Importing visualizations into the library

Administrators import visualizations from local systems and file shares into the IBM® Cognos® Business Intelligence environment. The imported visualizations are then listed on the Library tab and are available for use in IBM Cognos reports.

About this task

Existing visualizations can be re-imported if they were changed. Because changes to visualizations cannot be reverted, you must understand their impact on the associated reports before replacing the visualizations. Otherwise, this action can result in unintended changes to the reports or prevent the reports from running.

When re-importing visualizations, report authors must update the reports that contain the visualizations in IBM Cognos Report Studio for the changes to take effect. For most changes, it is sufficient to re-open the reports in a new window in Report Studio. In some cases, however, modifications in the report are needed. For example, if the new visualization changed or renamed items in the data set structure of the report, the report must be modified in Report Studio.

Procedure

In IBM Cognos Administration, on the Library tab, click Visualizations.
In the toolbar, click the Import icon . The Select Visualizations - New Visualization Import Page opens.
Click Browse to navigate to the visualization file that you want to select. Browse again if you want to select additional visualization files.
Tip: To remove a visualization file from the list of selected visualizations, click the Remove selection icon.
To replace an existing visualization, select the Replace existing entries check box.
If you clear this check box while trying to import an existing visualization, the import will fail. This is to ensure that an existing visualization is not accidently overwritten, which could result in breaking the reports that use that visualization. If you decide to replace a specific visualization, import the visualization selecting the Replace existing entries check box. Then, in Report Studio, update the reports that contain that visualization.
To import selected visualizations click Import.

Results

The imported visualizations are now listed on the Visualizations page. The visualizations have default access permissions that administrators can change.