Cognos Report Studio Interview Questions And Answers
1. What is the Report item?
Answer: The report item is defined as a query item that can be dragged and dropped into a work area.
2. What is a Transformer?
Answer: The transformer is used for making the Cubes which is for the Multidimensional structure on OLAP processing.
3. What is defined as catalog and types of catalogs in Cognos?
Answer: A catalog is defined as a file that contains information on Database tables and Impromptu users can create reports.
Following are the types of catalog used:
- Personal
- Distributed
- Shared
- Secured
4. What Is The Difference Between Filter And Condition?
Answer: A Filter is a restriction that reduces the amount of data displayed in the report.
The report filters are non-reusable and specific to the report.
Filters are
before aggregation: non-aggregated records are filtered(details record)
after aggregation: summary records are filtered
5. What are the main difference applets and mapping?
Answer: Reuse the transformation in several mappings, whereas mapping not like that.
If any changes made in applets it automatically inherited in all other instance applets.
6. What is called a materialized view?
Answer: A materialized view is a view that is physically stored in a database. This view is used to increase query performance by calculating costly operations.
7. Define dimensions?
Answer: It defines the structure of a cube. Any dimension must have at least one key attribute and other attributes so that it may define hierarchies.
8. How a project does looks in the framework manager?
Answer: A project in the framework manager looks like a folder that contains a project file (.cpf) and the specific XML files that define the project.
9. What is the way to generate a cube in the framework manager?
Answer: After creating the IQD file from the framework manager the IQD file will be used by the transformer to generate the cube.
10. What are shortcuts? Where it can be used? What are the advantages?
Answer: There are 2 shortcuts(Local and global) Local used in the local repository and globally used in the global repository. The advantage is to reuse an object without creating multiple objects. Say for example a source definition wants to use in 10 mappings in 10 different folders without creating 10 multiple sources you create 10 shortcuts.
11. How do you define a cube?
Answer: Its a multidimensional view of dimension and measures. It is used to analyze the data in various aspects, which is called slicing and dicing. GBIt depends on ur project requirements.
Whenever we Install Cognos Server we get it documentation alone otherwise we can store it in Deployment Folder of Cognos.
13. What is defined as Query studio?
Answer: Query studio is one of the studios in Cognos which is used to perform Adhoc queries.
14. What is called the Cognos Reporting tool?
Answer: Cognos is an IBM reporting tool which is used for reporting and analysis of various data from the different data warehouse.
15. Define drill through?
Answer: It permits one to move from data at the bottom level in a cube to the data in the operational systems from which the cube was derived.
16. What is the Cognos configuration?
Answer: Cognos Configuration is the Cognos 8 BI administrative tool that is used to define the behavior of a Cognos 8 BI installation. It is used to manage configuration parameters.
In the Cognos configuration, we can start and stop the entire Cognos services. We can deploy content from one content store to another.
17. What Is Cognos Powerhouse And What Is It Used For?
Answer: Cognos Powerhouse is High-Productivity Application Development Solutions equips you with high-productivity development environments for creating your data-driven business solutions faster, whether for Web-based, client/server, or traditional terminal-based access. PowerHouse has gained a worldwide reputation for productivity, reliability, performance, and flexibility.
18. How Can I Change Reports To Another Package?
Answer: Open that report and save as that report select public folder and then select a package in which package you want to save then save it.
19. What Is Meant By Junk Dimension?
Answer: The junk dimension is simply a structure that provides a convenient place to store junk attributes.
20. What are the Fact Tables?
Answer: It is a table that contains summarized numerical (facts) and historical data. It has a foreign key – primary key relation with a dimension table.
21. At what time default data source query subject will be created?
Answer: At the initial metadata import operation, a default data source query subject is created for those each object you have select.
22. Name the responsibilities of the Cognos Administrator?
Answer:
Creating the Repository
Performing the task of backup and recovery of the MetaData.
Tuning the servers.
Installations and configurations in a distributed network environment
Developing the user Administration
Deployment
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23. What is a dimension?
Answer: Dimension is defined as the structure of a cube. A dimension should have at least one key attribute and hierarchies can be defined by the remaining attribute.
24. Mention the difference between ‘macros’ and ‘prompt’?
Answer: Macro is used to run a set of instructions to execute the report but prompt provides a way to change the report dynamically.
25. What is a Cube?
Answer: Cube is set to be the multi-dimensional view of dimension and measures and it is used to analyze the data in various forms like Slicing and Dicing.
26. Explain How To Create Powerplay Reports?
Answer:
To create a powerplay report
You have to create an IQD file from impromptu by saving the IMR report as IQD.
Use Frame Work manager model and externalize the query subject you want to use powerplay transformer and powerplay.
When you have the IQD file published to a location such as UNC.
Go to the powerplay transformer model and select new.
27. What Is Iqd? What Is Contained In Iqd?
Answer: IQD stands for the Impromptu query definition. It is reported save extension with .iqd it is used for creating a cube in the power-play transformer.
IQD is Impromptu Query Definition. It contains the SQL query to display the data from the database and the SQL query is automatically created based on the columns selected from the database.
28. How You Create Iqd In Reportnet Framework?
Answer: Open framework manager click on any query subject and go Open the properties dialogue box and you can observe the EXTERNALIZE METHOD you change the iqd.
29. How To Create Users And Permissions In Cognos?
Answer:
Users and Permissions can be given in Access manager – Administration.
Individual users can be created using their names or their Ids (if any) in Access manager and then be given permissions.
This tool is loaded when you install Cognos 7.x in your machine.
In content manager–we have one component called Cognos process manager, using process manager we can integrate with third-party tools like LDAP or NTLM. we cannot create users in report net directly, in real-time we can use LDAP.
30. What is the way to generate IQD files from framework managers?
Answer:
Create a Query Subject
Using properties pane select externalize.
We have four options in that select IQD
31. What are the steps to import the two data sources in the framework manager?
Answer: It can be done in the Run Metadata Wizard.
First of all, Go running Metadata Wizard–>Select another database ( ex. suppose SQL Server is chosen in a prior attempt, then you can choose Oracle as the new data source). At the last import it.
32. What is Drill Through?
Answer: Drill-through reporting allows you to link from one report to another. You can drill through in several ways. A Drill Through id developed with two reports.
1. Parent Report
2. Child Report. company
33. Where the Determinants are used in the Cognos framework manager?
Answer: A query subject that behaves as a dimension has multiple levels of granularity and it will be joined on the different sets of keys to fact data.
34. How Can I Schedule Reports In Cognos?
Answer: By using Cognos Schedular, one can schedule the running reports in Impromptu to execute and save it in the desired format.
By using Cognos MACRO script language the reports can be executed and distributed to recipients by using mail applications.
Compiled Cognos MACROs can be scheduled using Cognos Scheduler.
35. What is set to be a Cognos configuration?
Answer: Cognos Configuration is a BI administrative tool that is used to define the behavior of the Cognos 8 version. This will manage configuration parameters.
36. What are all the types of the gateway used in Cognos?
Answer:
Following is the list of the gateway used in Cognos:
Common Gateway Interface (CGI)
Internet Service Application Interface (ISAPI)
Tomcat Server
37. What is the difference between primary key and unique key constraints?
Answer: Primary key maintains uniqueness and not null values Where as unique constrains maintain unique values and null values.
38. Define Parameter Map ?
Answer: It is a key-value pair used in the creation of conditional Query Subjects. It sub situates the values at the query at runtime.
39. What is a Folder?
Answer: A folder consists of repository objects like sources, targets, transformation and mapping that help to organize data warehouse.
40. Define the Cognos Reporting tool?
Answer: It’s a reporting tool of IBM which help us in reporting and analysis of different data from a data warehouse. Read this blog to find out why Business Intelligence tools are critical to today’s enterprises.
41. What are the query items?
Answer: Query items are the most important object in the framework manager and it has a lot of properties associated with it. This is mainly used for reporting and business intelligence.
42. What is a Datastore in Cognos?
Answer: A data store is nothing but a query database or a relational database or files that can be accessed through IBM Cognos.
Cognos Report Studio Interview Questions
43. How to create reports?
Answer: Use Report Studio to create a more advanced business report
Using Query Studio: We create Adhoc reports.
Using Report Studio: We create advanced Business Reports
Using Analysis Studio: We create reports from Cube as the source or by using dimensional modeled relational package for analysis purposes.
44. What are the differences between the Reporter report and Explorer report?
Answer: In a Cube, you can either modify or explore. The reporter is used to modifying whereas explorer is used to exploring the cube.
45. What Is The Difference Between Macros And Prompt?
Answer: Macro is a set of instructions to run the report.
Prompt is just like a dialog box which will ask the user to select/enter the information what he needs.
46. What is the framework manager?
Answer: Frame manager is a development tool to create the end-user layer used by authors to build their BI objects.
Framework Manager is the metadata model tool where we can create namespaces, query subjects, and relations among the query subjects.used to create packages and published to Cognos connection.
47. How to join multiple DB in the catalog?
Answer: Multiple databases could not be connected in a single catalog. So that we use Hotfile for this purpose.
48. What Is The Difference Between List Report And Cross tab Report?
Answer: List report show data in rows and columns versus a cross tab report show data in grids with dimension in rows and columns and measures in cells or the intersection points.
List Report and Cross tab report both contain rows and columns but the difference is list report is a detail report for analysis whereas cross tab report is the intersection of data or summarized data for analysis.
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