IBM Cognos Analytics report types

When you are using data from an IBM® Cognos® Analytics package, you can work in three different ways: Exploration Views, lists, or Custom Reports. You can move between the methods. Each of these methods has its own benefits and limitations.

Lists

When you create a list, you use a single drop zone, columns, to create a list of items. A drop zone is an area where you can drag items to include in a report. You can add more columns to populate the list with additional information. In a list, each column shows all the values for a data item in the database.

Some of the strengths that are associated with lists include drag-and-drop capabilities and visual cues that are provided by the drop zone in the overview area. With lists, you can view all the items in the tables of your database easily and quickly.

You can open list reports in IBM Cognos Analytics - Reporting and IBM Cognos Workspace Advanced. You also publish lists to Cognos Connection.

Data sources can be relational, OLAP, or dimensionally modeled relational (DMR).

Use a list:

To create a comprehensive group of items in a query subject or table of the database
To enumerate the members of an OLAP dimension

Exploration Views

When you create an Exploration View, you use drop zones to add objects from the source tree to the rows, columns, measures, and context area of the report. A drop zone is an area where you can drag items to include in a report. Exploration Views provide automatic formatting based on the underlying data.

Some of the strengths that are associated with Exploration Views include drag-and-drop capabilities and visual cues that are provided by the drop zones in the overview area.

You can open Exploration Views in IBM Cognos Analysis Studio, IBM Cognos Analytics - Reporting, and IBM Cognos Workspace Advanced. You also publish Exploration Views to Cognos Connection.

Use an Exploration View:

To find answers to simple questions that can be found in your data source, such as the revenue for Tents in the Americas for 2015
To build interactive Exploration Views that you or another user can drill up and down in
When you are not concerned with formatting
To build a data set to convert and use in a more complex cell-based analysis

Custom Reports

When you use Custom Reports, you drag-and-drop objects directly onto the cells of a worksheet.

Some of the strengths that are associated with Custom Reports include the ability to use multiple packages in the same worksheet; the ability to move cells, rows, and columns; and the ability to add Excel calculations, charts, and formatting. With cell-based reports, you can move beyond simple Exploration View layouts. From a single cell, it is easy to create a detailed report.

Data sources can be dimensionally modeled relational (DMR) or OLAP. Relational data sources are not supported.

Use Custom Reports:

To add data and calculations that are not in the original data source
To work with data from multiple data sources, packages, and servers
To create layouts with complex layouts, rather than a simple Exploration View
When formatting is important
When you are presenting a final view that does not require interactive exploration