Your SpotOn the IBM Cognos Edge

Hi All,

During a recent client engagement, we came across an issue that some of you may have encountered: trying to access prompt controls at runtime.

In the past a Report Studio author could write something like this:

var x = getFormWarpRequest();
var y = x.elements["my control name"];

Of course, this is no longer the case in Cognos 8.4. Instead, the prompt control IDs are system-generated and obfuscated at runtime. In order to access the prompt controls now, you have to first obtain the obfuscated value, and then locate the control.

I've written a piece of code that seems to let me find the prompt control. I hope it helps your efforts!

In brief:

var y = searchPrompts("My prompt name");

<SCRIPT> function searchPrompts(promptName) { var SpotOnTargetControl = G_PM_THIS_.getControlByName(promptName); var SpotOnPCType=SpotOnTargetControl._type_; var SpotOnPCID = SpotOnTargetControl._id_; var SpotOnPCPrefix = ""; switch(SpotOnPCType) { case "cognos.Prompt.Control.SelectValue": SpotOnPCPrefix="PRMT_SV_"; break; case "cognos.Prompt.Control.Text": SpotOnPCPrefix="PRMT_"; break; case "cognos.Prompt.Control.DateTime": SpotOnPCPrefix="PRMT_"; break; case "cognos.Prompt.Control.Date": SpotOnPCPrefix="PRMT_"; break; } var SpotOnFW = getFormWarpRequest(); var SpotOnEL = SpotOnPCPrefix+SpotOnPCID; var SpotOnTargetElement = document.getElementById(SpotOnEL); return SpotOnTargetElement; } </SCRIPT> <A onclick='searchPrompts("TEST_LIST")' href="#">Get List named:TEST_LIST</A><BR> <A onclick='searchPrompts("TEST_TEXT")' href="#">Get Text named:TEST_TEXT</A><BR> <A onclick='searchPrompts("TEST_CALENDAR")' href="#">Get CALENDAR named:TEST_CALENDAR</A>

Here is the deal; we have been very active recently in helping folks integrate high-end enterprise mapping (GIS) with Cognos 8 BI.  We've come to the conclusion that there is real value in bringing the geographic perspective to your core BI.  Hence we have gravitated to the following definition of GBI.

Perhaps influenced by the backgrounds and experience of the folks at SpotOn, we believe that BI is the foundation for GBI.  BI has been the top technology priority for CIOs for almost a decade now.  Companies count on BI for their mission-critical operations.

However, the impact and power of spatial analytics and GIS solutions are staggering.  These tools can deliver unprecedented insight into businesses, and the key operations relation to location.

The goal of this blog will be to share the learning and adventures as we collectively explore the world where Geography and BI meet.

Let get past the "why" and "what", and start digging into the "Where"!