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1 User Guide Banner Handout: BUSINESS OBJECTS ENTERPRISE (InfoView) Document: boxi31sp3-infoview.docx Created: 5/11/2011 1:24 PM by Chris Berry; Last Modified: 8/31/2011 1:53 PM Purpose:... 2 Introduction:... 2 Business Objects Enterprise User Accounts:... 2 Setup:... 2 Logging On to Business Objects Enterprise InfoView:... 3 The Business Objects InfoView home page:... 3 The Document List window:... 4 Header Panel... 4 Workspace Panel... 5 Tree Panel... 5 Detail Panel... 5 Business Objects Enterprise Folders:... 6 Changing Preferences:... 6 Selecting a Report to View or Schedule:... 7 Viewing a report... 8 Printing a Report: Scheduling a Report: Send to an alternate destination: Send to Specific recipients: Send to FTP: Send to File System: Export to alternate format File Management: Copy Report(s) to Favorites: Move Report(s) to New Folder: Create Shortcut of Report(s) to My Favorites: Rename Report/Shortcut: Delete Report(s) or Report Instances: Create a new folder: Searching for a Report: Changing your Password: (Not used when logged in to Active Directory) Logging off InfoView: Hamline University Administrative Computing Page 1

2 Purpose: This document is intended as a quick guide to using the Hamline University Business Objects Enterprise Server (InfoView) to schedule existing Crystal reports or view output from reports already run. It may be used as a training aid as well as reference document. Introduction: Crystal Reports is a powerful reporting tool that is used at Hamline to create visually appealing reports, letters, charts, and labels. Although these reports can be created by ITS Programmers as well as administrative staff, a certain level of expertise is required to master the skill of creating these Crystal reports. The Business Objects Enterprise Server is a completely web-based application that publishes these Crystal reports for novice users to be able to view or schedule. Very little training is required to be able to use this system. Hopefully, after going through this document, any Hamline staff or faculty person should be able to use this system to obtain administrative information. Administrative information at Hamline resides in the Banner database. Banner forms written by SCT and Hamline staff may be used to enter and query information, typically one entity (student, constituent, class, etc.) at a time. Banner reports may be used to do complex or high volume reporting. Crystal Reports (a separate product sold by Business Objects) is designed to be used by novice computer users to create documents on an ad-hoc basis. Crystal may be used to produce lists, cross-tabs, charts and graphs, labels, and form letters. Reports can be designed, run, and printed directly from a PC without needing to make a request from the Information Systems staff. Where complex reports are needed, the ITS staff can assist with the initial creation process. Once reports are designed (by office staff or ITS staff), they may be made accessible to any other user, or kept for private or departmental use only. Reports may be scheduled to run immediately or scheduled for a later time. In either event, all processing takes place on the Enterprise Server, keeping the local PC free to do other computer work without causing any performance degradation. Business Objects Enterprise User Accounts: Campus users who wish to use the Business Objects Enterprise system must have their own username and password. This password is associated with one or more departmental groups within the Crystal Enterprise system, which in turn provides access to departmental folders containing Crystal reports. The Public folder is available to all Hamline user accounts. Setup: Since little or no training is required in order to use Crystal Enterprise, the only setup required is to have a user account created on the server. You may contact the ITS Helpdesk (x2220) to request a Crystal Enterprise user account. The only software needed is a supported web browser (Internet Explorer 7 & 8). Hamline University Administrative Computing Page 2

3 Logging On to Business Objects Enterprise InfoView: To log on to InfoView, open a web browser and go to the Banner login page located at and select the appropriate link. Enter your User-Name, Password, and make sure that the Authentication is Windows AD then click the Log On button. (This website will utilize the password you use to login to your campus machine) You will be connected to the server, and the folders that you have access to will become available to you. (If this is your first time logging on to the InfoView application, the Home page will be displayed. You will be able to change this under preferences.) The Business Objects InfoView home page: The Infoview Home page is separated by two columns. The left column Navigate provides navigational functionality. The right column Personalize will direct you to personalization options. The link called Document List will open a window to allow you access to My Favorites, Inbox and Public Folders. The list of reports that you have access to will either be in the folder called My Favorites or Public Folders. Hamline University Administrative Computing Page 3

4 The Document List window: Business Objects Enterprise InfoView The Document List window provides access to InfoView objects available to the user. This includes folders, reports, report instances and shortcuts. Under this view, four different panels are used to provide access to these objects. They are: - Header Panel - Workspace Panel - Tree Panel - Details Panel Header Panel Workspace Panel Tree Panel Details Panel Header Panel The header panel displays the logo and the username of the account that is logged onto InfoView. It also contains the InfoView toolbar which can be used to perform the following actions: Icon Option Description Home Displays the InfoView Start Page (defined by Preferences) Document List Show the Document List (Accessible documents) Open Send To Sends an object or instance to a destination Dashboards Allows you to access dashboards and analytics (not active) Help Displays online help for InfoView Preferences Allows you to set how information is displayed Log Out Logs the user out Hamline University Administrative Computing Page 4

5 Workspace Panel The workspace panel is displayed when viewing the Document List. It allows you to perform actions on objects, categories or folders in the Document List. These menu s or icons are context specific and will only become active if the object selected can be utilized by them. The workspace toolbar contains Icon Option Description Switch to Folders Displays the InfoView Start Page (defined by Preferences) Switch to Categories Not used Refresh the Navigation Panel Add Organize Actions Search title Refresh the Navigation Panel Allows you to add an existing object. This may be a locally stored Crystal Report, Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) document or Text file Allows you to organize the existing document. Options includes: Cut, Copy, Copy Shorcut, Paste and Delete (if appropriate access exists) Allows you to perform certain actions on objects. Actions include: Properties, Categories, View (not used), View Latest Instance, Schedule and History Allows you to search for objects by title or description Tree Panel The tree panel is visible when you view the Document List. It displays the folders in Business Objects Enterprise in a hierarchical structure, allowing you to navigate through them. When you select a folder in the Tree panel, its contents are displayed in the Details panel. Detail Panel The detail panel is visible when you view the Document List. It displays the contents of folders in Business Objects Enterprise. You can filter and sort the objects displayed in the Details panel as well as choose to modify, view, organize, or schedule objects if you have the necessary rights. Hamline University Administrative Computing Page 5

6 Business Objects Enterprise Folders: InfoView folders are of two types: Business Objects Enterprise InfoView Private (My Favorites) - contains your Favorites folder (links to reports in other folders) Pubic (Public Folders) - contains Departmental Folders (reports arranged by department) You may use the Preferences page to specify which of these folders is presented when you log on to InfoView (initially, the InfoView home page is displayed). To move between folders, click the folder name or the expand (+) or compress (-) icons next to the folder name. Changing Preferences: InfoView allows each user to specify their preferences through saved settings. To change these settings, click the Preferences icon under the Personalize column or select on the header panel. In most cases, what you choose is completely up to you. There are some cases where ITS recommends a particular setting. After changing settings, click the Apply button at the bottom of each tabbed page. We recommend that you change the InfoView Start Page to a departmental folder (ie. CLA Admissions) that you have access to. Hamline University Administrative Computing Page 6

7 In the General settings tab, you may wish to set the following: InfoView Start Page: Document Navigation View: Set the number of objects (max.) per page: Document List Display: Document Viewing: Product Locale: Current Time Zone: Preferred Viewing Locale: Folder: The folder (department folder that you use most often) Folder (default) 30 Description, owner, date and instance count (default) In the InfoView portal (default) Use browser locale (default) Local to web server (default) Use browser locale (default) In the Crystal Report settings tab, you may wish to set the following: Select a default view format: Select printing control (for Web): Select a rendering resolution (for Web): Select a default measuring unit: Web (default) Active X (default) 96 DPI Inches Selecting a Report to View or Schedule: For each report, you may choose one of the following actions. You can select multiple objects in the details panel by selecting the CTRL and left clicking on the objects individually. You can also select in groups by selecting the first object, press SHIFT and then select the last object in the list. Please note that you may use either the workspace panel s Action menu or right click on the object and select from the pop-up menu (detail information found in subsequent sections of this document): Hamline University Administrative Computing Page 7

8 Organize/Action menu from workspace panel Pop-up menu by right-click of mouse on object 1. To view the most recent results from the last time this report was run (ie. CLA Standard Talley commented), select Actions View Latest Instance 2. To print an instance of the report, select the printer icon on the upper left hand side of the report output 3. To schedule the report, select Actions Schedule 4. To view a list of recent occurrences of this report, select History 5. To view creation, modification, and last run date for this report, select Action Properties 6. To delete, select Organize Delete (if it is allowed by security settings) 7. To move this report, select Organize Cut; Navigate to a new folder and select Organize Paste. (object does not actually move until Paste has occurred) 8. To copy this report, select Organize Copy; Navigate to a new location and select Organize Paste. 9. To add a shortcut (a link to this report) in a different folder, select Organize Copy Shortcut; Navigate to a new location and select Organize Paste Shortcut Viewing a report To view the latest instance of the report, double-click the report title link from the list below the report name. No database login is required - since you are viewing the report results that are already created, no access to the Banner database is required. Hamline University Administrative Computing Page 8

9 From this view, you may export the results (to PDF, Word, etc), print, move from page to page (use arrow icons or page number box), search for text, or zoom. To close this view, click the small X in the upper right corner of the report frames (not the browser window). To view other (earlier run) instances of the report, click the History link from the list below the report name. A new window will open with a history of all instances for the report. From the history window, find the instance that you wish to view (status must be a success), and click on the date or time in the Instance Time column. This instance of the report will display in the report frames. The same options are available as above (export, print, search, zoom, etc). NOTE: For reports that have a status of Failed, Recurring, or Pending in the History window, you may click on the status description to obtain additional information about this instance. It is also possible to either delete a report or pause a recurring job while in the History window. Hamline University Administrative Computing Page 9

10 Printing a Report: To print a report, you must first select the instance to be viewed. Once the instance is open for viewing, you may select the print icon process. to start the printing You may change printers and options in the Print dialog box. When ready, click the OK button. Scheduling a Report: To schedule a report to run, select the report you want (see Selecting a Report), select Action Schedule from the workspace panel. The schedule page will appear. Hamline University Administrative Computing Page 10

11 The Schedule window will automatically default to Now, which will run the report immediately after the Schedule button is pressed. If an instance is to be scheduled any time in the future, a dropdown list is available to provide many options. Recurrence: Now Run the report immediately Once Run the report one time at a specific time in the future. Hourly Run the report every x hours and y minutes. Daily Run the report each day at a specified time Weekly Run the report each week at a specified time. Monthly Run the report every x months at a specified time, certain day of each month, starting and ending a specified day Nth Day of the Month Run the report on every n day of the month 1 st Monday of Month Run the report on the first Monday of the month Last Day of Month Run the report of the last day of the month X Day of Nth Week of Run the report on the x day of the n week of month Month Calendar Run the report based on customized calendars designed by the Enterprise Administrator (not used at this time) To change the date/time the report will run: To schedule the report to run once, but at a different time, select the correct time (hours, minutes) from the dropdown list. To schedule the report on a different day, click on the icon, which will bring up a calendar. Once the calendar is open, it will be possible to a different date. Hamline University Administrative Computing Page 11

12 To schedule the report to run on a recurring basis, use the Run Report pull-down list to select Hourly, Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Nth Day of Month, 1 st Monday of Month, or Last Day of Month. To specify your Database Logon: Select the Database Logon option from the Customize your schedule options pull-down. Enter your Banner username and password (different from the Crystal Enterprise username and password), and click the Update button. To specify the report Parameters: Select the Parameters option from the Customize your schedule options pulldown. (If no parameters were defined for this report, that pull-down option would not be available). For each parameter, either accept the Current value, or type in a new value by selecting the Value column for the parameter you would like to enter a value for. Make sure that all parameters have at least one value. Hamline University Administrative Computing Page 12

13 Sample of Completed parameters When you are finished entering the run time, database logon, and parameters (if they exists), click the Schedule button to submit the job to run. Please note that this is the most basic requirement necessary to schedule a report to run. There are however, more advanced options including specifying an alternate Destination (FTP, , or Printer) or an alternate Format other than Crystal Reports (Adobe, Excel, etc.) The History window will display a history of the instances of this report, including the one that was just scheduled. Note that once scheduled, the status is listed as Pending. Click the Refresh button, to refresh this window to see the status change to Running, and then to Success. Hamline University Administrative Computing Page 13

14 Send to an alternate destination: Business Objects Enterprise InfoView Select the destination option from the schedule frame. Destination Description Comments Default Enterprise Report instance will be created stored locally in the Selected by default Location enterprise repository Business Objects Inbox Default inbox specified by the administrator NOT USED AT THIS TIME Report instance output will be sent to 1 or many e- mail recipients FTP server Report instance output will be sent to an ftp site File System Report instance output will be sent to a local/network drive. Send to Specific recipients: Once the option has been selected, the current window will be refreshed with additional options related to sending an . Hamline University Administrative Computing Page 14

15 Steps: 1. Select from the destination dropdown box 2. Un- check Use default settings in over to specify specific recipients 3. Enter a valid address in the From section (required) 4. Enter a valid address in the To section (required) 5. If additional addresses need to be added, they must be entered in the CC section (optional). If more than one address is needed in either the to or cc fields, they must be separated by a semicolon (;). 6. Enter subject (optional) 7. Enter message (optional) 8. Enter the name of the file. By default, an attachment will be generated. In order to generate a file, you must select either With automatically generated name or Specific name. To create a specific file name for the attachment, select the radio button labeled Use Specified Name and enter the name of the file. There is a drop down list of codes which will take access specific information from the actual file/schedule request in order to create the correct file name. For example, in the example above, UG_ was entered as well as %EXT% which was added by the File Extension option in the drop down list. A description of these options will be listed below. Title ID Owner DateTime Address User Full Name Viewer Hyperlink File Extension Add the title from the actual report Add the internal ID of the Instance Add the username of the owner of the instance Add the date and time the report finished Add the address associated with the user running the report instance Add the name associated with the user running the report instance Add the link to the report hosted on the infoview server. Add the extension of the report. This is based on what is entered under the Format section. 9. Select (Schedule) if no additional requests are needed. Send to FTP: Once the FTP option has been selected, the current window will be refreshed with additional options related to sending an FTP will be displayed. Hamline University Administrative Computing Page 15

16 Steps: 1. Select FTP Server from the destination dropdown box 2. Un- check Use default settings in over to specify specific ftp server settings 3. Enter a valid FTP site in the Host section (required) 4. Enter a valid port (21 is default) (required) 5. Enter a valid username and password for FTP site 6. Enter an additional directory path if needed. (ie. /htdocs/crystal_data/sas) 7. Enter the name of the file. The default option will create a randomly generated file made of a string of numbers. Remember that it is possible to create a custom file name. Refer to step #7 in Sent to Specific recipients for detailed instructions. 8. Select (Schedule) if no additional requests are needed. Send to File System: Once the File System option has been selected, the current window will be refreshed with additional options related to sending an report to a network file system (I drive or S drive.. Hamline University Administrative Computing Page 16

17 Steps: 1. Select File System from the destination dropdown box 2. Un- check Use default settings in over to specify specific file system settings 3. Enter a valid Directory site in the Directory item box (required) I drive \\NAS-STP1B\user\<<username>> S drive \\NAS-STP1B\file\SECURE\<<path of folder>> (ie. ITS) 4. Enter the name of the file. The default option will create a randomly generated file made of a string of numbers. Remember that it is possible to create a custom file name. Refer to step #7 in Sent to Specific recipients for detailed instructions. 5. Enter a valid username and password for network file server (HU domain username/password) 6. Select (Schedule) if no additional requests are needed. Export to alternate format: (Adobe, Excel, Word, etc.): Select the Format option from the Customize your schedule options pull-down. The default option for formation is Crystal Report format, but it is also possible to assign alternate format to the scheduled instances. Once the format is selected, the instance will be generated under the defined format. Once the desired format is selected from the dropdown list, select (Schedule) to run the instance. Hamline University Administrative Computing Page 17

18 File Management: A user of the infoview system also has the ability to organize the objects in the system. As long as the correct access is granted, a user has the ability to copy, move, create shortcuts, rename, delete an object or folder and create new folders within the enterprise system. Copy Report(s) to Favorites: Once the report(s) is/are selected/highlighted, select Organize Copy from the workspace pane. Go to the folder you would like the object to be copied to (ie. My Favorites). Select Organize Paste. If the user does NOT have the rights to copy to the folder/file to the selected destination option to Paste will not be displayed or grayed out. Hamline University Administrative Computing Page 18

19 Move Report(s) to New Folder: Once the report(s) is/are selected/highlighted, select Organize Cut from the workspace pane. Go to the folder you would like the object to be copied to (ie. My Favorites/Test). Select Organize Paste. If the user does NOT have the rights to copy to the folder/file to the selected destination option to Paste will not be displayed or grayed out. Hamline University Administrative Computing Page 19

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21 Create Shortcut of Report(s) to My Favorites: Once the report(s) is/are selected/highlighted, select Organize Copy Shortcut from the workspace pane. Go to the folder you would like the object to be copied to (ie. My Favorites). Select Organize Paste Shortcut. Hamline University Administrative Computing Page 21

22 Rename Report/Shortcut: Once the report(s) is/are selected/highlighted, select Actions Properties from the workspace pane. You will be directed to a new window which will allow you to either change the name or description of the report. Once the change is made, you may use the OK button the right hand side to save or Cancel button to undo the change. If the user does not have access to modify the properties, the editable information (Title, Description, Keywords) will be grayed out and the OK button will not be displayed. Hamline University Administrative Computing Page 22

23 Delete Report(s) or Report Instances: Business Objects Enterprise InfoView Once the report(s) is/are selected/highlighted, select Organize Delete from the workspace pane. You will be directed to a dialog box to verify the delete request. You may use the Cancel button to undo the deletion request. If the user does not have access to delete the report, the delete action will be grayed out OK button or the Create a new folder: Under any of the directories the user has write access to, the option to create a folder also exists. To create a folder, go to the location where the new folder should exists (ie. My Favorites) and select New Folder from the workspace pane. A new window will appear prompting for the folder name. Once the change is made, the OK button the right hand side to save the folder name. Please keep in mind which folder you have selected prior to creating a new folder. If you are in your Favorites, you will always be able to create new folders, but if you are in a Department Folder (ie. Registrar), you may not be able to create new folders. Hamline University Administrative Computing Page 23

24 Searching for a Report: Business Objects Enterprise InfoView When many reports are in various folders of the InfoView system, it may become cumbersome to locate a particular report. The search facility makes finding a report very easy. To search for a report by title, description, folder title, or all fields (title, desc, folder title), select the location of the search (ie. Public Folders or My Favorites) enter the search criteria in the main toolbar header, and select which item to search in, and then click the search button. From the search results, you should be able to schedule, view, modify, or manage reports depending upon your security access. Hamline University Administrative Computing Page 24

25 Changing your Password: (Not used when logged in to Active Directory) To change your InfoView password, click the scroll down to Change Password. Preferences button in the header pane and Enter your old password and the new password twice. Click the OK button when ready. Logging off InfoView: To log off the Enterprise server, click the Log out button in the header pane. After confirming that you really wish to log off, you will be placed back InfoView logon dialog window. You may then close your browser, or move to a different web page. Note that while you are logged on, you are taking up one of the Crystal licenses. It is critical for you to log off as soon as you are done. Hamline University Administrative Computing Page 25