Group repeating cells when exporting to Excel

[dougp]

I recently upgraded to 11.0.4.  This feature is not present in the UI.

I want to see if this feature works in 11.0.4 and just needs a UI to update the property.  I need some information from 10.2.x.  I no longer have a working 10.2.1 environment.


Would one of you 10.2.x users be so kind as to create a simple crosstab report using the Samples data?  I'll need the report spec from before and after changing the property found at

[File]
    Report Properties
        Group repeating cells when exporting to Excel


Alternatively, just post the XML tag for this property and note its location in the document.

[MFGF]

I recently upgraded to 11.0.4.  This feature is not present in the UI.

I want to see if this feature works in 11.0.4 and just needs a UI to update the property.  I need some information from 10.2.x.  I no longer have a working 10.2.1 environment.


Would one of you 10.2.x users be so kind as to create a simple crosstab report using the Samples data?  I'll need the report spec from before and after changing the property found at

[File]
    Report Properties
        Group repeating cells when exporting to Excel


Alternatively, just post the XML tag for this property and note its location in the document.

Hi,

To save you wading through the entire spec, here's the relevant part that changes:

Property set to "off"

Code Select Expand

<XMLAttributes><XMLAttribute output="no" name="RS_CreateExtendedDataItems" value="true"/><XMLAttribute output="no" name="listSeparator" value=","/><XMLAttribute output="no" name="RS_modelModificationTime" value="2010-06-14T20:07:25.203Z"/></XMLAttributes><excelExportOptions excelGrouping="false"/></report>

Property set to "on"

Code Select Expand

<XMLAttributes><XMLAttribute output="no" name="RS_CreateExtendedDataItems" value="true"/><XMLAttribute output="no" name="listSeparator" value=","/><XMLAttribute output="no" name="RS_modelModificationTime" value="2010-06-14T20:07:25.203Z"/></XMLAttributes></report>

You'll find the tag right at the very end of the report spec - immediately before the closing report tag (which I've included so you can see) :)

Cheers!

MF.

[dougp]

Thanks a bunch!

For clarity...
When the "Group repeating cells when exporting to Excel" box is checked, no XML exists to provide the instruction.
When the "Group repeating cells when exporting to Excel" is unchecked, this XML element is added at the end of the report specification.  It lives at the same level as the reportName element.

Code Select Expand


<excelExportOptions excelGrouping="false"/>


This feature works in Cognos Analytics 11.0.4, although the user interface element (the checkbox) does not exist to allow the user to change the value.

[dougp]

IBM Support responded with "Use CTRL+ALT+M to display the Report Studio menu bar."  I don't see this in the help and they have yet to comment on a deprecation schedule.

From what I've seen in the past, IBM will follow the path of least sense.  It's likely that in order to correct the documentation, they'll remove the feature from the product.  I recently ran across a tech note that was something like...
    Problem:  Documentation says to click the run button to run the report, but there is no run button.
    Solution:  Deleted the portion of the documentation that describes running reports.
...completely missing the point that one of the core features of the product was missing.

[MFGF]

IBM Support responded with "Use CTRL+ALT+M to display the Report Studio menu bar."  I don't see this in the help and they have yet to comment on a deprecation schedule.

From what I've seen in the past, IBM will follow the path of least sense.  It's likely that in order to correct the documentation, they'll remove the feature from the product.  I recently ran across a tech note that was something like...
    Problem:  Documentation says to click the run button to run the report, but there is no run button.
    Solution:  Deleted the portion of the documentation that describes running reports.
...completely missing the point that one of the core features of the product was missing.

I heard an IBM person make a quote that the product managers have decreed "no report left behind" when moving to Cognos Analytics. I'd assume this means they will mop up missing options like this as they find them, and add them in to the relevant part of the UI.

Hope I'm not being too optimistic! :)

MF.

[CognosPaul]

IBM Support responded with "Use CTRL+ALT+M to display the Report Studio menu bar."  I don't see this in the help and they have yet to comment on a deprecation schedule.

From what I've seen in the past, IBM will follow the path of least sense.  It's likely that in order to correct the documentation, they'll remove the feature from the product.  I recently ran across a tech note that was something like...
    Problem:  Documentation says to click the run button to run the report, but there is no run button.
    Solution:  Deleted the portion of the documentation that describes running reports.
...completely missing the point that one of the core features of the product was missing.

Five hundred thousand Cognos points to you! The loss of the menu and toolbars are one of my biggest (though certainly not only) issue with this version. You'll end up with a cool million Cognos points if you can find a way to restore the toolbars.

[dougp]

MFGF:  That's actually my expectation as well.

Paul:  I'd use that with caution.  I expect that once each feature has a home in Glass, the old menu bar will disappear without notice.

[MFGF]

MFGF:  That's actually my expectation as well.

Paul:  I'd use that with caution.  I expect that once each feature has a home in Glass, the old menu bar will disappear without notice.

Hmmm. There used to be a secret way of enabling a Debug option in the menubar of Report Studio in Cognos 10. I remember Paul being gleeful when he found it - it was a fabulous day to see him so happy! Obviously there's no menubar by default in the new CA Authoring environment. I suspect it might still be useful for support to get clients to go into debug mode at times, so my muppety conclusion is that the menubar is there in CA as a first step to enabling a debug menu. If this is the case, hopefully it will stay...

I'm probably entirely wrong, as usual :)

MF.

[dougp]

I never saw the debug menu, but it sounds like a useful feature.  If anyone finds it in 11.0.x, please post what version and how to open it.

[CognosPaul]

I utterly despise the extended data items. They are impossible to work with, and can easily become entrenched in the report design. The debug menu contains a life-saving "Convert report to v5 data item" option that replaces the extended data items with the equivalent standard expression. With Cognos, for some stupid stupid reason, deciding that extended data items should remain intractably on, that option is the only way I can fix reports. I even found a way of showing people how to access that option WITHOUT showing how to enable the debug menu.