Publishing BusinessObjects Reports to SharePoint

7/22/2019 Publishing BusinessObjects Reports to SharePoint

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Publishing BusinessObjects reports to SharePoint

http://scn.sap.com/community/bi-platform/blog/2013/02/12/publishing-businessobjects-reports-

to-sharepoint

One of the most common requirements for BusinessObjects End-users is to utilize the

capabilities of the Microsoft SharePoint by publishing the BusinessObjects reports to

SharePoint document library. People tend to ask for Export the Business Objects report to

SharePoint Document library so that it will be searchable in SharePoint.

Below are quick steps to configure the reports to publish them in SharePoint. Please notethis not the Integration of BusinessObjects with SharePoint.

1. Identify the SharePoint document library where your BusinessObjects reports

to be published. Go to document library and open it in the windows explorer

view. Copy the UNC path for the explorer view which will be something

like /////

2. Make sure you can browse to the SharePoint location using UNC path. If your

URL ishttp://Servername/SiteDirectory/Titlethen the equivalent UNC path

would be like the below \\Servername\SiteDirectory\Title. We need the

Webclient Service running on the box to access this UNC path (step 4).

3. If the URL is accessible you should be able to schedule the report to

\\Servername\SiteDirectory\Title\SharedDocuments provided if you use

Document Workspace as a template. The folder structure will wary as per

the template you select.

4. Go to your BusinessObjects server and start the web client service.This service

is needed to access and modify internet based files (SharePoint doc library).

Enable and start the service
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Webclient.

If you are using Windows Server 2008, Please note Webclient Service is not

enabled by default. You need to follow the below steps.

a. Open Server Manager and click the Features node.

b. If "Desktop Experience" in not already listed under Features,

click "Add Features".

c. Select the "Desktop Experience" item and then click next followed by

Install.

d. Reboot the PC as instructed.

5. In the BusinessObjects, schedule the report to be exported to a file location.

Provide the UNC location which you copied earlier.
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6. You should be able to see your report in SharePoint now.

Advantages from publication of reports in SharePoint

SharePoint search facility will be an added advantage as you are allowed to search the reports in

SharePoint itself.

Utilize SharePoint versioning - SharePoint actually stores a new file with same name as a new

version of the document provided versioning is turned on in SharePoint setting for the document

library.

Utilize SharePoint Security - You can utilize the security applied at SharePoint document library

along with your BusinessObjects Security.

Points to consider

If you create a schedule with default name it will contain '~' in the file name which is not allowed

on the SharePoint by default. So make sure you configure the instance to you any valid name byadding the place holder in the schedule e.g. %SI_NAME%

We need to schedule the report only in Agonistic file formats such as .xls,.pdf and .txt etc. If you

try to schedule the report with its default format (WebI) the above steps are not applicable as it

needs actual SharePoint integration.

If you try publishing most of your reports to SharePoint, It may reduce the BusinessObjects

usability as most of the report viewers tend to use the SharePoint document library instead of

Infoview or BI Launchpad. This is what happened when we implemented BusinessObjects report s

SharePoint publication:).

Hope you find this Interesting. Looking forward all your valuable feedbacks. Keep reading!
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SharePoint Integration and Configuration withBusinessObjects

http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-43111

This is the continuation of my blog on Sharepoint publication of BusinessObjects reports

herePublishing BusinessObjects reports to SharePointand this gives an overview about

Sharepoint integration considerations (Prerequisites, Features), Installation and

Sharepoint site creation.

1. Prerequisites for Sharepoint Integration

Administrative rights in the installation server

Microsoft .NET 3.5 or higher is installed on the system

BI 4.0 supports only Java version of BILaunchpad

Before installing, we need to ensure that one of the following software is installed on the system:

o Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010

o Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010

o Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007

o Windows SharePoint Services 3.0

Hardware & Software requirements

Requirement SharePoint server 2007 SharePoint server 2010

Operating System (Windows) 64 bit operating systems 64 bit operating systems

Processor Two dual core 2.8 GHz Two dual core 2.8 GHz

RAM 4 GB 8 GB

Minimum disk space 1.3 GB 1.3 GB

Free Space for Language packsinstallation 1.4 GB 1.4 GB

Web browser support

Internet Explorer 7, 8 and 9

Mozilla Firefox 3.5 and 4.0

Internet Explorer 7, 8 and 9

Mozilla Firefox 3.5 and 4.0
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2. Installation

Compared to earlier version of IOMS integration kit (XI 3.x) the MOSS integration

for BI 4.0 will be much easy and will not ask you for a .Net SDK installation as a

prerequisite. Instead the entire required prerequisites are added in to the Installer to

make the installation simple. The step by step process of Installation is detailed in theinteractive tutorial herehttp://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-20437

Videos

http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/index?rid=/library/uuid/a072cc1d-a480-2e10-2d90-f4d2afbf5cf7&overridelayout=true

https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/index?rid=/library/uuid/e0fcfa1c-a375-2e10-98a4-86d6b3a4c61e&overridelayout=true

3. SharePoint Site creation

Once IOMS is installed, we need to create a site in SharePoint based on the pre-

defined template. Then the newly created SharePoint site will be utilized by the users for

their day to day activities instead of accessing BusinessObjects using it's proprietary tools.

following interactive tutorial will guide you to create a new SharePoint site based on the

SAP Business Objects templatehttp://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-20425

4. Reference : BusinessObjects Sharepoint user experience

http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/251162/Features-from-SharePoint-2010-

Integration-with-SAP

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbOv9cmLbUo
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Publishing webi to sharepoint without BO-Sharepointintegration

http://scn.sap.com/community/bi-platform/blog/2013/04/01/publishing-webi-to-sharepoint-without-bo-sharepoint-integration

We have just finished publishing webi reports to our non-enterprise end users at a sharepoint location withoutusing BO-Sharepoint integration kit. So I just wanted to share the workflow with the forum users.

In order to publish webi reports to sharepoint the followings routes can be followed
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Please look at the following SCN blog for the Path III http://scn.sap.com/community/bi-platform/blog/2013/02/12/publishing-businessobjects-reports-to-sharepoint

Let us have a look at the Path I in detail

Steps to be done

1) First set up your sharepoint to accept emails from BO publication. Go to library settings

2) Then go to incoming email address option o set up the email, to which the BO publication will send emails

3) Provide a username for the email address and check the associated settings
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4) Now go to the publication and use this email address as the recipient email address and run the publication.The files created in this way are now saved in the root folder as given in the email settings of the sharepointemail address.
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Features from SharePoint 2010 Integration

with SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.0http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/251164/Features-from-SharePoint-2010-Integration-with-

SAP

Introduction

The client I'm consulting with asked me about what features the SharePoint 2010Integration with BI 4.0 (IOMS 4.0) can bring on the table in terms of enriching their

Corporate portals, since they have recently successfully migrated their existing BOXI R3platform onto newly released BI4.0 enterprise server. (Note: after confirming with the

client, it's a "Ramp-up" instead of "GA" version of the BOE server installation.)

After a bit research and reading, I quickly put together a feature list based upon thefollowing major aspects:

Search Ability Improvement

Collaboration

Integration (one-stop-shop)

Simple, Rapid Installation and Deployment

Accessibility Integrated Security Model with Single Sign-On (SSO) feature

Search Ability Improvement

Unified Search ExperienceIOMS provides flexible site searching options allowing users to search just the IOMS siteor the IOMS site plus all other SharePoint sites. When all SharePoint sites are searched, the

best match results appear on a single SharePoint search page.

Index and Search BI4.0 Meta Data

Users are now able to conduct free text search across all of this metadata at the same time.In addition, the search index has expanded to include other meta information about files aswell as the actual content of the file.
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For example, the dimensions, measures and values inside a WebI report are now indexed

and made searchable by users. This is very powerful as now users can get results when

searching for customers or products, locations or people or anything else that may exist in

the content of files.

Diagram 1, the Webi/Crystal reports can be fully searchable through the SharePoint 2010 portal

Collaboration

The authorized users can leverage discussion feature within the SharePoint 2010 portal tocollaborate with colleagues by adding comments to documents (such as Web Intelligence

document) in the report repository.


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Diagram 2, to create a Webi report discussion within the report

The post message can be easily deleted or adjust their importance. The user can also reply

back to the sender of the message or respond to the group as a whole.

Diagram 3, to create a message on the Webi Report level

As part of the meta data associate with the Webi Report, the discussion content for thereport can also be indexed and searchable through the SharePoint portal.

Integration (One-stop-shop)


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Authorized users can manage their content directly from SharePoint. This includes theability for users to:

Set report schedules

Edit report properties

Set parameters View report history

Delete files

Send files to inbox

Email or FTP

And many more

Diagram 4, there are lot functionality available to manage the report through the SharePoint portal

User Interface

In addition, users can add or upload new content from Local machine to BusinessObjectswithout having to leave IOMS.

Users can open, view and interact with the content directly from SharePoint. Depending onthe type of file, the file may be opened directly in a web browser (such as in the case of a

crystal report, WebI document or Xcelsius dashboard) or in the appropriate thick client

application (such as in the case of opening a Word document, PDF file).


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Diagram 5, the Webi report schedule can be set up through the SharePoint portal

The URE or content explorer webpart or Document explorer is flexible now to choosecolumns you would want to see, number of items you would want, choosing the start

folder, etc.

IOMS includes SharePoint webparts that allow administrators to enhance existing

SharePoint sites with business objects content. Out of the box IOMS 4 ships with a numberof SharePoint WebParts that allow you to enhance other SharePoint sites with BI reports,dashboards and content stored in BusinessObjects.


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Diagram 6, the Webi Report can be viewed/updated/embedded within the SharePoint Portal

For example, an Xcelsius dashboard containing sales metrics could be embedded into the

landing page of a SharePoint sales site. When users open the sales site, the dashboard isrefreshed to show the latest information on sales for that region or team.

Introduced helpful Units like Recently viewed and Recent Searches on the Out-of-boxtemplate Home Page to enable quick navigation.

Diagram 7, stunning quick navigation from Out-of-box integration templates


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Simple, Rapid Installation and Deployment

No Pre-requisites Before InstallationIn the previous version of IOMS XI3.1 installation, it required extra .NET SDK and thecorresponding fiddling as a pre-requisite. As for the latest version, all the pre-requisiteshave been already bundled within the installation package without any extra software

download required. All you need to do is to double-click on the installation executable

file.

Diagram 8, one click for the installation, no more Hush Hush

Easy Configuration with BI4.0 CMS Integration (Minimum Information Required from

CMS Server)

It doesnt require the tedious configuration procedure as the previous version and can be

quickly set up by supplying the following information to the installation wizard:

CMS Name with Port number

CMS Administrator Logon details

URL to the server that hosts BI Launch Pad


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Diagram 9, minimum set-up required from BusinessObject Enterprise

Wizard-driven Installation

IOMS wizard driven installer and SharePoint site definition template allow it to be quicklydeployed with minimal configuration as a dedicated SharePoint site.

Once deployed SharePoint administrators can further tweak and enhance the IOMS site as

required.


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Diagram 10, the deployment and configuration option are fully wizard-driven

Accessibility

Users can browse to access content stored in their BusinessObjects inbox, personal folders,

public folders or categories. The users permissions and rights as set in BusinessObjects are

still enforced by IOMS ensuring that users are only able to access stuff they are authorizedto access.


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Diagram 11, authorized user can quickly access the information through the SharePoint portal

IOMS is built on the 4.0 Business Intelligence platform and leverages the new Platform

features for Auditing, Search and other areas. Being built on the BI Platform means thatIOMS can be remotely administered using the web based Central Management Console.

Diagram 12, almost all the BI4.0 new features available on the SharePoint portal after IOMS installation

Integrated Security Model with Single Sign-

On (SSO) feature


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From an Authentication and SSO standpoint, users can login directly to BOE fromSharePoint using their Active Directory, LDAP or BusinessObjects Enterprise Credentials.

In addition, Single Sign-on workflows can be supported using Kerberos or CA SiteMinder.

Diagram 13, the user can log on the SharePoint BI4.0 portal just with their AD login credentials

Well, I'm pretty sure that there are some features I missed out here, but I will definitelykeep everyone updated as I go with the integration and implementation phases.

Publishing BusinessObjects Reports to SharePoint

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