Reporting Tips and Techniques
Doug Kirk
Cognos
Topics
Cognos Finance Reporting Tips
• Selected @ functions
• Boolean logic / Edit Checks
• Drill Down vs. Drill Through
• New reporting features
• Report Performance Options
&Macro and @Functions
• @AV2• @AVG• @AVL• @AVT• @CEL• @CELA• @CUM• @DCM• @FILL• @GROUP• @IN• @LIST• @MRATE• @NEG• @RATE• @SUM• @TOTAL• @TOTLIST
• @CTD• @CUB• @CWA• @DAY• @DCZ• @DFP• @DNZ• @ELB• @ELL• @ELM• @ELW• @EXTERNAL• @FDAY• @PY• @RANGE• @WTA• @XRT• @ZDC• @ZPF
• -• +• *• /• !• %• ABS• BW• IDX• IDV• INT• MAX• MIN• P• V
• >• >• =• AND• GEQ• IN• LEQ• LIKE• NEQ• NOT• OR
• &MTH• &QTR• CLASS• CT• SELFIF• WT
• &ACCT• &ATEXT• &COLOR• &DATE• &sdate• &ldate• &time• &Parent• &pgbreaktext• &RPTFULLNAME• &RPTNAME• &SCALE• &SWITCH• &PY• &CY• &NY• &[Pointer period]
CF has many specialized functions and operators to make reporting easier
@RATE and @MRATE
• @RATE - Apply a Rate. Use to create calculated data items for accounts. Applies a given rate against one or more accounts. For example, use to determine revenue for a product when the price charged for the product changes per period.
• @MRATE - Multiple Rates. Use to create calculated data items for accounts. @MRATE applies multiple rates (ratios) against a single account to determine the value of a second account.
@CEL and @CELA
• @CEL-Value in a Cell. Use to create a row or column that gets its value from a specific cell or cells by referencing row/column ranges.
• @CELA -Value in a Cell. Use to create a row or column that gets its value from a specific cell or cells by referencing row/column ranges. @CELA is the same as @CEL except it sums the multiple rows or multiple columns in the argument.
Examples
• Link to @RATE & @CEL Example
• Link to @MRATE & @CELA Example
@RATE & @CEL ExampleScreenshot
@MRATE & @CELA ExampleScreenshot
&MTH
• Used to insert the integer value of the current month into calculations. Very useful in making reports dynamic and preparing averages based on current period.
Link to &MTH Example
&MTH ExampleScreenshot
Drill Through from CF
RelationalDatabase
Another CognosFinance System
From Cognos Finance to:
ProgramWeb Page
SQL Query
Drill Down/Through
• Configured in the File Processing GL Module
• Link to Drill Through1
• Link to Drill Through2
New Reporting Features
• Dynamic Sorting (Link)
• Extended Thresholds and Operators
• Report Properties
• @Range
Dynamic SortingScreenshot
@Range
Reporting Performance
• Turn off cache pages
• Avoid page calculations
• Watch dependencies
Link to Report Example
Note – if report is too large, CF will automatically engage report paging for efficiency.
Cognos Finance, moving forward.
Q & A