Cognos
Note: The Cognos reports and workloads are being migrated to Tableau. The current plan is to fully retire Cognos by the end of FY25. Communications, data sources and documentation will be released through the year to prepare users.
Information below is provided to help support existing users as they transition to Tableau. Contact the Pitt IT Helpdesk if you'd like to schedule a consultation on your adoption of Tableau.
Cognos Analytics is a tool for enterprise reporting, ad hoc data reporting and self-service analytics. Using Cognos Analytics, authorized staff can view standard University financial and student reports. Data and administrative professionals can use Cognos Reports to create or run existing reports.
Data from the University data marts are organized into packages within Cognos. These packages provide data for pre-built reports, as well as providing data sources for ad hoc reporting via the Cognos Report tool for student, employee, and financial data.
Frequently Asked Questions
Cognos User Group Archives
The Cognos User Group no longer meets but you can view prior meeting recordings below. Please note all Cognos User Group meetings were from version 11.0.12.
April 24, 2020 -Recorded webinar on the following (video)
Cognos maintenance - deleting unused reports, schedules, and jobs
Creating prompts and prompt pages (including cascading prompts)
Inserting SQL code into a report
March 27, 2020 - Recorded webinar on the following (video)
Uploading an Excel spreadsheet for use in reports
Creating a data module from an uploaded spreadsheet
Scheduling reports and creating jobs (video)
February 28, 2020
Recorded webinar (video)
ST Active Student Query Pkg (Notes on using this pkg)
GL Aggregate Query Pkg (Notes on using this pkg)
List of All Level Reports (Names and Titles document)
December 13, 2019
ST Enrollment and Tuition Query Pkg (Notes on using this pkg)
GL Transaction Query Pkg (Notes on using this pkg)
November 15, 2019
ST Mart - The Course Repeat Form is now available. It can be run by EMPLID, Plan or Standing. Reports are in folder: Team Content > Cognos Reports > ST Class Enrollment Reports
GL Mart - The new Variance report is available in folder: Team Content > Cognos Reports > General Ledger Reports. And is named: Monthly Variance Report
ST Mart - How to create a report with two queries joined (applications that were WAPP yesterday but not today) (Video)
GL Mart - How to create a report with two queries joined (accounts with no budget this year) (PDF)
Date Filter Examples (PDF)
October 18, 2019
Employee Mart - How to request access and how to use Cognos package (Instruction page)
How to validate your ST Mart Report student count (Step by step)
How to validate your GL Reports (Step by Step)
September 20, 2019
How to use Cognos function (BETWEEN) (Step by step)
How to use Cognos function (IN) (Step by step)
How to use Cognos functions (LIKE & UPPER) (Step by step)
How to build your own prompt page (Step by step)
How to create a cascading prompt (Step by step video)
How to create a prompt with both static and dynamic values (Step by step video)
How to create a report with multiple tabs (Step by step video)
How to create conditional tabs that only display when a certain prompt value is selected (Step by step video)
How to create totals at the top of a list instead of the bottom (Step by step video)
How to create a custom message when no data is returned on your report (Step by step video)
August 8, 2019
How to write a crosstab report - GL Mart (Step by step)
How to write a crosstab report - ST Mart (Step by step)
How to Copy and Share Cognos reports (Step by step)
How to create a case statement - ST Mart (Step by step)
How to create and filter on a Case Statement - GL data (Step by step)
July 11, 2019
Common ST Mart Cognos packages, purpose and tips for each (PowerPoint)
How to convert a Query to a Report (Step by step)
How to conditionally format fields for different styles (Step by step)
How to format Data Types (numbers, dates & percentages) (Step by step)
How to change the numbers of rows shown in report output (Step by step)
How to write a report to identify Active Students not yet enrolled (Step by step)
How to write a report to list all Acad Program codes in which students are enrolled (Step by step)
June 11, 2019
How to convert a Query to a Report (Step by step)
How to format negative numbers in parentheses (Step by step)
How to make negative numbers red (Step by step)
How to write a FY PI Variance Report (Step by step)
Need help? Contact the Pitt IT Helpdesk