Oracle Business Intelligence

11 g

Module 1- Analysis
Analysis
Agenda

Creating Analysis. Set Operation.

• Creating an Analysis and • Combine Results
using the
Analysis Editor. Drill Down and Navigation
• Sorting, Filtering, and Saving
the Analysis. Master Detail Linking
• Formatting the Analysis

Working with Columns.

• Column Properties
• Column Formulas
• Conditional Formatting

Working with Views.

• Tables
• Pivot Tables
• Other Useful Views

2
Creating a New Analysis
Creating a New Analysis
Creating an Analysis– New Analysis

• There are two ways to create a New ‘Analysis’.

Home ->Create-
>Analysis

New->Analysis

4
Creating a New Analysis
Creating an Analysis– Subjects Areas

• Once you have chosen the option to create a new

document, the next step will be to choose a ‘Subject
Area’.
Subject Areas
contain related
sets of reporting
objects.
For example, the
“Financials-
Revenue Analysis”
Subject Area will
contain objects
relevant to
reporting on
financials
Creating a New Analysis
Creating an Analysis– Subjects Areas

• After selecting the Subject Area, you can start creating

the analysis by adding “Facts” and “Dimensions” with
the relevant data you want to show.

Dimensions:
Are usually
defined as an
objects that Facts:
cannot be Facts return
aggregated, for numeric values
example: Time, and are defined
Product, as objects that
Customer, can be
Business Area, “aggregated”,
etc. i.e. by month or
averaged.
Creating a New Analysis
Creating an Analysis– Adding columns

• In the Criteria tab you can define the data content of

your Analysis by selecting the columns you want to
include from the Subject Areas pane
You can either
double click on
column names
in the Subject
Areas pane to
add them to
the analysis, or
drag and drop
the column to
the Selected
Columns area
Creating a New Analysis
Creating an Analysis – Rearranging columns

• If the columns are not in the correct order, you can

rearrange them by dragging them onto the desired
location.
Creating a New Analysis
Sorting, Filtering and Saving the Analysis – Sorting

• The analysis’ results will be ordered alphabetically by the

first column. You can choose a diferent sort order using
the menu below:

Sort Add Ascending Clear Sort will

Ascending/Descendin Sort/Descendin remove the sort
g will sort the entire g Sort options to specifications.
Analysis on this single apply sorts on
column. additional
columns
Creating a New Analysis
Sorting, Filtering and Saving the Analysis – Filtering

• To limit the results you can apply filters in two ways:

To apply a filter
on a column
which exists in
your analysis you
can use this
menu

To apply a filter on
a column which
does not exist in
your analysis you
can use this menu
and click in “More
Columns”
Creating a New Analysis
Sorting, Filtering and Saving the Analysis – Filtering

• Once you have selected the column to filter on, the next
step will be to specify the filter criteria:

Firstly, choose
the Operator…

... and then choose the

value. You can enter values
manually, select one or
more values from the list or
you can use the
More/Search button to
search for specific values.
Creating a New Analysis
Sorting, Filtering and Saving the Analysis – Filtering

• In the Filters area you will see all the filters applied to
the analysis

Hover the mouse over the

filter to view the options:
edit, copy, paste and
delete
Creating a New Analysis
Sorting, Filtering and Saving the Analysis – Filter based on Another
Analysis
• You can filter one analysis based on the results of
another Analysis

• For example, we have a “Budget Amount” Analysis which

filters so that only Departments which were in the list of
Key Departments on another Analysis:
Creating a New Analysis
Sorting, Filtering and Saving the Analysis – Filter based on Another
Analysis
• To apply a filter based on another Analysis:
• Choose the Operator “is based on results of another
analysis”.
• Browse for and choose the Analysis to filter on.
• Specify the relationship e.g. “is equal to any”
Creating a New Analysis
Sorting, Filtering and Saving the Analysis – Protecting Filters

• Filters can be “protected” so that they cannot be overridden at

run-time (by the end user or when interacting with another
analysis).

• To protect a filter, simply enable the “Protect Filter” option.

Creating a New Analysis
Sorting, Filtering and Saving the Analysis – Nested Filters

• By default, the filters added to your analysis will all use “AND”
operators.

• However, it is possible to make the filters more advanced by

having “nested” filters with AND/OR operators to build complex
arrays of filters.

• The nesting feature allows you to group together filters in

to sets of conditions.
Creating a New Analysis
Sorting, Filtering and Saving the Analysis – Saved Filters
• Filters can be saved and shared to encourage greater reuse of code
and consistency across analysis.

• For any complex filters or filters which are going to be re-used across
multiple Analyses, it is suggested that you make use of a “Saved
Filter”.

• One way to create a Saved Filter is within the Answers “Criteria” tab
• Click on the “More Options” button to the right of the “Filters”
window pane and choose “Save Filters” to save the filter criteria as a
reusable object in the catalog.
Creating a New Analysis
Sorting, Filtering and Saving the Analysis – Prompted Filters

• Sometimes it is necessary to force the user to enter a set of

filter criteria before they can view an individual Analysis.
• A series of Prompts will make sure the Analysis now only
returns an appropriate number of records.

• You can define Analysis Prompts on the “Prompts” tab within

Answers.

Options to
preview, add,
delete and edit
Prompts
Creating a New Analysis
Sorting, Filtering and Saving the Analysis – Results

• If you go to “Results” tab you will see the values

returned.

• By default the “Compound Layout” is shown, which

consists of a “Title” view and a “Table” view.
Creating a New Analysis
Sorting, Filtering and Saving the Analysis – Editing Views

• You can edit views by clicking on the buttons in the “View”

pane or at the top of each view in the Compound Layout.

Edit “Title” view

Edit “Table”
View

Edit “Selected”
view
Creating a New Analysis
Sorting, Filtering and Saving the Analysis – Editing Table View

• Once the view’s editing mode is opened you can modify the
layout and the formatting

Use the “Table

Properties” to modify
general options

Cilck “Done” to
return back to the
“Compund Layout”

Add “Grand Total”

Rearrange the column

Use “Table
order by dragging and
Properties” to change
dropping.
colour/style, border
etc.
Creating a New Analysis
Sorting, Filtering and Saving the Analysis – Editing Title View

• Edit the title view to configure items such a Title and Subtitle.
• If you want, you can add a Logo, a URL and the run time
(started time).

You should Click to

uncheck this modify, font,
option if you style and
choose your formatting.
own custom
title.
Creating a New Analysis
Sorting, Filtering and Saving the Analysis – Creating a New View

• You can add a new view to the Analysis. There are two ways:

This button will

add the New
This button will View to the
create a New Compound
View but you will Layout.
have to add it
manually to the
Compound
Layout.
Creating a New Analysis
Sorting, Filtering and Saving the Analysis – Arranging the Compound
Layout
• You can add views from the Views pane directly onto de
Compound Layout or move views to a new position by
dragging and dropping

The blue
line
indicates
where the
view will be
placed
Creating a New Analysis
Sorting, Filtering and Saving the Analysis – Standard Options
You can find options such
as:
• Print
• Download/Export
• Schedule
• Preview Analysis
• Print Options
• Refresh
Creating a New Analysis
Sorting, Filtering and Saving the Analysis – Save the Analysis
You can save de
Analysis using the
“Save” or “Save As”
buttons.

You should choose a

folder location
• My Folders : is
your private area.
• Shared Folders: is
for content that can
be shared with
others users
Creating a New Analysis
Browse Catalog for Analysis

• Once the Analysis has been saved, you can open/edit your
Analysis via the “Catalog” screen:
Working with Columns

Column Properties
Working with Columns
Column Properties

• OBIEE allows users to apply formatting on each column in the

Analysis.
• On the “Criteria” tab, you can access the “Column Properties”
of any column by choosing “Column Properties” from its menu.
Working with Columns
Column Properties – Range of Options

• Column Properties provides several formatting options:

 Change column heading name

 Column heading style and alignment
 Data format
 Conditional format
 Cell font style
 Cell background color
 Cell borders
 Cell horizontal/vertical alignment
 Cell height and padding
Working with Columns
Column Properties – Style Tab - Font Settings

• “Font” settings allow you to configure the Font used for the cell
values only, not the table heading.
Working with Columns
Column Properties – Style Tab - Cell Settings

• “Cell” settings allow you to modify:

 The alignment of cell values.

 The background color or adding an image.

This option is checked

by default. Unchecking
the option makes the
values appear on a
single line.
Working with Columns
Column Properties – Style Tab - Border Settings

• “Border” settings allow to modify the column borders that

surround the cell values.
Working with Columns
Column Properties – Style Tab – Additional Formatting Options

• “Additional Formatting options”: here you can enter values

for

 Cell height and width

 Left/Right padding
 Top/ bottom padding
Working with Columns
Column Properties – Column Format Tab - Headings

• “Headings” options allow you to:

 Change the default column heading name.

 Apply formatting on the column heading.
Working with Columns
Column Properties – Column Format Tab - Headings

• buttons allow access to the formatting options within the

column heading.
Working with Columns
Column Properties – Column Format Tab – Value Suppression

• “Value Suppression”: here you can determine how repeating

cell values will be shown. Suppress option is selected by
default.

Suppress:
Repeating values
will be shown in a
single cell

Repeat: Repeating
values will be
shown on each row
Working with Columns
Column Properties – Column Format Tab – Hide

• If you select the “Hide” option, the column will not be visible
within any Table views but the column will be present on the
Analysis.
Working with Columns
Column Properties – Data Format Tab– Date Data Type

• “Data format” options allow to configure the format for

specific data types.
• For example, the dates returned for columns with “Date” data
type.

Override Default
Data Format: Check
to allow modification
of the data format
Working with Columns
Column Properties – Data Format Tab– Number Data Type

• For columns with “Number” data type, options allow to

configure some number formats:

• Currency
• Percentage
• Number
• Custom

Save as Default: This

option allows saving
the new data format
as default for the
column (not
recommended)
Working with Columns
Further notes– Save as Default

• Restoring default column properties

Restores the column properties on all tabs back to their default
settings.

• System wide-default value for the column

The column properties specified on all tabs will be used automatically
whenever this column appears in other Analysis.

• System-wide default for this data type

The column properties specified across all tabs will be used
automatically for all columns with the same data type in other
Analyses.
Working with Columns
Column Properties – Further notes – Copy and Paste

• “Copy” and “Paste” options are available to allow you to

copy/paste the cell formatting to other columns within the
request. It is only applicable for the “Style” tab.

• There is also the option “Clear” to re-establish the properties of

the columns.

Clear
Paste
Copy
Working with Columns

Column Formulas
Working with Columns
Column Formulas – Editing Formulas

• In the “Criteria” tab you can edit a column’s formula by

choosing the “Edit Formula” option from the column’s menu.

By default, a column
formula will be in the
following format:
[Presentation Table].
[Column]
Working with Columns
Column Formulas - Editing Formulas

• The “Edit Formula” option allow you to override the default

Table/Column Heading.

NOTE: On the
“Column Format”
tab within
“Column
Properties” you
have the same
option.
Working with Columns
Column Formulas - Editing Formulas

• You can select a column within the Subject Area and then click
on
• Use the “Column” button to select columns already included in
the Analysis.

You can manually

modify the expression
to make your
calculations
Working with Columns
Examples - CASE Expression

• CASE expression can be used to return a result if a condition is

satisfied or is not satisfied.
• In this example, we have built a CASE expression with the logic
below:

o IF “Quarter” = ‘2012 Q1’

o THEN return ‘First Quarter’
o ELSE return ‘Other Quarters’
o END

* Previous filter applied:

Year is equal to / is in 2012)
Working with Columns
Examples - IFNULL Expression

• You can use the IFNULL function if you need to convert NULL
values to something else.
Working with Columns
Examples – Aggregates by Dimension

• Sometimes you need to perform an aggregation “by” an

specific dimension value: SUM(“Measure” BY
“Dimension”).

• Consider the example below, we have to Sum the values

“by” Year rather than calculate the sum for all years:
Working with Columns
Examples - Bins

• The “Bins” tab allows categorizing dimension values.

• In the example below, we are categorising several Quarters into

“2012” and “2013”:

• Note that the use of Bins are not recommended if you want to
implement “drill downs” and “navigation” on that column.
Working with Columns
Examples - Cast

• The CAST function is used to convert values to a different data

type.

• For example:
• CAST( expression AS CHAR)
• CAST( expression AS INTEGER)
• CAST( expression AS DOUBLE)
• CAST( expression AS DATE)
• CAST( expression AS TIMESTAMP)

If all the values within the calculation are integer,

we have to convert the final result into a
“DOUBLE” to display the result with decimals
Working with Columns

Conditional Formatting
Working with Columns
Conditional formatting

• Conditional Formatting is a useful feature to highlight values

based on specific situations on Tables, Pivot Tables and Graphs.

• Conditional formatting is like a series of “If Then” statements.

• If [Condition 1] THEN [Apply formatting 1]

• If [Condition 2] THEN [Apply formatting 2]
• …

Conditions can be
based on
calculations and
other columns in
the report
Working with Columns
Conditional formatting – Conditional Styles

• There are several options of formatting that you can apply:

• Font size, color, style.

• Cell alignment, background color, image.
• Border position, style, color
Working with Columns
Conditional formatting – Conditional Images

• There is a whole range of images to choose from.

• Also you can specify your own custom images.

You can choose to

display the image on
the left or the right of
the column value.
Working with Columns
Conditional formatting – Conditional Data Format

• You can even apply conditional “ Data Formats”.

Working with Columns
Example 1- Implementing on Tables

• In the example below, we will show you how to implement

Conditional Formatting on a Table or Pivot Table.

• In this case we want to highlight in red any “Number of

Suppliers” Values which are less than 100 and we want to
highlight in green any “Number of Suppliers” values which are
greater than 500:
Working with Columns
Example 1- Implementing on Tables- Step 1 : Open Column Properties.

• On the “Criteria” tab, open up the “Colum Properties” for the

column on which you want to apply the Conditional Formatting.

• Go to the “Conditional Format” tab.

Working with Columns
Example 1- Implementing on Tables- Step 2 : Add Condition.

• Click on the “Add condition” button and select the column on

which the condition will be based.

• Now, you can define the criteria for the condition, in our case we
are looking for values less than 100 and values greater than
500:
Working with Columns
Example 1- Implementing on Tables- Step 3 : Define Format.

• Define the column format for the condition.

In our case we have selected a Here we have selected a white font

white font on a red background if on a green background if the values
the values are less than 100. are greater than 500.
Working with Columns
Example 1- Implementing on Tables- Step 4 : View Results.

• The Results tab will display the below result.

Working with Views

Tables and Pivot Tables

Working with Views
Tables and Pivot Table

• In this chapter we will review the many views available in

OBIEE to create useful reports to meet your reporting
requirements
Working with Views
Tables and Pivot Tables – Common View Options - Editing

• You can edit the views by clicking on the button.

Edit selected
view
Working with Views
Tables and Pivot Tables – Common View Options – The View Editor

• The view editor has the following structure for all the views:

Undo changes.

View Table
“Preview” Apply changes
Properties
Pane and return to
Compound
Layout.
Working with Views
Tables and Pivot Tables – Common View Options – Layout Pane

• The “Layout” pane has 4 sections:

• Table Prompts.
• Sections
• Columns and Measures
• Excluded
Working with Views
Tables and Pivot Tables – Common View Options – Excluded area

• When you “Exclude” columns they will be no longer visible

within the view.
• In this case, the dimension “Product Group” has been excluded:
Working with Views
Tables and Pivot Tables – Common View Options – Sections

• When a dimension is added to “Sections” it will split the view

by the values returned in the Dimension column.

This example
shows the view
split for each
Product Group
Type
Working with Views
Tables and Pivot Tables – Common View Options – Sections: Section
Properties
• In the “Section Properties” you can modify the formatting and
layout design for the Section header.
Working with Views
Tables and Pivot Tables – Common View Options – Sections: Total

• If you use the Sections Total option a new section will be

displayed with the aggregated values for all sections.
Working with Views
Tables and Pivot Tables – Common View Options – Prompts

• When a dimension is included in the “Prompts” section, you

will be given a prompt above the table to filter the view by the
dimension value selected.
• In the example below you will only view the Product Group
selected within the table.
Working with Views
Tables and Pivot Tables – Tables – Table View Editor (1/2)

• Table View Editor allows to modify the general layout and

formatting and also provides options to add Grand Totals and
Subtotals.

Use the Table

Use Table
Properties to
“Content
modify general
Properties”
options.
to change
border
style/colour,
background
colour and
horiz/vertical
alignment etc.
Rearrange the
column order
by dragging
Add “Grand and dropping
Total” (only within
the view)
“Add Subtotal”
Working with Views
Tables and Pivot Tables – Tables – Table View Editor (2/2)

• Within the “Table View Editor” you can edit some of the default
column properties that were previously set on the “Criteria” tab.

Here we
have used
“Format
Values”
option
Working with Views
Tables and Pivot Tables – Tables – “Hidden” Option

• The “Hidden” option hides a column but you still get the same
number of records.
• Note that this option is not the same as dragging a column to
the “Excluded” section.

Here we have
hidden the “Time”
column but the
Table shows a
record for each
year value.
Working with Views
Tables and Pivot Tables – Pivot Tables

• The “Pivot Table” is a useful view which provides extended

features compared to a standard “Table” view, such as:

• Dimensions across two axis

• Calculated items
• Layers
Working with Views
Tables and Pivot Tables – Pivot Tables – Main Components

• The “Pivot Table” have 3 main elements:

Columns

Rows Measures
Working with Views
Tables and Pivot Tables – Pivot Tables – Rows

• Within the “Rows” section you can add multiple dimension

columns to appear on the left-hand side of the Pivot Table

• Additional settings include:

• Grand Total
• Formatting Options (e.g. Column Header, Values)
• Subtotal

Grand
Total

Formattin Grand
g options Total rows
Subtotal
Working with Views
Tables and Pivot Tables – Pivot Tables – Columns

• In the “Columns” area you can add more Dimension columns.

• This area contains the “Measure Labels”, which is the name of
the measures included within the pivot table.
• Additional settings include:
• Grand Total
• Subtotal
• Format Measure Labels
• Format Column Values

Grand Total

Format Column
Format Measure Values
Labels
Working with Views
Tables and Pivot Tables – Pivot Tables – Measure Labels (1/2)

• The “Measures Labels” can be located in different places:

Working with Views
Tables and Pivot Tables – Pivot Tables – Measure Labels (2/2)

• You can even drag the “Measure Labels” into the “Rows”
section.
Working with Views
Tables and Pivot Tables – Pivot Tables – Measures (1/2)

• The “Measures” area determines the fact columns (can be

multiple) that will be displayed in the Pivot Table.
Working with Views
Tables and Pivot Tables – Pivot Tables – Measure (2/2)

• Several options exist for measures including:

• Formatting headings and measure values.

• Specifying an aggregation rule.
• Showing data as a percentage or index.
• Displaying data as a running sum.
• Duplicating layers.
Working with Views
Tables and Pivot Tables – Pivot Tables – Duplicate Layers

• By clicking on the “Duplicate Layer” option you can show the

same data in alternative formats.

“Number of
Suppliers has
been
duplicated.

NOTE: Adding a new layer to the Pivot Table does not cause additional load on the
underlying database, since all the calculations are performed once the data has
been retrieved from the database.
Working with Views
Tables and Pivot Tables – Pivot Tables – Display as Running Sum

• Once the “Number of Suppliers” has been duplicated you could

implement a Running Sum aggregation, that could be useful to
Year-to-Date calculations:
Working with Views
Tables and Pivot Tables – Pivot Tables – Show Data As

• The “Show Data As” option allows to show data as a percentage

of the column’s total value.

• In the next example, the “Number of Suppliers” column has

been duplicated and we have configured the new layer to show
the data as “% Yearly Total”.
Working with Views
Tables and Pivot Tables – Pivot Tables – Calculated Items

• “Calculated Items” are a convenient way to add additional layers

of calculation to your pivot table.

• These calculations do not affect database performance. They

are performed once all the data has been gathered from the
underlying database.

• To create a calculated item for a dimension column:

• Click on the “More options” button for the

dimension column.
• Choose “New Calculated Item”.

In the example we have

summarized the Number of
Suppliers of both categories. (A1
column)
Working with Views
Tables and Pivot Tables – Pivot Tables – Implicit Column References (1/2)

• You can use the “$n” syntax to implicitly reference columns on

the pivot table.
• In the example below, we have specified the formula “$1 + $2”
which will summarize measure columns 1 and 2 from the Pivot
Table.

$1+$2
Working with Views
Tables and Pivot Tables – Pivot Tables – Implicit Column References (2/2)

• You can also define formulas by making explicit reference to

column values.

• In this example, the A1 calculated column summarizes data by

explicitly referencing 3 columns values:

• “SHARE~CAR + SHARE~HOTEL+SHARE~TICKET”
Working with Views
Tables and Pivot Tables - Table and Pivot Table Interactions

• OBIEE allows users to move and swap columns by dragging

and dropping
• It also allows user to apply sort orders within a column.
Working with Views
Tables and Pivot Tables - Table and Pivot Table Interactions – Moving
Columns
• When you move the mouse over a Table Column heading, then
you will be able to drag the column to another position.
Working with Views
Tables and Pivot Tables - Table and Pivot Table Interactions – Dragging Columns to
Sections/Prompts
• You can even drag Columns to from “Table Section” and “Table
Prompt” areas.
Working with Views
Tables and Pivot Tables - Table and Pivot Table Interactions – Table Menu

If you right click on Column

Heading or a value, a menu
will appear with several
options.

If you have “Excluded”

columns you can re-add them
to the view by selecting them
in “Include column”
Working with Views
Tables and Pivot Tables - Table and Pivot Table Interactions – Pivot Tables

The same options are

available for Pivot
Tables.
Also you have the option
to drag columns to a
new axis
Working with Views
Tables and Pivot Tables - Table and Pivot Table Interactions – Swapping
Columns

If you drag a column on

the top of another one it
has the effect of swapping
the columns

In this case we have

swapped the “Year” and
“Product Group”
columns.
Working with Views
Tables and Pivot Tables - Table and Pivot Table Interactions – Enabling/Disabling
Interactions
By editing the “Analysis
Properties” you can enable
or disable these
“Interactions”
Working with Views

Graphs
Working with Views
Graphs

• OBIEE provides many types of Graphs to support a wide variety

of reporting requirements.

• We will now take a look at the most common charting styles

and options available.
Working with Views
Graphs - Common Settings (1/3)

• To start working with Graphs you have to choose at least one

Measure and also at least one Dimension
Working with Views
Graphs - Common Settings (2/3)

• You can then also choose another Dimension to split the data
(using the “Vary Color By” option).
Working with Views
Graphs - Common Settings (3/3)

• You will have the option to move dimensions to “Sections” and

“Prompts” Like in a table or pivot table
Working with Views
Graphs – Section Sliders

• In “Sections” you can check “Display as Slider” to give

interactivity to your graph

This “Play” button will With the slider bar you can
cause the Graph to change between departments.
animate through each The graph will display one at a
“Department” in time
sequence
Working with Views
Graphs – Graph Properties: General

• The “Graph Properties” button provides access to

additional settings.

Graph
height/widt
h Enable
zoom and
scroll
Legend
Location

Enable/
disable
Graph
animation
Working with Views
Graphs – Graph Properties: Style

• The “Style” tab allows you to override the default coloring

across the various Graph areas.

Override
default
colouring for
the Graph
data
Working with Views
Graphs – Graph Properties: Scale

• The “Scale” tab is where you can configure the axis limits and
tick marks.

• There is also a very useful “Scale Markers” feature which

allows you to dynamically plot target markers onto the Graph.
Working with Views
Graphs – Graph Properties: Titles and Labels

• In the “Titles and Labels” tab you can set up the different text
elements of the Graphs.

Click to change
font style and
formatting
Working with Views
Graphs – Common Graphs Types (1/3)

• Horizontal and Vertical “Bar” graphs are available.

• With these type of graphs it is easy to compare the data

between different groups and see the relationship between the
X and Y axis.
Working with Views
Graphs – Common Graphs Types (2/3)

• You also have an option to display the bars in 3D rendered with

different shapes.
Working with Views
Graphs – Common Graphs Types (3/3)

• When you are varying the colour by a Dimension, you have can
choose between “stacked” and “non-stacked”.
Working with Views
Graphs – Pie Graphs (1/2)

• A “Pie” is another graph that uses pie slices to show relative

sizes of data. It can be displayed in 2D and 3D.

• You can display percentages or values.

• You can show just values or the name of the slice as well.
Working with Views
Graphs – Pie Graphs (2/2)

• Pie graphs also have the feature of splitting up a single pie into
multiple pies based on a Dimension.

By dragging
“Department”
into the “Pies”
section, we will
see one pie for
each
“Department”
Working with Views
Graphs – Line Graphs

• “Line” graphs are particularly useful to visualize the value of

something over time.

• As with bar charts, you can display multiple measures on a line

chart, or choose to have a number of lines based upon another
dimension.

• Lines can be 2D or 3D.

Working with Views
Graphs – Line Bar Combo

• A “Line Bar” graph enables you to have one measure displayed

as a line and another as a bar.

• There are two different X-axis, one on the left and the other on
the right, and both can have different scaling.
Working with Views
Graphs – Area Graph

• An “Area” graph is another form of line chart, showing clearly

the different areas occupied by each dimension value on the
chart – this is useful for seeing comparisons across time.
Working with Views
Graphs - Bubble

• With “Bubble” graphs you can analyze 3 measures at the same

time.

• In this example, we are comparing 3 measures for each

“Department”:

• Unit Price Y-Axis

• Record Count X-Axis
• Unit Price Base Size of the Bubble
Working with Views
Graphs - Radar

• A “Radar” chart displays data in a radial pattern.

• They are useful to show how data is weighted towards certain

Dimension values over others.
Working with Views

Other Usefull Views

Working with Views
Other Useful Views – Static Text Views - Creating

• Within your analysis you can include text with the “Static Text”
view

To create a Static Text go to

New View > Other Views >
Static Text
Working with Views
Other Useful Views – Static Text Views - Editing

• In our example, we have included the current date/time in the

static text field by including the following code:
• @{system.currentTime}

Enable this option if you

Insert a line Font size and want to embed HTML code
break coloring or javascript in your static
text field

If you want your

text to appear as
bold, italics and/or
underlined (select
the text first)
Working with Views
Other Useful Views – Column Selectors

• Column Selectors allow users to change the dimension and/or

measure columns that are displayed within a view, providing
more flexibility.
Working with Views
Other Useful Views – Column Selectors – Choosing Columns

We have
changed the
measure column
to be “Budgeted
Amount”. Both
the table and the
graph display
the column
selected in the
selector
Working with Views
Other Useful Views – Column Selectors – Column Properties

• When you have a Column Selector, note that you can no longer
modify the columns’ properties or formulas on the Answers
“Criteria” tab.

• Instead, you need to go to the “Results” tab and edit the

Column Selector view.

You can modify

all column
properties (incl.
interactions)
and formulas
here
Working with Views
Other Useful Views – Column Selectors – Creating: Step 1

• To start creating a Column Selector:

In the Compound
layout go to
New View > Other
Views > Column
Selector
Working with Views
Other Useful Views – Column Selectors – Creating: Step 2

• Enable the “Include Selector” option for the column on

which the column selector should be based (in this example,
Column 3).

• Specify a label for the column selector.

Enable the “Include

Selector” option for
the column on which
the column selector
should be based

Specify a label for the

column selector
Working with Views
Other Useful Views – Column Selectors – Creating: Step 3

• From the Subject Area pane, add the columns that you want
to be included in the Column Selector.
Working with Views
Other Useful Views – Column Selectors – Creating: Step 4

• You can configure as many column selectors as you want.

Working with Views
Other Useful Views – Column Selectors – Creating: Step 5

• After returning to the Compound Layout place the new

Column Selector into the desired location.
Working with Views
Other Useful Views – Column Selectors – Disable Automatic Refresh

• By default, a new query will be run every time you

make a new selection in the column selector.

• However if you disable the option “Automatically refresh

when a new column is selected” then an “OK” button will
appear alongside the selectors and a new query will only be
initiated when you click this button.

Disabling this
means the user
can continue to
make selections
and a new query
will only be
initiated when
they click “OK”
Working with Views
Other Useful Views – View Selectors

• A View Selector works as a “container” of views.

The views on
You can choose
display are
the view that
reduced to only
better covers
one that can be
your needs at
changed to the
some point
required one
Working with Views
Other Useful Views – View Selectors – Creating: Step 1

• Before adding the views to the View Selector, the default

names of your views can be edited to have a more
meaningful name.
Working with Views
Other Useful Views – View Selectors – Creating: Step 2

Remove from
the Compound
Layout the
already included
views that will
be added to the
View Selector
Working with Views
Other Useful Views – View Selectors – Creating: Step 3

• Now, it is time to create the View Selector:

Go to
New View > Other
Views > View Selector
Working with Views
Other Useful Views – View Selectors – Creating: Step 4

• We will add the required charts to be listed within the View

Selector.

Edit the new View

Selector, choose a
caption and its position
and select the charts
to be listed
Working with Views
Other Useful Views – View Selectors – Creating: Step 5

• Include the new View Selector in the in the desired position.

Working with Views
Other Useful Views – Gauges

• Gauges are a great way to provide visualizations for KPIs and

targets.

• There are four types of Gauges available:

Dial (Default)

Horizontal
Bar

Vertical Bar

Bulb
Working with Views
Other Useful Views – Gauges – Creating: Step 1

To add a Gauge, in the

Compound Layout go
to
New View > Gauge
(choose Vertical Bar)
Working with Views
Other Useful Views – Gauges – Creating: Step 2

• Edit the new Gauge view.

• Choose the Dimensions and Measures for your Gauge (you

will get one Gauge for each Dimension value returned).

NOTE: For simplicity, choose only one Dimension and one Measure
Working with Views
Other Useful Views – Gauges – Creating: Step 3

• Open the Gauge Properties and go to the “Scale” tab to

define the Gauge’s scale and limit settings.

Using this option it

is possible to
dynamically specify
the Gauge limits
using:
• Variable Name
• Column Name
• Logical SQL
Working with Views
Other Useful Views – Gauges – Creating: Step 4

• On the “Titles and Labels” tab, you can configure how the text
components will appear.

In this case we have specified

“@1 and @2” for the Gauge
footer.

This will use the value in

“Column 1” and “Column 2”
(Quarter) from the Analysis for
the Footer title
Working with Views
Other Useful Views – Gauges – Creating: Step 5

• Staying on the “Titles and Labels” tab, configure the “Scale

Labels” to show the values you want.

In this case, we want

the Gauges to display
the “Actual Value”
rather than a
“Percentage of Total”
Working with Views
Other Useful Views – Gauges – Creating: Step 6

• Choose the size of the Gauges you require (by selecting a

default size of specifying your own custom width and height).
Working with Views
Other Useful Views – Gauges – Creating: Step 7

• In the “Settings” pane at the bottom you can configure the

thresholds and colors for the Gauge.

You can The thresholds can be dynamically

add obtained from an Analysis Column, a
further Variable, Logical SQL or a Variable
thresholds Expression
Working with Views
Other Useful Views – Gauges – Creating: Step 8

• Return to the Compound Layout and preview the new

Gauges.
Working with Views
Other Useful Views – Filters

• With the “Filters” view you will be able to see within the Analysis’
results the filters that have been applied to it.

This can be useful

when navigating to
see the exact
context of your
analysis
Working with Views
Other Useful Views – Filters - Creating

To add a “Filters”
view go to
New View > Filters
Set Operations

Combine Results
Set Operations
Set Operations

• “Set Operations” allows you to merge the results of multiple

analysis together. This is useful when the requirements need
one data set (one analysis) combined with another one or more.

• The multiple criterias can be built using different subject areas,

but it is required that each data set has the same number of
columns and of the same data type.

Click on this icon to

add a new Criteria to
your analysis
Set Operations
Operation Types

• There are four different set operations available:

 Union Take the “distinct” set of results.

 Union All Return all records even if they are duplicate.
 Intersect Only return records that are common to both result
sets.
 Minus Return records from the 1st results set that are not
present in the 2nd set.
Set Operations
Result Columns

• By clicking on “Result Columns” you will be able to set the

column sort and formatting properties for the final set of result
columns that are generated after combining all the result sets
together.

To edit each
individual
criteria, click
on the
corresponding
link
Set Operations
Filters

• When combining criterias with Set Operations, each result

set has its own specific filters.

To see the
filters of an
specific result
set, click on
the “View
Filters Pane”
button
Set Operations
Cut/Copy/Paste

• There are various options:

 Cut: You can either remove the result set from the
analysis or place it into another position.
 Copy: Take a copy of the result set.
 Paste: Insert the result set which was taken using
Cut/Copy.
Set Operations
Further Notes

• It is possible to perform Set Operations on many results sets in a

chain.
For example:
 Result Set 1 UNION Result Set 2 MINUS Result Set 3 INTERSECT
Result Set 4.

• Set Operations do unfortunately restrict the ability to “drill” and

“navigate”.

• A “UNION ALL” is faster than a “UNION” since a UNION

operation requires an additional sort to take place in order to
remove duplicates from the final set of result.

• It is not possible to use “Column Selectors” on requests that

involve Set Operations.
Drill Down and Navigation

Drill Down
Drill Down and Navigation
Drill Down

• Certain Dimension columns are configured to allow users to

“drill-down” from one hierarchy level to another. A good
example of this is with “Time”:
• Year > Semester > Quarter > Month > Week > Date

• The drill-down functionality is implemented by the “BI

Development Team” when producing the Subject Areas, this
means that no effort is needed from the report developers as the
capability exists automatically.
Drill Down and Navigation
Drill Down – On Columns Headings

• You can also “drill-down” on the column heading, this will have
the effect of drilling down to all the child values that occur at
the next hierarchy level down.

The “Child”
column is
added to the
analysis
Drill Down and Navigation
Drill Down – On Graphs

• Drill-downs are automatically enabled on graphs by default too.

Drill Down and Navigation
Drill Down – Answers Results Tab

• Note that if you drill-down on the Answers “Results” tab, it

will actually modify the Analysis.

• For example, here we drill-down on Year = 2013 on the Results

tab and the definition of the Analysis has changed:
 The “Quarter” column has been automatically added to the
Analysis
 The Analysis is now configured to filter for Year = 2013

• NOTE: To prevent this from happening, use the Preview option to

test out your drill-downs!
Drill Down and Navigation
Drill Down – Within Dashboards

• When you drill-down within a Dashboard, you will get two links
underneath the Analysis to undo the drill-down operations:

• Return: To return you all the way back up to the top level.
• Back: To take you back up one level of drill.

If you are
performing drill-
downs within a
Dashboard then
remember to set
the “Drill in place”
option for the
Dashboard Section
Drill Down and Navigation

Navigate to BI Content
Drill Down and Navigation
Navigate to BI Content – About Actions

• OBIEE enables users to activate different “Actions” from

their Analyses/Dashboards.

• One of the Actions available is “Navigate to BI Content”

which allows you to navigate directly from one Analysis to
another Analysis or Dashboard Page.
Drill Down and Navigation
Navigate to BI Content – Is Prompted Filters

• When you navigate from one analysis to another one, you

normally want to pass filters from the first analysis to the target
one.
For example, if the user clicks on a measure for an specific
value of Year then the target report should also filter for that
specific value.

• Passing filters from one Analysis to another in this way only

works if:
• The target Analysis already has a filter for the specific column (in
which case the filter criteria will be overridden).

• Or the target Analysis has an “Is Prompted” filter applied. For

example:
Drill Down and Navigation
Navigate to BI Content – Creating Actions

• Actions can be created as re-usable objects, that can be used in

more than one place:

• Or if you want to use an Action only once, you can define it

directly within an analysis, dashboard page, agent, etc.
Drill Down and Navigation
Navigate to BI Content – Example

• Consider this example where we will create an Action to

navigate from an Analysis to another Analysis. (Budget Amount Detail)

• The users will want to open up the target Analysis by clicking on one
of the Budget Amount” values.

When we click on a
Measure value, we need to
make sure we pass in the
appropriate filters to the
target Analysis
Drill Down and Navigation
Navigate to BI Content – Example: Step 1

• We will have to ensure that the target Analysis has the required
“Is Prompted” filters so it can be filtered by specific parameters
from the main Analysis.

This Target Analysis will

accept filter criteria on Year,
Quarter and Month from the
main Analysis
Drill Down and Navigation
Navigate to BI Content – Example: Step 2

• On the main Analysis open up the “Column Properties” for the

column which is to be used for the navigation.

• Go to the “Interaction” tab.

Drill Down and Navigation
Navigate to BI Content – Example: Step 3

• Modify the Value “Primary Interaction” setting to “Action

Links”.

• Click the button to add a new Action Link.

Drill Down and Navigation
Navigate to BI Content – Example: Step 4

• In the “Link Text” field, enter a short piece of text to display to

the user when the Action Link is invoked.

• Click on the button to create a new “in-line” Action, and

select the “Navigate to BI Content” option.
Click on this
button to use a
saved Action
from the catalog
Drill Down and Navigation
Navigate to BI Content – Example: Step 5

• Browse for and select the target Analysis from the Catalog:
• The target could also be a Dashboard Page (even one which is
“hidden”).
Drill Down and Navigation
Navigate to BI Content – Example: Step 6

• If you wish, you can apply some further “Options” such as

popping up a confirmation message to the user.
Drill Down and Navigation
Navigate to BI Content – Example: Step 7

• Our Action Link has been configured.

Drill Down and Navigation
Navigate to BI Content – Conditions

• Action Links can also be configured to be enabled

“Conditionally”.
• In the example below, we have added a second Action Link which
has been enabled conditionally to appear only for 2017 .
Drill Down and Navigation
Navigate to BI Content – Multiple Links with Conditions

• Depending on which Measure value the user clicks on, the set
of Action Links will be different.
Drill Down and Navigation
Disabling Interactions

• You can disable all interactions for a column by going to

“Column Properties” and setting the “Primary Interaction” to
“None”.
Drill Down and Navigation

Master Detail Linking

Drill Down and Navigation
Master Detail Linking

• Master-Detail Linking allows you to click on a “Master” View to

dynamically update one or more “Detail” Views within the
same Analysis or Dashboard Page.

• Prerequisites: In order for Master-Detail Linking to function,

the “Detail” View must consist of a Slider or Graph Prompt.
Drill Down and Navigation
Master Detail Linking – Implementing – Step 1

• Defining Master-Detail Links is easy, step one is to open up the

Column Properties for the relevant Column and set its
“Interaction” properties as shown below.

1) Set the “Primary

Interaction” to “Send
Master-Detail
Events”
2) Specify the name
of a “channel” (you
can call it whatever
you want)
Drill Down and Navigation
Master Detail Linking – Implementing – Step 2

• Then open up the “Graph Properties” of each “Detail” View and

configure the View to “listen” on the same “Event Channel”.

Here you have to type

in manually the same
Event Channel
specified on the
previous slide
Drill Down and Navigation
Master Detail Linking – Implementing – Done