BI Data Analytics

Below are issues identified  while working with IBM Cloud team PDF Font sizes are different. Fonts to be installed by IBM Audit DB not configured correctly. Extra set up done to change system Timezone to match with location Drill Through functionality not working. Interim Fix was provided having Multiple Data source Connections causing issue to work with reports having native sqls and based on data modules. Custom Controls path was changed making all reports using them not working.  Performance issues in running report. Environment moved to nearest location from original location. DASHDB ( Db2 Datawarehouse On Cloud)  performance tuning done for reports taking longer time compared to Oracle. Navigation to Cognos Administration is slow. Cache parameter is updated to improve on performance.

1. When running report, we got error for oracle driver missing. It was restored by IBM to resolve the issue  2. Non-interactive Reports drill through to Excel doesn't work. An interim fix was applied to Cognos 11.0.8.  3. Excel output based reports were taking more than 5 minutes to run. Root cause identified was Image folder access/path was not enabled and causing report to stuck for 5 minutes. IBM resolved it via PMR.  4. When calling reports in Dashboard as web page url, drill through defined via image not working. It was working fine in 11.0.7. Issue is under investigation with IBM.  5. Data sets can not be scheduled with dependencies to each other thus limiting it's usage to sumarrize data over base data sets. They can't be added to Job or Event Studio to define auto refresh. As per IBM, This is planned for future release.  6. Reports name can't be changed dynamically based on parameters. There is RFE raised for this enhancement. 7. Audit database t...

Environment: Cognos 11.0.6 on Cloud Issues/Observations: Some time when you right click on Package to see it's properties, it is missing. On Laptop, sometime report output is cutting some content on header or footer end. On zooming out, problem resolves.

Below are the list of issues faced during upgrade to ICA 11.0.6. Got error when trying to rename report Navigate to the report and click the 'More' icon beside its name. From the menu, select 'Properties. From here there are two methods to change the report's name: a) Click on 'Advanced' to see more properties. b) Click 'Set...' beside 'Languages' Error : Firewall Security Rejection  2. When running multiple reports, get  error Data source adapter error: java.sql.SQLRecoverableException: No more data to read from socket and on clicking Ok, the screen doesn't go away. It needs to be closed and go to actual report 3. Save As option Save As Option takes to main Team Content Folder instead of folder where the report was residing. 4. List within List is causing caching issue and On report prompt page doesn't reflect changes to outputs. 5. On reports using multiple pages, page down causes Query Service Internal E...

Problem: When we try to right click on query to see Tabular data, there is pop up comes for requesting "Allow Clipboard Access". The option is already set  in Report Studio Property to allow access to clipboard. Solution: 1. Go to Tools -> Internet Options.  2. Go to Security tab.  3. Select “Internet” zone, then click on “Custom level…” button.  4. Scroll down to “Scripting” section (at the bottom few).  5. Under “Allow Programmatic clipboard access” option, check or select (tick) Enable. Default action for this option is Prompt, which cause the pop-up message whenever there is any attempt to access the Clipboard.  6. Click Ok twice to exit from Internet Options.

If anyone is using IBM Cognos Analytics Version 11.0.0.0 to 11.0.5.0, there is security bulletin released by IBM to notify vulnerability where sensitive information can be revealed in its logs files:- http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg22000095 The recommended solution is to apply version 11.0.6.0 as soon as viable.

Below are some of the changes in LCM for IBM Cognos Analytics and should be used to identify reports to assess efforts ( Planning Phase) may be needed for upgrade process from IBM Cognos 10.2.2:- There is no reporting or exporting of results to capture differences and failures, progress. Prompts fill out using  'Capture Prompt Values' not working in IBM Cognos Analytics version. Reports having images as references to templates and using Layout component reference need to be validated for any issue. Validate impact where Java Scripts are used  such as multi select auto cascading implementation

Issue Symptoms: After installing Life Cycle Manager, when clicking on start window, we get error that path not specified. Also, clicking on URI and trying to create project gives HTTP Not found error  Solution Create  "projects" folder under  C:\apps\ibm\cognos\LifecycleManager\data Make sure have full access on  C:\apps\ibm\cognos\LifecycleManager Restart  IBM Cognos Lifecycle Manager Startup and you should see below for successful start Using CATALINA_BASE:   "..\tomcat" Using CATALINA_HOME:   "..\tomcat" Using CATALINA_TMPDIR: "..\temp" Using JRE_HOME:        "..\bin\jre\7.0" Using CLASSPATH:       "..\tomcat\bin\bootstrap.jar" How to start and stop LCM Windows -> Start menu - navigate to the Lifecycle Manager entry and select " IBM Cognos Lifecycle Manager Startup" option.   Default: http://localhost:4797/LifecycleManager Lifecycle Manager s...

Below are issues/observations noted for reports upgrade: Repeater behavior changes In Cognos 10.2.1, it was working similar to singleton and was able to show single value ( if there is only one value for all rows). This was specifically used for Language based drill through link. After upgrade to Cognos 10.2.2 FP7, the report kept running forever in interactive mode. Upon running in batch mode, it was revealed that it repeated values for each row. To solve this, either convert data item to report expression item or use singleton (to get first value). Extract function data type In 10.2.1, it is being treated as string whereas in 10.2.2 FP7 it's treated as number. Due to this additional function used such as TO_Number resulted in warning in higher version. The argument at position 1 of the function 'TO_NUMBER' is invalid in filter/slicer expression ' TO_NUMBER(extract (YEAR,current_date))' of query 'Prompts', expected one of the following t...

Problem: After upgrade to FP7, noticed error generated from a crosstab having crosstab space nested within cross tab nodes:- Found an internal error: '!mapSuccess - reportName=test_FP7 - edgeName=11 - edgeOrdinal=1 - tuple=([TBdimension_4].[TBhierarchy_4].[all].[test data].[1].[1].[0], [TBdimension_5].[TBhierarchy_5].[all].[data value for test data within data).'. Solution: It seems that FP7 version was looking for hierarchy information for crosstab spaces as there were no measures assigned to that row. Just added one of values as nested crosstab node above the crosstab with default measure and hide it. This worked to stop generating error and report started working again without loosing display format needed.

Issue: Native SQL based report against Oracle DB giving error: XQE-DAT-0001     Data source adapter error: java.sql.SQLSyntaxErrorException: ORA-00907: missing right parenthesis Symptoms: Reports have multiple native sqls against Oracle DB. It is using Master details, Page set as well Cause: Cognos 10.2.2 FP7 upgrade from FP3 Analysis and Solution: Run query in Tabular data and see error coming from specific queries On analysis, it was found that there is comment statement in the end of query and it's not able to handle in FP7. It should have omitted it for evaluation. After removing the commented line, error disappeared. Comments: If we use standard comments /* */  or we move last commented line to in between query, it is able to parse sql correctly and send to Oracle as well. This is possible issue in supporting Oracle comments for this scenario in FP7.

Issue:  For Value Prompts Radio Button/List Boxes shows side scroll bar. Cause: Report was using 8.x styles Solution: Change Report properties to use 10.x styles

We can pass dates as number for drill through report if there is  range filter is involved from in built date prompt: Steps: 1.        In Detail report, Create data item where filter is applied on date range [IntegerDate] extract(year,[Date1]) *10000 + extract(month,[Date1])*100+extract(day,[Date1]) 2.        In Detail report, Apply filter - [IntegerDate] between ?date1? and ?date2? 3.        In Summary report list query add below data items: Start Date: extract(year,[date1]) *10000 + extract(month,[date1])*100+extract(day,[date1]) End Date: extract(year,[date2]) *10000 + extract(month,[date2])*100+extract(day,[date2]) 4.        Update Drill through to pass new data items for ?date1? and ?date2? For single date passing via value prompt, it can be passed as To_Char/cast to compare and pass.

To keep up with upcoming Cognos fixes below links are useful: To check overall schedule: https://www-01.ibm.com/software/analytics/support/fixes/pbi_schedule.html Fix Pack lists ( below is latest Cognos BI 10.2.2 FP3): http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg27042898 Based on current versions, we need to evaluate fix list, open APAR, software version compatibility Environment and plan it. 

1. Check software OS/DB drivers/server compatibility with version you are installing http://www-969.ibm.com/software/reports/compatibility/clarity-reports/report/html/prereqsForProduct?deliverableId=1267644462529 DB DB2 Client - Only UDB LUW can be connected DB2Connect - can connect Mainframe DB2 as well. Apply Licenses for drivers and test connectivity IIS/Web Server O/S Version App Server version (if Tomcat is not used) 2. Plan to freeze Cognos Version to be installed (FP) http://www-01.ibm.com/software/analytics/support/fixes/pbi_schedule.html 3.  Plan to freeze Code and scope - Have parallel Development environment and after freeze date, all development should be done on. 4. Review Fix list and create test plan based on hot sites and specific issues environment has faced http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg27042898  5. Create Inventory List  using Audit report to clean up unused reports or define...