How to integrate Crystal Reports and Xcelsius into Launchpads · Report Launchpad –Supported Types of Reports In general the following report types are supported: Portal Page Transaction

How to Integrate Crystal

Reports and Xcelsius into

Launchpad

Dirk Degrell, Business Suite Foundation

Jutta Erlewein, Business Suite Foundation

Hans-Dieter Loew, TIP Core User Interface Development

15/12/2010

Agenda

How to Integrate Crystal Reports into Launchpad

Launchpad – Short Introduction

How to Integrate Xcelsius into Launchpad

How to Integrate a Launchpad into a Portal Role

How to Integrate a Launchpad into a WebDynpro App with FPM

© SAP 2010/ Launchpad Page 2

Agenda







Report Launchpad

Report Launchpad is a unified approach to start all sorts of reports


Report Launchpad – Supported Types of Reports

In general the following report types are supported: Portal Page

Transaction (SAP ERP)

URL

BI Query (SAP NetWeaver BI)

BEx Analyzer (SAP NetWeaver BI)

BI Web Template (SAP NetWeaver BI)

BI Enterprise Report (SAP NetWeaver BI)

Report Writer (SAP ERP)

Web Dynpro Java application

Web Dynpro ABAP application

KM Document

Visual Composer xApps

Infoset Query (SAP ERP)

Object-based Navigation

Crystal Report

Xcelsius Dashboard

Supported Report types depend on launching environment. A detailed list of supported report types by environment can be found on next slide.


Report Launchpad – Supported Types of Reports by

Launching environments


Supported Report Types SAP NW

Enterprise

Portal

NWBC

(based on

PCD Role)

NWBC 1.0

(based on

PFCG Role)

NWBC 3.0

(based on

PFCG Role)

Browser

Portal Page *Transaction (SAP ERP) URL BI Query (SAP Netweaver BI) *BEx Analyzer (SAP Netweaver BI) *BI Web Template (SAP Netweaver BI) *BI Enterprise Report (SAP NetWeaver BI) *Report Writer (SAP ERP) Web Dynpro Java application *Web Dynpro ABAP application KM Document *Visual Composer xApps *Infoset Query (SAP ERP) Object-based Navigation Crystal Report *Xcelsius Dashboard *

* with BAdI ImplementationFuther details about navigation from different

environments can be found in note 1285135

Report Launchpad – General Idea

© SAP 2010 / Launchpad Page 7

In general the idea is to provide a user with a set of reports that are relevant in the

context of a business role or an application.

By just clicking the links (or buttons) the respective reports are being launched.

The user does not have to care about reporting technology or systems.

When a report has been launched it still provides all of its ‘native’ functionality

such as drill-down, filtering, navigation, etc.

(1) Report Launchpads may be used in

Portal Content Directory (PCD) roles,

which can be rendered either in SAP

NetWeaver Portal or in the SAP

NetWeaver Business Client (NWBC)

(2) Report Launchpads may be

assigned to PFCG roles

(3) Report Launchpads may also be used

integrated into WebDynpro applications

such as Closing Cockpit or Express

Planning scenarios or WebDynpro

applications build with the Floorplan

Manager (FPM)

Report Launchpad – Where to Use?


Report Launchpad as WebDynpro Application

Role based provisioning of a set of reports

Provide user individual personalization capabilities


Semantic grouping of reports

Link to start report

Explanation text (optional)

Report Launchpad – Available Entities


Report Launchpad –

User Individual Personalization

(4) … add variants (e.g. to

transactions) or views

(to BI Queries)


(1) User individual personalization

capabilities at runtime …

(2) … e.g., add additional

reports to the Report

Launchpad, or ...

(3) … rearrange report groups or

sequence of reports, or…

Report Launchpad – Embedded in WD Application

Embedded Launchpad in a

WebDynpro application.

Embedded Launchpads may be used to

hand over application context (in this

example the selected cost center) to the

reports.


Role and Instance specify a

Report Launchpad.

These Parameters are used to

assign a specific Report

Launchpad – e.g., to a portal

iView or a WebDynpro application

Launchpad

Report Launchpad – Customizing

One single customizing transaction for

Report Launchpads: LPD_CUST

Report Folder

Report

Report group ‘Inactive Applications’ is

a standard report group which may

contain reports that are not being

displayed by default.

A user may add such reports to his

individual Launchpad during runtime.


Report Launchpad – Customizing

Depending on the type of report,

specific parameters are required.

The application specific parameters

are categorized into mandatory

parameters and advanced

parameters.

Advanced parameters are not

necessary to make a report run.


Agenda






Launch Crystal Report without Parameterization

Parameterization with Fixed Value

Parameterization with Personalization Information

Parameterization with Application Context

Usage of Dynamic Placeholders

Further Parameterization


Agenda













Click ‘New Application’ in order to add

a new report link to the Launchpad.


Enter a text for the link.


After saving the new entry, the ‘link

text’ is also displayed in the tree

on the left hand side.

During runtime of the Launchpad the

‘link text’ will be displayed as label of

the respective hyperlink.



Enter a description. This is optional.

If a description is entered, it will

be displayed underneath the

respective hyperlink.

In case you did not enter a description,

the end user will only see a hyperlink

for the report.


Select an ‘Application category’.

In case you want to integrate a

Crystal Report select for example

‘Crystal Report’.


As soon as you’ve selected an

‘Application category’ the system

displays the application category

specific application parameters.

There are only two mandatory

parameters to start a Crystal Report:

1. Crystal Report ID

2. System alias


In order to display a list of Crystal

Reports stored in a BW System go to

Transaction /crystal/rptadmin in your

respective BW system and open folder

‘Publish reports’…



…double click ‘Select reports

and roles to publish’ and

press ‘OK’ in the following

pop-up.

From the following list

copy the technical name of

the Crystal Report you

would like to add to the

launchpad.


Enter the technical name of

the Crystal Report in field

‘Crystal Report’ of the

Launchpad customizing.



Then enter the system alias of the BW System the

Crystal Report has been stored in.

Please note: The standard System alias for Crystal

Reports based applications is SAP_BW.

As soon as you saved your new

Launchpad entry, it will be available

in the Launchpad runtime.

To start the Crystal Report click the

link.


The prompt of the Crystal Report is

being displayed.

The prompt should not be displayed if

there are either no mandatory

parameters or

all manadatory parameters already

have a value (e.g. via parameterization

of the Launchpad).


Here you see the final

Crystal Report result.


Agenda













So far we only used the mandatory

parameters for Crystal Reports in the

Launchpad customizing.

Now we are going to use some of the

‘Advanced Parameters’.

Therefore we click on ‘Show Advanced

Parameters’.


In order to parameterize a variable of

the Crystal Report click on the

‘Parameter Mapping’ icon.


Add a new line to the parameter

mapping table.


General structure of the mapping table.


Description of the source

parameter (optional)

Description of the target

parameter (optional)

In case the values that shall be handed

over to the Crystal Report do not come

from outside the Launchpad via a

source parameter you can enter here

fixed values that are then handed over.

If this flag is set the fixed value will be

forwarded to the target application,

independent of whether the field Source

Parameter contains a value or not

In case you want to parameterize a

variable in the Crystal Report you

have to specify value type here.

Possible values are:

- single value,

- multiple values,

- intervall.

This determines the coding that is

being generated for the

parameterization.

Defines the kind of parameter.

Possible values are:

- Variable

- Dynamic Placeholder

(A dynamic placeholder is a variable in

the form <TEXT> that is entered as a

place holder into the field Application

Parameter. This variable will be

replaced at runtime either by the source

parameter or the fixed value specified in

the Fixed Value parameter.)

The variable or dynamic

placeholder that should be

replaced.

Coming from outside

the Launchpad (e.g.

from personalization

or application context)

As we want to parameterize a variable of

the Crystal Report with a fixed value we

just have to enter the technical name of

the variable as target parameter ...


... in this example the variable ‘0P_CO_AREA’ for

Controlling Area.


Now we have to tell the system what kind of

value type variable ‘0P_CO_AREA’ is. This is

necessary in order to determine which

parameterization has to be generated by the

system.

Please notice that you have to select an

appropriate value otherwise you’ll probably

receive errors when launching the Crystal

Report later on.


In this example ‘0P_CO_AREA’

is a single value variable.In order to ensure correct

processing, we have to

enter the Parameter Type

we want to hand over.


In this example

‘0P_CO_AREA’

is a parameter of type

‘variable’.

Please note that field ‘Type’

is blank after selecting

‘variable’ as only keys are

displayed after picking a

specifc value. In this case

the key for entry ‘variable’ is

‘blank’.

Now we have to enter the

value we want to hand over.


In this example we just want to see Controlling Area ‘0001’.

In case of multiple values please enter the values separated by ‘,’

without blanks in between (e.g. 0001,1000).

In case of range values please enter the lower and upper value

separated by ‘ – ‘ (e.g. 0001 – 1000)’ (please notice that you need to

enter a blank before and after the ‘-’ sign).


Make sure to press the ‘return’ key before confirming your entries,

otherwise last entered data is lost.


As soon as the new entry has been

saved it is available in the Launchpad.

Execute the new link in the Launchpad.


As you can see Controlling Area ‘0001’ is being

populated in the prompt ...


... and as a result you just see data for that

particular Controlling Area in the Crystal Report.


Agenda













Via the fixed value we parameterized the variable

‘Controlling Area’ with the same value for every user

of the Launchpad.

Now we want to hand over the parameterization

information from the personalization of the

Launchpad user. So in the end each user may see

different Controlling Areas in the Crystal Report.


In order to use the personalization for

parameterization of a Crystal Report open this

dropdown box ...


... and select ‘Using Personalization’.

Please notice that this box may also contain

other options depending on the ‘Application

category’ you have selected (e.g. in case of

‘Transaction’ you also have the option of

selecting ‘Variant’ in order to start the

transaction with a variant).


Now a field pops up where you have to

specify the personalization dialog you want

to use for the parameterization of this

Crystal Report.


Via the F4-help you can select a

personalization dialog.


In order to show you what information this

personalization dialog contains …


... we open this personalization dialog for our demo

user in transaction fpb_maintain_pers_m.

(Please notice that there are also other transactions

to maintain this personalization dialog. Please refer

to the documentation of the personalization.)


As you can see there are currently no values

maintained for user ‘finrep1’.


In this example we want to enter Controlling

Area ‘1000’.

We have to map this to our variable

‘0P_CO_AREA’. In order to do so we have to

enter the field name of the personalization

into the parameter mapping table of the

Launchpad customizing. In case you don’t

know the field name press F1 on the field in

the personalization …


... and click the icon for ‘Technical Information’.


You can now see that the field name

is ‘KOKRS’.


Open the parameter mapping table in the

Launchpad customizing …


... append a new row …


... and enter the field name of the personalization

as source parameter.


Now enter the name of the variable in the Crystal

Report you want to parameterize.


In our example we want to parameterize the

variable ‘0P_CO_AREA’ again.


In our example this is a single value variable.

Therefore we select ‘Single Value’ as value type.


Now we leave the parameter mapping table …


No changes to default setting ‘blank’ are necessary,

as this is the correct value for parameter type

‘variable’.


... and save our changes.

We start the respective Launchpad link.


As you can see the value from the personalization is

being populated in the prompt.



Agenda













Finally we want to parameterize the

variable for Controlling Area with the

context of a WebDynpro application.

Therefore we create a Launchpad

entry with the application category

‘WebDynpro ABAP’.


This is a WebDynpro test application we

created for this purpose.

As application parameters we enter the

role and instance of a Launchpad we

want to integrate into the WebDynpro

application.


Please notice: Usually only so called embedded

Launchpads can hand over application context to

reports. Whether a Launchpad is such an ‘embedded’

Launchpad you can see in the column ‘Embedded’. You

can make a Launchpad an embedded Launchpad by

opening the F4 help …


… and selecting ‘TRUE’.


In order to show you what this Launchpad

includes we open the customizing of that

Launchpad (also in transaction ‘LPD_CUST’).


(1) Please notice that embedded Launchpads do

not include report groups (therefore you don’t

have a button ‘New Folder’.

(2) Besides that embedded Launchpads

do not contain explanation texts

(therefore you don’t have a description

field.

(3) During runtime the end user will therefore just get a list of hyperlinks. Even the ‘Change

Launchpad’ button is not available. Because of this restricted display embedded Launchpads are

sometimes called ‘Mini Launchpad’.

But apart from the differences listed on this slide any other functionality of Launchpads is

available in embedded Launchpads as well.


Let’s now have a look at the advanced

parameters of a Crystal Report in the embedded

Launchpad in order to see how to hand over

application context.


We open the parameter mapping.


As you can see there is a source parameter

‘KOKRS’ (which then has to be provided by the

application) mapped to the target parameter

‘0P_CO_AREA’ (this is the name of the variable

in the Crystal Report that shall be

parameterized).


The value type of the

target variable has to

be specified.

Type ‘Variable’ is

already set correctly

by default, therefore

no changes are

needed.

We now start the WebDynpro application which

contains the embedded Launchpad.


In these two fields you can enter key and value

of the context you want to have in the

application.

Here you can see the embedded Launchpad.


We enter ‘KOKRS’ as key and ‘US01’ as value.

By clicking ‘Add’ this is being transferred to the

application context.


Here the application context is being

displayed.

We can now start the Crystal Report

in the embedded Launchpad.


As you can see the application context has

been populated to the prompt as defined in the

parameter mapping.



Agenda













openDocument URL Command for Further

Parameterization

So far we described how to parameterize variables of a Crystal

Report either with fixed values, with values coming from

personalization, or with values coming from an application context.

Besides that there is much more possibilities to parameterize a

Crystal Report.

In order to launch a Crystal Report via the Launchpad the

openDocument URL command is used in the end.

The following slides show how you can attach openDocument URL

commands in the Launchpad.


In order to attach openDocument URL

commands in the Launchpad open the

‘Application Parameter’ field.


You can now enter your commands.


In this example we enter the openDocument

URL command to parameterize the variable for

Controlling Area ‘0P_CO_AREA’ with a single

value ‘1000’ as well as the variable for Fiscal

Year/ Period with a value range ‘001.2008 –

012.2008’.

For documentation of further openDocument

URL commands please refer to the

documentation ‘Viewing Reports and

Documents using URLs’.


http://help.sap.com/businessobject/product_guides/boexir31/en/xi3-1_url_reporting_opendocument_en.pdf

http://help.sap.com/businessobject/product_guides/boexir31/en/xi3-1_url_reporting_opendocument_en.pdf

We now execute the link in the Launchpad.


As you can see the

parameterization took place.


Agenda














In the previous chapter we explained how to use openDocument

URL commands. So far we only used static values in these

commands.

In this section the use of dynamic placeholders in openDocument

URL commands will be explained. These dynamic placeholders are

replaced at runtime by the Launchpad.


First of all you’ll have to define and

map your dynamic placeholders. This

will also happen in the parameter

mapping table.


Add a new line to the parameter

mapping table.

In this example we parameterize a

dynamic placeholder with a fixed value.



As we want to parameterize the dynamic

placeholder with a fixed value we have to

enter the name of the dynamic placeholder

as target parameter ...


... in this example the dynamic

placeholder ‘kokrs’ for Controlling Area.Now, we have to enter the

Parameter Type we want to

hand over.


In this example ‘kokrs’

is a parameter of type

‘dynamic placeholder’.

Lastly we have to enter the

value we want to hand over.


In this example we would like to replace the dynamic

placeholder with Controlling Area ‘1000’.


Source

Parameter

Source

Description

Target Parameter Target

Descriptio

n

Value Type Type Fix Value

kokrs Dynamic

Placeholder

1000

KOKRS ControllingAreaSelect1 Dynamic

Placeholder

KOKRS ControllingAreaSelect2 Dynamic

Placeholder

Here are some examples for mappings with dynamic placeholders based on our previous examples.

The first example refers to the parameterization with a fixed value, described step by step in

previous slides.

The second example refers to the parameterization via personalization. Of course you have to add

the respective personalization dialog in the customizing as well.

The last example refers to the parameterization via application context. Besides the mapping the

application with the embedded Launchpad of course has to provide the context for ‘KOKRS’ again.

After that you’ll be able to use the dynamic

placeholders in the application parameter field. It is

possible to use more than one dynamic placeholder in

the application parameter field or you can combine the

usage of dynamic placeholders and variables, which is

demonstrated in this example.


Execute the link in the Launchpad.


Agenda







(1) In order to integrate

an Xclesius Dashboard

into a Launchad add a

new Application.

(2) Enter a text for the

hyperlink.

(3) Enter a description

text. (Optional)

(4) Select ‘Xcelsius Dashboard’ as

application category.

(5) Enter the technical name of the

Dashboard.

(6) Enter the portal alias of the Web

Application Server of the BI

system where the Dashboard

recides.

(7) Save the new Launchpad entry.


You can then already execute the

Xcelsius Dashboard from the

Launchpad.


In this example

you can see the

result after filing

in all required

entries.


The prompt of the Xcelsius Dashboard is

being displayed.

The prompt should not be displayed if there

are either no mandatory parameters or

all manadatory parameters already have a

value (e.g. via parameterization of the

Launchpad).

Of course you can also use the

advanced parameters section to

customize a more sophisticated

launch.

The available functionality is similar to

the integration of Crystal Reports. So

you can …


… personalize information in order to

parameterize the Dashboard.


… you can use the parameter mapping table to parameterize

variables with fixed values, values from personalization, values

from an application context or by defining dynamic placeholders.

Please notice: The variables you can parameterize are the

variables you have defined in the BI Queries you’re using in your

Xcelsius Dashboard.


… you can use the application

parameter field to add further

commands (including the usage of

dynamic placeholders).

The syntax you have to use is the

parameterization syntax for NW 7.0

WebTemplates, because this

technology is being used to launch

the Xcelsius dashboard.


Agenda







Import the ERP Common Parts Business Package.

To use Crystal you must also import the Crystal

report iView and role which is part of the

Business Objects Enterprise Resources Kit

Add the iView ‘Launchpad Application (ABAP)’ as

DeltaLink to your Page/Role

Prerequisites


Enter as Application Parameter:

role=<role>&instance=<instance> of the Launchpad that you want to show

Enter the System Alias for the Backend System

Launchpad Setup


Agenda







(1) In the customizing of the ‘You can Also’

section within the Floorplan Manager

Component Configuration …

(2) … you can enter Role and Instance of a

Launchpad. The label you enter here will be

the name of dropdown listbox in which you

can start the reports of the Launchpad in the

WebDynpro application.


(1) Here you see the

customizing of the Launchpad,

that has been included in the

WebDynpro application with

the FPM.

(2) Here you see the Launchpad

in the resulting WebDynpro

application.


You can also use the toolbar element ‘Related

Links’ in the Floorplan Manager to integrate a

Launchpad into a WebDynpro application.


Integration of a Launchpad into a WebDynpro

Application with Floorplan Manager (FPM)

Please notice that you can integrate any Launchpad (not only

embedded Launchpads) with the FPM.

But in case you’re not using an embedded Launchpad and this

Launchpad contains several report folders, only the reports of the

first folder will be visible in the WebDynpro application.

Parameterization of variables via fixed values and personalization

works as described before.

In order to hand over application context an interface

(IF_FPM_Navigation) is provided that contains methods to change

or add parameters. You can even change the displayed text of the

link of the report, or you can hide links.


Thank you!
