Impromptu Startup! [Paperback]

Brian Olah (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0130191159 | ISBN-13: 978-0130191151 | Publication Date: July 2, 2000 | Edition: 1

More than 1.5 million professionals now use Cognos Impromptu for enterprise/data warehouse reporting -- and this is the first complete guide to helping them take full advantage of it! Business intelligence expert Brian Olah walks users step-by-step through every key technique for both standard and ad hoc reporting. The book's detailed coverage goes far beyond the documentation, helping users find the Impromptu answers they need immediately -- so they can gain the business insight they desperately need, faster than ever. After a brief overview of the Impromptu product family and software installation, Olah demonstrates how to work with existing reports and the Impromptu user interface; then create and format basic reports. In Part II, he introduces the key building blocks of more sophisticated reports: filtering, calculations and functions, sorting, grouping, sums, subtotals, and totals. Then, using detailed, hands-on examples, he presents "power-user" Impromptu techniques, including prompting for results, advanced formatting, drill-through, crosstabs, subreports, and more.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Preface

Consulting and teaching the Cognos Business Intelligence solution has led me to various companies using Impromptu and many people using its tools over the past few years. Everywhere I went, people were thirsting for more knowledge on the tools. Many have asked if someone has written a book on "this stuff." I would always answer those questions with: "You know, someone should."

The idea for writing this book first came to me while browsing around the Computer section in a local bookstore. I was looking at the latest offerings from the gurus of Data Warehousing. There were numerous books on different databases, spreadsheet applications, and programming languages, but, when I looked for a book on Cognos, I did not see one. A light bulb finally clicked on. "Why would there not be a book about Impromptu?" My search continued to the Internet, to on-line bookstores and still nothing.

Then, in the middle of summer, when most people are playing softball, golf, or working in the yard, I was exploring the option of what it would take to write a book on Impromptu. One thing led to another, and Impromtpu Startup! began.Brian Olah

From the Back Cover

• Maximize productivity with Impromptu: Practical tips and tricks!
• Automate standard reports and create fast, accurate ad hoc reports
• Master "power user" techniques: drill-through, crosstabs, subreports, and more
• Covers Impromptu 6.0 — the latest release!

The first complete reference & tutorial for Cognos Impromptu!

If you're one of the 1.5 million professionals who use Cognos Impromptu for enterprise/data warehouse reporting, here's the book you've been searching for! Business intelligence expert, Brian Olah, walks you step-by-step through every technique you need to get the timely business answers you need — in both standard and ad hoc reports! You'll find solutions to your most crucial reporting questions — information you simply won't find in the documentation ! Coverage includes:

• The Impromptu interface and toolset: a complete, productivity-focused tour
• Hands-on examples based on the sample Cognos database you already own
• Tips, techniques, and solutions for today's most common enterprise reporting problems
• Formatting, filtering, and functions
• Sorting, grouping, and calculations
• Step-by-step guidance for automating standard reports

Through hands-on examples, Olah helps you master "power-user" Impromptu techniques — including prompting for results, advanced formatting, drill-through, crosstabs, subreports, and more. If you've invested in Impromptu, get the one book that'll help you make the most of it: Impromptu Startup!

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 1 edition (July 2, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0130191159
• ISBN-13: 978-0130191151
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #920,224 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #48 in Books > Computers & Technology > Databases > Beginning & Introductory

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Impromptu startup, December 6, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Impromptu Startup! (Paperback)

This is very much a beginners book of the point and click variety. Its pages are filled with screen shots and tedious step by step instructions in the minutest detail. Now some people may like this style and I'm probably not in the target audience for this book, but for [the price] I expect something a little more comprehensive. When looking up some features I found unhelpful comments like "This is an advanced topic ... contact Cognos for an advanced training class." Sub-reports and frame layout reports have only very limited coverage.

This is fine if you want to create basic list reports, mess around with a few columns or layout features, but its of little use to a serious report developer.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good for beginners, March 26, 2002

By 

Rick Davis (Akron, OH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Impromptu Startup! (Paperback)

This book is exactly what the title implies - startup. It is a great starting guide for the beginner that has never seen or played with the software before. Unfortunately I was disappointed due to the fact that I wanted something more advanced. I saw the page count and assumed that this was it. If anyone writes a more advanced book with details about catalog creation and join definitions let me know!!!

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Beginners book, January 11, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Impromptu Startup! (Paperback)

This book is possibly useful for the total novice of reporting. Spending a lot of pages explaining how to install the application and making the most basic reports makes it unnecessarily long. A lot if screenshots makes the book even longer so you can wonder if the author was payed by the page. The price seems hard to justify.