Logi Info v12.5 WHAT S NEW

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1 Logi Info v12.5 WHAT S NEW

2 Introduction Logi empowers companies to embed analytics into the fabric of their organizations and products enabling anyone to analyze data, share insights, and make informed decisions. With Logi, product teams can embed analytics which drive the value of mission-critical applications. The Logi 12.5 developer-grade analytics platform is specifically designed to make it easier for product managers and developers to rapidly build, deploy, and maintain engaging, secure, and smarter mission-critical applications. Logi 12.5 is purpose-built to serve the embedded model, so our clients increase the likelihood of building valuable, long-lasting applications. Over the last year our product innovation investments have been concentrated on enriching embedded analytics capabilities, so your applications quickly become more valuable. By allowing customers to leverage their existing data and infrastructure, along with offering new ways to author visualizations and query data, Logi 12.5 delivers an increasingly powerful platform for application teams. Key Logi 12.5 initiatives include: 1. Maturing Self-Service: Enable deeper analysis of data sets with numerous features like combination charts, chart embellishments, new chart exploration options, and business user filtering. 2. Improved Thinkspace Usability: An upgraded UI in the Thinkspace, geared toward first-time users, with a clear starting point, simple directions, an additional column selection option, and contextual help. 3. End-User and Developer Productivity Improvements: Customer-driven enhancements to the Analysis Grid allow business users to perform better analysis with improvements in relevance display and calculated columns, and improved handling of fiscal time periods. Developer productivity enhancements include the ability to maintain bookmarks in a database, a new geo-mapping framework, and new elements and attributes for easier development. 4. Data-First Authoring: This alternative approach to data authoring using Logi Services requires users to build their datasets upfront and then use and reuse them when building visualizations and other content. This results in improved manageability of data objects, especially for self-service users. 5. JavaScript-Based SuperWidgets: These are a new set of JavaScript-based, responsive components, including D3 charts and a new dashboard, that work exclusively with the data-first authoring paradigm.

3 What s New in Logi Maturing Self-Service Logi 12.5 brings many additional features to the Thinkspace which allow business users to perform deeper exploration of their data, to analyze their data using different approaches, and to display their data in new ways. Features like combination charts, chart embellishments, different chart exploration options, and many other new capabilities will enable business users to look deeper in their data and to get new perspectives. Maturing Self-Service Combination Charts Business users can create combination charts in the Thinkspace, where multiple chart types can be overlaid on a single visualization. For example, users can create charts in which a Bar chart showing Inventory over Time is overlaid with a Line chart showing Sales over Time. Users have the flexibility to use the same scale (i.e. a single y-axis) or different scales for different chart types (i.e. multiple y-axes), giving them the power to display complex analyses in their charts. Chart Formats Business users can embellish their Thinkspace charts in new ways, including using conditional colors, mark lines, and filled zones. Users can quickly and easily set up conditions in their charts based on data to define color thresholds in their chart display. The UI lets the user set a condition on any dimension or metric and lets them choose from a variety of color options (or even define their own custom color), enabling them to highlight data values of interest. Users can define horizontal or vertical mark lines for each metric, and set custom colors and captions for those lines. They also have the option to fill the area between the mark lines with their own custom color, thus providing valuable visual detail for chart consumers.

4 Sophisticated business-user filtering A new UI in the Thinkspace makes it easy for business users to build sophisticated filters for their data. The dragand-drop interface provides visual cues that guide users when they build filters, without requiring any knowledge of SQL. Users can build filters with complex nesting, conditions, and groups, making it easy for them to extract the precise information needed from the data set. Chart Exploration Options Business users can use the Chart Explorer tool in the Thinkspace to perform different types of analyses, including: Drill-to different dimensions in their Thinkspace chart, based on the underlying data set. These drills are automatically configured for every Thinkspace chart, allowing the user to simply select the dimension they want to drill into. As users drill further to explore different facets of the data set, a breadcrumb trail lets them quickly navigate to different points along their drill path. When viewing Thinkspace charts, filter options allow the chart itself to act as a filter element for the underlying data set being used. This features can be used to quickly identify the detail data records that make up a specific chart component, such as a bar or a pie slice. These features give the end-user additional power to perform detailed analyses and investigation of the data set. New Options to Handle Time Period Data The Thinkspace has several updates to Date and Time data handling that make it easier to work with sliding dates and time-based data. The Thinkspace has introduced support for sliding dates, which can be used in calculations and filters. Sliding dates allow users to set up relative dates in a filter, such as Last Week or Last Quarter, to quickly focus on the date range of interest. A variety of sliding date options are available, including custom date functions, like n days ago. The Thinkspace has added explicit support for Time data columns. This spans visualizations, formats, and filters, and includes fine-grained control of grouping, including Hour, Minute, and Second binning of data. These features give business users flexibility in filtering and grouping temporal data based on their varying needs.

5 New Gauges The Thinkspace s display options have been enriched with the addition of two new gauge types the KPI Gauge and the Arc Gauge. The KPI Gauge displays a single value, making it easy for users to focus on the value itself, unrelated to any goal. The Arc Gauge is ideal for heads-up displays where users can easily see the current value of a metric against a defined goal. For both gauge types, users have the option to set appropriate threshold colors for different ranges of data, as well as the ability to update the display text.

6 2. Improved Thinkspace Usability Logi continues to innovate when it comes to providing an easy experience for business users, allowing them to build new visualizations without any prior experience with the UI. The Thinkspace UI has been revamped to allow both beginning and experienced users to build charts and tables quickly, easily, and without any ambiguity. Numerous exploration options allow users to interact with their data and visualizations in different ways using Thinkspace s intuitive interface. Improved usability Updated Workflow in the Thinkspace A clear starting point has been added to the workflow so that first-time users know exactly what to do when introduced to the Thinkspace UI. A wizard-like approach supplements the original Blue Dot Connector approach to building visuals, letting first-time users build visuals with no prior training, while retaining the ability for experienced users to instantly build visualizations using Logi s patented drag-to-connect approach. Contextual Help Contextual help is provided for first-time users, with overlays that show them exactly how to make the most of the UI. This makes it easier to get users ramped up on using the UI to build visuals without having to go through training. Intuitive Layout of Buttons and Options The layout of controls for chart selection has been updated as part of the revamped UI. The new layout makes it easier for users to find the visualization options available to them. In addition, special column selectors have been intuitively placed in the UI, presenting alternatives to users who prefer to use a traditional listbased approach for choosing columns.

7 3. End User Enhancements Logi 12.5 has many customer-driven enhancements that will appeal to business users. These enhancements provide special, significant benefits for Analysis Grid users. The Analysis Grid UI has many improvements related to calculated columns, relevance displays, and fiscal time period handling. Improved Calculated Columns The Formula tab in the Analysis Grid has been updated to make it easier to create a calculated column. The layout of the UI has been changed to make it easier for a user to quickly access the constituent parts of the calculation, including all available functions. Error reporting has also been improved, making it easier for the user to correct any mistakes when creating the calculation. Relevance Displays The relevance display in Analysis Grid Bar, Column and Pie charts has been significantly improved to provide many more options to the user. The key changes include: The ability to view the Top or Bottom N values. The ability to view the Top or Bottom N percent of values, and The ability to optionally hide the Other bar or slice, effectively allowing a Top N or Bottom N display. These enhancements make it easy for users to examine their data in greater detail by excluding the impact of the Other (irrelevant) chart bar or slice, and by allowing them to look at both high and low values in a given data set. Fiscal Time Period Handling Fiscal Time Period support has been significantly enhanced with several new features, including: The Analysis Grid has been updated to include the availability of Fiscal Quarter and Fiscal Year date groupings, allowing users to create charts and reports in alignment with their fiscal time periods. The platform has also added support for specific fiscal functions, such as First Day of Fiscal Year and Last Day of Fiscal Year, along with appropriate formats. There is also more granular control related to the start of the Fiscal Year, e.g. whether a fiscal period starting on July 1, 2017 describes the year as 2017 or These enhancements give users and Info developers a lot more power when creating fiscal time reports.

8 4. Developer Productivity Improvements Logi 12.5 introduces a number of improvements for Info developers. Many of these are based on customer requests and deliver additional power to Logi Studio users. These include scheduling enhancements in the Self- Service Module, improvements that reduce the file system dependency by maintaining Logi metadata artifacts in databases, support for Leaflet Maps. Numerous other enhancements make it easier to develop business intelligence applications. Deployment Updates Bookmarks in Database Logi 12.5 provides an optional alternative to storing Bookmarks and their supporting files in the file system. This data can be saved instead as objects in a SQL database, thus removing the need to set up shared network drives for universal file accessibility. It also makes versioning and backup easier when working with this user-created data. Database storage of bookmarks is supported for the following databases: MS SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Oracle, giving application owners a range of providers to choose from. Bookmark Migration Tool Logi Studio in 12.5 includes a migration tool for moving filebased bookmarks into database storage. It creates the necessary tables in the preferred database location and inserts the bookmarks and bookmark supporting file data. Easier Development Support for Leaflet Maps Logi 12.5 introduces support for the Leaflet library an opensource JavaScript library for maps. This lightweight library supports a variety of tile-servers, including Open Street Maps, MapQuest, and many others, public and commercial. This provides an alternative to Google Maps and works in a similar manner, with specialized connection and map layer elements.

9 Debugging Improvements A new feature provides a link on the Debugger Trace Page that generates a downloadable.zip file, containing all of the relevant debug trace files. This makes it much easier to share them for troubleshooting. New Elements and Processes Logi 12.5 adds several new elements to its already substantial element library, providing new capabilities and customization options for Studio developers looking to deliver purpose-build applications: The new HTML Tag element can be used to insert custom HTML directly into report pages. This means that report authors can now insert those HTML tags that are not supported natively by Logi Info into their definitions, giving them more options for page customization. JSON Editing is enabled, providing a JavaScript editor in Logi Studio s Workspace Panel whenever a Support File with the.json file type is opened. This makes it easier for report authors to work with JSON documents in place in Studio. All reports can now leverage the Startup Process element to run a task at the beginning of report generation. The task can be run either with each user s report, or optionally (with the First Session Only attribute set) just the first time the application is run. This powerful feature expands the current capabilities of Logi applications by providing tighter integration between Logi reports and processes. Info developers can now run custom JavaScript using the new After Refresh JavaScript attribute in the Action.Refresh Element element. This gives them the ability to run post-refresh JavaScript code for individual elements, rather than forcing a full page refresh. DMF Nesting now allows Definition Modifier Files to call other Template- and Definition- Modifier Files. This enables a broad variety of opportunities, such as making it easier to deploy an application to customers where the deployed definition modifiers can call customer-specific Definition Modifier Files. A new Condition attribute for Shared Element elements gives developers the flexibility to conditionally expose shared elements in an application. A new element, List, obtains a list of addresses and allows SSM users to pick from the list when setting up their Scheduled distributions. A new definition file in SSM, go addresslist.lgx, is provided so report authors can customize this list.

10 5. Data-First Authoring Data-First authoring is an approach that supports an organized implementation of a Logi project. In this paradigm, the report author first sets up a data catalog with all the data sets (called Dataviews) required in the application upfront, and then starts building visualizations and dashboards based on those Dataviews. The benefit of this approach is that the Dataviews are uniform and reusable data objects, making it easier to create and manage them. Security is configured upfront so there is no need to incorporate it into individual Dataviews. This approach differs from the traditional way of authoring Logi Info applications wherein the report author defines and retrieves the required data on-the-fly in Studio; a technique that allows for somewhat faster development but less reusability. Create Dataviews Create data sets by joining multiple tables in a data source to create a single Dataview. The Dataview can be used in multiple visualizations. Any changes to the Dataview will automatically propagate to all of the visualizations that use it. Dataviews are typically in-place, i.e. when invoked, a query is run in the datasource. Supported datasources include relational & columnar stores like MS SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Vertica, and Redshift. A wider set of file-based and cloud application data connectors is available when used with Logi DataHub. Data caching is available with Logi DataHub. Dataviews can be created across multiple data datasource types (e.g. data can be joined between MS SQL Server and Salesforce) and cached. These Dataviews can be scheduled, ensuring up-to-date caches that provide a deeper level of insight across datasources. Reuse Dataviews Traditional Logi Info applications can leverage Dataviews with the help of a new datalayer element: DataLayer.Data Services. A variety of Info elements will work with these Dataviews, including charts, tables, and crosstab. Users can manipulate Dataviews using special elements to group, extend, sort, and filter them.