Cognos 8 Report Studio

Since its release Report Studio has caused quite a storm in the Business Intelligence market. With Report Studio all development takes place online, using a standard web browser. Reports are written in XML - an enhancement of the universal web page mark-up language HTML. This means report users don't have to install any software on their desktops except a web browser such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, which they would have anyway.

Cognos 8 also includes an online reporting tool known as Query Studio. Of the two, Report Studio is far more complex, much more of a developer tool, whereas Query Studio is a drag-and-drop tool - very intuitive, but with limitations which your 'power users' would eventually run up against.

The Framework Model:  As with the earlier Cognos Impromptu reporting tool, Cognos 8 Report Studio stores its metadata (its own view of the data) in a catalog, which in Report Studio is called a Framework model. Here you store all sorts of information about the data you want to report on, such as database tables and how they are joined, the 'business view' (regrouping and renaming items in a user-friendly way) and so on.

But to compare an Impromptu catalog with a Framework model is like comparing a Model-T Ford with a Model-E Mercedes. They are not in the same league. You really do have huge flexibility in Framework Manager, the tool you use to create and maintain Framework models.

For example, you can create pseudo 'tables' in your Framework model, giving you a great deal of reporting flexibility and improving efficiency.  Also, much of the power of modelling data in Framework Manager comes from the fact you can talk directly to the underlying database in it's own language, SQL.  Several popular makes of database are available, including all the big ones like Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server.

Since Report Studio requires a fair amount of processing power to run (it's constantly accessing its own 'content store' database), all the processing can be performed on a central application server. 

Cognos 8 Report Studio works with star schemas (a database layout used extensively in data warehousing) and can access stored procedures (database programs) as well as traditional database layouts. It will also work with any SQL, functions etc that your database allows.

Once you have modelled your data, it is published as a business 'package' to whichever of your users are allowed access to it. Cognos 8 Report Studio has a very sophisticated security system, and you can control access not only at the portal, but also to the individual data items if you wish.

Since all development is in XML, completely in a web environment, you can - theoretically - build anything into your report that can be built into a web page, even adding your own HTML and executable functions. So you can have hyperlinks to other pages and websites, hyperlinks to other reports, 3D animated graphics, applications - you name it. However, as with HTML, positioning objects on a page can be a bit of an art.

Other Cognos 8 Components include:

Query Studio: Query Studio is by far the simpler tool for the end user - it really is a drag-and-drop reporting tool. You can do quite a lot with it - grouped reports, filtering data and charting for example - but it does have its limitations, and sooner or later the more adventurous or computer-literate of your users will want to do more. That's when you will turn to Report Studio. One neat feature of Query Studio is its ability to produce totals and subtotals automatically in grouped reports.

Cognos Connection: Cognos Connection is the portal where users can access their reports. It also allows the administrator to apply security restricting who can see what.

We can help supply you with Cognos 8 Report Studio.

Call us on +44 (0) 20 8203 6707 or email enquiries@acestar.co.uk for details

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