Export2Excel v3 for Xcelsius 2008 SP3 (Tomcat version)

About eight months ago we posted an Xcelsius solution called Export2Excel on the myxclesius.com blog. Thanks to support and comments from the Xcelsius developer community and some serious investigating, it is a pleasure for me to announce that the new Export2Excelv3 for Xcelsius (Tomcat version) is now up and running. Version 3 works with Xcelsius 2008 SP3 and it supports multiple languages. You will find the Export2Excelv3 files at the end of this post.*

For those who are new to Export2Excel, this component allows BI Developers to add export functionality to an Xcelsius dashboard so that end users can then filter results by selecting part of their dashboard. It is a great option for users who want to look at data outside of the predefined dashboard components.

Xcelsius 2008 SP3

When SAP Business Objects released Xcelsius 2008 SP3, we noticed that there was a change in the exported xml string. Xcelsius is now exporting the xml on different lines instead of a single line. Thanks to the help of other contributors we reached a solution that involves reading and converting all the lines. As a result, our new Export2Excelv3 only works with Xcelsius 2008 SP3. If you still have the SP2, please contact us for the v2 file (also with multi-language support).

Export to Multiple Languages

The new Export2Excelv3 can export multiple languages (e.g. Arabic, Japanese, Chinese and languages with special accents such as ö ü ÿ ä ý). We decided to add this to the new version as some of the users were asking about this functionality. In addition we are doing a lot of work in the Middle East so it is interesting for Clariba to have the Arabic characters in case any of our customers are interested.

How to Configure Export2Excelv3

Follow the steps below to configure the Export2Excelv3 solution in your Xcelsius dashboard:

1. Download the WAR file (Find the link at the end of this post)
2. Copy the ExportToExcelv3.war into your Tomcat webapps folder
3. Open the Data Manager
4. Add XML connection
5. Set the XML Data URL as http://<servername>:<port>/ExportToExcelv3/index.jsp
6. Check the “Enable Send” function. This will contain the range of cells that you choose to export.
7. Check the “Enable Load” function. Be sure that the Name is URLDummy (as highlighted in red in the screenshot below), and that the Range contains just one cell. This cell is the URL of the exported Excel file.

Note: Add a refresh connection and URL button on the Xcelsius dashboard to open this link.

Clariba Sample Dashboard

At Clariba, we have merged the functionalities of a refresh connection button and a URL button. As a result of this customized functionality, users can open an Excel file and begin their own analysis and comparisons if desired.

You will see the archive rar file for the code below. Just save and rename it to ExportToExcelv3.war and deploy it to your tomcat! If you have any questions or comments about the new version, just let me know.

Download: ExportToExcelv3.rar

* Copyright (C) 2011 Clariba. This free solution can be used, published or redistributed with appropriate credit to Clariba.

Migration from BusinessObjects XI R2 to XI R3.1 – Both Versions on the Same Machine: Disaster Recovery

In the past few weeks we have been working on a migration from BusinessObjects XI R2 to XI R3.1. This should be a simple upgrade that can be implemented by following the  BusinessObjectsXI R3.1 wizard. But what happens if something goes wrong during the upgrade? We were asking ourselves this question before migrating production for one of our customers. Then an idea came to us: we decided to leave BusinessObjects XI R2 as it was and also install XI R3.1 on the same machine. For this to be possible, we had a couple of things to consider first:

- Two tomcat servers working on the same port - BusinessObjects XI R2 and XI R3 services working on the same ports

Moreover, we decided not to use any BIAR files to migrate the BusinessObjects content to the new release.

Our Implementation Steps:

1. We stopped Tomcat and BusinessObjects XI R2 servers (and made sure they wouldn't start up automatically in the future).
2. Next we installed BusinessObjects XI R3.1 (during the installation we selected new installation instead of upgrade). Note: If you have Tomcat on a different machine then choose to install your web server later  (XI R3.1 allows the users to install only the webserver and connect it to the CMS by using the setup wizard).
3. Once the installation was complete we copied the FileStore folders (Input and Output) to the new locations (Business Objects Enterprise 12/FileStore/).

Configuring the CMS database:

1. From the SIA (Server Intelligence Agent), go to properties -> configuration  -> setup of the database using the Specify button.
2. Select the option to copy the database from another Data source.
3. Select that the source comes from BusinessObjects XI R2 and choose the R2 database.
4. BusinessObjects XI R3.1 will copy and adapt the R2 database to the R3 one.
5. At the end of the database configuration BusinessObjects will ask you to restart the servers and update the objects (it will interface the CMS database with the FileStore folders).

The user can now login to Business Objects R3.1 and check that the security, the schedules and all the objects are there and working fine. If the environment is not working as expected, then you can stop the new Tomcat and the BusinessObjects XI R3 servers and bring up the old Tomcat and the BusinessObjects XI R2 server once again without losing any data. The recovery takes less than 5 minutes.

We are always interested in feedback. Please let us know if you have any questions or comments about this XI Migration trick.

Best practices for geo-analysis using AnyMap add-on for Xcelsius

This article explains how to design a professional-looking flash file using the famous freely downloadable AnyMap add-on for Xcelsius.

A multitude of opportunities exisit for using AnyMap in Xcelsius. Typically we want to embed an interactive system like a layout for a car park, airport, or a typical regional map - see Figure 1 for an example. Using AnyMap we’ll be able to show different information with a mouse over or a mouse click.

The idea here is to explain the challenges that typically appear in Xcelsius, such as speed, image resolution and accuracy, and to demonstrate that by using AnyMap we can optimize them all.

Using the AnyMap add-on

Without the use of AnyMap, an Xcelsius designer can start using single image components, locating them carefully and using dynamic buttons together with the show and hide feature.

When we do this, there is a clear performance issue: the flash file takes some time to handle regions and data. To optimize this behavior, the quality of the image can be reduced; but this results in a less professional look and feel. Moreover, and especially for maps, there is no button component that fully adapts to regions, so users may be annoyed by the fact that they don’t get a response when clicking on the borders of the regions.

The objective of AnyMap is to offer new features to Xcelsius designers that make professional geo-mapping possible, enhancing performance and reducing post-project maintenance costs.

Image resolution, speed and accuracy

The best option is to place your template outside the AnyMap component, because the embedding option sometimes distorts the image quality. A high quality .jpg is better than a huge .bmp, as we want to keep the flash file size small.

High performance and accuracy are achieved using an .svg file that contains the closed perimeters of all areas and their names. This step is key and involves 1/3 of the effort for the project. This can be done using a tool called GIMP (as recommended and explained in the AnyMap manual). An .xcf source will be created and right after saved into an .svg file

This approach using one single template makes the system incredibly fast because one area item is handled instead of many items. It also improves accuracy as every pixel inside the region is sensitive to mouse moves and clicks.

AnyMap configuration and formatting

Once we have the .svg file, AnyMap is very easy to configure:

1. Define .svg file: The file will be located in the same flash file folder, and no path is needed.
2. Display data: Typically a column with the names of the regions might be provided, together with the mouse-over texts that we need to show and a selected region key in case of mouse clicking.
3. Mouse over color change effect: As a sample, turn transparency to 10% and create an alert with a grey color.

A fully configurable system that shows different texts with the move of the mouse and changes the value of a cell according the clicked area has to contain the following information (at minimum), as shown in Figure 3:

Using a typical lookup Excel function we can change the value of a cell according to a click, and show/hide other components according to this value, or change a text from an existing text component.

Unfortunately the formatting is very rigid and limited in this component. But a workaround for this is to use the HTML capability so the content of a cell is a text in itself. We can therefore change font, size, manage paragraphs and embed images in our texts, to make them look absolutely professional.

Conclusion

The methods explained in this article prove that although this product is not supported by SAP BusinessObjects it can be used by developers (at your own risk of course) in a very beneficial way. It can save a lot of man-hours and offer features that the out-of-the box Xcelsius software doesn’t yet provide.