When does active report contact database

[Bindiya]

Hello everyone,
I am trying and understand how the active report works in terms of hitting database (DB).
This is for a simple active report with a state prompt (radio button group)

1. I run the report from Cognos connection. I guess, it will contact DB to fetch results as its first time/run. Now, if I change prompt from one option to another, will it contact DB again?
2. If I go to "run with options" and choose to save the report, it creates a version in XHTML format. Now, will this XHTML has to contact DB when run (first run) or when prompt options are changed? or is it completely independent and never has to contact DB (just like a downloaded mht file)?

Thanks.

[MFGF]

Hello everyone,
I am trying and understand how the active report works in terms of hitting database (DB).
This is for a simple active report with a state prompt (radio button group)

1. I run the report from Cognos connection. I guess, it will contact DB to fetch results as its first time/run. Now, if I change prompt from one option to another, will it contact DB again?
2. If I go to "run with options" and choose to save the report, it creates a version in XHTML format. Now, will this XHTML has to contact DB when run (first run) or when prompt options are changed? or is it completely independent and never has to contact DB (just like a downloaded mht file)?

Thanks.

Hi,

An Active Report retrieves all the data it needs from the database when you run it to generate the report output (ie you are getting Cognos to create/recreate the MHT). If you view the rendered output and interact with it, you are not hitting the database as all the data it needs is included in the rendered MHT you are viewing.

Times you will hit the database are:
- Running the report interactively from Cognos Connection
- Running the report as a background process from Cognos Connection (ie using Run with Options and choosing save/email/print/send to mobile device)
- Scheduling the report either individually or as part of a job
All of these actions cause Cognos to re-create the MHT output with data from the database

Any time you view the rendered MHT output, you are working with the locally stored data within the MHT file, so you are not hitting the database (ie when you use the report).

Cheers!

MF.

[Bindiya]

Great. Thank you so much for the details.

Only confusion I had was, MHT is the format of file only when downloaded. But the saved version is XHTML. I was not sure if they are same or not and if saved version would perform as quick as the downloaded file. So, I tried a simple active report and it worked like you said.

When run from Cognos connection - first time to load it hit DB. For other activities like changing prompts/ navigating within report was very quick and did not hit DB.
Saved version/ downloaded mht - To generate it hit DB. But then to view the report / change prompts/ any other navigation within report it did not hit DB.

Thanks again!

[MFGF]

Great. Thank you so much for the details.

Only confusion I had was, MHT is the format of file only when downloaded. But the saved version is XHTML. I was not sure if they are same or not and if saved version would perform as quick as the downloaded file. So, I tried a simple active report and it worked like you said.

When run from Cognos connection - first time to load it hit DB. For other activities like changing prompts/ navigating within report was very quick and did not hit DB.
Saved version/ downloaded mht - To generate it hit DB. But then to view the report / change prompts/ any other navigation within report it did not hit DB.

Thanks again!

Hi,

In versions of Cognos prior to 10.2.2, Active Reports were MHT files only - even when they were viewed from within Cognos Connection. For the 10.2.2 release, things were changed slightly - Cognos now unpacks the generated MHT and renders it as an HTML page when you view the report through the Cognos viewer, meaning you can use a wider selection of browsers to view the output. Under the covers it's still a generated MHT though - as you can see when you download it.

You also need to distinguish between when you are running the report vs when you are viewing a saved output. If you look at the icon for the report, it will tell you what will happen when you click on the name of the report. If you see a small blue triangle next to the icon, clicking on the name will run the report and generate the MHT output (ie it will interrogate the database to generate the MHT then present it in the viewer, at which point there will be no further database interaction). If there is no small blue triangle next to the icon, clicking on the name will simply open the saved output that already exists (ie it will not interrogate the database at all).

Cheers!

MF.

[Bindiya]

Yeah, I noticed the icon change. Thank you for the information.