Design and usability improvements in the Assistant

In Cognos Analytics version 12.0.0, the Assistant features a new look and feel and a more intuitive and guided experience. Clear instructions and quick links now display in the user interface to get you started with the Assistant faster.

New design of the assistant panel

Open the Assistant from anywhere

The first significant change you'll notice is that you can now open the Assistant from any view in Cognos Analytics, including the Home page. Previously, you could open the Assistant from only Dashboards, Explorations, and Stories.

Click the Assistant icon in the navigation bar to access the assistant panel.

Assistant icon in the toolbar
Note: To use the Assistant you must have the Use Assistant capability.

Select your data source

You can quickly set the context for the Assistant with by clicking Select source to select a data source. The name of the data source then displays in the Assistant.

When you launch the Assistant, if it is already connected to a data source, the data source name displays in the Assistant. To change the data source, click Change.

Changing a data source connection in the Assistant

In Dashboards, Explorations, and Stories, the Assistant can detect if there is a conflict between the connected data source and an active data source and lets you change the data source accordingly. For example, if you are connected to one data source but open a dashboard from another data source, the Assistant lets you know that there are multiple data sources in the view, allowing you to change your connection.


Expand to full screen mode

You can now expand the Assistant to full screen mode by clicking the Enter full screen button in the Assistant toolbar and take advantage of ample workspace. Previously, the Assistant opened only in a side panel.

Expanding the Assistant to full screen

By default, the Assistant opens in side panel mode in Dashboards, Exploration, Stories, and Data module views. For all other views, the Assistant opens in full screen mode.


Clear chat and reset to default source

You can clear your conversation with the Assistant and reset the Assistant to connect to the default data source with one simple click.

Clear chat and reset Assistant's connection to the default source
Note: Administrators can select a default data source for users under Manage > People > Accounts > Cognos. Open the context menu for a user group and click Properties. On the Customization tab, select a default data source.

When you clear the chat in Dashboard, Exploration, or Stories view, if a default source is not configured, the Assistant connects to the active data source in the current active view. In other views, if you do not have a default data source, when you clear the chat, the Assistant disconnects from the active data source. You can click Select source to reconnect the Assistant to a data source of your choice.