Importing rich text elements and statistical information

In addition to text and images, report authors can add other objects to the report layout. Reports can contain rich text elements or statistical information that can be imported into a Microsoft Office document.

Report authors may insert rich text objects to render a subset of HTML in the report layout. The HTML may come from either a static or dynamic source. Rich text items support all XHTML character entities, such as   (non-breaking space), and the following subelements: div, span, ul, ol, and li. Each element supports only the style attribute, which must contain a valid CSS style. In addition, ul and ol elements support list-style attributes. Specifically, the ol element supports decimal, and the ul element supports circle, disc, and square, including list-style-image.

Supported rich text subelements are div, span, text, lists, tables, and images. In IBM® Cognos® for Microsoft Office, a rich text element and all its subelements are imported as a discrete element. That is, only the top-level rich text element and not the individual subelements is available for selection in the Import Content wizard or on the tab pages of the IBM Cognos pane. However, when you import the rich text element, the individual subelements are displayed in sequential order as separate elements in the Microsoft Office document or worksheet. In PowerPoint, the text subelements are rendered as a floating text frame, image, or table on the same slide.

Statistical information

If the installation of IBM Cognos Analytics contains IBM Cognos Statistics, report authors can use statistical objects, such as linear regression, control chart, or correlation, as part of the report design. IBM Cognos Analytics integrates statistical objects in IBM Cognos Report Studio. The ability to import statistical information allows you to gain and share meaningful insights through statistical reporting and analysis that can be distributed to others. Report authors can create multiple statistical objects, which you can import into a Microsoft Office document.

Statistical information is imported as rich text elements. When a statistical object is imported, it can have subelements, such as charts, tables, or text elements.

Restrictions that limit the import of rich text elements or statistical information

The following are items that are not supported for import into a Microsoft Office document or describe limitations in the way the rich text object is rendered after an import or refresh process.
  • Unsupported elements
    • nested tables

      If the rich text element is a table that contains another embedded table, only the outer table is rendered when imported.

    • embedded lists and images in tables

      Embedded images and lists in tables are ignored during the import or refresh process and not rendered in the Microsoft Office document.

    • Div and span layout information

      Rich text subelements inside the div or span XHTML elements are rendered, but the associated style attributes of div and span are not supported. For example, suppose two text frames in a span subelement have a horizontal style attribute, the application renders the frames vertically when imported into the Microsoft Office document.

    • Changes in the structure of the rich text element

      If the structure of the rich text element has changed, you cannot automatically refresh the element to retrieve the most recent updates. Changes to the structure means any additions or deletions of the rich text subelements. To retrieve the most recent updates to the structure, you must reimport the rich text element.

      For more information about refreshing the report structure, see Refreshing report structures.

  • multiple text frames

    When multiple text frames are embedded in a table cell, the text in each frame is concatenated and inherits the formatting style of the first embedded text frame.