Pages and Dashboards

You can create dashboards in IBM® Cognos® Connection using pages and portlets.

This topic contains information about dashboards that use pages and portlets.

For information about IBM Cognos Workspace workspaces, see IBM Cognos Workspace.

IBM Cognos Connection pages and dashboards provide quick access to IBM Cognos business intelligence and performance management information, such as reports, metrics, or news items. The information is relevant to specific users or business objectives, and can be monitored at a glance.

Dashboards are pages with enhanced functionality. The information is displayed on multiple tabs that are easy to navigate. Each tab can include different segment of information. A dashboard can be accessed as a standalone application through a URL. Users can print selected dashboard pages.

The content for pages and dashboards is provided by Cognos portlets, or other supported portlets. Each portlet is an independent application that adds to the page different content and functionality, such as the ability to browse folders and entries, view reports and metrics, and include custom text and images or links to other Web pages.

You can add different types of information to your pages and organize them in a way that is meaningful to you. For example, you may want to see specific IBM Cognos reports and metrics, or have links to your favorite Web sites.

The following table shows the types of content you can add to an IBM Cognos Connection page, and the portlets that provide this content.

Table 1. Cognos Connection page, types of content and portlets

Page Content

Portlet

Portlet Group

Browse IBM Cognos folders, reports, and other entries

IBM Cognos Navigator

IBM Cognos Content

Search for IBM Cognos reports and other entries

IBM Cognos Search

  

View and interact with IBM Cognos reports and other entries

IBM Cognos Viewer

  

View and interact with different types of performance metrics, such as the metrics you want to monitor closely, or the metrics for which you are directly responsible.

IBM Cognos Metric List

IBM Cognos Metric Studio

Add a metric history chart that illustrates the historical performance of the metric

IBM Cognos History Chart

  

Display an impact diagram associated with a metric

IBM Cognos Impact Diagram

  

Display a custom diagram associated with a scorecard.

IBM Cognos Custom Diagram

  

View and interact with custom applications created using IBM Cognos Software Development Kit

IBM Cognos Extended Applications

IBM Cognos Extended Applications Portlet

Register and show active links to other Web pages

Bookmarks Viewer

IBM Cognos Utility

Add and view custom images, such as logos

Image Viewer

  

Insert any other Web page

HTML Viewer

  

Add and show the content of a Real Simple Syndication (RSS) news feed specified by a URL address

RSS Viewer

  

Add and view custom text and images

HTML Source

  

Create and view a dashboard with multiple tabs

Multi-page

Dashboard

Add non-Cognos items to a page

Supported other portlets

Content associated with other portlets
Note: The portlets can also be referred to as HTML fragments.

For more information about portlets, see Cognos portlet use with other portals.

Before you begin

The list of pages is cached in an IBM Cognos Connection session. When the state of a page changes during the current session, users who have access to the page are affected. For example, when a page is disabled or deleted, it can no longer be used and its tabs are deleted or not functional. To update the portal with the most current settings, use the IBM Cognos Connection refresh button Refresh icon.

When you log on to IBM Cognos Connection for the first time, you access the pages an administrator made available to you. Later, you can create your own pages.

  • Create a Page
    You can create your own pages in IBM Cognos Connection to group different types of information into a single view.
  • Edit a Page
    You can change the page content, layout and style, and access permissions. For example, you may want to see a different report, or change the list of users who can access the page.
  • Share a Page
    You can share your page with other users by giving them access permissions for the page. You can set up the permissions so that other users can only view the page or also modify it.
  • Modify a Portlet
    Portlets provide different types of information for pages.
  • Enable Communication Between Cognos Portlets
    You can enable portlet-to-portlet communication so that the portlets can interact. For example, you can use this functionality when you want to navigate published IBM Cognos reports and view the selected reports on the same page.
  • Portal Tabs
    The tabs in IBM Cognos Connection are used to quickly access the pages that are important to you.
  • Change Your Home Page
    You can choose any page in IBM Cognos Business Intelligence as your home page.
  • Create a Dashboard with Multiple Tabs
    A dashboard is a visual display of the most important information that a user needs. The information is consolidated and arranged on a single screen so that it can be monitored at a glance.
  • Adding Interactivity to Pages and Dashboards
    Pages and dashboards become much more effective for data reporting and analysis when you add interactivity to them. A single action in one report can cause other reports to refresh simultaneously and show the data associated with the action.