Refreshing all imported reports in a Microsoft Office document

You can retrieve the latest data updates for all the reports in a Microsoft Office document to ensure that you are working with the latest version. Updates can also be retrieved for report output versions and scheduled reports.

Before you begin

To update a specific report output version with the most recent data, set the report property Version on the Manage Data tab to Run. For a burst report, the burst key set during the import dictates which version of the report is updated. To change the burst key, select the new key from the Burst Key property on the Manage Data tab.

About this task

When you use the Refresh all Data command, you can also update any formatting that was applied by the report author in the IBM® Cognos® studio. If you have enabled the Check for Report Updates on Refresh Data option, the program also checks for any changes to the report structure since you last imported the report. For details on how to set this option, see Checking for updates to the report structure.

If you update only the source data, any formatting applied from the Microsoft Office application remains unchanged. If you refresh the source data and the report formatting, the latest updates are retrieved, including formatting characteristics such as cell color and number formatting applied to the original report in the IBM Cognos studio. If you have customized cell formats, the refresh process changes the Microsoft Office custom formatting to the current report formatting as designed by the author.

Procedure

  1. On the IBM Cognos toolbar, click the Refresh all Data icon Refresh all data icon.
  2. Select how you want to update all the reports in the Microsoft Office document:
    • If you want to retrieve updates to only the source data, click Refresh the data only, and click Yes.
    • If you want to retrieve updates to the source data and any formatting changes, click Refresh the data and report formatting, and click Yes.
  3. Optional: If you enabled the Check for Report Updates on Refresh Data feature, and changes to the report structure are detected, at the prompt, click Yes to retrieve the most recent changes:
    1. To view the list of report elements that were added to or removed from each original report, click Show Details. Report elements, such as footer, header, body, or page, that were moved from one part of the report to another part of the report are also updated; however, these elements are not included in the list.
    2. In the confirmation window, click Refresh Data or Refresh Data and Formatting.
    3. If you do not want to check for report updates, click No to continue with the refresh process.
    The report structure is first updated and then data or data and formatting for all reports in the document are updated.

Results

All the reports in the workbook, document, or presentation are updated. If you are a burst recipient, you see only the data that is meant for you. Any report for which data was converted to static text or numeric data remains unchanged.

Report elements that were identified as missing since you last imported the report are converted to stand-alone elements and appear on the report tree with a strikethrough character. There is no link between the data in the document and the report that the data is based on. The next time that you refresh the report, these report elements or widgets are removed from the report tree. Conversely, report elements that were identified as missing, but were not previously imported, are automatically removed from the report tree on the Manage Data tab.

The results of the Refresh All Data command differ based on whether you are running a report or viewing a report output version. For more information, see View or run report output versions.

What to do next

In Microsoft Excel, refreshed data can exceed the target range in the workbook, overwriting existing cell contents or named ranges. If the refreshed data exceeds the target range, you must move existing named ranges to create an acceptable row or column range for the updated report data.

If new report elements were detected during the refresh process, you must manually import these elements to include them in the current report.

The elements are displayed in the report tree on the Manage Data tab and are identified with a star symbol in the upper left of the report object icon. Elements that were added to the report specification, but do not have unique identifiers, cannot be imported.