Newbie problem with Active Reports

[qvixote]

Hello!

I have some powercubes and I have used them to build lots of reports, but I've never built an active report. Now Im trying to achieve some interactive behavior, but without success.

I have a bar chart called GrRegion, with only one serie and one category called "Region", and a second bar chart called GrCriterion with the same serie and one category called "Criterion". I need to connect those two bar charts, so when I click a region in the first chart, it FILTERS the data in the second chart.

When I try to do the connection, following the directions on the "IBM Cognos Report Studio Version 10.2.0 User Guide", it don't work. I click the "new connection" button in the first chart, select the source control, select the "Region" data item, then select the second bar chart as target control. So far so good. But now the first problem is that in the data item dropdown list for target control there is no "Region" data item. About that, the user guide says:

If the data item that you want to use is not in the query of the target control, and the source control is a data-driven control, select Copy Data Item from Source to copy the source data item specified in the previous step to the target control query. If the source control is a static control, select Use Source Definition.

Well, none of these two options appear in the dropdown list, it only shows the two data items in the chart's query: the serie and the "Criterion" category.

The second problem is that, according to users guide, in the behavior dropdown list should be two options: Select and Filter. I want to filter, but in the dropdown list it's only "Select", no "filter" anywhere.

I tried using the same query in both charts, using different queries in each one of them, but irs always the same.

I'm sure there's something I'm missing, but my inexperience doesn't help.

[MFGF]

Hello!

I have some powercubes and I have used them to build lots of reports, but I've never built an active report. Now Im trying to achieve some interactive behavior, but without success.

I have a bar chart called GrRegion, with only one serie and one category called "Region", and a second bar chart called GrCriterion with the same serie and one category called "Criterion". I need to connect those two bar charts, so when I click a region in the first chart, it FILTERS the data in the second chart.

When I try to do the connection, following the directions on the "IBM Cognos Report Studio Version 10.2.0 User Guide", it don't work. I click the "new connection" button in the first chart, select the source control, select the "Region" data item, then select the second bar chart as target control. So far so good. But now the first problem is that in the data item dropdown list for target control there is no "Region" data item. About that, the user guide says:

Well, none of these two options appear in the dropdown list, it only shows the two data items in the chart's query: the serie and the "Criterion" category.

The second problem is that, according to users guide, in the behavior dropdown list should be two options: Select and Filter. I want to filter, but in the dropdown list it's only "Select", no "filter" anywhere.

I tried using the same query in both charts, using different queries in each one of them, but irs always the same.

I'm sure there's something I'm missing, but my inexperience doesn't help.

Hi,

What version of Cognos BI are you using? You mentioned looking in the 10.2.0 user guide - does this mean your version is also 10.2.0, or was that just the version of the guide you happened to find?

The reason I'm asking is because from 10.2.1 onwards you can use RAVE visualizations in Cognos reports. Before this you can't.

If you are creating an active report that uses Cognos 10 charts (the AVS charting engine), the important thing to know is that all rendering is done server-side - ie the charting engine cannot be embedded into an active report output. What this translates to in practice is that the charts are rendered and converted to .png images as the report output is being generated, and are consequently static in the MHT active report output. If you want these charts to appear interactive in your output, you need to use a data deck with cards based on the values you want to "filter" on (in your case the Region item), and the data deck acts as a container for your chart, with the chart master-detailed to the data deck based on that value (Region). You will need to add the Region item to the query for your chart to be able to set up the master-detail. A control in the report then selects the data deck, and allows you to choose which card gets rendered (note, the interactive behaviour here is SELECT not FILTER, because you are simply selecting one pre-rendered card at a time from the data deck). A control can be a number of things - including another data deck with a chart. It simply sets an active report variable which your data deck is listening for.

If you are creating an active report that uses RAVE visualizations, things are different. The RAVE engine can be included in an active report output, and this means RAVE visualizations can be re-rendered on-the-fly client-side within the MHT active report output. This then means you can have a control FILTER a RAVE visualization, and have that visualization re-draw itself based on the selected filter value(s). This does away with the need for a data deck with pre-rendered cards, and gives you more flexibility (eg you can choose multiple values from an item to filter on, whereas with the data deck approach each card is rendered based on a single value from an item). In this case the Region item is added to your visualization in the "Extra Items" slot, giving you the ability to filter on it.

Assuming you're using 10.2.0, your option is limited to the first one above, so you'll need to have your charts within data decks.

Hope this helps!

MF.

[Cape Cod Gunny]

If you are creating an active report that uses RAVE visualizations, things are different. The RAVE engine can be included in an active report output, and this means RAVE visualizations can be re-rendered on-the-fly client-side within the MHT active report output. This then means you can have a control FILTER a RAVE visualization, and have that visualization re-draw itself based on the selected filter value(s). This does away with the need for a data deck with pre-rendered cards, and gives you more flexibility (eg you can choose multiple values from an item to filter on, whereas with the data deck approach each card is rendered based on a single value from an item). In this case the Region item is added to your visualization in the "Extra Items" slot, giving you the ability to filter on it.

MF,

What are some good resources for learning how to create RAVE visualizations?

Thank you,
Mike

[qvixote]

Thanks MFGF! As always, your answers help me.

Unfortunately, I work with Cognos 10.2.0 and I don't have RAVE. I tried many times in the past to make my boss to upgrade Cognos so we can use RAVE, but he won't hear me.

I think I'll try to make it using data decks as you say.

Thanks again.

[MFGF]

MF,

What are some good resources for learning how to create RAVE visualizations?

Thank you,
Mike

Hi Mike,

You'll need to research the IBM Visualization Customizer utility. I think there are some YouTube videos if you go and do a search.

You might also take a look at the link below:

https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/support-rave-visualization-customizer

Good luck!!

MF.

[MFGF]

Thanks MFGF! As always, your answers help me.

Unfortunately, I work with Cognos 10.2.0 and I don't have RAVE. I tried many times in the past to make my boss to upgrade Cognos so we can use RAVE, but he won't hear me.

I think I'll try to make it using data decks as you say.

Thanks again.

Ah, if you 're on 10.2.0 you won't have the ability to use visualizations, sadly. Data Decks are the way to go. Shout if you get stuck or have any follow-on questions.

Cheers!

MF.

[Cape Cod Gunny]

Hi Mike,

You'll need to research the IBM Visualization Customizer utility. I think there are some YouTube videos if you go and do a search.

You might also take a look at the link below:

https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/support-rave-visualization-customizer

Good luck!!

MF.

Thank you MF