Create an Exploration View using a custom set of members

In this topic, you learn how to create an Exploration View that includes a custom set that you design.

You use custom sets to group members for specific reporting requirements. For example, you want to focus the results from sales visits in a set of countries from the Asia Pacific region. You create a custom set that includes the required countries and then add the custom set to a report.

It should take 15 to 20 minutes to complete this topic. To view the completed report, download the CustomSet.xls sample workbook. The sample workbook has formatting applied in Microsoft Excel and will not exactly match the worksheet you create.

Before you begin

The sample package must be set up on the IBM® Cognos® Analytics system. You access the sample workbooks from the installation location of the IBM Cognos Analytics samples. Contact your administrator for the URL required to connect to the IBM Cognos Analytics system and the location of the sample workbooks.

Procedure

  1. Connect to the IBM Cognos Analytics system and open the Sales and Marketing (cube) package.
    The default location for the sample package is Public Folders>Samples_Office>Cubes.
  2. Create an Exploration View.
  3. Ensure that the Insert Member with Children option is enabled.
  4. Add the following data items to the report:
    • Products to the Rows drop zone
    • Time to the Columns drop zone
    • Revenue to the Measures drop zone
  5. Expand Order Method, and then drag Sales Visit to the Context area.
  6. Create a custom set from the Asia Pacific dimension.

    Select Japan, Korea, China, and Singapore. Right-click a selected member and click New Set. Save the set as East Asia.

  7. From the Custom Sets folder, drag East Asia to the rows area after Products.

    Note that the Exploration View reflects only the retailers in East Asia. That means Australia, which was an original member of the Asia Pacific dimension, is not a member of the East Asia custom set.

Results

A custom set is associated with the user that creates the custom set. The next time you open the Sales and Marketing package, the custom set will be available for use in other reports. The custom set is not available when a different user opens the package.

To edit a custom set, right-click the custom set and click Edit Set. If you edit a custom set, or if there are changes to the members used in the custom set, the change is not applied to a report when you refresh data. To update a report, delete the original custom set from the report and then add the changed custom set.

If you need more help, see the following topics: