What Is Web Intelligence?

Web Intelligence is a report engine. If you are somewhat familiar with Business Objects classic technology, the term Web Intelligence was often incorrectly used interchangeably with several other parts of the product suite. Table 20.1 clarifies this.

Table 20.1. Common Misuses of the Term Web Intelligence

Item	Common or Business Objects Classic Name	XI Name (Official)
User interface	Web Intelligence, InfoView, Web Intelligence InfoView, Web Intelligence portal	InfoView
Infrastructure backbone	Web Intelligence, Web Intelligence Server	XI Framework
Report engine	Web Intelligence	Web Intelligence

People often refer to Web Intelligence by its nickname, WebI (pronounced webby, not web-eye). To understand the Web Intelligence reporting engine, you must first understand the WebI reporting paradigm.

How Is Web Intelligence Different from Crystal Reports?

You might be wondering why Business Objects choose to have two reporting engines in the framework; are they really that different? In some ways they appear similarboth retrieve rows of data and show it in a report. However, Web Intelligence is designed around a completely different user experience of information interaction. What is the reporting paradigm, and why is it different? In Web Intelligence, data is stored in a multidimensional array called a microcube. What does the microcube do and what is its benefit? There are no report bands, but instead there are report blocks and projections. What are these things, and what do they provide the end user? This chapter will help to answer these questions, and a few more.