John S | Let's Speak BO

Key Takeaways from Folding with Web Intelligence 4.3 SP2 - Webi Origami

by John S on March 29, 2022 No comments

Folding with Web Intelligence 4.3 SP2 Webi Origami Feature Image

Did you miss our March 29th webinar Folding with Web Intelligence 4.3 SP2 - Webi Origami? We have a quick summary of the webinar with the webinar presenters’ key takeaways from their session. Here is the webinar overview: Being able to view report Totals and subtotals and then expand and dig into one of the subtotals while keeping the others still collapsed – this is a feature in Web Intelligence that has some very valuable enhancements in Webi 4.3 sp2. It is now easy and intuitive to analyze a report with folds and this session will cover how to set this up in multiple scenarios.

Key takeaways from this session:

Folding is much easier in 4.3

After adding sections and/or breaks to your report, find the folding options on the Display menu
Notice the “On report” arrows rather than outside the report as in 4.2

Folding has hover-over tooltips and right click options

Clicking on the folding arrow will expand or collapse that section/break
Right clicking on the arrow gives options to fold/unfold “All”

Exporting with Folding is “What you see is what you get”

Excel and PDF exports will display exactly what is folded/unfolded in Webi at the time of export
Neither Excel or PDF will have the expanding arrows.

Visual components can be added to sections with some Advanced Webi features

Charts will not display in folded sections
However, cells WILL display in the section
Cells can include formulas & Unicode to create visual effects

Don’t forget you can stream this webinar in its entirety as well as ever other Let’s Speak BO webinar we’ve hosted when you are logged in on the site. It is completely free to join!

Key Takeaways from Tips and Techniques Used to Convert SSRS Report to Web Intelligence

by John S on March 16, 2022 No comments

Tips and Techniques Used to Convert SSRS Report to Web Intelligence Feature Image

Did you miss our March 15th webinar Tips and Techniques Used to Convert SSRS Report to Web Intelligence? We have a quick summary of the webinar with the webinar presenters’ key takeaways from their session. Here is the webinar overview: When faced with the challenge of creating a new Web Intelligence report based on an existing SSRS report, there are no magic utilities available but we came up with a method that worked well. This included using the SSRS report query to build new BO universe, using Custom Calculation Contexts in the Webi report and using hide and filter techniques to match output from the SSRS report. In addition, we Improved data accuracy in the Webi report compared to the original SSRS report. This case study presentation will show how we achieved this.

Key takeaways from this session:

When faced with the challenge of creating a new Web Intelligence report based on an existing SSRS report, there are no magic utilities available but you can develop a method that will work.
Have a strong understanding on how to use both the Universe Design Tool and the Information Design Tool.
Webi variables are very flexible and they are your friends when developing webi reports.
Have a strong understanding on how to configure both Webi tables (via Format Table) and Webi Document Structure and Filters.
Have a strong understanding on how to use and configure Custom Calculation Contexts in Webi

Don’t forget you can stream this webinar in its entirety as well as ever other Let’s Speak BO webinar we’ve hosted when you are logged in on the site. It is completely free to join!

Key Takeaways from BusinessObjects as Part of BI Strategy for the Next Decade Feature Image

by John S on March 1, 2022 No comments

Did you miss our March 1st webinar BusinessObjects as Part of BI Strategy for the Next Decade? We have a quick summary of the webinar with the webinar presenters’ key takeaways from their session. This session had a lot of audience interaction with the presenter and we highly recommend checking it out if you use Web Intelligence! Here is the webinar overview: As the world continues to navigate a global pandemic that started well over a year ago, the importance and significance of Business Intelligence has never been more critical. Yet, at the same time, most organizations find themselves in a situation where time, resources and budget have never been tighter. As a result, making better and more use of the BI applications in place makes a lot of sense. For many, that means leveraging BusinessObjects as it remains the most widely used BI suite in the world today. In addition, between Web Intelligence and Crystal Reports, it offers the best BI reporting platform available. While tools like Tableau and PowerBI are gaining larger market share in the BI space, they are used for data discovery and data visualization and not designed for BI reporting. It is for this reason, that most organizations who have adopted these tools, retain BusinessObjects for BI reporting. This session will both discuss and show real customer case studies of how existing BusinessObjects are adapting to the new co-existence norm and how companies, new to BI, are adopting BusinessObjects as part of their new BI strategy for the next decade.

Key takeaways from this session:

BusinessObjects Remains the Number 1 BI Reporting Platform in Use Today
BusinessObjects co-existence with Tableau and PowerBI is the new normal
Moving to BusinessObjects BI 4.3 in the next 18 months makes sense
Only move BusinessObjects to the Cloud when the majority of data sources it accesses are also in the Cloud

Don’t forget you can stream this webinar in its entirety as well as ever other Let’s Speak BO webinar we’ve hosted when you are logged in on the site. It is completely free to join!

Key Takeaways from Tips for Transitioning to the New Webi 4.3

by John S on February 16, 2022 No comments

Tips for Transitioning to the New Webi 4.3 February 15 2022 Feature Image

Did you miss our February 15th webinar Tips for Transitioning to the New Webi 4.3? We have a quick summary of the webinar with the webinar presenters’ key takeaways from their session. This session had a lot of audience interaction with the presenter and we highly recommend checking it out if you use Web Intelligence! Here is the webinar overview:

WebI 4.3 comes with a FIORI-based, modern, and simplified user interface for designing and developing ad-hoc reports, operational reports, highly analytical reports, visually rich dashboards, and more powerful BI content. While this is a great foundational step towards future analytics and end-user experience it is also quite a transition from the classic launchpad that many are used to.

To assuage the fear and panic generated from this huge transformation, this session will share a few tips that we have found quite useful to adapt to the new features faster and make the transition from WebI 4.2 to 4.3 more enjoyable.

Key takeaways from this session:

SAP BI 4.3 SP0 was released last year, and the BI Launchpad comes with the new FIORI-based interface with a modern and sleek UX
You will experience a great new deal of how you will perform all your WebI tasks
While the new UI is great and in alignment with most popular BI tools, and SAC, it is also quite a transition from the classic WebI UI
There are two new panels and the 4.2 functionalities are not re-organized and regrouped into the new panels and a lean simplified toolbar
There are some cool new features like WebI as a Data source, hiding of report tabs, unified query panel, enhanced formula editor, and some more.

Don’t forget you can stream this webinar in its entirety as well as ever other Let’s Speak BO webinar we’ve hosted when you are logged in on the site. It is completely free to join!

Key Takeaways from Dynamic Dates in Web Intelligence

by John S on February 3, 2022 No comments

Dynamic Dates in Web Intelligence Blog Feature Image

Did you miss our February 1st webinar Dynamic Dates in WebI? We have a quick summary of the webinar with the webinar presenters’ key takeaways from their session. This session had a lot of audience interaction with the presenter and we highly recommend checking it out if you use Web Intelligence! Here is the webinar overview:

A common use case is to run a Web Intelligence report for a date range. That can be easily done with hard-coded date values, but that is not a very user-friendly approach always having to edit the query. Certainly prompts are more user-friendly. However, if you want to schedule a report for a dynamic, named date range such as yesterday, last month, last quarter, etc. you are at a dead-end.

This session will show how I built what I call a “Calendar Universe” a number of years ago that has stood the test of time. We will cover various ways to use dynamic dates talking about the pros and cons of each including the “Calendar Universe”.

Key takeaways from this session:

Set the prompt order in the Query Properties.
Use the format suggestion in the date prompt to convert the prompt value (always a string) to a date.
You cannot compare objects in a filter. Instead create a variable that does the comparison and filter on that.
Define a custom format for something other than the default or other available formats.
Copy the @Prompt function syntax details from the query script of a universe query and then paste it into a free-hand SQL query.
When using “Results from another query” cannot use “Between”; must use “Greater than” and “Less than”.
Add the pre-defined Query Summary cell to get an objective view of the queries such as execution time and number of rows returned.
Generate a date table dynamically with a common table expression (CTE) in a free-hand SQL query.
Add the pre-defined Query Summary cell to get an objective view of the queries such as execution time and number of rows returned.

Don’t forget you can stream this webinar in its entirety as well as ever other Let’s Speak BO webinar we’ve hosted when you are logged in on the site. It is completely free to join!

Key Takeaways from Formatting Web Intelligence 4.3 Like a Pro Webinar

by John S on January 19, 2022 No comments

Formatting Webi Intelligence 4.3 Like a Pro Webinar Graphic

Did you miss our January 18^th webinar Formatting Web Intelligence 4.3 Like a Pro? We have a quick summary of the webinar with the webinar presenters’ key takeaways from their session. Here is the webinar overview: First impressions matter – even for reports! This session will be covering how to use formatting shortcuts and templates to make a meaningful report stand out and shine, including new ways to format Web Intelligence in 4.3.

Key takeaways from this session:

Properties panel makes formatting easier in 4.3
There are many formatting shortcuts in Webi to make beautiful reports faster
We recommend using a report template for consistent, beautiful reports.

In this webinar Roxanne mentioned a PDF template that we have been allowed to share. This PDF document gives the reader a view of the “SR_Template” used by the AO for Webi reports as seen in the presentation. Don’t forget you can stream this webinar in its entirety as well as ever other Let’s Speak BO webinar we’ve hosted when you are logged in on SpeakBO.com website. It is completely free to join!

Key Takeaways from Solving Business Problems with BusinessObjects

by John S on January 5, 2022 No comments

Solving Business Problems with BusinessObjects Webinar Summary Graphic

Did you miss our January 4^th webinar Solving Business Problems with BusinessObjects? We have a quick summary of the webinar with the webinar presenters’ key takeaways from their session. Here is the webinar overview:

Using Business Objects for finance reporting has been around for decades, but have you considered using it for data analytics to look for fraud?

This session we’ll cover common data analytics scripts and how BusinessObjects could be utilized to help mitigate fraud. We will discuss ways to solve seemingly complex business issues with the tools we have while demonstrating technical solutions using Web Intelligence and IDT for being able to show data analytic to resolve specific business. So put on your Fraudster cap and hold on for the ride.

Key takeaways from this session:

You don’t always have to buy new software to meet your company’s needs.
Think outside of the box with Business Objects – it is more than just a reporting tool.
Business Objects can be used for Data Analytics, Robotics and so much more.
Searching with wildcards is easy once you learn the subtle differences between query vs report search

Don’t forget you can stream this webinar in its entirety as well as ever other webinar we’ve hosted on our Speak BO website when logged in. If you have any questions about the session feel free to comment below and we will get back to you!