Using BusinessObjects InfoView

InfoView is accessed via a URL in a supported web browser. A typical URL would look something like this:

http://<WebServer>:<port number>/businessobjects/enterprise11/InfoView/

The user specifies the name of the web server, his username, and password. He also needs to specify what form of authentication he wants to use, such as Enterprise, Active Directory, LDAP, or one of the ERP integration kits (for example, SAP). See Chapter 27, "Administering and Configuring BusinessObjects Enterprise," regarding authentication configuration, and see Chapter 15, "Additional Data Sources in Crystal Reports," regarding ERP authentication.

Caution

The SAP integration kit has its own version of InfoView.

Upon successful logon, a session is created on the Enterprise server and the user is taken by default to a welcome page. The starting page for InfoView can be changed by the user and this is explained in the Customizing InfoView section of this chapter.

The starting page is broken down into four sections, as shown in Figure 24.1.

Figure 24.1. The InfoView XI welcome page.

Each of the sections permits the hiding or showing of each section as deemed appropriate by the user. For example, when viewing a report, the user might want to hide the folder section to maximize the report viewing area. This is accomplished by clicking on the Expand or Collapse button.

The Toolbar Section

This section is found along the top of the browser viewing window and allows for the following functions:

• Takes the user back to her initial view. The user can customize her initial view.

• Collapses the Navigation section, described in the next section. This is used to increase the viewable area when looking at documents.

• Expands the Encyclopedia section for a particular object.

• Allows the user to create a new document. The content of the new document list is determined by what the system is licensed for. To upload documents from the local disk or a networked drive, select the Document from Local Computer option. BusinessObjects XI can then become a document repository for all the supported document types displayed.

• Refreshes the screen to reflect any changes, such as new documents that have been published. Users often wonder why they are not seeing all of their documents and sometimes all they need to do is refresh their screens.

• Permits the forwarding of documents to destinations such as email, disk, inboxes, and FTP locations. Each specific destination needs to be enabled by a system administrator before users can successfully send documents to that location. See Chapter 27 regarding the setting up of these destinations. The default values referred to here are the defaults specified by the administrator when setting up these destinations. The available options change depending on the destination selected; for example, when forwarding to a person's inbox, a user can choose to forward either the document or a shortcut to the document. This option is not available when forwarding to an FTP site because FTP is usually used to forward the complete document.

• My InfoView is a web page the user can customize to display documents or parts of documents that might be of interest to the user. For example, a shipping manager might want to periodically check the status of shipments. To do this, he uses multiple reports. Instead of having these reports linked together, he might want to display them all on one page to get a complete view of his shipping operations. See the "Customizing InfoView" section for more detail on customizing My InfoView. It should also be noted that My InfoView is also referenced as a Single Dashboard in Business Objects parlance.

• You can search using different object properties and locations.

  Tip

  At the start of an implementation when the Enterprise system hosts relatively few objects, users and administrators often leave the object properties blank. As the number of objects grows, these property fields allow for effective searching, so establishing guidelines for populating these fields at an early stage might serve you well at a later stage.

  
  

  Caution

  Wildcard characters such as * or ? are not supported.

  
  

• A user can set the preferences to tailor InfoView for his individual requirements. A detailed description of these preferences is defined later on in this chapter under the "Customizing InfoView" section. Whether this icon is displayed for the user is defined in the Central Management Console (CMC) under the Applications section. See Chapter 27 for more information.

The Navigation Section

The Navigation section of InfoView is found along the left side of the browser viewing area and allows the user to move between her various folders or categories to locate and manage objects. Folders provide physical locations for reports. A company division might establish a folder structure. A category would define the type of report, such as finance or Sarbanes Oxley reports. Somebody in the finance department might be interested in all finance reports across all divisions and use the Category view, whereas a divisional manager might want to see only the reports associated with her division, so the folder view would be more appropriate.

Every user created by Enterprise XI is assigned a Favorites folder, a Personal category, and an inbox. By default, only that user and the group administrators have rights to these three objects.

Note

The user will only see the folders or categories to which she has appropriate security rights. For more details on creating folders and categories and their applicable security settings, see Chapter 27.

The Workspace Section

This section is the largest section and is found to the right of the folders and below the Toolbar sections. It displays the objects residing in the folders or categories. The available actions are shown for each object after the folder is selected. These actions are a combination of the user's rights and the permitted actions for the object type. See Table 24.1 for a listing of what actions are permitted for each object type.

Table 24.1. Permitted Actions by Object Type

	View	Schedule	History	Modify	Saved Views	Alerts	Properties
Crystal Report	x	x	x	x		x	x
WebI Report	x	x	x	x			x
OlapI Report	x				x		x
Microsoft Office Document	x						x
PDF	x						x
Text	x						x
Object Package	x	x	x				x
Program Object		x	x				x
Hyperlink	x						x

You can then click on the appropriate action to execute that function.

View Function

The object is rendered in its chosen viewer. For example, Web Intelligence or WebI reports are rendered in the WebI viewers and a PDF document is rendered in its viewer.

Note

Related to the View function is the Saved View function and View Latest Instance function. The Saved View function applies to OLAP Intelligence reports only. A specific view of the data can be saved, allowing the user to return to those specifically aligned dimensions and dimension members. The View Latest Instance action allows the user to view the most recently scheduled instance. This is useful if a user wants to view the most recent version of the scheduled report. This action is often provided to the majority of end users, with the ability to View (On-Demand against the database) provided to only an elite segment of users.

Crystal Reports, Web, and OLAP Intelligence can have multiple viewers. The viewer is determined by the user preferences described in the "Customizing InfoView" section.

Before continuing, it is worth investigating these report viewers in a little more detail.

The Crystal Reports viewers take the data from the BusinessObjects XI platform and format the data into a report so it can be viewed.

Table 24.2 provides a listing of the base functionality all the Crystal Report Viewers provide.

Table 24.2. Crystal Report Viewer Functions

Function	Description
Export	This allows the user to export the report to another format. The report is not rerun against the data provider; rather, the data already in the report is exported.
Print	Depending on how the DHTML viewer printing parameter is set, the DHTML viewer will either use a small ActiveX print control to print the document or export the report to Adobe PDF before using the Adobe client to print it.
Group tree	The Group Tree icon allows the user to either display or hide the group tree, if one exists in the report. By default, this is set to display the group tree.
First page navigation	User is taken to the first page of the report.
Previous page	Pages up the report.
Next page	Pages down the report.
Last page	User is taken to the last page of the report.
Go to page	User can go to a specific page.
Drill down viewer name	If the report allows for drill down, the current section is displayed.
Refresh	The report can be refreshed against the data source. This effectively means that it will be rerun against the data source.
Find	User can search for any text inside of the report and Find highlights any associated match. It is not case sensitive. If the text is located in a hidden drill down, Find might not work.
Zoom	Scale the report by setting the percent.

The look and feel of the Crystal Reports viewers is consistent with the Crystal Reports Designer, and the output displayed in the Crystal Reports HTML preview should be consistent with InfoView. The drill down function, as described in Chapter 2, "Selecting and Grouping Data," is honored by the viewers, and users can drill down on charts, group sections, and the group tree.

The Crystal Reports viewers delivered as part of InfoView are either client-side or server-side viewers. The server-based viewers can be cosmetically changed or functionally modified via a Java, COM, or .NET object model. This is further described in Chapter 33, "BusinessObjects EnterpriseCustomizing the Crystal Reports Viewers."

Server-Side Viewers

The server-side viewers run within the application server framework. For example, the Java DHTML viewer consists of Java classes that run within the Java Application Server.

Upon receiving a report request, the Enterprise XI framework sends the data in Encapsulated Page Format (EPF) to the Application Server. A viewer object is instantiated and the Application Server processes the EPF pages. DHTML consisting of both the data and the viewer controls is then sent through to the web server.

DHTML Viewer

The DHTML Viewer provides a rich functional interface for viewing and navigating Crystal Reports in a zero client interface. This zero client viewer is implemented via viewreport.aspX, or in the Java environment via viewreport.jsp.

Advanced DHTML Viewer

The advanced DHTML includes all the functionality of the DHTML viewer but also includes an Advanced Search Wizard that has the capabilities to search for data in the data source by setting conditions and to return the data in table form.

Use the Advanced Search Wizard icon to toggle the report to display the Advanced DHTML Viewer options, as described in Table 24.3.

Table 24.3. Advanced DHTML Viewer Options

Tab	Description
Fields	This tab shows all the fields that are available in the original report, including any formulas and summaries. Select the fields required and sort them, by changing the sort order, and the field at the top of the list will appear first on the report.
Conditions	Apply any filtering to the report as deemed necessary by selecting the fields and setting the conditions that apply, remembering that strings are case sensitive. Add as many conditions as required, separating them using an AND or OR condition. The Free Form button allows you to write free-form conditions or to check your condition statement.
Results	The Results tab provides the search results (if any) associated with the fields selected in the Fields tab and after application of the filters set in the Conditions tab. These results are provided with active hyperlinks to their respective position in the associated report. Additionally, some quick export functionality is provided to Excel, Word, and/or HTML. Of further interest is that the active hyperlinks back into the main Crystal Report are maintained through the export and can be used within the newly exported environment.

Note

The Advanced DTHML viewer requires the Report Application Server to be installed and running.

Web Intelligence HTML Query

With the correct setting, a user can create and perform on-report analysis and view reports using pure DHTML, as shown in Figure 24.2. At the time of publication, this was only available in the Java version of InfoView. For more information on Web Intelligence, see Chapter 20, "Introduction to Web Intelligence."

Figure 24.2. The HTML Query panel shown in InfoView.

Web Intelligence HTML Report Panel

The HTML report panel provides basic reporting creation capabilities. At the time of publication this was only available in the Java version of InfoView.

Mobile Viewer

The mobile viewer allows the user to simulate viewing reports over a WAP-enabled mobile phone or web-enabled PDA. The design paradigm is simple, with only a certain number of characters fitting across the page into the device display area. Additionally, these devices typically have limited bandwidth, so transferring large reports with thousands of rows is not an acceptable end-user experience. The mobile viewer requires that the involved report contain a part that allows the user to see the critical piece of the report.

Client-Side Viewers

The client-side viewers require some components to be downloaded and executed on the client (browser). The client-side viewers do offer some enhanced printing and functionality enhancements. Additionally, as a result of the initial download to the client, some of the report processing is performed on the client.

ActiveX Viewer

This viewer is available using Microsoft Internet Explorer supporting ActiveX controls. Over and above the standard viewer functionality previously described, this viewer allows users to freeze the panes; in other words, the users can scroll across or down the report and "frozen" sections will remain part of the viewable area, as shown in Figure 24.3. This is achieved by right-clicking on a field where you want the panes to the left and above to be frozen. This allows the user to scroll while the heading and other sections remain frozen.

Figure 24.3. The ActiveX viewer allows sections of the viewer to be frozen, illustrated by the lines on the viewer.

The user can also copy a cell value from a report by right-clicking the cell and selecting Copy from the drop-down menu.

Java Viewer

The Java Viewer is a client-side viewer that is downloaded. It requires a suitable Java Virtual Machine (JVM) be running on the client. If one is not available, the user is prompted to install one.

Web Intelligence Java Report Panel

The Web Intelligence Java report panel requires a Java applet to be downloaded but then adds the flexibility of drag-and-drop formula creation. This option is available for both the .NET (see Figure 24.4) and Java versions of InfoView.

Figure 24.4. InfoView displaying the Java report panel.

Schedule Function

With the required permissions, the user has the ability to schedule an object, specifying the following input to ensure the report runs appropriately. Each object allows for different options depending on the object type. For example, when scheduling a Crystal Report, you can specify a database logon. This option is not available when scheduling a program object. Table 24.4 describes all the available options, although some options might not be available, depending on the object type.

Table 24.4. Scheduling Options

Selection	Options
When	Now, Once, Hourly, Daily, Weekly, Monthly. All the options are fairly self-descriptive except Calendar. This option, as shown in Figure 24.5, enables the selection of a calendar of dates. Created by the Enterprise XI administrator, calendars are customized lists of schedule dates. A report instance can then be scheduled to run each day specified in the calendar.
Database logon	The database user that is used to authenticate against the database.
Filters	Users can create their own filters; however, this assumes they understand the correct syntax. This option can be hidden from the user using the InfoView preferences.
Destination	Default Enterprise location The instance is stored in the Enterprise XI infrastructure, namely the File Repository Server. Inbox Select the user's inbox where you want this object to appear. File location Specify the file destination on the network where you want the object to appear. FTP Server Specify the host, port, and a user for authentication, if required. Email recipients Specify the From and To and whether you want the file as an attachment or just a link. The URL is better suited for internal personnel because this method does not clog the internal network if the attachments are large. If the recipient is outside of the firewall, a link might not be the best approach because the recipient might not be able to pass through the firewall to get to the Enterprise XI infrastructure.
Format	Some users never want to see the report but only want to see a PDF or Excel spreadsheet. If you specify the format here, the user only gets the object in the specified format. The page layout for Crystal Reports will determine the margins for the report itself. Unique Crystal Reports features, such as drill down and the group tree, are lost when the report is converted to another format. These formats work typically on a "what you see is what you get" paradigm. In other words, if the report is using multiple groupings and the latter groups are hidden in the report, when it comes time for exporting, the user only gets the first group and the hidden sections are not exported. The user gets a similar result with on-demand subreports and with conditionally suppressed sections in a report.
Print settings	If the report needs to be sent to a printer, the user can specify the printer here.
Server group	Specify the default servers to use when running this report. By default it will use the first available server and Enterprise XI will handle the load balancing. For very important reports, you could have a specific server group dedicated to this task.
Parameters	If a specified report contains parameters, a parameters option will appear in the scheduling dialog and the user is expected to enter the required parameters. If a report does not contain parameters, this option is not available.

Figure 24.5. Scheduling based upon a custom calendar.

Note

The defaults described here are established by the administrator when enabling the Destinations in the CMC under the Destination Job Server.

Tip

If a business requirement is such that the users are going to do a lot of exporting, determine the format and how the user wants to view the exported format before designing the report because the export will have an effect on the design of the report.

Check http://support.businessobjects.com for technical papers on preferred formatting and export limitations when the report is intended to be exported to another format.

Caution

The ability to e-mail users based on the triggering of an alert must be set up in the CMC. Alerts will still be triggered but a message will not be sent unless you enable the alert notification.

History Function

The history shows the user a listing of all attempts to schedule the report and the status of those attempts, whether they succeeded or failed. The user can click on the status to view reasons for failing or succeeding. If the report succeeded, the user can click on the date-time stamp of the instance to view the report instance. If the report failed, the user can reschedule the report by selecting the report instance and clicking the Reschedule button.

This ability to return to a previous instance makes comparing data from previous dates easy. For example, if the user wants to know what last month's inventory value was, he could just click last month's instance, without having to rerun the report with different date parameters.

The function also provides a good audit trail of what report was run, who ran the report, and the data generated.

Tip

Instances can be removed from the system using the CMC. The company should set a policy; for example, keeping the last 30 instances or moving a year's worth of data for that particular report.

Modify Function

If Enterprise XI has been installed with the Report Explorer application or Web Intelligence reports, the user will have the ability to modify Crystal Reports or Web Intelligence reports. In the case of Crystal Reports, clicking the Modify button launches the Report Explorer, and with Web Intelligence objects, the report will be opened with edit capabilities.

Alert Function

Should the report have an alert that has been triggered, the report will appear on the alerts page. The user can go directly to the alerts page and see if there are any reports that have triggered an alert.

Object Properties

The properties action allows the user to set the properties of the objects. The Title, Description, and Keywords sections are useful for searching. Some of the date properties are exposed and, finally, the user can assign the report to a specified category.

The Workspace section also includes the ability to organize objects into different folders and is described in Table 24.5. To add or change the appropriate category for an object, click on the properties action. Check or uncheck the category to add or remove the object.

Table 24.5. Functions Available in the Workspace Section

Function	Description
Organize	By selecting the appropriate object and with the correct authority, the user can move and/or copy objects to existing or new folders and categories. Creating shortcuts, in certain circumstances, is an effective approach because if you modify the original object, all the shortcuts will reflect the change. The user can also copy the object to her Favorites folder.
Delete	With the correct authority, a user can delete an object.
Filter	With large numbers of reports on a page, a user can filter by object type. Whether this icon is displayed is set by the administrator (see the "Global InfoView Settings" section).

Tip

Under the Administrators Tools Console (not the Central Management Console), there is an application called Shortcut Manager. This application removes any orphaned shortcuts from a specified folder and all of its subfolders.

The Encyclopedia Section

The Encyclopedia provides useful information about objects stored on your BusinessObjects Enterprise system. Especially in large environments where there are a lot of users generating their own reports and sharing these reports, it is quite common for users to use the wrong report to answer their business questions. To compound this issue further, often the business uses particular columns in a report, such as a custom calculation or a business term, and the user misinterprets the term or doesn't understand the underlying calculation.

To solve these problems, BusinessObjects introduced the Encyclopedia. This tool provides information about the report itself, providing users with what the report is and why and when they should it. This type of information is particularly important for end-userbuilt reports and for new users. Furthermore, should a definition change, the administrator can see all reports that are associated with the definition. He can also make a change to the definition and all associated reports will see the change.

Note

This functionality was available in XI R1 but as a separate install. It is now included with the default install for XI R2.

Administration of the Encyclopedia takes place through the Central Mananagment Console or CMC (see Chapter 27, "Administering and Configuring BusinessObjects Enterprise"). To administer the security from the CMC, click BusinessObjects Enterprise Applications and then select the Discussions application.

From here you can assign users or groups that have access to modify the Encyclopedia content as shown in Figure 24.6. You can also do this through the CMC by clicking BusinessObjects Enterprise Applications and then selecting the Encyclopedia application.

Figure 24.6. Managing access to the encyclopedia.

User access is defined in the CMC, enabling the administrator to define who can edit Encyclopedia content or not.

The Encyclopedia section is broken down into four areas, which are described in Table 24.6.

Table 24.6. Components of the Encyclopedia

Function	Description
Overview	Describes the overall purpose and usage of the report. For Crystal Reports, the title and description fields are populated from the Title and Comments fields from the Crystal Reports document properties. In WebI, these come from Title and Description fields in the Save Document popup.
Business Questions	Users can associate reports with the Business Question that the report answers. By clicking on the expand icon, users can see all associated reports that may help then answer that particular business question and can execute the associated report by clicking on the report name.
Glossary Terms	If you mouse over a particular term, the user can see a definition of the term, and by expanding the object, the user can see all reports that use this term.
Guided Analysis	This enables you to analyze a particular subject area, such as sales representative performance, by grouping reports by subject area (or story line, as it is called in the application). For example, you could create a story line called "Sales Rep Performance Review" and then guide the user through the process.

The Discussions Section

The Discussions Viewer found along the bottom of the browser's viewing window (collapsed in Figure 24.1) allows the user to make notes or annotations associated with the object. For example, the sales manager might want to post a note specifying that sales were below what he had expected. Sales representatives could then post their responses to the relevant sections of the report. Users can add notes as an update to an existing note, creating what is called a discussion thread, or they can create a new note, starting a new thread. The available functionality is described in Table 24.7.

Table 24.7. Functions Available in the Discussions Section

Function	Description
New message	The user creates a new message by selecting this and completing the message and subject fields.
Reply to group	All users that have access to this discussion thread will see this note.
Reply to sender	Only the sender will see the note.
Delete	Deletes the highlighted message.
High importance	Adds a red exclamation mark to the message.
Low importance	Adds a blue arrow to the message.

Figure 24.7. The Dictionary section of InfoView, displaying all four sections.

Note

Discussions can be managed by an administrator via the CMC.

In many organizations, this discussion thread usually takes place in the form of email. The Discussions section now incorporates this into the Business Intelligence platform, storing references to reports with the report object.