IBM Support

Setting Document Compatibility for IBM Cognos BI Environments

Troubleshooting


Problem

This document outlines how to set Document Compatibility for environments that have issues with Internet Explorer 8 and above. The setting is placed on the IBM Cognos Business Intelligence virtual directories so it will only affect Cognos BI content and alleviates the requirement for the users to set the compatibility mode for the site via Internet Explorer’s options. For Internet Explorer 11 due to changes in the browser each user must adjust the Compatibility View settings in their browser. This is a one time change, however should the user delete their cookies they will need to redo the setting. This is only needed to access the Studios, the administration pages do not require this setting to be set. *** NOTE *** As of 10.2.2 FP1 and 10.2.1 FP7, this fix is no longer needed. The document tags have been updated so that IE10 and 11 can be used in Standard Mode.

Symptom

End users must perform the following (for Internet Explorer 11 - IE11) in order to see some functions (for example the studios) correctly:
1. Open the Tools menu (left click Tools icon or alt-x)
2. Select Compatibility View settings
3. Add the url for the IBM Cognos BI instance you are trying to use, and select Add
4. Select Close

Resolving The Problem

The solution depends on the webserver being used to host the Cognos BI system:

Apache 2.0 / IHS


Steps:

1. Open httpd.conf in a text editor
2. For the directory in question (ibmcognos) set the override as below:
  • Alias /ibmcognos "C:\ibm\cognos\c102_64\webcontent"

    <Directory "C:\ibm\cognos\c102_64\webcontent">
    Options Indexes MultiViews
    AllowOverride None
    Options None
    Order allow, deny
    Allow from all
    </Directory>

[Note: AllowOverride All will make the server read .htaccess file located in the directory]

3. Create .htaccess file in the "C:\ibm\cognos\c102_64\webcontent" directory (if not already present)

4. Open .htaccess file in a text editor

<IfModule headers_module>
Header set X-UA-Compatible: IE=EmulateIE7
</IfModule>

5. Restart the Apache server

IIS
1. Open the IIS Management console
2. Locate the Cognos webcontent (ibmcognos) alias
3. Double click on the HTTP Response Headers:
4. Add a Custom HTTP Response Header:

Name: X-UA-Compatible
Value: IE=EmulateIE7

5. Click OK
6. Restart the World Wide Web Publishing Service

Confirming the Document compatibility mode is being set
To confirm the document mode is being set correctly:
1. Open IE to the site that contains Cognos Business Intelligence
2. Click the F12 Key
3. Select the Emulation option
4. Review the Document Mode:

[{"Product":{"code":"SSEP7J","label":"Cognos Business Intelligence"},"Business Unit":{"code":"BU059","label":"IBM Software w\/o TPS"},"Component":"--","Platform":[{"code":"PF016","label":"Linux"},{"code":"PF033","label":"Windows"}],"Version":"10.2.2;10.2.1;10.2","Edition":"","Line of Business":{"code":"LOB10","label":"Data and AI"}}]

Document Information

Modified date:
14 May 2020

UID

swg21672432