Deleting / Cutting a Query Item

[Cognos_Jan2017]

While managing a Query.

I usually select a Query Item, right click, then Cut.  Doing that has not introduced any issues.

Someone told me that doing a "Cut" on a Query Item like that can introduce a problem.  That person recommended using the "Red X" on the Menu Bar to delete a Query Item.

Has anyone encountered using " Cut" as an issue?

TIA, Bob

[MFGF]

While managing a Query.

I usually select a Query Item, right click, then Cut.  Doing that has not introduced any issues.

Someone told me that doing a "Cut" on a Query Item like that can introduce a problem.  That person recommended using the "Red X" on the Menu Bar to delete a Query Item.

Has anyone encountered using " Cut" as an issue?

TIA, Bob

If I were you, I'd be interested in getting more details from your particular "Someone" on specifically where and why cutting items can introduce a problem, and what that problem is. Some muppet thoughts from a generic standpoint, though:

If you are working within the query rather than on a report page, cut and delete for an item would usually do the same thing. I can't imagine any specific problems here.
If you are working on a report page, eg in a list or a crosstab, and you select an item, cut and delete can have subtly different outcomes. If you cut an item, it gets removed from the list or crosstab you cut it from, but the item is left intact in the underlying query. If you delete an item, it gets removed from the list or crosstab and also gets removed from the underlying query. The one "problem" I can see here is that when using cut operations you could inadvertently end up with a query littered with items not actually being used anywhere in the report. This isn't necessarily a bad thing - when the report runs it will only pull the items it needs. The difficulty really is in maintenance - someone trying to figure out what the report does later on will have to fight through all the clutter in the query trying to figure out which items are actually in use.

I'd be interested in hearing more about what the perceived problem is from your Someone, though. :)

Cheers!

MF.

[Cognos_Jan2017]

Excellent reply.

Merits a second Applaud today.

Thank you MFGF, Bob

[BigChris]

One additional thought to add to the mix. Cutting items from the report page can have an effect on the aggregation in the report page. An example recently happened where an item had several receipts, each with the same quantity received on each. The report originally had the item number, the receipt number and the quantity on it. When the receipt number was cut from the report, the quantity showed just once. Now, this might have been caused by bad modelling, but the fix was to delete the receipt number from the query as well.

Might never happen for you, but something to be aware of :)

[Cognos_Jan2017]

Cutting items from the report page can have an effect on the aggregation in the report page. An example recently happened where an item had several receipts, each with the same quantity received on each. The report originally had the item number, the receipt number and the quantity on it. When the receipt number was cut from the report, the quantity showed just once. Now, this might have been caused by bad modelling, but the fix was to delete the receipt number from the query as well.

Yes, if an Author wants to no longer see a particular item, Deleting it from the Query works.

Thank you BigChris, Bob