COGNOS REPORTNET-FINDING YOUR DATA
Cognos ReportNet uses a SunGard product called the Banner Operational Data Store (ODS). Banner ODS is a copy of the Banner real-time production database, reorganized specifically for efficient report access. The ODS extracts data from Banner and arranges it in logical business area reporting views. Having these views, with the logical relationships already established between them, makes it easier for the user to pull data from more than one view to complete a report. The tables in ODS are the most commonly used by most institutions for reporting. This was based on surveys and partnerships with other schools when the product was developed by SunGard. If you can't find your data, please contact the AT Group. It is also important to note the ODS is a snapshot of our Banner Production System and is refreshed every morning at about 4:00 a.m. This means any data entered into Banner on a given day is available from the ODS the following morning.
Terminology: Banner, ODS and Cognos each use unique terminology to refer to modules, tables and fields, etc. Here’s the translation:
Banner |
ODS |
Cognos |
|---|---|---|
Modules (Student, Financial Aid, etc.) |
Subject Area |
|
|
Package Packages are a concept unique to Cognos. The packages that you use to generate reports are based on models that are created in the
modeling tool, Framework Manager. A model is a set of related query subjects and other |
|
Table |
Reporting View |
Query Subject |
Field |
Field |
Query Item |
Examples: The following are examples of some frequently used fields in Banner, and where you can find them in Cognos. A Banner Field Name is called a Query Item in Cognos.
Banner Field Name |
Cognos Package |
Cognos Query Subject |
Cognos Query Item |
Definition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
SPRIDEN_PIDM |
PERSON_SUPPLEMENTAL |
PERSON_DETAIL |
PERSON_UID |
System generated, unique, internal identification number assigned to this person. |
SPRIDEN_ID |
PERSON_SUPPLEMENTAL |
PERSON_DETAIL | ID |
Person's identification number used to access the records associated with the person. |
SPBPERS_BIRTH_DATE |
PERSON_SUPPLEMENTAL |
PERSON_DETAIL | BIRTH_DATE |
|
SPBPERS_SEX |
PERSON_SUPPLEMENTAL |
PERSON_DETAIL | GENDER |
|
STVCITZ_DESC |
PERSON_SUPPLEMENTAL |
PERSON_DETAIL |
CITIZENSHIP_DESC |
|
STVETHN_ETCT_CODE |
PERSON_SUPPLEMENTAL |
PERSON_DETAIL |
PRIM_ETHNICITY_CATEGORY |
|
SGBSTDN_TERM_CODE_EFF |
STUDENT_DETAIL |
ACADEMIC_STUDY |
ACADEMIC_PERIOD |
Academic period or time frame associated with the information on the student record. |
STEPS TO FINDING YOUR DATA
Identify the tables and field names in Banner (the source items) Cognos ReportNet uses the Banner ODS as the data source for reports. To create a report in Cognos you must know where to find the data in ODS. In order to know where the data is in ODS, you must first identify the Banner tables and fields used in your current reports (Access, Focus) or in Banner INB. These are the "source" items.
Use the ODS Metadata web pages to identify the fieldnames in ODS (the target items) Once you have the source tables and field names you can use the Metadata web pages to find the field names in ODS. In this example we will find the ODS equivalent of the banner field SGBSTDN_LEVL_CODE in the banner source table SGBSTDN.
1. To begin using the metada, click here then scroll down and click on the "ODS - Reporting View Meta Data" link. The following page will open.
2. You'll see this page. Click the appropriate module link for your field. In this example, it is Student.
3. When you click on the Student module, you’ll see the Target Reports with the ODS Student Reporting Views. These are NOT what you want. Scroll down this page until you see the Source Reports. We're looking for SGBSTDN.
4. When you scroll down toward the bottom of the page you will see the Source Reports. Click on SGBSTDN.
5. You will be taken to the Reporting View Source page for SGBSTDN. The Source Column lists all of the Banner field names belonging to SGBSTDN. The field you are looking for in this example is SGBSTDN_LEVL_CODE. Scroll down until you find it. The Target column lists the different views in ODS where the field name is located. In this case, we will use the ACADEMIC_STUDY view. The most important column is called Target Column. That lists the actual ODS field we need, which is STUDENT_LEVEL. That’s what you'll need for your Cognos report. To learn more about the field, click on STUDENT_LEVEL. Make note of the ODS field name and repeat this process for all fields.
