Question & Answer
Question
What is the lowest level of detail you can map to in Cognos Analytics Mapping using a UK postcode and how does the data need to appear for it to map sucessfully
Answer
One of the new features in Cognos Analytics 11.0.6+ is the ability to visualise geospatial data across multiple admin boundaries and postal codes.
Postcode format is different in every country and Cognos does not map every country down to the same level of detail.
See link below for "IBM CA 11 R6 Admin Boundary Types and Post Regions.xlsx". This documents the lowest level that can be displayed in Cognos Analytics 11.0.6 for every country.
UK Postcode format
Postcodes in the UK are formed of a one or two letter Postcode Area code and one or two digits for the Postcode District , this together is known as the Outward Code. There is then a space, and then an arbitrary code of one number and two letters, this is known as the Inward Code. Postcodes can therefore be either 5, 6 or 7 digits long.
POSTCODE | |||
Outward Code | Inward Code | ||
Postcode Area | Postcode district | Postcode Sector | Postcode Unit |
SW | 1W | 0 | NW |
The lowest level that Cognos 11.0.6+ supports is the Outward Code and the Postcode Sector.
You therefore need to remove the last 2 digits from UK postcodes for the postcode date to map successfully in Dashboards or the Reporting module
Example Postcode formats:
| Full Postcode | Required Postcode |
| SW1W 0NW | SW1W 0 |
| M1 1AA | M1 1 |
| M60 1NW | M60 1 |
| EC1A 1BB | EC1A 1 |
| E1 0HA | E1 0 |
Data Preparation:
Excel: If you are using an Excel worksheet as your data source then you could use the function to trim the last 2 digits = LEFT(A1,LEN(A1)-2) (assuming the full postcode is in cell A1)
Reporting: You can use the following expression to trim the last 2 digits in a Report Query:
substring([postcode data item],1, char_length([postcode data item])-2)
Data Module: You can modify the Postcode Column in Data Module using the following expression:
substring(postcode data item,1, char_length(postcode data item)-2)
Postcodes can be entered into Cognos with or without the spaces e.g E1 0HA can be entered as either E1 0 or E10. A second example of M60 1NW would be entered as either M60 1 or M601
Ambiguity
To avoid ambiguity for UK Postcodes, use Country to Refine Region.
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Modified date:
15 June 2018
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