BICS Workshop Student Handbook FINAL

Oracle Business Intelligence

Cloud Service Workshop

Agile Business Intelligence in the Cloud for Everyone

Hands-On

Student Handbook

Table of Contents

Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 5

Executive Summary ................................................................................................................. 5 Topics Covered in this Handbook ............................................................................................ 6 Accessing the Oracle Business Intelligence Cloud Service (Instructor led Demonstration) . 6

Getting Started ........................................................................................................................................ 14

Home Page ............................................................................................................................ 15 The Global Header ................................................................................................................. 15 Browsing the Catalog Manager .............................................................................................. 16

Workshop Goal ........................................................................................................................................ 18

What Are Analyses? ................................................................................................................................ 19

Lab 1 - Creating a Simple Tabular Report .............................................................................................. 20

Create a New Analysis ........................................................................................................... 21 Compound Layout .................................................................................................................. 26

Lab 2 - Loading Data from External Data Sources (Instructor Led Exercise) ....................................... 27

Lab 3 - Modifying Table Properties (Instructor Led Exercise) .............................................................. 32

Demo 3.1 - Loading Data Via SQL Developer ........................................................................................ 38

Lab 4 - Integrating External Data Sources with the Enterprise Data Model (Instructor Led Exercise) 44

Lab 5 - Updating Analysis Using the Extended Data Model ................................................................... 54

Lab 6 - Adding a Treemap View to an Analysis ...................................................................................... 62

Lab 7 - Creating Interactive Dashboards ................................................................................................ 70

What are Dashboards? .......................................................................................................... 70 Dashboard Prompts ............................................................................................................... 70 What is the Dashboard Builder? ............................................................................................ 71 Dashboard Objects ................................................................................................................ 72 Making Changes to Your Layout ............................................................................................ 79 Adding Links Below Reports .................................................................................................. 80

Oracle Mobile BI (Optional User Labs) ................................................................................................... 82

Topics Covered ...................................................................................................................... 82 Oracle BI Mobile Overview .................................................................................................... 82 Downloading the Software from App Store ............................................................................ 83 Connecting your iPad to the Workshop ................................................................................. 83 Navigating to the Workshop Dashboard ................................................................................ 89

BICS Challenge (Extra Credit User Labs) ............................................................................................... 96

Using Recommended Visualization ....................................................................................... 96 Using Best Visualization ........................................................................................................ 97 Create an OLAP Style Report .............................................................................................. 100 Performance Tiles ................................................................................................................ 106 Gauges ................................................................................................................................. 113

Trellis Chart, Pivot Table and View Selector ....................................................................... 117

Appendix A ............................................................................................................................................ 127

Components of the Create Analysis Screen ........................................................................ 127 Working with Panes in the Analysis Area ............................................................................ 131

Appendix B ............................................................................................................................................ 132

Available Visualization & Graphs ......................................................................................... 132

Oracle BI Cloud Service Student Handbook Page 5

Introduction

Welcome!

Oracle Business Intelligence Cloud Services (BICS) is a comprehensive portfolio of analytics offerings built for and deployed in the cloud, enabling fast, flexible analysis of any data from any source, including cloud, on-premises, traditional and big data. Built on proven, industry-leading Oracle Business Intelligence and database technologies and the Oracle Cloud infrastructure, BICS delivers massive scalability, high availability, state of the art security, operational simplicity, and elastic scaling. This combination of proven technologies, world-class infrastructure, broad data access, and deep analytic capabilities makes BICS a unique solution that serves every user, from data scientists and IT to line-of-business users.

The goal of todays workshop is to introduce you to Oracle Business Intelligence Cloud Services by building the dashboard shown below:

At each stage we encourage you to go off-road and insert your own content, create more visualizations and calculations and experiment with the fluid dashboard-building and report creation process of Oracle Business Intelligence Cloud Services.

Executive Summary

This workshop is designed to provide an initial introduction of Oracle Business Intelligence Cloud Service from a Business Users perspective. Assuming the role of a Sales Executive, we'll examine how easy it is to move your personal spreadsheet files to the cloud and integrate it with the corporate information available. There are several user labs that can be run directly by each attendee. However, there are three labs that need to be run by the instructor since modifying the underlying tables and the model cannot be done concurrently by all users attending the workshop.


Topics Covered in this Handbook

Accessing BICS overview & Demonstration

Navigating the Home Page

Creating a Simple Table

Create a Treemap chart

Creating a Dashboard

Loading data from external data sources (Instructor Led User Lab)

Modifying Table properties (Instructor Led User Lab)

Integrating external data sources with the enterprise data model (Instructor Led User Lab)

Updating analysis using our extended data model

Mobile Analysis

BICS Challenge (Extra Credit Labs)

Accessing the Oracle Business Intelligence Cloud Service (Instructor led Demonstration)

There are several ways to access BICS. You will become familiar with these options as you proceed through the workshop. Please note that the specific URLs referenced throughout this Student Handbook may be different for your workshop. Your Instructor will provide specific URLs for your workshop.

You can access BICS by going to: https://cloud.oracle.com and click on Sign In


From the My Services section select your data center and sign in

Sign in to the correct Identity Domain


You can accomplish several things from this page:

o As an administrator you can add/modify users o You can access the Business Intelligence home page o Access APEX (Application Express) o View usage

You can see storage usage and activity by different users on this page

Click on the businessintelltrialXXXX (Business Intelligence) link


Your Instructor will provide specific URLs for your workshop

You can see service status and other usage data on this page.

If you click on the Service Instance URL you will be taken to the Oracle Business Intelligence home page. This is one way to get there.

Click on Open Service Console at the top right of screen.


As a System Administrator you can perform user maintenance and backup/restores from here.


Click on Dashboard at the top of the page

Click on the businessintelltrialXXXXdb (Database) link


Here you can see information about your data usage

Access APEX by clicking on Service Instance URL or click on the Open Service Console.


You can access a variety of functions here to enhance your BI cloud environment.


Getting Started

1. Connect to any wireless network.

Connect your laptop to a wireless network.

If you are in an Oracle Office you can connect to the Clear Guest wireless network. Your Instructor will provide credentials.

2. Access the Business Intelligence cloud instance. Your Instructor will provide the

specific URL for your workshop.

https://businessintelltrialXXXX-usoracletrialXXXXX.analytics.us2.oraclecloud.com/analytics

The Instructor will also assign your User ID & Password during the workshop.

Sample User ID:

User ID: Your Email Address

Password: You will receive an email at the above address with a temporary password. Login using the URL listed above and change your temp password.


Home Page

When you login you will default to the BICS Home page.

The Oracle BICS Home page provides you with an intuitive, task-based entry way into all of BICS key functionalities. The Home page is divided into sections that allow you to quickly begin a specific task, locate an object, or access technical documentation. You can always access the Home page by clicking the Home link on the global header. From the home page you can quickly:

Create new content starting with the Create section in the upper left

Browse existing reports, dashboards, scorecards etc.

Review end user documentation in the Get Started section

Open or edit your own private recently accessed content

Open or access the overall most popular content that you have visibility to

The Global Header

The global header, shown above contains links and options that allow you to quickly begin a task or locate a specific object within the Oracle BI Presentation catalog. Many of the options that are available via the global header are also available within the Home page.


The advantage of the global header is that it is always available from the user interface. When you are viewing a dashboard or working within one of the task editors, you can use the global header to quickly begin a new task, search the catalog, access product documentation, or view a different object without having to return to the Oracle BI EE Home page.

Browsing the Catalog Manager

The Catalog Manager has integrated Search and Folder browsing. When you start from a search or from a folder view, you can easily switch between them by toggling an icon. In the Global Header, type Top Products in the box to the right of Search.

Click on the Go icon to the right of where you typed Top Products. You are now in the Catalog Manager, where you can perform a variety of maintenance activities, depending on the type of object you have accessed.

Click on last report on the list Top Products A context sensitive Task pane opens that allows you to Edit, Print, Export, Create Shortcuts and other activities.


On the bottom of the screen, click on the arrow icon to the left of Preview. You can see what the report looks like without editing it.

Click on the Folder icon in the upper left, to the left of the binoculars. You can now browse all of the folders you have access to. Now that you know how to find saved reports and other objects, lets create our first report.


Workshop Goal

By the end of this workshop you will have created the following dashboard shown below:

This dashboard includes the analyses that well create throughout the day.


What Are Analyses?

Analyses provide answers to business questions. They let you explore and interact with information by visually presenting data in various visualization types, such as tables, charts, pivot tables, and so on. You can save, organize, and share the results of analyses. Analyses that you create can be saved in the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog and integrated into any Oracle Business Intelligence home page or dashboard. They can be enhanced through visualization, result layout, calculated items, and drilling features. Throughout this workshop, we may use some additional synonyms for analysis such as report or request.

When you start a new analysis, your screen will resemble the screenshot above.


Lab 1 - Creating a Simple Tabular Report

In the first exercise, we will get acquainted with how to build a query and use the Layout Editor and Selection Steps to further refine our report.


Create a New Analysis

Click the New link on the header toolbar.

Select Analysis


We are now in the Analysis Designer. Here we can select from the list of attributes and metrics that are available in the Subject Area.

1. Expand the Time Folder.

2. Drag Year into the work area of selected columns


1. Expand the Products Folder.

2. Drag Brand to the right side of Year

1. Expand the Revenue Metrics. 2. Drag Revenue to right side of Brand 3. Click on the Results tab.


By default, a Title and a Table view with the results will be added to the Compound Layout section of the Analysis

Lets save the current version of the analysis in My Folders. Click the Save As on the upper right of the screen.

1. Locate My Folders


2. Set the name as Brand Revenue

3. Click OK


Compound Layout

When we started creating this analysis we were on the Criteria tab. Once we clicked on the results tab we entered what we call the Compound Layout. We call it that because we can add multiple views to a request and we can view them all in the Compound Layout. Views or visualizations are objects such as, a graph, a pivot table, gauge, ticker, etc. So a single analysis can have multiple types of visualizations and then users can arrange them in compound layout. Notice that we can tell where we are in Compound Layout by the label directly above our report.

When you create a new analysis, by default you have two views a Title view and a Table view. These view objects are moveable and well learn more about that later in the workshop.

From here you can continue on to do a number of things. For example, you can go to the home screen where you will see this report under Recent. You can view the catalog and browse through shared and private folders. You can start a new analysis by selecting New from the header bar or open a previously saved report.

1. Click on Home to prepare for the next User Lab.


Lab 2 - Loading Data from External Data Sources (Instructor Led Exercise)

Click on Load Data

Click on Load Data


Click on Upload

Locate the Returns by Products.CSV file

Click on Open


Click Next

Make sure we have New Table selected.

Set the below table name:

RETURNS_DATA

On the PROD_KEY column name Change the Table Column Type to VARCHAR2.

Click Next.


You see a data preview.

Click Next

You see the number of records added.

Click OK


You see the table created and the number of records added.


Lab 3 - Modifying Table Properties (Instructor Led Exercise)

In this section we will leverage the database capabilities to change the data type of an attribute in the newly created RETURNS_DATA table. In the previous lab we loaded an Excel file with a field called bill_day_dt. We now need to change its data type to Date.

In your browser open a new tab and go to:

https://cloud.oracle.com/sign_in

From My Services, select US Commercial 2 from the Data Center drop down list.

Click on Sign in to My Services


Login with your instructor user id

Make sure you are on the Dashboard page.

Click on the businessintelltrialXXXXdb (Database) link in the lower left side of screen


Click on the Service Instance URL on the bottom right of the screen.

Click on SQL Workshop icon


Click on Object Browser icon

Scroll down and select the RETURNS_DATA table.


Click on the Modify Column tab on the upper right hand pane of the screen

From the Column drop down list make sure BILL_DAY_DT is selected

From the Datatype drop down list select DATE


Click Next

Click Finish

Confirm BILL_DAY_DT is now a type DATE field.


Demo 3.1 - Loading Data Via SQL Developer

Another method of loading data into BICS is using SQL Developer. You can make a connection to the source and target data sources and transfer data between the two using the CART process (Shopping Cart).

CART allows the developer or DBA to build ad-hoc deployment scripts. Need to order that list of objects and underlying data for your test environment? Just add them to your cart and youre ready for check-out!

SQL Developer can be used to pull selected objects from multiple databases into a single cart. Carts can be saved and re-used as necessary.

In this example we have a connection to the Human Resources database (HR) and a Cloud connection called ES BICS. To build reports in the cloud instance we need to copy the tables from the source (HR) to the target (ES BICS)


From the menu bar click on View and select Cart


Expand the HR connection and expand the Tables folder.

CTRL + Click on the tables you want to copy to the cloud


Drag the tables to the Cart pane in the lower right

Click on the Data check box in the Cart pane. This transfers the data in addition to the table

structure to the cloud.


Click on the Cloud icon in the menu bar of the Cart pane. This will start the transfer process

Select the options you want and press Apply

This process will take some time depending on the data volume you are transferring


To see the results click on the Deployments icon in the left pane under the ES BICS cloud connection

On the top right of the screen you will see the results.

Look for the status field to show PROCESSES. This means the transfer was successful.


Lab 4 - Integrating External Data Sources with the Enterprise Data Model (Instructor Led Exercise)

In this section we will use the data modeler to integrate the returns data table in the current model.

Get back to Oracle BICS Home Page

Click on Model


Click on Lock the model to edit it on top left of screen. This makes sure no one else can change the model while we are working on it.

Click OK


Locate the RETURNS_DATA table from the database section.

Right-click on the RETURNS_DATA table.

Select Add to Model.

Select as Fact Table


Notice the RETURNS_DATA table now appears under the Fact Tables section.


Click on Create Join

Set the below Join details: o -Fact Table : RETURNS_DATA o -Fact Column : PROD_KEY o = o -Dimension Table : Products o -Dimension Column : Product Item Key

Click on the green check mark to save the join.


Create a new join by clicking on Create a Join

Set the below Join details: o -Fact Table : RETURNS_DATA o -Fact Column : BILL_DAY_DT o = o -Dimension Table : Time o -Dimension Column : Date

Click on the green check mark to save the join.


We will now modify some properties of the RETURNS_DATA fact table

Click on the RETURNS_DATA from the Fact Table section


Change the table name to Return Metrics

Click on the Returns column.

Change Aggregation from None to Sum.

Click on Done.


Click on the Publish Model button in upper right corner of the screen

Select Publish and Unlock

You will see a message that the model has been successfully published.


Get back to BICS Home Page to continue with the next User Lab.


Lab 5 - Updating Analysis Using the Extended Data Model

In this lab we will update an analysis to use information coming from both the flat file and the enterprise data warehouse.

Click on the Catalog from the top menu


Click on My Folders

Locate the Brand Revenue Analysis created in Lab 1.

Click on Edit

Click on the Criteria tab to modify the selection


Expand the Return Metrics Folder.

Drag Returns to the right side of Revenue.

Drag a second RETURNS to the right side of Revenue.

Click on the bottom corner of the second RETURNS data item.

Select Edit Formula


We will now create a Global Variable. The difference between a calculation and a global viariable is that a Global Variable can be created once and used by everyone else vs. a calculation which is local to the report in which it is created.

Click on Variable

Select Global

Click on the + sign to add a new global variable


Set the below properties into the New Global Variable box. o Name: Returns_Revenue_Ratio_XXX (Replace XXX with your 3 letter initials to differentiate this variable from

variables created by other users) o Type: Text o Value: o ("Return Metrics"."RETURNS" / "Revenue Metrics"."# of Orders") *100

Click OK.


Click on the Custom Headings check box

Rename RETURNS to Returns Revenue Ratio

Click OK

Select the Column Properties for Returns Revenue Ratio


Click on the Data Format tab

Check Override Default Data Format.

Set Treat Number As to Percentage Set Decimal Places to 2. Click OK

Click on the Results tab


Click on Save As

Select My Folders

Save the report as Brand Returns Revenue Ratio

Click OK


Lab 6 - Adding a Treemap View to an Analysis

Now lets add a new visualization to the analysis. We will add a Treemap.

Click on the icon (New View) in the toolbar at the top of the Compound Layout pane.

Select Treemap


A default Treemap view is added based on the data present in the current analysis.

Click on the pencil icon in the upper right of the chart to edit the view.


Set the below details on the Layout section: o Size By: Revenue. o Color By: RETURNS. o Style: Continuous Color Fill. o Color: Green to Black scale


Drag Year and Brand from the Group By section to the Excluded section.

Disregard the warning message. It will be fixed in the next step

Expand the Products folder from the Subject Areas

Drag Product Type to the Group By Section


Click on the Treemap View Properties icon directly above the Treemap

Set Size Width to 350 and Height to 300.

Click OK


Click Done on the upper right to finish editing the Treemap

Click on Save Analysis


From the top menu click on Catalog.

Locate the Brand Returns Revenue Ratio report and click on Open.


You will now see the report without having to open it using the Analysis Designer.

Click on the Home link from the top menu to prepare for the next User Lab.


Lab 7 - Creating Interactive Dashboards

The next step in the workshop is to create a Dashboard. The goal of the lesson is take all of the content that was created in previous User Labs and build an Interactive Dashboard.

What are Dashboards?

Dashboards provide personalized views of corporate and external information. A dashboard can contain one or more dashboard pages.

Pages can display anything that you can access or open with a Web browser, including the following:

The results of analyses

The results of an analysis are the output returned from the Oracle BI Server that matches the analysis criteria. It can be shown in various views, such as a table, graph, and gauge. Users can examine and analyze results, print as PDF or HTML, save as PDF, or export them to a spreadsheet.

Action links and action link menus

Text

Views of folders in the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog

Links to Web sites

Links to documents

KPIs and watch lists

When you open a dashboard, the content of the dashboard is displayed in one or more dashboard pages. Tabs identify dashboard pages across the top of the dashboard. A toolbar at the top right contains buttons that let you:

Edit the dashboard, if you have the appropriate permissions and privileges.

Display various options for working with a "Dashboard page", such as printing the current page, refreshing, Create Bookmark Link, etc.

Dashboard Prompts

Summary

A prompt created at the dashboard level is called a named prompt because the prompt is created outside of a specific dashboard and is stored in the catalog as an object, which can then be added to any dashboard or dashboard page that contains the columns that are specified in the prompt.

Named dashboard prompts provide reusability because you can create one prompt and use it many times, and when the prompt object is updated and saved, those updates immediately appear in all dashboards where the prompt is used.

A named prompt is a specific kind of filter that, when created, saved, and applied to a dashboard or dashboard pages, can filter all or some of the


analyses embedded in a dashboard or analyses embedded on the same dashboard page.

A named prompt is interactive and will always appear on the dashboard page so that the user can prompt for different values without having to re-run the dashboard. Users can create and save named prompt to either a private folder or to a shared folder.

In order for reports to listen for dashboard prompts, they need to have filters in the report set to Is Prompted. In addition, if you add an explicit filter in a report (i.e. Brand = FunProd) and then have a dashboard prompt based on Brand that report will also listen for the dashboard prompts values.

What is the Dashboard Builder?

The Dashboard Builder lets you add dashboard pages to a dashboard and edit the pages in a dashboard. You can add objects to and control the layout of dashboard pages. The Dashboard Builder is located in the toolbar at the top right of the dashboard.

Pages contain the columns and sections that hold the content of a dashboard. Every dashboard has at least one page, which can be empty. Tabs identify dashboard pages across the top of the dashboard. Multiple pages are used to organize content. For example, you might have one page to store results from analyses that you refer to every day, another that contains links to the Web sites of your suppliers, and one that links to your corporate intranet.

The objects that you can add to a dashboard page include:

Dashboard Objects Items that are used only in a dashboard. Examples of dashboard objects are sections to hold content, action links, and embedded content that is displayed in a frame in a dashboard.

Catalog Objects Objects that you or someone else has saved to the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog (for example, analyses, prompts, and so on) and for which you have the appropriate permissions.

In a dashboard, the results of an analysis can be shown in various views, such as a table, graph, and gauge. (The results of an analysis are the output that is returned from the Oracle BI Server that matches the analysis criteria.) Users can examine and analyze results, save or print them, or export them to a spreadsheet.


Dashboard Objects

In order to add content to a Dashboard we need to choose objects from the Dashboard Objects pane or the Catalog pane.

Dashboard Objects Pane

Use the Dashboard objects pane to select the dashboard objects that you want to include on a dashboard page and drag and drop them to the Page Layout area which is located on the right side of the screen. Below is a listing of the objects and a description:

Column Used to align content on a dashboard. (Sections within columns hold the actual content.)

You can create as many columns on a dashboard page as you need. Note that the columns used in the Dashboard builder are not related to the columns used in the Analysis editor.

Section Used within columns to hold the content, such as action links, analyses, and so on. You

can drag and drop as many sections as you need to a column.

Action Link Used to add an action link. An action link is a link that you embed in an analysis,

dashboard page, or KPI that, when clicked, runs an associated action.

Action Link Menu Used to add an action link menu. An action link menu let users choose, from a list of action

links, the right action to be executed.

Text Used to add plain text or, if allowed at your site, HTML.

Folder Used to add a view of a Catalog folder and its contents. For example, you might add a

folder that contains a collection of saved analyses that you run frequently. Then from the dashboard, you can open the folder, navigate to a saved request, and click it to run it.


Catalog Pane Use this pane to add objects from the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog to analyses, dashboards, and so on. The objects available for you to add depend on the task that you are performing. For example, if you are creating:

A dashboard, you can add objects that are appropriate to add to a dashboard (such as pages, columns, analyses, and prompts) and for which you have appropriate permissions.

Click on Create a Dashboard


Name it Sales Dashboard Select My Folders as the location. Use the location drop down menu list and Browse Catalog

options

Click OK if the following message is displayed: This dashboard will not appear in the "Dashboards" menu.

Ensure Add content now is selected Click OK


Drag a Column from the list of dashboard objects on the left side to the dashboard content pane on the right

Drag a second column object to the right side of the first one


In the Catalog pane expand My Folders

Drag Brand Returns Revenue Ratio Analysis to the inside the first column on the left of the dashboard. This will create a new section called Section 1 in Column 1.


In the Catalog Expand Company Shared > SampleApp > Sample Reports folders

Drag Tiles Analysis inside and at the top of column2 of the dashboard. This will create Section 2 in Column 2 of the dashboard.


In the Catalog Pane expand Company Shared > SampleApp > Sample Reports folders

Drag the Geo Products Analysis inside the same column and under the Tiles Analysis. In the upper right corner, click on Save and then Run.


Congratulations, you have just created your first dashboard!

Making Changes to Your Layout

If you need to make changes to your layout or modify content you can do that.

From your My Dashboard, click the Page Options button in the upper right hand corner.

Select Edit Dashboard.

This gets us back to where we were. Now you can move things around, add additional columns or reports and make any necessary changes.


Adding Links Below Reports

One of the common things you want to do especially when just creating a dashboard is add a link to edit the individual reports on the dashboard. Frequently youll need to go back in and tweak formatting or sizing so that it looks good on the dashboard.

Click on the Page Options icon.

Click on Edit Dashboard

Click the Tools button.

Select Page Report Links.


Turn on Customize

Then click to turn on the options you like

Click Ok

Save your dashboard

Run

You can now see the links under each section of the dashboard, which allows users to modify the reports.

Congratulations!


Oracle Mobile BI (Optional User Labs)

Topics Covered

Overview of the Oracle Mobile BI Solution

Downloading Oracle Business Intelligence Mobile HD Software from App Store

Setting up Connectivity to the Workshop

Viewing & Interacting with Dashboards on your iPad

Using BI Mobile Application Designer

Oracle BI Mobile Overview

Oracle Business Intelligence (BI) Mobile provides users with the ability to interact with all their analytics content, in a touch-optimized manner, on smartphones and tablets, as well as quickly build stunning, interactive, targeted mobile business apps without writing a single line of code. All this is available as an integrated component within the Business Intelligence Foundation Suite, with immediate benefits to business users, reduced IT administrative overheads, and a lower TCO to enterprises.

Oracle BI Mobile consists of Oracle BI Mobile HD and Oracle BI Mobile App Designer, two integrated and complementary solutions that work together to meet the full spectrum of mobile users analytical needs. Oracle BI Mobile HD enables customers to extend desktop based dashboards and reports as-is to mobile devices without the need for any re-work, providing companies with an easy and effective way to make users more productive while away from the office. Oracle Mobile App Designer empowers business users to develop purpose-built analytical applications that are optimized to perform a specific analysis while on the go. These applications can range from stunning interactive briefing books, financial reports, or customer facing analysis. Oracle Business Intelligence Mobile HD The Oracle BI Mobile HD is a mobile app for smartphones and tablets and provides immediate access to all BI analytic content like analyses, dashboards, scorecards, reports, and more without requiring any modifications. The content delivered is optimized automatically for interaction on mobile devices via touch and multi-touch gestures. Greater Interactivity: Touch and gestures are the primary way of interacting with content on tablets like the Apple iPad. The Oracle BI Mobile HD application provides familiar touch and multi-gestural interactions for users to work with BI content and has been optimized to work with advanced visualizations like performance tiles, waterfall graphs, and the 100 percent stacked bar graphs. View Maximize Mode. Users can double-tap all supported views like graphs, tables, trellis, maps, gauges, etc to maximize the view. The view renders using the full screen real-estate of the tablet, thus making it especially easier to view and work with dense data views. All supported behaviors like tap, tap-and-hold, tap-and-swipe are available in this maximized mode. Enhanced Usability. Dashboard customizations offer a quick and powerful way of storing the state of a dashboard to a users preference, with drills, prompts, etc stored and made available subsequently. Users can select from a list of available customizations and apply any one of them to the dashboard they are


viewing. Alternatively, users can also choose to clear all customizations applied on a dashboard page, and view it in its original state. Customized Startup Experience. Users can set the default starting configuration on the iPad version of the BI Mobile HD app - whether they want to begin with the Favorites or "Most Recent" or "Dashboards from the Settings panel. Separately, there is a "first-time help" overlay screen is displayed when you launch the app for the first time after installing it.

Offline Access: Oracle BI Mobile allows content to be saved for offline viewing and sharing. When online, users can refresh saved offline content and share via e-mail with other users. A fine-grained security privilege also allows administrators to grant or revoke the ability to save offline content for users, roles or groups. Simple access to any mobile capabilities can also be administered via user privileges

Downloading the Software from App Store

Connect your iPad to the Internet.

Launch App Store on your iPad

Search for Oracle Business Intelligence (iPad Only) and download and Install Oracle Business Intelligence Mobile HD.

Connecting your iPad to the Workshop

Change the Wi-Fi Settings on your iPad to the Clear Guess wireless network.

a. Connect any wireless network or, Clear_Guest b. Password: Provided by Instructor

Launch the Oracle BI Mobile HD application on your device

Select Add Server and fill in the information per screen shot below (instructor may provide a different Host URL)

Name: BICS Workshop

Host: https://businessintelltrialXXXX-usoracletrialXXXXX.analytics.us2.oraclecloud.com

Port: 443

SSL: ON

SSO: ON

Username: Not Required

Password: Not Required

Save Password: On

Device Locale: On

Analytics Path: keep default (/analytics/saw.dll)

Publisher Path: keep default ( /xmlpserver)


Click Save.

Login to the BI Workshop application you just setup


Enter your User Name and Password and click on Sign In


When you first access the application you will get the required resources downloaded message. This only happens upon initial login.


Get familiar with the application by clicking on the Application Menu icon, top right.

Tap on Show First Time Help


Navigating to the Workshop Dashboard

Select the Search button.


Select My Folders


Select the Sales Dashboard


You should now see the workshop dashboard you created.

You can tap on different analysis to drill up/down or click on the tiles on top of the screen.


To review additional dashboards:

1. Tap on Dashboards on the left pane 2. Select the Executive Demo folder from the right pane


Select the Executive dashboard


You should now see the Executive - Dashboard.

Feel free to explore by tapping on different visualizations and tiles.


BICS Challenge (Extra Credit User Labs)

This section contains several additional labs, which you can work on if you have finished your previous User Labs and have some extra time. These labs provide only basic instructions and allow you to get creative and go off road. Feel free to explore with various available formatting options and have fun.

Using Recommended Visualization

Create a tabular report and allow the system to recommend a variety of visualizations that can enhance the tabular report.

Select the above items or choose your own

Format as desired (column headings, currency, etc.)

Go to Results


Click on the New View icon, Select Recommended Visualization for and pick the visualization that best fits your scenario. You can always remove it and add a new one.

Save this report in My Folders

Using Best Visualization

Best Visualization allows the system to recommend the best visualization based on the current report attributes and metrics.

Open the previous report you just saved. Remove the graph view and add a new view and select Best Visualization.


Edit the table by clicking on the pencil icon in upper right


In the column and measures section add Totals Appear After.

Explore various other formatting options.


Create an OLAP Style Report

Create a report allowing the users to drill up & down to see details within various member levels.

Add the above items to a new analysis. And click Results.


Drill down on All Geographies to see the different regions.

You can go back to the top level by clicking on All Geographies again. This will collapse the details.

What if you wanted to see the results for California only and do not want to drill down through all the different levels?

Instead of drilling down the All Geographies path, lets add a New Group and select exactly what you want to see.


Click on the New Group icon in the tool bar


Name this group CA Only

Expand All Geographies until you find California. Add it to the selected columns and press OK. You can add anything else you like.


You now have CA only without having to drill down.


To make changes to the new group click on the Selections Steps.

Click on CA Only and select Edit Group

Format the report as you like


Performance Tiles

Create a new analysis with the following items:

Add a new view and select Performance Tiles


Go to properties for the Revenue performance tile


Select the size and color for the tile

Save this report in My Folders as Performance Tiles.


In the Views section, bottom left, select Performance Tile and click on the Rename icon and call it Performance Tile Revenue


Lets create another performance tile for another measure in the report. Click on the Performance Tile Revenue in the Views section and click on Duplicate View


In the layout pane, from the Measures drop down menu list select Discount Ratio %

Press Done.

Following the previous steps, rename this to Performance Tile Discount Ratio % Make a copy of this tile, and select Discount Value as the final measure and call the final performance

tile Discount value.


You can also add conditional formatting by going to the properties of the tile. In this case we put a condition to highlight revenue based on different values.


Gauges

Create a new analysis using items below:

Edit Revenue and select currency, $ sign and 2 decimals.

Click Results


Add a new visualization and select the Gauge view.Dial


Go to properties of the Gauge view

Drag LOB to the Excluded section and press the Done button.


Explore various formatting and view options.


Trellis Chart, Pivot Table and View Selector

Create a new analysis using SampleApp Subject Area.

From Products: Select LOB, Product Type

From Geography: Select Region

From Time: Select Year

From Revenue Metrics: Select Revenue

Add filter to Year to filter on 2011 and 2012.

It should look like the screenshot below:

Click on Results Tab. The resulting Analysis should look like this:


Click on Edit Title and rename it to Annual Revenue by Product and Region

Add New View > Pivot Table


Edit the Pivot Table View.

Put LOB, Product Type in Rows.

Put Year and Region in columns

Put Revenue in Measures. It should look like the screenshot below


Click Done.

The Pivot Table will look like this.


It should look like this:

Add New View > Trellis (Simple)

Click on Edit

Put Year in the Columns

Put LOB, Product Type in the Rows

Color by Region, Revenue

Click Done.


Remove the Trellis and Pivot Table visualizations from the Compound Layout. Note, it does not actually delete them from the analysis, just hides them from the Compound Layout.


Add a New View > Other Views > View Selector


Edit View Selector

In Caption, type in Select View

Caption Position (Above)

Views Included: Trellis, Pivot Table.

Click Done


In the dropdown under Select View, select Pivot Table. It will look like this:


Save analysis in My Folders as ViewSelector_ProductRegion.


Appendix A

Components of the Create Analysis Screen

A Subject Area is a logical representation of your business data (Attributes & Metrics) that has been logically organized. A Subject Area contains folders and each folder contains a variety of attributes and measures that can be used to create a new analysis, report or ad-hoc query. You can browse the folders by expanding and collapsing them as needed.

The contents and arrangement of these folders are determined by a business intelligence administrator.

Types of Columns:

Attribute Column: Holds a simple list of members, which function as attributes, similar to a dimension. This is similar to a column in a table in a relational data source.

Hierarchical Column: Holds a list in which individual members are shown in an outline manner, with lower-level members rolling into higher-level members, and outline totals being shown for the higher-level members. It is similar to a hierarchy of a dimension in a multidimensional data source.

Measure Columns: Holds a simple list of data values. It is a column in an Oracle BI Enterprise Edition repository, usually in a fact table, that can change for each record and can be added up or aggregated in some way. Similar to a column of data in a relational data source. Examples include Revenue or Billed Quantity.


This is where you begin to create a new analysis. You add columns from the Subject Area pane on the left by double-clicking on the columns. Once the columns are on the request, you can filter them, format them, rearrange the order and create custom formulas and headings.

This is where you can view the results of your query. This also lets you create different views of the analysis results such as charts, tickers, and pivot tables.

Here you can create Prompts that will allow you to filter the Request each time you run it. Note that this is not a Dashboard Prompt. The prompts you enter here are stored with the request. A Dashboard Prompt is built and stored separately. A Dashboard Prompt is typically placed at the top of a Dashboard, and it can filter some or all of the requests that are displayed on that Dashboard.

This panel displays the Logical SQL that will be sent to the Oracle BI Server when you execute this request. It also displays the XML representation of your request.


Subject Area Specific Icons:

Add or Remove Subject Areas: by default you start with a single subject area. Users can combine columns from multiple subject areas if more than one subject area is available.

Refresh Subject Area Folder display: This will refresh the folder displays and contents within folders to ensure that the most up to date columns and attributes are available. This is typically used by advanced users during development.

If you are working with a saved request, this area displays the current name of the Request, as it is stored in the Analytics Catalog.

The buttons in this panel will do the following:

Saves the current request

Save the current request as a different name (Save As)

Launches context sensitive help

Panes and Properties: While you are on the Criteria page, you may choose to add or remove panes on the screen.

The buttons in this panel will do the following:

Shows or Hides the Filters pane

Shows or Hides the Selection Steps Pane

Analysis Properties: This is where you can customize a no results message as well as determine placement of hierarchical members.

Selected Column Pane Options:

Enables you to combine results based on union, intersection and different operations.

Removes all columns from the criteria pane.

Filters Pane Options:

Create a new data filter for the current analysis


Removes all filters from the analysis

Shows a menu for two additional Filters related options:

1. Save Filters: Saves the current filters so they can easily be applied to new or existing analyses.

2. Add Evaluate Predicate Function: Use this function when you cannot create the filter clause that you want with the Oracle BI EE filter operators. This function is intended for database functions with a return type of Boolean, and can only be used for SQL functions.

The catalog pane allows you to add saved elements such as Filters, Calculated Items or Groups to the existing analysis.

When you select an item from the catalog then some of the catalog buttons become active.

This will add the selected catalog item to the analysis.

This enables you to view the properties or details of the selected catalog item.

The edit button will enable you to edit the selected item.

The refresh button will refresh the folders displayed in the catalog pane.


Working with Panes in the Analysis Area

Each of the tabs in the Analysis editor consists of a number of panes. For example, the Results tab consists of the "Subject Areas pane", the "Catalog pane", the "Views pane", and the "Selection Steps pane". As you work, you will want to manage these panes to give yourself the most efficient work area for the task you are performing. For example, if you add multiple views to the compound layout on the Results tab, then you might want to hide the other panes in the Results tab to maximize the area in which to see the views you are adding. You can: Show or hide the panes appearing on the left side of the Analysis editor by clicking the sideways triangle button that is displayed between the left and right sides. Expand or collapse an individual pane by clicking the plus or minus button in the title bar of the pane. Show or hide a pane by clicking its show/hide toolbar button, if one is available for the pane in the toolbar. For example, you can show or hide the Filters pane in the Criteria tab by clicking the Show/Hide Filters pane button in the toolbar.


Appendix B

Available Visualization & Graphs

What Types of Visualizations (Views) Are Available?

View Name View Description

Title Displays a title, a subtitle, a logo, a link to a custom online help page, and timestamps to the results.

Table Displays results in a visual representation of data organized by rows and columns. A table provides a summary view of data and enables users to see different views of data by dragging and dropping rows and columns.

Pivot Table Displays results in a pivot table, which provides a summary view of data in cross-tab format and enables users to see different views of data by dragging and dropping rows and columns. Pivot tables structure data similarly to standard tables that contain column groups, but can display multiple levels of both row and column headings. Unlike regular tables, each data cell in a pivot table contains a unique value. By organizing data in this way, a pivot table is more efficient than a row-based table. Pivot tables are ideal for displaying a large quantity of data, for browsing data hierarchically, and for trend analysis.

Graph Displays numeric information visually, which makes it easier to understand large quantities of data. Graphs often reveal patterns and trends that text-based displays cannot. However, when precise values are needed, graphs should be supplemented with other data displays, such as tables.

A graph is displayed on a background, called the graph canvas.

Funnel Displays results as a three-dimensional graph that represents target and actual values using volume, level, and color. Typically, funnel graphs are used to graphically represent data that changes over different periods or stages. For example, funnel graphs are often used to represent the volume of sales over a quarter.

Funnel graphs are well suited for showing actual compared to targets for data where the target is known to decrease (or increase) significantly per stage, such as a sales pipeline.

In funnel graphs, the thresholds indicate a percentage of the target value, and colors provide visual information for each stage. You can click one of the colored areas to drill down to more detailed information.

Gauge Shows a single data value. Due to its compact size, a gauge is often more effective than a graph for displaying a single data value

Gauges identify problems in data. A gauge usually plots one data point with an indication of whether that point falls in an acceptable or unacceptable range. Thus, gauges are useful for



showing performance against goals.

Depending on the data in the analysis, a gauge view might consist of multiple gauges in a gauge set. For example, if you create a gauge view to show the sales data for the last twelve months, the gauge view consists of twelve gauges, one for each month. If you create one to show the total sales in the US, then the gauge view consists of one gauge.

A gauge or gauge set is displayed on a background, called the gauge canvas.

Trellis Displays multidimensional data shown as a set of cells in a grid, where each cell represents a subset of data using a particular graph type. Data can be represented with graphs, micro charts, and numbers.

The trellis view has two subtypes: Simple Trellis and Advanced Trellis.

Simple trellis views are ideal for displaying multiple graphs that enable comparison of like to like. Advanced trellis views are ideal for displaying spark graphs that show a trend.

A simple trellis displays a single inner graph type, for example a grid of multiple Bar graphs. The inner graphs always use a common axis; that is to say, the graphs have a synchronized scale.

An advanced trellis displays a different inner graph type for each measure. For example, a mixture of Spark Line graphs and Spark Bar graphs, alongside numbers. In this example, the Spark Line graph might show Revenue over time, and the Spark Bar graph might show Units Sold. A measure column displaying numbers might be placed adjacent to the Spark Line graphs, showing the Revenue measure as a total value for a year.

In an advanced trellis, each measure column operates independently for drilling, axis scaling, and so on.

Performance Tile

Displays a single aggregate measure value in a manner that is both visually simple and prominent, yet it immediately reveals summary metrics to the user that will likely be presented in more detail within a dashboard view.

Performance Tiles:

Focus the user's attention on simple, need-to-know facts directly and prominently on the tile.

Communicate status through simple formatting by using color, labels, and limited styles, or through conditional formatting of the background color or measure value to make the tile visually prominent. For example, if revenue is not tracking to target, the revenue value may appear in red.

Respond to prompts, filters, and user roles and permissions by making them relevant to the user and their context.



Support a single, aggregate or calculated value.

Filters Displays the filters in effect for an analysis. Filters, like selection steps, allow you to constrain an analysis to obtain results that answer a particular question. Filters are applied before the query is aggregated.

Selection Steps

Displays the selection steps in effect for an analysis. Selection steps, like filters, allow you to obtain results that answer particular questions. Selection steps are applied after the query is aggregated.

Column Selector

Adds a column selector in the results. A column selector is a set of drop-down lists that contain pre-selected columns. Users can dynamically select columns and change the data that is displayed in the views of the analysis.

View Selector Adds a view selector in the results. A view selector is a drop-down list from which users can select a specific view of the results from among the saved views.

Narrative Displays the results as one or more paragraphs of text. You can type in a sentence with placeholders for each column in the results, and specify how rows should be separated.

Static Text Adds static text in the results. You can use HTML to add banners, tickers, ActiveX objects, Java applets, links, instructions, descriptions, graphics, and so on, in the results.

Logical SQL Displays the SQL statement that is generated for an analysis. This view is useful for trainers and administrators, and is usually not included in results for typical users.

You cannot modify this view, except to format its container or to delete it.

What Types of Graphs Are Available?

This section shows graphs that are available and describes their uses.

Graph Type Graph Subtype Description Styles

Bar Vertical

Horizontal

Stacked Vertical

Stacked Horizontal

100% Stacked Vertical

100% Stacked Horizontal

Shows quantities associated with categories. Bar graphs show quantities as bar lengths and categories as bars or groups of bars.

Bar graphs are useful for comparing differences among like items; for example, competing product sales, same product sales over different time periods, or same product sales over different markets.

Can be used to compare measure columns by showing bars in a horizontal or vertical direction.

Rectangle Triangle Cylinder Diamond Gradient Pattern Fill



Line - Shows quantities over time or by category.

Line graphs are useful for showing trends over time.

Can be used to plot multiple measure columns.

Standard Line Stepped Line Curved Line

Area Stacked

100% Stacked

Shows the trend of the contribution of each value over time or by category.

An area graph is a line graph for which the regions between lines are filled in. Regions stack, adding up to the total value for each time period or category. In 100% stacked graphs, each category is displayed as a percentage contribution to the total value.

Solid Fill Gradient Fill Pattern Fill

Pie - Shows data sets as percentages of a whole.

Pie graphs are useful for comparing parts of a whole, such as sales by region or by district.

Solid Fill Gradient Fill Pattern Fill

Line Bar Standard

Stacked

Plots two sets of data with different ranges, one set as bars, and one set as lines overlaid on the bars.

Line-bar graphs are useful for showing trend relationships between data sets.

Rectangle Triangle Cylinder Diamond Gradient Pattern Fill

Time Series Line

- Plots time series data. It scales the horizontal axis based on the time that has elapsed between data points.

Standard Line Stepped Line Curved Line

Pareto - Is a form of bar graph and line graph that displays criteria in descending order. In this graph type, the line shows a cumulative total of the percentages.

Pareto graphs are useful for identifying significant elements, such as best and worst or most and least.

Rectangle Triangle Cylinder Diamond Gradient



Pattern Fill

Scatter - Displays x-y values as discrete points, scattered within an x-y grid. It plots data points based on two independent variables. This enables you to plot large numbers of data points and observe the clustering of data points.

Scatter graphs are useful for observing relationships and trends in large data sets.

Standard Scatter Scatter-with-Lines

Bubble - Is a variation of a scatter graph that displays data elements as circles (bubbles). It shows three variables in two dimensions. One value is represented by the location of the circle on the horizontal axis. Another value is represented by the location of the circle on the vertical axis. The third value is represented by the radius of the circle.

Bubble graphs are useful for plotting data with three variables, and for displaying financial data over a period of time.

None

Radar - Plots the same information as a bar graph, but instead displays data radiating from the center of the graph. Each data element has its own value axis.

Radar graphs are useful for examining overlap and distribution.

None

Waterfall - A waterfall graph lets you visualize how a value increases or decreases sequentially and cumulatively. Waterfall graphs have the following characteristics:

Focus the user's attention on how each measure contributes to the overall total.

Communicate through simple formatting by using color.

An initial value is summed with subsequent values (both negative and positive deltas or changes) to arrive at a total. There is only one total per waterfall graph and subtotals can be added.

None


What Types of Funnel Views Are Available?

This section describes the types of funnel views that are available. The style of each type can be either solid or

gradient fill.

Type Description

Standard Uses a standard shape with equal stage widths.

Non-Standard

Uses a standard shape with unequal stage widths

Last-Stage Only

Uses a standard shape with equal stage widths. It is similar to standard funnel except that the target values of all the stages before the last is calculated based on the last stage target value and a constant called target factor.

What Types of Graphs Are Available in Trellis Views?

The list of graph types that are available for use in Trellis views varies by Trellis view subtype: Simple Trellis or Advanced Trellis.

The following types of graphs can be used in simple trellises:

Bar (subtype Vertical)

Bar (subtype Horizontal)

Line

Area

Line-Bar

Pie

Scatter

Bubble

The following visualization choices are available in advanced trellises:

Numbers

Micro chart, of the following subtypes: o Spark Bar o Spark Line o Spark Area


What Types of Gauges Are Available?

This section lists and describes the types of gauges that are available. All gauges are 2-dimensional (2-D) except for bulb gauges which can be either 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional (3-D). Their sizes can be small,

medium, large, or a custom size.

Type Description

Dial Shows data using a dial arc with one or more indicators that point to to where the data falls within predefined limits.

Horizontal Bar

Shows data using a horizontal bar that changes color to indicate whether the data is within predefined limits. The inner rectangle of the horizontal bar shows the current level of data against the ranges marked on an outer rectangle.

Vertical Bar Shows data using a vertical bar that changes color to indicate whether the data is within predefined limits. The inner rectangle of the vertical bar shows the current level of data against the ranges marked on an outer rectangle.

Bulb Shows data using a circle that changes color to indicate whether the data is within predefined limits.

Bulb gauges are useful when you must know what the status is, and not any indication of a specific value, or relative information about other threshold ranges.

Documents

BICS Workshop Student Handbook FINAL