Producing a report in CSV format

IBM® Cognos® Analytics can produce reports in CSV format so you can open them in other applications, such as Microsoft Excel spreadsheet software.

Reports saved in the CSV format:

  • Support Unicode data across many client operating systems
  • Are UTF-16 Little Endian data encoded
  • Include a BOM (Byte Order Mark) at the beginning of the file
  • Are tab-delimited
  • Do not enclose strings in quotation marks
  • Use a new line character to delimit rows

You can open reports saved in CSV format with a variety of spreadsheet software applications. By default, reports in this format appear in the application associated with the .csv file type.

You cannot produce the following types of reports in CSV format:

  • Maps
  • Charts that do not have at least one category or series
  • Reports that have more than one query defined in the report, unless the additional queries are used for prompts

You can specify the CSV run options when authoring or running reports and report views. Report authors can preview reports with the selected CSV options. These options are not saved, and are intended only for testing and verification of the CSV output format. You can specify the CSV run options from the following contexts:

  • In a report (in edit mode).
    1. Open the report in edit mode.
    2. In the report toolbar, click the Run actions run actions icon icon, and select Show run options.

      The Run options dialog box now includes the CSV tab where you can specify the run options for the CSV report output.

  • From the properties page.
    1. In the Content view, from a report or report view Action menu , click Properties.
    2. On the Report tab, expand the Report section.

      This section now includes the CSV options property with the Set button. Click this button to modify the options.

  • From the Run as menu.
    1. In the Content view, from a report or report view Action menu , click Run as.
    2. In the Run as dialog box, select the CSV format.

      The Edit options link is now available for this format. Click this link to modify the options.

  • From the schedule user interface.
    1. In the application bar, click your user name Personal menu icon icon, and then click My schedules and subscriptions.
    2. With Schedule selected in the drop-down menu Schedule icon, a list of available schedules is shown.
    3. Locate the schedule in the list, and from its Run actions menu , click Edit this schedule.
    4. On the Options tab, select the CSV format.
    5. Select the Edit options link for this format to modify the options.
  • From the job user interface
    1. Create or edit a job.
      • To create a job, in the Content view, from a report or report view Action menu , click Create a new job.
      • To edit an existing job, locate the job object in the Content view, and from its Action menu , click Edit the job.
    2. In the Steps page, click the Change default step options link.
    3. In the Format section, turn off the Use default format toggle button.
    4. Select the CSV format, and click the Edit options link to modify the options.

For more information, see Running a report.

To specify the CSV run options at the service level for all reports, you need to use the following advanced settings:

  • RSVP.CSV.ENCODING
  • RSVP.CSV.DELIMITER
  • RSVP.CSV.TERMINATOR
  • RSVP.CSV.QUALIFIER
  • RSVP.CSV.MIMETYPE
  • RSVP.CSV.TRIMSPACES
  • RSVP.CSV.REPEAT_XTAB_LABELS

For more information, see Report service and batch report service advanced settings.