The topics in this section document problems you may encounter when creating reports.
If you have a list that accesses a relational data source, a calculation containing a division by zero operation appears as a null value, such as an empty cell. In a crosstab, the division by zero operation appears as /0. This happens when the Avoid Division by Zero property is set to Yes, which is the default.
To have a consistent display of null values in lists and crosstabs, define an if-then-else statement in the expression in the crosstab cell that changes the value /0 to the value null.
When upgrading a report, the following error appears if the report contains data items in the page layout that are not in a data container:
RSV-SRV-0040 An application error has occurred. Please contact your Administrator.
This error occurs when Cognos 8 cannot determine the query reference for a data item. Such data items are identified by a small red circle with a white x icon that appears in the lower left corner.
To correct the error, drag the data items into a container. If the container is a list, we recommend that you drag the data items into the list page header or footer, or the overall header or footer. If you want to see the first row of the item on each page or in the overall report, drag the item to the list page header or overall header. If you want to see the item’s last row on each page or in the overall report, drag the item to the list page footer or overall footer. Tip: If a header or footer does not exist, create it.
When creating a Query Studio template in Report Studio, if you add a list object and change its background color, the color change does not appear when you apply the template to a Query Studio report.
To work around this issue, do one of the following:
Edit the style sheet (CSS) classes for lists in Report Studio.
Do not add any objects to the page body when you are creating a Query Studio template.
Leave the page body blank.
When using a PowerCube that contains a ragged hierarchy, if you group on the first level in the hierarchy, subtotals may appear in the wrong place or show wrong values.
To resolve the issue, group on the second level.
In Report Studio and Query Studio, if you define a chart and render it in HTML or PDF format using the default sizes, the axis labels of the chart may overwrite each other.
To avoid this problem, make the chart wider or taller by modifying the height and width properties of the chart or enable the Allow Skip property.
You create a report that includes a chart. The Allow Skip option is set to false, but when you run the report, labels are skipped.
This can occur if there is not enough room for all labels and the options Allow 45 Degree Rotation, Allow 90 Degree Rotation, and Allow Stagger are also set to false. Cognos 8 has no options for making the labels fit, so it skips every second label.
The solution is to select either Allow 45 Degree Rotation, Allow 90 Degree Rotation, or Allow Stagger.
In Report Studio, you can define a custom palette for a chart that includes a gradient. When the chart is rendered in HTML format, the chart background appears gray. This is a Microsoft Web browser issue.
To avoid this problem, select the chart and define the color white as the chart background.
For more information, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base article at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/294714.