MGS8020_08.ppt/Jan 29, 2015/Page 1 Georgia State University - Confidential MGS 8020 Business...

MGS8020_08.ppt/Jan 29, 2015/Georgia State University - Confidential

MGS 8020

Business Intelligence

Business Objects

Jan 29, 2015


Agenda

Business Intelligence Environment


Tools- Business

Objects


Tools- MS Excel


Tools- Webi


Tools- Cognos



Internal Source Systems

External Data Sources

Ext

ract

, T

rans

form

atio

n an

d L

oad

Data WarehouseData Mart



Data WarehouseData Mart

Microsoft Excel

Report Writers

BI Query & Analysis Tools

OLAP Cubes

EIS / Dashboards

Data Mining Toolsβ

Broad User Base

Narrow User Base


Agenda



Tools- Business

Objects


Tools- MS Excel


Tools- Webi


Tools- Cognos


Microsoft Excel

Why Excel is an effective BI Tool• Extensive knowledge base• Very good for “what-if” analysis• Flexible• Feature rich• Great single user analysis tool• Open Architecture support powerful Add-ins• Ability to import data for analysis

Where Excel falls short• Some flexibility requires programming knowledge• Database ability limited by =Dfunctions• Limited meta-data capabilities• No server based components• Mainly a document centric approach• Interface to database has limitations


Microsoft Excel

Features that support Business Intelligence • Data-Import External Data (MS Query)• Charting• Pivot-Tables• Database Functions (Dfunctions)• If-Then-Else Logic• VBA interface

Uses Excel Database Functions to work with results

Can uses VBA script to allow for Dynamic Queries

DAVERAGE DCOUNT DCOUNTA DGET DMAX DMIN

DPRODUCT DSTDEV DSTDEVP DSUM DVAR DVARP


BI Query & Analysis Tool

BI Query & Analysis Tools • Provides an end user the ability to query a database and analyze

information

BI Query & Analysis Tool Vendors• Business Objects• Cognos• Brio• MicroStrategy


BI Query & Analysis Tool

Common Features

• Meta-Data Layer - Insulates the end user from the complexities of the data, database and technology

• Easy to use query interface• Built in data functions• Slice-and-Dice Capabilities• Charting and Graphing• Report Development• Security• Dashboarding

BI Query and Analysis Meta-Data functions

• Defines table relationships• Provides business naming• Pre-defines calculations• Reorganizes data fields• Assists in data security• Provides help text on tables, columns & calculations


Agenda



Tools- Business

Objects


Tools- MS Excel


Tools- Webi


Tools- Cognos


Business Objects

What is Business Objects?

• BUSINESS OBJECTS is an integrated query, reporting and analysis

solution for business professionals that allows you to access the data in

your corporate databases directly from your desktop and present and

analyze this information in a BUSINESS OBJECTS document.

• BUSINESS OBJECTS makes it easy to access this data, because you work

with it in business terms that are familiar to you, not technical database

terms like SQL. You don’t need any knowledge of the database structure or

technology. Once you’ve used BUSINESS OBJECTS to access the data

you need, you can present


Business Objects – What data sources are available?

BUSINESS OBJECTS let you access data from a wide range of sources.

You can access data from

• Relational databases (RDBMS), such as ORACLE, Microsoft SQL Server,

Informix and IBM DB2.• Multidimensional (OLAP) databases, such as Microsoft OLAP Services,

Hyperion Essbase, and ORACLE Express.• Text files and spreadsheets• Packaged applications such as SAP• Virtually any data source using Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications

(VBA)


Business Objects – New Report Wizard

• To help you build a data provider when you create a new document, BUSINESS OBJECTS launches the New Report Wizard when you start the application for the first time:


Business Objects – Specify Data Access

• Select an option for the report layout, then click Begin. The Specify Data Access dialog box appears:


Business Objects – Select A Universe

• The next step depends on what you want to do:

• If you chose to build a query on a universe in the previous step, the Select a Universe dialog box now appears:


Business Objects – What Exactly is a Universe?

• BUSINESS OBJECTS universes make it easy to access data, because they contain objects of data in business terms that are familiar to you. What’s more, you need no knowledge of the database structure, or of database technology, to be able to create powerful reports with data that is relevant to your work.

• Universes provide the business-intelligent, semantic layer that isolates you from the technical issues of the database. A universe maps to data in the database, in everyday terms that describe your business situation.

• Universes are made up of classes and objects. For example, the objects in a human resources universe would be Names, Addresses, Salaries, etc. Classes are logical groupings of objects. Each class has a meaningful name, such as Vacation (for objects pertaining to employees’ vacations). Each object maps to data in the database, and enables you to retrieve data for your reports.


Business Objects – Classes & Sub-classes


Business Objects – Dimension objects, measure objects and detail objects

• Dimension objects retrieve the data that will provide the basis for analysis in a report. Dimension objects typically retrieve character-type data (customer names, resort names, etc.), or dates (years, quarters, reservation dates, etc.)

• A detail object is always associated to one dimension object, on which it provides additional information. For example, Address is a detail object that is associated to Customer. Address provides additional information on customers, i.e., their addresses.

• Measure objects retrieve numeric data that is the result of calculations on data in the database. In the demo universe, Revenue is the calculation of number of items sold multiplied by item price. Measure objects are usually located in the Measures class.


Building a Query on the Query Panel



a. Classes appear as folders.

b. Objects appear as cubes (for dimensions), spheres (for measures) or pyramids (for details).

c. This button displays the universe’s predefined conditions.

d. This button, selected by default, displays the universe’s classes and objects.

e. Information on the selected class or object appears here.

f. This button enables you to set options before running the query, for example to specify a maximum number of rows.

g. The Result Objects box displays the objects that are included in the query.

h. When you click Run, the query connects to the database and the data appears in the



i. Save and Close lets you save the query you have defined without running it. You can run it later on by using the Refresh command.

j. When you click View, the raw data retrieved by the query appears in the Data Manager. From the Data Manager, you can edit, accept or cancel the query.

k. When you click Run, the query connects to the database and the data appears in the



Click Run.

BUSINESS OBJECTS retrieves the data for Resort, Year and Revenue, and displays this in a new document:


Creating User Objects – What is a User Object?

• A universe consists primarily of classes and objects, created by the universe designer. If the objects in a universe do not meet your needs, you can customize the universe by creating your own objects, which are called user objects.

• User objects appear in the User Objects class in the universe. You include them in queries in the same way that you include regular objects. Moreover, you do not need to define a connection to a database to define a user object.


Creating User Objects

To create a user object in any universe available to you1. Select the Universes command on the Tools menu. The Universes dialog

box appears.2. Select the universe in which you want to create the user object, then click

User Objects. The User Objects dialog box appears.3. Click Add. The User Object dialog box appears:

4. In the Definition tab, type the name of the user object in the Name field.


Creating User Objects

5. In the Type list, select the type of the user object (Character, Number or Date).

6. In the Description field, type a help text on the object. The help text appears when you select the user object in the Query Panel.

7. In the Qualification box, click a radio button to qualify the user object as a dimension, a measure or a detail.

8. Click the Formula tab to write the formula for the user object.9. Click OK. The user object you have created appears in the User Objects

dialog box. The next time you build or edit a query on the universe, the user object you have created will appear in the User Objects class.


Creating User Objects - Formula

1. Click the Formula tab, then check Get Assistance on Functions:

2. Double-click the objects, functions and operators you want to use in the user3. object's formula.

• When you double-click an object or an operator, it appears in the Formula box. The functions and operators you can select depend on the database at your site.

• When you double-click a function, the Function[FunctionName] dialog box appears.


Creating User Objects - Formula

4. In the Function[FunctionName] dialog box, type an argument in each field.• If the function's arguments include objects, user objects, functions or

operators, you can double-click these in order to insert them in the function's formula.

• The arguments appear in the Formula box.5. If necessary, type text, numbers or dates in the formula. You must type

quotes (") before and after text and numbers, but type a single quote (') before and after dates.

6. Click OK, then click Test to check the syntax of the formula.


Applying a complex condition on a query

Applying a complex condition requires three steps. First, you select the object you want, then the operator (e.g., greater than), then the operand (e.g., values that you type, or another object). The following procedure explains how to do it, and gives information to help you choose the operator and operand you need:

1. In the Query Panel, drag the object you want to use from the Classes and Objects list to the Conditions box. The Classes and Objects list turns into the Operators list:



2. Double-click the operator you want to use. The Operators list turns into the Operands list:



3. Double-click the operand you want. The following table helps you select the operand you need and tells you what to do next:


Agenda



Tools- Business

Objects


Tools- MS Excel


Tools- Webi


Tools- Cognos

• EIS / Dashboarding


EIS / Dashboarding

• To provide real time view of KPI and metrics

• EIS / Dashboarding vendors

• Cognos• Business Objects

http://www.businessobjects.com/products/dashboard_manager• Brio• Pilot Lightship


Business Objects - Dashboard


Agenda



Tools- Business

Objects


Tools- MS Excel


Tools- Webi


Tools- Cognos


Webi 6.1: Reporting featureshttp://webiwh/wiasp/

Report creation features new to WebIntelligence 6.1– Multi-block creation

– Multi-report creation

– Add pre-defined blocks and cells

– Local Variables

– Better control when formatting and positioning

– Improved layout properties

– Define Sections through Drag & Drop (or Report Panel)

– Insert breaks & sorts, calculations, rows, columns

– Filtering blocks and report: simple filters & compound filters

– Drag-and-drop report editing, turn to


Completely New Query Window

Three modes:• Edit Query

• Edit Report

• View Results


Webi 6.1 – Query Users

• For query users, the differences will be greater. Look and feel of the new query panel is much more user friendly and powerful, but will take some time to become familiar with

• The following slides will take you through some basic report creation and the new features of Webi 6.1

• **Please Note**• When entering in a date range, you now must enter in the entire year(eg. 2003)

and not just 03(eg. 4/20/2003 as opposed to 4/20/03)


Webi 6.1 – Query Features

Edit Report change document format

including the structure (e.g multiblocks), layout

and colors.

Edit Query – create/edit a query, define query filters, query properties, and/or scope of analysis.


Webi 6.1: Edit Query

All New Documents start here, but users can return to edit the query at any time


Webi 6.1: View and Display Modes

When editing the report users may view a report in:– Structure or Results

– Normal or Page Layout

– Drill mode (View Results)


Webi 6.1: Edit Report

Normal Page Display(Page Layout button is Toggled off…)


Webi 6.1: Edit Report

Page Layout Display

button is Toggled on…


Webi 6.1: Tabs

Report Manager: Data, Templates, Properties, Map

The Properties tab displays is relevant to a selected object, block, etc. The Map tab facilitates navigation.


Webi 6.1: Edit Report Toolbar

User can toggle between View Structure andView Results

Top Bar – General Document-related features

Bottom Bar – Selection specific features (including Drill)


Webi 6.1: Report Pane


Webi 6.1: Filter Pane

Filter zone: Refining the display of report data


Webi 6.1: Feedback and Tool Tips

• Tool tips on icons – mouseover help• Tips & feedback when dragging object (pre-drop)

On Mouseover Icons indicate filters, sorts

& breaks

Clicking on these icons enables you to view their properties


Webi 6.1: Show Me How & Help

• “Show me how” icon, – Top right corner of Java Report Panel

– Opens a page with links to flash demos

• Help menu


Webi 6.1: Multi-Block

Create Multi-blocks with new

block Templates

Alternatively, Drag & Drop

existing block and Turn to…


Webi 6.1: Multi-report

Reports may be added in – Structure or Results

– Normal or Page Layout Views

– When in Drill modeInserting (or Duplicating) a Report


Webi 6.1: Block & Cell Templates

Block templates


Webi 6.1: Block & Cell Templates

Cell templates– Blank cell

– Drill Filters

– Last refresh Date

– Page Number

– Page Number/Total Pages

– Total Number of Pages


Webi 6.1: Local Variables

Select a cell

Click Create Variable button

Save variable to local data

objects

Same workflow as in Business Objects


• With user-options button:– Control layout and positioning of objects

– Define measurement unit

– Grid on/off, Snap to, Spacing

Webi 6.1: Layout & Positioning

User Options button


Webi 6.1: Inserting Sections

• Create sections with Drag & Drop (as BusinessObjects)• Sections sliders to denote the beginning/end

Can be resized! – (can’t be done in 2.7 nor BusinessObjects!)

• Sections can be independent – even better!Cells in between sections enables creation of sub-reports

Example of URL providing a logo to separate sections

Dragable sliders


• Breaks (Workflow like WebI and BusinessObjects)

• Sorts can be added (Workflow like BusinessObjects)

• …and Sorts can be removed from breaks(can not do this in WebIntelligence 2.7 nor BusinessObjects)

Webi 6.1: Inserting Breaks & Sorts


• Calculations can be selected from a menu

Webi 6.1: Inserting Calcs, Rows, Cols


Webi 6.1: Filtering Reports & Blocks

Quick filters can be applied to – Blocks

– Object

– SectionsSelect object and click Quick Filter Button

Choose from LOV and filter is displayed


Webi 6.1: Normal Filters

• Drag & drop object to the filter zone launches editor• Filter defaults to “Constant” for performance reasons

Describes where the

filter will be applied.


Webi 6.1: Simple Filters & LOVs

• List of Values (with chunking feature)• Users can search the entire list of values • Users can navigate by chunk

Chunking feature

Search among entire list


Webi 6.1: Compound Filters

Drag & Drop to filter zone for compound filters – Adding a simple filter to a simple filter or dragging a simple filter onto another simple filter

creates a compound filter

– Clicking the AND/OR toggles between the two operators


Webi 6.1: Turn to…

Right-click on table/chart to get a

Turn To… menu

Choose table/chart from dialog

Or, Drag & Drop from Report Templates menu


Building Queries


Webi 6.1: Overview

Familiar presentation (Full-Client & WebIntelligence Mix)

Universe Objects

Dimensions,

Measures,

Details

Predefined Filters

Result Objects

Data for report creation

Query Filters

Refining data to answer business questions

Scope of Analysis

Extend data for analysis


Webi 6.1: Objects

Dimensions, Details & Measures • Defined in the universe in business terms

Predefined Filters• Facilitate access (different than with WebIntelligence 2.7)

• Also using everyday business terms


Webi 6.1: Hierarchical View

Hierachical view


Webi 6.1: Result Objects

Displays Objects to be available in the report

Semantic change from WebI 2.7 & Full-Client Reporter– With new WebIntelligence, Filters on measures are applied only to Result objects. Objects in the

Scope of Analysis do not affect the query results when using filters on measures.

– In previous products, Filters on measures are applied to Results Objects+Scope of Analysis objects.


Webi 6.1: Overview

Simple to understand & manipulate

A simple dialog box provides the

filter settings


Webi 6.1: Creation

Drag & Drop into Query Pane to display Filter dialog box


Webi 6.1: Creation via Drag & Drop

Drag & Drop objects to create combination filters

Query Objects can be dragged to redefine their

logical context


Webi 6.1: Basic Choices

• All Simple Filters may be one of these types:– Constant – user-defined text entry within Filter dialog box

– Values from list – choose when displayed in Filter dialog box

– Prompt – choose when list of values appears at refresh time

– Predefined Filters – defined inside the universe, when added, no Filter dialog appears

• Simple Filters can be combined as And/Or operands

Clicking on And with toggle the operand to OR, and vice-versa


Webi 6.1: Operators and Operands

Operand types:

Constant

Values from List

Prompts

Complete set of operators


Webi 6.1: Filter on Measures

Filters on Measures: Change from FC & previous WebIntelligence– The Scope of Analysis is not part of the measure’s aggregation

with WebI• Sales are filtered by Region, Customer and

City (Results Objects + Scope)


Webi 6.1: Advanced Filters

• When combined with simple filters, Advanced filters enable more complex business questions

Show me all Cities, Stores and Revenue for Countries WHERE Revenue > $1m for the Year 2002

• Such Filters are Impossible to do with simple Query Filters because they require a Sub-Query

Results Objects for this Query


Webi 6.1: Advanced Filters

Show me all Years, Products, Sales FOR (City,Year)

WHERE Units Sold > 10,000

Again, Advanced filters enable Sub-Queries, i.e. more complex business questions

Another example:

Results Objects for this Query


Webi 6.1: SQL Subqueries

• Advanced Filters change a filter’s aggregation level• The SQL the query generates uses a subquery• Advanced filters can be nested as well

Advanced Filter with Two Objects and a simple

combination filter

Advanced Filter with an Advanced Filter embedded (nested Advanced Filter)


Webi 6.1: Prompts & List of Values

• Prompts – Used with query filters (not report filters)

Prompt with previously

selected values

Select default values that report

viewers will see



• 2 different types of prompts:– Defined in the query itself (are prompted first)

– Defined in Universe (in objects, join, Custom List of Values – these are prompted after Query prompts)

• Prompts – Report creators can define prompts order for prompts defined in the query panel

– 1st Country, 2nd Region, 3rd City, then Store

• Expected format (Date + Number) helps ease-of-use• Any operator (e.g. except, isnull, etc) can be used to define a prompt



• List of Values features– LOV are used both during Report Creation and also at Run-Time by report viewers

– Custom List of Values can be predefined within Designer• Single or multiple column• Full Compatibility with Designer 5.x

– Nested LOV (or cascading prompting) – enables a user-oriented workflow

– Plus new extra features oriented performance & scalability



• List of Value Enhancements

– Ascending/Descending sorts

– Search values (wildcards)

• Uses batch display to increase performance time for very large lists

Browse batches

Asc./Desc. sort

Search Pattern


Webi 6.1: Prompts & List of Values: Browsing

• Browse List of Values by Batch– Allow to handle very huge LOV

– The default batch size is a server parameter, allow to size according to the server configuration (default at 1,000)

– The entire values of the LOV is cached during the user session (per document)


Webi 6.1: Prompts & List of Values: Sorting

• Sorting the List of Values– Ascending, Descending sort

– The batch display is still on, when sorting, the LOV is positioned to the first batch

– For Custom LOVs, the sort is available for each column

Abnorth

…..Belin

…..Carlton

…..

Batch 1

Batch 2

Batch 3

AscendingCarlton

…..Belin

…..Abnorth

…..

Descending


Webi 6.1: Prompts & List of Values: Searching

Search Values through a search pattern– Use * to filter values (pattern matching)

Without search

With search

• The batch display is still active even when searching

• Results are batched to match the pattern


Webi 6.1: Query Panel –Basic Prompt Workflow

At Design-Time

Filters can

include many

prompts

Users can define prompt

order for the refresh

workflow


Webi 6.1: Query Panel – Scope of Analysis

• Scope of Analysis pane same as WebIntelligence 2.7– Define the scope either by levels (1,2,3) or create a custom Scope of Analysis

The Scope is deduced from the Results Objects and the

Hierarchies defined within the universe

Year, Product Family, Country are in the Results Objects (white).Objects in Gray are the extended scope…


Webi 6.1: Query Panel – Query Properties

Query Properties available in the second tab

Limits– « Max rows retrieved » limits the data in the document– « Max retrieval time » limits the execution time of the query (in seconds)

Data– “Retrieve duplicate rows” Checked by default

Security– “Allow other users to edit the query” Checked by default

Prompt Order (refer to Prompt chapter)

Context– “Reset contexts on refresh” contexts will be prompted for each refresh. If Checked, the preset

contexts are reused without prompt during refresh– “Clear Contexts” allows to reset the preset list


Webi 6.1: Query Panel – View SQL

Show the generated SQL– Displays mono- and multi-flow Synchronization, Join, Union, Intersection, Minus

– Can copy and paste elsewhere


Agenda



Tools- Business

Objects


Tools- MS Excel


Tools- Webi


Tools- Cognos


Cognoshttp://hoteleservices.sabre.com/booking.html

MGS8020_08.ppt/Jan 29, 2015/Page 1 Georgia State University - Confidential MGS 8020 Business...

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Transcript of MGS8020_08.ppt/Jan 29, 2015/Page 1 Georgia State University - Confidential MGS 8020 Business...