Limited and fully interactive reports

Reports can run in limited interactivity or full interactivity mode.

You specify the interactivity mode by setting the report property Run with full interactivity.

When a report is set to run with limited interactivity, the report runs in the IBM Cognos Business Intelligence (BI) Viewer, also known as IBM Cognos Viewer. Report consumers can drill up, drill down, and drill through. Any JavaScript or prompt API that is contained in the report is run. By default, Cognos BI reports run with limited interactivity.

When a report is set to run with full interactivity, the report runs in the Cognos Analytics interactive viewer. By default, reports that are created in Cognos Analytics are set to run with full interactivity. By clicking various icons in the report toolbar that appears when an object is selected, report consumers can do the following tasks in the interactive viewer:

  • Sort data sort icon.
  • In lists, group data group/ungroup icon.
  • Summarize data aggregate icon.
  • Convert a list or crosstab to a chart, or change a chart to a different chart type Change chart type icon.
  • In crosstabs and charts, suppress columns or rows suppress icon or swap columns and rows swap rows and columns icon.
  • Drill through to another report.
  • Add calculated members insert calculation icon.
  • Drill up, drill down, and perform dimensional operations, such as top/bottom filtering Explore icon.
  • Run the report as Excel or CSV output.
  • Select and interact with the elements of a chart, such as the bars in a bar chart.
  • View lineage information for a data item Explore icon.
  • Access a business glossary, such as the IBM InfoSphere® Information Governance Catalog, for a data item Explore icon.
  • Create, edit or remove filters filter icon.
  • Share or embed report output, preserving the context of the current view of the report, such as prompt values.

    To share or embed report output, click the Share icon Share icon in the application bar.

  • Run a report as the report owner or with the capabilities granted to the owner.

    In the Cognos Analytics portal, access the Properties slideout of the report, click the Report tab, and then open the Advanced section.

You can also start the Cognos Analytics interactive viewer by using URLs. You can open reports and pass parameters to a report. For more information, see the IBM Cognos Analytics Getting Started Guide.

Important: The following limitations apply to interactive reports:
  • JavaScript in HTML items is removed when the report is run with full interactivity. Instead, you can add a Custom control object to add custom JavaScript to your report.
  • Reports with the Run with full interactivity property turned on, as well as any reports with custom controls, are not supported for booklets. For more information, see Creating a report booklet.