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Main PowerPlay Transformer features:

Advanced modelling capabilities Leverages aggregate and fact tables Intergation of the query data into the model The models are defined by dimension structures and measures which can be easily

customized

No custom programming required Time periods are handled in a specific way which makes data delivery easy High flexibilty and portability

PowerPlay cubes modeling and development

process

The application development process in Cognos PowerPlay Transformer usually contains the

following steps:

Gather business users requirements Create a Model Plan which will include design and data requirements for the model and

decide on the cube distribution methodology

Select measures Plan dimensions and levels Design and develop the PowerPlay model in Transformer Create PowerPlay cubes and distribute them to the end users Analyze and explore the cube data using PowerPlay

A Transformer Model can be also created using a wizard with AutoDesign function or manually.

We strongly recommend to avoid the AutoDesign function as in most cases it does notprovide the results expected.

PowerPlay Transformer application

The default Cognos PowerPlay transformer window is composed of the following windows

depicted on the the screenshots below.Building a PowerPlay model involves designating columns in the source files as measures and

dimensions&levels.

Data Sources - a list of all connected data sources. Each source can be expanded and it lists all

available columns. Users can browse the source data by using Data Source Viewer. Columnsfrom a data source window can be dragged & dropped to the dimensions and measures windows

accordingly.

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Dimension Map manages the dimensions and levels hierarchy in the data model. It allows

creating new dimensions and modifying existing using an user-friendly graphical interface.Dimensions and underlaying Levels are created by moving columns from the Data Sourceswindow to the corresponding dimension column.

Measures - drag & drop columns to manage number figures (facts) in a PowerPlay model.

PowerCubes - you can specify here a list of cubes created by the model. User Classes - define the security.

Signons - datasource connection information.

Cognos Powerplay Transformer model for the palm nursery business scenario:

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Cognos PowerPlay Transformer Guide - data

sources

PowerPlay Transformer is supplied with the source data through the data definitions managed ina Data Sources window.

Source data typically comes from a data warehouse, sometimes from production ERP system andin many cases includes multiple sources in order to deliver information required by the model.

Data sources recommendations

Column names in a data source must be unique. If a model contains multiple data sources,

then the columns can be duplicated. Keep in mind that in that case Transformer will try to make

a link between the sources based on that columns.

Every dimension requires a column on a lowest level of the dimensions hierarchy (usually anID column is at the bottom)

At least one measure must be derived directly from a source column. Other measures can be

calculated.

A good practice is to keep column names in the model consistent with the data sourcecolumn names.

Another good practice is to preview source data with the Data source viewer.

Avoid changing or switching columns in the source data

PowerPlay Transformer uses the following data types to populate dimensions, levels, categories

and measures:

Date - a special type which defines time periods and can be linked directly to the time

dimension which is automatically managed by Transformer. Usually it is a native database dateformat, sometimes text in YYYYMMDD format.

Numeric - used mainly by measures

Text - defines levels and dimensions

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Cognos Powerplay Transformer - multiple data sources in a model with the data source

definition:

The data source properties window also allows users to choose the datasource type, point to the

right file or database server and set up a number of processing options, like: define timing,

uniqueness verification, specify number separators and indicate current period in the timedimension.

We will get into more details on that options later on in this tutorial.

Supported Data Sources by Cognos Transformer

Impromptu query definition files (.iqd) - which can query local or server-based databases

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Relational sources - including Oracle, SQL, IBM, Teradata, Sybase, and any other ODBC

source

Dimensional sources - Cognos OLAP, SAP BW, Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services,Essbase, Oracle 10G, IBM DB2 CubeViews

ERP systems - SAP, PeopleSoft and Siebel

XML, Java beans, JDBC, LDAP, WSDL Excel files, Access files and csv or text files

Legacy and Mainframe systems - like VSAM, IMS, IDMS, Cobol Copybooks

Content management data - FileNet, Documentum, and OpenSoft

Time dimension

Time dimension is a special type of dimension. Cognos provides an automatic support for

handling time dimensions which is working very well.

Go to Tools -> Date wizard (or use a date wizard icon located in the toolbar) and follow the

wizard steps (values entered in our example in blue):

1. Provide name of the dimension - TIME

2. Choose Date Source Type ( Column ) and point the coumn name which contains date

values ( DT ).

3. Do you want years in the dimension? Yes

4. Choose the kind of years between Calendar years (355 or 356 days) and Lunar years of 52

weeks 5. Do you want quarter-years in the time dimension? Yes

7. Do you want months in the time dimension? Yes

9. Do you want months in the time dimension? Yes

10. Do you want days in the time dimension? No

11. Choose the first day of the week. Default is Sunday, we will choose Monday

12. How to treat a week which spans a month? Split between the two

13. Enter ther first day of a particular year (yyyymmdd) - year value in this setting is not

important. This options allows users for instance to report fiscal years starting from 1 March. We

leave the default 20070101

14. Do you want to generate categories? If not needed, we suggest to generate them based on

the data and do not generate a category for each day. No

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We can see a new time dimension in the Dimension Map of the model:

The time dimension levels in the PowerCube are depicted below:

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Define measures in the PowerPlay

Transformer Model

After having all the dimension defined, we can proceed and create measures. When alldimensions and measures are set up, we will generate PowerCubes and open it in PowerPlay.

Measures are numerical figures and come from the fact table.

To add measures to the model, follow the instructions below:

1.Drag & Drop PRICE, QUANTITY and REVENUEcolumns from Data sources to the

Measures window.

2. Double-click on the REVENUE measure and rename it to Gross Revenue . Then go to aFormat tab to change the default number format to the #,##0 format with 2 Decimal places

3. Rename PRICE to Unit Price and apply the same format as for Gross Revenue.

We also do not want to summarize the Unit Price measure because it does not make any businesssense. To change the grouping calculation, go to Rollup tab and choose Average and set Regular

Weight to Gross Revenue .

4. Set the #,##0 with 0 decimal places format for Quantity.

5. From the Data Sources window go to Facts and select DT. In the General tab change the

Data class toDate and in the Time tab select the following Date input format: DMY

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Measure properties for Unit price :

Define an output PowerCube

1. Go to the PowerCubes window and press Insert key

2. Put a name for the PowerCube: www.Cognos-BI.info Sales Analysis

3. Put the PowerCube file name: cognos-bi_analysis.pyi

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4. Create the PowerCube by clicking Run -> create PowerCubes and the model will become

ready for exploration and analysis

The final model structure is shown below:

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The Cognos OLAP cube created from the model illustrated above:

Measures allocation

Measures Allocation is a techique that allows comparing data in a report even though it is

grouped on a different level of detail.

Usually it is required to perform allocation when part of the data is available only on a higherdetail level than other data.

In real-life, the measures that usually need to be allocated are fixed costs, forecasts, budget plan,

discounts, rebates, customer bonus. This is because in most cases those figures are calculated ona monthly (for example COSTS), quarterly (CUSTOMER BONUS) or yearly (BUDGET) basis

and very often the SALES reports are generated on a daily basis.

It is also very important to remember that in some business cases allocation is logically

inappropriate and may not make any sense.

There are two ways of implementing allocation:

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Fixed allocation - which means that there is a constant value allocated to all levels in a

dimension. Users may filter the report, drill up, down, slice and dice and the figure will remainconstant. It may be sometimes confusing to the end users and before putting such a figure it isnecessary to make clear to the end users that the number is constantly allocated and may not act

as expected when analyzing data (especially when calculating summaries).

Dynamic allocation (weighted, proportional) - values are allocated using subtotals of ananother measure. First a percent of total of a allocation base measure is calculated and based on

that figure, the corresponding values for allocated measure are calculated. The weighted type of

allocation is often used in real-life datawarehouse environments.

Measures allocation real-life example in

Cognos

In the following example we will analyze revenue, constant costs and variable costs. Our goal isto be able to compare revenue to fixed and variable costs in all the time dimension levels

available.

We will analyze the following measures from our tutorial business scenario:

Gross revenue - the source data stores sales records on a daily basis. It will be handledautomatically be cognos.

Fixed costs - calculated per the whole year. The measure will be allocated.

Variable costs - monthly detail level in a source data. This measure will be also allocated.

We will perform a constant value allocation to the FIXED COSTS in a YEAR dimension and

dynamic allocation to the VARIABLE COSTS in a MONTH dimension (the allocation key is

QUANTITY).

To allocate a measure in PowerPlay Transformer go to a dimension level properties to theallocation tab and choose the corresponding option.

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Fixed measure allocation:

Measure allocation by QUANTITY:

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We see below that fixed costs have been allocated in a constant fashion:

Variable costs allocated dynamically by quantity:

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Cognos Series 7 to IBM Cognos 8 BI

products comparisonThe table below shows the comparison of Cognos 7 and Cognos 8 BI tools and applications. The

conclusion is simple: Cognos 8 is a completely different product than Cognos 7.

Products comparison: Cognos Series 7 to IBM Cognos 8 BI

Cognos series 7 IBM Cognos 8 BI Comments

Cognos PowerPlay BI Mobile Analysis (PowerPlay)Desktop Query

and Analysis tool

Cognos PowerPlay Web Analysis Studio

Web-based

multidimensionalanalysis

PowerPlay ExcelIBM Cognos 8 BI Analysis for

Microsoft Excel

MS Office /

Spredsheetintegration

ImpromptuReportNet (Report Studio + Query

Studio)Reporting

Cognos WebPortal Cognos Connection Web Portal

Visualizer GO! Dashboard / Report StudioVisualdashboards

DecisionStream Data ManagerETL & Data

integration tool

PowerPlay Transformer / ImpromptuAdministrator

Framework ManagerModelingframework

Metrics Manager Metrics Studio Scorecarding

Notice cast Event StudioBusiness activity

monitoring

Planning PlanningPlanning,budgeting,

forecasting

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Cognos 7 Business Intelligence applications

overview

Cognos Series 7

The main Cognos Series 7 Business Intelligence applications:

Cognos PowerPlay - multidimensional analysis and OLAP reporting software. PowerPlay is

available in a couple of versions: PowerPlay Web, PowerPlay Client and PowerPlay for

Microsoft Excel.Cognos PowerPlay windows Client application has more features available than PowerPlay Web

Explorer.

Powerplay Enterpise Server is used to deploy cubes to the Cognos 7 WebPortal and alsoCognos 8

Cognos PowerPlay Transformer is an application used to generate and update PowerCubes

which are distributed to the end users

PowerPlay Connect - an application which manages connections to Cognos OLAP source orany of the supported OLAP servers (Hyperion Essbase, IBM DB2 OLAP, Microsoft AnalysisServices, local Microsoft .cub files, SAP BW)

Cognos Impromptu - software for advanced reporting

Metrics Manager - scorecarding software Notice Cast - event management application which runs in the background

The data model and flow of the data in Cognos is as follows:

Analyze and define the data structure in source systems

Use PowerPlay Transformer to connect to one or more sources of data and buildmultidimensional models

Create the Cognos PowerCubes in Transformer and distribute those multidimensional models(and/or use PowerPlay Enterprise Server for distribution and to apply security to the OLAP

cubes)

View the distributed PowerCubes using Cognos PowerPlay for Windows, PowerPlay forExcel, Powerplay Web or Cognos Visualizer

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