SAPBI

Introduction to SAP
BusinessObjects BI Solutions

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PARTICIPANT HANDBOOK
INSTRUCTOR-LED TRAINING
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Course Version: 18
Course Duration: 3 Day(s)
e-book Duration: 17 Hours 15 Minutes
Material Number: 50156143
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© Copyright. All rights reserved. iv
Contents

vii Course Overview

1 Unit 1: Overview of SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence

2 Lesson: Identifying the SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence

(BI) Tools

15 Unit 2: Data Sources and Common Reporting Features for SAP

BusinessObjects BI Reporting Tools

16 Lesson: Describing Enterprise Data Sources for SAP BI Reporting

Tools
24 Lesson: Describing Local Data Sources for BI Reporting Tools
26 Lesson: Explaining Prompts in SAP BI Tools
29 Lesson: Explaining Hierarchies in Data Analysis
34 Lesson: Explaining Insight to Action

40 Unit 3: The Components of the SAP BusinessObjects BI Plaftorm

41 Lesson: Describing the Components of SAP BusinessObjects BI

Platform

46 Unit 4: SAP Lumira Designer

47 Lesson: Positioning SAP Lumira Designer

49 Lesson: Creating Visualizations and Applications in SAP Lumira
Designer

53 Unit 5: SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, Edition for Microsoft Office

54 Lesson: Positioning SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, Edition for

Microsoft Office
56 Lesson: Creating Workbooks with SAP BusinessObjects Analysis,
Edition for Microsoft Office
62 Lesson: Creating Presentations with SAP BusinessObjects Analysis,
Edition for Microsoft PowerPoint

70 Unit 6: SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence

71 Lesson: Positioning SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence

73 Lesson: Creating Documents with SAP BusinessObjects Web
Intelligence

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 84 Unit 7: SAP Crystal Reports and SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise

85 Lesson: Positioning SAP Crystal Reports and Crystal Reports for

Enterprise
88 Lesson: Creating Reports in SAP Crystal Reports
100 Lesson: Creating Reports in SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise

109 Unit 8: SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform Scheduling and Report

Distribution

110 Lesson: Scheduling Documents and Applications in the SAP

BusinessObjects BI Platform

115 Unit 9: Mobile and Cloud Options for the SAP BusinessObjects BI
Platform

116 Lesson: Describing the Methods of Making Reports Available on

Mobile Devices
121 Lesson: Positioning SAP Analytics Cloud

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Course Overview

TARGET AUDIENCE
This course is intended for the following audiences:

Business Analyst

Business Process Owner/Team Lead/Power User

Solution Architect

System Architect

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© Copyright. All rights reserved. viii
 UNIT 1 Overview of SAP
BusinessObjects
Business Intelligence

Lesson 1
Identifying the SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence (BI) Tools 2

UNIT OBJECTIVES

Identify the SAP BusinessObjects BI Tools

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 Unit 1
Lesson 1
Identifying the SAP BusinessObjects Business
Intelligence (BI) Tools

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Identify the SAP BusinessObjects BI Tools

Define Business Intelligence

Gartner, Inc., a research and advisory firm that helps clients leverage technology, coined the
term Business Intelligence in the late 1980’s. Business Intelligence (BI), as defined by Gartner,
is an iterative user-centred process that includes accessing and exploring information,
analyzing this information, and developing insights and understanding that lead to improved
and informed decision making. BI usage crosses the spectrum of users, both internally and
externally throughout any enterprise, and includes rank-and-file workers, executives,
analysts, and knowledge workers.
Examples of internal and external BI applications include:

Generating a class list for a training session

Creating an employee performance review

Scheduling in a healthcare setting

Figure 1: BI Overview

Benefits of Business Intelligence

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 Lesson: Identifying the SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence (BI) Tools

There are many benefits of Business Intelligence. Business Intelligence enables users to do
the following:

Identify and track key performance metrics against their direct competitors and the overall
market.

Improve customer service and target high yield accounts.

Streamline operations and improve supplier and warehouse operations.

Identify successful marketing campaigns.

Improve response time to market trends and customer requests.

Decrease query and reporting time.

Reduce cost and anxiety over compliance.

Deliver true cost of days sales outstanding and services.

Reduce strain on IT departments.

SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform: One Suite for All Insight

The SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence (BI) platform provides flexible systems
management for an enterprise BI standard that allows administrators to confidently deploy
and standardize their SAP BusinessObjects BI implementations on a proven, scalable, and
adaptive service-oriented architecture.
The SAP BusinessObjects BI solution consists of different client tools for specific use cases
and the SAP BusinessObjects BI platform server that provides functionality including a
central repository, user management, security, and reports scheduling.
The enterprise reporting tools offered by SAP continue to evolve over time. This class focuses
on the most current Enterprise reporting and analysis tools marketed under the SAP Business
Intelligence Platform. Older SAP tools or non-enterprise level tools that are still used but are
no longer recommended by SAP are not included in this class. These tools include Business
Objects Explorer, Lumira 1.x, Lumira Discovery, Predictive Analytics, and Analysis for OLAP.
There is also a cloud-based analysis, planning, and storyboarding tool called SAP Analytics
Cloud and is covered only as an overview in this course. This tool is independent of the SAP
BusinessObjects BI Platform, but you have the option to take a hybrid approach to better
leverage both environments; for example, using data discovery in SAP Analytics Cloud, and
operational reporting with the SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform.
SAP Business Intelligence Portfolio of Reporting and Analysis Tools
The SAP BusinessObjects Suite includes a collection of reporting and analysis tools. Each tool
has features that target different types of users or use cases, but there is overlap among the
tools, and customers are not required to deploy all the tools in order to use the suite
effectively. The figure One Business Intelligence Suite for All Insight breaks down the types of
functionality covered by each category of BI tool.

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Unit 1: Overview of SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence

Figure 2: One Business Intelligence Suite for All Insight

The figure General Product Recommendations shows what type of functionality is available
and what SAP BusinessObjects tool provides this functionality. We will cover these tools in
more detail in this course but at an introductory level. Each tool has its own training
curriculum for those wishing to know more.

Figure 3: General Product Recommendations

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 Lesson: Identifying the SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence (BI) Tools

Due to a combination of factors including acquisitions and new product development, the
collection of analysis tools at SAP is wide, with overlapping functionality. SAP's current
Product Roadmap combines overlapping functionality of many products into a single product.
SAP, however, does not eliminate a product and stop supporting it immediately. We value the
customer’s investment and have contractual and good business reasons to keep supporting
older products. The figure Product Convergence illustrates the current plan for product
development going forward.

Figure 4: Product Convergence

Content Consumption
All Business intelligence solutions work with information, or content. In any organization, that
content is both created and consumed by various users. SAP identifies three types of content
consumers:

Middle Managers

Business Analysts

Executives

These consumers have different reporting and analysis requirements, as outlined in the Table
Business Intelligence Consumers.

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Unit 1: Overview of SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence

Content Consumer Consumption Requirements

Middle Management
Analyze regional goals and strategic Key
Performance Indicators (KPIs).

Analyze information to measure the prog-

ress toward set goals and KPIs.

Business Analyst Leverage actual and historical data to cre-

ate detailed planning scenarios.

Base decisions on solid information, and

leverage data and tools to provide ad hoc
answers to the management and execu-
tive team.

Executive Review regular account statements to

control customer invoices and vendor ac-
counts.

Fulfill management requests for informa-

tion as simply as possible.

Content Creation
Obviously, in order to consume content, that content must first be created. In order to be
beneficial to the content consumers, the content must be both controlled (to provide a single
version or definition of the raw data) and flexible (to encourage the use of the tools). A good
model for meeting these requirements is to have some formality to the creation and initial
presentation of the content, with the power to have end-user customization and
personalization. Typically, the content creation tasks are the responsibility of designers who
are IT, power users, or a combination of the two.
These designers create the content, connect to data, and apply appropriate customizations.
The creation environment is separate from the consumption environment. For self-service
consumption, the designer creates a dashboard or application that is typically consumed in a
mobile or Web-based environment. Based on the design of the content, the consumer may
have an element of controlled creation in their own consumption of the information.

Discovery and Analysis

SAP Analytics Cloud Overview
Powered by sophisticated models and machine learning technology, SAP Analytics Cloud
reveals insights that help you make data-driven decisions with confidence.

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 Lesson: Identifying the SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence (BI) Tools

Figure 5: Data Discovery: SAP Analytics Cloud

SAP Analytics Cloud Key Benefits

Receive smart features that think for you: Automatically discover the main business
drivers behind your core key performance indicators (KPIs). Reveal hidden insights and
develop a clear understanding of your business data. Enhance your data quickly with
intuitive suggestions during data preparation.

Plan for what’s next: Create and modify versions of cloud planning models for data-driven
budgeting, forecasting, and analysis. Align plans using collaboration tools. Use machine
learning to perform predictive forecasting using visual guidance, and explore results
through natural language.

Simplify the boardroom process: Align executive decisions on one source of truth across
business areas. Get a 360-degree view across all lines of business and operations, and
visualize insights in context across large touchscreen displays to maximize impact.

SAP Analytics Cloud Target Groups

Power User/IT

Business Analyst

Business User

Dashboards and Applications Development Tools

SAP Lumira Designer Overview
SAP Lumira Designer is typically used by IT or expert users to build professionally authored,
highly graphical and interactive applications or "apps," sometimes referred to as dashboards.
With Lumira Designer, developers can combine data from local and enterprise sources and
access a scripting language to create highly graphical and interactive apps. End users
interacting with the apps can read and filter data, gleaning a lot of information as they do.

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Unit 1: Overview of SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence

Note:
End of Mainstream Maintenance is currently scheduled for 31 December 2022 for
SAP Lumira Designer. SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) is the logical successor for
developing dashboards and applications. This product is featured in this class for
customers who have already invested in SAP Lumira Designer and also to provide
a comparison with SAC's dashboarding and application development capabilities.

Figure 6: Applications and Dashboards: SAP Lumira Designer

SAP Lumira Designer Key Benefits

Enhance storyboards with blended data.

Control the look and feel of data interactions.

Improve interoperability for fast development.

Gain access to live and streaming data sources for real-time analysis and interactive data
visualization.

SAP Lumira Designer Target Groups

Power user/IT

Office Integration Tools

SAP BusinessObjects Analysis for Microsoft Office Overview
Although most tools in the BI Suite are web- and mobile-enabled, some users require the
formidable power of Microsoft Excel or PowerPoint. For these users the SAP Analysis for
Microsoft Office tool set is perfectly suited. It provides access to a range of OLAP data
sources, and also allows users to combine information from different systems within a single
workspace in either MS Excel or PowerPoint.

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 Lesson: Identifying the SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence (BI) Tools

Figure 7: Office Integration: SAP BusinessObjects Analysis for Microsoft Office

SAP BusinessObjects Analysis for Microsoft Office Key Benefits

Access, slide, and pivot cubes in SAP BW and SAP HANA.

Share analysis workspaces with SAP Crystal Reports and SAP BusinessObjects Web
Intelligence.

Use the familiar interfaces of MS Excel and PowerPoint.

SAP BusinessObjects Analysis for Microsoft Office Target Groups

Power User/IT

Business Analyst

Business User

Reporting Tools
SAP Reporting Tools
SAP considers both SAP Crystal Reports and SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence in the
same category of reporting tools. SAP Crystal Reports is intended for static data presentation
and reporting, while SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence is a powerful slice-and-dice
analysis tool. The files produced by both tools can be accessed both online (mobile device
and web browser) and offline (desktop).

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Unit 1: Overview of SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence

Figure 8: Reporting Tools: SAP Crystal Report and SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence

SAP Crystal Reports Overview

SAP Crystal Reports is a Windows-based report design tool used to create powerful reports.
With Crystal Reports, you can build reports that look exactly the way you want through pixel-
perfect positioning, layout, and templates. Crystal Reports also provides the functionality to
create reports with charts and other visualization elements and includes user interactivity
such as drill-down and interactive filtering.

Figure 9: Highly Formatted Reports: SAP Crystal Reports

SAP Crystal Report Key Benefits

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 Lesson: Identifying the SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence (BI) Tools

Convert data into formatted, easy-to-read reports.

Schedule, secure, and share in any format.

Add formatted reporting to custom applications with modern Web APIs and standards.

Act from within your reports for closed-loop operational reporting.

SAP Crystal Reports Target Groups

Power user/IT

Business Analyst

Business user

SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence Overview

SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence is an ad-hoc analysis and reporting tool for business
users. It allows them to access and combine data from relational, Online Analytical Processing
(OLAP), spreadsheet, or text file sources using familiar business terms in a drag-and-drop
interface.

Figure 10: Ad Hoc Reporting and Analysis: SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence

SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence Key Benefits

Provides quick, self-service answers to unpredictable questions.

The semantic layer makes it easy for business users to access data.

Securely share interactive reports.

Access documents both online and offline.

Ability to combine corporate data with local spreadsheets.

SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence Target Groups

Power user/IT

Business analyst

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Unit 1: Overview of SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence

Business user

SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform Features

Figure 11: SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform

As we have briefly explored, SAP BusinessObjects has reporting and analytic tools, but behind
the scenes, software running on servers perform supportive tasks to manage and generate
the output used to analyze the data. This collection of hardware and software components
makes up what SAP collectively calls the SAP BusinessObjects Platform (BIP). The figure SAP
BusinessObjects BI Platform shows the BIP on “top” of your data because the BIP provides
and secures connections to the underlying systems that hold your data.
The SAP BusinessObjects BI platform is a flexible, scalable, and reliable solution for delivering
powerful, interactive reports to users. Whether it is used for distributing weekly sales reports,
providing customers with personalized service offerings, or integrating critical information
into corporate portals, the SAP BusinessObjects BI platform delivers tangible benefits that
extend across and beyond the organization. As an integrated suite for reporting, analysis, and
information delivery, the SAP BusinessObjects BI platform provides a solution for increasing
user productivity and reducing administrative efforts.
It is possible to integrate the SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform with SAP Analytics Cloud in a
hybrid approach such as using data discovery in SAP Analytics Cloud, and operational
reporting with the SAP BusinessObjects platform. With hybrid user management between
both systems, it is easy to onboard existing on-premise users to SAP Analytics Cloud, by user
or by group. The SAP Identify Provisioning Service can provision and synchronize BI platform
users to SAP Analytics Cloud, and enable SAP Analytics Cloud users to access on-premise
data.
Primary Features

BI Content Management
- Secured storage of BI content

Scalable and robust service

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 Lesson: Identifying the SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence (BI) Tools

- Ability to scale up and scale out to suit the demand

- Fault tolerance and load balancing

Auditing
- Audit trail for compliance or capacity planning

Information delivery
- Distribution of personalized BI content to mass audience in an automated manner
- Integrate with SAP Analytics Cloud

Software development kit

- API (Application Programming Interface) for extending the solution or for process
automation

Older SAP BI Tools

SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards
SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards (formerly Xcelsius) is a tool for data visualization and the
creation of dynamic, interactive dashboards. These dashboards contain various components,
such as charts, graphs, and buttons, that are bound to data sources. These components
display the data in a compact and visual manner, which can then help the dashboard
consumer see trends and make informed business decisions.
Dashboards includes an Excel spreadsheet in the interface that is referred to as the
embedded spreadsheet; data can be imported or entered directly into the embedded
spreadsheet, modified as required, then bound to components. Dashboards also includes the
ability to link external data sources, such as data stored in BI platform repositories, directly to
the embedded spreadsheet or to components in the model.
A Dashboard-created dashboard is intended to present data in a simple and intuitive way to
users such as executives, managers, and operational staff. As Dashboards produces Flash
files, and Flash is no longer a supported technology, End of Mainstream Maintence was
December 31, 2020.
SAP Lumira 1.x
SAP Lumira is a data manipulation, visualization, and story creation tool. You can connect to
one or multiple data sources to create datasets that can be enhanced with new measures,
hierarchies, and custom columns that allow you to manipulate, edit, and clean up your data.
Using the customized datasets, you can then visualize your data using a diverse range of
graphical charts and tables. You can create stories that provide a graphical narrative to
describe your data by grouping charts together on boards to create presentation-style
dashboards. By adding images and text, you can annotate and add presentation details.
SAP Lumira is installed locally and can operate on either remote or local data. The charts that
are built on the datasets can be saved, printed, and sent by email. Your datasets can be
published to SAP HANA, SAP Business Explorer, the SAP Lumira Cloud, the SAP Lumira
Server, and SAP StreamWork activities. End of Mainstream Maintenance was August 31,
2018.
SAP Lumira Discovery
SAP Lumira Discovery is a continuation of SAP Lumira 1.x, providing a way for end users to
gain insights from trusted enterprise data sources and personal data, and to share those
insights through interactive visualizations, stories, and tailored analysis applications with
other users on desktop browsers and mobile devices. Lumira Discovery allows casual users to

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Unit 1: Overview of SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence

mash up relational data, rapidly create visualizations, and build simple storyboards to explore
data in a more visual and flexible fashion. End of Mainstream Support is currently December
31, 2022.
SAP BusinessObjects Predictive Analytics
SAP BusinessObjects Predictive Analytics is a statistical analysis and data mining solution
that enables you to build predictive models to discover hidden insights and relationships in
your data from which you can then make predictions about future events. SAP Predictive
Analytics combines SAP Infinite Insight and SAP Predictive Analysis in a single desktop
installation. SAP Predictive Analytics includes two user interfaces, Automated Analytics and
Expert Analytics. End of Mainstream Maintenance is currently December 31, 2022; however
much of the predictive and data mining capabilities are incorporated into SAP Analytics
Cloud.
For up-to-date information on product support and maintenance, please refer to the SAP
Support Portal at https://support.sap.com/en/release-upgrade-maintenance.html
From this portal you can access the Product Availability Matrix for complete information on all
SAP products.

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Identify the SAP BusinessObjects BI Tools

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 UNIT 2 Data Sources and
Common Reporting
Features for SAP
BusinessObjects BI
Reporting Tools
Lesson 1
Describing Enterprise Data Sources for SAP BI Reporting Tools 16

Lesson 2
Describing Local Data Sources for BI Reporting Tools 24

Lesson 3
Explaining Prompts in SAP BI Tools 26

Lesson 4
Explaining Hierarchies in Data Analysis 29

Lesson 5
Explaining Insight to Action 34

UNIT OBJECTIVES

Describe Enterprise Data Sources

Describe Enterprise Data Sources for the SAP Business Warehouse (BW)

Describe Enterprise Data Sources for the SAP BusinessObjects Information Design Tool

Describe Enterprise Data Sources for SAP HANA

Describe Local Data Sources

Use Prompts in SAP BI tools

Use hierarchies in data analysis

Describe Insight to Action

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 Unit 2
Lesson 1
Describing Enterprise Data Sources for SAP BI
Reporting Tools

LESSON OVERVIEW
In this lesson, you learn about the different data sources for SAP BusinessObjects 4.2.

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Describe Enterprise Data Sources

Describe Enterprise Data Sources for the SAP Business Warehouse (BW)

Describe Enterprise Data Sources for the SAP BusinessObjects Information Design Tool

Describe Enterprise Data Sources for SAP HANA

Data Sources

Figure 12: Data Sources for SAP BusinessObjects

The SAP BusinessObjects analytic tools can access virtually any corporate data source, as
seen in the figure Data Sources for SAP BusinessObjects. While the figure indicates "Direct
Access," most of the tools use some sort of interface, such as a HANA View or BW Query, to

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 Lesson: Describing Enterprise Data Sources for SAP BI Reporting Tools

obtain that access. SAP BusinessObjects universes are also options that provide user-friendly
yet secure access to corporate data.
In this course, we will focus on the following data sources:

SAP SAP Business Warehouse (BW) Queries and InfoProviders

SAP BusinessObjects Universe

SAP HANA

Our class is designed for power users who normally do not build the interfaces used as data
sources for the BI reporting tools. In this class we will explore the data sources already built.

Semantic Layer
The semantic layer enables business users to access data autonomously without being
familiar with the structure and technical characteristics of the respective data source. In this
class, BW queries, universes, and HANA views qualify as semantic layers.
The semantic layer is created by a designer who understands the structure of the data
source. The objects are named and classified by data type. For example, you can create
familiar business objects like Customer, Product, and Revenue, which represent database
structures in the data source. The complexity of the data source is hidden, so the business
user can use these objects for analysis without having to know the underlying tables of the
database where the data is stored. The objective of a semantic layer is to provide a common
adaption layer that allows business users to have a common experience across the different
clients, sources, and types of information. It enables organizations to easily reach and work
with the broadest set of information sources.

The Purpose of the Semantic Layer in SAP BusinessObjects BI

To make business users autonomous

To enable single user experience over all data

To provide trust and consistency

To enable consumption by all applications and BI tools

To allow IT to keep control and ensure security of information

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Unit 2: Data Sources and Common Reporting Features for SAP BusinessObjects BI Reporting Tools

Data Warehouse Systems

Figure 13: Data Warehouse System

A data warehouse system uses a separate database to stage information from various data
sources for the purpose of data reporting and analysis. A data warehouse system can be used
by managers, departmental heads, and other company employees.
Data is staged in various forms, including personalized reports, freely definable queries, and
predefined reports. Users can analyze data for key facts.
For example, a data warehouse in the retail sector can be used to do the following:

Identify slow moving goods and big sellers

Investigate the profitability of branches in different locations

Investigate the effectiveness of market analyses

Evaluate customer surveys and complaints

Analyze warehouse stock levels

Analyze shopping carts, using cash register receipts

A concrete query can provide the following complex information:

What were the sales volumes for cosmetics, electrical goods, and household goods in the
years 2019 and 2020 in New York and Washington, DC?

Data Warehousing with SAP Business Warehouse

Successful analysis of data relies on the data warehouse to load, cleanse, and manage data.
With SAP Business Warehouse (BW), you can analyze data from SAP applications and from
external data sources, such as databases, online services, and the Internet.
SAP BW addresses the following needs:

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 Lesson: Describing Enterprise Data Sources for SAP BI Reporting Tools

Optimized data structures for reporting and analysis

Comprehensive data warehouse architecture

Automated data warehouse management functionality

Online analytical processing (OLAP) functionality and reporting tools

BW Query as the Semantic Layer

A BW query is a SQL Generating tool (no SQL knowledge is needed to create a stream of data
to feed a reporting tool). All of the tools in our class can connect to SAP BW via a BW Query.

Figure 14: Data Sources for SAP BusinessObjects: BW Queries

Universe as the Semantic Layer

An SAP BusinessObjects Universe provides open and agnostic access to all corporate
databases, data warehouses (including SAP BW), and applications. It also enables a
consistent business user experience. A Universe creates the code that accesses the data for
the reporting tools. Although most analytic tools can utilize Universes for accessing data, SAP
Analysis for Microsoft Office can only access SAP HANA or SAP BW directly and does not
utilize the Universe as a source, as shown in the figure Data Sources for SAP BusinessObjects:
Universe. Because knowledge of the SQL programming language is required, typically IT
creates universes.

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Unit 2: Data Sources and Common Reporting Features for SAP BusinessObjects BI Reporting Tools

Figure 15: Data Sources for SAP BusinessObjects: Universe

A universe contains no data but rather points to a data source, such as a database, data
warehouse, OLAP cube, and other sources. It is typically comprised of three components:

Connection - Identifies what data source the universe points to and contains all the
information for accessing that data source.

Data Foundation - When the universe points to a relational data source, the Data
Foundation identifies what tables contain the data required for business users' reports and
analyses.

Business Layer - Identifies the specific columns within the tables that are needed for
business users' reports and analyses. The Business Layer is the only component of the
universe exposed to business users and provides a user-friendly, logical organization of
the data they need for their reports and analyses.

SAP HANA
SAP HANA’s Information views can be a direct source to all premier BI tools listed in figure
Data Sources for SAP BusinessObjects: HANA Views. This means fast results and in-memory
aggregation and logic processing can be leveraged by the these tools for extremely fast
access of sources with millions of data rows. In addition, SAP HANA has connectivity options
that allow virtual access to data that resides outside of SAP HANA. Although this option would
be slower than in-memory access to data residing in SAP HANA physically, it would be a
flexible and cost saving approach. Typically, IT is responsible for creating the HANA views.

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 Lesson: Describing Enterprise Data Sources for SAP BI Reporting Tools

Figure 16: Data Sources for SAP BusinessObjects: HANA Views

Figure 17: SAP HANA

SAP HANA combines database, data processing, and application platform capabilities in-
memory. The platform provides libraries for predictive, planning, text processing, spatial, and

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Unit 2: Data Sources and Common Reporting Features for SAP BusinessObjects BI Reporting Tools

business analytics. This new architecture enables converged Online Transactional Processing
(OLTP) and Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) data processing within a single in-memory,
column-based data store with ACID (atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) compliance,
while eliminating data redundancy and latency. By providing advanced capabilities, such as
predictive text analytics, spatial processing, and data virtualization, on the same architecture,
it further simplifies application development and processing across big data sources and
structures. This makes SAP HANA the most suitable platform for building and deploying next-
generation, real-time applications and analytics.

Figure 18: Why Do We Need SAP HANA?

Figure 19: SAP HANA - Why is It so Fast?

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 Lesson: Describing Enterprise Data Sources for SAP BI Reporting Tools

Some unique features of in-memory technology are to store massive amounts of information
compressed in main memory, utilize parallel processing on multiple cores, and move data
intensive calculations from the application layer into the database layer for even faster
processing. Since all the detailed data is available in main memory and processed on the fly,
there is no need for aggregated information and materialized views, fundamentally simplifying
the architecture and hence reducing latency, complexity, and cost.

SAP HANA Views as the Semantic Layer

SAP HANA views feed data to the reporting and analysis applications of the SAP
BusinessObjects Suite. A view is similar to a universe in that it allows the renaming of
technical database fields and the definition of joins on underlying SAP HANA tables. In
addition, built in to SAP HANA is the idea of Smart Data Access, which is a method to provide
virtual access to tables residing in other data bases. For this reason, most customers who
have SAP HANA will not need to deploy BusinessObjects Universes.
There is a tool that enables users to review SAP HANA views. This tool is called HANA Live
Browser.

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Describe Enterprise Data Sources

Describe Enterprise Data Sources for the SAP Business Warehouse (BW)

Describe Enterprise Data Sources for the SAP BusinessObjects Information Design Tool

Describe Enterprise Data Sources for SAP HANA

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 Unit 2
Lesson 2
Describing Local Data Sources for BI Reporting
Tools

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Describe Local Data Sources

File Types

Figure 20: Data Sources for SAP BusinessObjects: Files

Files, although normally not the optimal choice, can be used to directly feed some of the
reporting tools. In addition, a Universe can be built on a file and indirectly provide access to all
the reporting tools except Analysis for Office.

Tools Supporting File Sources

Most reporting tools can directly access file sources, like CSV and XLS file types:

Web Intelligence

Crystal Reports

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 Lesson: Describing Local Data Sources for BI Reporting Tools

Information Design Tool (for creating universes)

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Describe Local Data Sources

© Copyright. All rights reserved. 25

 Unit 2
Lesson 3
Explaining Prompts in SAP BI Tools

LESSON OVERVIEW
In this lesson, you learn how to use prompts in SAP BI tools.

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Use Prompts in SAP BI tools

Prompts
Prompts are called variables or input parameters depending on the source of the data, but
they all have similar functionality. Most prompts ask the user for input and can make the
reports run faster and help users to focus on the data that interests them by filtering the final
result set.
The names and features of prompts vary from one tool to another, but no matter what they
are called, they all mean the same thing and allow flexible high performance on large amounts
of data.

Table 1: Prompts, Variables, and Input Parameters

Product Term Examples

Web Intelligence/Universe Prompts

What Year?

What type of customers

do you want?

Crystal Reports Parameters

Which Region?

What Product Line?

SAP BW Variables (defined in BW What type of customers

Queries)
do you want? (Character-
istic variable)

By what amount should

we increase sales for a
forecast value? (Formula
variable)

What node in the cost cen-

ter hierarchy do you want
to see or filter by? (Hierar-
chy variable)

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 Lesson: Explaining Prompts in SAP BI Tools

Product Term Examples

SAP HANA Input Parameters (not tied to

By what amount should
a dimension) we increase sales?

Variables (tied to a dimension

What states do you want
and used for filtering)
to include?

Advantages of Prompts

Improved Performance
Variables or prompts allow the data set to be filtered at the source before the data set is
returned to the user.

Increased Flexibility
Variables or prompts allow an author to include more information in the same data set.
Rather than making numerous, small data sets with hard coded filters such as “country =
US”, only a few data sets are required, with the user deciding what they want to see at
runtime.

Figure 21: Prompts

The look and feel of the prompt screen is slightly different across the reporting tools, but
functionality-to choose or enter a value-is the same.

Features of Prompts
All data sources allow single, multiple, and range options for prompts. Prompts can also be
set to mandatory, which requires a user to respond to the prompt before the query can be
processed. Additional features for SAP BW Query Variables include the following:

Tied to hierarchy branch selection

Tied to values allowed for each user (reporting authorizations in SAP BW)

Filled in by custom code

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Unit 2: Data Sources and Common Reporting Features for SAP BusinessObjects BI Reporting Tools

Filled in by SAP delivered code (for example, year-to-date, current month, and so on.)

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Use Prompts in SAP BI tools

© Copyright. All rights reserved. 28

 Unit 2
Lesson 4
Explaining Hierarchies in Data Analysis

LESSON OVERVIEW
In this lesson, you learn how to use hierarchies in SAP BI tools.

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Use hierarchies in data analysis

Use Hierarchies in Data Analysis

Figure 22: Hierarchy Examples

The structure of a hierarchy is one that is driven by analysis needs. You should invest time
and effort into defining hierarchies according to the needs of your data analysts.

Hierarchies in Different Data Sources

Universes
- A Navigation Path can be defined in the universe to utilize a “drill” down a hierarchical
path.

BW Queries
- External hierarchies with advanced features can be used and shared across data sets
for hierarchical analysis.
- The row or column structure of a query can be used to define a hierarchical drill path.

SAP HANA
- Parent/child hierarchies can be used to define the branch structure of an analysis
hierarchy.
- Level hierarchies can be used to define the branch structure for an analysis hierarchy.

© Copyright. All rights reserved. 29

Unit 2: Data Sources and Common Reporting Features for SAP BusinessObjects BI Reporting Tools

Hierarchical Analysis in SAP BusinessObjects Universe

A navigation path is an ordered series of related dimension objects that are used for multi-
dimensional analysis. For example, a geographical navigation path could group together
dimension objects such as Country, Region, and City.
Multi-dimensional analysis is a technique for manipulating data so that it can be viewed from
different perspectives and at different levels of detail. In SAP BusinessObjects Web
Intelligence, users can analyze data at different levels of detail using a feature called drill
mode.

Figure 23: Universe Navigation Path

Hierarchical Analysis in SAP Business Warehouse

SAP Business Warehouse (SAP BW) has two ways to define a hierarchy:

Rows and columns as hierarchy

External hierarchies

In the first way, a BW query directs the output to nest via a setting to display the rows or
columns as a hierarchy, as shown in the figure Display Rows and Columns as a Hierarchy.

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 Lesson: Explaining Hierarchies in Data Analysis

Figure 24: Display Rows and Columns as a Hierarchy

This provides a display that supports a drill-down analysis of the data.

Note:
This feature is supported only with SAP BusinessObjects Analysis for Microsoft
Office.

With the second method, the hierarchy is created and maintained in SAP BW in a separate
table structure. With advanced features such as the ability to add text- or field- (InfoObject)
based nodes and have the nodes or leaves of the hierarchy to be time or version dependent,
you can maintain many different trees for the same field. For example, you can have a product
hierarchy structured in the layers you use for marketing and another one for reporting
products to the government related to hazardous waste categories. This external hierarchy
becomes a reusable relationship tree that can be linked to various transactional data sets.
In the example shown in the figure External Hierarchies , the only requirement is to have the
Customer field in the transactional data set so that the hierarchy can be linked to it. These
external hierarchies allow you to perform complex analysis with different reporting trees
without needing to reload the millions of transactions in the transactional data with different
values of a node each time you want to reorganize the hierarchy.

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Unit 2: Data Sources and Common Reporting Features for SAP BusinessObjects BI Reporting Tools

Figure 25: External Hierarchies

Hierarchical Analysis in SAP HANA

SAP HANA can maintain relationships between fields in a hierarchy via two different methods.
The first, shown in the figure Level Hierarchy in SAP HANA, is a level hierarchy. In level
hierarchy, the SAP HANA view modeler maintains which field is top level and the lowest level
in the tree structure.

Figure 26: Level Hierarchy

The second method for hierarchy definition in SAP HANA is the parent/child hierarchy. Each
relationship is a single parent and child field from your data set. In SAP HANA, you can create
additional parent/child relationships, for example, Region and City.

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 Lesson: Explaining Hierarchies in Data Analysis

Figure 27: Parent/Child Hierarchy in SAP HANA

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Use hierarchies in data analysis

© Copyright. All rights reserved. 33

 Unit 2
Lesson 5
Explaining Insight to Action

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Describe Insight to Action

Insight to Action
Insight to Action provides additional functionality to navigate/drill further into the information
provided in Business Intelligence Tools such as Web Intelligence and Analysis for Microsoft
Office. Using the Insight to Action framework, an action in a BI document can take you to the
next logical step in a business process with context, by allowing you to access related data in
an SAP system, or launch an internet URL or another document.
The architecture of Insight to Action consists of the following elements, as shown in the figure
Insight to Action - Architecture :

BI Clients

BI Platform

I2A (Insight to Action) Web Services

Crystal Reports

Lumira Designer Dashboards and Applications

Figure 28: Insight to Action - Architecture

© Copyright. All rights reserved. 34

 Lesson: Explaining Insight to Action

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Describe Insight to Action

© Copyright. All rights reserved. 35

 Unit 2

Learning Assessment

1. The original semantic layer in the SAP terminology meant an SAP BusinessObjects
universe.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

2. Which of the following are data sources (either directly or via a universe) for SAP Business
Objects Client tools?
Choose the correct answers.

X A Files

X B Universes

X C SAP HANA Views

X D Word Documents

3. The idea of a semantic layer of cross-company business friendly terms to feed reporting
tools can be fulfilled by which of the following?
Choose the correct answers.

X A Universe

X B BW query

X C SAP HANA View

X D Excel Document

X E Departmental controlled-access database

© Copyright. All rights reserved. 36

 Unit 2: Learning Assessment

4. Depending on the tool you are using, prompts can also be called pop-ups, variables, or
input parameters.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

5. The best way to handle hierarchies in SAP BW is to use BW Query as the data source.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

© Copyright. All rights reserved. 37

 Unit 2

Learning Assessment - Answers

1. The original semantic layer in the SAP terminology meant an SAP BusinessObjects
universe.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

2. Which of the following are data sources (either directly or via a universe) for SAP Business
Objects Client tools?
Choose the correct answers.

X A Files

X B Universes

X C SAP HANA Views

X D Word Documents

3. The idea of a semantic layer of cross-company business friendly terms to feed reporting
tools can be fulfilled by which of the following?
Choose the correct answers.

X A Universe

X B BW query

X C SAP HANA View

X D Excel Document

X E Departmental controlled-access database

© Copyright. All rights reserved. 38

 Unit 2: Learning Assessment - Answers

4. Depending on the tool you are using, prompts can also be called pop-ups, variables, or
input parameters.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

5. The best way to handle hierarchies in SAP BW is to use BW Query as the data source.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

© Copyright. All rights reserved. 39

 UNIT 3 The Components of the
SAP BusinessObjects BI
Plaftorm

Lesson 1
Describing the Components of SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform 41

UNIT OBJECTIVES

Describe the Management Tools in the SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform

Describe the Platform Services in the SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform

© Copyright. All rights reserved. 40

 Unit 3
Lesson 1
Describing the Components of SAP
BusinessObjects BI Platform

LESSON OVERVIEW
In this lesson, you learn about the SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform.

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Describe the Management Tools in the SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform

Describe the Platform Services in the SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform

SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform Overview

Although the technical details of the SAP BusinessObjects platform are not addressed in this
class, it is good to know some of the main technical components and functions of the SAP
BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform (BIP). The BIP administrator typically uses
various tools to manage users and platform resources. These tools include:

Central Management Console (CMC)

Central Configuration Manager (CCM)

Promotion Management Wizard (PMW)

Central Management Server

Central Management Console (CMC)

The Central Management Console (CMC)is the main web interface used to perform
administrative tasks in the SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform, including user, content, and
server management. It also allows you to publish and organize content, transfer BI Platform
objects across your SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform landscape, and configure security
settings. As the CMC is a web-based application, you can perform all of the administrative
tasks in a Web browser on any computer that can connect to the Web application server.
All users can log on to the CMC to change their own preference settings. Only members of the
administrators group can change management settings, unless a user is explicitly granted
rights to do so. Roles can be assigned in the CMC to grant user privileges to perform minor
administrative tasks, such as managing users in their group and managing reports in folders
that belong to their team.
The BI Administrators’ Cockpit is an application added in the Central Management Console
(CMC). The cockpit enables an administrator to collect basic data about the Business Objects
BI system, essentially deriving business intelligence from within the data in the business
intelligence environment. With BI Administrators’ Cockpit, you can obtain high-level
information about servers, scheduled jobs, content usage, and applications.

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Unit 3: The Components of the SAP BusinessObjects BI Plaftorm

Central Configuration Manager (CCM)

The Central Configuration Manager (CCM) is a server troubleshooting and node management
tool, provided in two forms. In a Microsoft Windows environment, the CCM allows you to
manage local and remote servers through its GUI or from a command line. In a Unix
environment, the CCM shell script (ccm.sh) allows you to manage servers from the command
line.
You can use the CCM to create and configure nodes and, if it is the default bundled Apache
Tomcat Web application server, to start or stop your Web application server. On Microsoft
Windows, it also allows you to configure network parameters, such as Secure Socket Layer
(SSL) encryption. These parameters apply to all servers within a node.
Note that most server management tasks are handled through the CMC, not through the
CCM. The CCM is used for troubleshooting and node configuration.

Promotion Management Wizard (PMW)

The Promotion Management Wizard helps consistently transfer BI Platform objects across
systems (for example, Development, Test, Production) with a minimal amount of time. It
analyzes dependencies between objects and also transports these objects. The LCM console
is a web-based tool that allows the management of different versions of BI resources,
dependencies, and a rollback mechanism to a previous state.
The PMW comes with a wide range of functionality to support the tasks related to the
software management. It establishes procedures for governing the entire lifecycle of an
object within the scope of the BI platform. In case an object needs other objects to work
correctly in the target environment, the PMW offers the possibility of analyzing which objects
are necessary to make the object work in the destination. This functionality offers a
considerable improvement in both speed and quality compared to a manual collection
process of objects.
Several objects are gathered in a definition of a promotion job, which includes not only what is
transported, but also when and to where the objects are transported.

Promotion Management Objects: Examples

Users/Groups

Folders

Documents

Connections

Universes

Central Management Server (CMS)

The Central Management Server (CMS) stores information about servers in the CMS system
database so you can easily restore default server settings. The CMS maintains security and
configuration information, sends service requests to servers, manages auditing, and
maintains the CMS system database. All platform services are managed by the CMS. The
CMS also controls access to the system files where documents are stored, and information
on users, user groups, security levels (including authentication and authorization), and
content.

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 Lesson: Describing the Components of SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform

File Repository Services

The Input File Repository Server manages files that contain information to be used in reports,
and includes the following types:

.rpt

.car

.exe

.bat

.js

.xls

.doc

.ppt

.rtf

.txt

.pdf

.wid

.rep

.unv

.unx

The Output File Repository Server manages reports and applications, and includes the
following file types:

.rpt

.csv

.xls

.doc

.rtf

.txt

.pdf

.wid

.rep

.lumx

Processing Tier
The processing tier analyzes data and produces reports. This is the only tier that accesses the
databases that contain report data. This tier comprises the adaptive job server, connection
server, and processing servers such as the adaptive processing server or SAP Crystal Reports
processing server.

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Unit 3: The Components of the SAP BusinessObjects BI Plaftorm

Server Intelligence Agent (SIA)

The Server Intelligence Agent (SIA) is a component of the CMC used to manage a collection of
server processes, or nodes, ensuring they operate properly. A node is a group of SAP
BusinessObjects BIP servers that run on the same host. All of the servers on a node run under
the same user account. One machine can contain many nodes, so you can run processes
under different user accounts.
Changes to server processes applied in the CMC are propagated to the affected servers by
the SIA. The SIA is also used for the automatic restart or shutdown of a server if it encounters
an unexpected condition, and is used by the CMC to manage nodes.
The SIA archives server information from the CMS system database so you can easily restore
default server settings, or create redundant instances of server processes with the same
setting.

Publication and Publishing Services

A publication allows you to schedule an object for a large set of user groups or a set of users
and define specific rules about the output format and delivery to each of the recipients. In
combination with the server-side trust, you can use a publication to schedule reports and
applications by using the data-level security from your SAP system without the need to
replicate it. This is because the SAP BusinessObjects BIP acts on behalf of the system users
in a password-free way and thus schedules the report of each user (multipass bursting). For
those who are familiar with the SAP products, a publication is similar to the Information
Broadcasting functionality offered as part of SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse.

BI Launch Pad

Figure 29: BI Launch Pad: Home Screen

The BI launch pad is a web-based application used to access the reporting tools and to create
and view finished BI documents. You can access documents via frequently used paths from
the Home screen. On the Home screen you also have access to your BI Inbox where
documents that are scheduled or sent to you by others might appear. You will also see
notifications sent to you.

© Copyright. All rights reserved. 44

 Lesson: Describing the Components of SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform

Figure 30: BI Launch Pad: Documents Tile

The Folders tile lets you access every document you have permission to interact with.

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Describe the Management Tools in the SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform

Describe the Platform Services in the SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform

© Copyright. All rights reserved. 45

 UNIT 4 SAP Lumira Designer

Lesson 1
Positioning SAP Lumira Designer 47

Lesson 2
Creating Visualizations and Applications in SAP Lumira Designer 49

UNIT OBJECTIVES

Position SAP Lumira Designer

Create a Visualization and Application in SAP Lumira Designer

© Copyright. All rights reserved. 46

 Unit 4
Lesson 1
Positioning SAP Lumira Designer

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Position SAP Lumira Designer

Use Case and Target Users for SAP Lumira Designer

SAP Lumira Designer is used by technical users and application designers (typically working
in IT departments) to create high-level corporate analysis applications and reports to be
consumed in a browser or on a mobile device. These apps and reports are predefined and
enable anyone with access to them to analyze the data defined in the app or report. While it is
possible to create these applications and dashboards in an easy and intuitive way without the
need for native HTML and mobile programming skills, SAP Lumira Designer also supports
JavaScript coding to create robust functionality.

Figure 31: SAP Lumira Designer

The following table outlines the SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio target groups and use
cases.

Target Group Use Cases

Power user/IT Create interactive dashboards and appli-
cations for corporate consumers.

© Copyright. All rights reserved. 47

Unit 4: SAP Lumira Designer

Target Group Use Cases

Individual contributor and business user
Consume and interact with information
using prepared analysis applications and
dashboards.

Provide navigation for further analysis us-

ing product interoperability.

Follow guided analysis using pre-built

Business Intelligence (BI) applications.

Analyze information in the prepared appli-

cation on the desktop via browser and via
mobile devices.

Senior Management Analyze and review corporate Key Per-

formance Indicators (KPIs) and measure
progress toward set goals.

Analyze information in the prepared appli-

cation on the desktop via browser and via
mobile devices.

Executive
Track and analyze corporate-wide metrics
using real-time interactive dashboards.

Analyze information in the prepared appli-

cation on the desktop via browser and via
mobile devices.

SAP Lumira Designer Data Sources

In SAP Lumira Designer, you can use the following data sources:

SAP BW Queries

Query Views

SAP Netweaver BW InfoProviders

SAP HANA Views

SAP relational universes (.unx only)

SAP ESP or SAP HANA SDS Streaming Services

RESTFUL Webservices

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Position SAP Lumira Designer

© Copyright. All rights reserved. 48

 Unit 4
Lesson 2
Creating Visualizations and Applications in
SAP Lumira Designer

LESSON OVERVIEW
Create an analytical application for web browsers and mobile devices using SAP
BusinessObjects Lumira Designer.
Use Lumira Designer to add a data source to the application, modify the initial state of the
data source, and choose the layout of the components in the application.

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Create a Visualization and Application in SAP Lumira Designer

Data Preparation
Before creating the application, the designer must acquire and prepare the data to be used by
the application. The Initial View window allows you to modify the initial state of any data
source without changing the actual data source. To access it, choose Edit Initial View from the
context menu of the data source alias in the Outline view (or choose Reset Initial View if you
have already changed the initial view). You can change the following data in the initial state of
a data source:

The dimensions on the rows/columns and their order

The measures displayed in the result set

The dimensions in the background filter

For each measure you can change the following:

The number of decimal places displayed

The scaling factor used

How totals are calculated

The sorting order

For each dimension you can change the following:

The additional result set attributes to be displayed

The active hierarchy (if available) and its initial expansion level

A member to be filtered (filter members)

The filter by input string

The member presentation (text, key, text/key, key/text)

© Copyright. All rights reserved. 49

Unit 4: SAP Lumira Designer

The totals display mode (show, hide, hide if only one member)

Figure 32: Lumira Designer Initial View

You can see the effects of your changes in a live preview, either in a crosstab or in a chart.
Both views are refreshed after each change. If you switch to the chart preview, you can also
specify the chart type and the Swap Axes and Show Totals properties to find the chart
presentation best suited for your specific view on the data source.

If many small changes need to be performed in a row, you can pause all browser refreshes
using the checkbox Pause Refresh in the upper right corner of the window. Reactivate
rendering once all changes are made.

Visualizing Data
SAP Lumira Designer offers you a set of standard (blank and predefined) and ready-to-run
templates that serve various design and business needs. When you choose a template, the
system automatically creates a copy of it. You can change the copy according to your needs.
Depending on the rendering mode, you can choose between different templates:

SAPUI5 mode (SAPUI5 Namespace sap.ui commons)

- Standard Templates

Blank

Basic Analysis Layout

Basic Layout

Planning Layout
- Ready-To-Run Templates

© Copyright. All rights reserved. 50

 Lesson: Creating Visualizations and Applications in SAP Lumira Designer

Data Discovery and Visualization

Generic Analysis

Online Composition

SAPUI5 m (SAPUI5 Namespace sap.m)

- Blank
- Basic Layout

Even if you use a predefined template, SAP Lumira Designer allows free-form layouting with
the following features:

WYSIWYG design principle

Pixel-exact layouting

Dynamic layouting via docking position

Proportional grid layouting

User interface components provide a set of specific events that the application user can
execute. For example, every button provides an 'on click' event. You can see a list of a
component's available events in its Properties view. From there, you can open the script
editor and specify which actions should take place when the application user triggers the
event.
The Lumira Designer scripting language is a subset of JavaScript and allows a sequence of
script API method calls to be defined. The script API provides access at runtime to the
application itself as well as to its components and data source aliases. Therefore, the
application designer has flexible control of the application behavior by using event scripts.

Figure 33: Layout in Lumira Designer

Applications
Applications created in SAP Lumira Designer can be easily integrated into the SAP
BusinessObjects BI Platform and the SAP BusinessObjects Mobile Solution.

© Copyright. All rights reserved. 51

Unit 4: SAP Lumira Designer

To simplify testing, you have the option to create a QR Code and scan that with your mobile
device rather than publishing the analytical application to the BI Platform server.

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Create a Visualization and Application in SAP Lumira Designer

© Copyright. All rights reserved. 52

 UNIT 5 SAP BusinessObjects
Analysis, Edition for
Microsoft Office

Lesson 1
Positioning SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, Edition for Microsoft Office 54

Lesson 2
Creating Workbooks with SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, Edition for Microsoft Office 56

Lesson 3
Creating Presentations with SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, Edition for Microsoft PowerPoint 62

UNIT OBJECTIVES

Position SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, Edition for Microsoft Office

Create a Basic Workbook with SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, Edition for Microsoft Excel

Create a Presentation with SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, Edition for Microsoft

PowerPoint

© Copyright. All rights reserved. 53

 Unit 5
Lesson 1
Positioning SAP BusinessObjects Analysis,
Edition for Microsoft Office

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Position SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, Edition for Microsoft Office

Use Case and Target Users for SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, Edition for
Microsoft Office
SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, edition for Microsoft Office provides ad hoc multidimensional
analysis of OLAP sources in Microsoft Excel, intuitive creation of BI and Microsoft PowerPoint
presentations, as well as Microsoft Excel workbook-based application design. SAP
BusinessObjects Analysis, edition for Microsoft Office is the premium alternative to SAP
Business Explorer (BEx) Analyzer.
You can perform multidimensional data analysis using a familiar Microsoft Office user
experience as follows:

Analyze and interact with data in Microsoft Excel to discover, compare, and forecast
business drivers.

Create predefined workbooks for simplified data analysis.

Create live data presentations using Microsoft PowerPoint to share business insights.

The target groups for SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, edition for Microsoft Office are as
follows:

Target Group Use Cases

Power users/IT Centralized creation of SAP BusinessOb-

jects Analysis content, such as Microsoft
Excel workbooks and Microsoft Power-
Point presentations

Sophisticated workbook design, such as

Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications
(VBA) and Application Programming In-
terfaces (APIs)

© Copyright. All rights reserved. 54

 Lesson: Positioning SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, Edition for Microsoft Office

Target Group Use Cases

Business analysts
Ad hoc data access and data analysis,
slicing and dicing, formula creation, and
more, in Microsoft Excel

Ad hoc embedding of BI data into Micro-

soft PowerPoint presentations

Business users and task workers Consumption of predefined BI content in

Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint

SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, Edition for Microsoft Office Data Sources

SAP BusinessObjects Analysis takes the data from SAP NetWeaver BW 7.x, SAP BW Powered
by HANA, or SAP BW/4HANA. For more information about SAP NetWeaver Business
Warehouse, see the SAP Help Portal at: http://help.sap.com .
Before users can begin working with SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, a SAP BusinessObjects
BIP administrator must create at least one connection object to a BW system. To define these
data source connections, you need SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence 4.x or SAP
BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 3.1 as a platform. It is also possible to run SAP
BusinessObjects Analysis with SAP NetWeaver as a platform on your PC, using the SAP GUI
for connection information. For more information about the platforms, see the corresponding
guides on SAP Help Portal at http://help.sap.com .
In the SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, Edition for Microsoft Office, you can use the following
data sources:

SAP BW Queries

Query Views

SAP Netweaver BW InfoProviders

SAP HANA Views

SAP Analytics Cloud Models

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Position SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, Edition for Microsoft Office

© Copyright. All rights reserved. 55

 Unit 5
Lesson 2
Creating Workbooks with SAP
BusinessObjects Analysis, Edition for
Microsoft Office

LESSON OVERVIEW
In this lesson, you learn how to create a basic workbook with SAP BusinessObjects Analysis,
Edition for Microsoft Office.

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Create a Basic Workbook with SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, Edition for Microsoft Excel

Prerequisites for SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, Edition for Microsoft Office

The following list outlines the prerequisites of SAP BusinessObjects Analysis 1.4, edition for
Microsoft Office:

Microsoft Office 365, 2019, 2016, 2013, or 2010 (Excel and PowerPoint)

Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 Redistributable Package. If you use the SAP
BusinessObjects Business Intelligence 4.1 platform with Analysis, install Microsoft .NET
Framework 4.5 or higher on the client PC

Primary Interop Assemblies for Microsoft Office

Note that during installation, the SAP BusinessObjects Analysis setup checks whether
Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 in installed on the PC. If it is not, it provides a link to
download this software. The SAP BusinessObjects Analysis setup also checks whether
Primary Interop Assemblies are installed. If they are not, the setup automatically installs
this component.

Basic Functions of SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, Edition for Microsoft Office

SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, edition for Microsoft Office, is a Microsoft Office add-in that
allows multidimensional analysis of OLAP sources in Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Excel
workbook application design, and intuitive creation of BI presentations with Microsoft
PowerPoint.
In the edition for Microsoft Excel, the data is displayed in the workbook in crosstabs. You can
insert multiple crosstabs in a workbook with data from different sources and systems. If the
workbook will be used by different users, it is also helpful to add information fields with
information on the data source and filter status.
The most important navigation tool is the Design Panel. Using the Design Panel, you can
analyze the data and change the view on the displayed data. You can add and remove
dimensions and measures to be displayed easily with drag and drop. To avoid single refreshes

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 Lesson: Creating Workbooks with SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, Edition for Microsoft Office

after each step, you can pause the refresh to build a crosstab. After ending the pause, all
changes are applied at once.

Design Panel Tabs

Figure 34: Analysis for Microsoft Excel Add-in with Design Panel

The following are the tabs in the design panel:

Analysis
The Analysis tab allows navigation, filtering, changing order of characteristics or key
figures, and so on.

Information
The Information tab shows general information on the embedded data source or the
workbook itself (that is, last data refresh, created by, and so on). It also shows all relevant
information (filters, variables, and so on) at one glance, in one place.

Components
The Components tab shows structural information either from the data source or from the
worksheet perspective. Here, you can edit workbook properties.

Design Rules
The Design Rules tab is where you can display and maintain the rules created with Table
Design. All single actions done with Table Design such as applying formats or adding new
lines, text, or formulas are creating Table Design rules. The rules are displayed for each
data source and rule type.

Comments

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Unit 5: SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, Edition for Microsoft Office

The Comments tab shows the comment history for a selected cell and a section that shows
the context information for the cell. In the History section, you can see different comment
versions that were saved for a data cell. The comment history is only available for
comments of SAP BW/4HANA data sources.

Dynamic Chart
Dynamic charts provide a graphical representation of the data in a crosstab. These charts
automatically update when data in the crosstab changes. Dynamic charts are added from the
Insert component panel on the Analysis tab. The chart feature is available when any cell in the
crosstab is selected.

Hint:
You can use static charts using standard Microsoft Excel functionality.

Workbook Conditional Formatting

You can highlight interesting data, emphasize unusual values, and visualize your data with
colors based on criteria using the Conditional Formatting feature. You find this feature in the
Analysis Design tab of the SAP BusinessObjects Analysis add-in. Conditional formatting is
similar to Exceptions in SAP Business Explorer.

Filter Elements in Workbooks

You can insert a filter component to your analysis to simplify the filtering. This helps you to
quickly change the view of the displayed data, for example, to different periods of time.
To insert a filter component, simply select an empty cell in which you want to place the filter
component, and choose Filter. Then, select one of the listed dimensions to insert a filter
component for this dimension. The dimension name and a filter component formula are
inserted in the worksheet.

Formulas in Workbooks
In SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, edition for Microsoft Office, you can use the standard
functions of Microsoft Excel to build formulas. The add-in also contains its own set of
functions that you can use to build formulas. You can use these functions to include data and
metadata of used data sources into your analysis. For example, you can insert information
fields on data source properties, display the measure filter, or list the variables of a data
source. With the SAPGetData function, you can also define measure values for certain
member combinations.
You can also use these functions in VBA macros.

Style Sets
You can influence the layout of your workbooks using style sets. A style set is a collection of
Microsoft Excel cell styles that is applied by SAP BusinessObjects Analysis to format the cells
of a crosstab. Whenever you insert a new crosstab in a workbook, the styles in the current
default style set are used to format the crosstab cells. You can change the applied style set in
your analysis.
With SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, the following style sets and their cell styles are installed:

SAP Tradeshow Plus

SAP Blue

BAP Black&White

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 Lesson: Creating Workbooks with SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, Edition for Microsoft Office

By modifying the cell styles of these style sets, you can create your own style sets and share
them with other users.
SAP standard styles are available after the installation of the add-in. You can modify them in
the Styles group on the Home tab of Microsoft Excel. In addition, you can create custom
styles to affect the formatting of your crosstabs.

Default Workbooks
You can save the layout and the structure of your SAP BusinessObjects Analysis Workbook in
a default workbook to make it reusable.
You can insert Microsoft Excel standard elements such as pictures, AutoShapes, or text
boxes, use cell styles, or insert SAP BusinessObjects Analysis specific elements such as info
fields, charts, or filter components.

Interoperability Between SAP BusinessObjects Analysis and Other Client Tools

Figure 35: Interoperability Between SAP BusinessObjects Analysis and Other Client Tools

After you perform an analysis, you may want to use other SAP BusinessObjects client tools to
communicate your findings and share the analysis. To use an analysis in other applications,
you save it as an analysis view.
An analysis view is a saved navigation state of an analysis that includes applied filters,
hierarchies, and available metadata. Like workbooks, analysis views are saved to the BI
platform server. While a workbook can comprise several analyses, an analysis view comprises
only one analysis.
SAP BusinessObjects Analysis can create and consume the analysis view. Other client tools
such as SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence or SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise are able
to consume it. Each tool interprets the analysis view in a way that is consistent with its native
environment.

Report-Report Interface (RRI)

The Report-Report Interface (RRI) allows you to call a jump target from an SAP BW query
executed in SAP BusinessObjects Analysis. You can use the RRI to jump from the executed
query (sender) to another report (receiver) containing more information. You can call targets
in BW systems and beyond.

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Unit 5: SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, Edition for Microsoft Office

You can use the RRI to call targets that you have defined in your query. To be able to call the
targets from executed queries, you must define the targets for the query with the sender/
receiver assignment, defined in transaction RSBBS in the BW system.
After the assignment, you can call the targets with the context menu Goto for cells in the
crosstab of the executed sender query.
For more information about the RRI and the sender/receiver assignment, see the
documentation for SAP NetWeaver at the SAP Help Portal at: https://help.sap.com .

Creating Web Applications

SAP Lumira Designer enables application designers to create analysis applications and
dashboards for browsers and mobile devices on top of BW and SAP HANA data sources. In
Analysis for Office, you can use analysis methods that are not available in Lumira Designer to
make changes to the data source and then use that changed data source as source for the
Lumira Designer application.
You can use Analysis to create a web application in one of the following two ways:

Use the Create Web Application button from the Tools group of the Analysis Design tab —
This option allows you to transfer components in an Analysis workbook to Lumira
Designer.

Use Smart Copy from the View group of the Analysis Design tab — This option allows you
to copy the data source used by an Analysis crosstab or chart into Lumira Designer.

Conversion of SAP Business Explorer Analyzer Workbooks

You can convert workbooks created with the SAP BEx Analyzer 3.5 and SAP BEx Analyzer 7.0
to an SAP BusinessObjects Analysis workbook. In the platform settings, you can define which
SAP BEx objects should be converted and you can also define if a log for the conversion
should be created.
After the conversion, the converted workbook is opened in SAP BusinessObjects Analysis.
You can save the newly created workbook to a platform and continue your analysis.
The conversion log contains the conversion status for all objects in the SAP BEx workbook. In
the platform settings, you can define if a conversion log should be created during the
conversion and if it should be stored in a visible or hidden sheet in the workbook. At the top of
the conversion log, a message is displayed if the conversion could have been completed.
Additionally, the identifier of the SAP BEx workbook and the selected conversion setting are
shown. Possible selections are to convert all objects, data sources and crosstabs, or data
sources only. The objects of the SAP BEx workbook are displayed with the conversion status
in three lists: one for data providers, one for planning objects, and one for items (all other
objects on the workbook).

Visual Basic for Applications

SAP BusinessObjects Analysis contains API methods that can be used in Visual Basic for
Applications (VBA) macros. Macros are created in the Visual Basic Editor. The Visual Basic
Editor can be used to write and edit a macro that is attached to a Microsoft Excel workbook.
The macros can be connected to User Interface (UI) elements that are available on the
Developer tab in the menu. You can also use the SAP BusinessObjects Analysis functions for
creating formulas in VBA macros.
Microsoft Office documentation provides information about creating and using VBA macros.

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 Lesson: Creating Workbooks with SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, Edition for Microsoft Office

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Create a Basic Workbook with SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, Edition for Microsoft Excel

© Copyright. All rights reserved. 61

 Unit 5
Lesson 3
Creating Presentations with SAP
BusinessObjects Analysis, Edition for
Microsoft PowerPoint

LESSON OVERVIEW
In this lesson, you learn how to create a presentation using Businsss Objects Analysis for
Microsoft PowerPoint.

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Create a Presentation with SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, Edition for Microsoft

PowerPoint

Prerequisites for SAP BusinessObjects, Edition for Microsoft PowerPoint

The following list outlines the prerequisites of SAP BusinessObjects Analysis 1.4, edition for
Microsoft Office:

Microsoft Office 365, 2019, 2016, 2013, or 2010 (Excel and PowerPoint)

Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 Redistributable Package. If you use the SAP
BusinessObjects Business Intelligence 4.1 platform with Analysis, install Microsoft .NET
Framework 4.5 or higher on the client PC

Primary Interop Assemblies for Microsoft Office

Note that during installation, the SAP BusinessObjects Analysis setup checks whether
Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 in installed on the PC. If it is not, it provides a link to
download this software. The SAP BusinessObjects Analysis setup also checks whether
Primary Interop Assemblies are installed. If they are not, the setup automatically installs
this component.

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 Lesson: Creating Presentations with SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, Edition for Microsoft PowerPoint

Figure 36: Analysis for PowerPoint is Targeted at Business Users

SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, Edition for Microsoft PowerPoint versus Edition

for Microsoft Excel
Analysis for PowerPoint Versus Excel

Figure 37: Analysis for PowerPoint Versus Excel

The Analysis for PowerPoint ribbon includes a subset of the same features as Excel. Not all
Excel functionality is available simply because of the presentation purposes of PowerPoint.

Note:
PowerPoint for Analysis does not have a Design Panel.

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Unit 5: SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, Edition for Microsoft Office

Basic Functions of SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, Edition for Microsoft

PowerPoint
Inserting a data source in Analysis PowerPoint is the same as inserting a data source in
Analysis Excel. Simply choose the Insert Data Source button and choose your data source,
logging on to the appropriate platform.
Using Smart Copy in the edition for Microsoft Excel, you can copy a crosstab or chart that is
currently displayed in the workbook and the use Smart Paste in the edition for Microsoft
PowerPoint. In Microsoft PowerPoint, the current navigation state of the objects in Excel is
displayed, but the objects exist independently in Excel and PowerPoint. After the creation of
the slide, navigation steps in Excel do not affect the objects in PowerPoint and vice versa. If a
chart is smart pasted into PowerPoint, the native Microsoft PowerPoint charts are used, so
you can use the Microsoft PowerPoint Chart Tools to edit the charts.

Filtered and Sorted Groups to Organize Data Analysis

Using the Filter by Measure functionality you can limit the result to only those members above
1,000,000, for example, (just like in Excel), and you can use the Effective Filter Info Field as
well.

Figure 38: Filter by Measure and Info Field Example

Fit Tables
When you have a data source with numerous rows you can use the Fit Table feature to break
the result into multiple slides or abbreviate a table to fit one slide. For example, a data source
with 100 rows can be broken down into 10 slides by choosing 10 for the maximum number of
rows.

Note:
The maximum number of rows per slide is 75.

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 Lesson: Creating Presentations with SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, Edition for Microsoft PowerPoint

Figure 39: Fit Table

Slide Layouts for Analysis Data in Tables

Figure 40: Splitting Tables Across Multiple Slides

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Unit 5: SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, Edition for Microsoft Office

Abbreviating Tables

Figure 41: Abbreviating Tables

If you turn a split into an abbreviation, one or more slides are deleted.

Info Fields to Display Slide Metadata

Info Fields to Display Slide Metadata

Figure 42: Insert - Info Field

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 Lesson: Creating Presentations with SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, Edition for Microsoft PowerPoint

Figure 43: More on Info Fields

Info Fields in Multi-language Environments

The language of the label is the same language as the user’s current MS Office language.
The Info Fields are also refreshed on document refresh. Document refresh is when language
changes, if appropriate, take place. For example, if a user with a German language MS Office
adds an Info Field, the label will be in German. If a user with an English copy opens the
document, the Info Fields will initially be in German and will change to English on the next
refresh.
If the user manually edits the label field, it will no longer be refreshed. This is the standard
method of locking the info field to a particular language.

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Create a Presentation with SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, Edition for Microsoft

PowerPoint

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 Unit 5

Learning Assessment

1. Which of the following statements about SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, edition for
Microsoft Office, are true?
Choose the correct answers.

X A It is a set of add-ins for Microsoft Office.

X B It is a web-based advanced analysis client for business analysts to use to run

advanced multidimensional analysis of online analytical processing sources.

X C It is a premium alternative to the Microsoft Excel analyzer tool of the SAP Business
Explorer suite.

X D It is a premium alternative to the web analyzer tool of the SAP Business Explorer
suite.

2. When you have a data source with numerous rows you can use the Fit Table feature to
break the result into multiple slides.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

3. If a table is split across multiple slides and one or more of the slides is manually deleted,
the lost slides cannot be recovered.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

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 Unit 5

Learning Assessment - Answers

1. Which of the following statements about SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, edition for
Microsoft Office, are true?
Choose the correct answers.

X A It is a set of add-ins for Microsoft Office.

X B It is a web-based advanced analysis client for business analysts to use to run

advanced multidimensional analysis of online analytical processing sources.

X C It is a premium alternative to the Microsoft Excel analyzer tool of the SAP Business
Explorer suite.

X D It is a premium alternative to the web analyzer tool of the SAP Business Explorer
suite.

2. When you have a data source with numerous rows you can use the Fit Table feature to
break the result into multiple slides.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

3. If a table is split across multiple slides and one or more of the slides is manually deleted,
the lost slides cannot be recovered.
Determine whether this statement is true or false.

X True

X False

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 UNIT 6 SAP BusinessObjects
Web Intelligence

Lesson 1
Positioning SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence 71

Lesson 2
Creating Documents with SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence 73

UNIT OBJECTIVES

Position SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence

Create a Web Intelligence Document

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 Unit 6
Lesson 1
Positioning SAP BusinessObjects Web
Intelligence

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Position SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence

Use Case and Target Users for SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence
Web Intelligence allows business users to dynamically create data-relevant queries and
analyze the data returned by the query. SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence is for casual
users looking for an intuitive BI tool for ad hoc reporting and analysis.
SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence provides the following primary benefits:

Access, analyze, format, and share business insights, all in one tool.

Create queries easily without the need to engage a query designer.

Query on any type of data source with built-in features focused on easy data analysis.

For example, with SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence, you can easily create a simple sales
report showing revenue broken down by several dimensions. You can also change the sales
report to show the top 10 areas based on revenue. In addition, SAP BusinessObjects Web
Intelligence allows you to reduce your IT department’s workload of creating or changing
queries and reports and provide your users with a real self-service reporting environment.
The following table outlines the SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence target groups and use
cases.

Target Group Use Cases

Power user/IT Create robust documents and reports for
corporate consumers.

Business analysts Ad hoc data access and data analysis, and

slicing and dicing.

Business users and task workers Consumption of predefined reports.

SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence Data Sources

In SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence, you can use the following data sources:

Universes for both relational and online analytical processing (OLAP) data sources

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Unit 6: SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence

Other Web Intelligence documents

Microsoft Excel files

Business Explorer (BEx) and BW queries based on SAP BW InfoProviders

SAP HANA for HANA views

SAP HANA Online for live data access to HANA views

Analysis Views

Free-hand SQL

You can also choose No data source and create a blank document, adding any of the data
sources later.

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Position SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence

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 Unit 6
Lesson 2
Creating Documents with SAP
BusinessObjects Web Intelligence

LESSON OVERVIEW
In this lesson, you learn how to create an SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence document.

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Create a Web Intelligence Document

Querying with SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence

SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence allows you to perform querying, reporting, and
analysis tasks in a single tool. To gather the data you require, you begin by creating a SAP
BusinessObjects Web Intelligence document and selecting the data source that will give you
access to the appropriate data. Next, you use the SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence
Query Panel to add and organize the objects and building queries. The figure Web Intelligence
Query Panel shows the Web Intelligence Query Panel.

Figure 44: Web Intelligence Query Panel

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Unit 6: SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence

When you build a query in the SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence Query Panel, you select
the objects and query filters that represent your business question. The query is sent to the
SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence server, which generates the final query statements.
The query is then sent to the database to retrieve the data mapped to the objects you
selected. The database returns the data to the SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence server,
which populates the data as a data provider. This information is then formatted and displayed
in a SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence document as a simple table, or even a complex
chart, ready for your analysis.
A BusinessObjects Web Intelligence document can contain multiple reports, and each report
can be built using different queries or share information a single query. Once you run the
query and retrieve the data that interests you, you can structure and organize the data as you
wish in the SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence document.

Reporting with SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence

You can use SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence document features to create professional
reports from the data you retrieve. Once you have the data you need, you can display or
present it in multiple ways, as follows:

As a table (horizontal, vertical, form, or cross tab)

As a chart (for example, bar line, pie, or radar)

As a multiple-block report containing large amounts of data

The figure SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence Documents Formats shows some of the
reporting outputs.

Figure 45: SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence Documents Formats

Analyzing with SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence

You can analyze your reports and switch your business perspective by moving objects,
inserting calculations, and changing the display to make the important information easy to
see. You can also perform multidimensional analysis by looking at results at a global level or
exploring a more detailed level of information, as shown in the figure Report Drill Down in SAP
BusinessObjects Web Intelligence .

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 Lesson: Creating Documents with SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence

Figure 46: Report Drill Down in SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence

Breaks
Breaks allow you to structure the data in a table into groups and make the data easier to view
and interpret. You apply breaks on the data and values that you select.
When you apply a break, Web Intelligence separates all the data for each unique value of the
selected variable. It inserts a blank row or column after each value, which allows you to easily
insert subtotals for the group of data.
As a long table can be tedious to read and understand, you can apply breaks to the table. The
data becomes much clearer and simpler to read, as shown in the figure Using Breaks in a Web
Intelligence Document .

Note:
When you insert a break on a dimension, the values for the dimension are
automatically sorted in ascending order.

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Unit 6: SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence

Figure 47: Using Breaks in a Web Intelligence Document

Web Intelligence Calculations

Web Intelligence provides standard calculation functions to help you make quick calculations
on the data in your reports. The following standard calculations are available:

Table 2: Using Calculations

Calculation Description

Sum Calculates the sum of the selected data.

Count Counts all rows for a measure object or count
distinct rows for a dimension or detail object.
Average Calculates the average of the data.
Minimum Displays the minimum value of the selected
data.
Maximum Displays the maximum value of the selected
data.

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 Lesson: Creating Documents with SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence

Calculation Description

Percentage Displays the selected data as a percentage of

the total. The results of the percentage are
displayed in an additional column or row of
the table.

Note:
Percentages are calculated for
the selected measure compared
to the total results for that
measure on the table or break.
To calculate the percentage of
one measure compared to an-
other measure, you need to
build a custom calculation.

Default Applies the default aggregation function to a

standard measure, or the database aggrega-
tion function to a smart measure.

When you apply standard calculations to table columns, the calculation results appear in
footers. One footer is added for each calculation. The figure below shows a calculation.

Figure 48: Calculations

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Unit 6: SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence

If standard calculations are not sufficient for your needs, you can use the formula language to
build custom calculations. A custom calculation is a formula that can consist of report
objects, functions, and operators. For example, you can show the average revenue per sale
using a custom calculation: You have a report with Sales Revenue and Number Sold objects.
To add revenue per sale to the report, the calculation [Sales Revenue] / [Number Sold] gives
this value by dividing the revenue by the number of items sold in order to give the revenue per
item.

Sections
Sections allows you to split report information into smaller, more comprehensible parts. For
example, you can group quarterly revenue results into sections on a report. The grouped
value appears as a header outside the block instead of remaining within the block when you
are using breaks, as shown in the figure Grouping Information with Sections .

Figure 49: Grouping Information with Sections

Sorts
You can apply sorts to the results displayed in tables, to organize the order in which results
are displayed in a column or row.
You can apply sorts to any dimensions, measures, or details displayed in a table. Sorting
dimensions and attributes helps you organize results chronologically, while sorting measures
helps you see highest or lowest results at a glance. Sorts in Web Intelligence allow you to
apply the following orders:

Default
This is sometimes referred to as the “natural” order. Depending on the type of data in the
column or row, the results are sorted as follows:

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 Lesson: Creating Documents with SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence

- Ascending numeric order for numeric data

- Ascending chronological order for date
- Ascending alphabetical order for alphanumeric data

Ascending

Descending

Custom
You can define your own sort order. Custom sorts allow you to define your own order for
the data displayed in a report. For example, to display the month names in chronological
order, you can apply a custom sort, as shown in the figure Apply a Custom Sort in Web
Intelligence .

Figure 50: Apply a Custom Sort in Web Intelligence

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Unit 6: SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence

Input Controls

Figure 51: Input Controls

Input controls provide a convenient, easily accessible method for filtering and analyzing
report data. You define input controls using standard interactions such as text boxes and
radio buttons. You associate these controls with report elements such as tables or section
headers, and use the controls to filter the data in the report elements. When you select values
in the input control, you filter the values in the associated report elements by the values you
selected.
You can also define tables and charts as input controls. When you select a value in the table or
chart, you filter the values in the associated report elements by the values you selected.
Input controls are grouped on the Input Controls tab on the Left Pane.

Web Intelligence Conditional Formatting

Conditional formatting enables you to highlight results or change formatting based on data,
as shown in the figure Conditional Formatting . You can, for example, conditionally format
results to highlight particularly high or low results with specific colors or with text comments,
such as “High Performer” or “Low Performer” .

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 Lesson: Creating Documents with SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence

Figure 52: Conditional Formatting

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Create a Web Intelligence Document

© Copyright. All rights reserved. 81

 Unit 6

Learning Assessment

1. Which of the following modes allows you to perform a wide range of analysis tasks?
Choose the correct answer.

X A Reading

X B Data

X C Design

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 Unit 6

Learning Assessment - Answers

1. Which of the following modes allows you to perform a wide range of analysis tasks?
Choose the correct answer.

X A Reading

X B Data

X C Design

© Copyright. All rights reserved. 83

 UNIT 7 SAP Crystal Reports
and SAP Crystal
Reports for Enterprise

Lesson 1
Positioning SAP Crystal Reports and Crystal Reports for Enterprise 85

Lesson 2
Creating Reports in SAP Crystal Reports 88

Lesson 3
Creating Reports in SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise 100

UNIT OBJECTIVES

Position SAP Crystal Reports and SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise

Create a Report with SAP Crystal Reports

Create a report in SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise

© Copyright. All rights reserved. 84

 Unit 7
Lesson 1
Positioning SAP Crystal Reports and Crystal
Reports for Enterprise

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Position SAP Crystal Reports and SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise

Use Case and Target Users for SAP Crystal Reports

Both SAP Crystal Reports and SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise enable you to create
powerful, richly formatted, and dynamic reports. The significant differentiators between the
two options are data source options and interface ease-of-use.
In general, if you require report creation API or SAP ERP direct table access, SAP Crystal
Reports is the product of choice. If you want to use the SAP BusinessObjects BI semantic
layer and BIP BI4.x platform, choose SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise. SAP Crystal Reports
and SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise can run side by side on the same desktop client, so
you can choose to use both versions depending on features and data connectivity needed.
SAP Crystal Reports turns almost any data source into precise, interactive, actionable
information that can be accessed offline or online, from applications, portals, and mobile
devices. The reports can access virtually any data source and be delivered in over a dozen file
formats.
The following table outlines the SAP BusinessObjects Crystal Reports target groups and use
cases.

Target Group Use Cases

Power user/IT Create robust, pixel-perfect reports for
corporate consumers.

Business analysts Predefined data analysis, and slicing and

dicing.

Business users and task workers

Consumption of predefined reports.

SAP Crystal Reports Data Sources

Crystal Reports can connect to the following data sources:

Direct data access drivers (RDBMS)

Direct data access drivers (OLAP)

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Unit 7: SAP Crystal Reports and SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise

ODBC, JDBC

Legacy SAP BusinessObjects universes (.unv)

Business Views

Direct JDBC/ODBC access to HANA (Refer to the following article: http://scn.sap.com/

docs/DOC-39420 )

Direct data access to Hadoop

Use Case and Target Users for SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise
Crystal Reports for Enterprise focuses on the BI platform and connecting to data from SAP
BW. Currently, Crystal Reports for Enterprise does not include some features that are present
in Crystal Reports, but SAP plans to align its functionality with Crystal Reports over the
upcoming years.
The following table outlines the SAP BusinessObjects Crystal Reports for Enterprise target
groups and use cases.

Target Group Use Cases

Power user/IT
Create robust, pixel-perfect reports for
corporate consumers using the SAP Busi-
nessObjects BIP.

Business analysts Predefined data analysis, and slicing and

dicing.

Business users and task workers

Consumption of predefined reports.

SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise Data Sources

Crystal Reports for Enterprise can connect to the following data sources:

Direct data access drivers (RDBMS) - only to major DB vendors

Direct data access drivers (OLAP) - only to BW Queries

ODBC, JDBC

Current SAP BusinessObjects universes (.unx)

Analysis Views

Direct JDBC/ODBC access to HANA (Refer to the following article: http://scn.sap.com/

docs/DOC-39420 )

Direct data access to Hadoop

Compare SAP Crystal Reports with SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise
The primary difference between Crystal Reports and Crystal Reports for Enterprise is that the
SAP BusinessObjects BIP is not required for Crystal Reports functionality (but can be used, if
desired) but is required for Crystal Reports for Enterprise.
There are also interface differences, with some users' opinions being that Crystal Reports for
Enterprise is more user-friendly, while Crystal Reports is more technical. And, as previously

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 Lesson: Positioning SAP Crystal Reports and Crystal Reports for Enterprise

noted, Crystal Reports cannot use the .unx universe interface as a data source, and Crystal
Reports for Enterprise has slightly more limited data source access than Crystal Reports.
Since both applications can be installed and run on the same client machine, customers can
leverage the best of both options for creating precisely formatted reports.

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Position SAP Crystal Reports and SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise

© Copyright. All rights reserved. 87

 Unit 7
Lesson 2
Creating Reports in SAP Crystal Reports

LESSON OVERVIEW
In this lesson, you learn about the differences between SAP Crystal Reports 2016 and SAP
Crystal Reports for Enterprise.

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Create a Report with SAP Crystal Reports

Basic Functions
When you launch SAP Crystal Reports, the Start Page appears. It displays links to the reports
that were recently opened, various report creation methods, the help system, and other
useful resources. It also allows you to create a new blank report.

Figure 53: Report Creation in SAP Crystal Reports

There are three ways to create a new report with Crystal Reports using these methods:

1. Use a Report Wizard: Wizards, which are also known as Experts, provide a step-by-step
process for creating reports of a chosen type.

2. Construct the report manually: You can start with a blank report and build its elements
from scratch.

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 Lesson: Creating Reports in SAP Crystal Reports

3. Create a report from another report: If you have an existing report that contains much of
the information and formatting you need, you can use it as a template and adjust any
elements that are not correct.

Regardless of which method you use to create a new report, the first step to specify a data
source. This data source can come from an existing connection or a new one.
If you choose to use a blank report as the basis of your new report, the Database Expert opens
automatically.

Figure 54: Crystal Reports Database Expert

The options in the Database Expert are:

My Connections: This folder shows all data sources that you are currently connected to.

Create New Connection: This folder contains various data source options. These can be
server-based, as in the case of SQL Server or an SAP system, or local, as in the case of
Microsoft Access.

When you choose Create New Connection in the Database Expert, you are prompted to enter
connection details and then to add one or more tables for your report. If your report contains
data from two or more database tables, you will need to link them, using a field that is
common to both. You can do so in the Links tab of the Database Expert. The Auto Link option
automatically chooses links for your tables based on common fields.
To create a report you must select fields from the data source and decide how to position and
size them. Once you have placed fields or objects in your report, you may want to change their
appearance. Crystal Reports enables you to change many of the formatting attributes.

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Unit 7: SAP Crystal Reports and SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise

Figure 55: Crystal Reports Basic Functions

The table fields of the selected data source appear in the Field Explorer area in Crystal
Reports (dimension and measure objects from OLAP sources will also be displayed as
'Fields'). You can drag and drop objects from the Field Explorer to sections in the Design area,
such as Header or Details. The steps for adding objects are as follows:

1. After selecting a data source, choose View Field Explorer to show the Field Explorer
area. To speed up the report building process, the Field Explorer remains on screen until
you close it. You can move it wherever you want.

2. Expand the Database Fields folder to see all the tables that have been chosen from the
database.

3. Expand the respective nodes in the Field Explorer and select the object you want to appear
in the report. Drag it into the report or choose Insert to Report from its context menu. A
checkmark appears next to an object that is used in the report.

Special Fields
Special fields contain information that is not included in the database, but is useful to the
overall presentation quality of the report. They can be found in the Field Explorer area under
the node Special Fields.

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 Lesson: Creating Reports in SAP Crystal Reports

Figure 56: Crystal Reports Special Fields

Some of the more commonly used special fields are

Page N of M: prints the current page number of the total number of pages.

Page Number: prints the current page number.

Print Date: prints the current date.

Report Title.

Positioning and Resizing

In Crystal Reports you can position and reposition objects at the pixel level to create the
desired report layout. You can move an object by dragging it to the desired position. To resize
an object, select it and then drag one of the handles on the broken line frame that appears.
Another way to resize an object is choose Size and Position from its context menu. In the Size
and Position dialog box you can define the position on the X and Y axis and define Width and
Height very precisely.

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Unit 7: SAP Crystal Reports and SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise

Figure 57: Crystal Reports Object Size and Position

Report Sections
The report layout is divided in sections. Each section has its own properties and is used in a
different way. The figure shows the structure of a report.

Figure 58: Report Sections

See the following list for further details:

Report Header
This area is generally used for the report title and other information you want to appear at
the beginning of the report. It can also be used for charts and crosstabs that include data
for the entire report.
Page Header
This area is generally used for information that you want to appear at the top of each
page, such as chapter names, the name of the document, and other similar information.
This area can also be used to display object titles above the objects on a report.
Body

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 Lesson: Creating Reports in SAP Crystal Reports

This area is used for the body of the report, and is printed once for record. The bulk of the
report data generally appears in this section.
Report Footer
This area is used for information you want to appear only once at the end of the report,
such as grand totals, and for charts or crosstabs that include data for the entire report.
Page Footer
This area usually contains the page number and any other information you want to
appear on the bottom of each page.

If a group is added to the report, the program creates two additional sections as follows:

Group Header
This area typically holds the group name object, and can be used to display charts or
crosstabs that include data specific to the group. It is printed once at the beginning of a
group.
Group Footer
This area generally holds the summary value, if any, and can be used to display charts or
cross-tabs. It is printed once at the end of a group.

Select Expert
In most reports you need to filter the records that are displayed by dimension or measure
values. For example, you may only want to see values for a particular division or only the order
volumes that are greater than a million euros. You can filter, or "select" records using the
Select Expert.
Use one of these three methods to open Select Expert :

Choose Select Expert on the Expert Tools toolbar.

Choose the menu item Report Select Expert from the menu.

From the context menu of a field in the report, choose Select Expert.

Figure 59: Crystal Reports Select Expert

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Unit 7: SAP Crystal Reports and SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise

The first step in record selection is to define your criteria for selection. You may want to view
reports from a particular area or from a particular date range. Using the drop-down list, you
can build selection criteria that meet your needs.
Depending on the field you select the drop-down list offers options such as:

is equal to

is one of/is not one of

is greater than/is less than

is greater than or equal to/is less than or equal to

is between/is not between

is like/is not like (allows use of the wild card characters ? and * )

is in the period/is not in the period

Sorts and Groups

If you do not specify a sort order, Crystal Reports sorts the records in the default order, that is
the order in which they appear in the Field Explorer. The default sort direction is ascending. To
specify a sort order, use the Record Sort Expert which you can open by choosing Report
Record Sort Expert . . . .
There are many scenarios in which it makes sense to break data into meaningful groups. For
example, you may want to group all the customers from one country together. Crystal
Reports allows not just groups but nested groups, or groups within groups. For example, you
can create a report of all customers, broken down by country, with each country broken down
by region.

Figure 60: Crystal Report with Ungrouped Data

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 Lesson: Creating Reports in SAP Crystal Reports

When you group records, you add new areas to your report. These new areas are visible in the
left margin of the Design window. Once you have created a group, a Group Header and Group
Footer surround the Details area. Each group you create has its own header and footer. Note
also that when you insert a group, the Group Name field is automatically created in the Group
Header.

Figure 61: Crystal Report with Grouped Data

Figure 62: Crystal Reports Insert Group

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Unit 7: SAP Crystal Reports and SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise

To insert a Group, follow these steps:

1. Choose Insert Group in the menu to open the Group Expert.

2. In the first drop-down list, select the field you want to group on. You get a new group for
every change in this value.

3. Select a sorting option from the second drop-down list.

4. When you have finished defining your group(s), choose OK. The dialog box closes and
returns to the report.

5. Preview your report.

Data Summary
One of the primary purposes for breaking data into groups is to run calculations on each
group of records instead of all records in the report. When Crystal Reports summarizes data,
it sorts the data, breaks it into groups, and then summarizes the values in each group
automatically.
Depending on the data type of the field you plan to summarize, you can:

Sum the values in each group.

Count all the values or only those values that are distinct from one another.

Determine the maximum, minimum, average, or Nth largest value.

Perform various calculations.

Figure 63: Crystal Reports Insert Summary

To insert a summary follow these steps:

1. Choose Insert Summary

2. Select the desired field to summarize.

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 Lesson: Creating Reports in SAP Crystal Reports

3. Select a summary operation.

4. Select a location of the Report in which to place the summary.

Formatting Toolbar
The Formatting toolbar includes options such as font formatting, text formatting and
alignment, and highlighting. Database fields can be formatted to print with the colors, fonts,
and attributes that you prefer. Fields can also be formatted to change the way the data
displays on your report.

Figure 64: Crystal Reports Formatting Toolbar

Charts
Crystal Reports enables you to include sophisticated, colorful charts in your reports. You will
typically chart on summary and subtotal information at the group level. Each chart becomes
an object on your report, and therefore can be moved, resized, and so on. A chart's position
determines what data is displayed and where it is printed. For example, if you place a chart in
the Report Header section, the chart includes data for the entire report. If you place it in a
Group Header or Group Footer section, the chart displays group-specific data.
Follow these steps to insert a chart into a report:

1. Choose Insert Chart.

2. Position the top-left corner of the frame in the desired location for the new chart.

3. Depending on where you place the chart, the Chart Expert may open automatically or you
may need to choose Chart Expert from the chart's context menu.

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Unit 7: SAP Crystal Reports and SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise

Figure 65: Crystal Reports Chart Expert

The Chart Expert allows you to select the chart type and the data that is visualized in it. It
also allows you to change the formatting of the chart elements.

4. When you have finished customizing the chart, choose OK.

Graphical Elements
If you want to make specific data or summaries stand out from the rest of the report or just
want to improve the overall appearance, you can incorporate graphic elements such as lines,
shapes, and images. When working with graphic elements, you may prefer to work in the
Design area; it is easier to ensure that graphic elements are positioned correctly.
The graphical elements that you can use are:

Text Objects

Lines

Boxes

Pictures

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 Lesson: Creating Reports in SAP Crystal Reports

Figure 66: Crystal Reports Graphical Elements

To format graphical elements open the Format Editor in the context menu of the relevant
element.

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Create a Report with SAP Crystal Reports

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 Unit 7
Lesson 3
Creating Reports in SAP Crystal Reports for
Enterprise

LESSON OVERVIEW
In this lesson, you learn how to create a report in SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise.

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Create a report in SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise

Report Design in SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise

SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise is a user-friendly version of the SAP Crystal Reports
designer.
SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise streamlines the report creation process, provides
significantly better support for the SAP BusinessObjects Semantic Layer, and allows users to
take advantage of better connectivity to SAP BW using a BW Query.
The report design screen of SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise consists of different areas, as
shown in the figure SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise Design Environment .

Figure 67: SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise Design Environment

The following list mentions basic functions of the application:

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 Lesson: Creating Reports in SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise

Create new, open, save

Print, export

Undo, redo

Cut, copy, paste

Format painter

Toolbars

Figure 68: SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise Toolbars

The figure shows the available toolbars.

There are three different toolbars in SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise as follows:

Insert
Here you can insert new elements into your report like textboxes, groups, and charts.
Format
Here you find all of the available options for changing the format of an element like font
size, font type, colors, and alignment of the elements.
Data
Here you can edit the query, define sorts, and add interactive filters.

Left Panels
The figure shows the left panel elements.
There are different left panels available. Depending on the mode, Structure or Page, the
corresponding panels are displayed and others are hidden as follows:

Figure 69: SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise Left Panel

Data Explorer

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Unit 7: SAP Crystal Reports and SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise

Use the Data Explorer side panel to insert, modify, or delete objects in your report. When
you create a new report or open an existing report, the Data Explorer side panel opens
adjacent to the report canvas. Objects that you add in the Query Panel are stored in the
Data Explorer where they can be added to the report. The following list mentions possible
objects:

Result Objects

Formulas

Parameters

Running Totals

Predefined Objects

You can expand the area by selecting the area name.

Outline
The Outline panel shows the content of the report in a tree view. The root node is the
report itself, while the first-level nodes represent the sections of the report. Within each
section, the report’s objects and elements are listed. You can modify the objects using
the context menu.
Group Tree
The Group Tree panel shows a tree view of groups and subgroups in the report. Any item
you select in the Group Tree is selected on the report canvas.
Search
Use the Search side panel to search the report for any specific value. Type a word or
phrase into the text box and on the keyboard press the Enter key. The search results
appear in the side panel.

Report Sections
The report layout is divided in sections. Each section has its own properties and is used in a
different way. The figure shows the structure of a report.

Figure 70: Report Sections

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 Lesson: Creating Reports in SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise

See the following list for further details:

Report Header
This area is generally used for the report title and other information you want to appear at
the beginning of the report. It can also be used for charts and crosstabs that include data
for the entire report.
Page Header
This area is generally used for information that you want to appear at the top of each
page, such as chapter names, the name of the document, and other similar information.
This area can also be used to display object titles above the objects on a report.
Body
This area is used for the body of the report, and is printed once for record. The bulk of the
report data generally appears in this section.
Report Footer
This area is used for information you want to appear only once at the end of the report,
such as grand totals, and for charts or crosstabs that include data for the entire report.
Page Footer
This area usually contains the page number and any other information you want to
appear on the bottom of each page.

If a group is added to the report, the program creates two additional sections as follows:

Group Header
This area typically holds the group name object, and can be used to display charts or
crosstabs that include data specific to the group. It is printed once at the beginning of a
group.
Group Footer
This area generally holds the summary value, if any, and can be used to display charts or
cross-tabs. It is printed once at the end of a group.

Report Elements
A Report consists of different elements. A selection of the most important elements is
described as follows:

Result objects
Result objects are objects that display data from the data source, as shown in the figure
Result Objects. Much of the data displayed on a report is from result objects. Normally,
result objects are placed in the Body area, but under certain circumstances, they are
placed in other sections of the report.

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Unit 7: SAP Crystal Reports and SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise

Figure 71: Result Objects

Formulas
To display data that is a calculated value, create a formula and place that formula on the
report. For example, if the data source stores only the order dates and ship dates for
orders, but you need to display the number of days it takes to ship the order, create a
formula that will calculate the number of days between ordering and shipping.
Parameters
Parameters allow you to filter report data for specific users. For example, in a report used
by sales people, you might create a parameter that prompts the user to choose a region.
When the user chooses a region, the report returns the results for the specific region
instead of returning the results for all regions.
Running total elements
To display a total that evaluates each record and provides a running sum of all the values
in an object (or all the values in a certain set of values), a running total element is created
and placed in the report. If the first three values in an object are 2, 4, and 6, a running
total would print 2, and then 6 (the sum of 2 + 4), and then 12 (the sum of 2 + 4 + 6).
Predefined objects
Predefined objects include Page Number, Record Number , Group Number , Print Date,
and Total Page Count objects. Use the commands in the Predefined Objects area of the
Data Explorer side panel to add predefined objects to your report.
Text elements
Text elements are mostly used to hold text, but they can also hold result objects to create
custom form letters and more. You can use text elements to combine result objects,
insert titles, label totals, and other data on your report.
Picture
When designing reports, you may want to include a picture. For example, you may want
to insert a company logo in the Report Header.

Data Format
There are different ways to format your data in a report. The Formatting toolbar includes such
options as font formatting, text formatting and alignment, and highlighting. Database fields
can be formatted to print with the colors, fonts, and attributes that you prefer, as shown in the
figure Data Format . These fields can also be formatted to change the way the data displays on
your report. For example, you might prefer your numbers to be printed with two decimal

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 Lesson: Creating Reports in SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise

places and your dates to be in the North American format. These attributes can be combined.
Using the Formatting Dialog is another, more complex method of formatting.

Figure 72: Data Format

Data Grouping and Sorting

The data can be grouped and sorted. Grouped data is data that is sorted and separated into
meaningful groups, as shown in the figure Data Grouping. For example, a customer list may be
grouped by Postal Code or Region. In a sales report, a group might consist of all orders placed
by a particular customer or orders generated by a particular sales representative.

Figure 73: Data Grouping

When data is grouped, the following sort and group direction options are available. Direction
refers to the order in which the values are displayed:

Ascending order means smallest to largest (1 to 9, A to Z, False to True). The program

sorts the records in ascending order and then begins a new group whenever the value
changes.

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Unit 7: SAP Crystal Reports and SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise

Descending order means largest to smallest (9 to 1, Z to A, True to False). The program

sorts the records in descending order and then begins a new group whenever the value
changes.

Specified order is an order that you customize for your needs. The program places each
record into the custom group that you specify, leaving the records in each group in original
order; or, it sorts them in ascending or descending order, depending on your instructions.

When you sort, Crystal Reports for Enterprise asks you to define two things: the sort direction
(ascending or descending), and the object you want the sort to be based on (sort object). Sort
objects let you determine the order in which data appears on your report. Almost any object
can be used for sorting, including formulas. An object’s data type determines how the data
from that object is sorted.
In single object sorting, all the records used in the report are sorted based on the values in a
single object. Sorting an inventory report by stock number or sorting a customer list by
customer number are examples of single object sorts.
In multiple object sorts, Crystal Reports first sorts the records based on the values in the first
object selected, putting them in ascending or descending order as specified. If two or more
records have a matching object value in the first sort object, the matching records are sorted
by the value in the second sort object. For example, if you choose to sort first by Country and
then by Region, both in ascending order, the report would appear with countries listed in
alphabetic order, and regions within each country listed in alphabetic order. Any other
objects, such as the postal codes within each region, would remain unsorted.

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Create a report in SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise

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 Unit 7

Learning Assessment

1. SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise supports connections with which of the following data
sources?
Choose the correct answers.

X A Universes

X B Dashboards

X C SAP BW queries

X D Analysis views

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 Unit 7

Learning Assessment - Answers

1. SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise supports connections with which of the following data
sources?
Choose the correct answers.

X A Universes

X B Dashboards

X C SAP BW queries

X D Analysis views

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 UNIT 8 SAP BusinessObjects BI
Platform Scheduling
and Report Distribution

Lesson 1
Scheduling Documents and Applications in the SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform 110

UNIT OBJECTIVES

Schedule an SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence Document

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 Unit 8
Lesson 1
Scheduling Documents and Applications in the
SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform

LESSON OVERVIEW
In this lesson, you learn how to schedule and email an SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence
Report.

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Schedule an SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence Document

Scheduling Features
While this unit focuses on scheduling a Web Intelligence document, the principles and
concepts of scheduling apply to any BI content, such as, Lumira Designer applications,
Analysis for Office files, and Crystal Reports documents.
Scheduling a document or file enables you refresh it automatically at specified times and
distribute it to individual users or groups of users. For example, you can schedule a document
to run every night so it's available for you and your colleagues first thing in the morning.
When a scheduled element runs successfully, an instance is created. An instance is a version
of the element containing the data available at the time it was run. Therefore, instances
created later reflect more recent data. You can see a list of instances by looking at an
element's history, and you can choose the link to any historical instance.
When you schedule an object, you can choose from the recurrence patterns summarized in
the Recurrence Patterns table.

Table 3: Recurrence Patterns

Recurrence pattern Description

Now The object runs as soon as you choose Schedule.

Once The object runs only once. It can be run now or in the future, or
when a specified event has occurred.

Hourly The object runs every hour. You specify at what time it starts, as
well as a start and end date.
Daily The object runs every day. It can be run once or several times a
day. You can specify at what time it runs, as well as a start and end
date.
Weekly The object runs every week. It can be run once a week or several
times a week. You can specify on which days and at what time it
runs, as well as a start and end date.

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 Lesson: Scheduling Documents and Applications in the SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform

Recurrence pattern Description

Business Hours The object is run at a specific interval, every N hours, between a
start and end time. You can specify whether you want the docu-
ment to run every day of the week, or on specific days, and set
dates between which the document you run regularly (between
February 13th 2020 and June 12th 2020, for instance).
Monthly The object is run every month or every X months. You can specify
on which days of the month and at what time it runs, as well as a
start and end date.
Day of the month The objects is run each month on the specified day, at the speci-
fied start time.
Week-day of month The object is run on a certain day of every month. You can specify
the day it runs, as well as a start and end date
Calendar The object is run on the dates specified in a calendar that has pre-
viously been created.

After you choose a recurrence pattern, configure the run options and parameters for that
recurrence option.
You can select the format in which the document or report instance will be saved in when it is
generated. This format is saved to the destination you have selected. Depending on which
SAP BusinessObjects element you schedule, you will have different formatting options.
Finally, choose a destination or destinations for the scheduled output.
The following destinations are available:

Default Enterprise Location

BI Inbox

Email

FTP Server

File System

Advantages and Disadvantages of Scheduling

Scheduling documents and applications is an excellent method for updating and dispensing
content to users, particularly when the content may take a while to update. In fact, best
practice for scheduling is that if a document or application takes more than five minutes to
refresh and render, it should be scheduled.

Note:
As with any best practice, recommendations are subjective. In other words, there
may be valid reasons to violate a best practice. The Advantages and
Disadvantages listed in this lesson are also subjective, general principles and
presented as guidelines only.

Advantages of Scheduling
There are many advantages of scheduling, including the following:

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Unit 8: SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform Scheduling and Report Distribution

Provides lower user wait times when opening content

Allows offloading processing to non-peak times

Helps reduce sizing requirements for concurrent users

Reduces impact on Database during peak times

Can combine instances with report linking to produce smaller, faster documents

Disadvantages of Scheduling
Scheduling should be used with care and caution as there can be disadvantages, including the
following:

Instances accumulate unless archived by BIP administrator.

It is possible to distribute sensitive information to the wrong person.

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Schedule an SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence Document

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 Unit 8

Learning Assessment

1. When would users select the Run Days run option?

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 Unit 8

Learning Assessment - Answers

1. When would users select the Run Days run option?

The Run Days option becomes active when a Weekly recurrence pattern is selected. The
Run Days option allows users to choose the days of the week on which to run the job by
deleting the checkboxes of the appropriate days.

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 UNIT 9 Mobile and Cloud
Options for the SAP
BusinessObjects BI
Platform

Lesson 1
Describing the Methods of Making Reports Available on Mobile Devices 116

Lesson 2
Positioning SAP Analytics Cloud 121

UNIT OBJECTIVES

Describe How to Make Reports Available on Mobile Devices

Position SAP Analytics Cloud

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 Unit 9
Lesson 1
Describing the Methods of Making Reports
Available on Mobile Devices

LESSON OVERVIEW
In this lesson, you learn how to make reports available on mobile devices.

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Describe How to Make Reports Available on Mobile Devices

SAP Mobility

Figure 74: Mobile Data

SAP has a lot of experience in the mobile world and has developed SAP BusinessObjects
Mobile which leverages existing SAP BusinessObjects BI tools to provide data to the mobile
world.
SAP is the market leader in mobility (Sybase), business analytics (SAP BusinessObjects), and
business applications (SAP Business Suite). With the exception of SAP BusinessObjects
Analysis for Microsoft Office, the other SAP BusinessObjects BI tools discussed in this course
provide good support for mobile deployment.

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 Lesson: Describing the Methods of Making Reports Available on Mobile Devices

Figure 75: A Day in the Life of SAP BusinessObjects Mobile

Mobile apps are the future of data consumption and analysis. Integrating your mobile device
into your analytical world is a natural progression.
iOS and Android are supported, and there is limited support for Blackberry. Specific mobile
platforms support different SAP BI tools. We will look at this in more detail later.
For specific versions supported by each OS, refer to the Mobile Product Availability Matrix.

SAP BusinessObjects Mobile

Figure 76: SAP BusinessObjects Mobile

SAP BusinessObjects Mobile is the only app you need for high quality reporting.
Mobile reporting provides the following benefits:

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Unit 9: Mobile and Cloud Options for the SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform

Access to your business data anywhere, anytime

Ability to connect to live business data and make smarter decisions

Interactive experience for business users and executives

Ability to intuitively access, navigate, and analyze data

Smart search for relevant information

SAP Mobile BI Architecture

The SAP BusinessObjects Mobile solution allows mobile users to access the SAP
BusinessObjects Business Intelligence (BI) content and data visualizations to make faster and
more informed decisions on the move.
This solution contains three mandatory components:

SAP BusinessObjects Mobile client (SAP BI app)

SAP BusinessObjects Mobile server

SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence (BI) platform server

The following optional elements for enhanced security in your landscape are also available:

A reverse proxy server

A Sybase Unwired Platform server (along with a relay server)

Table 4: BI Content Type Matrix for Mobile Devices

BI Content Type iPad iPhone Android Tablet Android Phone

Web Intelligence Y Y Y Y
Crystal Reports Y Y N N
Lumira Designer Y Y Y Y
applications
Hyperlinks Y Y Y Y

SAP BusinessObjects Mobile App

SAP BusinessObjects Mobile allows your users to remotely access the same business
intelligence (BI) reports, metrics, and real-time data available on desktop clients from a
mobile device. Content is optimized for mobile devices so your users can easily access,
navigate, and analyze familiar reports without additional training.
With SAP BusinessObjects Mobile, management and information workers can stay up-to-date
and make decisions using the latest information. Sales and field service staff can provide the
right customer, product, and work order information where and when it's needed.

Tips for Designing Reports for Mobile Devices

The primary focus when designing content for mobile devices is to remember that the screen
size of a mobile device is significantly smaller than a desktop monitor. Consequently, detailed
reports, especially those listing hundreds of rows of data, are not suitable for mobile
consumption simply due to the practical considerations of screen size.
For complete information on designing content for mobile devices, see the Mobile BI Report
Designer's Guide at https://help.sap.com .

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 Lesson: Describing the Methods of Making Reports Available on Mobile Devices

Lumira Designer Design Considerations

As we have already seen, SAP Lumira Designer enables application designers to create
analysis applications and dashboards for both browsers and mobile devices. Lumira Designer
has components specifically to enable developers to create one application that will adapt to
optimal viewing depending on the content consumer's device.

Web Intelligence Design Considerations

There are two layout models for report elements available for a Web Intelligence document:

Card layout - a single device screen can accommodate a maximum of four report
elements. Assign the document to the Mobile category to display the document based on
the Card layout. However, if the Web Intelligence document contains one or more report
elements with sections, the application displays the report on the device screen according
to the Page layout model.

Page layout - all report elements (charts, tables, free-standing cells) on one page of a Web
Intelligence report are displayed on a single device screen. SAP BusinessObjects Mobile
scales the size of the report element for an optimal fit on the device screen. Assign the
document to the Mobile (for documents with sectioned reports) or MobileDesigned
technical category to display the BI documents based on Page layout model.

Note:
The iPhone does not support documents designed in the Page layout model. If a
BI document assigned to the MobileDesigned category on the BI platform is
viewed on an iPhone, it does not display the report elements based on the page
layout designed on the platform. On the iPhone, each application page (single
screen) accommodates one report element. If a report contains blank cells, the
Card layout model displays the report on the device screen in the same way.

Crystal Reports Design Considerations

The Crystal Reports format on iOS mobile device is optimized for the printer output, not the
form factor of the device. If you design your report to be useable when exported to PDF, then
it will also be usable on a mobile device. Start by designing your reports to work with a page
format of 8.5 by 11 inches (the North American Letter format), and then adjust the aspect
ratio if necessary. The aspect ratio of the Letter page size is similar to the aspect ratio of an
iPad.

Using the BI Launch Pad Categories to Identify Mobile Reports

In order to view content on a mobile device, the content must first be assigned to the Mobile
category in the SAP BusinessObjects BI Launchpad.
The Mobile category can be created in the BI Launchpad or in the CMC. There are two optional
subcategories that can be created:

Confidential - for documents that must not be stored on the device

MobileDesigned - for WebI documents that must follow a specific layout

The Mobile category can be created as one of the following:

Corporate category – visible to all mobile users

Personal category – visible only to one specific user

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Unit 9: Mobile and Cloud Options for the SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Describe How to Make Reports Available on Mobile Devices

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 Unit 9
Lesson 2
Positioning SAP Analytics Cloud

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Position SAP Analytics Cloud

Use Case and Target Users for SAP Analytics Cloud

SAP Analytics Cloud is automating the discovery of insights and giving you the opportunity to
leverage data science, without the need for a PhD in mathematics.
The Smart Assist suite of embedded intelligent features brings predictive and Machine
Learning features to every user; you can now simply ask your information a question and
receive a response.
The Search to Insight capability brings natural language query capabilities to SAP Analytics
Cloud. There is no requirement to be fluent in structured query language or scripting. Ask
plain-language questions, and the system gives you the answers.
How do you find hidden patterns and insights? With Smart Discovery , SAP Analytics Cloud
uses predictive modeling and simulation to understand your data, automated algorithms
process the information to show the factors influencing the most important KPIs in your
business. With Smart Discovery, what would have taken a data analyst many clicks, slices,
and dicing, can now be accomplished automatically, allowing you to focus on higher-value
strategic decisions for your business.
In an intelligent enterprise everyone can access powerful insights at the point of decision
making. SAP Analytics Cloud can be embedded in all SAP business applications, bringing
visualization and Machine Learning to users across business processes.
The following table outlines the SAP Analytics Cloud target groups and use cases.

Target Group Use Cases

Power user/IT Acquire appropriate data and create data
models for corporate consumers.

Create predefined stories, dashboards,

and applications.

Business analysts
Ad hoc data access and data analysis sim-
ply by asking questions.

Collaborate and share information with

colleagues.

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Unit 9: Mobile and Cloud Options for the SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform

Target Group Use Cases

Business users and task workers
Consumption of predefined stories, dash-
boards, and applications.

Collaborate and share information with

colleagues.

SAP Analytics Cloud Data Sources

There are two types of data connections possible: live data connections and import data
connections. The following table describes the differences between these.

Live Data Connections Import Data Connections

Are available for cloud and on-premise data Are available for cloud and on-premise data
sources sources
Do not replicate data in SAP Analytics Cloud Replicate data in SAP Analytics Cloud
Use existing data models for analysis Create new data models through the SAP An-
alytics Cloud Modeler
Update your data visualizations and stories Update your data visualizations and stories
with new data in real-time when refreshed

Data sources for Live Data Connection include the following:

SAP Cloud Plaftorm

SAP S/4HANA Cloud

SAP HANA

SAP BW

SAP S/4HANA

SAP BusinessObjects Universe

Local Files

Data sources for Import Data Connection include the following:

Many Cloud Applications

OData

SAP BPC NetWeaver

SAP BPC for Microsoft

SAP BW

SAP ERP

SAP BusinessObjects Universe

SQL Databases

Local Files

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 Lesson: Positioning SAP Analytics Cloud

SAP Analytics Cloud Features

From the initial stages of an analytics project, SAP Analytics Cloud delivers immediate value
with smart features and content, such as the following, to get users up and running:

Built-in connectors to data sources

Intelligent algorithms highlighting possible data quality issues and distributing your data

Smart transformations allowing you to quickly address and solve data quality issues

A growing library of business content created across many industries and many lines of
business

All you have to do is ask. Users enter free-form text to automatically generate visualizations.
Based on the data you have, the right type of visualization will be created. For example, a
question involving time would create a time series chart. Users gain insight without the need
for any designer tool requiring the right charts, measures, and dimensions. The barriers to
create analytics have been significantly decreased, with a corresponding increase in
productivity and self-service.
Utilizing the same patented technology as SAP Predictive Analytics, SAP Analytics Cloud
builds a predictive model in the background to identify key drivers or factors that influence
your business performance. With such powerful information, you can:

Leverage those insights to influence the strategy and direction of your organization.

Discover outliers and take corrective action. For example, which opportunities are
behaving outside of the norm? Are there line items in my P&L that should be flagged for
follow-up?

With SAP Analytics Cloud, users now have an excellent starting point which focuses on areas
of interest. From there, the visualizations are intended to further drive business questions and
analysis that can guide strategic decision making.

SAP Analytics Cloud Application Design

The tool SAP Analytics Cloud Analytics Designer is the functionality in SAP Analytics Cloud
that allows you to create analytic applications. Analytics Designer is similar to SAP Lumira
Designer, and there is a dedicated design environment in SAP Analytics Cloud to create such
applications. The term design does not refer specifically to the use experience or user
interface design aspect of the application. It is the entire process of creating an analytic
application, which includes the following:

Defining the data model

Laying out the screen

Configuring widgets

Wiring it all up with the help of custom scripts

Therefore, Analytics Designer is another way to create analytical content in SAP Analytics
Cloud.

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Unit 9: Mobile and Cloud Options for the SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform

Figure 77: SAP Analytics Cloud Analytics Designer

The foundation of an analytic application is one or more underlying SAP Analytics Cloud
models or a direct data access to an OData Service. A model is a representation of the
business data of an organization, organized into dimensions and measures. You can add
widgets that control data, such as filters, arrange and configure them, and connect them
using event properties. To add custom logic to the analytic application, you can implement
event handlers with the help of the scripting language (a subset of JavaScript).
With these custom applications, you can incorporate seamless Integration with Business
Applications as follows:

Support bi-directional communications via scripting APIs

Navigation between different applications passing parameters

Can be embedded into other Business Applications

Can host and communicate with other web pages

The following extension options enable you to enhance the tool's capabilities:

Custom Widgets
- Developers can create sophisticated custom widgets
- Custom functionality

Composites
- Designers can create a collection of widgets to make a composite
- Format by drag and drop of standard widgets, logic definition by data binding and
scripting
- Re-usable across applications
- Decompose complex applications into smaller, manageable parts

R Widgets
- With scripting access

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 Lesson: Positioning SAP Analytics Cloud

Figure 78: Extend Analytics Designer Capabilities

In short, SAP Analytics Cloud Analytics Designer can provide a complete cloud-based
experience for end users.

Figure 79: Analytics Designer Applications

SAP Analytics Cloud Future Developments

While always subject to change, future developments in SAP Analytics Cloud currently consist
of the following:

Hybrid analytics: a seamless experience for on-premise and cloud technology to work
together

Digital transformation: support for the journey to an agile, optimized digital company

Live and imported data sources: expanding the breadth of data sources and enriching the
data experience

Microservices: integration of analytic capabilities of SAP Analytics Cloud by merging SAP

Cloud Platform and other platforms

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Unit 9: Mobile and Cloud Options for the SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform

SAP S/4HANA: the ability to connect the strategic plan to detailed, actual results

Adaptable planning: support for agile simulation and what-if scenarios, integrated with
smart capabilities

Extending smart capabilities: additional predictive algorithms and machine learning

methods added to conversational Artificial Intelligence

Mobile: focusing the user experience to allow users to engage with their content anywhere

In-context digital meeting experience: continuous insights, real-time planning, and built-in
collaboration to capture knowledge provided by SAP Digital Boardroom

Application design: professional design of centrally governable analytic content, from

dashboards with guided analytics to sophisticated planning and “smart prediction”
applications

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:

Position SAP Analytics Cloud

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