Customizing Metrics reports
Metrics data displays as reports, which you can customize
for your organization. When you install IBM® Cognos® Business Intelligence
to support the Metrics application, a set of standard reports is immediately
available. You can customize the standard reports by editing the configuration
file that defines each report’s layout. In addition, you can use IBM Cognos Report
Studio to create new reports.
Modifying reports
IBM Connections provides
several ways to customize the reports that display in the Metrics
user interface. In addition to creating new reports, you can modify
the text labels and links used in existing reports, as well as nest
reports or group them under a custom title.
Creating a report from a predefined layout
Use IBM Cognos Report Studio to create a simple report
based on a predefined layout.
Creating a report from a blank layout
Use IBM Cognos Report Studio to create a report from
a blank layout for the Metrics application to display. Creating a
report from a blank layout requires you to add report components manually;
although this type of report involves more work than a predefined
layout, it provides greater flexibility.
Adding custom reports to the Metrics reports list
After you create a custom report, edit the reports-config.xml and
add an entry for the new report. The entries in this file determine
which reports appear in the list that displays in the Metrics user
interface.
Nesting reports in the Metrics user interface
You can nest reports in the Metrics reports listing by
nesting the corresponding entries in the reports-config.xml file.
For example, if you create several custom reports related to a particular
theme, you can nest them in the reports listing so that users can
easily see that the indented reports are related.
Creating categories for reports
You can group related reports in the Metrics reports listing
by adding the report entries under a special category entry in the reports-config.xml file.
For example, if you create several custom reports related to a particular
theme, you can group them in the reports listing so that users can
easily see that the reports are related.
PowerCube dimensions
The data collected by IBM Collections
is stored in a PowerCube that is administered by IBM Cognos Business
Intelligence. The PowerCube stores data in dimensions, which provide
descriptive information as well as quantitative measures of the data.
When designing reports for displaying Metrics data in IBM Connections, you can include data from both
the Regular (categories) and the Measure dimensions.