Business Objects Overview

· Business Objects at Penn · Business Objects Upgrade information

Business Objects is the primary supported query tool used to provide access to the Data Warehouse.

· Concepts
· Software Features
· Accessing Canned Reports

Many of the concepts and features described on this page are also presented in the Business Objects 5.0 Quick Tour, a multimedia tour of the new software. (Please note: this file is about 10Mb, and may take some time to download.)

Business Objects presents the data in three hierarchical collections or categories: universes, classes, and objects.

Universes. A Business Objects universe is a collection of classes that is intended for a particular group of users. At Penn, universes are created to meet the needs of persons who access specific data collections in the Warehouse. For example, the Student universe was created for those who need information about students' academic work at Penn, while the FINQUERY universe was created for those who need summary level account balances data.

Classes. A class is a logical collection of objects. Most classes in Business Objects correspond to a table in the Data Warehouse. For example, the Degree Received class in the STUDCANQ Business Objects universe corresponds to the DEGREE_RECEIVED table in the Warehouse, just as the Balances class in the FINQUERY universe corresponds to the BALANCES table in the Warehouse. Like the related Warehouse table, the Degree Received class contains objects that provide data about degrees received at Penn and other institutions. Some classes can contain objects that will return data from more than one table, though this is infrequent in the current Penn universes. For example, the Statistics Objects class in the Student Data Collection contains objects from more than one Warehouse table.

Objects. An object corresponds to a data element, a calculation, or a function based on one or more data elements. Objects (data elements) are selected to construct a query on the Warehouse. Once the query is performed, the objects are returned with corresponding values.

For the purposes of analysis, objects are qualified as dimensions or measures.

Dimension objects retrieve the data that will provide the basis for analysis in a report. Dimension objects typically retrieve character-type data (student or employee names, course or organization names, job titles, etc.), or dates (accounting periods, fiscal or calendar years, terms, etc.).

Measure objects retrieve numeric data, or data that is the result of calculations on data in the database. Measure objects are semantically dynamic: the values they return depend on the objects they are used with. For example, if you include Accounting Period, COA ORG, COA Object and SUM Actual Month in a query from the FINQUERY universe, BusinessObjects calculates the actual month balance per object for that organization in that accounting period. If you include COA Program and COA CREF, BusinessObjects calculates actual month balances for that ORG/Object/ Program/CREF combination.

Business Objects is an extremely versatile software package that allows you great flexibility in query construction, analysis and report presentation. The Business Objects' 5.0 User's Manual (in .pdf, viewable with Acrobat Reader) and the online help file provide extensive descriptions and examples of all the software features. Key components are: the Query Panel, Report Manager, Slice and Dice and calculation and formatting buttons.

Query Panel

The aim of building a query is to retrieve the data that you want to view and analyze in a report. BusinessObjects provides the Query Panel, the one-stop graphical interface in which you perform the following tasks: view the classes and objects of the universe you are working with, select the objects you want to include in the query, and run the query. The Query Panel also lets you work with user objects, build combined queries and subqueries, as well as view, edit and print your query's SQL.

When viewing report results, the Query Panel (or Edit Data provider) button on the Standard toolbar opens the Query Panel, when the data provider is a query, or the editor that was used for the data provider. If your document contains more than one data provider, you are prompted to select the one you want to edit.

Report Manager

The Report Manager (introduced in Business Objects version 5.0) is a key part of the BusinessObjects workspace that enables you to manage many different aspects of your work in BusinessObjects quickly and easily. From one window, you can manage all the variables in your report, work on the structure and formatting of report components and use navigation view to go quickly from section to section or report to report.

When the Report Manager window opens, it is docked on the left-hand side of your report window. If you wish, you can undock the Report Manager window and drag it to any other convenient location on your screen. Hold down the Ctrl key while moving the Report Manager window to prevent it from docking. If you have closed the Report Manager window, you may access it again by clicking the Report Manager button located on the standard toolbar.

The Report Manager has two tabs -- the Data Tab and the Map Tab. Each is used to manage a different aspect of your work in BusinessObjects.

Data Tab

The Data tab is used to manage the variables in your report. It contains a list of the objects, variables and formulas in your document. You can drag items from this list and drop them directly into the report window to construct or edit tables and other components. You can also create new variables or edit existing variables.

You can bring in new data into your report directly from the Report Manager window. You can edit the current query or set up another one. Simply right-click on a folder or variable and choose the appropriate option from the menu. You can view items in your document in two different ways: in alphabetical order (variables in the document are listed in alphabetical order with the variables in the Variables folder and the formulas in the Formulas folder), or by query (variables are grouped into the queries from which they were returned).

Map Tab

The Map tab is used to manage the structure of your document. It has two views.

Navigation view: displays a list of all the reports in the Business Objects document. For the report currently displayed on your screen the section names are also displayed. You use this view to go from report to report and from section to section within a report.

Structure view: displays a list of all the components in the selected report. Each report component (header, section, cell, table, chart etc.) is represented by an icon and a name. The name of components hidden in the report are displayed in italics. When you click on an icon in the Report Manager window, the corresponding component is displayed in the main report window. You can rearrange the components in the report by dragging and dropping them from one position to another in this list. You can also work on the formatting of the different report components and on breaks, sorts and filters. Right-click on an icon in the list and choose the appropriate option from the menu.

Slice and Dice

The Slice and Dice Panel provides a user-friendly, graphical way of analyzing data. It displays the contents of the current report, and enables you to:

• Add, move and remove objects.
  
• Switch between block types (by turning tables into crosstabs, for example).
  
• Build and edit master/detail reports.
  
• Apply, edit and remove breaks, filters, sorts, ranking and calculations.

When viewing report results, the Slice and Dice button on the Standard toolbar opens the Slice and Dice window. If your document contains more than one table with results, the tables will be arranged as tabs in Slice and Dice.

Calculation and Formatting Buttons

Like many software packages, Business Objects provides many toolbars with short-cut buttons to calculation and formatting features (some of which are also accessible via menus or Control key commands). Business Objects 5.0 brings some key new buttons to the standard set:

Insert Count (located on Report Toolbar): Lets you insert a Count on the selected data. Returns the number of rows for a Measure object, and the number of distinct values for a Dimension or a Detail object.

Insert Percentage (located on Report Toolbar): Lets you insert a calculation on the selected data. Displays the selected data as a percentage.

Insert Sum (located on Report Toolbar): Lets you insert a calculation on the selected data. Calculates the sum of the selected data.

Insert Variance (located on Report Toolbar): Lets you insert a calculation on the selected data. Calculates the difference between two selected values.

Insert Variance Percentage (located on Report Toolbar): Lets you insert a calculation on the selected data. Calculates the difference between two selected values and displays the difference as a percentage.

Group Values (located on Report Toolbar): Allows you to create a new variable by grouping the values of an existing dimension-type variable. For example, your query of employee payments for an organization may return payments for several employees, some of whom you know are post-doctorate fellows. You can create a new variable, Post Docs, by grouping those individuals together. By inserting Post Docs in a report that displays payments by individual, you can view the total payments for Post Docs together.

To group values displayed in a table or crosstab, select the values you want to group together and choose Group Values. The Rename dialog box opens so that you can give the new value a name.

Custom Sort (located on the Sort Toolbar): Opens the Custom sort dialog box to define a custom sort on the selected data. For example, Accounting Periods will be sorted alphabetically by default. You can use the Custom sort feature to sort them according to their order in Penn's fiscal year.

Paste Format (located on the Standard Toolbar): Pastes the formatting only. The formatting is copied but the contents remain unchanged. You can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+V to paste the formatting only.

Preconstructed reports are available for some data collections (the list of available reports may vary, depending upon user needs). In most instances, the queries contain prompts that allow you to customize the report for your specific needs. For example, a prompt may ask you for a School, organization, accounting period, term, or section ID. The main reason for using a canned report rather than creating your own is that your chances of misinterpreting data or getting an incorrect answer are reduced. Someone who is knowledgeable about University data has created the report with the proper conditions and criteria needed to execute a successful query. To view the canned queries and reports available in BusinessObjects:

To import a query for your own use:

Using InfoView:

The InfoView web page allows you to view the list of corporate documents in the Business Objects repository and refresh and download those documents via the web. To access the corporate documents using InfoView (Business Objects users only):

1. Point your browser to https://zinc.isc-seo.upenn.edu/wi
2. Click the blue "Log In" button. Enter your Business Objects ID and password in the User Name and Password fields that appear. Click OK to continue to the InfoView Welcome page. You should not click the "Remember my password" box, as this would allow anyone using your browser to access the Data Warehouse under your ID.
3. Click the Corporate Documents link. You may then click on a document name to view the structure and then refresh it, or download it, or edit it using Business Objects.

Using the Business Objects client software:

1. Log on to Business Objects.
2. From the File menu, click "Retrieve From", and then "Corporate Documents".
3. Click on the name of the file you'd like to retrieve, and then click the Retrieve button. You may choose whether to open the document upon retrieval.
4. Retrieved files are saved in your UserDocs directory by default. You may wish to relocate and/or rename them.