IBM Cognos Metric Designer

IBM Cognos Metric Designer is the modeling tool used to create extracts for use in IBM Cognos scorecarding applications.The created extracts are used to map and transfer information from existing metadata sources such as Framework Manager and Impromptu Query Definition (.iqd) files.

IQD contains the query that a user can run against the database to get the data.An Impromptu Query Definition describes a source table from

a Data Source. It also contains the database information.An .iqd file is typically created by Impromptu and contains the definition for a database query.PowerPlay Transformer can access relational data sources through IQD files.If Impromptu is not available, user  can manually create an .iqd file to provide access to relational data sources.
When you create a model in Transformer, the contents of the .iqd file are stored in the model and the embedded .iqd contents are refreshed when the data source is opened.The .iqd contents are refreshed when you click OK on the Data Source property sheet. Input values are retrieved from a supported database by executing an SQL querythat is stored in the .iqd file.