Creating Burst Reports Using Dimensional Data Sources

You can burst a report using a dimensional data source by using burst information that is stored in the data source. Because you do not want to append bursting information to existing dimensional data sources, you can create a relational data source that contains the burst information.

Report bursting is limited when the underlying data source is a cube (MOLAP data source such as IBM® Cognos® PowerCube, Microsoft Analysis Services, Oracle Essbase, or IBM Db2/OLAP). The burst report must be a grouped report, and the burst is restricted to the outermost grouping in the report. For example, if you have a report grouped on Country or Region and State, then you can burst the report only on Country or Region.

Procedure

  1. In IBM Cognos Framework Manager, include both the dimensional data source that is the basis for reporting and the relational burst table in the model.

    For more information about models, see the Framework Manager User Guide.

  2. In IBM Cognos Analytics - Reporting, create a master detail report in which the master query drives the report and the detail query contains the burst information.

    You must group the master query on the data item on which you are bursting. This data item must have a corresponding data item in the relational burst table.

    Author the detail query against the relational burst table. The burst table must contain two columns: the data item corresponding to the data item used in the master report for bursting and the data item that contains the recipient information. The recipient can be an email address or an expression that results in a search path to an object in IBM Content Manager, such as an account, group, role, contact, or distribution list.

    For more information about master detail queries, see Create a Master Detail Relationship.

  3. Ensure that the detail query, which must be evaluated by IBM Cognos Analytics with Watson when the report is executed, is not visible:
    • Place a list that is based on the detail query in a conditional block with a box type of None.
    • Link the master and detail queries using the following expression:

      [Master Burst Key] = [Detail Burst Key]

Results

When you set the burst options for the report, the master query provides the data items for the burst key and the detail report provides the data items for the burst recipients.