Post on 12-May-2015
COGNOS - Powerplay
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
The world's best-selling OLAP software lets users explore volumes of data with sub-second response.
•It enables users to explore large volumes of summarized data with sub-second response times in a Web, Windows, or Excel environment.
•With Cognos PowerPlay, users at any business or technical skill level in a company can perform their own multidimensional analysis, create reports, and share them for better decision-making.
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
•Cognos PowerPlay draws information from relational databases to model and build PowerCubes ("Cubes").
•Cubes are data sets that can contain tens of millions of consolidated rows of data and hundreds of thousands of categories (members).
•Business rules and calculations (for example, percentage growth and market share change) can be built right into them, and time series analysis is delivered automatically.
•Cubes and reports can be deployed to Web clients, or to Windows and Excel clients, all using the same application server.
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Cognos PowerPlay provides both a multidimensional data store and a feature rich end-user experience.
Its multi-server, load-balanced architecture is easy to install and manage, and it scales to thousands of users.
Module 3
Olap Fundamentals.An Introduction to Powerplay.Tools for Data Investigation.Analyzing Data.Report Building Using Powerplay.Advanced Concepts in Report Building.Advanced Features.
Click on the Links to Traverse
OLAP FundamentalsOLAP Fundamentals
• On Line Analytical Processing.• What is Business Intelligence?• What are Measures?• What is a Dimension?• Multidimensional Analysis.
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
OnLine Analytical ProcessingOnLine Analytical Processing
• What is OLAP?
– On Line No piles of paper.– Analytical Establish patterns– Processing Data-based
• On-line Analytical Processing (OLAP) is a category of software technology that enables analysts, managers and executives to gain insight into data through fast, consistent, interactive access to a wide variety possible views of information that has been transformed from raw data to reflect the real dimensionality of the enterprise as understood by the user.
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
What is Business Intelligence?
• Business Intelligence (BI) is:
– the use of corporate data to support decision-making
– the ability to explore and analyze data to reveal trends within a business.
• How does it happen?
Raw Data
Organized Information
Better Business Decisions
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
What are Measures
• The numeric data that is collected and stored by your organization are the measures you will use to evaluate your business.
• These are also termed as Facts.
Example:- Cost Quantity sold Units on-hand Hours per Job Number of calls
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
What is a Dimension??
• A dimension:– Dimensions represent those data element that
would be used for analyzing the Facts.– depends on data availability and on the key
performance indicators of the business
What?Where?
When?
Who?
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Job Groups
Perform
ance
Time
Status
Salaries
Indicators
What Are PowerCubes?
• PowerCubes:• are created by Transformer• organize data into selected business perspectives
or dimensions.
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
• When analyzing your business, you want to explore measures across several dimensions.
What Product?
Who is Selling?
When?
How Much?
Where?
Multidimensional Analysis
An Introduction to PowerPlay
• How Does PowerPlay Deliver BI?• What Are PowerCubes?• PowerPlay Components• PowerPlay Application Development Process• PowerPlay Navigation
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
How Does PowerPlay Deliver BI?
• Powerplay Transformer combines all of the data into a summarized format called a PowerCube.
• The PowerCube structures data into a multi-dimensional format.
• Every decision-maker uses data organized into various reports
Product Revenue Reports
by Quarter
by Channel
by Customer Type
Power Cube
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
PowerPlay Components
• PowerPlay includes the following components:
Transformer defines the PowerPlay application and creates the PowerCube. (*.MDC)
PowerPlay accesses the PowerCube to give you the ability to explore your business information quickly and to build powerful customized reports.(*.PPR) Portfolio helps distribute your reports in an interactive, easy-to-use briefing book format.
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
PowerPlay Application Development Process
RevenueUnitsDiscountsQuota
Years 2
Quarters 8
Months 24
State 4City 16Store 72
Business Units
3ProductLines
6Brands 18Products 125
All Years National SalesForce
All Products
Sales Management Example
Technician 158
Develop the PowerPlay model
Plan measures and dimensions
Obtain the required data
Explore the PowerCube data using PowerPlay
Create the PowerCube
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Dimension Line
• The Dimension Line:– represents the various aspects of your business– contains a series of folders of all the available
dimensions and measures.
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Dimension Viewer
Use the Dimension Viewer to see a hierarchical organization of dimensions and categories in your cube.
Toolbox
Dimension
Level 1 = statesCategory = CA
Level 2 = citiesCategory = San Diego
= Locations
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Levels and Categories
• Data is organized into dimensions and stored in a hierarchy of levels.
• A category is a data item that exists in a level.
Locations Dimension
Europe Germany
Far East
Americas
Belgium
France
Level = Region Level = Country
...
...
...
...
...
Categories
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Explorer Report
• To explore and analyze your data, you can:– create a new report from a cube– open a .ppr file.
• The default display contains:– the first two dimensions in the rows and columns– the values for the first measure.
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Reporter Report
A Reporter report provides you with:– flexibility over the content of your report– a blank report to which you add the categories you want
to analyze.
Tools for Data Investigation.
• Various Tools For Investigation• Additional ways of Investigating the Data
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Various Tools For InvestigationVarious Tools For Investigation
• Drill-Down and Drill-Up.– Drilling down or up is a specific analytical technique
whereby the user navigates among levels of data
• Slice & Dice.Slice and dice allows you to change and arrange
dimensions in a report, which provides a different perspective on your data.
• Changing Displays. By changing the display you can see trends and
relationships in a graphic.
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Drill Down and Drill Up
Explorer
Drill Up
Before
Drill Down
After
Drill Down
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Slice and Dice
• Slice and dice allows you to change and arrange dimensions in a report, which provides a different perspective on your data.
• You can slice and dice by dragging a new dimension folder into the display.
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Change Displays
By changing the display you can see trends and relationships ina graphic.
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Various Tools For Investigation
• Using Alternative Drill-Downs.• Special Categories.• Replace Rows and Columns.• Swap Rows and Columns.• Explanation Window.
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Alternate Drill Down and Drill Up Paths
• Alternate drill paths:– provide you with additional
perspectives on your business– are set up by the
Administrator– are easily identified from the
Dimension Line and Dimension Viewer.
Alternate Path
Primary Path
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Using Special Categories
• Special categories:– are used to compare trends– provide an alternate organizations of the data.
Lee Chan
North America
Europe
Far East
Charles Loo Nam
New Reps
Region
Hari Krain
Special Category
Analyzing Data
• Rank and sort data• Filter data using different methods• Add layers • Use measures and multiple measures.• Nesting and Formatting.• Using Charts.
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
• Rank categories by their value in a specific row or column.
• See interesting trends like top selling Tents.• By default:
– ranked data is sorted– data is re-ranked as you drill or slice and dice.
Rank Data
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Alphabetical
Numeric
Sort Data
Sorting data:• arranges categories in alphabetical or numeric order• finds products or customers quickly and easily.
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Filter Data Using the Dimension Line
• Filtering creates focused reports that show you the exact level of information desired in each dimension.
• You can filter your report to focus on a particular location.
• The Dimension Line displays the filters in use.
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Filter Data Using the Dimension Viewer
• You can filter data by clicking the Filter button. • The Dimension Viewer displays the hierarchical position
of the filtered category.
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Layer Data
• Add layers to a report as a third set of dimension categories.
• Drag a dimension folder to the Layer target.
North America Layer 3 of 4
Far East Layer 1 of 4
Locations Layer 4 of 4
Europe Layer 2 of 4
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Suppress Zeros
• Remove any zero value categories from the report to focus only on positive outcomes.
Suppress zeros, rows, and columns
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Percentage of Row Total
Show Values as Percentages
• Display the values in your report as a percentage of various totals.
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Change Measures
• Use the Measures folder to change the key performance indicator of a report.
• By default, the values in a new report are based on the first measure in the measure list.
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Multiple Measures
• Display multiple measures to examine differences between them.
• Show multiple measures in the rows, columns, or layers.
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
What is Nesting ?
• Nesting is the introduction of another level to:
– provide additional information within the crosstab
– increase the perspective of your exploration.
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Create a Nested Crosstab
• Drop zones are located in the crosstab label areas of both rows and columns.
Inserting a first-level row nested
category
Inserting a first-level column nested category
Select an item and then drag
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Select Nested Categories
When you select a nested category, all occurrences of that category within the report are selected.
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Layout Options
PowerPlay gives you three layout options to choose from:
Indented 1
Standard
Indented 2
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Add Titles, Headers, and Footers
To customize titles, headers, and footers:
insert an item from the Insert menu
cut and paste to and from the clipboard
apply various font styles to text.
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
View Your Report
There are three different views of the crosstab.
Report Building with PowerPlay
• Reporter and Explorer Differences – An Overview• Reporter Mode Features
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Reporter and Explorer Differences - an Overview
Area of Difference
Structure
Calculations
Drilling
Data Exploration
Reporter Explorer
Completely freeformand flexible
Can be added
Drilling Adds Categories to the
Report
Appends categoriesto the report
Has uniform structure
Cannot be added
Replaces categoriesin the report
Drilling Replaces Categories in the Report.
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Reporter Mode Features
• Dimension Viewer Basics.
• Next and Lowest Level Children Of…• Drilling Down in Reporter.• Slicing and Dicing in Reporter.• Deleting Categories in Reporter.
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Dimension Viewer Basics
DimensionViewertoolbox
DimensionViewer
Create subsetdefinition buttons
Next and Lowest level children of
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Next and Lowest Level Children Of
• Control the level of detail when adding categories to the report.
Next Level Children Of (Locations)
Lowest Level Children Of (Locations)
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Drilling Down in Reporter
Before drill down
After drill down
Unchanged
• During drilldown the other Data is not Hidden
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Slicing and Dicing in Reporter
• Adds Categories into the Report and doesn’t hide Categories.
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Deleting Categories in Reporter
Advanced Concepts in Report Building
• Including Calculations.• Adding Values to the Report.• Standard Reports.• Automating and Distributing Reports.
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Calculations
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Working with Calculations
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Calculated Categories
• A category based on a calculation.
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Perform Calculations When Adding Categories
Each
Sum of
Average of
Share of
Intersect
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Perform Calculations When Adding Categories…
Next level children of
Each
Average of
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Custom Exceptions
• You can define custom exceptions to quickly see the unusually high and low values in your reports.
• This feature helps you to immediately recognize information that may need further exploration.
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Nested Crosstabs
• Add nested categories to see another level of information about your business.
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Long Drop Zones
Next levelchildren of
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Short Drop Zones
Next levelchildren of
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Drilling Down in Nested Crosstabs
• Drilling down on a category added using the short drop zone.
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Calculations and Nested Crosstabs
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Create Nesting Levels
• Use the Dimension Viewer toolbox to add nested categories.
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
What are Standard Reports?
• Standard Reports will be used on a recurring basis and provide up-to-date cube data.
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
What are Subset Definitions?
• With a subset definition, you can view up-to-date cube data in a Reporter report.
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Creating a Subset From a Subset Definition
• A subset definition is added to a report the same way as a category or dimension is added.
Subset Definition
Subset
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Changing a Non-Standard to a Standard Report
• Because standard reports are created with subsets, any changes to the categories will be updated.
Non-Standard Report
Standard Report
Lowest level children of
Parentage subset definition
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Create a Parentage Subset Definition
• Create a subset based on levels in a dimension.
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Create an Advanced Subset Definition
• Create a subset that will meet multiple requirements and restrictions.
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
The Advanced Subset Dialog Box
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Restricting by Parent and Find
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Breaking a Subset
• You can break a subset when you don’t need it in a report, but you do not want to delete the subset altogether.
Additional Features
• Publish as HTML.
• Scheduling reports.
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Publish as HTML
• HTML reports can be viewed by anybody who has a web browser.
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Publish as HTML Dialog Box
• Creating a separate folder for each HTML report will keep all the required files together and make it easy to distribute them.
Introduction to Cognos Powerplay
Scheduling Reports
• You can schedule reports to be run at night or over the weekend.