regions
• List Box

• Consider size of touch regions

• No equivalent to swip-able decks on the desktop • Pay attention to suppported fonts
36

• Use a secondary control to select cards from those decks • Iterator dots are clickable on the desktop
• Not all fonts are supported use http://iosfonts.com/ to cross reference conformance 

iPad 3 Design Considerations

• Fonts

• Standalone fonts are clearer and sharper on the iPad 3 • Both fonts and images are resized to fit the retinal display as a results fonts in images are less sharp • There is a trade off between image size and image quality which affects the size of the Active Report • Swiping on an iPad 3 is faster and smoother • Loading an Active Report is approximately the same time as loading with an iPad 2

• Fonts in images

• Image sizes / Balancing size considerations

• Swipe Area

• Unchanged load times

37 

Linking Active Reports on the iPad

•
• • •

Disconnected Links can be built between Active Reports on the iPad to create an „application‟ of Active Reports – February 2012: Cognos Mobile 10.1.1 FP3 release
Public Variables can be passed between the reports to share context – variables in source and target both need to be Public and share the same name and type Application Drill-Through is used to author the link – the method & parameter names must match example – Store ID & CM Search Path of target report required Set Variable Value Condition is required on the control that has the Application DrillThrough – needed to trigger the drill even if the control is just setting a dummy variable

38 

Linking Active Reports on the iPad

•
•

Schedule the group of reports as a job so that they arrive on the iPad together and have equally fresh data
DrillTarget.AgeDifferenceReRunThresholdHours is a new Mobile Service advanced setting that controls the maximum allowable age difference between Active Reports for offline linking

• •

Reports on My iPad section will display all of the Active Reports in the group
Back Button within the iPad application is used to navigate back to the source report

39 

Module 4 Do’s and Don’ts
•
Various tips to improve the creation and performance of an Active Report

40 

Simple Decks

•

Keep decks as simple as possible by having them only contain data that you need to be unique on a card. Push as much of the additional layout, styling, static content outside of the deck to avoid it being duplicated unnecessarily.

Deck placed in 1 formatted Block

41 

Use Classes

•

Using classes to style is even more important in an Active Report as many copies of things can be created (for example in decks) that may not be visible all at once, but can really start bloat the size of a report

A defined class used on a List Column Body
42 

Set Default Values

•

Ensure you set default values for variables (where applicable)

43

varProduct line Variable set to default a value 

Set Sizes

• •

Set sizes on columns of lists/xtabs that are filtered or sectioned

If trying to constrain built a fixed size dashboard, ensure to put sizes on charts and section charts or xtabs (using decks or filtering)

150
pixels

115
pixels

100
pixels

List Column sized to prevent control ‘dancing’ behavior
44 

Set Deck Sizes

•

Size decks to avoid large swipe or animation

Data Deck sized to chart
45 

Avoid Nesting Data Containers

•

Avoid nesting a data container within a data container. e.g. don't create a deck for products and then nest a deck for years inside. Create a single deck on Products, Years.

Single deck on Product line and Year

Nested Decks with Year and Product line

46 

Segment Decks

•

Segment data using decks instead of filtering when possible. The performance will be much better and the users will not know the difference.

Card containing Camping Equipment Data

Segmenting a deck versus filtering
47 

Multilingual

•

For multilingual support use a code or id that can be associated 1:1 to the label that is not localized.

LanguageID used for selection

48 

Layout Component Reference Objects

•

Use Layout Component Reference Objects

• Quick and easy design change • Limits duplication of object creation

Block defined as Layout Reference Object
49 

Name Controls and Queries

•

For maintenance and readability

• Name all controls Queries for function and maintenance • Name all queries

Data Button Bar named
50 

Name Variables

•

For readability prefix the variable names with v or var

Friendly named variables displayed on the Active Report Variable Tab

51 

Reuse Queries

•

Re-use queries as much as possible to reduce complexity (right mouse button drag from the toolbox makes this a little easier)

Data Button Bar and Data Deck share the same Query

52 

Alignment

• •

Align as close to data as possible Align use tables – center etc

Left, Center, Right

Top, Middle, Bottom

53 

Chart Hotspots

•

If charts have no behavior assigned reduce Maximum Hotspots to zero

54 

Test Queries

•

Test queries to ensure you are getting the number of records/charts/crosstabs you expect (debug options will also help – Control Shift D – then right click

55 

Use an Image and Block to Help with Layout

•

A block will expand if the contents are greater than a fixed size

•

The image will maintain the size

56 

Use Virtual Tables for Image Buttons

Select * From ( values ( ( ) ButtonImages (imageName, buttonValue ) cast('regionbutton_mid.png' as varchar(25) ), cast('region' as varchar(25) ) ), 'ombutton_mid.png', 'ordermethod' )

57 

Module 4 Workshop Part 1: Fix This Report

This report has three methods of filtering the list. Please correct the report to use only the one correct method.

• • •

Open the report Module 4 Part 1 Fix This Report.txt in Report Studio
Correct the errors in the report. Indicate what was wrong and what you did to correct the report.

58 

Module 4 Workshop Part 2: Fix This Report

This report has 12 mistakes that can be corrected by applying the Do‟s & Don‟ts covered in this module.

• • •
59

Open the report Module 4 Part 2 Fix This Report.txt in Report Studio Correct the errors in the report. Indicate what was wrong and what you did to correct the report. 

Module 5 Troubleshooting
• • • •
Connections Sizing Variables Record Sets

60 

Connections

•

Review connections for proper object behavior

•
•

Ensure the setting variables are correct

Ensure selection/filtering are set correctly

61 

Sizing

•

Correct sizing to avoid dancing and improper animation

•
• •

Use Positioning -> Size and & Overflow

Use padding, horizontal and vertical alignment

Use the Properties Ancestor button to check other objects size properties

62 

Variables

•

Control Shift D to enable the debug menu

•
•

Use the Show Variables to check variable values and behaviors

Use the Show Variables to set values for variables

63 

Information

• • • •

Control Shift D to enable the debug menu

Info provides internal information on the objects in the Active Report

Good for understanding number of decks/controls/cards etc

Validates the queries are correctly filtered

64 

Record Sets

•

Control Shift D to enable the debug menu

•
• •

Info provides internal information on the records in the Active Report

Good for understanding number of rows in the Active Report

Validates the queries are correctly filtered

65 

Module 5 Workshop: Fix This Report

•

Open the Active Report in the browser and determine how many of the following items there should be in the Active Report: Button Bars Charts Lists Entries in Records Sets

• • • •

•

Using troubleshooting techniques, determine how many of these items there are in the Active Report. Open Module 5 Fix This Report.txt in Report Studio; correct the errors in the report Indicate what was wrong and what you did to correct the report. Note: you should be able to find 7 mistakes in the report

• •
66 

Module 6 Common Techniques
• • • •
Leveraging the Basics to Create Rich Report Objects Visual Techniques Leveraging HTML Items Extending Base Functionality

67 

1. Change Chart Type and View Details
TECHNIQUE

•

Provide multiple views (charts, maps, or tables) of the same data

EXAMPLE

IMPLEMENTATION

•
68

Use a static deck or a static tab control to provide multiple cards (or tabs) with the same data in renderings 

2. Side-by-Side Comparison Chooser
TECHNIQUE

•

A side-by-side display of the same data for two different items

EXAMPLE

IMPLEMENTATION

• •

Mirrored controls and decks leveraging a layout component reference of the data content in the second deck

Use a separate variable for each item (ex: 2 city variables are used in the example 69 above) 

3. Drilling Down to Details
TECHNIQUE

• •

Upon selecting data, drill-down to more details

EXAMPLE Drilling down to the details for a particular product line

IMPLEMENTATION

•
70

Use decks and data decks organized in a horizontal table to define a drill path 

4. Toggled List Column Display
TECHNIQUE

• •

User control over which columns are visible on a list

EXAMPLE Checkboxes that control which measures are displayed in a list

IMPLEMENTATION

•
71

Use a static check box control to drive the visibility of associated columns 

5. Disabling Until a Condition is Met
TECHNIQUE

• •

Keep a part of a report disabled until other conditions are met through user interaction

EXAMPLE Showing a default card and disabling another control until a value is chosen from another control

IMPLEMENTATION

•

Create a default card to be shown when no value is set and/or setup a control enabled expression requiring the variable to not be empty

72 

6. Cascading Prompts
TECHNIQUE

• •

Choices available in the next control depend on the value selected in the previous control

EXAMPLE Cascading prompting through a hierarchy of data

IMPLEMENTATION

• •

Disable next control(s) until variable set by previous control has a value Filter next control(s) by the value of the previous control‟s variable

73 

7. Cascading Animated Prompts
TECHNIQUE

• •

Show a second prompt control only after a selection from the first has been made

EXAMPLE Progressive disclosure of a cascading prompt control

IMPLEMENTATION

•

Put the secondary control(s) in an animated deck and show the card only when the previous prompt has been answered

74 

8. Hidden Report Regions
TECHNIQUE

• •

Create an area in the report that can be displayed or hidden

EXAMPLE Ideal for making additional content or controls available on demand

IMPLEMENTATION

•
75

Put a two-card static deck into a collapsing 2 column (or row) table 

9. “Top Metrics” Area
TECHNIQUE

• •

A visual technique to highlight “key metrics” in a textual way

EXAMPLE Highlight the most important measures and metrics

IMPLEMENTATION

•

Using a table in a data deck, add measures to each column cell in the first row of the table, and labels for the corresponding measures in the second row

76 

10. Clickable Exploding Pie Slices
TECHNIQUE

•

Clicking on a pie slice explodes out that piece of the pie

EXAMPLE

IMPLEMENTATION

•
77

Create a pie chart in a data deck and use an expression on the chart to identify the pie slice to explode 

11. Custom Content Buttons
TECHNIQUE

• •

Create custom looking items that support interactive behavior

EXAMPLE A custom look vertical button bar containing a micro chart

IMPLEMENTATION

• •
78

Use a list for vertical or a crosstab for horizontal orientation content Augment or override the default contents of the cells 

12. Toggled Conditional Styling
TECHNIQUE

• •

Allow user to toggle on and off conditional styles on content

EXAMPLE Button bar to toggle conditional styling in a crosstab

IMPLEMENTATION

• •
79

Create a static deck with duplicated contents on each card Apply a different conditional style on each card‟s content 

13. Sliding to Visualize Changes
TECHNIQUE

• •

Sliding through time on a slider control to gain insight on the data

EXAMPLE Sliding through years to see heat map data on map change over time

IMPLEMENTATION

•
80

Use a live updating slider to slide through content in a data deck 

14. Scrolling Marquee
TECHNIQUE

• •

Scroll data (to be passively consumed) across the screen A scrolling marquee of related measures to the report‟s primary content

EXAMPLE

IMPLEMENTATION

•

Wrap data in a repeater element between two HTML items containing opening and closing marquee tags (<marquee> and </marquee>)

81 

15. Embedded Videos
TECHNIQUE

•

Include a link to a video form an external source (ex: from YouTube or a corporate internal or external web site)

EXAMPLE

IMPLEMENTATION

• •
82

Put well formed HTML video code into an HTML item in the report Note: video will only be available when user is connected 

16. Absolutely Positioned Content
TECHNIQUE

•

Absolutely position content on top of other content in a report

EXAMPLE

IMPLEMENTATION

•

Wrap content in HTML Items that positions the content absolutely

• Before content:
<div style=“position: absolute; left: ?px; top: ?px; width: ?px; height: ?px;”>

• After content:
83 </div> 

17. Tree Control
TECHNIQUE

•

A tree control to more easily navigate and find data in a hierarchical structure

EXAMPLE

•
•

A hierarchical tree of Product line > Product type > Product name

IMPLEMENTATION Use decks inside of lists to build up a structure based on the data hierarchy

84 

18. Pop Up using Background Image
TECHNIQUE

•

Create a pop card using images as background

EXAMPLE

•
•

Bar chart displays on top of existing controls

IMPLEMENTATION Use a background image the resembles the originating deck card

85 

19. Pop Up using HTML <div>
TECHNIQUE

•

Control the location of the deck card to enable cards to pop up over existing controls

EXAMPLE

•

A card containing a crosstab pops up on a chart Use div‟s inside a card to control positioning and size of the card

IMPLEMENTATION

•

86 

20. Menus
TECHNIQUE

•

A menu control to more easily navigate, select or filter controls

EXAMPLE

•
•

A menu that is activated by clicking or touching a button

IMPLEMENTATION Use decks, absolute positioning and list to create menu and menu options

87 

21. Custom Button using Repeater Table
TECHNIQUE

• •

A list report in a repeater table enables the user to create custom button both vertical and horizontally

EXAMPLE Three styles or custom buttons • Text • Horizontal images • Vertical images IMPLEMENTATION Use lists with no column headers in a repeater tableof lists to build up a structure based on the data hierarchy

•

88 

Module 7 Build a PoC Quality Report
• • • •
Leveraging the Basics to Create Rich Report Objects Visual Techniques Leveraging HTML Items Extending Base Functionality

89 

Steps to Build a Rich and Compelling Active Report

1. 2. 3.

Plan the report Build the content Size, style and lay out the content

4.
5. 6.

Define the interactive behavior
Test the report Deploy the report

90 

Module 7 Workshop: Build a PoC Quality Report

91 

Module 7 Workshop: Build a PoC Quality Report

92 

Module 7 Workshop: Build a PoC Quality Report

93 

Module 7 Workshop: Build a PoC Quality Report

94