Cognos User Group
Framework Manager and
Transformer Tips
August 6, 2010
Topics
• Framework Manager
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Using filters
Governors
Diagram settings
“As View” query subjects vs. “Minimized”
• Transformer
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Using categories for counts
Creating “Bucket Dimensions”
Time dimensions
When to use a DMR model (in Framework Manager)
FM - Filters
Filter Options
• Embedded (within query subject)
– Required
– Optional
– Design Mode
• Stand-alone
– Only way to make hard-coded filter optional
– Use screen tip so that you know what the filter is !
• Studios
FM – Governors
• Use to improve performance by reducing system requirements
• “Big 5” Infolink has found useful:
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Max Rows Retrieved
Query time limit
Large Text (BLOBS) limit
Cross-Product joins
Usage of local cache
FM – Diagram Settings
• Context Explorer vs. Diagram tab
– Use Navigate Diagram to control defaults
• Shrink to fit
• Layout control
• Settings control
FM – “As View” query subject
• Default is “Minimized”
• How does “As View” work?
– Creates in-line view
– Controls order of query processing
• Why use “As View”
– Accuracy
– Merged query subject outer join example
Transformer – Category Counts
• 3 types of measures in Transformer
– Column
– Calculated
– Category Count
• Category Count type measure is
used to provide a distinct count of
members among dimension levels of
a level you specify in the Dimension
Map. (note 65,536 limit)
Trans – Category Counts
continued
• You can create a category count using multiple columns from a
data source.
• Example: Unique employee is determined by Employee ID +
Employee Record. We want to count this within our dimension
levels
Trans – “Bucket Dimensions”
“Bucket Dimensions” are useful when you want to categorize
measures (like employee count) into pre-determined buckets that
you define within Transformer.
In our example, we create our buckets using calculated columns in
the data source. (Note: you can do this in FM as well)
Trans – Time Dimension
• Standard Time Dimension
– Cognos automatically builds dimension levels from a date using
a wizard.
– Relative time
– Adding additional drill path
• Custom Time Dimension
– Is a regular (non-time) dimension
– Create your own time categories and sorting
FM - DMR
• Dimensionally Modeled Relational Data (DMR)
– Provides OLAP Cube style reporting
– Useful for real time reporting on small data sets
that have a good framework model
– Drawbacks:
• Performance (typically slower than PowerCubes which
are pre-aggregated)
• Consumes database server resources with report queries