Cognos 8.3 - Steps for Comma delimited file addition into Cognos Environment

The default format of the CSV is tab delimited.

The steps involved in adding it to the Cognos Connection is as follows:

1. Go to Cognos Connection.
2. In the upper-right corner, click Launch, Cognos Administration.
3. On the Status tab, click System.
4. From the System drop-down menu, click Set properties.
5. Click the Settings tab.
6. Next to Environment, Advanced Settings, click Edit.
7. Enter parameters and values from "CSV Properties and Values", as required.
ie.
RSVP.CSV.DELIMITER: ,
RSVP.CSV.ENCODING: windows-1252
8. Click OK.

Note:
It takes about 30 seconds after this change for the changes to take effect.
COOL!!! Right 

Framework Required Filter in Cognos 8.3 RSV-SRV-0042

One thing I have been observing is that, in 8.2 when we have required filters to access the metadata we would again filter the same filter in a logic manner with the ‘Usage’ set to ‘Optional’. So basically what is happening here is that, we are using the filter once in the prompt page and a filter in the query also. But in the Cognos 8.3 it throws an error when I try to do it that way.
The error looks something like this.
Prompt 'beginning_AR_date' is used multiple times with conflicting data types
In Details
RSV-SRV-0042 Trace back: RSReportService.cpp(747): QFException: CCL_CAUGHT: RSReportService::process() RSReportServiceMethod.cpp(217): QFException: CCL_RETHROW: RSReportServiceMethod::process(): promptPagingForward_Request RSASyncExecutionThread.cpp(690): QFException: RSASyncExecutionThread::checkException RSASyncExecutionThread.cpp(204): QFException: CCL_CAUGHT:…….and goes on.

Cognos 8.3 – Date prompt Error Microsoft SQL database

Recently, we had an issue with date prompts. When we use regular date prompts, one each for start and end, the reports were running fine. But later when we had to test the report on ‘Microsoft SQL’, we faced some issues.
Something like: -69 , -9, -201 Errors and sometimes
‘prepare’ [Microsoft ODBC] and some crappy message.
Initially, I had come out with a simple solution, that is to keep the date prompt in ‘in _range‘ and the report used to work. But we could not make too many changes with the ‘in_range’ prompt. Then I found out that, because Microsoft uses a different date format we need to cast the filter.
Example - [date] between cast(?begdate?, timestamp) and cast(?enddate?,timestamp)

Even if we use cast into ‘Date’, the prompt does not seem to work.
The main problem one faces in this situation is identifying the issue, The errors are so strange and are not at all related to the issue sometimes.

Never took the screen shot of the issue and now too lazy to make the changes and put in the screen shot.

Disabling a database connection in Cognos 8

Get on to the ‘Content Administration’ in the ‘Launch’ drop down. Select the ‘Configuration’, this by default one will be in the database section. Click on the database connection, it will take you to the 2nd level of databases, where we can have n number of database connections.

Now click the ‘set properties’ button in the properties of the database you want to disable. On the ‘set properties’ click the ‘general’ and you will find a ‘check box’ for disabling the database. Just check the ‘Check Box’ and you have done it.
The image shown below should give you a better idea of how he database connection should look like when it is disabled.(One with ‘Hour Glass’ is disabled)

Cognos Report Studio 8 – Setting Up Mail Server

Setting up the mail server is so easy. Find out from your Network Administrator about the SMTP connection and port number. Usually, it is 25 or 2525, depending on the security issues of the company. Once you find that out, it is all simple.

1. Open the Cognos Configuration
2. Click on ‘Notification’.
3. SMTP mail server: mail.urcompanyname.com:2525
4. Account and password --- leave it default or your company security password
5. Default Sender --- you@yourcompany.com

You will have to restart the Cognos Configuration, once the mail server check runs during the restart; it should send you an email to the specified email address in the ‘Default Sender’.

So, once this is done. When we run the report, we do have a default option ‘Send by Email’ for all the report output in 8.3. Every time we run a report, we can attach the report output to the email or just send a link (which will be HTML by default, works more like a report view.)

Image of the custom Cognos Home Page

I have the detailed code of the system.xml file but I was thinking I will also add the screen shot of the changes I made to the home page icon. I have also done couple of other branding in my local machine, will put on the screen shots soon.

Replacing the Cognos Connection text with a corporate logo

Some of the code here is not right as the HTML form will not allow it to display. But the missing code is basically some open or close braces. Otherwise, this should help do the work easily.

1. Place image in the folder /c8\webcontent\skins\my_style\branding. In my case the address is like
'C:\Program Files\cognos\c8\webapps\p2pd\skins\corporate\branding'
2. Edit the system.xml file using Notepad or an XML editor. (C:\Program Files\cognos\c8\templates\ps\portal )
3. Search for “ Custom OEM headers ”.
4. You will notice that this section is commented out. Un-comment out this section and add the following section for your new style:

Custom OEM headers
param name="OEM"
Specify custom Cognos Connection / Cognos Viewer left side header here in the form of XHTML snippets. Custom headers can be style-specific. Example:
customheader showcontext="false" contextdelimiter=""
style stylefoldername="my_style"
table style="background-color:#2d5d3d"
tr
td
img "../skins/my_style/branding/bank_logo.gif" / /td
/tr
/table

/style

style stylefoldername="corporate"
table style="background-color:#ffffff"
tr>
td > img "../skins/corporate/branding/my_logo.gif" / /td
td class="headerTitle" style="padding-right:2px;white-space:nowrap"> My company /td>
/tr>
/table
/style

5. Restart Cognos 8 service for these changes to take effect.


If we have the Framework permission, then this should be a childs play. Simple and clear.