To access BuckIQ, you must first be granted access. Send requests for permission to

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1 BuckIQ User s Guide Job Aid What is BuckIQ? Several years ago, Oracle took a look at the state of the Business Intelligence industry in terms of the different processes and applications that were required to create, use, and maintain a Business Intelligence environment. What they found was a variety of multi-vendor, non-integrated hardware and software that their development team evaluated and tested. The vision was to bring all of the pieces together into one suite of products. The result is the Oracle Business Intelligence suite, known at Ohio State University as BuckIQ Business Intelligence. This is a system designed to allow general users to use Dashboards to easily and quickly ask questions and format answers into reports. Logging In To access BuckIQ, you must first be granted access. Send requests for permission to access@osu.edu. Log in to BuckIQ using your browser to go to the URL BuckIQ uses the standard OSU login. Browsers certified by Oracle as compatible with the current version of BuckIQ include: Firefox 13+ and Internet Explorer 8.x or 9.x (IE10 is currently being tested). Use of any other browser or browser version is not supported and may provide a less than optimal experience. Type your Ohio State username and password and then click the Login button. The first time you login, your screen looks like this: 1

2 Move your mouse over your name in the upper-right corner until you see the My Account link. Click the link to display your account preferences. Select a page from the Starting drop-down menu (Home is a good choice for a beginner) and then click the OK button. The next time you log in, the Home page appears. 2

3 Topics that follow show you how to navigate and use the BuckIQ tool and content. The Home Your role controls the features and content you are able to access, so it is possible what you see is different from a coworker s view who has a different role. The BuckIQ home page is divided into several different sections. These include: 1. Create 2. Browse/Manage 3. Get Started 4. Common Header (Toolbar) 5. Content Quick Access 3

4 1-Create: You probably will not see anything listed in the Create area if your role is Consumer. This role does not provide the security required to generate new content. However, qualified users will see a number of links for creating new BuckIQ content objects such as analyses, reports, and so on. 2-Browse/Manage: The Browse/Manage area provides a simple way to browse or search for content. The links on this page redirect you to the Catalog page with appropriate filters already set to help you find the content you re looking for. 3-Get Started: The Get Started area provides links to various help files, documentation, and tools available within BuckIQ. Be aware the links to Documentation and Help are not specific to Ohio State and do not provide much helpful information at this time. The Desktop Tools listed enable interaction between BuckIQ and Microsoft Office, although their use is not covered in this training. 4-Common Header (Toolbar): The Common Header (or Toolbar) area is visible at all times in BuckIQ, regardless of the portion of the application currently in use. It provides a consistent set of icons and links to help you perform various tasks including: The Home button for returning to the Home page The Help button for accessing a list of documents (the documents are not specific to Ohio State and do not provide much helpful information at this time) The Sign Out button for exiting the system. Other options are covered in subsequent lessons. 5-Content/Quick Access: The Content Quick Access area contains various links as shown in the example below 4

5 .Sections that may appear include: Alerts: Displayed only if reports with alerting criteria have been triggered (e.g., being over budget on expense, having large spend items come through, etc.). Recent: Provides a list of dashboards and analyses that you recently accessed or used. Most Popular: Shows a list of dashboards used often in the areas where you have security access; allows you to quickly launch content that other people in your group are viewing. The Catalog The Catalog page is the primary place for browsing or searching for reports, dashboards, and other content. Access it by clicking the Catalog button in the Common Header. 5

6 The Catalog Toolbar The Catalog toolbar is located in the upper-left corner of the Catalog page. Folders Pane/Search Pane buttons : Toggle between View and Search. The Folder Pane allows you to browse using a standard folders list. The Search Pane allows you to enter a keyword, location (e.g., your personal or shared folders), and the type of content you want to look for (analysis, dashboard, etc.). After choosing the appropriate options, click the Search button to begin. Change List View Type button : The drop-down menu allows you to select how to display content in the main Catalog window. Select from the following options: Descriptive Details List Once you find content, you can perform various tasks on it, including open, print, rename, or delete, etc. Available tasks are listed in the Tasks Pane in bottom-left corner of the Catalog page or by right-clicking the item. 6

7 Folder Structure Every user has a My Folders where any personal content can be stored. Content stored here cannot be seen by other users. Shared Folders contain content that can be accessed by groups of users. Directly beneath Shared Folders is the following structure: Collaboration folders: These are dashboards and reports created and maintained by groups such as departments (e.g., Human Resources), colleges, and so on. This content has not gone through a rigorous validation process, but the area is intended to allow people in the group to quickly share dashboards and reports with others in their group. Training folder: Contains a variety of content including dashboards and reports, documentation, and best practices useful for those learning the system. All folders are secured; you only see those you have been granted access to. BuckIQ Menus We ve already discussed the Home and the Catalog and you have learned how hovering over your Signed In As name gives you access to My Account where you can modify your settings. There are other items in the Common Header you should be aware of. Favorites Menu: The Favorites menu list allows you to create and manage favorites. It has functionality similar to standard browser Favorites options. Dashboards Menu: The Dashboards menu list provides a quick shortcut to navigate directly to dashboards that you have access to. New Menu: This menu only appears for those who have permissions to create new content. With the appropriate role, the New menu list provides a quick link to create new content. Open Menu: The Open menu list allows you to find and access existing content without returning to the Home. It contains a list of your Recent and Most Popular reports. If the report or dashboard you re looking for isn t shown in the list, click the Open icon to bring up a directory dialog. Search Menu: There are two ways you can perform a search. Whichever option you select, results of your search appear on the Search page. 1. Select an option from the Search drop-down menu; enter the search term; and then click the Search button. 2. Click Advanced (to the right of the Search button). Additional option appear in the Search pane. Refine your search by selecting options from the Location and Type drop-down menus. 7

8 The Dashboard The next step is a closer look at the Dashboards and how to use them. A Dashboard is composed of several major components as shown in the example below: 1. Dashboard Tabs: Much like you see in PeopleSoft, Dashboard tabs represent pages of dashboard content. Dashboards typically have a summary tab, followed by additional tabs that allow users to drill down into detail related to the summary items. Often items displayed within a dashboard provide navigation options to different dashboard tabs. 2. Dashboard Sections & Columns: Dashboards typically have horizontal Sections within a tab. These sections group related items of content together. Dashboard sections may (but do not have to be) collapsible to enable you to hide content you aren t currently interested in. Collapsible sections contain a down or side arrow to allow the section to be collapsed or expanded. In addition, Dashboards may or may not have Columns. Columns allow related content to be grouped vertically. 8

9 3. Dashboard Content: Within dashboard sections are individual pieces of Dashboard Content. BuckIQ supports a wide variety of content including: Content Type Tables and Pivots Charts and Graphs Reports Alerts Action Links Files and Folders Web Content Description Tabular displays of BuckIQ Information Graphical displays of BuckIQ information Pixel-perfect reports created using the BuckIQ published reporting tool Conditional alerts that appear when thresholds are exceeded Links to processes outside of BuckIQ (e.g., drilling directly to PeopleSoft screens from within a BuckIQ table). Directory structures containing BuckIQ content URLs and web services displayed directly within BuckIQ 4. Dashboard Options: The Options button is located in the upper-right corner of the page. It provides a means to perform any of these tasks: Print the current dashboard to a.pdf (Adobe Acrobat file) or printable HTML file. Export the data to an Excel file. Refresh the data on a dashboard (for example, if you re using real-time data that updates during the day). Create Bookmark and Prompted links. Apply and save customizations. Customizations (in this case) allow dashboard prompt values, view settings, and so on to be saved for reuse later. As an example, if you were in charge of the College of Engineering, instead of having to select College of Engineering from a dashboard prompt every time you open the dashboard, you can save this selection and even make it the default for a dashboard. 5. Dashboard Prompts: (Not shown in the sample screen) Dashboard Prompts give you web-based controls to specify what data to display. Examples include list boxes, check boxes, radio buttons, and more. Content placed on the Dashboard is generally filtered to reflect the prompts selected, and then updated if you change the criteria to view different information. Important! Be aware of the functions of the Apply and Reset buttons at the bottom right. Click the Apply button to update the associated sections whenever you change selections in the Dashboard Prompts section. Click the Reset button, and select an option from the drop-down to change your selections. Choices include Reset to last applied values, Reset to default values, and Clear All (to start with nothing selected). 9

10 Dashboard Tasks 1. Open a Dashboard There are several different ways to open a dashboard. These include: From the Dashboards menu: Click the Dashboards menu item. It contains shortcuts that let you quickly navigate to dashboards you have access to. Tip: There is a dashboard called My Dashboard that all users have by default. From the Open menu: Click the Open menu item and then click the Open link. Navigate through the directories to find the desired dashboard. From the Home page: When a dashboard has previously been opened, it will appear on the Home in the Recent section for a period of time. Using Search functionality: Select Dashboard from the Search menu. Type a word that appears in the dashboard name or description in the space provided and then click the Search button. 2. Dashboard-Specific Help A best practice design is to have Dashboard-specific help on each page of a dashboard. To get help, first click the icon/url for Dashboard Help. Next choose whether to open or save a PDF (Adobe Acrobat) file with specific help for the current dashboard. Tip: When you save the file, it s possible that Acrobat will prompt you to set some file accessibility options. Click the OK button to close the dialog box. 3. Collapse & Expand Sections Dashboard sections can be collapsed if you do not need to see the information in them. This can be very helpful by providing extra screen space for analyses you want to focus on. For example, after reviewing the Dashboard Help, you probably won t need to look at that section again. Click the down arrow icon to collapse the section. Conversely, click the right arrow icon to expand a collapsed section. When you leave and then re-enter a dashboard page, collapsed sections are again expanded. 4. Use Navigation Links It s common for dashboard content to contain embedded links to other dashboard pages or content. When you a link, it gives you an option to navigate to the specified location. A navigation link does more than navigate to the appropriate dashboard page or report; it also sends contextual information about what cell was selected. The Dashboard prompts default to values associated with the selected link, and the reports in sections below are updated with those values. 10

11 5. Use Dashboard Prompts Dashboard prompts are the primary way to control the data displayed on BuckIQ dashboards. For the most part, dashboard prompts behave like standard web controls, with some functionality added. Let s look at the various dashboard prompts on a sample page. Year Dashboard Prompt: The Year drop-down prompt (menu) is very similar to standard drop-down menus, with the following added functionality: Each individual year has a checkbox next to it; you can pick multiple years by clicking the individual checkboxes. Notice the All Column Values checkbox. This provides a way to easily select all values (for example, if you wanted to see a trend across all years). You can clear selected values by selecting and deselecting the All Column Values checkbox. Notice the Search option at the bottom of the Year drop-down prompt. For drop-downs that have a large number of values (e.g., hundreds or more), clicking Search allows you to find values using character matching and so on. Dashboard designers can control whether you can type inside a drop-down prompt box. You can do this in the Year box using a semicolon to separate values. 11

12 When using drop-down type prompts where you are allowed to type values (e.g., the Year prompt), you can type a few characters and the drop-down menu will display a list of values that contain the string you supplied. For example, if you type a 4 in the box, 2004 pops up so you can select it. This provides a quick way to search through values without using the Search dialog. League Dashboard Prompt: Next, look at the League dashboard prompt in the example. This is a list box that allows you to click a value to select it. In some list boxes, you may be able to select multiple values by holding down the Control key and selecting items. Dashboard designed control whether a list box prompt allows multiple values to be selected. As you change dashboard prompt options, other prompts automatically refresh based on the values you choose. You need only click the Apply button to update the tables, pivots, graphs, etc. on a dashboard page according to the selected dashboard prompt values. Division Dashboard Prompt: The Division dashboard prompt in the example is a standard radio button that limits you to selecting one value from the options displayed. The League and Division prompts are linked to the list of franchise names. When the values of these prompts are changed, the franchise list automatically is updated to display only valid values for the selected league and division Franchise Name Prompt: The Franchise Name dashboard prompt in our example is a simple set of checkboxes. Clicking a checkbox turns that item on or off. Clear Dashboard Prompts: To clear all dashboard prompt selections, click the Reset button and choose Clear All. 6. Paging Controls When there are more than 25 rows of data contained in a report, BuckIQ displays the first 25 rows before adding paging controls in a table or pivot. The paging controls typically appear beneath the table or pivot. There are four paging controls you can use to page through data in a report: Up arrow with line above: Go to the first 25 rows of data; click this icon to reset the view to showing the first 25 rows of data returned. Up arrow: Go to the previous page of data; click this icon to scroll back through the data one page at a time. Down arrow: Go to the next page of data; click this icon to scroll forward through the data one page at a time. Double arrow with lines above and below: Display maximum rows per page (usually 500); click this icon to increase the number of rows displayed up to the maximum. Some designers may add scrollbars when they create a report. If these exist, you can use them as an alternative to the up/down paging controls to move through a report. 12

13 7. Simple Column Sorts To see an example of sorting, we ll use the following table as an example. It is currently sorted by descending Slugging %. Assume you want to know in 2003, who were the lowest paid players to have a batting average over 275? To answer this question, you take the following actions: Click the Options menu button and select Clear My Customization. Select the year 2003 from the Year dashboard prompt menu. Hover over the Player Salary column and then click the sort ascending icon values). (lowest to highest A limitation to be aware of when doing simple column sorts is that it is not possible to sort on more than one column at a time. 8. Exclude Columns Occasionally, the report you get may include columns you do not need to see. One way to solve this problem is to exclude one or more columns. To do this hover over the column name and then right-click and select Exclude Column from the dropdown menu To add an excluded column back into a report, right-click any column, and select Include Column. In the submenu, all columns that have been excluded are listed. Select the column to add back into the report. 13

14 9. Drilling Drilling allows you to start at summary levels of data and then move down into the details. BuckIQ supports two types of drilling. Non-hierarchical) Drill Style: This uses URLs to drill to lower levels of detail. In this drill style, the column headers and column values are URLs. To drill down to the next lower level in a column, simply click the column header. Think of clicking a column header as drill everything. You also can click an individual row value to expand only that specific value. Think of this as focus and drill. If you accidentally drill down too far or into the wrong value, click the Back link under the table or pivot to undo the action. Do not use the browser s back button; doing so will not work properly. When you re finished drilling, clicking the Return link takes you back to the dashboard and clears the drilling. Hierarchical Drill Style: Use the Collapse and Expand buttons of the hierarchy you like. to easily hide or show any portion 10. Tables, Graphs & Pivots The three most common types of dashboard content are Tables, Graphs, and Pivots. These are available from the Choose a Content Type drop-down menu on certain Dashboards. In addition, there are other content types that appear less frequently on dashboard pages including: Gauges: Show dials, bars, or bulbs generally indicating performance against a target Funnel Charts: Show contributions to a total at various stages in a process Maps: Represent data geospatially on a map View Selectors: Lets you decide between views of data (for example, the drop-down that allows you to alternate between tables, pivots, and graphs is a view selector) Column Selectors: Lets you select which dimension values populate columns in a table, pivot, or graph; e.g., on a financial report, a column select could allow you to see information by your choice of Chartfield (Org, Account, Fund, Program, Project, etc.) Filter Views: A view that shows the exact filters that have been applied to a report to select the set of data displayed.; this is a very useful view, as it makes it easy to determine how the data was arrived at. Following is a more detailed summary of the functions available when using Tables, Graphs, and Pivots. 14

15 Tables Select Table from the Choose a Content Type drop-down menu. A table object is the default view of information in BuckIQ as shown in the sample table below. Tables have the following characteristics: Dimension-type columns can go in any of these positions: The down position, like Division and Franchise Name The prompts position, like Year and League The sections position (not shown) Metric columns (for example, Games Won, Hits, Home Runs, and Team Payroll $ ) can only go in the across position of the data area; they cannot be moved Tables can support many types of functionality: Drill functionality (drill from high level totals down to details by clicking) Rotate functionality (dimensions can be moved between the various area) Action links to navigate to related dashboards or reports Conditional formatting (e.g., show numbers in a different color and/or show an icon if actual expenses are above budget) 15

16 Rotating Columns in Table View: To rotate columns, follow these instructions: First, click the Options menu and select Clear My Customization to reset your page to its initial state. Next hover over the selected column. Notice that in addition to the sort arrows, a column handle also appears; this can be used to move the column to a new position in the report. Click and drag the selected column to its new location. Notice that while dragging, a blue bar appears to show you exactly where the column will be dropped. When you release the mouse button, the report automatically redraws. To flip the position of two columns with one move, do this: Hover over the first column, click the column handle, and drag it directly on top of the second column. Continue to hold the mouse button down and notice the entire first column turns blue to indicate the two columns will be swapped. Release the mouse button to continue and swap the two columns. There are a number of column drop positions, not just within the main table or pivot. Using the example below, you could change the report to focus on the Cleveland Indians and their performance over all years. You can do this in two rotations. First click the column handle for Franchise Name and drop it to the right of the Year prompt in page prompts area at the top of the report. Once again, you ll see a small blue bar to indicate where the dropped column will go. Be sure the blue bar appears before releasing the mouse button to reformat the display. Hover over the Year prompt name; a handle appears directly to the left. Drag the handle for Year to the data table, and drop it to the left of the Full Name column. As a result, you will be able to use the Franchise Name prompt to view all of the data at once. 16

17 The previous format (with year first, followed by player name), provides a good way to see all players on a team for a given year. There is another, less common drop location that also can be useful. This is called the Section area. To do this: Hover over the Year column, and then click its handle. Drag it under the prompts area as shown in the example below. When you re over the correct location, a blue bar labeled Sections appears in the target location. Items dropped into this sections area result in a separate table or pivot for each value. There is an alternative to clicking and dragging a column. If you right-click the prompt or column name, a drop-down menu containing some choices for moving columns appears. You may find this easier than trying to drag to a very small drop zone and ending up releasing the mouse button in a bad location (which can have undesirable results). Table View Summary: Following is a summary of the various rotation positions available for table objects. Prompt Area: When columns are rotated into the Prompt area, they appear as drop-down menus that allow you to focus on one (and only one) value at a time. Section Area: When columns are rotated into the Section area, a separate table or pivot for each value is created. Data Area: Columns in the Data Area can be rearranged using drag and drop into whatever order is desired. When columns are moved like this, any existing sorts generally are reset based on the drop position of the column. A final note on rotating columns: It also is possible to swap columns between the Data area, the Prompt area, and/or the Section area. You ve already seen the example that showed how to rotate Franchise Name to the prompt area and then rotate Year to the data area. You also could have dropped Franchise Name directly onto the Year prompt, which would have swapped the two columns: 17

18 Graphs Choose Graph from the Choose a Content Type drop-down menu. Refer to the sample graph below When you hover over a bar, line, etc., a dynamic help tip appears showing the exact value. Graphs support the concept of prompt area and sections. Unlike tables and pivots, across and down position types vary according to the graph type selected. Graphs also can support drill and navigation. BuckIQ supports a wide variety of graph types for report generation. Types you may see include: Bar graphs (horizontal and vertical, normal or stacked) Line graphs Pie charts Area graphs (normal or stacked) Line/Bar graphs (normal or stacked) Pareto graphs (a type of chart that contains both bars and lines) Scatter plots Bubble plots Radar plots Trellis graphs (groups of related graphs in the same section, such as on the MLB Overview page in the Payroll Trends by League and Division )

19 Pivots Choose Pivot Table from the Choose a Content Type drop-down menu. Refer to the sample pivot table below. In general, pivot tables are very similar to standard tables. However, in addition to all the functionality listed for Tables, there are several enhancements available within pivots: Dimensions can be rotated into the across position. In the sample pivot table above, you can see that the Year dimension is in the across position. Metric columns can be rotated into any position. In the sample above, you can see that the metrics are rotated into the prompt position underneath the Content Type drop-down menu. Pivot tables also support subtotals and grand totals. Unlike standard tables, these total also can appear before the items being totaled. 18

20 Rotating Columns in Pivot View: All of the rotation areas available for a standard table ( Data, Prompt, and Section areas) also are available for pivot views. However, there are several additional options available for pivot views. The first difference between a standard table and a pivot table is the concept of dimension columns and metric columns. Dimension columns generally are used to group and format the data, while metric columns are the actual numeric columns being reported on. In the examples, Year, Full Name, and Franchise Name are dimensions, and columns like Salary, Hits, and Slugging % are metrics. While you can drag and drop each dimension and metric column to any area in the report in a standard table, typically there is never an occasion when it makes sense to drag metric columns out of the data area. A metric displayed in the prompts area just generates a drop-down menu with hundreds or more values and can actually make the table blow up. In addition, dropping a metric in the section area would generate a large number of tables. In a pivot table, individual columns cannot be individually moved. Instead, the group of measures is rotated at once. if you hover over the Player Salary column, you do not see a column handle. Instead, a handle that is used for rotating the column appears to the left of the column name (this applies to all metric columns and is called the Metric or Measure Label handle). A good use for this type of rotation is focusing on a single metric at a time by clicking the handle and moving it into the prompts area. 19

21 Another potentially useful orientation is dropping the metric column headings after all other dimensions in the data area. First click the Options menu and select Clear My Customization to reset the page to its initial state. Next move the columns by hovering and then clicking and dragging the metric handle so that a blue bar appears between the destination columns. The second difference between a standard table and a pivot table is the concept of across dimension. The pivot shown in the example below is not very useful since it only lets you focus on a single player/year/metric at a time. However, if the Years appeared as columns across the report, you could see trends over time for each of the metrics. Note the functionality is provided in Pivots only; you cannot do this with table. To make the change: Click Year in the prompt area and drag it to the empty column header box at the top right. Notice the blue box labeled Columns that appears. Release the mouse button. The report is then reformatted so that columns for years are added across the report. 20

22 11. Print and Export Content It s simple to export data from BuckIQ in either a printable or data format. Under each of the output objects (tables, pivots, and graphs) are Print and Export links that allow you to retrieve the information. Print Report Click the Print link and select Printable PDF as the output. The PDF can then be saved, printed, or ed. It is very important to remember that when you save, print, and information, you must abide by the OSU policies on restricted data if the report contains sensitive or restricted data. Export Report Export the data to an Excel worksheet, by clicking the Export link and selecting Excel. When you open Excel, a formatted representation of the data appears. In the case of a graph, a picture object rather than the underlying data is what is exported. Regardless how you export to Excel, be aware there may be formatting issues. For best results when exporting data to Excel, click the Export link and then select Data and then CSV Format. The results of this type of export are that: Data comes across without table formatting Data in columns is repeated on every row Graphs are changed into their underlying data instead of pictures Even so, some additional formatting may be required. Print a Another print option that may be useful is the ability to print an entire dashboard page from within BuckIQ. To do this, click the Options button in the upper-right corner of a dashboard. Chose Print and then Printable PDF from the dropdown menu. 12. Run Reports Although dashboards are useful for visually grouping analyses together to answer business questions, sometimes putting simple reports on dashboards is overkill. In these case, it is common for a stand-alone report be created. Stand-alone reports have the same functionality as content on dashboards. Reports can contain tables, pivots, and graphs. They can have navigation links to other reports and to dashboard pages. They also contain the links needs to print, export, or copy the data. Reports also may have related help files. To access these, click the question mark icon next to the report title in the top-left corner of the page. Just like dashboard-specific help, this allows you to open or download a.pdf (Acrobat file) with report-specific details. If you run a report and then want to re-run it using different values, click your browser s Refresh button (or press F5 in either Firefox or Internet Explorer) to reset the report options page. 21

23 13. Dashboard Customizations Dashboard Customizations allow you to pick certain combinations of prompt values, display type, and so on that you will often use and save them for future use by clicking the Options button and selecting Save Current Customization. Once a customization has been saved, you can easily apply it to the dashboard by selecting Apply Saved Customization from the Options menu. Notes on Customizations: Customizations only apply to a single dashboard page at a time. If you have five or six dashboard pages and want to apply customizations to them, you must do it page by page. You can set a dashboard page to default to a certain customization by clicking the Make this my default for this page option checkbox when saving. You can delete unwanted customizations by clicking the Options button and selecting Edit Saved Customization. You can return a dashboard to its default state by clicking the Options button and selecting Clear My Customization. Additional Information This job aid should not be considered as a replacement for taking the online BuckIQ Carmen course. Rather it is intended as a desktop reference for BuckIQ. The course contains interactive examples that will help you understand usage of the various concepts you will utilize when working in BuckIQ. 22