Xcelsius Dashboard Printer 2.5 update

Last November a very useful add-on for SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards was announced by Data Savvy Tools: Xcelsius Dashboard Printer. This add-on component replaces the standard Print button component which only has one very basic functionality: Printing the whole dashboard as you see it. The Xcelsius Dashboard Printer add-on component lets you select a portion of the dashboard, queue up multiple snapshots before printing, format the output and add annotations.

Since my post on this component some nice improvements have been added to the initial version of the add-on, like for example the annotations. On top of that the upcoming 2.5 version now adds features like capture to clipboard, configuring different output formats for each snapshot and keyboard shortcuts. Unfortunately the capture to clipboard option only works with Internet Explorer 7+; other browsers will show the screenshot in a new window so you can copy it from there.

In the demo dashboard below you can try the component for yourself and compare it to the limited Print button component. More info at DataSavvyTools.com.

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Meme time: Running Xcelsius and Excel

It happened again…

GMaps Plugin – Update on Google Maps API

In 2010 I wrote this post about the great GMaps Plugin for SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards. In the past 2 years some things have changed. I’m now getting some mails and tweets about this post and want to give you a short update.

First, development on the GMaps Plugin has – obviously – been continued and they are now at version 3.5. In the post I use version 2. So not everything may look the same when using the 3.5 trial version.

In the post I refer to a Google Maps API key you have to use to get the Google Maps running inside your dashboard. But, the API key option in the component properties doesn’t exist anymore! After adding the component to the canvas the Google Maps will appear instantly. From the Centigon Solutions FAQ:

As of March 2012, Google no longer supports creation of API keys for their maps APIs. Furthermore Google no longer supports the free Maps API for Flash per their deprecation policy. GMaps Plugin standard trials no longer require any API keys and provide newly enforced publishing limitations.

If your try to publish and  run your dashboard with the GMaps Plugin trial component on a remote server you’ll get some kind of Initialization failed error. Due to changes introduced to the free Google Maps API and removal of API key generator GMaps Plugin trial does NOT allow for publishing of content on a server environment anymore.

Below is the mail that Centigon Solutions sent about this issue to its users in April 2012:

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SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards 4.0 Cookbook pricing

Apparently Amazon.com decided to remove the ‘standard’ discount on our SAP BusinessObjects Dashboard 4.0 cookbook. It is now selling at $54.99 for the paperback edition + shipping costs.

So if you haven’t picked up the book yet and want to save a few bucks, check the Packt Publishing website and get it for $49,49 with free shipping over there!

New Book: Integrating SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform 4.x with SAP NetWeaver

SAP Press recently released Integrating SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform 4.x with SAP NetWeaver by Ingo Hilgefort. This book is the successor to the 2009 Integrating SAP Business Objects XI 3.1 BI Tools with SAP NetWeaver and is now updated with content on the latest SAP BusinessObjects 4 (BI4) release.

In this book Hilgefort explains how we can setup the (new) BI4 platform on top of a SAP BW or SAP ECC environment. He does this by covering the complete implementation cycle: First he goes through the installation steps for the SAP BusinessObjects server and client tools (Crystal Reports, Dashboards, Live Office, Analysis and the BI Platform Client tools like the Universe Designer and the Information Design Tool). This is done in a very detailed step-by-step manner, discussing every installer screen that will appear in the process. This really is very helpful the first time you have to do this! This extremely detailed approach is followed throughout the whole book.

Each front-end tool has a chapter dedicated to it in which the several data connectivity scenarios are discussed for the specific tool. These chapters all have the following approach: First all possible connectivity options are discussed. As you can see the overview figure for SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards (Xcelsius) now really has become art. 🙂

Next the supported and unsupported SAP BW elements are shown in a table for each connectivity option. Also a metadata mapping is given for the BEx Query elements, showing for example how a navigational attribute or variable is treated by the front-end tool. I also like the translations of the terms used in SAP BusinessObjects, like Key figure becomes Measure and Variable is called Prompt. All these overviews make things very clear.

To get you started these chapters all have a Create your first report section, that shows you step-by-step how you can create a simple report with each tool and how to set up the several connections. Again, a lot of screenshots are used here so even if you haven’t worked with some of the tools yet, you will learn fast on how to configure the data connection. Good stuff!

Live Office and BI Web Services (QaaWS) haven’t been forgotten. There roles have become less important with the new connectivity options in BI4 but they can still be used. Hilgefort discusses this situation and shows how to use them in combination with Dashboards. The book finishes with chapters on report publications and SAP Portal integration, which makes this book very very complete.

Just like all the other books written by Ingo Hilgefort you really should pick up this one! Not only as a reference guide but also to go through the step-by-step sections to get a good understanding of the several connectivity options when integration BI4 with SAP. Also make sure you check his site/blog which is totally dedicated to the SAP BI integration subject.