Business objects web intelligence 4.1 Getting Started

Bath University Computing Services Management Information Services Business objects web intelligence 4.1 Getting Started Document Information Author...
Author: Carmel Dalton
1 downloads 2 Views 583KB Size
Bath University Computing Services Management Information Services

Business objects web intelligence 4.1 Getting Started

Document Information Author

Steven Wyatt

Revised By

Steven Wyatt

Date

25/02/2015

Copyright

© University of Bath

Version

1.1

Status

Working

This document can be used by members of staff from the University of Bath provided this copyright statement is included and acknowledged. Please contact the Information Officer, BUCS, University of Bath for further information.

Contents Objectives ................................................................................................................................................................................ 3 About Business objects web intelligence ................................................................................................................................ 4 Logging in for the first time ...................................................................................................................................................... 4 The home screen at a glance.................................................................................................................................................. 5 Timeout ................................................................................................................................................................................ 5 Java ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 6 Open a document from the server ....................................................................................................................................... 6 Documents toolbar .............................................................................................................................................................. 7 Refresh a report ...................................................................................................................................................................... 8 Select a query to refresh ................................................................................................................................................... 10 Schedule a report to run .................................................................................................................................................... 10 History................................................................................................................................................................................ 12 Create a shortcut to a report you use frequently ............................................................................................................... 12 Create a link to a report to share with other users ............................................................................................................ 12 Save a report ..................................................................................................................................................................... 13 Quick display/page mode .................................................................................................................................................. 14 Find text in a report ............................................................................................................................................................ 14 Page Setup tab .................................................................................................................................................................. 15 Print a report ...................................................................................................................................................................... 15 Sending and Receiving Reports ........................................................................................................................................ 16 To retrieve a report that someone has sent you ............................................................................................................ 17 Export data from a report ................................................................................................................................................... 18 Log off ................................................................................................................................................................................ 18 Help ................................................................................................................................................................................... 19 Where to get support ......................................................................................................................................................... 19

Objectives Who this document for...

Business Objects Web Intelligence is a general purpose enquiry and reporting tool which allows users to access information in the University's administration databases, including iTrent and the Student and Applicant Management Information System (SAMIS). After reading this document you will be able to:

The objectives of this guide…



Access Web Intelligence



Open a report



Refresh the data within a report



Share a report with other users

You will need to be able to log into Business Objects Web Intelligence. What you'll need to have...

Access to Business Objects Web Intelligence must be requested by your line manager using this form http://www.bath.ac.uk/bucs/services/mis/misuserform.shtml

As you work through this guide…

Note: Screen shots are examples only, they will vary depending on the web browser you use to access the service.

Page 3 of 19

bo_41_getting_started.docx

© University of Bath

About Business objects web intelligence Business Objects Web Intelligence enables you to report on and analyse information in the University's administration databases, including iTrent and the Student and Applicant Management Information System (SAMIS). You can run queries which have been pre–defined in a report and then edit the resulting reports, filter data, drill down to reveal greater detail or display data in charts.

Logging in for the first time 1. Open your browser and open the following web page: https://businessobjects.bath.ac.uk/BOE/BI 2. Login to BI Launchpad with your University username and password. Note: System should be set to @boprd you will need to type this in the first time you log on. The Authentication is Windows AD. Once entered the first time, the system should remember these details whenever you log in.

Page 4 of 19

bo_41_getting_started.docx

© University of Bath

The home screen at a glance

Timeout Please note that your Web intelligence session will time out after a set period if you are not actively working in a screen. 5 Minutes before the time out occurs the system will prompt you to ask if you wish to continue working in Web Intelligence. If you have a dialogue box open such as the query builder or a formatting panel then the warning may be obscured by these elements. Please ensure that you regularly save your work when editing your reports.

Page 5 of 19

bo_41_getting_started.docx

© University of Bath

Java When launching Web Intelligence it may be set to use an ‘applet’ mode, this launches in Java which is installed on your PC. You may be prompted if you wish to update or allow the applet to run. 

When being prompted to update Java – Please click “Later”



When being asked if you wish the applet to launch on your PC or browser, please click “Allow”, “Yes” or “OK” (As a note there is normally a tick box to remember your choice)

Open a document from the server Open documents by selecting the Documents tab, you can navigate through your own documents or switch to the Folders section for the corporate documents. You can then click View or double-click the report to open it in Web Intelligence.

Page 6 of 19

bo_41_getting_started.docx

© University of Bath

Documents toolbar Once you have selected a report in the list, you can select actions from the Documents toolbar or you can right click to find the same options.

Page 7 of 19

bo_41_getting_started.docx

© University of Bath

Refresh a report 1. Once the report has opened, click on the Refresh icon to update and change (if required) the information displayed.

Clicking on the Refresh icon is the command to Web intelligence to update the information the report displays directly from the database. 2. You will now be presented with another window which will ask you to select the relevant values for your report. The fields on this window will vary according to which report you are opening. 3. Enter the appropriate values for your report.

Page 8 of 19



When entering the values for your report, you can often choose from a list of the report values by clicking the Refresh Values button in the middle of the Refresh window.



Select the value you require, and click the right hand pointing arrow to select this value.



Some report prompts allow you to select more than one value. Others let you select one value only.



It is often appropriate to enter the % wildcard in a prompt, which represents any number of unknown characters.

bo_41_getting_started.docx

© University of Bath

4. You can save a selection of prompt variants to re-use quickly another time. These will be available to you only in that document only. 5. Select your prompts then click the Create prompt variant icon next to Available prompt variants.

6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Give your prompt variant a name and click [Save] When all prompts have been selected click [OK] Web intelligence will now re-query the database, and produce the report. Now that the report has run, you can filter the report if you have access to do so. Once you have finished with your report you can close it by closing the tab.

Search within prompt values You can search within the returned prompt values by using the search box beneath the values. Enter the value you are interested in obtaining and press return or click the binoculars.

Page 9 of 19

bo_41_getting_started.docx

© University of Bath

Select a query to refresh When a document contains multiple queries, you can select a specific query to refresh rather than being required to refresh them all.

Schedule a report to run If you have reports that take time to run, or if you wish to run a report whilst you are away at a meeting, you can schedule these reports to run on the server. Once complete the refreshed report will be delivered to your ~WebIntelligence folder or a destination of your choice. Scheduling a report will free up your PC to do other work and you can also schedule reports to be sent to others. Scheduling reports builds up a history of reports you have run. 1. Right click over a report in the list and select Schedule.

2. Leave the Instance Title.as the default. 3. Select Recurrence to Now to retain a snapshot of the data at that point, or for reports that take a long time to run, that you wish to run today. Or set a report to run regularly, weekly, monthly etc.

Page 10 of 19

bo_41_getting_started.docx

© University of Bath

4. Select Prompts then Modify to specify criteria for the report, for example your department and the academic year, then click Apply.

5. Select Formats to choose a format for the report to save in, for example an Excel spreadsheet or a pdf file. 6. Ignore Caching, Events and Scheduling Server Group. Do not change the values for any of these settings. 7. Select the Destination for the report, either the Default Enterprise Location (History) or your BI Inbox. A scheduled instance of a report is stored in the history of the public document. Do not schedule to the File System (this would be your X and H drive) as you will run into problems. If you choose the Excel spreadsheet format, once you have the Excel file, you will be able to save this to your networked drives using the Excel program.

8. Click Schedule.

Page 11 of 19

bo_41_getting_started.docx

© University of Bath

History You can view the history of when instances of a report were scheduled and re-open these. Select the Documents tab, right click over the report in the list and select History. Or if you have a report open, select History on the main toolbar.

Create a shortcut to a report you use frequently 1. Right click over the report in the list and point to Organize then select Create Shortcut in My Favorites. 2. The report is listed in your Favorites on the Home page.

Create a link to a report to share with other users You can generate a hyperlink to a report in your My Favorites folder which you can then distribute to other business objects users via email. Find the report you wish to generate a link for then select the report and right click > Document Link Copy then link text and past it into an email, when the recipient clicks the link they will be presented with the log in screen and after logging in the report will be loaded. If the report is moved or deleted the system will inform the user that the report is no longer available.

Page 12 of 19

bo_41_getting_started.docx

© University of Bath

Save a report

1. Select Save As. 2. Click the grey bar labelled Favorites Folder. 3. Type a File Name for your report and click [Save]

Page 13 of 19

bo_41_getting_started.docx

© University of Bath

Quick display/page mode Quick Display gives a display that is based on the data, rather than the physical size of report pages. Because the Quick Display view mode restricts the number of horizontal and vertical rows, a report might not contain all possible data. Use the Quick Display view mode when you want to focus on analysing results, add calculations or formulas, or add breaks or sorts to tables to organize results. The Page view mode displays the page layout of reports, including page margins, headers, and footers. Use Page view mode when you want to fine-tune the formatting of tables and charts and the layout of report pages.

Find text in a report

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Click the Find icon. The Search Bar opens at the bottom of the window. Type the text you wish to search for. Select Ignore case or Match case if required. Press the Enter key on the keyboard. Click Find Next.

Page 14 of 19

bo_41_getting_started.docx

© University of Bath

Page Setup tab

In some reports, it may be necessary to change page settings, such as the margin size, and whether a report is printed in portrait or landscape To change the page settings of a report, select Design mode then select the Page Setup tab. You can also use the Width and Height controls to shrink a report to 1 or more pages wide or 1 or more pages high ready for printing.

Print a report

1. To print the report, click the Print icon. 2. Choose the appropriate settings on the Print dialogue box, then click [Print]

Page 15 of 19

bo_41_getting_started.docx

© University of Bath

Sending and Receiving Reports You can send reports to other Web intelligence users. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

On the Documents tab, select the reports in the list that you wish to send. Either click Send and select BI Inbox or right click, point to Send and select BI Inbox. Under Available Recipients type a user name into the Search box then click the Find icon. Select the user and click the arrow pointing to the right. The user should now show in the right hand column under Selected Recipients. Click Send.

Page 16 of 19

bo_41_getting_started.docx

© University of Bath

To retrieve a report that someone has sent you 1. Click the Home tab. 2. The report will be listed under messages in My Inbox.

Page 17 of 19

bo_41_getting_started.docx

© University of Bath

Export data from a report

1. Click the Export icon. 2. Select Export Document As or Export Current Report As. 3. Choose the format to export.

Log off Always select Log off in the top right hand corner of the screen when you finish your Web intelligence session. Do not just close your browser as this will keep your session open until the timeout period.

Logging out ensures that any preferences you modified during your session are saved.

Page 18 of 19

bo_41_getting_started.docx

© University of Bath

Help

Click the Help icon in the top right hand corner of the main toolbar. An online PDF version of the Web Intelligence manual is available at: http://help.sap.com/businessobject/product_guides/sbo41/en/sbo41sp7_webi_user_guide_en.pdf Also SAP produce their own getting started guide: http://help.sap.com/businessobject/product_guides/sbo41/en/sbo41sp6_webi_getting_started_en.pdf

Visit www.sap.com/LearnBI to view online videos and documentation Visit www.youtube.com and search for Web Intelligence 4.1 There are many resources on the web for Web Intelligence, search for Web Intelligence and which element you wish to read more upon.

Where to get support Email If you are having an issue with the service, please send an email to [email protected] and this will create a ticket for the business objects team. Alternatively use the online Help form at: https://bath.topdesk.net/tas/public

Computing Services Service Desk Visit us at the kiosk on Library Level 2 Open Mon, Tue, Thur, Fri 9am - 5pm Wed 10am - 5pm Telephone 01225 383434

Page 19 of 19

bo_41_getting_started.docx

© University of Bath