View Lineage Information for a Data Item

Lineage also displays any data item filters that were added by the report author, or that were defined in the data model. For example, you can click a cell in a crosstab to see how the cell value was calculated.

You can view the data item's lineage in the Business View or in the Technical View.

The business view shows high-level textual information that describes and explains the data item and the package from which it comes. This information is taken from IBM® Cognos® Connection and the Framework Manager model.

The technical view shows a graphical representation of the lineage of the selected data item. The lineage traces the data item from the package to the data sources used by the package. When you click the item, its properties appear on the page. If you click an item in the Package area, you see the item's model properties. If you click an item in the Data Sources area, you see the item's data source properties.

You cannot view lineage information when running a report from a mobile device.

IBM Cognos Business Intelligence can be configured to use the default lineage solution that comes with the product, or a custom lineage solution. IBM InfoSphere® Metadata Workbench is also supported.

To access lineage information in a report, an administrator must configure the lineage solution, enable the Lineage capability, and grant read permissions for you on the report.

For more information, see Configuring the lineage solution, Secured Functions and Features, and Object Capabilities.

The IBM Cognos lineage solution shows lineage on reports at their highest level. The lineage does not change after drilling down on a report. Because the selection context used to launch lineage can be affected by drill-down actions, we recommend that you always launch lineage at the highest report level before drilling down on the report. Otherwise, the lineage may not launch properly.