In IBM Cognos Analytics we differentiate between Limited Interactive Reports and Fully Interactive Reports.
Limited Interactive Reports create comparable output to an execution in Cognos BI*. The prompt controls and report functionalities are identical to a report execution in IBM Cognos Business Intelligence 10.x and are limited to the Cognos BI function set. This is best chosen in an upgrade situation, to establish the same status quo after an upgrade, before looking at the new functionality. This viewer is often also referenced as IBM Cognos Business Intelligence Viewer.
Fully interactive reports provide, as the name describes, interactivity in the report output. By default, new reports will be created in this mode. This viewer is often also referenced as IBM Cognos Analytics Viewer.
For example, in a fully interactive report output you can:
- change the sort order of a data container
- set or edit filters
- change the aggregation
- group a column
- change the type of a data container, i.e. to a chart
- save the changes as new report
- interact with charts
How to switch between the Modes
Each Report has the property “Run with full interactivity”, which is set in Authoring. If set to “Yes” reports will be executed as fully interactive reports. If set to “No” reports will be executed as limited interactive reports.
To identify what mode a report is running in, the URL can also be checked during execution:
- Fully interactive reports will be executed with URL parameter perspective=authoring
- Limited interactive reports will be executed with URL parameter perspective=classicviewer
Consideration during the upgrade from IBM Cognos Business Intelligence to IBM Cognos Analytics
When upgrading from Cognos BI to Cognos Analytics reports can be upgraded in one or two steps:
- Upgrade the reports as-is
- Migrate on a per report (design) basis from limited interactivity to full interactivity
Reports created in Cognos BI will be upgraded as reports with limited interactivity, to retain the same output as used to in the previous version. The as-is upgrade allows to keep the same layout (style, size etc.) and the known practices on Drill Down, Drill Through and Prompt API or HTML Items/Javascript and others. By default, limited interactive reports will be opened in a new window on execution.
When you decide to migrate to fully interactive reports, it is best to identify key techniques in the existing reports. Test these techniques in full interactivity to understand the differences, to work towards the user requirements.
Please find below known practices, that can result in a different look and feel:
- Javascript/Prompt API/HTML Items: By default, javascript and HTML items will be ignored in fully interactive reports. Instead fully interactive reports provide the new Toolbox item “Custom Control” as of Cognos Analytics 11.0.4. This allows to embed javascript, which is stored on the file system, in reports.
The feature is also named Scriptable Reports and provides a huge range of customization. Depending on the javascript, adjustments will be required to achieve the same results.
More information on Scriptable Reports can be found here:
- Drill Through: Drill Through is available as of Cognos Analytics 11.0.4 in fully interactive reports. Compared to limited interactive reports there is no longer a Drill Through Assistant. If more than one Drill Through connection is defined the selection dialog will appear as:
There are some rules when fully interactive reports and limited interactive reports are mixed in a Drill Through, which are described here: https://www.ibm.com/communities/analytics/cognos-analytics-blog/reporting-enhancements-in-cognos-analytics-11-0-4/
- Drill Down: In the first releases of Cognos Analytics drill down was not enabled on lists, this has changed in Cognos Analytics 11.0.5. In comparison to limited interactive reports, drill down is always enabled in fully interactive reports, and cannot be disabled.
- Layout: The layout might change between the two modes, depending on how heavily styles and sizing have been used in the report.
- Prompt Controls: Prompt Controls act differently in the two modes. A few examples:
- Value prompt
| Limited Interactivity | Full Interactivity |
 |  |
- Select and Search Prompt
| Limited Interactivity | Full Interactivity |
 |  |
During an upgrade, it is always advised to verify and test new functionality first. For more information on best practices during upgrade, please go to Upgrade Central: https://www-01.ibm.com/software/analytics/cognos/customercenter/upgrade.html
*Cognos Analytics referes to IBM Cognos Analytics 11, Cognos BI refers to IBM Cognos Business Intelligence 8 and 10.
Technology
This document has been verified against IBM Cognos Analytics 11.0.5.
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