The Business Explorer Browser

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The BEX Analyzer is ideal for power users and query developers; however, the best way to deliver information from SAP BW or other repositories and information sources is to use the BEX Browser. The BEX Browser presents information to users in an organized fashion. In SAP BW 1.2B, users were grouped by Channels, such as Operation Manager, Sales Manager, and Marketing Manager, as shown in Figure 11-25. In SAP BW 2.0, Channels are replaced with Activity Groups.

Figure 11-25: The BEX Browser Lists Only Assigned Channels to User BWADMIN. These Assignments were Made in the InfoCatalog as Shown in Figure 11-24.

On occasions when you are not familiar with the content of published reports, you can easily preview individual reports. Move the cursor to the report and select Preview. The report layout and data elements in the report are displayed on the bottom half of the browser, as shown in Figure 11-26. This is a nice feature to use to understand how reports are constructed.

Figure 11-26: Viewing Query Properties From the BEX Browser.

As stated earlier, the BEX Browser can also manage non-SAP BW information objects, such as URL links and other pointers to other documents (see Figure 11-27). To include a URL in the BEX Browser, use the drag-and-drop area of the BEX Browser, a light blue horizontal strip on the bottom left of the BEX report list area. Drag the URL from your Internet browser and drop it in the BEX drag-and-drop area. Then drag the URL to connect to a cluster to organize objects.

Figure 11-27: Including Non-SAP BW Information Objects in the BEX Browser.

To execute a report, move the cursor on the report and select the EXECUTE option. The BEX Browser launches a Microsoft Excel session, and then you are right back in the BEX Browser to analyze data.

Remember, your BEX Browser session remains active while you are in BEX Analyzer. The BEX Browser and BEX Analyzer establish two separate connections to SAP BW. So any time you launch another report from the BEX Browser, it will open another BEX Analyzer session. Now you have one BEX Browser and two BEX Analyzer sessions. Close the sessions you no longer need. Each session uses your workstation resources as well as SAP BW connection resources.

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