You can use Impromptu Query Definition (IQD) files to access data from local or server-based databases, even if you do not have IBM Cognos Impromptu installed on your modeling computer. You can also use .iqd files with queries defined in Framework Manager. These are sometimes referred to as externalized queries.
Either of these .iqd file types requires that the Series 7 IQD Bridge component be installed. This component must be installed on IBM Cognos Series 7 version 7.4 supported platforms.
To review an up-to-date list of environments supported by IBM Cognos products, visit the IBM Cognos Resource Center Web site (http://www.ibm.com/software/data/support/cognos_crc.html).
Framework Manager IQDs, or externalized queries, have the same limitations that existed in IBM Cognos Transformer version 7.x, including limitations related to local processing, multi-select statements, and multiple database connections in a single query.
In Transformer version 8.x, however, you can use the query items from an IBM Cognos 8 package or report. These data sources do not have the same limitations as the Framework Manager IQD.
If you have externalized queries as a data source, we strongly recommend that the query subjects be published in a package, and the query items be imported in Transformer version 8.x using the package as a data source. As an alternative, you can create a report based on the package and then create a data source using the report as a data source. This method provides functionality that was unavailable in externalized queries in previous releases, such as support for multi-select statements, local processing, and multi-database connections. For more information about using IBM Cognos 8 packages as a data source, see Create a Model.
When you create a report based on this published package, the Transformer modeler can update the report whenever changes are required. The Transformer modelers are therefore no longer dependant on the modelers for revisions to the externalized query for the purposes of Transformer modeling.
For compatibility between IBM Cognos 8 version 8.x and releases prior to version 8.3, you must specify your IQD data source connection information in the Cognos.ini or cs7g.ini file. The cs7g.ini file is located in installation_location/c8/cs7Gateways/bin directory.
If you are working with a UNIX data source, ensure that the server connection information in the INI file on the Windows computer on which you created the model matches that stored on your UNIX servers. Otherwise, the source database cannot be read.
When you create a data source in Transformer using an IQD, you must specify an isolation level, typically the same one as was used when the .iqd file was created. This is necessary so that the data is processed properly in the model.
If you must change the Isolation level, you can do so when you create your data source using the New Data Source wizard, or later, from the Data Source property sheet.
The following table describes the IQD isolation levels available for selection in Transformer.
| Isolation level | Description |
| Default | Uses the isolation level that was originally specified in IBM Cognos Impromptu when the .iqd file was created. |
| Read Uncommitted | Makes changes made by other transactions immediately available to a transaction. |
| Read Committed | Allows a transaction access only to rows that were committed by other transactions. |
| Cursor Stability | Prohibits other transactions from updating the row on which a transaction is positioned. |
| Reproducible Read | Ensures that rows selected or updated by one transaction are not changed by another transaction until the first transaction is complete. |
| Phantom Protection | Prohibits access by a transaction to rows inserted or deleted since the start of the transaction. |
| Serializable | Ensures that a set of transactions performed concurrently produce the same result as if they were performed sequentially. |
For an up-to-date list of the relational and nonrelational databases that work with .iqd files, visit the IBM Cognos Resource Center Web site ((http://www.ibm.com/software/data/support/cognos_crc.html)).
Some of the data required for your sales-tracking model is stored in an Oracle database on a UNIX server.
You use IBM Cognos Impromptu to query the ORDERS and ORDER_DETAILS tables, saving the results in an .iqd file. You then specify this .iqd file as the source for your model in Transformer, so that you gain access to the data stored in your Oracle database.
You confirm that the server connection information in the cogtr.xml file on your modeling computer matches that on your UNIX server. The cogtr.xml file is located in the installation_location\configuration directory.
Transformer can now refresh the data directly from the server holding the Oracle database whenever categories are generated or cubes are created.