Cognos Analytics 12.1.1 introduces a series of subtle yet impactful reporting improvements that make life easier for both report authors and consumers. These updates focus on productivity, accessibility, and a smoother user experience.

Let's take a closer look at these improvements.

Smarter Default Parameter Values
When working with OLAP sources, report authors can now choose which data property to display for default parameter values instead of always defaulting to the member caption.  This enhancement gives authors more control and flexibility over how data appears, making reports clearer and better aligned with business needs.

Automatic Conversion of PGSDK Charts
With Cognos Analytics 12.1.0, the legacy PGSDK charting engine was removed from Reporting. To simplify the upgrade process, Cognos Analytics 12.1.1 introduces automatic conversion of PGSDK charts into modern Reporting visualizations. This capability dramatically reduces migration effort, preserves existing customer reports, and ensures a seamless transition to the latest Cognos Analytics release, allowing teams to modernize their reporting environment without losing valuable historical content.

PDF Table of Contents
Exporting to PDF is now smarter, too. Cognos Analytics can automatically generate a Table of Contents during PDF export. This makes lengthy reports much easier to navigate and provides a more professional, polished PDF output.

Enhanced Accessibility Support
Accessibility continues to be a priority. The Interactive Viewer is now fully supported across all supported web browsers, ensuring that users with accessibility needs can confidently work with reports. This enhancement aligns Cognos Analytics with modern accessibility standards and promotes inclusive design across the platform.

Smarter Defaults for Scheduled Reports
Scheduling reports is now more efficient. You can define default delivery options, such as whether a report should be sent as an attachment or a link. Although this may seem like a small change, this enhancement really saves time, reduces repetitive setup steps, and improves the overall scheduling experience.

Extra Data in Visualizations
Report authors can now include additional data items in visualizations, enabling filters to be applied to data that isn’t directly displayed in the report. This enhancement allows for more flexible filtering and deeper data exploration without cluttering the visual presentation of the report.

Report Auto-Refresh
Reports can now auto-refresh at a set interval, making it perfect for reports running in kiosk mode. The refresh happens silently without any distracting loading indicators. Once the refresh completes, the report simply updates with the latest data, providing a seamless and uninterrupted viewing experience. This is especially useful for analytical or operational reports that require updates without the need of manual refreshes.

While these enhancements may seem small individually, together they deliver a more refined, efficient, and accessible reporting experience in Cognos Analytics 12.1.1. This release continues to evolve how users and authors interact with their data; making Cognos Reporting more powerful and effortless than ever.

Other reporting features introduced in this release can also be viewed in the following blogs: 
Interactive Brushing: Transforming Static Reports into Interactive Insights in Cognos Analytics 12.1 ...
Dynamic Reporting with Master-Detail Relationships in Cognos 11.1 Visualizations

The full release blog is available here: 
Cognos 12.1.1: Smarter Reporting, Faster Dashboards, and AI-Powered Analytics