Access to My Content

[dougp]

As a Cognos Administrator, I want to inspect reports that may be causing problems for Cognos and for the database server.  Some of these reports are scheduled and live in the My Content folder of Joe User.

In this modern age of Cognos 11.1.7, is this still the only way to work with My Content content?

• Manage
• Cognos Administration
• Security
• User, Groups, and Roles
• Navigate into my directory namespace
• search for the user
• user
• My Folders
• Find and select the content to inspect
• Copy
• Use the breadcrumbs to get to the correct level in the directory namespace
• search for me
• me
• My Folders
• Paste
• Close Cognos Administration
• Go to Cognos
• My Content
• Find report
• Edit report

[MFGF]

Hi Doug,

I'm not aware of any other way within the UI. I think the CMTools utility has the ability to copy content from My Folders to Public Folders if you know the CAMID of the user - although clunky, this might be something to investigate to see if it's less effort? I found a link that shows a similar use case:

https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/manually-retrieve-contents-my-folder-when-camid-changed-not-deleted-consistency-check

You could also look at writing something using the SDK to do this quickly and easily, if you have the skills?

Cheers!

MF.

[CognosPaul]

Do you have an easy way of finding the user's CAMID? If so, I might have a solution for you. If not I'm trying to figure out how to get the CAMID based on the user email, which is proving more difficult than I thought it would.

[CognosPaul]

okay, I've found a way to consistently find a user's My Folder and open a new window to it if you can provide the default name. I'll see if I can wrap that into an extension and publish it as toolbox for admins.

[dougp]

I don't see it posted here, so...

I found an easy way into My Content:

1. Create a report using any package.
2. Add a query (Query1).
3. Add a SQL object
  * Data source:  (use your Content Store)
  * SQL: 

Code Select Expand

select u.NAME as 'NAME'
, 'http://servername/ibmcognos/bi/?perspective=home&folder=' + cs.STOREID as 'URL'

from CMOBJPROPS33 u
  inner join CMOBJECTS co on co.PCMID = u.CMID
  inner join CMOBJNAMES cn on cn.CMID = co.CMID
  inner join CMSTOREIDS cs on cs.CMID = co.CMID

where u.name is not null
  and cn.ISDEFAULT = 1
  and cn.NAME = 'My Folders'
and u.name in (#promptmany('user', 'string', 'u.name')#)

order by u.NAME
  (My database is on SQL Server.  Your mileage may vary.)
4.  Ensure Query1 has NAME and URL as data items.
5.  Add a List to the page.  Use Query1 as the source.
6.  Add a Hyperlink to the list.
  * Source type:  Data item value
  * Data item value:  NAME
  * URL source:  Data item value
  * Data item value:  URL
7.  Add a prompt page.
8.  Add a Select & search prompt to the prompt page.
  * Query:  Query1
  * Use value:  NAME
  * Display value:  NAME
  * Sorting:  NAME

Usage:
Run the query.
Enter part of the user name in the Select & search prompt.
Find the value(s) you want.
Finish.
Find the user whose My Content folder you want to access and middle-click (to open in a new tab).

[dougp]

Back to this again...

Currently using CA 11.1.7FP6

I am currently working on an effort to reduce the number of unused reports in my Cognos environment.  I am currently targeting reports that have not been used in over 29 months (Jan 1, 2021).  Many of these are in My Content.  Most of what I have found is abandoned reports that were developed during training -- probably in 2015 -- and carried forward through each upgrade.

There are a few cases where the user has copied a report from Team Content into My Content for their convenience.  It is clear that they have not modified the report.  However, many of these do not match the supported report from Team Content because the supported report has been updated (corrected) since they copied it.  My goal is, as I find these, to replace these reports with shortcuts to the supported version.  But I can't figure out (remember?) how to either create a shortcut in their My Content folder or to create a shortcut under Team Content, then copy it to their My Content folder.

To access the user's My Content I'm using a URL like
https://<servername>/ibmcognos/bi/?perspective=home&folder=<StoreID>


When I use that URL, then go to Team Content | right-click on a report | Create Shortcut, I am presented with a dialog.  Clicking on My Content in the dialog displays MY My Content folder, not the one assigned the StoreID I'm looking at.  (Clicking on My Content in the left nav of the main page works fine.)

The "Copy or move" feature suffers from the same malady.

There is no way to copy from the source, then paste to the destination.

Shortcuts are not configurable.  I don't see a way to edit a shortcut to change the location of the target report.

Within Cognos Administration, I'm not seeing a way to navigate to Team Content.

How can I get a shortcut into a user's My Content folder?

[dougp]

Isn't there an ad hoc method to display Cognos Connection (Cognos 10) in CA 11?  I just tried

Code Select Expand

?perspective=classicviewer

and

Code Select Expand

?perspective=classicViewer

but I'm getting glass.

[MFGF]

Isn't there an ad hoc method to display Cognos Connection (Cognos 10) in CA 11?  I just tried

Code Select Expand

?perspective=classicviewer

and

Code Select Expand

?perspective=classicViewer

but I'm getting glass.

I just dug out some (very old) notes from the original release of Cognos Analytics (11.0). Back then, the mechanism was:

1. Set an advanced server property portal.disablecc = false
2. Access Cognos Connection using the URL http://<server>?b_action=xts.run&m=portal%2fcc.xts

I haven't tried that approach since dinosaurs roamed the earth :)

Cheers!

MF.

[dougp]

Thanks.  I found that, too.  But enabling Cognos Connection for everyone doesn't sound good.

And now I'm in 11.2.4 and have a new problem.

I have a report that produces URLs like
https://<servername>/ibmcognos/bi/?perspective=home&folder=<user's My Content StoreID>
(see post from Dec 2021)

It doesn't work in 11.2.4.  It looks like IBM decided this workaround gave administrators too much power.  Now it redirects me to
https://<servername>/ibmcognos/bi/?perspective=content&tab=myContent&folder=<my My Content StoreID>

Reading https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/cognos-analytics/11.2.0?topic=mc-creating-custom-urls-display-run-cognos-analytics-content ...
If I make the URL
https://<servername>/ibmcognos/bi/?perspective=content&tab=myContent&objRef=<user's My Content StoreID>
it gets even stranger.  It redirects to
https://<servername>/ibmcognos/bi/?perspective=content&id=<user's My Content StoreID>&tab=myContent&folder=<my My Content StoreID>
And that presents my My Content folder.

Is there a way to stay in the standard UI (Glass or Carbon, or whatever the new same thing is called now) to get to a user's My Content folder.
(other than going through Manage | Administration console... | Security | Users, Groups, and Roles | <external directory namespace>)

[dougp]

In CA 11.2.4FP3, IBM restored the ability for an administrator to access other users' My Content folders as I posted on 2021-12-10.  Unfortunately, this method requires the StoreID.  Getting this quickly requires querying the Content Store (as shown), so it is unsupported and on the IBM Cognos cloud service I expect it is not possible.