022_S7_POWERPLAY

8/7/2019 022_S7_POWERPLAY

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Series 7

PowerPlay

What is PowerPlay?

Cognos PowerPlay is an OLAP (online analytical processing) tool that allowsusers to explore large volumes of summarized data. Users can performmultidimensional analysis by slicing and dicing through a cube and can easilyshare their reports with other individuals within an organization


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If localhost is not available in the dropdown:

Click the Connections button In the Connections dialog, click Add In the Add a Connection dialog, type: localhost for both the Connection

and Server Click OK twice until you are returned to the Choose a Remote Cube dialog

4. Select the Great Outdoors cube and click Open

The screen that is displayed is the default view of the PowerCube


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To the left of the screen is the Dimension Viewer that can be shown (orhidden) using the F4 key

If it is not already showing, please press the F4 key to show the dimension

viewer:

PowerPlay uses the first dimension of the cube as rows, the seconddimension as columns and the first measure from the cube as the defaultmeasure


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Across the top of the report is the Dimension Line that displays theavailable dimensions from the cube

PowerPlay has two available modes - Reporter and Explorer . Thecurrent mode is displayed in the application title bar:

Explorer Mode - used to create reports that show one whole level of onedimension along the rows or columns.

Reporter Mode - allows enhanced slicing and dicing. Users can mix categoriesfrom different levels and from dimensions within the rows or columns


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Lets Explore the Cube in explorer mode:

1. Swap Rows and Columns, by clicking the Swap Rows button

2. Select the Locations folder in the Dimension Viewer to highlight the folder

3. Add Locations as rows, by clicking the Replace rows button located tothe left of the Dimension Viewer

4. Click the Expand button beside the Locations folder in the DimensionViewer to show its child categories

5. Click the Expand button beside the Americas folder in the DimensionViewer to show its child categories

6. Select the United States folder to highlight it

7. To filter the data on United States, click the Filter button , on the left ofthe Dimension Viewer , and the Dimension Line is updated with the filter:


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8. Click the Reset button on the toolbar to reset the Dimension Line filter back to the default

PowerPlay can be used to display information in both a crosstab style of report orgraphs. You have the option to switch between the crosstabs report and one ofthe available graphs, or you can choose to display both in the same report

Lets display both a Crosstab report and a Graph:

From the Insert menu, select Display and click the Clustered Bar

display with depth chart button to insert a Clustered Bar chart

This will display both a Clustered Bar chart and the crosstab in the same report.

If you change your dimension line filter to Asia Pacific , both the Clustered Barchart and the crosstab report will be filtered on Asia Pacific

Lets take a look:

1. Select the Asia Pacific folder in the Dimension Viewer to the left of thescreen to highlight it

2. Click the Filter button to filter the data on Asia Pacific


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PowerPlay Forecasting

One of the exciting Features of PowerPlay is Forecasting. You can choose fromthree different forecasting algorithms - Trend, Growth or Autoregression

Trend (Linear or Straight Line)

The Trend forecasting method is based on the linear regression technique oftime series forecasting. Trend forecasting gives the best forecasting reliabilitywhen the driving factors of your business affect your measures in a linearfashion. For example, when your historic revenue increases or decreases ata constant rate, you are seeing a linear effect

Growth (Curved or Curved Line)

The Growth forecasting method is based on the exponential regressiontechnique of time series forecasting. Growth forecasting gives you the bestforecasting reliability when the driving factors of your business affect yourmeasures exponentially. For example, when your historic revenue increasesor decreases at an increasingly higher rate, you are seeing an exponentialeffect.

Autoregression (Seasonal)

The Autoregression forecasting method is based on the auto-correlationalapproach to time series forecasting. Autoregression forecasting detects the

linear, non-linear, and seasonal fluctuations in historic data and projects thesetrends into the future. Autoregression provides the best forecasting reliabilitywhen the driving factors underlying your business are affected by seasonalfluctuations

With our current report, the best option would usually be Growth as the datafluctuates up and down over the three periods available in the data


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To Add a Forecast Column to the Report:

1. Working with the same crosstab and clustered bar display, from theCalculate menu, select Forecast

2. From the Choose the forecast method options, select Growth 3. Leave the Enter the forecast horizon as 1 so that this gives us a one-

year forecast

Note that the maximum horizon you can set is the same as thenumber of periods in your report. In this report, the maximumwould be three

4. To add the Forecast column, click OK

In Cognos PowerPlay, there are options that can improve the readability and

usability of a display.

Lets remove the summary level from the Clustered Bar chart:

1. Ensure the Clustered Bar chart icon in the toolbar is selected

2. From the Format menu, select Display Options

3. On the Display tab, uncheck the Show summary cluster(s) checkbox

4. Click OK


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You can also drill down on the bars or crosstab to view more information

Lets drill down on data for Australia for 2005:

Double-click on the second clustered bar for 2005 to filter on

Australia for 2005

Reporter mode allows you to create more complex reports adding singlecategories from different levels of the same dimension or adding categories fromdifferent dimensions

Lets change to Reporter Mode:

1. From the File menu, select Close to exit the report previously created If prompted, click No to the Save changes dialog box

2. From the File menu, select New

3. In the Access frame in the Choose a Remote Cube dialog, ensure that thethe Remote radio button is selected.

4. From the Connections drop-down which will display the availableservers, select the server name localhost

5. Select the Great Outdoors cube and click Open 6. To change from the default Explorer mode to Reporter mode, click the

Explorer Reporter icon in the top toolbar


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7. Highlight the rows 2004, 2005, 2006, Years by holding down the CTRL keyand clicking on each row header

8. Right click in the highlighted area and select Delete -> Category(s)

Changing to Reporter mode will activate additional toolbar icons on theDimension Viewer toolbar. One of the options that is available in Reporter Modeis Advanced Subsets

Advanced Subsets allow your report to be dynamic. By using a Subset in areport, any new category added to the cube that belongs to the Subset will beautomatically added to the report

Steps to create an Advanced Subset:

1. To open the Advance Subset wizard, click the Advanced Subset button

to the left of the Dimension Viewer

2. Name the Subset North American Reps

3. From the Dimension drop-down, select the Locations dimension

4. In the Level(s) window, select the Sales Territory and Country andSales Branch check boxes, so that they will populate the Parent tab

5. From the Parent tab, Ctrl+click both Canada and United States underAmericas to highlight them.


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6. Click the Include button

7. To save the Subset , click the Save Subset button

8. Repeat steps 2 through 7, naming the Subset Asian Reps and from theParent tab, select Australia and Japan under Asia Pacific using the Ctrl button

9. To exit the window, click the Close button

The newly created North American Reps and Asian Reps Subsets will bedisplayed in the lower left frame. If you click the to expand the Subsets you

will see the Categories that are currently included in the Subset


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Steps to Add the North American Reps and Asian Reps Subsets to thereport:

1. Click the North American Reps subset definition to highlight it

2. To add the North American Reps subset definition as rows, click the Add

as Rows button on the left-hand side

3. To add the Asian Reps subset definition as rows, highlight the Asian

Reps subset definition and click the Add as Rows button

In this workshop we have looked at the two different modes that can be used inPowerPlay. We have explored some of the basic functionality, inserted a seconddisplay, created a forecast column, and created an Advanced Subset

Steps to Logout of PowerPlay:

From the File menu, click Exit When prompted to Save the report, click No

Congratulationsyou have completed this workshop!

022_S7_POWERPLAY

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