BOCX Speaker Deck

8/17/2019 BOCX Speaker Deck

1/23

SAP BusinessObjects

Dashboard Essentials

Presented by: David LaiDate: April 13, !11


2/23

Introduction

David Lai

SAP Business Objects "onsultant

SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards Enthusiast

Author o# $eb blo% http:&&$$$'davidlai1!1'co(&blo% and coauthor o#

http:&&$$$'(y)celsius'co(

"o*author o# SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards +'! "ooboo'

-ebrandin% o# .celsius

.celsius in its ori%inal conception $as a $ay to build visuali/ations and

dashboards usin% E)cel data'

As .celsius evolved, the na(e no lon%er beca(e relevant in the SAPproduct line

0hus SAP #elt it $ould be better #or custo(ers i# .celsius $as to be

rebranded as SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards


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Agenda

"o((on issues that dashboard desi%ners are #aced$ith

Data connectivity

E)ternal 3rd party addons

uery Bro$ser 2e$ B4+ #eature5

Dashboard resources

6A


4/23

Common Dashboard Issues

Architectural 4ssues Decidin% on $hat type o# data connection to use

Dashboard Per#or(ance

A%%re%ation o# data $ithin .celsius

7unctionality

8ierarchical selection

9ultiple selection

Drillin% up and do$n hierarchies


5/23

Data "onnectivity

SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards

can connect to 1 di##erent types o#

data sources


6/23

1 "onnectivity Options

uery as a eb Service

Live O##ice

SAP et$eaver B"onnection

"rystal -eport Data"onsu(er

7lash ;ariables 7S "o((ands

eb Service "onnection

.9L Data

Portal Data L"DS "onnection

2Adobe5

E)ternal 4nter#ace

"onnections E)cel .9L 9aps

BO Enterprise

on*BO Enterprise


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8/23

Live O##ice and aaS < -unti(e


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When to use Live Office – Complex Formatting

"rosstabs $ith a dyna(ic a(ount o# colu(ns or #or(ulas in the cells thatre=uire co(ple) #or(ulas that can be done in the EB4 report'

ith aaS $e can use E0L but that $ould re=uire e)tra data

(aintenance and universes&universe objects $hich so(e or%ani/ations are

not oay $ith'

>reat #or rapid develop(ent as $e don?t have to $ait #or E0L resources toco(plete the E0L $or


10/23

hen to use Live O##ice

e can (ae use o# EB4 report schedulin% on =ueries that tae

lon% to run'

0he dataset needs to be s(all enou%h 2less than @!! ro$s5 so that

$e can just %rab the entire set $ithout havin% to =uery'

Scheduling

Crstal !eports

"rystal -eports can be utili/ed $hen there is no niverse


11/23

hen to use uery as a eb Service

uery as a eb Service does not have to build a EB4 report and =ueries

directly

>ood #or lar%e data sets that need to be broen do$n $ith pro(pt para(eters

"an per#or( ro$ level security =ueryin%

"erformance

Data Logic # $aintainabilit

eeps Data Lo%ic in the data layer so that database handles all the

nu(ber crunchin% throu%h the E0L

Don?t have to (aintain Live O##ice connections on the E)cel

spreadsheet

Less overhead on the dashboard source #ile


12/23


13/23

B4 eb Services

Available #or SAP BusinessObjects .4 3'1 SP and up

8ybrid o# Live O##ice and uery as a eb Service

Allo$s you to create $eb service objects #ro( eb 4ntelli%ence blocs

2"o(ple) #or(attin% $ithout the need #or E0L5

"an used scheduled reports "an use eb 4ntelli%ence drill do$n #eature $hich is e)tre(ely use#ul

o (ore Live O##ice (ana%e(ent re=uired on E)cel spreadsheet


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15/23

So(e =uic dashboard per#or(ance tips

hen usin% Live O##ice, use as little live o##ice connections as possible'

0hey tae up a lot o# overhead -e*use dashboard co(ponents such as charts and selectors as (uch as

possible

eep dataset si/es to a (ini(u(' hen you are %oin% over 1@!! ro$s, it

taes a si%ni#icant a(ount o# overhead'

0ry to use #or(ulas such as ;LOOP, 8LOOP, S947s, etc sparin%ly'

7or ;LOOPs you can use 7iltered -o$s instead'

se 6F instead o# "oncatenateF


16/23

4novista 9icrocharts

A po$er#ul 3rd party addon that allo$s a desi%ner to create standard or

hierarchical tree structures and present nu(erous data visuali/ations in aco(pact $ay

7ills SAP BusinessObjects Dashboard?s tree e)plorer %ap

Each colu(n can represent a di##erent chart type

8u%e a(ount o# control options to custo(i/e table #unctionality

Allo$s desi%ners to build visuali/ations that are in line $ith Stephen 7e$?sprinciples


17/23

7iltered Su((ary "o(ponent

Strai%ht #or$ard approach to su((ari/e %roups o# data

4nject su((ari/ation, searchin% and #ilterin% capabilities #or end users Shorten develop(ent ti(e and i(prove dashboard (aintenance

Don?t have to run another =uery in order to %et a%%re%ated calculations


18/23

>(aps Plu%*in

avi%ate %eo%raphic in#or(ation $ithin a #a(iliar >oo%le 9aps inter#ace

;isuali/e per#or(ance at any level #ro( $orld$ide to a street*level picture -etrieve detailed in#or(ation on (ap properties


19/23

uery Bro$ser

Po$er#ul ne$ #eature in SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards + that allo$s

desi%ners to connect directly to niverse objects Don?t have to (ana%e separate EB4 or aaS objects

Allo$s desi%ners to bind output data directly to object selectors and vice

versa to reduce co(ple)ity'

Build your =uery

objectBind directly to

=uery object


20/23

uery Bro$ser * "ontinued

9ulti Select $ithout havin% to use the real estate ho%%in% List BuilderG

9ulti Select #ro(

list o# valuesG


21/23

uery Bro$ser H eed to no$

9ust be on SAP BusinessObjects B4+

Iou (ust use 4n#or(ation Desi%n 0ool to convert e)istin% niverses into. #or(at #or the niverses to be visible on uery Bro$ser

uery selection is the sa(e as uery as a $eb service 2no co(ple)

#or(attin%5


22/23

SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards +'! -esources

SA" Communit %et&or'

http:&&$$$'sdn'sap'co(&irj&scn&inde)

0he O##icial SAP "o((unity et$or provides a $ealth o# no$led%e on SAP products, #oru(s to help developers overco(e any

proble(s, blo%s to learn ne$ tips and trics, and (uch (ore'

(usiness Ob)ects (oard

http:&&$$$'#oru(topics'co(&busobj&inde)'php

Be#ore SAP bou%ht Business Objects, this $as the lar%est support #oru( that developers $ould %o to' Even a#ter the ac=uisition

o# Business Objects, the #oru( still re(ains very active'

*verthing+celsius,com – +celsius -urus %et&or'

http:&&$$$'everythin%)celsius'co(

ebsite #or all your SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards 2.celsius5 ne$s, tips, trics, te(plates, consultin% and trainin%'

$+celsius,com

http:&&$$$'(y)celsius'co(

>reat blo% that contains a hu%e a(ount o# tips, trics, and best practices #or SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards' 0here are close

to 1! authors $ho contribute to (ain% this blo% a success'

David Lai.s (usiness Intelligence (log

http:&&$$$'davidlai1!1'co(&blo%

David Lai?s blo% that provides a %reat a(ount o# tips, trics, and best practices (ainly on SAP BusinessObjects related products'

8e also provides insi%ht into other Business 4ntelli%ence toolsets'

SA" (usinessOb)ects Dashboards /,0 Coo'boo'

http:&&$$$'pactpub'co(&sap*businessobjects*dashboards*+*!*cooboo&boo

Over J@ si(ple and incredibly e##ective recipes #or trans#or(in% your data into e)citin% dashboards $ith SAP BusinessObjects

Dashboards +'!' Available 9ay !11


23/23

uestions and Ans$ers

Documents

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