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With the Cognos 11 upgrade, we now have the opportunity to build interactive dashboards for end users. Along with this, are two additional data objects: web-based modeling capabilities in a data module, and extracted data in a data set. This article describes some best practices that the IDAR team has found when building and testing Cognos dashboards.
The recommended workflow
Below is a recommended workflow for building a Cognos dashboard in UST's environment.
- Will still recommend starting with our enterprise package. Go to Team Content > X_UST_ODS_ENTERPRISE. Right-click and select create dataset and start building your queries.
- Once you build one or more Data sets from the enterprise package, it's recommended to have a data module layer for any potential modeling, column renaming/hiding, and any additional security layers. It's recommended that if you need to do any data type conversions or row-level calculations/transformations, this should be done in the dataset.
- Lastly, the dashboard should be built off of this data module. You can build calculations and custom columns at either the data set or data module layer, but if the calculation is for specific aggregations displayed in the dashboard, it's best maintained in the dashboard itself.
Maintaining the dashboard from development to production
In order for the dashboard to run in prod, maintain your data set refresh schedules in production. If you're working in development and need to refresh any data set, just manually do so by clicking the ellipsis next to data set > Refresh. If you're working in the data set, you can choose the Save icon in the top right > Save and load data. If you have more than one data set that needs refreshing, it's recommended to make a job on the prod side to handle the refreshes.
If you make any major changes to a dataset (column add/remove, different result set, etc.), it is recommended that you refresh the dataset on the prod side after the next deployment to minimize any errors. Note: the deployment schedule is 11:00 AM, 2:30 PM, and 11:00 PM.
Folder permissions, capabilities, and access
In order for end users to see and interact with your dashboard, the following permissions need to be in place:
- Folder permissions: Run folder permissions need to be set at the root-level folder (one down from Team Content) on down to the folder where your data sets, data modules, and dashboard lives. We recommend you make one folder for all dashboard-related objects for organizational purposes.
Design best practices
It is recommended at a bare minimum to set the following dashboard properties for a consistent user experience:
- Canvas: Layout positioning set to Absolute.
- Page size: Custom width and height should not exceed 1200 px.
- Color and theme: the UST_Color_Palette is recommended to start with. if additional colors are needed, you can customize based of these branded colors.