Cognos 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.

Don’t think Framework Manager is an ETL tool? – Framework Manager is a tool that sets on top of your data sources which includes databases. It can do complex calculations, table joins, execute stored procedures, and manage data level security. However it does not convert data nor does it apply business rules to data to improve quality.  If you need an ETL tool, of course you can purchase Cognos’ Data Manager, or my personal favorite Microsoft SSIS. You decide which one will work for you but be sure to work on your data because Framework Manager cannot disguise poor data quality.

Do create calculations – if Cognos business users will be using the same calculations for multiple reports, then make the calculations in Framework Manager. It will institutionalize the calculation and it will be the same in every report.

Do use business terms – when published in business and presentation view, change query subjects and query items to business terms and names. If you are unfamiliar with Lodestars recommended Framework Manager Vies, stay tuned I will cover that in another post.

Don’t work on Framework Manager at the same time – if two people are in the same project at the same time and try to save their work, the last to hit the save button wins. If you need to work on a Framework Manager Model as team, then consider using source control software.

Do use Parameter Maps – Parameter maps are a prompts best friend. When a report writer creates a prompt using a description instead, a key performance can suffer.  I point that out because description fields are not typically indexed while keys are. A parameter map allows the report writer to still use the description field, but Framework Manager will pass the key to the database instead of the description.