The IBM Cognos Business Intelligence Software Development Kit

When you create a report, you are creating a report specification. A report specification is an XML file that you can view (Tools, Show Specification ). In addition, you can view the specification for a selected object with the Show Specification (Selection) menu option.

When you are viewing the report specification, you cannot modify or copy parts of it.

You can also programmatically create or modify reports by using an editing tool to work with report specifications. You then use the IBM® Cognos® Software Development Kit to implement the reports in your IBM Cognos BI environment. This is useful if, for example, you must make the same modification in many reports. Rather than opening each report and making the change, you can automate the process using the Software Development Kit, thereby saving you time. For more information about the IBM Cognos Software Development Kit, contact your local sales office.

You can also modify the XML code in a report specification by saving the report specification on your computer.