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7/17/2013 1www.solitairesoft.com

Introduction
 David Lai
 SAP Business Objects Consultant
 SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards Enthusiast
 Author of web blog http://www.davidlai101.com/blog and coauthor of
http://www.myxcelsius.com
 Co-author of SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards 4.0 Cookbook.
 Rebranding of Xcelsius
 Xcelsius in its original conception was a way to build visualizations and
dashboards using Excel data.
 As Xcelsius evolved, the name no longer became relevant in the SAP product
line
 Thus SAP felt it would be better for customers if Xcelsius was to be
rebranded as SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards

Agenda
 Common issues that dashboard designers are faced with
 Data connectivity
 External 3rd party addons
 Query Browser (New BI4 feature)
 Dashboard resources
 Q&A

Common Dashboard Issues
 Architectural Issues
 Deciding on what type of data connection to use
 Dashboard Performance
 Aggregation of data within Xcelsius
 Functionality
 Hierarchical selection
 Multiple selection
 Drilling up and down hierarchies

Data Connectivity
 SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards can
connect to 12 different types of data
sources

12 Connectivity Options
BO Enterprise
 Query as a Web Service
 Live Office
 SAP Netweaver BW
Connection
 Crystal Report Data
Consumer
 Flash Variables
 FS Commands
 Web Service Connection
 XML Data
 Portal Data
 LCDS Connection (Adobe)
 External Interface
Connections
 Excel XML Maps
BO EnterpriseNon-BO Enterprise

Live Office and QaaWS @ Design Time

Live Office and QaaWS @ Runtime

When to use Live Office – Complex Formatting
 Crosstabs with a dynamic amount of columns or formulas in the cells that require
complex formulas that can be done in the WEBI report.
 With QaaWS we can use ETL but that would require extra data maintenance and
universes/universe objects which some organizations are not okay with.
 Great for rapid development as we don’t have to wait for ETL resources to
complete the ETL work

When to use Live Office
 We can make use of WEBI report scheduling on queries that take long to
run.
 The dataset needs to be small enough (less than 500 rows) so that we can
just grab the entire set without having to query.
Scheduling
Crystal Reports
 Crystal Reports can be utilized when there is no Universe

When to use Query as a Web Service
 Query as a Web Service does not have to build a WEBI report and queries
directly
 Good for large data sets that need to be broken down with prompt parameters
 Can perform row level security querying
Performance
Data Logic / Maintainability
 Keeps Data Logic in the data layer so that database handles all the
number crunching through the ETL
 Don’t have to maintain Live Office connections on the Excel spreadsheet
 Less overhead on the dashboard source file

Thoughts on Live Office and QaaWS
 Is it strict where Data Logic should reside in your
organization?
 Is it necessary to invest in the ETL work? Are ETL resources
available?
 Is performance a major factor?
 Real time or Delayed data?
 Is the organization comfortable with managing both LO and
QaaWS to get the best out of both worlds?

BI Web Services
• Available for SAP BusinessObjects XI 3.1 SP2 and up
• Hybrid of Live Office and Query as a Web Service
• Allows you to create web service objects from Web Intelligence blocks (Complex
formatting without the need for ETL)
• Can used scheduled reports
• Can use Web Intelligence drill down feature which is extremely useful
• No more Live Office management required on Excel spreadsheet

BI Web Services - Continued
• On SAP Business Objects XI 3.1, you can only use Web Intelligence rich client to
generate BI Web Services
• On SAP Business Objects BI 4, you can generate BI Web Services from Interactive
Analysis (Web Intelligence web client)
• In SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards and Life Cycle Manager, the BI Web Service
objects are treated as Query as a Web Service objects

Some quick dashboard performance tips
• When using Live Office, use as little live office connections as possible. They take
up a lot of overhead
• Re-use dashboard components such as charts and selectors as much as possible
• Keep dataset sizes to a minimum. When you are going over 1500 rows, it takes a
significant amount of overhead.
• Try to use formulas such as VLOOKUP, HLOOKUP, SUMIFs, etc sparingly. For
VLOOKUPs you can use Filtered Rows instead.
• Use “&” instead of “Concatenate”

Inovista Microcharts
• A powerful 3rd party addon that allows a designer to create standard or
hierarchical tree structures and present numerous data visualizations in a compact
way
• Fills SAP BusinessObjects Dashboard’s tree explorer gap
• Each column can represent a different chart type
• Huge amount of control options to customize table functionality
• Allows designers to build visualizations that are in line with Stephen Few’s
principles

Filtered Summary Component
• Straight forward approach to summarize groups of data
• Inject summarization, searching and filtering capabilities for end users
• Shorten development time and improve dashboard maintenance
• Don’t have to run another query in order to get aggregated calculations

Gmaps Plug-in
• Navigate geographic information within a familiar Google Maps interface
• Visualize performance at any level from worldwide to a street-level picture
• Retrieve detailed information on map properties

Query Browser
• Powerful new feature in SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards 4 that allows designers
to connect directly to Universe objects
• Don’t have to manage separate WEBI or QaaWS objects
• Allows designers to bind output data directly to object selectors and vice versa to
reduce complexity.
Build your query
object
Bind directly to
query object

Query Browser - Continued
• Multi Select without having to use the real estate hogging List Builder!
Multi Select from
list of values!

Query Browser – Need to know
• Must be on SAP BusinessObjects BI4
• You must use Information Design Tool to convert existing Universes into UNX
format for the Universes to be visible on Query Browser
• Query selection is the same as Query as a web service (no complex formatting)

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