COGNOS Business Intelligence Series 7

Glossary
Agent
A user-defined process that runs according to a schedule and evaluates specific data based on a set
of conditions. If the conditions are met, the agent notifies specified recipients by email. For
example, a company uses an incentive program to provide bonuses to sales representatives who
exceed a weekly performance target. An agent can run weekly to evaluate sales data and notify the
sales manager if any sales representatives exceed the performance target.
See also notification.
Alert
See notification.
Alias
A URL that has been mapped to a directory through the administration tool of a Web server. Also
referred to as a virtual directory.
Autoregression
A method of forecasting based on the auto-correlation approach to time series forecasting.
Autoregression forecasting is most reliable when the driving factors of your business affect your
measures in a seasonal fashion.
Collection
In PowerPlay Enterprise Server, a folder with a physical directory as a data source. The contents of
a collection are dynamically updated with the contents of the directory.
Cube
A multidimensional representation of data. A cube contains information organized into
dimensions to provide faster retrieval and drill down in reports.
Directory Server
A specialized database that stores user attributes, object classes, and other schema-type
information in a hierarchical format. Used by Access Manager to store and manage user and user
class data.
Dimension Viewer
An organized view of all dimensions, levels, and categories in the selected cube. Use the dimension
viewer to add categories as rows or columns and to filter information.
You can also use the dimension viewer in Windows to add categories as layers, create subset
definitions, format measures, and define sets of categories.
Dispatcher
A program that takes incoming user requests and directs them to an appropriate PowerPlay server
for processing. Dispatchers can be configured in a multi-machine environment for the purposes of
load balancing and failover protection.
Drill Through
An action that uses the current context of a report, to access information in another PowerPlay
report, cube, Impromptu report, or macro.
Enterprise Server Guide 113