SAP BusinessObjects (BO) BI 4 Platform has come with many improvements that have made the system more complex. Rep-Up-GraphWe, as BI 4 administrators, are required to know how this application works in order to apply the proper optimization improvements to the platform, when it is required. In this blog article, we will cover the most important concepts that need to be considered as a first step to increase the performance of the BI platform. It is very important for a good designer to understand the conceptual tiers in the BI Platform: Application Tier, Intelligence tier and Processing tier. We will refer to each one of them and we will nail down some optimization tips.
Tips for installing SAP BusinessObjects BI4 in Spanish
The Spanish installation of SAP BusinessObjects BI4 is said to frequently crash, and even when it does not, something is still wrong in the server side so SAP BusinessObjects installation administration console does not work as it should and certain formulas used in the front-end side malfunction. This article explains some tricks that can be applied when installing SAP BusinessObjects in Spanish so customers can successfully migrate to the new SAP BO BI4. Folders Security Configuration
When configuring the security for a folder in the SAP BusinessObjects administration console, an issue appears. This can be easily reproduced by installing the software in Spanish, proceeding to enter in CMC and start configuring security. The following error can be seen when entering in Folders Top Level Folder Security:
"A server error occurred during security batch commit: Request 0 of type 44 failed with server error : Plugin Manager error: Unable to locate the requested plugin CrystalEnterprise.ScopeBatch on the server. (FWB 00006) "
There is no other solution rather than to change the Regional Settings of the server from Spanish (Spain) to English (United Kingdom), then this issue is solved.
UserResponse Formula Use
An issue occurs in WebIntelligence when Preferred Viewing Locale is Spanish and Users refresh reports Prompts: A numeric prompt is interpreted as a text with a wrong scientific format when the =UserResponse() formula is used.
The issue can be reproduced taking one object from the official SAP “STS Southeast Demo” Universe, retrieving one object with a prompt and applying the UserResponse() formula as indicated below
In the example stated above the UserResponse() formula should be evaluated to “201010” instead of “2.0101e5”. This can cause serious issues as it is a change Vs. previous software versions because this could be included in many formulas and filters, and could cause a migration project with reports using this frequently used formula to be dramatically extended.
A workaround for this is, for the time being, to keep the Preferred Viewing Locale in English for every user who refreshes information.
So, summarizing, the pieces of advice proposed for a successful installation in Spanish language are:
- Keep your server with Regional Settings of the server in English (United Kingdom)
- Configure your BI LaunchPad users to keep the Preferred Viewing Locale in English
- Keep the BI LaunchPad users Product Locale property setting to Spanish (Spain)
As a result, users will visualise the whole front-end in Spanish language with no errors.
This solution has been tested in latest 4.0 SP4 which includes FeaturePack 3.
The benefit of these workarounds is to provide the market of Spanish language customers with the ability to start migrating to the new SAP BI4 platform with success, and enjoy the product in Spanish language with no bugs. Hope this helps. If you wish to leave your comment or opinion, please feel free to do so below!