Framework Manager is the brains of IBM Cognos 8. It is often misunderstood and therefore abused by the misguided. So let’s talk about Framework Manager do’s and don’ts.

The promptmany macro function error message is such a letdown. Error QE-DEF-0406 is normally generated when you try to use the function to pass multiple values to a Sql stored procedure. By nature if a stored procedure have parameters, you can only set the parameter equal to a single. This is a problem if you want and need to pass multiple values to a stored procedure. Traditionally, Sql programmers use cursors to handle passing individual values one at a time to a procedure. Of course programmers would rather bite off their arm than willingly write a cursor if there is another viable alternative.

If you lessen the amount of custom work in the report and correct the issues in the database directly, you will see a marked improvement in report runtime and happier report writers.

So you’re about to start a BI project and have to choose between a specific tool. There are a few major players in the BI world, each of which has pro’s and con’s and depending on the customer, one may be better than the other. Business needs and flexible functionality should always be a top priority.

Report writing is difficult for most people. It requires a level of detail and skill that most people simply don’t have the patience to learn let alone apply. Historically, most report writers are primarily Information Technology (IT) people with very little business experience which makes it impossible to explain why a transaction must be a debit instead of a credit. The language gap between report writers and users can be the difference between speaking English and Spanglish. The report writer might understand basic information about the business but not enough to optimize a report or the user doesn’t understand real constrains such as data quality, database design, or application limitations to understand why a report can’t be written just like their excel spreadsheet.

Report writer I have two words for you … Analysis Studio learn it, love it, use it. Business user I have the same two words… wait for it … Analysis Studio. Let’s assume that you have the groundwork covered such as a multidimensional Framework Package and you have Analysis Studio deployed, you can use Analysis Studio drop and drag functionality to bridge the gap between report writer and business user.