IBM® Cognos® Business Intelligence (BI) helps you make better and smarter business decisions faster. Advanced visualization capabilities bring your data to life, and you can consume your Cognos BI reports, scorecards, and dashboards through Internet browsers and mobile devices or have them sent to your email inbox. In addition, with intuitive self-service interfaces, you can explore your data and collaborate over the insights you uncover.

The Cognos BI server interprets user gestures and report specifications and translates them into data-retrieval queries that are tailored to the most popular relational database management system (RDBMS), online analytical processing (OLAP), customer relationship management (CRM), and enterprise resource planning (ERP) sources. The term dynamic query refers to the planning and execution of queries using the Java-based extensible query engine in the Cognos platform. Leading practices, learned over decades of BI software development, were applied to its design.

The dynamic query layer was developed to meet requirements for interactive reporting and ad hoc analysis. It employs sophisticated, multiphase query optimization techniques and can dynamically alternate between SQL and MDX processing, depending on what best suits the scenario.

Dynamic query has several advantages. Advanced in-memory caching and aggregation can reduce data warehouse workload. Users are provided with a consistent experience, no matter what the data source is. In addition, simple cache administration and query visualization tools help reduce total cost of ownership. IT organizations can also take advantage of improved query performance thanks to the reduction in query planning and execution, along with lighter database server workloads.

This IBM Redbooks® publication explains how Cognos BI administrators, authors, modelers, and power users can use the dynamic query layer effectively. It provides guidance on determining which technology within the dynamic query layer can best satisfy your business requirements. Administrators can learn how to tune the query service effectively and preferred practices for managing their business intelligence content. This book includes information about metadata modeling of relational data sources with IBM Cognos Framework Manager. It includes considerations that can help you author high-performing applications that satisfy analytical requirements of users. This book provides guidance about troubleshooting issues that are related to the dynamic query layer of Cognos BI.

This book was produced by a team of specialists from around the world working at the International Technical Support Organization, Rochester Center.

 

The project that produced this publication was managed by:
Marcela Adan, IBM Redbooks Project Leader

Additional support was provided by:
Deana Coble, IBM Redbooks Technical Writer
Shawn Tooley, IBM Redbooks Technical Writer

Thanks to the following people for their contributions to this project:

Stanley Chauvin
Tod Creasey
David Cummings
Troy Dodsworth
Rick Kenny
Roch Lefebvre
IBM Cognos Development

Armin Kamal
Pierre Valiquette
Daniel Wagemann
IBM Cognos Customer Support, Proven Practices Team

Sean MacPhee
IBM Business Analytics Information Development

Chris McPherson
IBM Business Intelligence Product Management

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