Migration from Deski R2 to Webi R4 with FreeHand SQL

In this article I would like to write about our first migration from BOXIR2 to BOXIR4 in which we had to migrate the entire BO platform (Universes, Reports, Dashboards, Security...). This was quite a substantial migration. Most of the reports that we had to convert were Deskis. We used two applications in order to migrate these objects: Report Conversion Tool (RCT) used for converting reports from Deski to Webi and Upgrade Managment Tool (UMT) which instead is used for moving objects from different environments. This should be an automatic and simple process, but we had encountered some difficulties when migrating Deskis that had FreeHand SQL embedded.

So we would like to move on to explaining the two solutions we worked on that have lead to a successful conversion.

• Direct conversion from R2:

First of all we should check the Deski connection; once we have detected all the properties of this connection we will have to recreate it in R4. It is important to be careful during this process because we also need to create the ODBC Data Sources in our system.

At this point we open Universe Design Tool and we replicate the connection in R4. We have to make sure we use the exact same name we had in R2. Also notice that we should select a shared connection.

Note: Once more we would like to stress the importance of using the identical name as well as the very same parameters of the R2 connection.

Now we have the same connection in both environments. So we can proceed with the report migration. Use RCT from R4 to convert the Deski.

Remember to select the checkbox Convert documents containing free-hand SQL/Stored Procedures. If not this process will not work.

Having completed this step the following objects will be created:

FreeHand SQL Universe: Where we can find the SQL from the Deski data source which is embedded in a derived table.

FreeHand SQL Universe Connection: Special connection for the FreeHand SQL Universe with the name and parameters that we had previously created.

The nomenclature of these objects is as follows:

Universe:  FHSQLXXX  ( You can find it in the Report Conversion Tool Universes Folder)

Universe Connection: FHSQLXXX_Connection_Name

If you don’t create the connection in the final environment, you will get this error message:

• Conversion in R2 and move to R4:

This option is probably a bit more laborious than our previous solution nonetheless based on our experience you will come across less errors.

First of all convert the Deski to Webi in R2. Remember to select the FreeHand SQL conversion checkbox. The advantage is that we won’t need to create the connections because in actual fact we were converting the report in the same environment, so the connections are already defined.

Once we have executed the RCT we will have created the same objects as outline in our previous example.

Finally we should use the UMT to move the reports and its dependencies (Universe& Connection) from R2 to R4. So we only need to select the webi reports and tick the option “Convert selected object and its dependencies”.

In conclusion, thanks to our experience migrating all Deski reports from both environments, we firmly believe that the best practice in order to avoid connection problems is to convert Deskis in R2. From here we can move by using UMT the Webi, the FSQL Universe and the FSQL connection.

SAP Data Warehousing Solutions: an October 2011 Review

Regardless of software or hardware vendors, the Data Warehousing market is an area of growth, expected to increase about 10.1% in CAGR (compound annual growth rate) by 2015 according to the latest study carried out by IDC. SAP, thanks to the acquisition of Sybase, it is seen as a leader in the Data Warehouse by Gartner & Forrester. This article is focused on the solutions provided by SAP for organizations looking for enterprise-oriented data warehouses or more agile high-performance data foundations and to catch a glimpse of their future road map.

Enterprise Data Warehouse

• SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse (BW): is nowadays a very stable product, with a large installed base and in constant growth (more than 12000 customers, more than 15000 productive systems), and what more it has not been affected by the economic downturn in 2009. If we look at its future evolution, it is intended to be running on HANA in 2012 which will be used as the underlying In-Memory database Platform (BW 7.3x SP5), this means to be based on an  already built-in Business Warehouse Accelerator.

High Performance Analytic Data Foundation

• SAP HANA: is a flexible, data source agnostic, in-memory appliance that analyzes high volumes of transactional data in real-time. It includes tools for data modeling, data and lifecycle management, security and operations. It combines SAP software components which are optimized with the hardware provided by partners. The benefits are the following: make smarter business decisions supported by an increased visibility  of very large volumes of business information, react to business events more quickly through real-time analysis and reporting of operational data, a new application foundation for a new category of applications, streamline IT landscapes and finally reducetotal cost of ownership (TCO). If we look further  ahead in time, there will be a transition going from having SAP Business Objects BI 4.0 running on SAP HANA 1.0 to having the whole SAP Business Suite running on SAP HANA 2.0 in 2013.

• Sybase IQ: is a market leading, high-performance, columnar analytics server and data warehouse specifically designed for high speed data analytics, enabling high speed performance of complex queries against large datasets, with the advantage of being a low cost  maintenance when compared to row-based systems (by reducing the need for aggregates and indexes). It is a mature and proven solution with about 1900 customers and more than 3300 unique deployments. SAP will continue to support and invest on this acceleration technology, especially for non-SAP applications and data (including the possibility of placing SAP BusinessObjects BI on top).

• SAP BusinessObjects RapidMarts are preconfigured jumpstart data marts that are designed to accelerate BI. And they all come pre-packaged by subject areas and sub-areas specific to SAP modules (Finance, Manufacturing, Operations, HR, etc.) as well as for non-SAP applications (JD Edwards, PeopleSoft, Lawson, Oracle EBS, etc.). The key elements included are the following:

1. ETL Mappings: Source-to-target mappings and data transformation for relevant source tables (initial and incremental data movements).
2. Data Marts: set of target RDBMS objects and schemas based on best practices for dimensional data modeling (Oracle, DB2, SQL Server, Teradata).
3. BI Content: preconfigured universes based on best practices and samples of reports displaying  the wealth of data available.

If you need any further information on the solutions presented here, don’t hesitate to post a reply or contact Clariba.

SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards 4.0 Cookbook - Review

IntroductionSAP BusinessObjects Dashboards 4.0 Cookbook, by Xavier Hacking and David Lai (352 pages, May 2011) promises you nothing less than "Over 90 simple and incredibly effective recipes for transforming your business data into exciting dashboards". Does it achieve this objective? Read the full review below to find out.

While I have experience working with BO Xcelsius 2008 (what BO Dashboards would formerly go by), I didn't have any with BO Dashboards 4.0 before reading this book. So my expectations about it were simple: tell me how to do with BO Dashboards 4.0 what I already know how to do with Xcelsius; give me recipes around the new features, and show me a few extra tips. I can tell you right now: even though this book has not met all my expectations (as it's not focused on the new 4.0 version), it is a really good one.

The book is structured in ten chapters (see the table of contents) containing a dozen recipes each. The recipes follow a steady progression, from simple to advanced recipes. You can of course directly jump to any recipe, but reading the whole book in the proposed order is also a possibility.

SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards 4.0

The good and the bad

In a few key points I would like to offer my perspective on the strengths and weaknesses of this read, what I found to be particularly stimulating and enriching as well as on some aspects that I, as a reader, would've liked to see integrated.

What I like the most:

• It feels like the recipes come from a real-life experience. Not only do the authors tell you how a component can be used, but they also tell you in which circumstances these are used at their best. The examples used by the authors make a lot of sense.

• The recipes chosen cover a nice proportion of the BO Dashboards / Xcelsius universe. It is a very good base from which to start and move forward.

• The first chapter is about best practices (color-code and comment the spreadsheet, etc.); strictly speaking not recipes but the fact remains that this is still a very good idea.

• The chapter about add-ons shows in an easy way how to extend BO Dashboards.

• The links to online resources are few but worth it (one of these is, for example, the very useful Business Objects Board).

• The book is quite clear and well written. Examples are easy to follow thanks to full color illustrations.

What I don't like:

• A few things aren’t outlined with enough precision and may need some time in research before executing.

• The index is cluttered with many terms that I wouldn't describe as necessary (to take an example, all the supported Excel functions are listed, and I doubt that anyone will look for the entry entitled "dashboard" when that is what the whole book is about).

• Some of the internet links given in the book cannot be reached as of today.

What I'm missing:

• I would have enjoyed is a section about the differences between Xcelsius 2008 and Dashboards 4.0 with a list of recipes that are valid only on the latter. It would allow experienced users to focus on the new features only (rather than having to flick through all of the recipes). This is where the book tends to fall short, in my opinion.

• For intermediate readers, a more complete real-life dashboard example could have been a great addition. The two case studies provided in the appendix A are good, but still pretty far from what I've been asked for in most client engagements.

A book for whom?

While many cookbooks require a good knowledge of the corresponding software/programming language, this is not the case here. The initial part of this book is targeted at beginners and no prior experience of BO Dashboards (or former Xcelsius versions) is required. Some general knowledge of Excel is required but some recipes deliver useful tips about it.

So if you're new to BO Dashboards; do you want to buy this book? Definitely. You will get much farther (and much more quickly) with this book than with only online tutorials and the official documentation. The recipes are really clear and can be used for real-life dashboards.

Note that it's also a perfect book for Xcelsius 2008 beginners – you'll be able to use more than 90% of the book's recipes, and many of the example files can be opened in it.

Do you have previous experience with Xcelsius? Although many of the recipes might probably not be that exciting to you, you're still likely to like some of the recipes. Having a look at the table of contents shall be enough to convince you to buy this book (or to leave it aside).

If you're expecting a book on BO Dashboards 4.0, bear in mind that only a few recipes are specific to this version.

Conclusion

Although the title is a slightly misleading, the SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards 4.0 Cookbook is a great book to help any dashboard developer to improve on his/her Dashboards 4.0 / Xcelsius knowledge. Don’t miss it!

Thanks a lot to Pakt Publishing for sending us an e-copy of the book for the review.

PS: note that I only had access to the e-book version, so I can't say anything about this full-of-paper book you'll buy in a bookshop.

Creating re-usable components in WebI

When we find ourselves developing a Web Intelligence document with multiple tabs, a common practice is to duplicate the components needed all across the document. For as convenient as this method may appear, it comes with a price: we end up with a vast amount of cells, tables and graphs that are very similar to each other, but that in actuality are very tedious to maintain. In this article the method presented provides a way to create a single table or graph that can be later copied anywhere throughout the document, with the ability to modify its content depending on the component’s location and its name.

Useful formulas

The following formulas may be of interest to you:

=ReportName(): Brings the name of the Report (tab) of the WebI document

=BlockName(): Brings the name of the component (table, graph or cell). It’s interesting to point out that this name is unique in the WebI document.

The solution

1. The idea is to base the content of the tables and the graphs on variables. The variables, to which we are refering, consist of the “IF-THEN-ELSE” clauses based on the formulas indicated above.
2. As a next step, we create the table or graph based on these variables.
3. Last but not the least is to place the component within a report with a specific name and/or name the block accordingly.

Let’s consider the follwing as an example. Our objective is to be able to visualize Sales and Revenue by Customer in a graph and within a report tab which we can name Customer. Then, in addition to this, we also want to be able to visualize Sales and Revenue, this time filtered by Country. As for before we want to display this in a graph and within another report tab which for convenience we can call Country. Below I have provided an exemplification on how to proceed:

1. Creation of variables:

[Dimension] = IF ReportName()=¨Customer¨ Then [Customer] ElseIf ReportName()=¨Country¨ Then [Country]

[Measure 1] = [Sales]

[Measure 2] = [Revenue]

2. Creation of the graph using these variables, but only once.

3. Copy and paste the graph in the Reports Customer and then Country and name them meaningfully (e.g. Graph_Customer and Graph_Country).

If we decide to go the extra mile and, within the Country tab, want to also have displayed an evolution graph of Sales by Salesman, we can achieve this by simply enhancing the variable from above:

[Dimension] = IF ReportName()=¨Customer¨ Then [Customer] ElseIf ReportName()=¨Country¨ And BlockName()=¨Graph_Country¨ Then [Country] ElseIf ReportName()=¨Country¨ And BlockName()=¨Graph_Sales¨ Then [Salesman]

We will then Copy and paste our graph in the Country’s tab and name it Graph_Sales.

In conclusion to this article we notice how this solution simplifies significantly things for a developer or maintainer specialized in WebI reports easing the work load especially when it comes to components that are very complex to configure, like highly formatted graphs.

It is important that you bear in mind that this solution will only work with BOXI 3.1.sp3 or higher versions, so make sure your software is updated.

If you have questions about this handy solution in WebI, or if you want to share your experience or tips, just leave a comment!

Accessing your SAP BusinessObjects platform through the internet

Have you ever thought of accessing your BusinessObject’s platform through the Internet? Do you need to access externally your BusinessObjects platform without using a VPN connection? Is secure access for your external users a must for you? If the answer to these three questions is “Yes, I do” and your seeking for a solution, you have just landed on the page that will guide you to successfully meeting your objectives. So look no further because in this article, I will explain how you can improve your current BusinessObjects environment in a very simple way. As a matter of fact, one of our customer’s requested we find a way to allow his users access the BusinessObjects platform through the Internet in a secure way and without using a VPN connection. After analyzing several scenarios, we decided to split the web server (WAS) so that, in the end, our customer would dispose of two web servers: a server for external access and another for internal users. In the lines below, I will explain the steps and key items to developing this original solution.

Infrastructure changes

Many companies don’t usually connect servers with data (i.e: Database servers) in DMZ networks. Given this is our case, I recommend we split the BOXI Web Server. Our next step would be to place one web server in the DMZ network and the other web server, including the repository server, should be kept in the LAN. Finally, we should set up a new configuration, one for each firewall (INTERNET–DMZ and DMZ–LAN).

SAP BO Internet 1

Having made these changes to the infrastructure, the internal users (LAN users) will still be able to connect to the BOXI platform, just as they would normally do, and at the same time the external users, who will connect through the Internet, will be able to access a secure web server, through an HTTPS connection, and use any BOXI web tool they need, such as Infoview, WebI, etc. This means, for example, that the external users can connect in a secure way to their Infoview by using a web browser and without the need of a VPN connection.

Security requirements

We must not forget yet another important requirement which is to assure our users with a secured access once they’re connected through the internet. This is a topic that I will treat more in depth in the next lines.We can use the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to allow for communication between external users (users connected through the Internet) and the external web server in the DMZ network.

To set up the SSL for the server communication we need to perform the following steps:

1. Set Environment Variables

Before starting, it’s always good to make sure that the following environment variables are set correctly. The values which I will outline within the course of this article and that I’ll be using as a reference are correct for those of you have installed Business Objects with the default settings. Otherwise,  use the list below as a guide to finding the correct paths.

• CATALINA_HOME --  C:Program FilesBusiness ObjectsTomcat55
• JAVA_HOME -- C:Program FilesBusiness Objectsjavasdk
• TOMCAT_HOME --  C:Program FilesBusiness ObjectsTomcat55
• Path -- C:Program FilesBusiness Objectsjavasdkbin (Add this to the existing Path)

2. Keystore and Keypair Creation

Next, open a command prompt (Start->Run, cmd) and run the following command to create a keystore.

keytool -genkey -alias tomcat -keyalg RSA -keystore C:keystore

The keytool utility will then ask you for your general personal information before generating your keypair.  This information is used to identify your server. When you visualize a message from keytool asking you for the “key password for Tomcat”, just hit return to use the same password.

SAP BO Internet 2

Check to make sure your key was created by running this command:

keytool -list -v -keystore c:keystore.keystore

3. Enable SSL in server.xml

While you are waiting for your signed certificate, you can enable SSL in Tomcat. We proceed to doing so by opening up Tomcat’s server.xml file, which is located by default in C:Program FilesBusiness ObjectsTomcat55conf. Look for thefile for the SSL Connector entry, which should look like this:

<-- Define a SSL Coyote HTTP/1.1 Connector on port 8443 --> <!-- <Connector            port="8443" minProcessors="5" maxProcessors="75"            enableLookups="true" disableUploadTimeout="true"            acceptCount="100" debug="0" scheme="https" secure="true";            clientAuth="false" sslProtocol="TLS"/> -->

First, remove the comment tags (<!– and –>) from around this connector to enable it.  Then, you will need to add the following property:

keystoreFile="C:keystore.keystore"

You may also want to change the port from 8443 to the default HTTPS port of 443.  If you decide to do so, you will also want to change the redirectPort property on the non-SSL connector in order for it to match the very port. This should be located immediately above the SSL connector in the server.xml.

Once the changes are made, close the server.xml and restart Tomcat. Open a browser and go to https://localhost (of course, assuming you have changed the port from 8443 to 443).  Depending on your browser, you should see the Tomcat default page along with a certificate error.  This means that Tomcat is set up correctly, we only need a signed certificate.

SAP BO Internet 3

4. Install your certificate

Once you receive your signed certificate, you simply need to install it into the keystore in order to complete the process. First of all, you have to install the root (or chain) certificate from your vendor.  Check with your vendor to get this certificate.  Save the root certificate file in the server, with a name such as rootcert.txt, then execute this command:

keytool -import -alias tomcat -keystore C:keystore.keystore -trustcacerts -file rootcert.txt

Finally, install your new certificate.  Save your new certificate in the server, with a name such as mycert.txt:

keytool -import -alias tomcat -keystore  C:keystore.keystore -trustcacerts -file mycert.txt

From here, you should run a test and check that SSL is set up correctly by going to https://localhost on the server (assuming you changed the SSL port to 443).  If you see the Tomcat default page without any certificate errors, then SSL is configured properly.

SAP BO Internet 4

Deployment needs

We strongly recommend you run this deployment in a Test environment in order to troubleshoot and to be prepared for any issues that could arise when passing to installing in the actual Production environment . I would like to point out that you need a new server (a VM server is also fine) placed in a DMZ network. In this way it can be accessed through the Internet.

The next step is to install a web server on the machine, using the BOXI R3.1 SP3 installation package and selecting the “Web Tier” option.

SAP BO Internet 5

Once you have done this, you can now start configurating the HTTPS connections. That is why you also need an SSL certificate installed on the new server.

Last but not least, your Firewalls need to be reconfigured to grant you access from this web server to the BOXI repository server(placed on the LAN).

In summary, if you find yourself in need to to allow external users to access your BusinessObjects platform in a secure way, without using a VPN connection, then we recommend you split your current web server into two web servers (one being internal and the other external).

In this way, an external user can easily connect to a web server using an HTTPS connection (the data will be encrypted) and will be able to use BOXI tools as Infoview or WebI, and your data will be secured since it is still safely stored on the LAN network.

What’s more is that your internal users will not experience any change whatsoever, and most importantly you can deploy this solution without interfering on their daily tasks.

If you have any questions about accessing your BusinessObjects platform via internet simply leave a comment in the box below and I will readily reply to you.

Installing Business Objects on Linux (Part 2): Managing Your System

Now that our Linux system is ready (for more information have a look at part 1 of this article) we can now move on to installing Business Objects XI 3.1. In this article, I won't go through the entire installation process since there aren't any significant differences to point out when compared to it's Windows counterpart. If you're interested in a complete reference on this particular aspect I would recommend you review the official documentation which is available on the sap marketplace:

https://websmp108.sap-ag.de/support

Instead I will focus more on a few basic operations an administrator must ensure to complete once the system has been installed.

So let’s get started with a few basic operations, for example;

• Add/Remove install products
• Start/stop database
• Start/stop Business Objects services
• Reconfigure CMS database
• Monitor BO services

In the Linux installation these operations are contained in shell scripts which are placed within the installation folder. In our case our installation folder is: /home/bobj. I will be using this as a reference for the rest of the article.

Add/Remove install products

/home/bobj/AddOrRemoveProducts.sh

This script will allow you to execute the installing process and add or remove components from your BO install.

Start/Stop database (only applicable for MySQL install)

/home/bobj/bobje/mysqlstartup.sh /home/bobj/bobje/mysqlshutdown.sh

These two scripts will allow you to control the status of the MySQL database for your installation.

Start/Stop Business Objects Services

/home/bobj/bobje/startservers.sh /home/bobj/bobje/stopservers.sh

The above scripts will allow you to control the status of the Business Objects services, namely CMS and the rest of the servers. You can also control the status of the Tomcat Web server with the following scripts:

/home/bobj/bobje/tomcatstartup.sh /home/bobj/bobje/tomcatshutdown.sh

Reconfigure CMS database

/home/bobj/bobje/cmsdbsetup.sh

With the above script you can reconfigure the database, the CMS repository and audit it is connecting to.

Manage Business Objects Services

/home/bobj/bobje/ccm.sh

With this script you will be able to do several operations by using the appropriate command line modifiers. You can get a full reference of operations by running the help modifer “ccm.sh –help”. Bear in mind that there are other actions you can perform with this script, such as:

• Start/Stop/Restart Server Intelligence Agent
• Start/Stop/Restart a managed server
• Enable/Disable a server
• To update all objects for a server

Linux 1 BO

Monitoring the BO process

In addition to the actions performed by these scripts you can also monitor the state of your Business Objects service on the system by using other tools besides those included in Business Objects. An example of this is to apply the following command:

ps -Al

When the Business Objects service is running you will find it within this list under the following name “boe_cmsd”

Linux 2 BO

Other Useful Resources

While installing Business Objects with Linux and managing the whole process, I came across a few configurations that are rather important I mention in this article, even though I will not get into too much detail:

Text Editing: If you are new to Linux, first try find the edit files mode that best suits you. There are several ways to do this either graphically or via command line. My suggestions for newcomers would be a graphical tool like Gedit. But if you feel more comfortable using a command line you can always count on a VI tool.

X server in root: Some tasks can only be executed in root. When using Red Hat, the graphical environment is disabled by default for root. This can make things a bit more complicated for non-advanced users. To enable the graphical environment in root, you can run the following command:

xhost local:root

So now you have a brand new Linux system with a full Business Objects installation up and running and you have also learnt the basic steps to managing it.

At this stage another question arises: how does this solution in Linux stand against the Windows? I will answer this question on the next and final article of this series.

For any questions about installing the Business Objects package in your Linux and on how to manage your system, leave a comment and I will reply to you as soon as possible.

SAP BusinessObjects XI 4.0 in a Virtual Machine

I would like to start my article by letting you know that at the beginning of the year, installing the whole BI package of the new XI 4.0 in a Virtual Machine (VM) wasn’t at all an easy task to accomplish. SAP had just come out with its new release and as you can easily imagine, finding the proper information and the complete package of the new installations, at this moment in time, required its efforts and was rather time-consuming. Nonetheless, as a business intelligence analyst I found it handy to have the new 4.0 release up and running in the VM in my laptop. So I would like to share this information with those of you who are really eager to start using the new release. These are some practical tips and tricks that will help you lift off and are most useful especially in the initial phase. In this article I’ll be using Windows 2008R2 as an operative system and MS SQL Server 2008 as a database engine.

Minimum specifications and programs

• The minimum memory in your laptop or computer should be of 2 GB of RAM, the space in your disk needs to be between 30 GB and 40 GB.
• Sql server, Oracle or any other DB you want to use to connect with the SAP Business Objects platform.
• 64-Bit OS ready to be installed in the VM.

Note: You should bear in mind that the architecture of the new release is based on 64-bits therefore you will need an OS of 64 bits. When I first heard this, it sounded pretty good to me but I encountered an error when I wanted to run it on a 64-bit machine.

XI 4

As a matter of fact, it can be that the “hardware-assisted virtualization” option is disabled. In my opinion, the best way of fixing this issue is to make a BIOS update, if possible. Once this is done you have to get in to the BIOS before rebooting. Depending on the brand of your laptop you can do this by pressing F1, F2, F7, F9, F10, F12, SUPR or Crt+Shift+F2. The internal menu of the BIOS also depends on your computer brand; anyhow by following these easy steps, changing the Visualization Technology (VT) parameters shouldn’t be too complex.

1. Search for “System configuration” option.
2. Change the VT option from disabled to enabled.
3. Save and exit (in my case F10).
4. After that press “Save configuration change and exit now”
5. Restart the machine.

Installation files

Once the VM is ready, it’s time to download straight from the SAP Support Partner Portal the installation files. Below you’ll find a list of the main solutions. This way you can get started and enjoy the new features of the 4.0 release for SAP BO:

• SAP Business Objects Bussines Intelligence Platform
• SAP Client Tools
• SAP Crystal Report
• SAP Business Objects Dashboard Design
• SAP Business Objects Data services
• SAP Business Objects Live Office
• SAP Business Objects Explore

OS in a virtual machine

Once you have finished installing the OS, it is important to stop some services. The reasoning behind this is straightforward: we are about to run the whole Business Intelligence solution in a Virtual Machine. It is extremely important to ensure that the VM uses up the minimum amount possible of CPU processes and that of course the physical memory of your laptop or computer doesn’t suffer an over use. Any other approach to installing the files we previously downloaded would be extremely time-consuming; this would mean wasting your time and can be frustrating. There are quite a few services which are in fact unnecessary for this kind of VM since you won’t be using it in a conventional way. The list of services you can stop is quite long. To know a bit more about this, please check the following Websites:

http://www.blackviper.com/WinVista/servicecfg.htm

http://www.vistabase.co.uk/kb/perfor...save-on-memory

http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tr/down...e_disabled.pdf

Note: It is also very important that you install the SQL server before you start using the BO installations, to ensure the Super Administrator (SA) is active and, finally, to be in possession of the password in order to be able to proceed with the next steps.

Business Objects Installation

Before you get started with any of the installations, I would recommend you create an Open Database Connectivity (ODBC). This is a crucial step to take before you begin installing, because during the installation process, you will have to indicate which SAP BO connections you are going to use. For this purpose I highly recommend using these two packages:

• SAP Business Objects Bussines Intelligence Platform: Repository connection and Audit connection. The BO installation needs to relate these connections to create these databases for different purposes (i.e. Plt_Repository, Plt_Audit).
• SAP Business Objects Data services: This tool needs just one connection to manage the repository we’ll be using (i.e. DI_Repository).

In order to create the above mentioned connections you need to open “Data Sources (ODBC)” in the OS of your VM add them, indicate the method of authentication, name of the connection and of course the user and password for the database. Now that you have prepared the connections you are now ready to start using the installations.

Note: once installed you are almost ready to use the tools. It’s only a matter of time and taking the last few steps which I’m sure is adding to the excitement of the moment. SAP BO has a world renowned DB (eFashion) out for a trial session. This DB tests the various tools and is built in Access. Unfortunately, though, there isn’t yet an ODBC connection for Access (64-bits), so you can’t use the DB.

The only thing you can do, is transfer the DB to the SQL server and then modify the connections to the DB (i.e. Universe Design is one of the tools that forms part of the platform).

I hope you find my article useful and that these tips will come in handy for you. If you have any questions about installing the SAP BusinessObjects 4.0 release in a VM leave a message and I´ll get back to you as soon as possible.

Archiving your input files in Data Services

Most of your ETL processes probably rely on databases. But sometimes you need to integrate flat files or Excel documents into your extraction. And you may have the obligation to keep these files stored in some place, for instance, due to company policies or audit. Unfortunately Data Services lacks of file explorer capabilities. You cannot directly rename, copy or delete a file on your local hard drive. So what options are there left for you in order to manage those files you want to archive?

Using dynamic file names

The easiest solution is to use dynamic file names – by this I mean using a source file whose name will vary over time. For example "2011-01.xls", "2011-02.xls", etc. In this specific case there is no need to follow any further steps in order for you to archive your files: just leave them where they are. The question remains: how do you manage a dynamic file name in Data Services? The answer is quite simple: use a variable for your file name (view the image below).

Data services 1

Remember that you have to both, declare the variable in the "Variables and Parameters" window (view image below) as well as initialize it in a script so that it matches your actual file name.

Data services 2

I’d like to share with you an interesting tip about using a variable name for a file name: if you want to create an input file in Data Services based on an actual file, first of all select the very document you want to archive and import its schema (columns names), after which replace the file name with your variable. Do remember that you can check beforehand whether or not a file already exists by using the "file_exists()" function in a Data Services script.

Using fixed file names

Then again, you may also find yourself in the situation where you cannot force the users (or the programs) to give the input files different names. So how do you handle a situation where every day/month/quarter and every single 'Data.xls' file is created within a directory?

Ideally, you would be driven to extract the data from the file, and from there rename the file with the current day/month/quarter, and possibly move it to an archiving folder. But as I have already mentioned, there is no built-in function in Data Services that allows you to rename a file. This is why we have to create a small executable script (a .bat batch file) that recalls to another script from within Data Services.

The Data Services script should look like this:

exec ('C:Source_file_directoryarchiving.bat', $G_new_file_name , 0);

The first parameter is a string path to the executable file, the second parameter is a string representing a list of parameters to be sent to the executable (here we use a variable in order to send the new file name), and the third parameter is a flag which determines how Data Services will act upon an error (you can find the different values in the Data Services Reference Guide according to your version).

What shall we put in the executable file? A simple line will do:

move "C:Source_file_directoryData.xls" "C:Archiving_directory%1.xls"

As you may have guessed already, the '%1' is a placeholder for the first parameter transmitted (here $G_new_file_name).

If you have authorization problems (typically because of a 50306 error), you may want to check the user of your DS service, and to whether it has rights to the accessed folders. You may also want to try the following trick: replace "C:" with \server_nameC$.

As we have seen here, managing archived input files is possible whatever your file name configuration (fixed or dynamic) is. If you have questions to this regard, or if you want to share your experience or tips, leave a comment!

New WebIntelligence™ layout in XI 4.0 (Second Part)

In my previous article I gave an overview about the new features and the enhancements in the design and layout of the new release of WebI XI 4.0. In this article I will continue explaining these changes and what they involve.Let’s start by looking at the design area, where we find 5 tabs on the top of the application (“Report element”, “Format”, “Data access”, “Analysis” and “Page Setup”).

The new WebI XI 4.0 tries to centralize similar features in a more logical manner. In such way, under “Report Element", we find the basic elements for the initial design.

This section is divided into 3 areas, where initially we’ll find these tabs: “Table”, “Cell” and “Section”. We won’t find any new characteristic added here, though a significant change lays in the way we interact with the elements.

What is worthy of mention is that we can now insert elements into a table in the habitual drag & drop way or by simply using a new interface to set any of them more rapidly.

The second section is focused entirely on “Charts”. This area has undergone major improvements and we now have many more graphic options to work with. WebI includes new chart types, new properties and other features developers have been expecting for quite some time.

The third section instead is based on how we allocate the report elements. We will therefore find the regular “Turn Into”, “Set as section”, “Order”, “Align” and “Hyperlinks” functions.

Apart from these three sections, if we click on an active report element, a new section pops up complementing the options that are available to us when right clicking over a report element. For example, if we click on a table, we can set up the Breaks or Insert/Remove Rows.

In the "Format" tab we now have a better distribution of all options which are now centralized and easy to access in order for us to format in any aspect our element. Previously all these options were spread across the report and accessed either by right clicking on the element or by selecting from the formatting bar or the “Data” tab.  Moreover, what I believe is well worth of mention is that WebI now adapts dynamically to each formatting option that fits with the selected item. In other words, if we select a cell, the tab is adjusted to modify multiple cell parameters; the same stands for table, report etc.

In the "Data Access" tab we find all the options related to data access and data manipulation. The first section involves working with the query panel (“Data Providers”). We can now create new queries to new data sources. It basically adds a new query to our document with the selected data source. Alternatively, we can edit one of the active queries, do a data purge or even refresh it. Under “Tools”, instead, we can change the data source specifically for one of the active queries or export the data to a flat file, CSV or PDF. The second section called “Data Objects” is where we can create our report data variables or merge specific dimensions.

Under the "Analysis" tab, the related functions are much more consistent. This is the case, for example, if we want to filter the data; now individual reports like “Filters”, “Ranking” or “Input controls” are grouped in one same block. Still under “Analysis” we find “Data Tracking” with no significant developments. The "Breaks" and "Sorts" options are centralized aswell, now grouped under "Display". Special mention goes to the “Conditional” tab, which includes a feature, legacy from the former WebI: “Alerters”. Finally, we can move on forward to the last set of options under the ”Interact“ tab where we’ll find the “Drill”, “Filter Bar” and “Outline” options and, as for the “Functions” tab, we’ll find the default aggregation functions such as sum, count, min, max etc.

The last tab to consider is named "Page Setup". This is one of the parts which I find particularly useful as it is more defined if compared with the old version.

Divided into three parts, the first block manages the reports. No new functionalities have been added here. The second block focuses on the distribution for each page of the report, defining the orientation and the page size, and the “Show/Hide” and “Height” for the header and footer. Finally, in the third block we have a new feature called “Scale to Page” where we can adjust our items either in width or in height fitting them in single or multiple pages. Additionally we can also control the report margins as well as the page display by toggling between quick display and view page.

Last but not the least, we find three new menus “Reading”,”Design” and “Data” that are quite useful.

These are intended to be shortcuts to the three main actions that a developer would carry out in WebI offering different views for each action.  In case we want to evaluate the report results, all we need to do is right click on “Reading” and the “Summary View” will appear along with the report results. If we want to go back to the creation area, we simply click on “Design” and it will display the canvas either in structure mode or populated with data. Finally the “Data” shortcut shows us a nice overview of all the data providers involved in our queries.

I hope you found this second part of my article helpful and insightful. Don’t hesitate to leave a comment or to ask any questions related to the new WebI 4.0 layout and I will readily reply to you.

New WebIntelligence™ layout in XI 4.0 (First Part)

After a long time working on developing reports either with Deski or WebI documents on the old XI 2.0 and XI 3.0 platforms, I was eager to see what new functionalities SAP was able to offer us with the new releases of BusinessObjects 4.0. There are many articles that illustrate the main new features, but I couldn’t find any that would show how the tool looks like and what the real capabilities and functionalities are for a developer. This is the exact and main purpose of this first article; to give real insight into the new fancy application web version in terms of layout.

First and foremost, it is important to clear out the confusion generated around the nomenclature of Web Intelligence. Previously SAP had considered changing this from Web Intelligence to Interactive Analysis; this is why installer name and documentation refer to it as Interactive Analysis. SAP has decided to maintain the original nomenclature and so we shall continue referring to this application as Web Intelligence (WebI).

Web Intelligence

As soon as we select the “Interactive Analysis” button, the application is launched. It is interesting to note that a new tab called “Interactive Analysis” is added to the BI Launch Pad (formerly known as InfoView), next to the regular Home and Documents tabs.

The tab itself offers 3 possibilities, close, pin the tab, and open a new window to maximize the working area. This option is perhaps the most interesting of all as it responds to the long-standing demand from behalf of developers, to be able to work on a larger canvas area without having to pre-configure global options in the BI Launch Pad.

Below the tab we find a greyed out bar with the usual properties for editing and formatting as well as a drop combo box (Interactive Analysis) that will prove to be really helpful to manage the different bars and panes. Momentarily, we can only interact with the “new”, “open a document”, “user preferences button” and “help button”.

The user preferences button offers a new feature on the web version of WebI called "Manage BI services" used to manage the web services available in the hosts. It is also interesting to see that we can open a new a document from the server, either from a folder or a category.

If we decide to create a new document, the application prompts us to create a new data provider by selecting the data source it will be based on. The options available are “no data source”, “universe”, “BEX” and “Analysis View”.

Web Intelligence 2

The new and most significant options amongst these are “BEX” and “Analysis View”. BEX (acronym for Businness Explorer queries) is used to retrieve data directly from the queries mounted on the Infocubes from  SAP BW environment. Instead, View Analysis uses the results from an Analysis workspace, exported as an analysis view and created within an OLAP source system. I highly recommend the reader to explore these possibilities in forthcoming posts.

In this post I will use the everlasting universe efashion as an example.

As you can notice in the below illustration, the query panel isn’t any different from the old query pane in terms of layout.  It is still based on the same interactive functions and we can continue playing with the options to show or hide panels. The main new feature is the data preview panel which provides us with a first preview of the data depending on the objects dropped.

Minor changes are worth being taken into consideration such as for the “SQL” button that has now become the “View Script” button, or the reshaped “Master Perspective” drop down box that basically enables to display the objects sorted by class or by hierarchy. A new handy and interesting option is the new “Close” button offering us the possibility to choose between applying changes and closing or reverting changes and then close.

However the major enhancement of the query panel is one that is not visible. The outstanding feature is that now we can add new multiple queries to our document combining different data sources  (other universes, queries or analysis BEX View) answering a fundamental request from Webi developers.

Web Intelligence 3

The real feel of this being a new product release comes when we run a query and we use the new design mode. The first impression we have is that WebI is in line with the layout of the newest Microsoft Office products. The WebI canvas has experienced a total revolution. The static old bars have made way to a much more logical design using integrated tabs distributed throughout the application, which improves tremendously the usability for the developer. At a first glance, we can identify two main parts, the navigation area and the creation area.

WebIntelligence 4

Let us focus on the navigation area; this too is mainly divided into two parts. The first is the historical file menu where we can create, open, save, and print documents…nothing new. The second is a more centralized area where we can set up global properties at both document and application level. This last level is segmented into 3 parts. The first is the "View" menu, where we can show and hide all toolbars, tabs and panes. Now, we also have the possibility to expand to full screen.  In short, WebI has now more options centralized than the previous versions, which were distributed across the report and the query panel.

Web Intelligence 5

Finally under "Application" we find the same “user settings” present in the previous version of WebI, where we can set up the Measurement unit and the Grid properties.

Still, in the previous WebI, we used to have five tabs on the left hand side of the canvas (Map, Templates, Properties, Data and Input Controls). Now, in the latest WebI version, this part has been totally renewed. This new area is more focused on navigation and customization of the global document rather than the report elements. The first is the summary document which outputs a summary of the main options established in the WebI document. An interesting new option within this section is an area where you visualize the prompts parameters defined in the doc as well as the KeyData. The next two icons correspond to a new partition of what we used to find in the old “map” tab: report map and document structure and filters. Input controls and Available objects (former “Data” tab) present nothing new. Finally the structure is completed with the web service publisher.

I hope you enjoyed this article and that it has allowed you to gain a better understanding of the new WebI layout. Stay tuned for the second part of this article for more insight on what’s new in WebI.

Don’t hesitate to leave a comment or ask for clarifications and I will readily reply to you.