Refreshing report structures
If there are changes to the report structure since you last imported a report or a report element, you can retrieve the latest changes from the IBM® Cognos® Analytics content store.
Changes to the report structure include the addition and deletion of a report element (chart, list, or crosstab) to the original report design.
- the report element name that uniquely identifies the object
- the report element type
For example, a list object was changed to a crosstab object.
- for IBM Cognos Workspace workspaces, the report widget's
unique identifier
In IBM Cognos Workspace, when a report object is added to a workspace, it is displayed in a report widget. The objects in a report include both full reports and the individual report parts, such as tables (lists and crosstabs) and charts.
Each report widget has a unique identifier. For example, two report widgets that are created from the same report will have different unique identifiers, whether the widgets are in the same workspace or in different workspaces.
Report elements that have moved from one part of the report, such as the footer, header, body, or page, to another part of the report are also updated when you refresh the report structure. However, these changes are not detailed in the Refresh Report Structure wizard.
Rich text subelements, such as images and tables, that were added or deleted, are not updated when you refresh the report structure. You must reimport the rich text element to retrieve the latest changes to its corresponding subelements. Similarly, if you manually remove a subelement in IBM Cognos for Microsoft Office, when you complete the refresh process, no updates are retrieved from the report server and the subelement is not updated. Changes to the div or span elements are not considered changes to the report structure.
To automatically check for changes in the report structure each time that you refresh a report or import a report element, in the Options dialog box, you must select the Check for report updates on refresh check box. For details on how to set this option, see Checking for updates to the report structure.
When new report elements are identified and the refresh process is complete, the elements are added to the report tree on the Manage Data tab. A star symbol is displayed in the upper left of the report object icons to indicate that the report elements have unique names.You must manually import the added elements to include them in the current report. Elements that were added to the report specification, but do not contain unique names or identifiers, are disabled and cannot be imported.
When the refresh process is complete, report elements that were identified as missing since you last imported the report are converted to stand-alone (static) elements. That means there is no link between the data in the document and the report on which that data is based. The missing elements are displayed in the report tree on the Manage Data tab with a strikethrough character and are not available for import.
If you determine that a missing element is not required for your report analysis, you can remove the element from the report after the refresh process is complete by using Microsoft Office commands. The star and strikethrough symbols that are displayed in the upper left of the report object icon identify new or removed elements that remain until you refresh the report or report element, or until the Microsoft Office document is closed.