Tip or Technique

IBM Cognos TM1 Web Tips and

Techniques
Product(s): IBM Cognos TM1
Area of Interest: Development
IBM Cognos TM1 Web Tips and 2
Techniques

Copyright
Copyright © 2008 Cognos ULC (formerly Cognos Incorporated). Cognos ULC
is an IBM Company. While every attempt has been made to ensure that the
information in this document is accurate and complete, some typographical
errors or technical inaccuracies may exist. Cognos does not accept
responsibility for any kind of loss resulting from the use of information
contained in this document. This document shows the publication date. The
information contained in this document is subject to change without notice.
Any improvements or changes to the information contained in this document
will be documented in subsequent editions. This document contains
proprietary information of Cognos. All rights are reserved. No part of this
document may be copied, photocopied, reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, transmitted in any form or by any means, or translated into another
language without the prior written consent of Cognos. Cognos and the
Cognos logo are trademarks of Cognos ULC (formerly Cognos Incorporated)
in the United States and/or other countries. IBM and the IBM logo are
trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United
States, or other countries, or both. All other names are trademarks or
registered trademarks of their respective companies. Information about
Cognos products can be found at www.cognos.com
This document is maintained by the Best Practices, Product and Technology
team. You can send comments, suggestions, and additions to
[email protected] .

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Contents
1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 4
1.1 PURPOSE .............................................................................................................. 4
1.2 APPLICABILITY ....................................................................................................... 4
1.3 EXCLUSIONS AND EXCEPTIONS .................................................................................... 4
2 TM1 WEB TIPS AND TECHNIQUES ................................................................ 4
2.1.1 Cell Protection.....................................................................................................4
2.1.2 Excel Data Validation ...........................................................................................4
2.1.3 Wrap Text ..........................................................................................................4
2.2 PERFORMANCE TIPS ................................................................................................. 4
2.3 WEBSHEET TIPS ..................................................................................................... 4
2.4 FORMATTING TIPS .................................................................................................. 5
2.5 WRAP TEXT TIPS .................................................................................................... 6
2.6 CHART TIPS .......................................................................................................... 6
2.7 CUBE VIEWER TIPS ................................................................................................. 7
2.8 HYPERLINKS .......................................................................................................... 8
2.9 CONTROL OBJECTS AND FORMS .................................................................................. 9

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1 Introduction
1.1 Purpose
This document describes various tips and techniques that will improve
functionality, ease administration, and improve performance of IBM Cognos
TM1 Web applications.

1.2 Applicability
IBM Cognos TM1 v9.1 and v9.0 SP1

1.3 Exclusions and Exceptions

These techniques may not be possible with versions of TM1 earlier than 9.0
SP1.

2 TM1 Web Tips and Techniques

This article describes some tips and techniques that can help you get the most out of your
TM1 Web applications.
2.1.1 Cell Protection
You can use standard Excel functionality to protect cells or entire worksheets. Any protection
applied in an Excel document is retained when the document is viewed as a TM1 Websheet.
2.1.2 Excel Data Validation
All Excel validation criteria are supported in TM1 Web, with the exception of Custom.
2.1.3 Wrap Text
Excel's Wrap Text feature is now supported in TM1 Web. See wrap text tips below for more
details.

2.2 Performance Tips

To improve performance, particularly in TM1 Web:
• Make sure there are no extra white space/empty cells in your report. Use Ctrl-End
to determine where the bottom cell is in your report, and delete any unnecessary
cells within the report.
• If your report includes images, save the image files at a lower resolution. This can
make a significant difference in the size of the resulting Excel file.

2.3 Websheet Tips

• To make a TM1 Websheet read-only:
1. Right-click the corresponding Excel document in the Server Explorer.
2. Choose Properties.
3. Click the General tab.
4. Clear the Allow Cell Write back from Web option.

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5. Click OK.
• Turn off grid lines in Excel (Tools Options View tab) if you don’t want then to
show up in your Websheets.
• To control whether the subset selector is available from cells containing a SUBNM
function:
1. Right-click the corresponding Excel document in the Server Explorer.
2. Choose Properties.
3. Click the Display Properties tab.
4. Clear the Display Title Element Selectors option.
5. Click OK.

2.4 Formatting Tips

• The following custom number formats are not supported in TM1 Web:
o Repeat characters (*char) is ignored
o Spacing for insignificant zeros (???.???) causes the report to fail to load
o Specifying conditions is not supported
• Use merged cells rather than Centered Across Selection alignment, which is not
supported in TM1 Web.
• Drawing Objects (lines/shapes, etc.) are not supported – try using borders on cells
instead.
• Narrow columns display much wider than expected in TM1 Web.
To work around this issue:
1. Highlight the column and select Format Cells.
2. Click the Patterns tab.
3. Select White.
4. Click OK.
• Don’t mix formatting within a cell; this usually results in no formatting being applied.
If you need to mix formatting, use separate cells for each format.
• Thin cell borders (1 pt) do not display correctly when gridlines are visible in a sheet.
To work around this problem, turn gridlines off or apply a thicker border.
• Don’t map cell width too tightly in an Excel worksheet, a spare pixel or two can
prevent text wrapping in the corresponding TM1 Websheet.
• Freeze Frames are generally supported, and a number of fixes went into SP1 to
improve the support of this feature. However, TM1 Web does not support the ability
to position an image or a chart across a freeze frame. If you want an image to cross
the boundary of a freeze frame, you must split the image into two images, putting a
portion on each side of the freeze frame line. Move any graphs so they do not
straddle the freeze frame line.
• A cell with a SUBNM requires some extra space in TM1 Web to accommodate the
subset selector. In the example below, there are about 16 extra pixels of space to the
right of the All Companies element name in the Excel worksheet. This extra space is
occupied by the subset selector in the corresponding TM1 Websheet.

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Excel worksheet TM1 Websheet

If you don’t leave extra space in the Excel cell and there is no data in the cell to the
right of the SUBNM function, TM1 Web merges the cell containing the SUBMN function
with the cell immediately to the right. If there is something in the cell to the right of
the SUBNM function, TM1 Web wraps the cell text to accommodate the subset
selector, even if Wrap Text has not been set in the cell.

Merged Text wrapped

2.5 Wrap Text Tips

• Wrap Text is supported in TM1 Web 9.0 SP1, however wrapping within a cell may
occur at a different character position in TM1 Web than in Excel.
• If you apply Wrap Text to a cell containing a SUBMN function, the text may wrap
incorrectly or be truncated.

2.6 Chart Tips

• Dual Axis charts and data tables are not supported in TM1 Web 9.0 SP1.
• Use one of the predefined legend Placement options to ensure a consistent legend
display in Excel and TM1 Web. If you click and drag the legend to a different position
in an Excel chart, the legend always appears across the top of the chart in TM1 Web.

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• Do not place text boxes on a chart; text boxes to not display correctly in TM1 Web.
Instead, use the Titles tab on the Chart options dialog box to create a chart title or
category axis labels.
• If you apply multiple formats to a text area in an Excel worksheet, the text area is
formatted as plain text (all formatting is discarded) in the corresponding Websheet.
• Use standard number format options if possible, as not all custom number format
combinations will work in TM1 Web.
• To ensure that formatting applied to data points is consistent between Excel and TM1
Web, begin by applying formatting to the rightmost data point in the chart and
proceed in order, right to left.

2.7 Cube Viewer Tips

• Occasionally, the data grid and row/column headings are misaligned the first time
you open a view during a TM1 Web session. You can click the Recalculate button on
the Cube Viewer to restore the alignment.
• If you change the browser size while a graph is displayed in a Websheet, the graph is
not resized until you manually recalculate the Websheet.

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2.8 Hyperlinks
• Hyperlinks are supported in most places that Excel supports … can hyperlink from a
cell or an image.
• Things you can do:
o Link to any sheet:cell within the same workbook (use standard Excel
hyperlink capability off of the right click menu)
o Link to another .xls file … whether in the app organizer or not as long as it
lives in the same folder as the document you are linking from (use standard
Excel hyperlink capability)
o Link to a specific sheet within another document (we are now interpreting
Excel’s use of the #’sheet name’!cell extension to the hyperlink properly)
• Link to a blob (syntax example):
tm1://standard/blob/PUBLIC/}Externals/sales volume1.xls_20051028142022.xls)
Generically this is: TM1://servername/blob/PUBLIC/.\}Externals/reports true name
Note that the servername is case sensitive … while its works still if you use the wrong
case … it will show the true name of the report on the tab not the application folder
“nice” name.
True name can be found in the application organizer (the true name does have the
date originally uploaded in it … however, this does not change when the file is
subsequently re-uploaded):

• Use the Excel Hyperlink function to link to any external .xls file. (Note a hyperlink to a
non .xls document, .doc or .ppt, does will not show up as a link on the web currently)
Example: =HYPERLINK("c:\test\Testdoc.xls","Test hyperlink to external linked file")
• Things you can’t do currently:
o Link to a view

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2.9 Control Objects and Forms

• If none of your control type objects are working contact support. Seems to
sometimes not work initially until something gets initiated, but once working they
work consistently.
• Text Boxes
o Drawing menu - Text box text will not wrap
o Control menu – text wraps but positioning vs. Excel is way off
• List Box
o Both Control object and Forms object work … however, the control object
takes up more space on the web then in Excel. Need to play a bit with the
sizing to get it to line up properly. Forms object is closer to it’s Excel size.

Excel Control List Box TM1 Web Control List Box

Excel Forms List Box TM1 Web Forms List Box

o Form and control Combo boxes both show up and look almost identical on the web,
with the exception of the width which is fixed on the web. If the object width is .22,
and you make your Excel row = 15 this seems to line up pretty well on the web.
o Forms – Check Boxes and Option boxes will show up

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