4 Introduction to Web Intelligence

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Alvin Manning
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1 4 Introduction to Web Intelligence Web Intelligence enables you to create documents for reporting, data analysis, and sharing with other users using the BI Launch Pad environment. Querying The required data is fetch from the database by using the universe, BEx or Analysis Views. Web Services and Excel/Text Files can also be used. The Query Panel within Web Intelligence uses the universe layer to assist the end user in querying the underlying database. Data is returned from the database(s) for the queries generated by the Query Panel. Reporting The data returned by the database is then stored within the Web Intelligence document itself (as a microcube ) and can be formatted in a variety of ways depending on presentation requirements. Analysing The microcube within the Web Intelligence document enables end users to drag and drop data, create formulas and calculations, and drill into the data for detailed analysis using different perspectives in design mode. The analysis can also be performed using HTML or Applet modes when viewing. Sharing Web Intelligence documents can be shared within the SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise environment by sending them to other users or by placing them in the central shared area known as Public Folders. Documents can be scheduled and distributed at specified times using the scheduling/publishing functionality within BI Launch Pad. Web Intelligence documents can also be saved in Excel, Adobe PDF, and Text files for sharing with non-businessobjects users. NOTE We will be using the Applet version of Web Intelligence for both Modify and View modes. 43

2 4.1 Universes and Objects Web Intelligence queries and documents are created using different types of objects from universes. This session discusses universes, objects and also introduces the two sample universes provided by the SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise BI 4.x installation Universes Universes are developed by universe designers using the SAP BusinessObjects product called Information Design Tool (previously known as Designer). The universes are then made available for creating reports. The universe layer in SAP BusinessObjects acts as the interface between the database and the end user. The universe is used to map data in the database using everyday business terminology, therefore making it simpler for the end user when creating reports. A universe translates business terms into database query language. The business terms are presented as objects such as Margin or Store name. The query statements are written according to the universe design into SQL (Structured Query Language) in order for the database to fulfil the request (such as Revenue per Customer ). UNIVERSES ENABLE END USERS TO CREATE MEANINGFUL REPORTS BY PRESENTING COMPLEX DATA STRUCTURES INTO BUSINESS TERMINOLOGY. Universes contain a number of different objects. Dimensions Measures Folders/Classes Pre-Defined Filters/Conditions Attributes Folders/Classes These are similar to folders (or directories) in Microsoft Windows. Folders are used to logically group objects (e.g. the Product folder would contain objects related to Product; the Customer folder would contain objects related to Customer, etc). Shown opposite are folders in the 'efashion' universe (sample universe provided in the SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise BI 4.x installation). Objects within a folder are typically related to the folder, e.g. the Time period folder has been expanded to show the objects it contains (all time related). 44

3 4.1.3 Objects These are the individual elements of a universe that are used when creating reports. There are four types of objects: DIMENSION objects are represented in Web Intelligence by a blue parallelogram. A typical dimension object might be Country, City, Year, Month, Product Category, Product Item, etc. Dimensions objects represent the framework for analysing numerical facts. Let us say we have four types of dimensions - Product, Customer, Region and Time. These describe the What, Who, Where and When of the business facts. For example, if you have a measure of a thousand pieces of sales, by asking the questions what did you sell (which Product), who bought it (Customer), where it was sold (Region) and when did you sell it (Year or Month)? You can determine the context within which the sale was made, and what the sale of the thousand pieces actually means to the business. Example of dimensions in Store and Product folders of the efashion universe. ATTRIBUTE objects are represented by blue parallelogram with a green asterisk. An attribute object is directly mapped to a dimension object and is used to provide more information about the dimension object it is associated with. Attribute objects are typically used less frequently than dimensions (i.e. you might have a dimension called Product Item Description and an attribute called Product Item Code). For most users the Product Item Description is sufficient in reports, but some users might want to use the Product Item Code so it is made available as an attribute object. In the efashion universe: Label is an attribute of SKU number and Color number is an attribute of Color NOTE Attributes can only be defined against dimension objects. 45

MEASURE objects are the numerical data that determine business performance. They are represented in Web Intelligence by orange rectangles.

Usually, measure objects behave dynamically within reports in that they aggregate ( roll up or break down ) depending on the number of dimensions and details they are being

All the quarters in each year have been added together. 3 [Year] removed leaves 4 unique values for [Quarter].

4 [Year] and [Quarter] removed leaves no dimensions to be broken down by, therefore the measure rolls up to its total value.

4 MEASURE objects are the numerical data that determine business performance. They are represented in Web Intelligence by orange rectangles. Typical measure objects might be Sales quantity, Sales revenue, Margin, Discount, Promotion Cost USD, etc. Usually, measure objects behave dynamically within reports in that they aggregate ( roll up or break down ) depending on the number of dimensions and details they are being displayed against. 1 Block of data showing [Year], [Quarter] and [Sales revenue]. 2 [Quarter] removed leaves 3 unique values for [Year]. All the quarters in each year have been added together. 3 [Year] removed leaves 4 unique values for [Quarter]. All the Q1 values have been added together and similarly all the Q2 values have been added together, etc. 4 [Year] and [Quarter] removed leaves no dimensions to be broken down by, therefore the measure rolls up to its total value. In the example above we have [Sales revenue] broken down per [Quarter] per [Year]. Three years with four quarters gives us 12 unique combinations of the dimension values, therefore we get 12 rows of data. By removing a dimension, Web Intelligence will automatically aggregate the figures to the unique combinations of the remaining dimensions. In this case we have shown what happens when we remove the [Year] object, or the [Quarter] object, or both objects. The total in each case remains the same showing correct aggregation behaviour. 46

5 PRE-DEFINED FILTER/CONDITION objects restrict the data returned from the database (i.e. narrow/concentrate/filter the query), usually by an associated dimension. They can be fixed conditions (Current Month, Next Quarter, etc) or they can be dynamic conditions requiring user input (via Prompts) to specify value(s) when the document is refreshed. Pre-Defined Filter/Condition objects are yellow funnels. Pre-Defined Filters/Conditions are used to filter data returned from the database. There are other ways to restrict the data but pre-defined conditions are typically defined for commonly used filters. In this example we have filters that will automatically: Return data for Last year only Return data for This year only, etc Pre-Defined Conditions can also be defined to prompt the user for a value at run-time. Here we have an object that will request input for Sales floor size efashion Universe The efashion universe is provided by the installation of SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise BI 4.x. It is based on a Microsoft Access database in order to provide sample data for examples, help text, etc. We have already used this universe in this session to describe Universes, Classes and Objects but an overview is given below: The database is based on sales data for fashion clothing and the universe has been designed to report: [Sales revenue], [Quantity sold], [Margin] and [Discount] by any combination of: Time dimension (e.g. [Year], [Quarter], [Month], etc) Store dimension (e.g. [State], [City], [Store name], etc) Product dimension (e.g. [Lines], [Category], [SKU number], etc) There are also objects specifically to analyse Promotions data: Promotions dimension (e.g. [Promotion (y/n)], [Duration], [Promotion cost USD], etc) NOTE 'efashion' data exists for the years 2004, 2005 and

32 Using Local Data Sources in Web Intelligence Documents

32 Using Local Data Sources in Web Intelligence Documents We have used universes as data sources for queries created in Web Intelligence and in Web Intelligence Rich Client. 32.1 Local Data Sources in