Functionality of Cognos Transformer
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- Transformer is a tool which is useful to make/create multidimensional cubes (.mdc) files with the help of metadata file model (.mdl).
- Transformer model consists of the dimensions (it can be layers i.e. hierarchies) and measures.
- These dimensions and measures created from the sources like package (.cpf) file/ Impromptu Query Definition (IQD) file/ Cognos Report.
- Multidimensional cube is a file that stores the data from generated categories in the transformer model (.mdl) file with the help of transformer tool.
- These multidimensional cubes can be used to publish from server to the Cognos connection to make different types of the reports in the Cognos portal.
- Basically, the Cognos transformer architecture is called as connection less architecture, as it stores the data into the cubes and retrieve the data from the cubes. Hence these cubes are refreshed periodically/ frequently based on the business requirements.
 How to create dimensions and measures and a power cube in Cognos Transformer
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- On the top part of the transformer tool we have the dimensions map tab. Right click on the space and click on the create dimension.
- From the source tab drag the required dimensions and made levels for each dimension.
- For the time dimension we will get the automatic levels based on the number of the time dimension levels. Only time dimension in the transformer has this property to get automatic levels, we can remove and adjust the levels manually also.
- From the source tab we can drag the measure items to the measures tab which is beside the data source tab. We also can set up the aggregation for the measures (like Count, Sum, Min, Max etc..) based on the requirements.
- Once we create these dimensions and measures, we can create the power cube in the transformer model using create power cube.
Below is the example for the Transformer model with dimensions and measures
