Overview of Cognos 8 SDK

Table of Content

Introduction 3 1.1 Cognos 8 SDK Functional features 3 2. Cognos 8 SDK Web based Services ............................3 3. Cognos 8 User Interface .4 3.1 BI Bus API ..4 3.2 URL Interface .4 3.3 Script Player ...4 4. Implementation of Cognos 8 SDK in reporting using Java Toolkit .5 4.1 Connecting to Cognos 8 Server ..5 4.2 Log on and Log Off in Cognos 8 .5 4.3 Running a Report .....5

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4.4 Scheduling a Report .6 4.5 Modifying a Report 6 4.6 Deleting a Report ...6 5. References ..6

1.Introduction:

The Cognos software development kit (SDK),a platform-independent automation interface is used to work with Cognos 8 services and its components. Cognos 8 SDK enables all reporting and administrative functionality that cant be performed by Cognos 8 directly. It is managed by a collection of cross-platform Web services, libraries, and programming interfaces by programmatically accessing the functions through Cognos 8 SDK. Web service interactions are done using Cognos 8 Java Toolkit, Cognos 8 COM Toolkit, .NET Framework Toolkit. ReportNet components are linked through the BI Bus, which issues calls and returns replies in the form of standard, Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) messages.

1.1 Cognos 8 SDK Functional features Cognos 8 SDK integrates easily into existing software or portals by providing the BI Bus API, which accommodates many programming languages.

A specific task can be automated or the entire process can be programmed, by reporting, scheduling, and distribution. Custom reports can be created, modified; Deployment of reports and other objects can be managed. Integration of security and portal functionality to suit individual needs, locale, and existing software infrastructure is possible. Cognos 8 SDK is used to authenticate against user credentials It can also be used to query the Content Manager. It can be used to administer reportnet servers and let other applications or Web portals interact directly with Cognos information content.

2. Cognos 8 SDK Web based Services The Cognos 8 Web-based services is a universal integration platform where standard internet technologies such as XML,HTTP, simple object access protocol (SOAP) and Web services description language (WSDL) are used to build connections between Cognos software and multiple applications. WSDL (Web Services Description Language) is an XML-based language for describing Web services and how to access them. It is platform independent and scalable. SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) is an XML based protocol that consists of three parts: an envelope that defines a framework for describing what is in a message and how to process it, a set of encoding rules for expressing instances of application-defined data types, and a convention for representing remote procedure calls and responses. The SOAP messages are transported using transport protocols such as HTTP or Https. It is platform independent and extensible.

When an SDK user requests a report from the content store, the XML data is retrieved, enclosed in a SOAP envelope, and then returned. The interfaces provided with the SDK eliminate the need to construct actual SOAP messages. The SDK turns commands into SOAP messages that the BI Bus API then delivers to the appropriate services. The BI Bus API wraps each XML-formatted request or response in a SOAP envelope and transmits it using HTTP.

3. Cognos 8 User Interface 3.1 BI Bus API Programming languages such as Java, Visual Basic 6.0, and C# can API to automate Cognos 8 action. Features It is used to retrieve query items in the published package It is used to modify the unpublished models

be coded in the BI Bus

It is mainly used for administering and implementing security.

3.2 URL Interface Cognos 8 actions can be automated by passing commands and parameters using the URL interface. Features It is used to view, run and edit reports using a hyperlink in a webpage 3.3 Script Player Script Player is a command line utility which is used to run action logs and run previously created action logs, which can be modified and saved as new action logs. Features It is used to create or modify models, or to publish packages for report authors.

Script Player can run an entire action log or only the part that is required for a specific task.

4. Implementation of Cognos 8 SDK in reporting using Java Toolkit Cognos 8 includes a Java toolkit that is based on Apache Axis and is used to interact with the SDK. The Java Development Kit is also used to build and run SDK clients . The .jar files installed in installation_location/sdk/java/lib, are the minimum .jar files required when building the SDK application: activation.jar axis.jar axisCognosClient.jar commons-discovery.jar

 commons-logging.jar jaxrpc.jar mail.jar saaj.jar wsdl4j.jar xercesImpl.jar xml-apis.jar The following .jar files must also be used to run the SDK samples. dom4j.jar xalan.jar

4.1 Connecting to Cognos 8 Server: A connection is established through Cognos Connection and the gateway URL provided by the administrator is supplied in the Web browser. The default gateway URL is http://localhost:9300/p2pd/servlet/dispatch/ext

4.2 Log on and Log Off in Cognos 8 : To log on to Cognos 8 as a valid user, you must have the proper permissions and capabilities to use Cognos 8. All logons and logoffs are performed through the ContentManagerService using the logon() and logoff() methods Methods logon(credentials, roles) method of the ContentManagerService takes 2 parameters, credentials and roles. logoff() method of the ContentManagerService is used to log out from Cognos 8. 4.3 Running a Report The location of the report should be specified in a search path. The search path tells the report server where to find the report in the content store. Methods The following BI Bus API methods are used to run reports run (objectPath, parameterValues, options) runAt(startTime, objectPath, parameterValues, options) run Specification (specification, parameterValues, options)

4.4 Scheduling a Report A report can be scheduled to run at a specific time or at recurring times To schedule a report using the SDK, a schedule object is created and appropriate values are set and added to the report. Methods The following method is used to schedule a report. add (parentPath, objects, options) method is used to schedule a report. 4.5 Modifying a Report Each Cognos 8 report is defined by a report specification. Changes can be made to the content and appearance of a report by modifying the report specification. Methods The following methods are used to modify a report. add (parentPath, object, options) runSpecification(specification, parameterValues, options)

query (objectPath, parameterValues, options) update (object, options) validateSpecification(specification, parameterValues, options)

4.6 Deleting a Report Reports can be deleted from the content store using the BI Bus API methods. Methods The following methods are used to delete reports. query (searchPath, properties, sortBy, options) delete (objects, options)

5. References

 Cognos 8 SDK Developer Guide