Hi all,

As many of you know I've been working on a series of tools to improve Cognos, and I'd love to show you what I've done and get some feedback. 

For Data Modules I've added Table, Column, and Join views to make it super easy to see what's going on in the data module.

Table Manager


Columns Manager


Join Manager


With all three you can download an Excel sheet with the details.

That was the free version. I also have a paid version, it's not that expensive but the idea is that it will pay for my time to build more tools. 

The paid version merges all three, and more, into a single tool.

It also includes the underlying data sources:


And general details of the model:


If the tool detects any standalone filters or calculations it will create tabs for those:

And downloading from here will create an excel sheet with tabs for each:

I still have a few ideas for more features to implement for these tools, but can you think of any features that would make these invaluable (instead of merely super useful)? Since I have far fewer layers of bureaucracy to deal with I can go through the dev cycle much faster than a certain International Behemoth... (mob? mess? multitude? you know where I'm going with this) we're all familiar with. 

Hi Paul, Resolving dependencies of data assets in CA is improvable. What about the following additions? 
* New tab for "Dashboards/Reports/Data Sets/Data Modules using this Data Module" 
* Button in Tables tab for "Dashboards/Reports/Data Sets/Data Modules using this Table" 
* Button in Columns tab for "Dashboards/Reports/Data Sets/Data Modules using this Column" 
* Button in Calculations tab for "Dashboards/Reports/Data Sets/Data Modules using this Calculation" 
* Button in Filters tab for "Dashboards/Reports/Data Sets/Data Modules using this Filter" 
And what about a webinar to present your (whole) tool to a broad audience? 

Hi all,

As many of you know I've been working on a series of tools to improve Cognos, and I'd love to show you what I've done and get some feedback. 

For Data Modules I've added Table, Column, and Join views to make it super easy to see what's going on in the data module.

Table Manager


Columns Manager


Join Manager


With all three you can download an Excel sheet with the details.

That was the free version. I also have a paid version, it's not that expensive but the idea is that it will pay for my time to build more tools. 

The paid version merges all three, and more, into a single tool.

It also includes the underlying data sources:


And general details of the model:


If the tool detects any standalone filters or calculations it will create tabs for those:

And downloading from here will create an excel sheet with tabs for each:

I still have a few ideas for more features to implement for these tools, but can you think of any features that would make these invaluable (instead of merely super useful)? Since I have far fewer layers of bureaucracy to deal with I can go through the dev cycle much faster than a certain International Behemoth... (mob? mess? multitude? you know where I'm going with this) we're all familiar with. 

Hi all,

As many of you know I've been working on a series of tools to improve Cognos, and I'd love to show you what I've done and get some feedback. 

For Data Modules I've added Table, Column, and Join views to make it super easy to see what's going on in the data module.

Table Manager


Columns Manager


Join Manager


With all three you can download an Excel sheet with the details.

That was the free version. I also have a paid version, it's not that expensive but the idea is that it will pay for my time to build more tools. 

The paid version merges all three, and more, into a single tool.

It also includes the underlying data sources:


And general details of the model:


If the tool detects any standalone filters or calculations it will create tabs for those:

And downloading from here will create an excel sheet with tabs for each:

I still have a few ideas for more features to implement for these tools, but can you think of any features that would make these invaluable (instead of merely super useful)? Since I have far fewer layers of bureaucracy to deal with I can go through the dev cycle much faster than a certain International Behemoth... (mob? mess? multitude? you know where I'm going with this) we're all familiar with. 

Hi Paul,

Where is this? We'd like to test it out. Thanks!

Hi all,

As many of you know I've been working on a series of tools to improve Cognos, and I'd love to show you what I've done and get some feedback. 

For Data Modules I've added Table, Column, and Join views to make it super easy to see what's going on in the data module.

Table Manager


Columns Manager


Join Manager


With all three you can download an Excel sheet with the details.

That was the free version. I also have a paid version, it's not that expensive but the idea is that it will pay for my time to build more tools. 

The paid version merges all three, and more, into a single tool.

It also includes the underlying data sources:


And general details of the model:


If the tool detects any standalone filters or calculations it will create tabs for those:

And downloading from here will create an excel sheet with tabs for each:

I still have a few ideas for more features to implement for these tools, but can you think of any features that would make these invaluable (instead of merely super useful)? Since I have far fewer layers of bureaucracy to deal with I can go through the dev cycle much faster than a certain International Behemoth... (mob? mess? multitude? you know where I'm going with this) we're all familiar with. 

Hi all,

As many of you know I've been working on a series of tools to improve Cognos, and I'd love to show you what I've done and get some feedback. 

For Data Modules I've added Table, Column, and Join views to make it super easy to see what's going on in the data module.

Table Manager


Columns Manager


Join Manager


With all three you can download an Excel sheet with the details.

That was the free version. I also have a paid version, it's not that expensive but the idea is that it will pay for my time to build more tools. 

The paid version merges all three, and more, into a single tool.

It also includes the underlying data sources:


And general details of the model:


If the tool detects any standalone filters or calculations it will create tabs for those:

And downloading from here will create an excel sheet with tabs for each:

I still have a few ideas for more features to implement for these tools, but can you think of any features that would make these invaluable (instead of merely super useful)? Since I have far fewer layers of bureaucracy to deal with I can go through the dev cycle much faster than a certain International Behemoth... (mob? mess? multitude? you know where I'm going with this) we're all familiar with. 

How about something like Measure Details.

It should be able to identify anything in the module that is a measure and tell you the attributes of it. For example, aggregation, calculation, dimensionality.
I often find myself clicking on measures just to make sure the roll ups are correct.

Something that also helps you to find any column that has a 'binary' datatype. This is usually when the DM hasnt correctly identified the datatype and needs setting correctly.  

I think your columns manager is close to it.

Hi all,

As many of you know I've been working on a series of tools to improve Cognos, and I'd love to show you what I've done and get some feedback. 

For Data Modules I've added Table, Column, and Join views to make it super easy to see what's going on in the data module.

Table Manager


Columns Manager


Join Manager


With all three you can download an Excel sheet with the details.

That was the free version. I also have a paid version, it's not that expensive but the idea is that it will pay for my time to build more tools. 

The paid version merges all three, and more, into a single tool.

It also includes the underlying data sources:


And general details of the model:


If the tool detects any standalone filters or calculations it will create tabs for those:

And downloading from here will create an excel sheet with tabs for each:

I still have a few ideas for more features to implement for these tools, but can you think of any features that would make these invaluable (instead of merely super useful)? Since I have far fewer layers of bureaucracy to deal with I can go through the dev cycle much faster than a certain International Behemoth... (mob? mess? multitude? you know where I'm going with this) we're all familiar with.