Insert a Formatting Object in a Report

In addition to text and images, the Toolbox tab

contains other objects that you can add to the report layout.

Object	Description
Block	Adds an empty block, which is a container in which you can insert other objects. This is useful for controlling where objects appear. Tip: You can use blocks to add space between objects. However, empty blocks are not rendered. You must insert an object or specify the height and width. Tip: The Revenue by GO Subsidiary 2011 sample report in the GO Data Warehouse (analysis) package includes an empty block. For more information about The Sample Outdoors Company samples, see Sample Reports and Packages.
Table	Adds a table, which is a container in which you can insert other objects. This is useful for controlling where objects appear.
Field Set	Adds an empty block that has a caption. This is similar to the Block object, but with a caption.
Intersection (Tuple)	Adds an intersection (tuple). For more information, see Create an Intersection (Tuple).
Query Calculation	Adds a calculated column. For more information, see Using Relational Calculations or Using Dimensional Calculations.
Crosstab Space	Inserts an empty cell on a crosstab edge. Allows for the insertion of non-data cells on an edge. Blank cells appear for the edge when the report is run. Insert this object when a crosstab edge does not produce useful data and you want blanks to appear in the cells instead.
Crosstab Space (with fact cells)	Inserts an empty cell on a crosstab edge. Allows for the insertion of non-data cells on an edge. The contents of the fact cells for the edge are rendered when a measure is added or the default measure is specified. If the crosstab space is nested, the scope of the fact cells is the scope of the item that is at the level before the space. If the crosstab space is not nested and there are no items nested below it, the scope of the fact cells is the default measure.
Singleton	Inserts a single data item.
Conditional Blocks	Adds an empty block that you can use for conditional formatting.
HTML Item	Adds a container in which you can insert HTML code. HTML items can be anything that your browser will execute, including links, images, multimedia, tooltips, or JavaScript. HTML items appear only when you run the report in HTML format. Note: You cannot include <form> tags in HTML items. Tip: The Table of Contents sample report in the GO Sales (analysis) package includes an HTML item. For more information about The Sample Outdoors Company samples, see Sample Reports and Packages. Note: When you upgrade to the next version of IBM Cognos Business Intelligence, the report upgrade processes do not account for the use of undocumented and unsupported mechanisms or features, such as JavaScript, that refers to IBM Cognos HTML objects.
Rich Text Item	Inserts an object that is used to render HTML in the layout. This object is similar to the HTML Item, except that rich text items also render in PDF output. Using rich text items is useful when you want to add annotations defined in a data source to a report. Note: Rich text items support only a restricted set of well-formed XHTML.
Hyperlink	Adds a hyperlink so that users can jump to another place, such as a Web site.
Hyperlink Button	Adds a hyperlink in the form of a button.
As of Time Expression	Adds an As of Time expression so that you can show data for a specific time period.
Page Number	Inserts page numbers that you can customize.
Row Number	Numbers each row of data returned when the report is run. Note: You can add row numbers only to lists and repeaters.
Layout Component Reference	Adds a reference to another object. Useful when you want to reuse an object.
Table of Contents	Creates a table of contents that is rendered in the output of a report.
Table of Contents Entry	Adds a table of contents marker.
Bookmark	Inserts a bookmark so that users can move from one part of a report to another.

For information about each prompt control and prompt buttons, see Adding Prompts to Filter Data. The Toolbox tab contains other objects when you work in other areas such as Query Explorer and Condition Explorer.

Before you begin

Before you can add a hyperlink, HTML item, or hyperlink button, you must have the HTML Items in Report capability. For more information, see the IBM Cognos Business Intelligence Administration and Security Guide.

Procedure

To add an object, drag or double-click it from the Toolbox tab.