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IBM Cognos 8 Platform => COGNOS 8 => Report Studio => Topic started by: bloggerman on 05 Nov 2009 01:21:57 AM

Title: Properties under data section
Post by: bloggerman on 05 Nov 2009 01:21:57 AM
What is the significance of using Properties option under the Data section. I have been told that an eg of its use is if you want to group on an item that is not in the layout then you need to include it in the properties section. I am able to group anyway.

Is there a best practice around using this option in reports?
Title: Re: Properties under data section
Post by: cschnu on 09 Nov 2009 05:13:07 PM
Quote from: bloggerman on 05 Nov 2009 01:21:57 AM
What is the significance of using Properties option under the Data section. I have been told that an eg of its use is if you want to group on an item that is not in the layout then you need to include it in the properties section. I am able to group anyway.

Is there a best practice around using this option in reports?

I would say the best practice is to use it carefully because calculations can appear to be incorrect based on the fields on the report. You are essentially hiding the columns which are used for calculation of numeric data, if you do not display on them on the report.
Title: Re: Properties under data section
Post by: bloggerman on 09 Nov 2009 07:26:35 PM
Thanks. could you suggest when it should be used and when not. E.gs would help too.
Title: Re: Properties under data section
Post by: CognosPaul on 09 Nov 2009 11:32:11 PM
The properties option forces Cognos to include a specific field when it is generating the SQL for a specific report object.

Mostly I use it for drillthroughs. If you have a drillthrough on a relational report you'll need to click on the key field in the properties, otherwise you won't be able to pass the key as a parameter.