Computing Services IT Literacy Business Objects 4.1 Web Intelligence introduction Document Information Author Revised By Lydia Maskell Lydia Maskell with input from Steve Wyatt Date 05/07/2016 Version 1.2 Status Release Copyright University of Bath 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 IT Literacy team, Computing Services, University of Bath for further information.
Contents Course Objectives... 4 About Business Objects Web Intelligence... 5 Universes... 6 Objects and classes... 6 Queries... 6 Analysing Query Results... 6 Getting started... 7 Logging in for the first time... 7 Timeout... 8 Open a document from the server... 8 In Web Intelligence... 8 To search within the list of documents... 9 Open a document from the Documents tab... 9 Documents toolbar... 10 View a report... 10 Schedule a report to run... 11 History... 13 Create a link to a report for other users... 14 Create a shortcut to a report you use frequently... 14 Refresh a report... 14 Select a query to refresh... 16 Add a description and keywords to your report... 16 Save a report... 17 Pin tabs... 17 Open in a new window... 17 Switching between Reading, Design and Data mode... 18 Cut, copy and paste... 18 Side panel tabs... 19 Quick display/page mode... 19 Freeze headers, rows and columns... 20 To unfreeze... 20 Find text in a report... 20 Track data... 21 Drill data... 22 Fold and unfold report data... 23 Formatting your report... 24 Format tab... 24 Formatting a Cell... 24 Format Cell dialog box... 24 General tab... 24
Alignment tab... 24 Font tab... 24 Border tab... 24 Appearance tab... 24 Changing the Width of a Column... 25 Changing the Height of Rows... 25 Merge cells... 25 Input controls... 25 Insert Filter... 27 Create a section from a column... 27 Insert Break... 28 Insert Sort (Ascending Order)... 28 Insert Sort (Descending Order)... 29 Insert Sum... 29 Insert Count... 30 Alerters... 30 Create a chart from scratch... 31 Turn a table into a chart... 33 Page Setup tab... 33 Insert cells with pre-defined properties... 34 Print a report... 34 Sending and Receiving Reports... 35 To retrieve a report that someone has sent you... 35 Export a report... 36 Log off... 36 Example of scheduling... 37 Retrieve a java-enabled version of the report you scheduled... 39 Retrieve a scheduled report via the Documents tab... 41 Change your view preferences... 42 Help... 43 Where to get help... 43 Email... 43 Computing Services Service Desk... 43
Course Objectives Who this course is 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 (the Human Resources system) and the Student and Applicant Management Information System (SAMIS). At the end of this training session you will be able to: The objectives of this guide Log in to BI Launchpad Search for and open documents Schedule reports to run Refresh and save reports Find text in a report Track data Drill data Format reports Use input controls Use alerters Create basic charts Use page setup options Print reports Export reports Send reports to other Business Objects users You will need to be able to log into Business Objects Web Intelligence. What you'll need to have before commencing this course... 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 may vary depending on the computer you are logged into. Page 4 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro 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 by Computing Services MIS and then edit the resulting reports, filter data, drill down to reveal greater detail or display data in charts. In this session you will: Log in to BI Launchpad Search for and open documents Schedule reports to run Refresh and save reports Find text in a report Track data Drill data Format reports Use input controls Use alerters Create basic charts Use page setup options Print reports Export reports Send reports to other Business Objects users Page 5 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath
Universes Business Objects revolves around the concept of the Universe. A Universe uses meaningful language to describe a user-orientated representation of a relational database, in this case itrent (the Human Resources system) or the Student and Applicant Management Information System (SAMIS). Objects and classes Each Universe is constructed with a set of Objects and Classes of Object. An Object is an item of information which is of interest to a user of the information. It corresponds to a selection of data from the database and is, most usually, a column in a database table. For example, the following are Objects in the SAMIS Universe - Surname, Forename, Full Programme Name. Queries Data is retrieved from a database by a query. In Business Objects Web Intelligence a query is built using the Query Panel. The Query Panel is a window which enables you to construct a query quickly and easily which will search for information in a particular Universe. Using point and click techniques, the query is built by selecting: The Objects to be viewed Any conditions the data must satisfy The order in which information should be sorted for viewing This manual is not concerned with building queries however, we look at using queries that have already been built. Analysing Query Results Once a query has been executed, the results are presented for immediate viewing in the Universe Workspace window. In many instances, such a simple presentation of the information will satisfy a user's needs. In other cases, however, where the requirements are more sophisticated Business Objects Web Intelligence enables the query results to be analysed and processed in a number of ways. It has the following capabilities: Report generation. Chart generation. Exporting query results to other applications such as spreadsheets and word processors. Integration of query results with other windows applications using DDE (Dynamic Data Exchange), i.e. using the Windows clipboard. Page 6 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath
Getting started 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. Passwords are case sensitive. BI Launchpad will allow you 3 attempts to enter your correct username and password. After the third incorrect attempt, you need to contact the Service Desk (ext. 3434) so that your username can be re-instated. 3. You will see the Home screen. 4. Recently viewed documents are listed here. 5. Under My Applications click Web Intelligence. Page 7 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath
Timeout Please note that your Web intelligence session will time out after a set period if you are not actively working in a screen. Five minutes before the time out occurs, the system will prompt you to ask if you wish to continue working in Web Intelligence. Open a document from the server There are several ways to open documents. In Web Intelligence 1. On the Web Intelligence tab, select Open Menu. 2. Select the Folders tab. 3. Navigate to the Public Folders. 4. Navigate to the SAMIS folder and browse the relevant sub-folder for the reports. 5. As you click through the sub-folders the documents will be displayed on the right. Depending on your level of access you may or may not be able to see documents in the folders. Page 8 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath
Clicking once on the column header Title will sort the reports into alphabetical order. Double clicking on the right hand edge of the column header Name will resize the column so that you can see the full name of the report. 6. Either double click on the name of the report you require, right click and select View or single click on the name of the report then click [Open] To search within the list of documents If you click into the list of reports and start to type the first few letters of the report title, you will move down to that section of the list. Above the list is a Quick Search pane. Type the word you wish to search for and press the Enter key on the keyboard. The Search only looks at the titles of the reports and your results will only show you reports you have permissions to view from the repository. Open a document from the Documents tab Once you have Web intelligence open, you can open subsequent documents by selecting the Documents tab. My Favorites folder is listed here under My Documents. You can create sub-folders here and all these folders will be archived and backed up to ensure that reports critical to the running of the University are in a secure storage space. Page 9 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath
Never delete the folder called ~WebIntelligence as this stores any reports that have timed out and any auto saved reports so that you can recover these if necessary. If you are timed out it will save your reports even if they are blank or half built. This is a similar function to document recovery in Microsoft Office. Alerts folders are solely for staff administering the system, so you can ignore these. Near the bottom of the Documents window, select Folders. You can then browse down through the Public Folders as before, to view documents on the server. To search the list of reports, click Search. You can filter the search results by Type, Location or Refresh Time. There is still a Quick Search pane at the top of the window but this will search the whole of Web intelligence, not just the list of reports. 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. View a report Right click over the report and select View to open the original document or View latest instance to view an instance of the report that you have scheduled. Page 10 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath
Schedule a report to run If you have reports that take a couple of hours to run, or if you wish to run a report whilst you are away at a meeting, you can schedule these reports to run. 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. Once a report is scheduled, Web Intelligence will keep working through the scheduling queue until your report is run. Please note: You cannot schedule a report from the central repository folders. Reports can only be scheduled from your own area or a shared area. Copy a report to your favourites 1. Click the Documents tab. 2. Near the bottom of the Documents window, select Folders. 3. You can then browse down through the Public Folders to view documents on the server. 4. Right click on the report you require, point to Organize, then select Copy. 5. Select My Documents in the left-hand pane 6. Right click on My Favorites. 7. Point to Organize then select Paste. 8. If a file already exists with the same name, you will see a window informing you of this, also telling you that a modified, unique, name has been assigned. Page 11 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath
Schedule a report from your favourites folder 1. Right click on the version of the report you have in your Favorites and select Schedule. 2. Leave the Instance Title.as the default. 3. Set 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. 4. Select Prompts then Modify to specify criteria for the report, for example your department and the academic year, then click Apply. Page 12 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath
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. 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. Page 13 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath
Create a link to a report for 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. 1. Find the report you wish to generate a link for then right click over the report and select Document Link. 2. Copy the link text and past it into an email. 3. When the recipient clicks the link they will be presented with the log in screen and after logging in the report will be loaded. 4. If the report is moved or deleted the system will inform the user that the report is no longer available. 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. 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 14 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath
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. 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. 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. 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. Give your prompt variant a name and click [Save] 7. When all prompts have been selected click [OK] Page 15 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath
8. Web intelligence will now re-query the database, give you an estimated wait time, and produce the report. 9. Now that the report has run, you can filter the report if you have access to do so. 10. Once you have finished with your report you can close it by closing the tab. Web Intelligence keeps a record of when a report was last refreshed. The refresh date and time is displayed in the bottom right corner of the task bar. 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. Add a description and keywords to your report It is good practice to add a description and search keywords to your report. 1. Open your report in Web Intelligence and switch to Design mode. 2. Open the Document Summary side panel tab. 3. Click Edit and you can add both a description and search keywords to your report. Page 16 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath
Save a report 1. Select Save As. 2. Click the grey bar labelled Favorites Folder. 3. Right click to create a sub-folder under your Favorites Folder. 4. Type a File Name for your report and click [Save] Save a report if you wish to re-run that version of the report. If what you want to save is the data, export the report to Excel and save in a secure area. Pin tabs If you wish reports to remain open on their tabs, you can click the pin on the tab to pin them in place. Open in a new window If you wish to view reports in their own window click the pop-out icon on their tab. Page 17 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath
Switching between Reading, Design and Data mode Depending upon your role and your access permissions, you may be able to switch between Reading, Design and Data mode by clicking the links in the top right hand corner. Reading Design Reading mode allows you to view reports, track changes and drill down on report data. You have just one simple toolbar. The tabbed toolbars do not appear in this mode. Design mode allows you to edit reports and add tables or charts, use conditional formatting and add calculations. Additional tabbed toolbars appear in this mode. The tabs are contextualised for what you are currently doing in your report. Data Data mode allows you to create, edit and manage queries based on one of the University s administration databases, for example, itrent or Samis. Cut, copy and paste In Reading view you will find that you can select individual cells, for example, you can select an individual student number to paste into SAMIS. Right click or use your keyboard shortcuts to copy and paste. In Design view you have a Quick Access Toolbar including the Cut, Copy and Paste icons as well as the right click context menu and shortcuts. Page 18 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath
Side panel tabs Depending upon your role and your access permissions, the side panel tabs give you access to these features: Document Summary Report Map Input Controls Gives you information about the author of the report, when it was last refreshed and the prompts it contains. Shows you the different tabs in the report and enables you to move between them. Act like filters in the report. It is possible to set up controls like radio buttons and drop-down lists. Lists the default values for all prompts. User Prompt Input Shows the objects used in the report. Available Objects Document Structure and Filters This tab is good for navigating around a report. It displays the structure of the document in a tree view, and shows which filters are applied to different report elements. You can select one element from an existing report, for example, a table, and then copy that whole element into a new report. Or you can select a higher level from the tree and copy everything below that. You can also use it to insert new columns into a report. 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. Page 19 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath
Freeze headers, rows and columns 1. Select the drop arrow next to the Freeze icon. 2. Check the box to Freeze Header Rows. 3. To freeze columns, select the number of columns counting from the left. For example, if you select 2, the two first left columns remain displayed while you scroll sideways in the table. You can freeze up to 5 data rows or columns. To unfreeze 1. Select a cell in a table that contains frozen rows or columns. 2. Select the drop arrow next to the Freeze icon. 3. Uncheck the box Freeze Header Rows. 4. To unfreeze columns and rows, select 0. Find text in a report 1. Click the Find icon. 2. The Search Bar opens at the bottom of the window. 3. Type the text you wish to search for. 4. Select Ignore case or Match case if required. 5. Press the Enter key on the keyboard. 6. Click Find Next. Page 20 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath
Track data When you track data changes, you select a particular data refresh as a reference point. This data is known as the reference data. When you activate data tracking, you see your data in relation to the reference data. Data tracking makes the current data more meaningful by placing it in context with older data. Tracking allows you to assess change in the data over time, helping you to identify trends. You can track the following types of data change: Inserted data Deleted data Changed data Increased values Decreased values In the Auto-update data tracking mode, you always compare the current data with the data before the last refresh. This is achieved by automatically setting the current data as the reference data just before each refresh. The reference data is always one refresh behind the current data. Automatic data tracking is appropriate for scheduled documents when you want to compare the current data with the data before the last refresh. This may be of particular interest to Business Objects users from the Finance Department who run regular updates of the same report. 1. In any mode, click Track changes on the status bar at the bottom of the window. In Reading mode, click Track. In Design mode, in the Analysis tab, select the Data Tracking subtab and click Track. 2. In the Data Tracking dialog box, select the Data tab. 3. To compare the data with the last refresh, select Compare with last data refresh. When you select this option, the current data becomes the reference data after each data refresh. The report always shows the difference between the most recent data and the data before the last refresh. If this option is selected, the status bar displays Track changes: Auto-update. 4. To compare the data with a specific data refresh, select Compare with data refresh from and select the date of the data refresh from the list. When you select this option, the data refresh you choose becomes the reference data. The report always shows the difference between the most recent data and the data refresh you chose. If this option is selected, the status bar displays Track changes: Fixed data. Page 21 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath
5. Select the reports that you want to display data tracking from the Reports with data tracking shown list. 6. Select Refresh data now to refresh the data when the dialog box closes. 7. Click [OK] to close the Data Tracking dialog box. The information in the Status Bar at the bottom of the report indicates the document level status. An asterisk on a report tab indicates that change tracking is activated on the report. When tracking a report, you can choose whether to show the changes in the data or choose not to show them. This option appears next to the Track option on the toolbar. When the Show Changes icon is highlighted, you are viewing changes. To turn off track changes, select the Track icon so that it is no longer highlighted or turn tracking off in the Data Tracking dialog box. Drill data Drilling up or down in the data allows you to interact with the data to change granularity. For example, you could drill down from a yearly subtotal to individual months, or you could drill up from a quarterly subtotal to the annual total. 1. Select Drill. 2. Drill icons appear in the report. An upward pointing arrow means you can drill up and a downward pointing arrow means you can drill down. Page 22 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath
As you hover over any item of information that enables you to drill up or down, the Drill icon will appear on the cursor arrow and a tool tip will appear describing how you can drill. 3. Click on the item of data to activate the drill. 4. The data changes to reflect the increased or decreased level of detail. 5. To take a snapshot of the data, click the drop arrow next to Drill then select Snapshot. 6. An additional tab opens in the report with your snapshot of the data shown on this tab. 7. To stop drilling click the drop arrow next to Drill then select End drill. The data will remain in the last state that it was in when you drilled, so make sure you drill back up or down before ending the drill, if you still need to work with the report. Fold and unfold report data Folding or unfolding a section, table or break in a report is like hiding or unhiding those elements of the report. 1. Click anywhere in the report. 2. In Reading mode, select Outline. In Design mode, on the Analysis tab, select the Interact subtab then select Outline. 3. The fold and unfold bars appear to the side of and above the report panel, depending on the report structure. 4. Use the arrow icons on the bars, which correspond to and are aligned with individual report elements, to fold and unfold them. Page 23 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath
Formatting your report Once you have retrieved a report, you can build on it. A variety of commands enable you to format the data in different ways; you can easily change the basic structure of the report; you can display its data in charts or graphs; you can easily add data and remove data. The commands for formatting reports apply to individual cells, ranges of cells or whole sections of a report. The general procedure is to click the element(s) of the report that you want to format - it will be highlighted. Then, select the required formatting command. The commands can be found in the Format menu. Shortcuts to many of the Format menu commands are also available on the Formatting Toolbar. Format tab The Format tab allows you to change the font, size, colour, justification and other formatting properties of selected text. Formatting a Cell 1. Click once inside the cell you wish to format. The cell will be highlighted. 2. Click the right mouse button, and select Format Cell from the list which appears. Format Cell dialog box The Format Cell dialog box allows you to modify the format of the contents of cell(s) you have selected. The Format Cell dialog box consists of five tabs. Select the tab for the options you want. General tab Defines how data is displayed in the cells you selected and allows you set values for width and height. Alignment tab Allows you to align data in relation to cell borders. This tab also shows the Wrap Text option which is often useful for displaying more than one line of text within a cell. Font tab Allows you to specify the font, font size and font formats of the text in the selected cells. Border tab Allows you to place borders around selected cells so that you can highlight parts of your report. Appearance tab Allows you to fill in a component in your report with different colour shadings. Page 24 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath
Changing the Width of a Column 1. In some cases, a column may be too narrow or too wide for the information contained within it. 2. To change the width of a column, move the mouse pointer to the right hand edge of the column until the mouse pointer changes into the horizontal resize symbol. 3. Drag the border to the right or left, or double click to resize automatically. Changing the Height of Rows 1. Sometimes you may want to increase or decrease the row heights. 2. To change the row heights, move the mouse pointer to the lower edge of a row until the mouse pointer changes into the vertical resize symbol. 3. Drag the border to up or down, or double click to resize automatically: This will change the height of all of the rows on that sheet of the report. Merge cells In Design mode you can merge cells. 1. Select the cells you wish to merge. 2. Select the Format tab. 3. Select the Cell sub-tab. 4. Select Merge. Input controls You can filter a report or test different scenarios using input controls. You can select values from the report using check boxes, radio buttons or select them from a list or slider control. 1. Select Design mode. 2. Select Input Controls from the tab on the left. 3. Select New. 4. Select the report object that you wish to filter. 5. Click Next. Page 25 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath
6. Select the type of control you wish to use, for example, list box or check boxes. 7. Click Next. 8. Check the box next to the part of the report (for example, the table) that will be filtered by the control. 9. Click Finish. Page 26 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath
Insert Filter 1. Click Filter Bar to show the Report Filter toolbar. 2. Click the Add simple report filter icon. 3. Point to the item of information that you wish to filter. 4. This creates a drop-down list that acts as a filter. 5. Repeat to create additional drop-down lists. 6. Click Remove to remove a filter. 7. If you save the report to your Favorites folder, the filters will be available for use next time. Create a section from a column Sections are a way of grouping data within a report. 1. Select Design mode. 2. Right click the column you wish to define as a section and select Set as Section. Page 27 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath
Insert Break Applies a break on the variable currently selected in the report. A break effectively breaks the report in to smaller tables. For example, if you were to highlight a column showing the programme name and click on the Break icon, the report would break up into smaller tables showing one programme name per table. 1. Select Design mode. 2. Select the Analysis tab. 3. Select the Display tab. 4. Select the column you wish to apply a break to. 5. Select Break. To remove the break, click on the column which has the break applied, select the Break icon, then select Remove Break. The Manage Breaks option gives you more control over how breaks are formatted in relation to headings and page breaks. It also allows you to put the breaks in a different order. You will lose your subtotals if the order of the breaks is changed because the subtotals relate to where the breaks were originally applied. Insert Sort (Ascending Order) 1. Select Design mode. 2. Select the Analysis tab. 3. Select the Display tab. 4. Select the column you wish to apply a sort to. 5. Select Sort. To remove the sort, click on the column which has the sort applied, select the Sort icon, then either select None or Remove All Sorts. Page 28 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath
The Advanced option allows you to sort in a Custom order. A custom sort is used where the data will not sort in a helpful way if you sort it alphabetically, for example, the months of the year. Insert Sort (Descending Order) 1. Select Design mode. 2. Select the Analysis tab. 3. Select the Display tab. 4. Select the column you wish to apply a sort to. 5. Select Sort. 6. Select Descending. To remove the sort, click on the column which has the sort applied, select the Sort icon, then either select None or Remove All Sorts. Insert Sum This button inserts the total value of the variable selected at each break in the report and at the very end of the report. 1. Select Design mode. 2. Select the Analysis tab. 3. Select the Functions tab. 4. Select the column you wish to count. 5. Select Sum. To remove the sum, just click back on the same button. Page 29 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath
Insert Count This button inserts the number of occurrences of the variable selected at each break in the report and at the very end of the report. 1. Select Design mode. 2. Select the Analysis tab. 3. Select the Functions tab. 4. Select the column you wish to count. 5. Select Count. To remove the count, just click back on the same button. Alerters Alerters can be used to highlight values in a report that you are interested in, for example, average marks above a certain grade. 1. Select Design mode. 2. Select the Analysis tab 3. Select Conditional. 4. Select New Rule. 5. Type a name for the rule. 6. Under Filtered object or cell, click the ellipsis to select an object or variable. (This is the type of thing you wish to look for, for example, Average Mark.) 7. Select the Operator. (Whether it is equal to, greater than etc.) 8. Under Operands, click the ellipsis to select the values in these cells that you want to look for, or type a specific value. 9. Click [Format] to change the formatting applied to these values. (For example, you want to them to display in bold, red text.) 10. Click [OK] Page 30 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath
Create a chart from scratch 1. Select Design mode. 2. Select the Report Element tab. 3. Select the Chart sub tab or the Others sub-tab. 4. Select the type of chart you require. Select More then select All Charts to view all chart types. 5. Click where you wish the chart to appear. Page 31 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath
Initially the chart appears in grey. The colours will appear when you assign data objects to the chart. 6. To assign data to the chart, right click over the chart and select Assign Data. 7. Select Pick to pick variables to add to the chart. 8. Select [Apply] then [OK] Page 32 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath
Hover over a data series to see the values for that series. To change the chart type, right click over the chart, point to Turn Into and select the new chart type. To format a chart, right click over the chart and select Format Chart. To delete a chart, right click over the chart frame and select Delete. Turn a table into a chart 1. Right click over the table and select Turn Into then select the chart type. 2. The chart will replace the table. 3. Right click to Assign Data or Format Chart as described above. 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. Page 33 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath
Insert cells with pre-defined properties You can use the Cell sub tab to insert pre-defined properties of your report, for example, the document name, last refresh date or page numbers. 1. Select the Report Element tab. 2. Select the Cell sub tab. 3. Select Pre-Defined. 4. Select the document property you require. 5. Click and drag to insert a cell containing this property. 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 34 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath
Sending and Receiving Reports You can send reports to other Web intelligence users. This allows the reports to be sent and received within a secure environment. 1. On the Documents tab, select the reports in the list that you wish to send. 2. Either click Send and select BI Inbox or right click, point to Send and select BI Inbox. 3. Under Available Recipients type a user name into the Search box then click the Find icon. 4. Select the user and click the arrow pointing to the right. 5. The user should now show in the right hand column under Selected Recipients. 6. Click Send. 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 35 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath
Export 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. It also cleans up any temporary data for security purposes. Page 36 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath
Example of scheduling This is a worked example of scheduling which will be of particular interest to Business Objects users who deal with assessment period reports. You can schedule multiple reports to run. You do not have to wait for one to complete before scheduling another. For example, you could schedule the same report to run for different courses or different course years. 1. Click the Documents tab. 2. From the Public Folders select SAMIS Academic Departments. 3. Browse down to the Faculty, Department and list of students that you require. 4. Right click over the report that you wish to schedule. 5. Select Schedule. Page 37 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath
6. Instance Title Leave the default Instance Title 7. Recurrence - Leave the default selection Now to schedule the report straight away. 8. Prompts Select Modify, edit the prompts you require and click Apply. 9. Formats Leave the default format Web Intelligence Page 38 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath
10. Destinations Leave the Default Enterprise Location (which is the report History). 11. Click Schedule. Retrieve a java-enabled version of the report you scheduled Use this option if you need to modify the report extensively, for example, if you need to use the Data option in Web Intelligence. Once scheduling has been used on a report, you will not see the latest version of the report when you view the default view again, and therefore you need to be in the habit of checking whether a report has been scheduled and then selecting the most recent version as described below. 1. Click the Web Intelligence tab. 2. Select Open Menu. 3. From the Public Folders select SAMIS Academic Departments. 4. Browse down to the Faculty, Department and list of students that you require. 5. Click the report you scheduled to select it. 6. Click the ellipsis in the Instances column. You may need to expand the window by dragging the right hand edge to view all the columns. Page 39 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath
7. Highlight the instance you require and click Add. 8. A java-enabled version of the report will open. Page 40 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath
Retrieve a scheduled report via the Documents tab Use this option if you only need to make minor changes to the report, for example, viewing or filtering the report. Once scheduling has been used on a report, you will not see the latest version of the report when you view the default view again, and therefore you need to be in the habit of checking whether a report has been scheduled and then selecting the most recent version as described below. 1. Click the Documents tab. 2. From the Public Folders select SAMIS Academic Departments. 3. Browse down to the Faculty, Department and list of students that you require. 4. Right click over the report you scheduled. 5. Select History. 6. Click on the instance of the report you wish to view. In the History window you can view all instances of the report that you have previously scheduled. This means the information stays there all the time. You do not have to spend time saving or copying the reports. Page 41 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath
Change your view preferences If you always want the java-enabled view of your reports, you can change your preferences to go straight to this view. 1. From the top of the home page select Preferences. 2. Select Web Intelligence. 3. Under View select Applet. 4. Click Save & Close. Page 42 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath
Help Click the Help icon in the top right hand corner of the main toolbar. 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 other resources on the web for Web Intelligence. Just search for Web Intelligence and some relevant key words. Where to get help Email If you are having an issue with the service, please send an email to it-webi@bath.ac.uk 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 43 of 43 bo_41_webi_gen_intro University of Bath