Exploration Views and lists

Use Exploration Views and lists to quickly change how you view performance measures and to show detailed information from your database in rows and columns.

To explore IBM® Cognos® data by using an Exploration View or list, select an IBM Planning Analytics data source and choose items from that data source to place in the rows and columns of the Exploration View or list.

Note: The Format as Table feature in Microsoft Excel should not be used with an Exploration View or list. Formatting an Exploration View or list as a table will cause issues with the ability to refresh the data.

Before you can create an Exploration View or list, the administrator must create a TM1® data source and publish it to a location to which you have access. The administrator must also configure your access privileges.

Administrators can create data sources and assign access privileges in IBM Cognos TM1 Performance Modeler or IBM Cognos TM1 Architect.

When you create or open an Exploration View or list, you'll notice that the IBM Planning Analytics ribbon changes, and includes an Exploration group and a Overview bar.

Exploration View ribbon with Overview bar

The Overview bar is displayed when you are viewing an Exploration View or a list. Use the overview area as a convenient place to quickly explore and change the contents of the Exploration View or list. For Exploration Views, the overview area displays the Rows, Columns, and Context areas. You populate the Exploration View with data by adding items from the data source to these areas. The items that you place in the context area are used to filter the values. Each box in the rows, columns, and context area represents a set of data in the data source.

Note: If you are opening an existing Exploration View, the data in the Context area is not automatically updated and synced with its underlying TM1 model. To ensure that the Context data is updated with any metadata changes in the TM1 model, perform a manual refresh of the Exploration View.

The Exploration group contains tools, which you can use to work with your Exploration View or list.

Undo - Use the Undo tool to undo your last action.

Note: By default, you can undo up to 15 actions. Your undo limit can be changed in the Options icon

Options dialog.

Redo icon Redo - Use the Redo tool to redo your last action.

Save icon Save View - Use the Save View tool to save an Exploration View or list.

Reset icon Reset - Use the Reset tool to reset an Exploration View or list. This action will clear your Exploration View or list.

Swap Rows and Columns icon Swap Rows and Columns - Use the Swap Rows and Columns tool to swap the rows and columns of an Exploration View for a different view of your data. To learn more, see Swap rows and columns.

Suppression Tpye icon Suppression Type - Use the Suppression Type tool to suppress/hide zeros in the rows, columns, rows and columns, or apply no suppression at all.

MDX icon MDX - Use the MDX tool to view or edit the MDX of the report.

Use Server Formats icon Use Server Formats - Use the Use Server Formats tool to use server formats when you refresh an Exploration View or list. This tool will remove custom formatting on refresh.

Convert To icon Convert To - Use the Convert To tool to convert an Exploration View to a Quick Report, Dynamic Report, or Custom Report. To learn more, see Converting a report.

Properties icon Properties - Use the Properties tool to set properties for an Exploration View or a list that are specific to a worksheet. To learn more, see Set properties.

Overview icon Overview - Use the Overview tool to show or hide the Overview bar.