Setting up drill-through access in packages

A drill-through definition specifies a target for drill-through access, the conditions under which the target is available (such as the scope), and how to run or open, and filter the target.

In IBM® Cognos® Connection, a drill-through definition is associated with a source package. The drill-through path defined in the drill-through definition is available to any report based on the source package it is associated with. The target can be based on any target package in IBM Cognos Connection and can be stored anywhere. For example, all reports authored in the GO Data Warehouse (analysis) sample package or in a folder linked to this package can access any drill-through definition created in this package.

Note: For reports created in Report Studio, you can define drill-through access in specific reports by setting up the drill-through definition in the report instead of in the package, or restrict drill-through access by changing report settings so that the report is unavailable as a drill-through target. For more information, see the IBM Cognos Report Studio User Guide. Reports created in IBM Cognos Workspace Advanced are not supported as drill-through targets.

You can define drill-through definitions between reports created in the different IBM Cognos Business Intelligence studios, and reports based on different packages and data sources.

The target report must exist before you start creating the drill-through definition in IBM Cognos Connection. Drill-through targets can be reports, analyses, report views, PowerCube packages, and queries.

Drill-through definitions support both dimensional and relational packages, and are available to Analysis Studio, Query Studio, PowerPlay® Studio, and IBM Cognos Viewer.

Before you begin

To run reports, or drill to targets that run reports in the delimited text (CSV), PDF, Microsoft Excel spreadsheet (XLS), or XML output formats, you require the generate output capability for the specific format.

Procedure

  1. Check the drill-through target:
    • Confirm that the drill-through users have access to the target.
    • Hide the target from direct access if you want.
    • If necessary, check what parameters exist in the target.

      When a drill-through definition links objects in different packages, you must consider the data types used in both the source and the target object. Review the structure and values of data that you intend to pass in the drill-through, and ensure that the created parameters are appropriate for your scenario, if you have defined parameters, or that dynamic drill-through will work successfully.

  2. In IBM Cognos Connection, click Launch > Drill-through Definitions.
  3. Navigate to the package for which you want to create the drill-through definition.
  4. Click the New Drill-through Definition icon on the toolbar.
    Tip: If the New Drill-through Definition icon does not appear, confirm that you are at the package level, and not in a folder in the package. Drill-through definitions must be stored at the package level.
  5. Type a name for the drill-through definition.
  6. If you want, type a description and screen tip, and then click Next.
  7. Follow the instructions on the screen:
    • If you want, restrict the scope to a query item or a measure in the source.

      If the target contains parameters, you should set the scope to the parameters that are mapped to the target report

    • Select the target from any package available in IBM Cognos Connection.

      If PowerPlay targets are available, then you must choose whether to set the target as a report or a PowerCube.

    • Click Next.
  8. In the Action section, specify how to open the target object when the drill-through link is run and if you chose to run the report, in the Format section, specify the format to run the report in.
    Note: Users may be able to change the Action settings when they use the drill-through link. If you are using bookmarks in the target, then you must select the action View most recent report.
  9. In the Parameter values table, specify how to map the source metadata to any parameters that exist in the target report or object.

    For example, if you drill through between OLAP data sources, then members are mapped to each other. If you drill through from an OLAP to a relational data source, then the source value (member) is mapped to the query item name (value).

    Usually, every parameter that exists in the target should be mapped to the source metadata. If not, then the report user may be prompted for any missing values when the drill-through link is used.

  10. Click Map to metadata, or click the edit button Edit icon.
    • In the screen that appears, select the metadata from the source to map to the target parameter.
    • If the source package is dimensional, you can select what property of the source metadata item to use in the mapping. By default, the business key is used for a relational target, and the member unique name is used for a dimensional target.
    • Repeat for each parameter in the list.
  11. In the Display prompt pages section, specify when the prompt pages will appear.
    • In the screen that appears, select the metadata from the source to map to the target parameter.
    • If the source package is dimensional, you can select what property of the source metadata item to use in the mapping. By default, the business key is used for a relational target, and the member unique name is used for a dimensional target.
    • Repeat for each parameter in the list.

    You can set this action only when there are parameters in the target report and the target report will be run. If you change the action to View most recent report, for example, for bookmark references, the Display prompt pages property is disabled because you will use a previously run report. If you choose to open the report directly in Analysis Studio, then the Display prompt pages property is also disabled.

    You specify prompt settings in IBM Cognos Connection (Report Properties, Prompt for Values).

  12. Click Finish.
  13. Run a report from the source package, and test the drill-through link.
    Note: The drill-through definition is associated and stored with the source. Errors related to the target are only generated when you run the drill-through links, not when you save the drill-through definition.
Parent topic: Drill-through Access
Related concepts:
Report formats