SAP HTG: Calling BEx Web Applications from SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards (Xcelsius)

It has been a while since my last post here. I’ve been busy at work and of course I am spending a lot of my time on writing the SAP BusinessObjects Dashboard Design (Xcelsius) cookbook The writing process is nearing its end which means we are finishing the final ‘recipes’ and reviewing and discussing the chapters that already completed with the publishing team and the technical reviewers. Last month I also reviewed a number of add-ons for Dashboard Design which was pretty cool. I will blog about it later when I got some more time.

Meanwhile I found this How-To Guide by SAP somewhere on SDN, which shows you how to open BEx Web Applications from a SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards dashboard (uh, this sounds weird). It shows you how to use Flash Variables, the URL button component and some MS Excel formula magic to make this work.

The second part of the HTG explains how to call a dashboard from a BEx Web Template or a BEx Query with the good-old Report-to-Report interface (RRI).

You can find this HTG here. Have fun!

SAP BusinessObjects BI4 is (almost) here!

Finally SAP has come up with a date on the BI4 release: February 23, 2011. SAP is announcing a Virtual Launch Event for BI4 and EIM4 on this date, so make sure you register for it.

Below I put another weird video I found somewhere on the web covering the upcoming BI4 release. Also check out the SlideShare presentation for an overview of BI4.
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LOLvid: Fun with SAP BusinessObjects naming conventions

Hahaha check this video on the recent SAP BusinessObjects name changes.

I lol’d.

Xcelsius 2011: Direct query binding

Somewhere in the first half of 2011 the next version of SAP Crystal Dashboard Design (Xcelsius) will be released as part of the new SAP BusinessObjects 4.0 (#BI4) portfolio. SAP hasn’t given us a release date yet, but they did put a few demo’s and tutorials online that already give an impression of what is coming.

The most important new feature to Xcelsius seems to be an additional way to connect a dashboard to a Universe. A new Query Browser menu is introduced which enables the creation of queries on Universes without leaving Xcelsius or having to use tools like Query as a Web Service (QaaWS).

In these queries you can determine which fields should be loaded into the dashboard and define some filters, prompts and sorting settings. To use these prompts to filter data during dashboard runtime the new Query Prompt Selector component can be used.

Binding the results of such a query to the spreadsheet works just like binding the current data connections. Additionally it will be possible to bind a component directly to a query, so without using the spreadsheet at all! This feature will certainly make development a lot easier and faster.

Finally I want to share a video that demonstrates these new possibilities. Also have a look at the tutorials SAP put on their community website which learned me the above, since I do not have access to the beta/ramp-up version yet. BTW if you can get me this, plz let me know. 😉

5 Xcelsius tips to start 2011 right!

Let’s kick off 2011 with some Xcelsius (SAP Crystal Dashboard Design) tips which may help you during the development of some cool Xcelsius dashboards.

1. Document from start

Documenting your work sounds like something that can wait until you finished the dashboard. In Xcelsius development this can get you into trouble. As a dashboard gets more complex during development it is important to remain in control. There are a number of ways you can apply this:

Use colors to express the functionality of spreadsheet cells, i.e. yellow for data input from Xcelsius, green for Excel formulas, orange for Dynamic Visibility and blue for external data. In addition to colors you can insert comments and borders on spreadsheet cells to keep things clear for yourself and others.

Use different worksheets for the data and Excel-logic for each corresponding dashboard tab or layer. Also group components and give these groups a logical name. If you use multiple components of the same type also rename them. Use the Object Browser to do this.

2. Use Global Font

So you built a nice dashboard and now you want to see how it looks with some different fonts. Manually changing the font of all your components texts is obviously a big no-no here. It takes way too much time and will frustrate you even before you started. Luckily you can change the font of all texts at once with the Global Font option.

Go to the Document Properties in the File menu. Select Use Global Font and choose your font from the list. Do not forget to select Use Embedded Fonts. That way you are sure the dashboard will look like you designed it on every computer it is run on. If you choose Use Device Fonts the dashboard will only use fonts that are available at the user’s computer. If the font that you used is not available another font will be used which can mess up your layout! So even if the SWF-file gets a little bigger, don’t use this setting!

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