IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence

NEW FEATURES

Product Information
This document applies to IBM Cognos 8 Version 8.4 and may also apply to subsequent releases. To check for newer versions of this document, visit the IBM Cognos Resource Center (http://www.ibm.com/software/data/support/cognos_crc.html).

Copyright
Copyright 2008 Cognos ULC (formerly Cognos Incorporated). Cognos ULC is an IBM Company. Portions of Cognos ULC software products are protected by one or more of the following U.S. Patents: 6,609,123 B1; 6,611,838 B1; 6,662,188 B1; 6,728,697 B2; 6,741,982 B2; 6,763,520 B1; 6,768,995 B2; 6,782,378 B2; 6,847,973 B2; 6,907,428 B2; 6,853,375 B2; 6,986,135 B2; 6,995,768 B2; 7,062,479 B2; 7,072,822 B2; 7,111,007 B2; 7,130,822 B1; 7,155,398 B2; 7,171,425 B2; 7,185,016 B1; 7,213,199 B2; 7,243,106 B2; 7,257,612 B2; 7,275,211 B2; 7,281,047 B2; 7,293,008 B2; 7,296,040 B2; 7,318,058 B2; 7,325,003 B2; 7,333,995 B2. Cognos and the Cognos logo are trademarks of Cognos ULC (formerly Cognos Incorporated) in the United States and/or other countries. IBM and the IBM logo are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, or other countries or both. Java and all Java-based trademarks are trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States, other countries, or both. Other company, product, or service names may be trademarks or service marks of others. While every attempt has been made to ensure that the information in this document is accurate and complete, some typographical errors or technical inaccuracies may exist. Cognos does not accept responsibility for any kind of loss resulting from the use of information contained in this document. This document shows the publication date. The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice. Any improvements or changes to the information contained in this document will be documented in subsequent editions. U.S. Government Restricted Rights. The software and accompanying materials are provided with Restricted Rights. Use, duplication, or disclosure by the Government is subject to the restrictions in subparagraph (C)(1)(ii) of the Rights in Technical Data and Computer clause at DFARS 252.227-7013, or subparagraphs (C)(1) and (2) of the Commercial Computer Software - Restricted Rights at 48CFR52.227 as applicable. The Contractor is Cognos Corporation, 15 Wayside Road, Burlington, MA 01803. This document contains proprietary information of Cognos. All rights are reserved. No part of this document may be copied, photocopied, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means, or translated into another language without the prior written consent of Cognos.

Table of Contents
Introduction

5 9

Chapter 1: Whats New in IBM Cognos 8? Chapter 2: Targeting Information

11

More User Preferences in Query Studio 11 Prompt Types for Levels in Query Studio Can be Defined in Framework Manager 11 Extended Support for Dimensionally-modeled Relational Data Sources 11 Dimension Management 11 Chapter 3: Extended Reporting and Analysis

13

Access to the IBM WebSphere Business Glossary 13 Extended Suppression Capabilities in all Studios 13 Lineage 13 New Features for Report Authors 14 Dashboards 14 Improved Scorecarding 14 Crosstab Measures in Report Studio can be Formatted Based on a Another Crosstab Measure 14 Drill Up and Down can be Synchronized for Multiple Queries in Report Studio Reports 14 The dataItem Element in Report Studio Supports Calculated Members and Measures 14 Shared List Queries in Report Studio 15 Generated Background Images 15 New Charts in Report Studio 15 RootMember Function in Report Studio 15 Excel Color Palettes 15 More Report Graphics 15 Enhanced Sorting and Filtering in Query Studio 15 Prompted Reports Now Supported in Go! Mobile 16 Scheduling for Go! Mobile 16 New Features for Business Analysts 16 Persistent Column Widths in Analysis Studio 16 Multiple Intersections (Tuples) can be Selected for Suppression in Analysis Studio 16 The Update Date for a Cube can be Displayed 16 Chapter 4: Enhanced Deployment and Administration

17

64-Bit and 32-Bit Application Servers Now Supported 17 Enhanced Drill-through Capabilities 17 Additional User Capabilities and Easier Organization for Packages 17 Extended Support for Single Signon 18 Objects Can be Hidden in the Portal 18 Namespaces Can be Hidden in the Login Page 18 Improved Performance for Reports that Require Prompt Values 18 Enhancements to Data Manager 18 New Data Sources 18 New Features 3

Table of Contents Composite Information Server is Replaced By IBM Cognos 8 Virtual View Manager 19 Diagnostic Tools Added to IBM Cognos 8 BI 8.4 19 IPv6 Compliance 19 Open IBM Cognos PowerPlay Series 7 Reports in Other Studios 20 New Columns Added to COGIPF_MIGRATION Table 20 PowerPlay IPF Database Audit Logging 20 PowerPlay Service Requests Now Show in Current Activities 20 IBM Cognos Transformer 8 Automation 20 Improved Lineage 20 Six New Languages Added 21 J2EE Security Support 21 Cell Context Data and Drill-Through Information Included in Chart Data 21 UNIX Installation Text User Interface Removed 21 Parameterized SQL Governor 21 Framework Manager SQL xmin( ) Model Governors 22 New Query Hint to Populate SAPBW Member Cache 22 Generated Native SQL Contains Comments 22 Composite Source Code 22 Automatic Detection of Compatibility Mode in DB2 zOS 22 Connection Command Blocks Exposed for Teradata 22 Appendix A: Supported Environments Index

23

25

Introduction
This document provides an organized view of the new features of IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence. For more information about new and changed features, see the specific product user guide.

Audience
This guide is for information technology administrators, data modelers, report authors, users of IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence, and others who are interested in IBM Cognos 8.4. To use this guide effectively, you should be familiar with one or more of the following items, depending on your role in your organization: IBM Cognos 8 and its components the existing server environment and security infrastructure in your organization your companys business requirements your companys business intelligence environment database and data warehouse concepts security concepts

Related Documentation
Our documentation includes user guides, getting started guides, new features guides, readmes, and other materials to meet the needs of our varied audience. The following documents contain related information and may be referred to in this document. Note: For online users of this document, a Web page such as The page cannot be found may appear when clicking individual links in the following table. Documents are made available for your particular installation and translation configuration. If a link is unavailable, you can access the document on the IBM Cognos Resource Center (http://www.ibm.com/software/data/support/cognos_crc.html).

Document

Description

IBM Cognos Connection User Using IBM Cognos Connection to publish, find, manage, organize, Guide and view IBM Cognos content, such as scorecards, reports, analyses, and agents IBM Cognos 8 Administration Managing servers, security, reports, and portal services; and setand Security Guide ting up the samples, customizing the user interface and troubleshooting Report Studio Professional Authoring User Guide Authoring reports that analyze corporate data according to specific needs

New Features 5

Introduction

Document
Report Studio Express Authoring User Guide Event Studio User Guide

Description
Authoring financial reports that analyze corporate data according to specific needs Creating and managing agents that monitor data and perform tasks when the data meets predefined thresholds Understanding the IBM Cognos 8 architecture, developing installation strategies, including security considerations, and optimizing performance Exploring, analyzing, and comparing dimensional data Creating and publishing models using Framework Manager

IBM Cognos 8 Architecture and Deployment Guide

Analysis Studio User Guide Framework Manager User Guide Metric Studio User Guide

Authoring scorecard applications and monitoring the metrics within them Creating self-service business intelligence reports

Query Studio User Guide

Map Manager Installation and Installing and using Map Manager to import and manage maps User Guide that are used in map reports IBM Cognos 8 Migration Tools User Guide Moving metadata and applications from IBM Cognos Series 7 to IBM Cognos 8

IBM Cognos 8 Go! Office User Using IBM Cognos 8 Go! Office to retrieve content from IBM Guide Cognos reporting products within Microsoft Office

Finding Information
Product documentation is available in online help from the Help menu or button in IBM Cognos products. To find the most current product documentation, including all localized documentation and knowledge base materials, access the IBM Cognos Resource Center (http://www.ibm.com/software/ data/support/cognos_crc.html). You can also read PDF versions of the product readme files and installation guides directly from IBM Cognos product CDs.

Using Quick Tours

Quick tours are short online tutorials that illustrate key features in IBM Cognos product components. To view a quick tour, start IBM Cognos Connection and click the Quick Tour link in the lowerright corner of the Welcome page.

Introduction

Getting Help
For more information about using this product or for technical assistance, visit the IBM Cognos Resource Center (http://www.ibm.com/software/data/support/cognos_crc.html). This site provides information on support, professional services, and education.

Printing Copyright Material

You can print selected pages, a section, or the whole book. You are granted a non-exclusive, nontransferable license to use, copy, and reproduce the copyright materials, in printed or electronic format, solely for the purpose of operating, maintaining, and providing internal training on IBM Cognos software.

New Features 7

Introduction

Chapter 1: Whats New in IBM Cognos 8?

IBM Cognos 8.4 consists of two major packages. One package includes IBM Cognos 8 BI PowerPlay and the other package includes all IBM Cognos 8 BI components except IBM Cognos PowerPlay. This new features guide is for the latter package. The new features in IBM Cognos 8.4 BI provide benefits to business managers and analysts, business modelers, report authors, and system administrators. All studios include a new feature for suppressing rows and columns that contain zero values, missing values, or overflow values. A new lineage feature in Report Studio, Query Studio, Analysis Studio, and the report viewer, allows you to view life cycle information on each piece of data.

Business Managers and Analysts

In Query Studio, the addition of more user preferences and the enhancement of filtering and sorting options make it quicker for Business Analysts to set up and run reports. Also, because modelers can set default filters in a Framework Manager model, it is easier for users to set up and run reports. Analysis Studio includes a new feature that makes it easier to apply suppression across multiple items. From within Analysis Studio, you can also display the date on which a cube was last updated.

Business Modelers
Business modelers using Transformer can now use fact data from SAP BW OLAP data sources. This means they can create Transformer models based on existing dimensional models. Transformer also supports Excel spreadsheets as data sources.

Report Authors
Report authors now have more drill-through capabilities, including the ability to pass filters from the source report to the target report. They can also conditionally style crosstab cells based on values in other cells. More types of charts and more graphics are included with Report Studio for use in reports and dashboards.

Report Consumers
You can add additional information to a report by using comments. This information can include questions or explanations. Comments may include the original commentators ID and the time the comments were added. For more information see the Administration and Security Guide.

System Administrators
Support for IBM Cognos 8 is extended to include more operating systems, data sources, browsers, application servers, and portals. For more information see Appendix A: "Supported Environments" (p. 23).

New Features 9

Chapter 1: Whats New in IBM Cognos 8? It is now easier for Administrators to organize packages and control which packages specific users can see in the portal.

10

Chapter 2: Targeting Information

IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence provides features that help you to efficiently target information to different types of users.

More User Preferences in Query Studio

You can now save more user preferences in Query Studio. New preferences include the following: You can choose a data retrieval mode that allows you to run a report with all data, preview it with limited data, or preview it with no data You can specify a default template for reports You can select the type of filter dialog to use by default. Types include picklist, type-in, or select with search.

Prompt Types for Levels in Query Studio Can be Defined in Framework Manager
Query Studio provides a metadata tree that is level based. You can easily create a report based on levels by dragging levels from the metadata tree to a report list or crosstab report. For a dimensionally-modeled relational data source you can now specify in the model the default type of the filter dialog that is supplied to the user.

Extended Support for Dimensionally-modeled Relational Data Sources

There is now support for multiple hierarchies of a single dimension for dimensionally-modeled relational data sources. In addition, the sorting of data by member is enhanced. A member can appear sorted in the metadata tree and on the report without slowing performance. Also, members of a level are sorted in the context of their ancestor levels. This means that the hierarchical relationship of a level is considered when member sorting is applied.

Dimension Management
You can now maintain business viewpoints and collaborate to organize information for performance management. This gives you complete control over your domains, reduces errors, provides transparency and consistency to changes, and allows collaboration with a single source of dimensions and hierarchies across performance management..

New Features 11

Chapter 2: Targeting Information

12

Chapter 3: Extended Reporting and Analysis

IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence provides enhancements for report authors working with Report Studio or Query Studio, and business analysts working with Analysis Studio.

Access to the IBM WebSphere Business Glossary

If you use the IBM WebSphere Business Glossary, you can now access the glossary from any of the following data objects in Report Studio, Query Studio, and Analysis Studio: Query subject Query item Measure Dimension Hierarchy Level Property/attribute Top node member Member Level item

Extended Suppression Capabilities in all Studios

You can now suppress rows, columns, or rows and columns based on the following: zero values divide by zero values missing values overflow values

This can be done on any suppression-enabled package such as relational, dimensionally-modeled relational, and OLAP data sources. Suppression can be enabled at the discretion of the Transformer or Framework Manager modeler during publishing.

Lineage
It is now easier to view information on the life cycle of a data element and see the major transformations that occurred as it traveled through a system. For technical users, this may include in-depth New Features 13

Chapter 3: Extended Reporting and Analysis information about the data sources, data types, calculation expressions, and details of ETL transformations. For business users, the information may be as simple as the point of origin of the data and when it was last updated. You can launch Lineage from Report Studio, Query Studio, Analysis Studio, and the report viewer.

New Features for Report Authors

New features in Report Studio and Query Studio provide advantages for report authors.

Dashboards
A new dashboarding product lets you create and consume interactive dashboards. You can also combine dashboards with third-party information sources, such as RSS feeds, to create enhanced performance management dashboards. It is now easier to create personalized reports with a standardized appearance.

Improved Scorecarding
New scorecard portlets let you share scorecarding information to a wider business community by eliminating the need to go into the IBM Cognos 8 BI scorecarding interface to view strategy maps and impact diagrams. Comments can now be added to strategic objectives showing date and owner, for improved collaboration in defining and editing strategic objectives.

Crosstab Measures in Report Studio can be Formatted Based on a Another Crosstab Measure
You can now apply conditional styles to crosstab cells based on an adjacent value in the crosstab. For example, you can conditionally color the bubbles in a bubble chart based on any combination of the measures, and you can conditionally color an entire row of the crosstab based on any measure in the columns.

Drill Up and Down can be Synchronized for Multiple Queries in Report Studio Reports
You can now link groups of data items from different queries in a report so that when you drill up or down on one query, data items in the other query also drill up or down.

The dataItem Element in Report Studio Supports Calculated Members and Measures
The dataItem element is now extended to support calculated members and measures. This allows sorting by calculated members.

14

Chapter 3: Extended Reporting and Analysis

Shared List Queries in Report Studio

Report Studio now provides an option to share the database query between two list frames that have the same logical query. This improves performance by minimizing the number of queries executed against the database.

Generated Background Images

The Report Studio author can now define background images for objects, such as charts, to enhance the presentation quality of a report. The new capabilities include borders with rounded corners, transparent background fills and images, drop shadows, and background gradients.

New Charts in Report Studio

The following new chart types are available in Report Studio: microcharts These miniature charts are useful for improving the visualization of data in crosstabs, lists, and dashboards. They are smaller versions of column charts, bar charts, and line charts. Column microcharts and bar microcharts are also available in stacked and 100 percent stacked configurations. Another type of microchart is a win-loss chart in which the value of each column is either 1 or -1, often denoting a win or loss. Marimekko charts A Marimekko chart is a 100 percent stacked chart in which the width of a column is proportional to the total of the column's values. Line charts now include an option for creating step line charts. Step line charts are similar to line charts but use vertical and horizontal lines to connect the data points, forming a step-like progression.

RootMember Function in Report Studio

A new function, rootMember, returns the root member of a single-root hierarchy.

Excel Color Palettes

There is now an easy way to match the palette of Report Studio charts with charts from Excel. The Palette dialog box provides new palettes that match those from various versions of Excel.

More Report Graphics

Additional colorful graphics are now available for dashboards and reports.

Enhanced Sorting and Filtering in Query Studio

In Query Studio, you can now filter without adding a column. A context menu in the metadata tree allows you to add filters directly from the tree without first having to add the metadata item to the report. Text filters now include multi-line text control. You can paste text from other applications into type-in filters. You can also use wildcards to define filters. New Features 15

Chapter 3: Extended Reporting and Analysis

Prompted Reports Now Supported in Go! Mobile

Increase the usability of your mobile devices by running prompted reports in IBM Cognos Go! Mobile. IBM Cognos Go! Mobile supports most standard prompts.

Scheduling for Go! Mobile

You can now schedule report delivery to mobile devices.

New Features for Business Analysts

Analysis Studio provides new features for the business analysts.

Persistent Column Widths in Analysis Studio

In earlier versions, the column width set in a report was not saved. Now you no longer have to spend extra time resizing columns to improve the visual aspects and general usability of the report when you reopen it.

Multiple Intersections (Tuples) can be Selected for Suppression in Analysis Studio

It is now easy to add or remove sparsity tuples. Previously, you had to invoke suppression on each measure multiple times for each nested group to ensure that only rows with zero or null values were suppressed. You can now invoke suppression across multiple items at the same time and verify against a list of items to show how suppression was applied. Note: Reports that have been created using the totals-based suppression method in IBM Cognos 8 Version 8.1 will be upgraded to use the 8.4 suppression method. Reports that have been created using the context-sensitive suppression in IBM Cognos 8 Version 8.2 will not be upgraded because the context-sensitive suppression method can be used in conjunction with the 8.4 suppression method.

The Update Date for a Cube can be Displayed

In Analysis Studio you can now display the date on which a cube was last updated.

16

Chapter 4: Enhanced Deployment and Administration

The new IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence release provides new functionality to support enterpriseclass BI deployments.

64-Bit and 32-Bit Application Servers Now Supported

IBM Cognos 8 BI now provides the ability to use the latest popular application servers, such as 64bit SAP NetWeaver and others, giving you greater compatibility and the potential for increased scalability. At the same time, we offer the flexibility of continuing to use your 32-bit application servers. For more information, see the Installation and Configuration Guide.

Enhanced Drill-through Capabilities

In earlier versions of IBM Cognos 8, model-based drill-through supported only reports created in Analysis Studio, Query Studio, or Report Studio as targets. Other types of drill-through targets are now supported. For example, you can drill through to PowerPlay Studio reports saved in the content store, or to a PowerCube. There is now dynamic filtering of data in Report Studio reports. You can automatically apply filter data from a report to a drill-through target from that report. When you drill through from a Report Studio report to a target report, if what you have selected is in a query in the target report, the results are automatically filtered. A Report Studio author can now define a drill definition that allows a report to be shown on the Go To page only when a specific measure, dimension, hierarchy, alternate hierarchy, level, or query item exists in the source report. This allows the author to restrict when the drill path is available to users. IBM Cognos 8 provides improved selection for drill through parameters. If the source is based on a dimensional package, you can choose what property of the source metadata item to map to the target. For example, you can map the member caption of the source metadata item to a relational value in the target instead of using the business key. For more information, see the Administration and Security Guide.

Additional User Capabilities and Easier Organization for Packages

You can specify user capabilities for individual packages. Also, there is more flexibility when organizing packages in the content store.

New Features 17

Chapter 4: Enhanced Deployment and Administration

Extended Support for Single Signon

IBM Cognos 8 now provides for single signon through LDAP namespace authentication for an Essbase OLAP data source. In addition, single signon support is added for Teradata and DB2. For more information, see the Administration and Security Guide.

Objects Can be Hidden in the Portal

Multiple packages in the root folder can be hidden from the UI. Administrators can control whether users can choose a preference to view hidden objects.

Namespaces Can be Hidden in the Login Page

Administrators can now register trusted signon namespaces without having them shown on the namespace selection list that appears at logon. This is useful if you want to integrate single signon across your system while maintaining the ability for customers to authenticate directly to IBM Cognos 8 without being prompted to choose a namespace.

Improved Performance for Reports that Require Prompt Values

You can specify that prompt values for a report are stored in a cache. This enables the report server to render a prompt page without having to run a prompt query and access the database for each report. The first time that a report is open, the cache is created. Then, for each user who subsequently opens the report, the cache is used. This results in performance improvements for reports that have prompt pages.

Enhancements to Data Manager

The bulk loader support in Data Manager is extended to support Netezza, Sybase, SybaseIQ, and TM1. A new JobStream node has been added that allows you to execute IBM DataStage jobs within aJobStream. You no longer need a license key to control the use of the Designer UI. The SQLTXT Designer UI in Data Manager is extended to provide a quick method for duplicating a table definition. For more information, see the Data Manager User Guide.

New Data Sources

For more information about new data sources, see the Administration and Security Guide.

IBM Cognos TM1

The IBM CognosTM1 data source supports named levels.

18

Chapter 4: Enhanced Deployment and Administration You can also test IBM Cognos TM1 data source connections to IBM Cognos TM1 namespacesecured cubes from IBM Cognos Administration. For more information, see the Administration and Security Guide.

IBM Cognos Now!

Both IBM Cognos Now! cubes and view objects are supported as data sources. Note: For information about constraints when using Cognos Now! views, see the IBM Cognos Now! Workbench Technical Reference.

IBM InfoSphere Warehouse Cubing Services

IBM InfoSphere Warehouse Cubing Services provides a multidimensional view of data stored in a relational database Now you can now access IBM InfoSphere Warehouse Cubing Services with IBM Cognos 8 BI just as you would any other data source.

Composite Information Server is Replaced By IBM Cognos 8 Virtual View Manager

Composite Information Server was available with earlier releases of IBM Cognos 8. In the current release, Composite Information Server is replaced by IBM Cognos 8 Virtual View Manager, which is an IBM proprietary product that is based on a new version of Composite Information Server. For more information, see the Administration and Security Guide and the Architecture and Deployment Guide.

Diagnostic Tools Added to IBM Cognos 8 BI 8.4

Diagnostic tools are available with IBM Cognos 8.4 to help identify and troubleshoot issues by providing you with a way to automate the collection of detailed systems information. Diagnostic results can be attached to cases logged with IBM Cognos Support, which significantly reduces the time spent on collection of environment and product information. These diagnostics are read-only and do not make any changes to the environment of IBM Cognos products.

IPv6 Compliance
Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is designated as the successor of IPv4, the current version for general use on the Internet. The much larger address space in IPv6 allows greater flexibility in assigning addresses. For more information, see the Installation and Configuration Guide.

New Features 19

Chapter 4: Enhanced Deployment and Administration

Open IBM Cognos PowerPlay Series 7 Reports in Other Studios

In both IBM Cognos Connection and PowerPlay Studio, you have additional actions available when the migration service has been installed. You can choose to open a PowerPlay Studio or IBM Cognos PowerPlay Series 7 report with Analysis Studio or Report Studio.

New Columns Added to COGIPF_MIGRATION Table

The audit database contains a table, COGIPF_MIGRATION, that is used to log information about migration activities. Four additional columns, MSGNUM, SOURCE_TYPE, SOURCE_PATH, and SOURCE_NAME, have been added to this table for this release. Customers who have created a COGIPF_MIGRATION table with an earlier version must upgrade their table to include the additional columns.

PowerPlay IPF Database Audit Logging

A new option is provided for IBM Cognos PowerPlay 7 customers who have migrated to PowerPlay 8 in IBM Cognos 8.4. You can now get audit information using either the Series 7-style PowerPlay audit database, or through IPF logs in cogserver.log. This lets you get audit information in an IBM Cognos 8 IPF database.

PowerPlay Service Requests Now Show in Current Activities

Now you can see interactive requests being executed by the PowerPlay service in Current Activities in Cognos Administration. You can also cancel these requests.

IBM Cognos Transformer 8 Automation

The initial release of IBM Cognos Transformer 8 contained no programmatic automation support. You had to script using MDL, the Transformer Model Definition language. Now, IBM Cognos Transformer re-instates OLE automation with updated Active X controls to allow .Net support and new C8.3 functionality for the 8.4 release and also adds support for new IBM Cognos Transformer 8 features and functionality, including security. If you are an IBM Cognos Series 7 customer who is currently using IBM Cognos PowerPlay Transformer OLE automation, you will need to upgrade your code to leverage the new IBM Cognos 8 OLE functionality.

Improved Lineage
Now you can access lineage for model filters from the metadata tree in the Report Studio, Query Studio, and Analysis Studio. Technical users can also include information about filters in report and model lineage.

20

Chapter 4: Enhanced Deployment and Administration

Six New Languages Added

Besides English and three other languages (French, German, and Japanese), IBM Cognos 8 BI is now localized into the following additional languages: simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese, Korean, Italian, Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese. For more information, see the Installation and Configuration Guide.

J2EE Security Support

The IBM Cognos 8 BI Server application and the Servlet Gateway application can run on a WebSphere 6.1 32-bit and 64-bit platform with Java 2 security enabled, restricting access to local resources.

Cell Context Data and Drill-Through Information Included in Chart Data

Executive Dashboards now have cell context and drill-though information included when the data is inserted into a chart object, as is available in rendered lists and crosstabs.

UNIX Installation Text User Interface Removed

For UNIX Installation, the Newt library and its dependent text user interface (issetupcc) has been removed. UNIX users with X-server running will continue using the motif-based user interface "issetup" to launch the product installation. UNIX users without X-server will launch unattended installs by invoking the "issetup" command line parameter "-s {filename}" to perform necessary installation tasks. You may need to modify the response file to accept the license agreement if a non-default custom install is required.

Parameterized SQL Governor

The generated Cognos SQL can either use parameter markers (also known as sql99 host variables) or literal values. The SQL governor provides a way optimize RDBMS performance. For example, setting the governor to use literal values allows RQP (Relational Query Planner) to rewrite the parameters to literal values before sending the query to UDA for non-detail query cases. The governor can be set in the model, which can then be overridden on a per-query basis. If the governor is neither set in the model nor in the query, then the setting is derived from the server configuration file.

New Features 21

Chapter 4: Enhanced Deployment and Administration

Framework Manager SQL xmin( ) Model Governors

Cognos strongly endorses the use of materialized views for optimum performance. However, the default generation of SQL xmin( ) functions for attributes disables the use of materialized views and can result in problems. Two configuration flags exist already to stop the xmin( ) generation in the case of determinants and levels. You can now use two configuration options in Framework Manager as model governors to drive the xmin( ) generation for both levels and determinants. If the governor is missing, RQP (Relational Query Planner) will read the value of the corresponding CQE configuration flag from their configuration file and use it instead.

New Query Hint to Populate SAPBW Member Cache

This query hint signals the SAP provider that the query associated with the hint is for the cache server. If this query hint is set to true, the dimensions are passed down to the SAP cache server, encrypted, and saved for later use. Query hint name: QUERY_HINTS_CACHESERVERQUERY Query hint description: Query for Cache Server Default value: false This new query hint has 3 states: true, false, and undefined. When undefined, the program falls back to default behavior, which is the false state.

Generated Native SQL Contains Comments

SQL comments can help you understand which tables are being accessed by which users and is useful for debugging and auditing, as well for better managing resource utilization and performance.

Composite Source Code

Composite source code is now IBM Cognos property.

Automatic Detection of Compatibility Mode in DB2 zOS

A DB2 zOS subsystem may be configured to run in compatibility mode. Previously,while in compatibility mode the subsystem would not accept DML/DDL constructs that are part of the release because the constructs are not accessible until the system is moved to new feature mode. IBM Cognos 8 now adjusts to new feature mode if necessary.

Connection Command Blocks Exposed for Teradata

Connection command blocks for Teradata connections are now exposed in the portal, along with the currently exposed DB2, SQL Server, and ORACLE connections.

22

Appendix A: Supported Environments

This release of IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence adds support for the following environments:

Type
Operating systems

Item
AIX 6.1 Linux on zSeries Linux RedHat Enterprise 5.0 AS Microsoft Windows Server 2008

Data sources

IBM InfoSphere Warehouse Cubing Services IBM Cognos Now! cubes TM1 with named level support DB2 UDB 9.5 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows Netezza 4.5 NCR Teradata V2 R12 NCR Teradata via ODBC from Linux Oracle 11G Sybase IQ 12.7 ESD3 Unicode ODBC

Web servers

Microsoft IIS 7 (cgi and isapi) Apache 2.2 Web Server

Application servers

Sun Java System Application Server 9.1 IBM Informix Dynamic Server 11.5

Portals

BEA Aqualogic User Interaction 6.5

New Features 23

Appendix A: Supported Environments

Type

Item
IBM WebSphere Portal 6.0 and 6.1

Other

MS SharePoint Services Version 3 Service Pack 1 HP Neoview 2.3 DB2 UDB V6R1 Progress OpenEdge 10.1C MS SQL Server 2008 IBM Data Server Driver for JDBC and SQLJ DB2 Universal JDBC Driver MS .NET Framework 3.5. SDK compatibility Transformer 8 SAP BW fact support Transformer 8 Excel 2007 support Framework Manager support for Visual SourceSafe 2005

To review an up-to-date list of environments supported by IBM Cognos products, such as operating systems, patches, browsers, Web servers, directory servers, database servers, and application servers, visit the IBM Cognos Resource Center (http://www.ibm.com/software/data/support/cognos_crc. html).

24

Index
Symbols
64-bit support, 17 Dimensionally-modeled relational data sources multiple hierarchies of a single dimension, 11 dimension management, 11 drill-through dynamic filtering, 17 new capabilities, 17 drill up and drill down synchronized with multiple queries in Report Studio, 14

A
Analysis Studio add or remove sparsity tuples, 16 date of last cube update, 16 authoring professional, 14

E B
background images, 15 business analysts, 16 environments supported, 23 Essbase OLAP data source single signon, 18

C
capabilities for packages, 17 charts Excel color palettes, 15 in Report Studio, 15 color palettes Excel, 15 column widths, 16 Composite Information Server, 19 conditional formatting of crosstab measures, 14 copyright material printing, 7 crosstab measures conditional formatting, 14 cube update date, 16

F
filtering dynamic filtering of drill-through targets, 17 Query Studio, 15 finding information, 6 formatting of crosstab measures, 14 Framework Manager prompt types for levels in Query Studio, 11

G
Go! Mobile prompted reports, 16 scheduling, 16 graphics Report Studio, 15

D
dashboards, 14 dataItem element in Report Studio supports calculated members and measures, 14 data lineage, 13 Data Manager bulk loader support, 18 data sources, 18 diagnostic tools, 19

H
help getting, 7 hidden namespaces, 18 hiding objects in the portal, 18

I
IBM Cognos 8 Virtual View Manager, 19

New Features 25

Index IBM Cognos Resource Center, 7 IBM WebSphere business glossary, 13 information finding, 6 targeting, 11

Q
Query Studio filtering, 15 prompt types can be defined in Framework Manager, 11 user preferences, 11 quick tours using, 6

J
JBOSS versions, 23

R L
languages, 21 lineage, 13, 20 login hide namespaces, 18 single signon, 18 related documentation, 5 reporting extending, 13 reports Go! Mobile, 16 opening, 20 statement-style, 13 Report Studio additional graphics, 15 charts, 15 dataItem element, 14 Excel color palettes in charts, 15 generated background images, 15 professional authoring, 14 rootMember function, 15 shared list queries, 15 synchronized drill up and drill down, 14 rootMember function in Report Studio, 15

M
Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Service versions, 23 model governors, 22 MSSAS see Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Service, 23 multiple hierarchies of a single dimension dimensionally-modeled relational data sources, 11

N
namespaces can be hidden, 18 Netezza, 18

S O
Oracle Application Server versions, 23 scheduling Go! Mobile, 16 scorecards, 14 shared list queries, 15 single signon Essbase OLAP sources, 18 sparsity tuples, 16 SQL comments, 22 SQLTXT designer, 18 statement-style reports, 13 supported environments, 23 suppression reports or rows or columns, 13 SUSE Linux Enterprise Server versions, 23 Sybase, 18

P
packages easier to organize, 17 hiding, 18 user capabilities, 17 Performance reports with prompt pages, 18 preferences in Query Studio, 11 printing copyright material, 7 prompt pages improved performance, 18

26

Index

T
table definition duplicating, 18 TM1, 18 Transformer automation, 20

U
UNIX installation, 21 update date for a cube, 16

New Features 27