BusinessObjects Enterprise™ XI Release 2
InfoView User’s Guide
BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2
Patents
Business Objects owns the following U.S. patents, which may cover products that are offered
and licensed by Business Objects: 5,555,403; 6,247.008 B1; 6,578,027 B2; 6,490,593; and
6,289,352.
Trademarks
Copyright
Third-party
contributors
Business Objects and the Business Objects logo, BusinessObjects, Crystal Reports, Crystal
Xcelsius, Crystal Decisions, Intelligent Question, Desktop Intelligence, Crystal Enterprise,
Crystal Analysis, WebIntelligence, RapidMarts, and BusinessQuery are trademarks or
registered trademarks of Business Objects in the United States and/or other countries. All
other names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
Copyright © 2007 Business Objects. All rights reserved.
Business Objects products in this release may contain redistributions of software licensed
from third-party contributors. Some of these individual components may also be available
under alternative licenses. A partial listing of third-party contributors that have requested or
permitted acknowledgments, as well as required notices, can be found at:
http://www.businessobjects.com/thirdparty
Contents
Chapter 1 Welcome to BusinessObjects Enterprise 11
About this documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Who should use this documentation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Business Objects information resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Chapter 2 Getting Started 13
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Logging on to InfoView . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
InfoView home page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Header panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Navigation panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Workspace panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Recommended reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Viewing objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Publishing and managing objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Crystal Reports Server recommended reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
How to access InfoView . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
How to view files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
How to schedule files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
How to organize files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
How to use Discussions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Chapter 3 Setting Preferences 23
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
General preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Desktop Intelligence preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
OLAP Intelligence preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Crystal Reports preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Selecting your Crystal report viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
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Description of the Crystal report viewers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
ActiveX viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
DHTML viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Advanced DHTML viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Java viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Web Intelligence preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Selecting Web Intelligence view formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Selecting report panel formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Selecting your Drill options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Selecting MS Excel formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Selecting a locale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Selecting a default universe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Changing your password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Chapter 4 Working with Objects 41
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Navigating through folders or categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Accessing objects in your personal folders or inbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Viewing objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Selecting which objects to display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Searching for objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Opening objects for viewing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Changing viewers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Organizing objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Creating folders or categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Adding objects to a folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Assigning objects to a category . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Sorting objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Scheduling objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Instance title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
When to run a scheduled object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Database logon information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
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Destination locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Print settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Server group settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Pausing or resuming an instance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Viewing object history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Viewing instances of objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Viewing historical instances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Deleting an instance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Sending objects or instances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Adding new objects to InfoView . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Setting object properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Chapter 5 Working with Dashboards 61
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Creating a dashboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Editing the dashboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Chapter 6 Using Discussions 65
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Using the Discussions panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Accessing the Discussions panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Creating a note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Replying to a note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Editing a note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Deleting a note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Chapter 7 Using Encyclopedia 69
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Accessing Encyclopedia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Creating and maintaining Encyclopedia information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Overview tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
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Editing overview information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Business questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Creating a question . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Associating questions with an object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Editing a question . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Deleting a question . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Glossary terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Creating a term . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Associating a glossary term with an object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Editing a term . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Deleting a term . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Guided analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Following a storyline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Creating a storyline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Editing a storyline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Deleting a storyline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Chapter 8 Working with Crystal Reports 83
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Viewing Crystal reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Crystal Reports viewer toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Drilling reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Looking at alerts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Distributing reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Printing reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Exporting reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Format types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Crystal Reports Offline Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Installing the Crystal Reports Offline Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Launching the Crystal Reports Offline Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
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Chapter 9 Working with Web Intelligence Documents 91
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Viewing Web Intelligence documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Web Intelligence toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Displaying the navigation map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Displaying user prompts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Finding text in documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Drilling documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Creating Web Intelligence documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Selecting a universe for a new document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Editing queries in existing documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Chapter 10 Working with OLAP Intelligence Reports 97
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Connecting to an OLAP server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Creating a connection to an OLAP server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Editing a connection to an OLAP server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Deleting a connection to an OLAP server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Creating OLAP reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Data source connection settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Connecting to a Microsoft OLAP data source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Connecting to an Essbase or DB2 data source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Chapter 11 Publishing Objects to BusinessObjects Enterprise 105
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Publishing with the Publishing Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Publishing options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Logging on to BusinessObjects Enterprise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Adding objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Creating and selecting a folder on the CMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Moving objects between folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Duplicating the folder structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Adding objects to a category . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
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Changing scheduling options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Refreshing repository fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Publishing with saved data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Selecting a program type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Specifying program credentials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Changing default values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Changing object properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Entering database logon information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Setting parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Setting the schedule output format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Adding extra files for programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Specifying command line arguments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Finalizing the objects to be added . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Publishing with the Central Management Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Saving objects directly to the CMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Appendix A Addenda 121
Scheduling a Desktop Intelligence document to HTML format . . . . . . . . . 122
Scheduling a Desktop Intelligence document to .txt format . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Scheduling a Desktop Intelligence document to RTF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Appendix B Business Objects Information Resources 123
Documentation and information services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
What’s in the documentation set? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Where is the documentation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Documentation from the products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Documentation on the web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Documentation on the product CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Send us your feedback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Customer support, consulting and training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
How can we support you? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Online Customer Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
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Looking for the best deployment solution for your company? . . . . . . 126
Looking for training options? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Useful addresses at a glance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Index 127
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10 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
Welcome to BusinessObjects Enterprise
chapter
Welcome to BusinessObjects Enterprise
1
About this documentation
About this documentation
This help provides you with information and procedures for using
BusinessObjects Enterprise and InfoView.
InfoView runs within your web browser and is your main interface for working
with objects in BusinessObjects Enterprise. Your BusinessObjects Enterprise
administrator may deploy different types of objects, such as Crystal reports,
OLAP Intelligence reports, Web Intelligence documents, Desktop Intelligence
documents, and other objects that are created from BusinessObjects
Enterprise plug-in components. InfoView allows you to view these objects,
organize them, and work with them to suit your needs.
Note: Because the appearance and functionality of InfoView can be
customized, your desktop may be different from the one that is described in
this help. However, you can still apply many of the procedures that are
described in the sections that follow.
Who should use this documentation?
This help is intended for users who work with objects over the Web through
BusinessObjects Enterprise and InfoView.
For more information about the product, consult the BusinessObjects
Enterprise Administrator’s Guide, the BusinessObjects Enterprise Getting
Started Guide, and the BusinessObjects Enterprise Installation Guide. Online
versions of these guides are included in the
distribution.
docs directory of your product
Business Objects information resources
For more information and assistance, see Appendix B: Business Objects
Information Resources. This appendix describes Business Objects
documentation, customer support, training, and consulting services, and
provides links to online resources.
12 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
Getting Started
chapter
Getting Started
2
Overview
Overview
BusinessObjects Enterprise comes with InfoView, a web desktop that acts as
a window to a broad range of useful business information around your
company. From InfoView, you can access Crystal reports, OLAP Intelligence
reports, Web Intelligence documents, Desktop Intelligence documents, and
other objects, and organize them to suit your preferences.
The features that are available in InfoView vary by content type, but in
general, you can view information in your web browser, export it to other
business applications (such as Microsoft Excel), and save it to a specified
location. BusinessObjects Enterprise also provides access to a range of
analytic tools that help you explore information in more detail.
The following additional features are available with InfoView when you have
the appropriate license(s):
• Discussions
This feature enables users to create and share notes about reports,
documents, and other objects in InfoView. For more information, see
Chapter 6: Using Discussions.
• Encyclopedia
This feature provides users with key information about reports and
documents to facilitate the analysis of business intelligence. For more
information, see Chapter 7: Using Encyclopedia.
• OLAP Intelligence
This feature allows users to create customized OLAP reports based on
multi-dimensional data sources. For more information, see Chapter 10:
Working with OLAP Intelligence Reports.
• Process Tracker
This feature enables users to map, track, and communicate business
processes through a set of activities, associated reports, and analytics.
For more information, see the Process Tracker User’s Guide.
• Publisher
This feature lets users deliver information in a customized format by
providing a secure environment in which to share information in a
personalized way. For more information, see the Publisher User’s Guide.
For information about the availability of these features in your deployment,
contact your BusinessObjects Enterprise administrator.
14 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
Logging on to InfoView
To use InfoView, you must have one of the following web browsers installed
on your machine:
• Microsoft Internet Explorer
• Safari (for Macintosh users)
Note: To use the advanced features of BusinessObjects Enterprise and
InfoView, it is recommended that you use Internet Explorer.
To log on to InfoView
1. Open your web browser.
2. Go to
http://webserver/businessobjects/enterprise115/
desktoplaunch/InfoView/logon/logon.do
Replace webserver with the name of the web server that is set up for
BusinessObjects Enterprise. You may need to ask your administrator for
the name of the web server or the exact URL to enter.
Tip: If you have any BusinessObjects Enterprise client tools installed, on
Windows, you can also click Start > Programs > BusinessObjects XI
Release 2 > BusinessObjects Enterprise > BusinessObjects Enterprise
.NET/Java InfoView.
The Log On to BusinessObjects InfoView page appears.
Getting Started
Logging on to InfoView
2
3. In the System field, type the name of the machine that hosts your Central
Management Server (CMS).
BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide 15
Getting Started
2
InfoView home page
4. In the User name and Password fields, type your logon credentials.
Tip: If you want to log on as a guest, leave both fields blank.
5. From the Authentication list, select Enterprise, LDAP, Windows AD, or
Windows NT.
• Enterprise authentication requires a user name and password that
are recognized by BusinessObjects Enterprise.
• LDAP authentication requires a user name and password that are
recognized by an LDAP directory server.
• Windows AD authentication requires a user name and password that
are recognized by Windows AD.
• Windows NT authentication requires a user name and password that
are recognized by Windows NT.
Enterprise authentication is the default authentication method. LDAP,
Windows AD, Windows NT, and other third-party authentication types
require special setup. For more information, see the BusinessObjects
Enterprise Administrator’s Guide.
6. Click Log On.
The BusinessObjects InfoView home page appears.
InfoView home page
If you successfully logged on, the BusinessObjects InfoView home page
appears in your web browser.
16 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
The folders and objects that you can see in InfoView, the rights that you have
to schedule, the viewer that you see, and so on, are dependent on the
account with which you log on, the rights that are granted to you by your
BusinessObjects Enterprise administrator, and the settings that both you and
your administrator enable.
The InfoView home page is divided into several panels. For information about
each panel, see the following sections:
• “Header panel” on page 17
• “Navigation panel” on page 18
• “Workspace panel” on page 18
Header panel
The Header panel displays the logo and the user name of the account that
you used to log on to InfoView. It has a toolbar that you can use to perform
the following actions:
Option Description
Getting Started
InfoView home page
Home
Displays the InfoView home page.
Toggle Navigation
Shows/hides the Navigation panel.
Toggle Encyclopedia
Shows/hides the Encyclopedia panel.
Create a new item
Creates a new folder, category, or object.
Refresh the Workspace Panel
Refreshes the Workspace panel.
Send a document
Sends an object or instance to a destination.
My InfoView
Allows you to create custom dashboards.
Search
Allows you to search for objects.
Preferences
Allows you to set how information is displayed.
2
BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide 17
Getting Started
2
InfoView home page
Navigation panel
Option Description
Log off
Logs the user off.
Help
Displays the online help for InfoView.
The Navigation panel displays a tree that shows your place in the structure of
folders or categories in InfoView. It has a toolbar that you can use to perform
the following actions:
Option Description
Show folders
Displays the available folders.
Show categories
Displays the available categories.
Refresh the Navigation Panel
Refreshes the Navigation panel.
Properties
Sets properties for the selected folder/category.
Move
Moves the selected folder/category.
Copy
Makes a copy of the selected folder/category.
Delete
Deletes the selected folder/category.
Workspace panel
The Workspace panel displays the objects that are located in a folder or
assigned to a specific category. It is in this panel that you do activities such as
viewing, scheduling, and modifying objects, setting your InfoView
preferences, and so on. It has a toolbar that you can use to perform the
following actions:
18 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
Option Description
Recommended reading
Depending on how you use BusinessObjects Enterprise and InfoView, you
may want to focus on specific sections of this document.
Viewing objects
If you use BusinessObjects Enterprise to view objects such as reports, you do
not need to read about the advanced features of InfoView. It is recommended
that you read only the following sections:
• “Getting Started” on page 13
• “Setting Preferences” on page 23
• “Working with Objects” on page 41
Getting Started
Recommended reading
Organize
Allows you to organize the selected object.
Delete
Deletes the selected object.
Filter
Filters the types of objects that are displayed.
2
Publishing and managing objects
For advanced users who publish and organize objects for other users to view,
it is recommended that you read the following sections:
• “Getting Started” on page 13
• “Setting Preferences” on page 23
• “Working with Objects” on page 41
• “Working with Dashboards” on page 61
• “Using Discussions” on page 65
• “Using Encyclopedia” on page 69
• “Publishing Objects to BusinessObjects Enterprise” on page 105
Depending on the types of objects the you create and/or publish, you may
also want to review the following sections:
BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide 19
Getting Started
2
Crystal Reports Server recommended reading
• “Working with Crystal Reports” on page 83
• “Working with OLAP Intelligence Reports” on page 97
• “Working with Web Intelligence Documents” on page 91
Note: If you work with Web Intelligence documents, also refer to Building
Reports with the Web Intelligence Report Panel, which appears when you
click help while you view a Web Intelligence document.
Crystal Reports Server recommended
reading
This section outlines the topics in the BusinessObjects Enterprise InfoView
Guide that will be of most use to you if you are using Crystal Reports Server.
How to access InfoView
For information about accessing InfoView, go to the following sections:
• “Logging on to InfoView” on page 15
• “InfoView home page” on page 16
How to view files
For information about viewing files inside InfoView go to the following
sections:
• “Viewing objects” on page 42
• “Opening objects for viewing” on page 44
• “Changing viewers” on page 44
How to schedule files
For information about scheduling files inside InfoView go to the following
sections:
• “Scheduling objects” on page 46
• “Instance title” on page 48
• “When to run a scheduled object” on page 48
• “Destination locations” on page 49
• “Pausing or resuming an instance” on page 55
• “Viewing instances of objects” on page 56
20 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
• “Deleting an instance” on page 57
How to organize files
For information about organizing your content in InfoView go to the following
sections:
• “Organizing objects” on page 44
• “Creating folders or categories” on page 44
• “Adding objects to a folder” on page 45
• “Assigning objects to a category” on page 45
• “Sorting objects” on page 46
How to use Discussions
For information about how to use Discussions go to Chapter 6: Using
Discussions.
Getting Started
Crystal Reports Server recommended reading
2
BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide 21
Getting Started
2
Crystal Reports Server recommended reading
22 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
Setting Preferences
chapter
Setting Preferences
3
Overview
Overview
Preferences determine how you log on to InfoView and what view is displayed
when you do. They also determine specific settings for the various objects
that you view, such as viewers for Crystal reports and OLAP Intelligence
reports and view formats for Web Intelligence and Desktop Intelligence
documents.
For information about setting the preferences for each object type, see the
following sections:
• “Desktop Intelligence preferences” on page 26
• “OLAP Intelligence preferences” on page 27
• “Crystal Reports preferences” on page 28
• “Web Intelligence preferences” on page 34
Note: As a best practice, you should set your preferences before you begin
to work with objects in InfoView. However, depending on your deployment,
your BusinessObjects Enterprise administrator may have configured your
system to use predetermined settings by default.
General preferences
This section describes how to set your general viewing preferences for
InfoView.
To set general preferences
1. Log on to InfoView.
2. On the Header panel toolbar, click Preferences.
24 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
The Preferences appears.
Setting Preferences
General preferences
3
3. In the “My initial view is” area, select the option that you want to set as
your initial view.
For example, if you choose Favorites, then the Favorites folder is
automatically displayed on the Workspace panel the next time you log on.
Tip: You can also customize a dashboard to be your initial view. For
details, see “Creating a dashboard” on page 62.
4. In the “My default navigation view is” area, select Folder or Category.
The option that you choose determines whether the Navigation panel
displays the objects in InfoView by the folders in which they are located
or the categories to which they are assigned.
BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide 25
Setting Preferences
3
Desktop Intelligence preferences
5. In the “On my desktop” area, specify the maximum number of objects that
6. In the “For each document, show me” area, select the summary
7. In the “View my documents” area, select how you want to view your
8. In the “When I close my browser window” area, choose whether or not
9. In the “My interface locale is” area, select your current location.
10. In the “My current time-zone is” area, select the appropriate time zone.
11. Click OK.
you want to see displayed per page in the Workspace panel.
information that you want to see in the Workspace panel for the objects
that you view:
• Description
• Owner
• Date
• Instance Count
• Actions and Descriptions (if selected) initially not hidden
documents.
you want InfoView to log you off automatically when you close the web
browser.
This setting determines the language set and date format that is used by
InfoView.
Note: It is important that you check this setting before you schedule any
objects to run. The default time zone is local to the web server that is
running BusinessObjects Enterprise, not the Central Management Server
(CMS) machine(s) to which each user connects. By properly setting your
time zone, you ensure that your scheduled objects are processed in
accordance with the time zone in which you are working.
Desktop Intelligence preferences
This section describes how to select a view format for Desktop Intelligence
documents.
To select a view format for Desktop Intelligence documents
1. Log on to InfoView.
2. On the Header panel toolbar, click Preferences.
The Preferences appears.
26 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
3. Click the Desktop Intelligence Document tab.
4. In the “Select a view format” area, select the format that you want to use
when you view your Desktop Intelligence documents:
• If you want to be able to view the documents and respond to
prompts, then choose HTML.
• If you want to be able to view and print the documents, then choose
Portable Document Format (Adobe Reader required).
• If you want the documents to open in Desktop Intelligence, then
choose BusinessObjects format (Windows only). Note that Desktop
Intelligence must be installed on the local machine to for this option
to work.
5. Click OK.
OLAP Intelligence preferences
This section describes how to select a viewer for OLAP Intelligence reports.
To select an OLAP Intelligence viewer
1. Log on to InfoView.
2. On the Header panel toolbar, click Preferences.
The Preferences appears.
3. Click the OLAP Intelligence tab.
4. In the “View my OLAP Intelligence reports using the” area, select the
viewer that you want to use when you view your OLAP Intelligence
reports:
• If you want to use ActiveX features and functionality to view your
reports, then choose ActiveX Viewer.
The necessary ActiveX controls are automatically installed on your
computer when you click to view an OLAP Intelligence report for the
first time. Typically, the ActiveX viewer is faster than the DHTML
viewer.
• If you want to use the web browser to view your reports, then choose
DHTML Viewer.
The DHTML viewer provides more toolbar options than the ActiveX
viewer.
5. Click OK.
Setting Preferences
OLAP Intelligence preferences
3
BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide 27
Setting Preferences
3
Crystal Reports preferences
Crystal Reports preferences
Before you work with Crystal reports in InfoView, it is recommended that you
set the Crystal Reports preferences to suit your reporting needs. See the
following sections for more information:
• “Selecting your Crystal report viewer” on page 28
• “Description of the Crystal report viewers” on page 29
Selecting your Crystal report viewer
To select a Crystal report viewer
1. Log on to InfoView.
2. On the Header panel toolbar, click Preferences.
The Preferences appears.
3. Click the Crystal Report tab.
4. In the “View my reports using the” area, select the viewer that you want to
use when you view your Crystal reports:
• ActiveX viewer
The ActiveX viewer is enabled if you have installed Microsoft Internet
Explorer versions that support ActiveX controls. For more
information, see “ActiveX viewer” on page 30.
• DHTML viewer
The DHMTL viewer is a zero-client viewer for browsers that support
Dynamic HTML. For more information, see “DHTML viewer” on
page 31.
• Advanced DHTML viewer
In addition to providing all of the features of the DHTML viewer, the
Advanced DHTML viewer includes an Advanced Search Wizard that
allows searches that use Boolean operators. For more information,
see “Advanced DHTML viewer” on page 32.
• Java viewer
The Java viewer is designed for web browsers that support the Java
Virtual Machine. For more information, see “Java viewer” on
page 33.
28 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
5. If you selected the DHTML/Advanced DHTML viewer, in the “DHTML
Viewer printing uses the” area, choose Acrobat Reader printing control
or ActiveX printing control (One click printing).
If you choose Acrobat Reader printing control, the viewer exports the
report to PDF format when you click Print. You can then print the PDF.
If you choose ActiveX printing control (One click printing), you can print
the report directly from the Crystal report viewer. Note that this option
requires the installation of a small ActiveX component.
6. In the “Preferred measuring units for report page layout is” area, select
inches or millimeters.
7. If you selected the DHTML/Advanced DHTML viewer, you must choose
the resolution that you want to use in the "Rendering resolution (DHTML
viewers)" area.
8. Click OK.
Description of the Crystal report viewers
The Crystal report viewers allow you to view reports, navigate through
multiple pages, refresh data, drill down to see details behind charts and
summarized data, select parameters, and so on. They also have powerful
printing and exporting capabilities.
The online Crystal report viewers support ActiveX, Java, DHTML, and
Advanced DHTML. Typically, your BusinessObjects Enterprise administrator
selects the viewer type that is best suited to your company’s needs. However,
you can also manually select your preferred viewer type through the Crystal
Reports preferences page. (For more information, see “Crystal Reports
preferences” on page 28.)
You can view your reports by using any of the following Crystal report viewers:
• “ActiveX viewer” on page 30
• “DHTML viewer” on page 31
• “Advanced DHTML viewer” on page 32
• “Java viewer” on page 33
You can also view your reports when you are not connected to
BusinessObjects Enterprise. For more information, see the “Crystal Reports
Offline Viewer” on page 88.
Note: Some features of the Crystal report viewers may be disabled by your
BusinessObjects Enterprise administrator. Contact your administrator for
more information.
Setting Preferences
Crystal Reports preferences
3
BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide 29
Setting Preferences
3
Crystal Reports preferences
ActiveX viewer
The ActiveX viewer can be accessed by using Microsoft Internet Explorer
versions that support ActiveX controls. You can view, refresh, and print your
reports and export them to a variety of formats.
In addition to the functions that are provided on the browser’s standard
toolbar, the ActiveX viewer has extra functions on its custom toolbar:
• Export report
• Print report
• Toggle group tree
• Go to first page
• Go to previous page
• Go to next page
• Go to last page
• Go to page
• Stop loading
• Refresh
• Search text
• Zoom
• Close current view
Place the mouse pointer over any of the buttons on the custom toolbar to see
the associated tool tip. For more information, see “Viewing Crystal reports” on
page 84.
30 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
DHTML viewer
Setting Preferences
Crystal Reports preferences
The DHTML viewer can be accessed by using a web browser that supports
Dynamic HTML. You can view, refresh, and print your reports and export them
to a variety of formats.
In addition to the functions that are provided on the browser’s standard
toolbar, the DHTML viewer has extra functions on its custom toolbar:
• Export report
• Print report
• Show/Hide group tree
• Go to first page
• Go to previous page
• Go to next page
• Go to last page
• Go to page
• Drilldown view name
• Refresh page
• Search for text
• Zoom
For more information, see “Viewing Crystal reports” on page 84.
3
BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide 31
Setting Preferences
3
Crystal Reports preferences
Advanced DHTML viewer
The Advanced DHTML viewer can be accessed by using a web browser that
supports Dynamic HTML. You can view, refresh, and print your reports and
export them to a variety of formats. In addition, the Advanced DHTML viewer
provides an Advanced Search Wizard, which enables you to perform a
search on your report data by using Boolean operators.
In addition to the functions that are provided on the browser’s standard
toolbar, the Advanced DHTML viewer has extra functions on its custom
toolbar:
• Export report
• Print report
• Show/Hide group tree
• Go to first page
• Go to previous page
• Go to next page
• Go to last page
• Go to page
• Drilldown view name
• Refresh page
• Search for text
• Show/Hide Advanced Search Wizard
• Zoom
• Help
For more information, see “Viewing Crystal reports” on page 84.
32 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
Java viewer
Setting Preferences
Crystal Reports preferences
Note: The Advanced DHTML viewer contains its own help file—click the
Help button on the custom toolbar for detailed information about the viewer’s
extra functions and the Advanced Search Wizard.
Note: Because the Advanced Search Wizard accesses the data source of
the report, you must have at least View On Demand rights (or higher) in
BusinessObjects Enterprise to use the wizard.
Note: Depending on how your BusinessObjects Enterprise administrator has
set up the reports in the system, in some cases, you may not have the
Advanced Search Wizard available in your viewer.
The Java viewer can be accessed by using a web browser that supports the
Java Virtual Machine. You can view, refresh, and print your reports and export
them to a variety of formats.
3
In addition to the functions that are provided on the browser’s standard
toolbar, the Java viewer has extra functions on its custom toolbar:
• Export report
• Print report
• Show/Hide group tree
• Stop
• Refresh data
• Go to first page
• Go to previous page
• Go to next page
• Go to last page
BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide 33
Setting Preferences
3
Web Intelligence preferences
• Current and last page numbers
• Search for text
• Magnification factor
When you place the mouse pointer over a button on the custom toolbar, the
associated description appears in the bottom left-hand side of the browser’s
status bar. For more information, see “Viewing Crystal reports” on page 84.
Note: You may experience minor problems when you scroll through reports
in the Java viewer. These problems are the result of the implementation of the
Java Virtual Machine in certain web browsers. If you experience such
problems, click repeatedly on the scroll buttons to scroll. Do not hold the scroll
buttons down.
Web Intelligence preferences
Before you access your Web Intelligence documents through InfoView, it is
recommended that you set the Web Intelligence preferences to suit your
query and reporting needs.
Note: The functionality described in this section is available through InfoView
if you have appropriate Web Intelligence licenses. For information about
licensing, contact your sales representative.
This process includes the following tasks:
• “Selecting Web Intelligence view formats” on page 34
• “Selecting report panel formats” on page 35
• “Selecting your Drill options” on page 36
• “Selecting MS Excel formats” on page 38
• “Selecting a locale” on page 39
• “Selecting a default universe” on page 39
Selecting Web Intelligence view formats
You can choose different view formats to correspond with how you interact
with information in Web Intelligence documents through InfoView.
To select a view format for Web Intelligence documents
1. Log on to InfoView.
2. On the Header panel toolbar, click Preferences.
The Preferences appears.
3. Click the Web Intelligence Document tab.
34 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
4. In the “Select a view format” area, select the format that you want to use
when you view your Web Intelligence documents:
• If you want to be able to view the documents, respond to prompts,
and/or perform drill analysis, then choose HTML.
• If you want to be able to apply filters to the documents, do sorts and
calculations, modify the format of the data in tables and charts, and/
or perform drill analysis, then choose Interactive.
Note: This option is available only if you have Web Intelligence
deployed in JSP mode.
Note: To be able to use the Web Intelligence HTML Query panel to
create documents and/or edit queries, it is recommended that you
select this option. If you do not select the Interactive view format, you
can still use the HTML Query panel to define your documents, but
you will not be able to format them.
• If you want to be able to view and print the documents, then choose
Portable Document Format (Adobe Reader required).
5. Click OK.
Selecting report panel formats
Setting Preferences
Web Intelligence preferences
3
The report panel provides several tools that enable you to create and/or edit Web
Intelligence
want to interact with Web Intelligence documents, a specific report panel format
may be more suited to your needs.
To select a report panel
1. In the “Select a report panel” area, select the report panel that you want
to use when you create or edit Web Intelligence documents:
Note that the following options are available only if your administrator has
deployed Web Intelligence in JSP mode.
documents. Depending on how your system is configured or how you
• If you want to work with queries in an HTML environment, then
choose Query – HTML.
Query – HTML allows you to define the content of documents from
multiple data sources. You can use Query – HTML to create new
documents or modify the queries on which existing Web Intelligence
documents are based.
• If you want to use a graphical editor to build formulas, then choose
Java Report Panel.
This option enables you to use the Formula Editor, which lets you
drag and drop variables to create formulas.
BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide 35
Setting Preferences
3
Web Intelligence preferences
• If you want to use a wizard-like interface to build your documents,
then choose HTML Report Panel.
The HTML Report Panel allows you to build query and report
features through a simple interface. Each document that you create
is based on a single data source and can contain multiple reports
that display different subsets of information. The HTML Report Panel
can be customized for special deployments.
2. Click OK.
Selecting your Drill options
Before you begin a drill session, you must specify how your Web Intelligence
documents change when you perform a drill.
To set your drill options
1. In the “Select a view format” area, ensure that either HTML or Interactive
is selected.
2. In the “For each new drill session” area, select the option that you want to
apply to your drill sessions:
• If you want to retain a copy of the original document so that you can
compare the drilled results to the data in the original document, then
choose Start drill on a duplicate report.
InfoView creates a duplicate of the original report. When you end drill
mode, both the original report and the drilled report remain in the
document for you to view.
• If you want to drill on the report so that the report is modified by your
drill actions, then choose Start drill on the existing report.
When you end drill mode, the report displays the drilled values.
3. In the “General drill options” area, select the general options that you
want to apply to your drill sessions:
• If you want Web Intelligence to prompt you whenever a drill action
requires a new query to add more data to the document, then select
Prompt if drill requires additional data.
For example, when you drill the results that are displayed on a Web
Intelligence document, you may want to drill to higher or lower-level
information that is not included in the scope of analysis for the
document. In this situation, Web Intelligence needs to run a new
query to retrieve additional data from the data source. You can choose
to be prompted with a message whenever a new query is needed.
36 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
Setting Preferences
Web Intelligence preferences
The prompt message asks you to decide whether or not you want to
run the additional query. In addition, the prompt may allow you to
apply filters to the extra dimensions that you include in the new
query. As a result, you can restrict the size of the query to just the
data that is necessary for your analysis. Note, however, that you
need permission from your administrator to drill out of the scope of
analysis during a drill session.
• If you want Web Intelligence to synchronize drilling on all report
blocks, then select Synchronize drill on report blocks.
Each table, chart, or free-standing cell in a report represents a
specific block of data. There are two ways to drill on a report with
multiple report blocks:
• Synchronize drill on report blocks.
• Drill on only the selected block.
The following examples show how each option affects a report as
you drill down on a table to analyze detailed results per service line.
In the first example, Synchronize drill on report blocks is selected, so
both the table and the chart display the drilled values:
3
In the second example, Synchronize drill on report blocks is not
selected, so only the table displays the drilled values:
BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide 37
Setting Preferences
3
Web Intelligence preferences
• If you want Web Intelligence to hide the Drill toolbar when you switch
to drill mode, then select Hide drill toolbar.
When you start drill mode, the Drill toolbar automatically appears at
the top of the drilled report. The toolbar displays the value(s) on
which you drilled. These values filter the results that are displayed on
the drilled report.
For example, if you drill on year 2001, the results that are displayed
on the drilled table are the Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4 for year 2001. This
means that the quarterly values to which you drilled to are filtered by
2001. The Drill toolbar displays “2001”, the value that filters the
drilled results.
The Drill toolbar allows you to select other values to filter the results
differently. For example, if you use the Drill toolbar to select “2002”,
then the results that are displayed on the drilled table will be Q1, Q2,
Q3, and Q4 for year 2002.
If the drilled report includes dimensions from multiple queries, a
tooltip appears when you rest your cursor on the value that is
displayed on the filter. The tooltip displays the name of the query and
the dimension for the value.
You can choose to hide the Drill toolbar when you start drill mode. This
is useful if you do not want to select filters during your drill session.
4. Click OK.
Selecting MS Excel formats
This option determines the appearance of the data in instances of Web
Intelligence documents if you schedule the documents to run in MS Excel
format.
To select an MS Excel format
1. In the “Select MS Excel format” area, select the Excel format that you
want to use:
• If you want to display the data in a format that is similar to working in
Excel, then choose “Prioritize the format of reports in the Excel
document”.
• If you want to display the data in a text format, then choose “Prioritize
easy data processing in the Excel document”.
2. Click OK.
38 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
Selecting a locale
The locale setting determines the language set and date format that Web
Intelligence uses when you work with your documents.
To select a locale
1. From the “Select a format locale” list, select your current location.
2. In the “When viewing a document” area, choose one of the following
options:
• If you want to use the locale setting that was specified when the Web
Intelligence document was created, then choose Use the document
locale to format the data.
• If you want to use the locale setting that you specified in InfoView
(see “General preferences” on page 24), then choose Use my
formatting locale to format the data.
3. Click OK.
Selecting a default universe
You can specify a universe to be used as the default data source for your
Web Intelligence documents.
Setting Preferences
Web Intelligence preferences
3
To select a universe
The Preferences appears.
1. Click the Web Intelligence Document tab.
2. In the “Select a default Universe” area, click Browse, and choose one of
the following options:
• If you want to select a default universe for Web Intelligence to use
when you create documents, then select a universe from the list.
• If you do not want to set a default universe, then choose No default
universe.
3. Click OK.
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Setting Preferences
3
Changing your password
Changing your password
You can change the password that you use to log on to InfoView.
To change your password
1. Log on to InfoView.
2. On the Header panel toolbar, click Preferences.
3. Click the Password tab.
The Password page appears.
4. Type your old password.
5. Type your new password, confirm it, and then click Submit.
You must use the new password the next time that you log on to InfoView.
40 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
Working with Objects
chapter
Working with Objects
4
Overview
Overview
This section describes how to access, organize, and work with objects in
InfoView.
Navigating through folders or categories
Folders and categories are used to organize objects in InfoView.
To navigate through folders or categories
1. In the Navigation panel, click Show Folders or Show Categories to view
the folders/categories that are available to you in InfoView.
2. Expand a folder/category to view any subfolders/subcategories.
Tip: To expand a folder/category, click the plus symbol beside the folder/
category name.
3. Click a folder/category to view the objects that are in the folder or
assigned to the category.
For more information about folders and categories, see “Organizing objects”
on page 44.
Accessing objects in your personal folders or inbox
To access your folders or your Inbox
1. On the Navigation panel toolbar, click Show Folders.
InfoView folders are displayed in the Navigation panel. By default, My
Folders and Public Folders are displayed.
2. Expand My Folders.
3. Click Favorites or Inbox.
Viewing objects
Viewing objects includes the following tasks:
• “Selecting which objects to display” on page 43
• “Searching for objects” on page 43
• “Selecting which objects to display” on page 43
• “Opening objects for viewing” on page 44
42 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
Selecting which objects to display
By default, when you click to view the contents of a folder or category,
InfoView shows you all of the objects that you have the rights to see. If you
want to limit the type of objects that are displayed to make a search easier,
then you can choose to display only objects of a specific type. Object types
include Crystal reports, Web Intelligence documents, Excel spreadsheets,
PowerPoint presentations, program objects, text files, and many others.
To select the type of objects that are displayed
1. On the Workspace panel toolbar, click Filter.
2. Select the type of object that you want to see.
Tip: To see all of the objects again, select All Types from the Filter list.
Searching for objects
You can do a structured search to find objects in InfoView. A search is
performed in your Favorites folder and all the public folders that you have the
rights to view.
To search for an object
1. On the Header panel toolbar, type the word(s) that you want to locate in
the Search field.
2. Click the list beside the search field to specify your search parameters
with the following criteria:
• all fields
• title
• keyword
You can also click Advanced Search to see additional options that allow
you to search for objects by location, description, owner, type, and the
time when an object was last modified.
3. Click Execute search.
A list of objects that match your search parameters appears.
Working with Objects
Viewing objects
4
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Working with Objects
4
Organizing objects
Opening objects for viewing
If you have View On Demand rights in BusinessObjects Enterprise, and you click
to view a Crystal report, a Web Intelligence document, or a Desktop Intelligence
document, then the system displays the object with the most up-to-date data
from the object’s data source. If you do not have View On Demand rights, then
you can view the latest available instance of the object or any historical
instances. For more information about object instances, see “Scheduling
objects” on page 46.
To view an object
1. Navigate to an object, and click its title to open it.
2. To view the latest instance of an object, click the View Latest Instance
link under the object’s name. To view an older instance, click the History
link, and then click the instance that you want to view.
Tip: If these links are not visible, click the arrow beside the object’s title
to show all of the actions that are available for it.
For more information about viewing objects and object instances, see
“Scheduling objects” on page 46 and “Viewing object history” on page 56.
Changing viewers
Depending on the objects that you want to view, several viewers may be
available for you to use. For more information about object viewers and how
to change them, see “Setting Preferences” on page 23.
Organizing objects
Organizing objects includes the following tasks:
• “Creating folders or categories” on page 44
• “Adding objects to a folder” on page 45
• “Assigning objects to a category” on page 45
• “Sorting objects” on page 46
Creating folders or categories
Folders and categories are typically created for you by your BusinessObjects
Enterprise administrator. However, if you have the necessary rights, you can
also create folders and/or categories for you to use in InfoView.
44 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
To create a folder or category
1. In the Navigation panel, click Show Folders or Show Categories.
2. Go to the folder/category where you want to add a new folder/category.
3. On the Header panel toolbar, click New, and select Folder or Category.
The New Folder or New Category page is displayed.
4. Type a name for the new folder/category.
5. Optionally, you can type a description and/or a keyword for the folder/
category.
Note: You can use keywords to search for objects when you use the
Search feature. For details, see “Searching for objects” on page 43.
6. Click OK.
Adding objects to a folder
You can add objects to a folder by adding new objects to InfoView or, if you
have the necessary rights, publishing objects to BusinessObjects Enterprise.
For details, see “Adding new objects to InfoView” on page 59 and “Publishing
Objects to BusinessObjects Enterprise” on page 105.
To add an object to a folder, you must have access rights to the folder.
Working with Objects
Organizing objects
4
Assigning objects to a category
Like folders, categories can be used to organize objects. You can assign objects
to one or more categories, and you can create subcategories within categories.
BusinessObjects Enterprise includes two types of categories:
• Personal categories
You can create any number of personal categories to organize your
objects in InfoView. The categories that you create appear under
Personal Categories in the Navigation panel.
• Administrative categories
Administrative (or corporate) categories are typically created by the
administrator or the users who have been granted access rights to these
categories. If you have the appropriate rights, you can create
administrative categories.
To assign an object to a category
1. Go to the folder that contains the object that you want to assign.
2. Click the Properties link of the object.
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Scheduling objects
Tip: If the Properties link is not visible, click the arrow beside the object’s
title to show all of the actions that are available for it.
The Properties page appears.
3. In the Categories area, select the categories to which you want to assign
the object.
4. Click OK.
Sorting objects
By default, objects are sorted alphabetically by title. You can reverse this
order, or you can sort the object by last run date, type, or owner.
In the Workspace panel, click the heading of the column by which you want to
sort the objects. For example, to sort the objects by title, click the Title column
heading. To sort the objects by date, click the Last Run column heading.
When you click the column heading, the system sorts the objects in
ascending order. If you click the column heading again, it sorts the objects in
descending order.
Scheduling objects
Scheduling an object allows you to run it automatically at specified times.
When a scheduled object runs successfully, an instance is created. An
instance is a version of the object that contains data from the time that the
object was run.
You can see a list of instances by looking at an object’s history, and you can
view any of the instances. If you have the rights to view objects on demand,
you can view and refresh any instance to retrieve the latest data from the
object’s data source.
By scheduling and viewing instances, you can ensure that the objects have
the most up-to-date information available for viewing, printing, and
distributing.
Note: Before you schedule objects, be sure to check your time zone setting
on the Preferences page in InfoView. (See “Setting Preferences” on page 23.)
The default time zone is local to the web server that runs BusinessObjects
Enterprise, not the CMS to which users connect. Set the time zone to ensure
that your scheduled objects are processed in accordance with the time zone
in which you are working.
46 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
Working with Objects
Scheduling objects
To schedule an object
1. Go to the folder that contains the object that you want to schedule, and
click the object’s Schedule link.
Tip: If the Schedule link is not visible, click the arrow beside the object’s
title to show all of the actions that are available for it.
The Schedule page appears.
4
2. Specify the scheduling options that you want to use. For more information
about each option, see the following sections:
• “Instance title” on page 48
• “When to run a scheduled object” on page 48
• “Database logon information” on page 49
• “Filters” on page 49
• “Destination locations” on page 49
• “Formats” on page 51
• “Print settings” on page 53
• “Server group settings” on page 53
• “Parameters” on page 54
• “Events” on page 54
Note: For some scheduling options, the settings that the administrator
has specified for the object are already selected when you choose that
option. You can schedule an object with these options or choose your
own options.
3. Click Schedule.
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4
Scheduling objects
Instance title
You can type a name to be used for each scheduled instance. Type the name
in the Instance title field.
When to run a scheduled object
This option specifies a schedule for running an object. Each parameter in the
Run object list has its own specific data entry requirements.
The following parameters are available:
• Now
When you click Schedule, the object runs once (immediately).
• Once
This option requires a start time parameter. The object runs once at the
time that you specify.
• Hourly
This option requires information in hours and/or minutes for how
frequently the object is run. Instances are created regularly to match the
parameters that you enter. The first instance is created at the start time
that you specify.
• Daily
This option requires a start time parameter. The object runs once every N
days at the time that you specify.
• Weekly
This option requires a start time parameter. Each week, the object runs
on the selected days at the time that you specify.
• Monthly
This option requires a start date and time, along with a recurrence interval
in months. The object runs on the specified date and time every N months.
• Nth Day of Month
This option requires a day of the month on which the object is run.
Instances are created regularly each month on the day that you enter at
the start time that you specify.
• 1st Monday of Month
This option requires a start time parameter. An instance is created on the
first Monday of each month at the time that you specify.
48 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
• Last Day of Month
This option requires a start time parameter. An instance is created on the
last day of each month at the time that you specify.
• X Day of Nth Week of the Month
This option requires a start time parameter. An instance is created
monthly on a day of a week that you specify.
• Calendar
This option allows you to select a calendar of dates. (Calendars are
customized lists of schedule dates that are created by the
BusinessObjects Enterprise administrator.) An instance is created on
each day that you specify in the calendar.
Database logon information
Some objects require you to log on to a database before you can successfully
schedule them. You can do this on the Schedule page if you have credentials
for the object’s data source.
To schedule an object with database logon information
1. On the Schedule page, expand the Database Logon option.
2. If necessary, change the logon information for the object’s data source.
3. Set any other scheduling parameters as required, and then click Schedule.
Working with Objects
Scheduling objects
4
Filters
If an object includes a record or group selection formula, you can modify it
before you schedule it. Selection formulas help determine what data appears
in a report and may improve performance by eliminating unwanted records.
To schedule an object with a record selection formula
1. On the Schedule page, expand the Filters option.
2. Change the record or group selection formula as necessary.
3. Set other scheduling parameters as required, and then click Schedule.
Destination locations
You can schedule an object instance to be sent to a specific destination on
your computer, on a network, a default file location, email, or FTP. If your
administrator has specified a particular destination for the object, this
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4
Scheduling objects
destination option is displayed. You may be able to update the fields for this
destination, or select a different destination. For many of these destinations,
you must provide additional information.
• Default Enterprise location
If you select this option, the instance is saved to the default BusinessObjects
Enterprise location (the Output File Repository Server).
• Inbox
This option saves the instance to the Output File Repository Server and
to inboxes as specified:
• If you select the Use the Job Server’s defaults option, copies of the
instance are saved to the inboxes that are configured on the job
server.
• If you do not select Use the Job Server’s defaults option, you can
specify the inboxes where you want to save the instance.
• File location
This option saves the instance to the Output File Repository Server and
to the specified file location:
• If you select the Use the Job Server’s defaults option, copies of the
instance are saved to the unmanaged disk location that is configured
on the job server.
• If you do not select Use the Job Server’s defaults option, a copy of
the instance is saved to the file location that you specify.
• FTP server
This option saves the instance to the Output File Repository Server and
to the specified FTP server:
• If you select the Use the Job Server’s defaults option, a copy of the
instance is saved to the FTP server that configured on the job server.
• If you do not select the Use the Job Server’s defaults option, you can
specify the FTP server where you want to save the instance.
• Email recipients
This option saves the instance to the Output File Repository Server and
to the specified email recipients:
• If you select the Use the Job Server’s defaults option, copies of the
instance are emailed to the email recipients that are configured on
the job server.
• If you do not select the Use the Job Server’s defaults option, you can
specify the recipients to whom you want to email copies of the instance.
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Formats
Working with Objects
Scheduling objects
Note: If you select any option other than “Default Enterprise Location” and
choose to use the job server’s default option, then the location must already
be configured on the appropriate job server by your administrator. For more
information, see the BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrator’s Guide.
To specify a destination
1. On the Schedule page, expand the Destination option.
2. In the Destination list, select the destination of your choice.
3. If you do not select the Use the Job Server’s defaults option, enter the
necessary information for the destination that you chose.
For example, if you do not select the Use the Job Server’s defaults option
for Inbox, then you have to specify the user or user group to whom you
want to send the instance of the object that you are scheduling.
4. Set other scheduling parameters as required, and then click Schedule.
Depending on the type of object that you choose to schedule, you can select
the format in which the object’s instance is saved when it is generated by
BusinessObjects Enterprise.
Crystal report formats
For Crystal reports, you can select from the following formats:
• Crystal Reports
• Excel
• Excel (Data Only)
• Word
• Acrobat
• Rich Text
• Plain Text
• Paginated Text
• Tab-separated Text
• Tab-separated Values
• Character-separated Values
Note: When you select a file format other than Crystal Reports (.rpt), the
program attempts to preserve as much of the formatting as the export format
allows. However, you may lose some or all of the formatting that appears in
the report.
4
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Scheduling objects
Note: The difference between Excel and Excel (Data only) is that the Excel
option attempts to preserve the look and feel of your original report, while the
Excel (Data only) options saves only the data, and each cell represents a
field.
Note: The Tab-separated Values format places a tab character between
values; the Character-separated Values format places a specified character
between values. These two formats produce data lists. In contrast, the Tabseparated Text format attempts to preserve the formatting of the report.
Web Intelligence document formats
For Web Intelligence documents, you can select from the following formats:
• Web Intelligence
• Microsoft Excel
• Adobe Acrobat
Desktop Intelligence document formats
For Desktop Intelligence documents, you can select from the following formats:
• Default Publication Format
• Adobe Acrobat
• HTML
• Microsoft Excel
• Rich Text
• Te xt
Publications formats
For Publications, you can select from the following formats:
• Desktop Intelligence
• Microsoft Excel
• Adobe Acrobat
To specify an instance format
1. On the Schedule page, expand the Format option.
2. In the Format list, click the format of your choice.
3. Select additional formatting options as required.
Some format options require you to specify additional formatting options.
These options vary, depending on the format that you selected.
4. Set other scheduling parameters as required, and then click Schedule.
52 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
Print settings
When you schedule a Crystal report or a Desktop Intelligence document, you
can choose to print the object instance once it has been generated. See the
following sections:
• To set the print settings for a Crystal report
• To set the print settings for a Desktop Intelligence document
1. On the Schedule page, expand the Print Settings option.
2. To print the report, select Print a copy of the report in Crystal Reports
3. If you chose to print the report, then specify the additional print settings.
4. Set other scheduling parameters as required, and then click Schedule.
1. On the Schedule page, expand the Print Settings option.
2. Select the Enabled option if you want to enable the settings that you
3. Select the Default Printer option to specify your system’s default printer,
Working with Objects
Scheduling objects
To set the print settings for a Crystal report
format when scheduling check box. If you do not want the report to be
printed, ensure that the Print a copy of the report in Crystal Reports
format when scheduling check box is not selected.
To set the print settings for a Desktop Intelligence document
specify (in step 3).
or select Specify the Printer and provide the appropriate printer
information accordingly.
4
Server group settings
When you schedule an object, you can select the server group that is used by
the system to run the object.
To set the server group settings
1. On the Schedule page, expand the Server Group option.
2. Select the server group option you want:
• Use the first available server
This is the default option. BusinessObjects Enterprise uses the
server that has the most resources free at the time of scheduling.
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Parameters
• Give preference to servers belonging to the selected group
Select a server group from the list. This option attempts to process
the object from the servers that are found within your server group. If
the specified servers are not available, then the object is processed
on the next available server.
• Only use servers belonging to the selected group
This option ensures that BusinessObjects Enterprise uses only the
specified servers that are found within the selected server group. If
all of the servers in the server group are unavailable, then the object
is not processed.
3. Set other scheduling parameters as required, and then click Schedule.
Some objects make use of the parameters feature. Parameters prompt the
user to enter information. For report objects, this information may determine
what data appears in the report. For example, in a report that is used by
sales, there may be a parameter that asks the user to choose a region. When
the user chooses a region, the report displays the results for that specific
region instead of displaying the results for all of the regions in the report.
Note: In Web Intelligence documents, parameters are called prompts.
You can set parameters on the Schedule page. If the object that you schedule
does not contain parameters, then the Parameter option does not appear on
the Schedule page.
To schedule an object with parameters
1. On the Schedule page, expand the Parameters option.
Note: The appearance of the parameter prompts on the Schedule page
may differ from object to object, depending on how the parameter field
was created. Program objects may provide an Argument field instead.
2. Set scheduling parameters as required, and then click Schedule.
Events
Event-based scheduling provides you with additional control when you
schedule objects: you can configure the system so that objects are run only
after a specified event occurs. Working with events consists of two steps:
creating an event and scheduling an object. That is, once you create an
event, you can select it as a dependency when you schedule an object. The
scheduled job is then processed only when that event occurs.
54 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
You create events in Central Management Console (CMC), and then select
the events in InfoView when you schedule objects. For more information
about creating events and the CMC, see the BusinessObjects Enterprise
Administrator’s Guide.
To schedule an object with events
1. On the Schedule page, expand the Events option.
2. To specify an event to trigger the scheduled object, select the event in the
Available Events pane, and then click >.
3. To schedule another event to trigger on completion, click the schedule
event in the Available Schedule Events pane, and then click >.
4. Set other scheduling events as required, and then click Schedule.
Pausing or resuming an instance
You can pause and resume an object’s instance as needed. For example, if a
BusinessObjects Enterprise job server is down for maintenance reasons, you
may want to pause a scheduled instance to prevent the system from running
the object because the object fails when the job server is not running. When
the job server is running again, you can resume the scheduled object.
Note: Pause and resume can be applied only to scheduled instances; that is,
they can be applied only to objects that have a status of Pending or Recurring.
Working with Objects
Scheduling objects
4
To pause and resume an instance
1. Go to the folder that contains the object, and click the object’s History
link.
Tip: If the History link is not visible, click the arrow beside the object’s
title to show all of the actions that are available for it.
The History page appears.
2. Select the check box for the scheduled instance you want to pause.
3. Click Pause.
To resume an instance after pausing it
1. Go to the folder that contains the object, and click the object’s History
link.
2. Select the check box for the paused instance you want to resume.
3. Click Resume.
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Viewing object history
Viewing object history
Viewing object history includes the following tasks:
• “Viewing instances of objects” on page 56
• “Deleting an instance” on page 57
• “Sending objects or instances” on page 58
Viewing instances of objects
You can view the instances of objects such as Crystal reports, Web Intelligence
documents, Desktop Intelligence documents, and object packages.
To view object instances
1. Go to the folder that contains the object that you want to view.
2. To view the latest instance of the object, click the View Latest Instance
link under the object’s name.
Tip: To view an older instance of the object, click the History link, and
then click the link of the instance that you want to view.
Tip: If the View Latest Instance and/or History link is not visible, click the
arrow beside the object’s title to show all of the actions that are available
for it.
The object appears in its associated viewer.
3. If you have View On Demand rights in BusinessObjects Enterprise, you
can click Refresh Page in the report/document viewer toolbar to refresh
the report/document with the latest data from its data source.
Viewing historical instances
BusinessObjects Enterprise saves a history of object instances for scheduled
objects that have been run. The history list is arranged chronologically (with the
most recent instances listed first) and can contain the following information:
• Instance Time
• Title
• Run By
• Parameters
• Format
• Status
• Reschedule
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Working with Objects
Viewing object history
Note: The information that is available depends on the type of object that you
are viewing. For example, the history page for Desktop Intelligence
documents includes Arguments instead of Parameters, and the history page
for object packages includes fewer columns.
To view the history of an object
1. Go to the folder that contains the object, and click the object’s History
link.
Tip: If the History link is not visible, click the arrow beside the object’s
title to show all of the actions that are available for it.
The History page appears.
You can choose to display all of the available instances or only the
instances that you own by selecting the appropriate option from the
check boxes on the upper left corner.
2. Click a link under the Instance Time column to view an object instance.
Tip: Sort instances chronologically by clicking the Instance Time column
heading. Click the column heading again to reverse the sort order. You
can also sort the instances by owner and status by clicking the
appropriate column headings.
When you click to view an object instance, the instance opens in a viewer that
corresponds to the object type.
4
Deleting an instance
You can delete the instances of any object as needed.
To delete an instance
1. Go to the folder that contains the object, and click the object’s History
link.
Tip: If the History link is not visible, click the arrow beside the object’s
title to show all of the actions that are available for the item.
The History page appears.
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Viewing object history
2. Select the check boxes of the instances that you want to delete.
3. Click Delete.
Sending objects or instances
You can use the Send feature to send existing objects or instances of objects
to different locations. You can also send copies of the object/instance or
shortcuts to the object/instance.
To send an object/instance to a location
1. Go to the folder that contains the object that you want to send.
2. Select the check boxes of the objects that you want to send.
Note: To send an instance, click the History link of the object, and select
the check boxes of the instances that you want to send. Select only the
instances with a status of Success or Failed. (Instances with a status or
Recurring or Pending are scheduled and do not contain any data yet.)
3. From the Send list on the Header panel toolbar, select the location where
you want to send the object/instance:
• BusinessObjects Inbox
• Email
• FTP Location
• File Location
Not all types of objects can be sent to all destinations. For more
information, see “Destination locations” on page 49.
The Send page appears.
4. Specify the additional information as required.
For example, if you selected to send the object to a BusinessObjects
Inbox, you must select which users you want to send the object to.
5. Click Submit.
The system sends the objects or instance to the specified destination.
Note: When you use the Send feature, the system does not refresh the data
in the reports. Instead, it sends the existing object, for example, a Word file, or
the existing report instance to the destination.
58 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
Adding new objects to InfoView
In addition to working with the objects that your administrator and/or other
authorized users have added to InfoView, if you have the necessary rights,
you can also create your own objects to add to InfoView.
To add a new object to InfoView, on the Header panel toolbar, click New, and
select the type of object that you want to create. Depending on the type of
object that you selected, the instructions for creating the object may be
different. For example, Web Intelligence documents can be created directly
from within the web browser by selecting an available universe, while OLAP
Intelligence reports require you to create a connection to an OLAP server
before you can create the report.
For instructions on how to create specific object types, see the following
sections:
• “Working with OLAP Intelligence Reports” on page 97
• “Working with Web Intelligence Documents” on page 91
As well, for additional information, consult the BusinessObjects Enterprise
Administrator’s Guide, the Crystal Reports User’s Guide, the Building Reports
with the Web Intelligence Report Panel help, which is available when you
view a Web Intelligence document.
You can also add existing objects to InfoView. For more information, see
“Publishing Objects to BusinessObjects Enterprise” on page 105.
Working with Objects
Adding new objects to InfoView
4
Setting object properties
If you have the necessary access rights, you can change the following
properties for an object:
• Title
• Description
• Keywords
• Categories
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Setting object properties
To set the object properties
1. Go to the folder that contains the object that you want to modify, and click
the object’s the Properties link.
Tip: If the Properties link is not visible, click the arrow beside the object’s
title to show all of the actions that are available for it.
The Properties page appears.
2. Change the title, description, or keywords for the object as needed.
3. In the Categories area, select any categories to which you want the
object to be assigned.
4. Click OK.
60 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
Working with Dashboards
chapter
Working with Dashboards
5
Overview
Overview
In InfoView, you can access My InfoView, a feature that allows you to create
dashboards. A dashboard is a customized view that contains the objects (for
example, reports, documents, and web sites) that a user views on a regular
basis. These objects are displayed according to settings that are defined by
the user. By using My InfoView, you can create a dashboard to personalize
and enhance the way you view your objects in InfoView.
Creating a dashboard
You can create a dashboard to display the web sites, Crystal reports, Web
Intelligence documents, and other objects that you frequently view in
InfoView. To view the dashboard, go to the folder that contains the object and
click its title. (The default name of a dashboard in InfoView is My InfoView and
is, also by default, located in your Favorites folder.)
Note: You can make the dashboard your initial view in InfoView. For details,
see “General preferences” on page 24.
To create a dashboard
1. Log on to InfoView.
2. On the Header panel toolbar, click My InfoView.
The My InfoView page appears.
3. Choose a template.
The templates include frames that determine the layout of the objects in
your dashboard. Each box can contain one object.
4. Click Define Content.
The dashboard properties dialog box appears.
62 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
5. Select the objects that you want to include in the dashboard.
For example, you can include a web address or an object. You can also
specify a header and footer for each box.
6. Click Save.
The system saves the dashboard as My InfoView. The default location of
My InfoView is your Favorites folder.
Editing the dashboard
To edit the dashboard
1. On the Header panel toolbar, click My InfoView.
Tip: Alternatively, you can go to the folder that contains the dashboard,
and click its title to open it.
2. Click Edit.
3. Make your changes to the dashboard.
4. Click Save.
Working with Dashboards
Editing the dashboard
5
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Working with Dashboards
5
Editing the dashboard
64 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
Using Discussions
chapter
Using Discussions
6
Overview
Overview
The Discussions feature enables you to create notes for reports, hyperlinks,
programs, and other objects in InfoView. BusinessObjects Enterprise users
who have the appropriate rights can view the notes or add their own
comments to a discussion thread, which is a series of related notes in a
hierarchical format. You can create a discussion thread or add notes to a
discussion thread for any object to which you have access.
Note: You must have view rights on an object to be able to view that object
and its associated notes. If you are not sure whether or not you have the
appropriate rights, contact your BusinessObjects Enterprise administrator.
Using the Discussions panel
The Discussions panel contains the discussion notes and threads. The panel
appears at the bottom of the InfoView window.
The example shows a Crystal report called World Sales Report. On the left
side of the Discussions panel is a browser that shows all the notes that
belong to the report. The root node is the title of the report. When a user adds
a note, the title of the note appears beneath the title of the report. Users can
then add to the note to form a discussion thread.
66 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
Accessing the Discussions panel
Click Show/Hide the Discussions Panel to expand/collapse the Discussions
panel in InfoView.
Creating a note
You can add notes to any object to which you have viewing rights.
To add a note
1. Log on to InfoView.
2. Go to the folder that contains the object to which you want to add a note,
and click its title to open it.
3. Click Show the Discussions Panel to expand the Discussions panel.
4. Click New Message.
5. In the Subject field, type a heading for your note.
Note: The maximum number of characters that you can use in this field
is 255.
6. In the Message field, type your note.
Note: The maximum number of characters that you can use in this field
is 1000.
7. Optionally, you can select a flag for your note. Click High Importance or
Low Importance.
8. Click Post.
Using Discussions
Using the Discussions panel
6
Replying to a note
On the Discussions panel, click the plus symbol to expand the hierarchy of
notes that are related to the object. You can post a reply to the entire group or
only to the person who posted the note. Notes that you have not yet read
appear in bold.
To reply to a note
1. In the Discussions panel, select the note that you want to edit.
2. Click Reply to Group or Reply to Sender.
Note: If you choose Reply to Group, your reply becomes available to
everyone who has the right to view the notes that are associated with the
object.
BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide 67
Using Discussions
6
Using the Discussions panel
Editing a note
Deleting a note
3. Edit the contents of the Subject field and/or the Message field.
4. Click Post.
You can edit the notes that you have created.
To edit a note
1. In the Discussions panel, select the note that you want to edit.
2. Edit the contents of the Subject field and/or the Message field.
3. Click Post.
Note: You cannot edit notes that were created by other users or notes that
have replies in a discussion thread unless you have administrative rights.
You can delete the notes that you have created.
To delete a note
1. In the Discussions panel, select the note that you want to delete.
2. Click Delete.
Note: You cannot delete notes that were created by other users or notes that
have replies in a discussion thread unless you have administrative rights.
68 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
Using Encyclopedia
chapter
Using Encyclopedia
7
Overview
Overview
Encyclopedia provides business intelligence users with essential information
about their reports. It enables users to answer the following questions:
• What is the purpose of the report?
• What business questions does it help answer?
• How is it best viewed?
• What terms are used in the report and what do they mean?
• What other reports are related to this one?
• What analysis has been used in the report, and how does it work?
Encyclopedia is designed for business user who work in InfoView. It can be
used with BusinessObjects Enterprise objects, such as Crystal reports, OLAP
Intelligence reports, Web Intelligence documents, Adobe Acrobat PDFs,
Microsoft Excel documents, and so on.
Note: In Encyclopedia, the words analytic and report are synonymous.
To use Encyclopedia, you must have a deployment of BusinessObjects
Enterprise Premium.
Accessing Encyclopedia
You access Encyclopedia from within InfoView. When you click to view an
object, you can display the Encyclopedia panel to help you understand and
interpret the contents of the object.
By default, the Encyclopedia panel is not displayed when you open an object.
To view the panel, click Toggle Encyclopedia on the Header panel toolbar.
Encyclopedia appears on the right side of the screen.
70 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
Creating and maintaining Encyclopedia information
Tip: If the Prompts panel or Search panel appears instead of the
Encyclopedia panel, click the panel arrow and select Encyclopedia.
Creating and maintaining Encyclopedia
information
If you have the necessary rights in BusinessObjects Enterprise, you can
make changes to the information in any of the four main parts of
Encyclopedia. See the following sections:
• “Overview tab” on page 71
• “Business questions” on page 72
• “Glossary terms” on page 75
• “Guided analysis” on page 78
For information about your rights to modify Encyclopedia, contact your
BusinessObjects Enterprise administrator.
Using Encyclopedia
7
Overview tab
The Overview tab is the first thing that is displayed on your screen when you
open Encyclopedia.
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Using Encyclopedia
7
Creating and maintaining Encyclopedia information
The Overview tab contains the following information:
• Title
The title of the object.
• Description
A brief summary of the object. Users can read the description to
determine whether or not the object is useful to them.
• Purpose
A more detailed description of the object and its purpose.
• Usage
An explanation of how to use the object. This information can include the
meanings of terms that are used, instructions for the interpretation of charts,
tables, and measures, a description of parameters/prompts, and information
about any guided analysis that may be associated with the object. (For
information about guided analysis, see “Guided analysis” on page 78.)
Editing overview information
To edit overview information
1. In the Encyclopedia panel, click Edit.
2. Click the Overview tab.
Tip: Resize the Encyclopedia panel to view all of the available edit options
by dragging the left side of the panel towards the center of the screen.
3. Modify the information in the Overview fields.
Note: Encyclopedia obtains the information about an object’s title and
description from the object itself, as defined in the Central Management
Server. As a result, you cannot edit the title and description in the panel.
4. Click OK.
Business questions
A business question is a business-oriented query that is answered by one or
more objects in InfoView. Business questions are linked to relevant objects;
by selecting a question, users are given the choice of one or more objects
that help answer the question.
Examples of business questions in the Business Questions tab are shown
below:
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Using Encyclopedia
Creating and maintaining Encyclopedia information
From the Business Questions tab, you can do the following tasks:
• Display the list of objects that are associated with the business questions.
• Create a new business question
• Associate a particular business question with an object in InfoView
• Modify an existing business question
• Delete an existing business question
7
Creating a question
To create a business question
1. In the Encyclopedia panel, click the Business Questions tab.
2. At the bottom of the panel, type a new question in the Business Question
field.
3. Click New.
Encyclopedia adds the question to the Available area.
Note: For this question to be useful to Encyclopedia users, you must
associate it with one or more objects. See “Associating questions with an
object” on page 74 for more information.
4. Click OK.
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7
Creating and maintaining Encyclopedia information
Associating questions with an object
To associate a business question with an object
1. In InfoView, open the object to which you want to associate a question.
2. In Encyclopedia, click Edit.
The Edit page appears.
3. Click the Business Questions tab.
The Selected area displays the questions that are already associated
with the object.
4. Search for the questions you want to associate with the object by
performing one of the following actions:
• Type text in the text box above the Available area, and click Search.
Encyclopedia displays a list of all the questions that contain the text
that you entered.
• Click Search without entering any text to display a list of all available
questions.
5. You can add or remove questions associated with the object:
• To associate a question with the object, click the question in the
Available pane, and then click >.
• To associate all available questions with the object, click >>.
• To remove an associated question from the object, click the question
in the Selected pane, and then click <.
• To remove all associated questions from the object, click <<.
6. Click OK.
74 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
Editing a question
To edit a question
1. In the Available area, select the question you want to modify.
The question is displayed in the Business Question text field.
2. Make your changes to the question.
3. Click Update.
Note: You cannot update a question that is in the Selected area.
Deleting a question
To delete a question
1. If the question that you want to delete is associated with the object that
you are currently viewing, remove the association as described in
“Associating questions with an object” on page 74.
2. In the Available area, select the question you want to delete.
3. Click Delete.
Encyclopedia deletes the business question. This action deletes the
question completely, so it is no longer available for any other objects with
which it may have been associated. Therefore, do not delete a question
from Encyclopedia unless you are sure there is no need for it to be
associated with any other objects.
Using Encyclopedia
Creating and maintaining Encyclopedia information
7
Glossary terms
A glossary term is a definition of a term that is used in the object. These
definitions are maintained in Encyclopedia and are available to all users as
they view objects and navigate around other related objects. Glossary terms
are linked to relevant objects.
Examples of terms in the Glossary Terms tab are shown below:
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Using Encyclopedia
7
Creating and maintaining Encyclopedia information
From the Glossary Terms tab, you can do the following tasks:
• Display a tooltip description of a term by pointing your mouse at the term
• Display a list of objects with which the term is associated.
• Create a new glossary term
• Associate a particular glossary term with an object in InfoView
• Modify an existing glossary term
• Delete an existing glossary term
Creating a term
To create a glossary term
1. In the Encyclopedia panel, click the Glossary Terms tab.
2. At the bottom of the panel, type a new term in the Glossary Term field.
3. In the Description field, type a description for the term.
4. Click New.
Encyclopedia adds the term to the Available area.
Note: For this term to be useful to Encyclopedia users, you must
associate it with one or more objects. See “Associating a glossary term
with an object” on page 76 for more information.
5. Click OK.
Associating a glossary term with an object
To associate a glossary term with an object
1. In InfoView, open the object to which you want to associate a term.
2. In Encyclopedia, click Edit.
76 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
Using Encyclopedia
Creating and maintaining Encyclopedia information
3. Click the Glossary Terms tab.
The Selected area displays the terms that are already associated with the
object.
4. Search for the terms that you want to associate with the object by
performing one of the following actions:
• Type text in the text box above the Available area, and click Search.
Encyclopedia displays a list of all the terms that contain the text that
you entered.
• Click Search without entering any text to display a list of all available
terms.
5. You can add or remove questions associated with the object:
• To associate a question with the object, click the question in the
Available pane, and then click >.
• To associate all available questions with the object, click >>.
• To remove an associated question from the object, click the question
in the Selected pane, and then click <.
• To remove all associated questions from the object, click <<.
6. Click OK.
7
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7
Creating and maintaining Encyclopedia information
Editing a term
To edit a term
1. In the Available area, select the term you want to modify.
The term is displayed in the Glossary Term text field.
2. Make your changes to the term.
3. Click Update.
Note: You cannot update a term that is in the Selected area.
Deleting a term
To delete a term
1. If the term you want to delete is associated with the object that you are
currently viewing, remove the association as described in “Associating a
glossary term with an object” on page 76.
2. In the Available area, select the term you want to delete.
3. Click Delete.
Encyclopedia deletes the glossary term.
This action deletes the term completely, so it is no longer available for any
other objects with which it may have been associated. Therefore, do not
delete a glossary term from Encyclopedia unless you are sure that there is no
need for it to be associated with any other objects.
Guided analysis
Guided analysis provides you with suggested navigation paths—or
storylines—through objects in InfoView. When you view an object, a storyline
suggests other objects that you may want to view and, if possible, displays a
list of the objects in the storyline that lead to the current object that you are
viewing.
An examples of a storylines in the Guided Analysis tab is shown below:
78 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
Using Encyclopedia
Creating and maintaining Encyclopedia information
From the Guided Analysis tab, you can do the following tasks:
• Follow existing storylines
• Create a new storyline
• Modify an existing storyline
• Delete a storyline
7
Following a storyline
To follow a storyline
1. In the Encyclopedia panel, click the Guided Analysis tab.
2. Select the storyline you want to follow from the list.
All the objects in the storyline appear in the order in which they occur,
with the object that you are currently viewing clearly indicated.
3. Click the name of the object that you want to view.
The object appears in its associated viewer.
Creating a storyline
To create a storyline
1. In InfoView, open the object for which you want to create a storyline.
2. Click the Guided Analysis tab.
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7
Creating and maintaining Encyclopedia information
The Edit page appears.
3. In the Storyline Name field, type a title for the storyline.
4. Click New.
Encyclopedia adds the storyline to the list.
5. Search for the objects that you want to add to the storyline by performing
one of the following actions:
• Type text in the field above the Available area, and click Search.
Encyclopedia displays a list of all the objects that contain the text that
you entered in their title.
• Click Search without entering any text to display a list of all available
questions.
6. Add or remove source objects from the storyline:
Note: A source analytic is a report that links to the current report in the
storyline; it occurs earlier in the storyline. A target analytic is a report to
which the current report links; it occurs later in the storyline.
• To add an object to the storyline, click the object’s title in the Source
Analytics Available pane, and then click >.
• To add all available objects to the storyline, click >>.
• To remove an object from the storyline, click the object’s title in the
Source Analytics Selected pane, and then click <.
80 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
• To remove all objects from the storyline, click <<.
7. Use the Target Analytics panes to add or remove target objects from the
storyline in the same way.
8. Click OK.
Editing a storyline
To edit a storyline
1. In the Available area, select the storyline you want to update.
The storyline’s name is displayed in the Storyline Name field and the
objects that are associated with the storyline are displayed in the
Selected areas.
2. Make your changes to the storyline name.
3. Click Update.
4. Change the objects that are associated with the storyline if required, as
described in “Creating a storyline” on page 79.
5. Click OK.
Deleting a storyline
To delete a storyline
1. Select the storyline you want to delete from the list.
2. Click Delete.
Encyclopedia deletes the storyline.
This action deletes the storyline completely, so it is no longer available from
any of the other objects that formed part of the storyline. The objects
themselves are not deleted.
Using Encyclopedia
Creating and maintaining Encyclopedia information
7
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7
Creating and maintaining Encyclopedia information
82 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
Working with Crystal Reports
chapter
Working with Crystal Reports
8
Overview
Overview
When you work with Crystal reports, you can use all of the InfoView features
that are described in “Working with Objects” on page 41.
This section describes additional features that are unique to working with
Crystal reports, such as drilling, viewing alerts, and distributing reports. It also
describes the Crystal Reports Offline Viewer.
Viewing Crystal reports
When you click to view a Crystal report, the report is displayed in a viewer.
Depending on the type of viewer that is deployed and the functions that are
enabled by your BusinessObjects Enterprise administrator, you can perform a
number of different activities. The following section provides information
about the Crystal reports viewer toolbar and gives instructions on how you
can use it to work with your reports.
Note: For information about the specific functions that are available in each
viewer, see “Description of the Crystal report viewers” on page 29.
Crystal Reports viewer toolbar
Option Description
Export this report
Exports the Crystal report to your local machine or to a
location on a network.
Print this report
Prints the report.
Show/Hide Group Tree
Shows/hides the group tree. When the group tree is
displayed, you can use it to navigate through the data in
your report.
Navigation
Allows you to move through the pages of a report. Go to
Next Page, Go to Previous Page, Go to First Page, and
Go to Last Page are available options.
84 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
Option Description
Drilling reports
You can drill down on report data to show the data beneath charts and
summarized groups. Click the chart or summarized data to see a drilled down
view.
To drill down Crystal reports
1. Open the report that you want to view.
2. In the Crystal report viewer, click links in the report to drill down to more
information.
Tip: You can also use the group tree and/or toolbar to navigate to
different areas of the report.
Working with Crystal Reports
Drilling reports
Refresh Page
Obtains the most up-to-date data from the report’s data
source. You must have the necessary rights, and the
report must contain the necessary data source
information, before you can refresh the report.
Search for text
Allows you to search for the specific instance of a text.
Zoom
Allows you to zoom in or out on a report.
8
Looking at alerts
BusinessObjects Enterprise tracks report instances that trigger Alerts.
Alerts are custom messages that are created in Crystal Reports. When you
view a report, they appear when certain conditions are met by report data.
Alerts provide more information about the report data or prompt the user to
perform an action.
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Working with Crystal Reports
8
Distributing reports
To view alerts in Crystal reports
1. In InfoView, go to the folder/category that contains the Crystal report that
you want to view.
2. Click Alerts.
The Alerts page appears.
Note: You can click Alerts only for reports that contain Alerts. The Alerts
page displays only the instances that triggered the alert.
3. Click the title to launch the report instance in a Crystal report viewer.
Distributing reports
You can distribute Crystal reports in one of the following ways:
• Printing
• Exporting
Note: If you have the rights to schedule reports, you can also distribute
reports by scheduling them directly to a disk location, an email, FTP, or a
printer. For details, see “Destination locations” on page 49.
Printing reports
You can print successful instances of reports or reports that you view on
demand.
Note: Depending on the Crystal report viewer that you use, the steps that are
detailed below may be different; however, the general principles for printing
reports remain the same.
Note: If there are on-screen instructions that are provided, follow those
instructions instead of the steps that are described below.
86 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
To print Crystal reports
1. Open the document that you want to view.
2. On the viewer toolbar, click Print Report.
The Print dialog box appears.
3. In the Print range area, select all pages or type a specific range of pages.
4. In the Copies area, select the number of copies that you want to print.
Tip: If you select the Collate option, the pages are printed in order. (For
example, if you are printing two copies of a report that has four pages,
your report prints pages one, two, three, and four of the first copy, and
then prints pages one, two, three, and four of the second copy.)
5. Click OK.
Exporting reports
You can export successful instances of reports, as well as the reports that you
view on demand, to several formats to facilitate the distribution of information.
For example, you can export data the predicts sales trends to an Excel
spreadsheet and then email it to the sales team.
Tip: You can select the page range for the report that you wish to export.
Tip: For reports in which you can drill down, you can export the drilled down
view.
Working with Crystal Reports
Distributing reports
8
Format types
BusinessObjects Enterprise provides you with several export format types:
• Crystal Reports
• Microsoft Excel
• Microsoft Excel (Data only)
• Microsoft Word
• Rich Text Format
• Adobe Acrobat
Note: When you export a report to a file format other than Crystal Reports
format (.rpt), you may lose some or all of the formatting that appears in your
report. However, the program attempts to preserve as much formatting as the
export format allows.
Note: The difference between Excel and Excel (Data only) is that Excel
attempts to preserve the look and feel of your original report.
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Working with Crystal Reports
8
Crystal Reports Offline Viewer
Note: The Crystal Reports Offline Viewer provides other formats to which
you can export your reports. For more information, see the Crystal Reports
User’s Guide.
Crystal Reports Offline Viewer
The Crystal Reports Offline Viewer is a report viewer that is installed locally
on your computer. You can use this viewer to look at the Crystal reports that
you have downloaded without being connected to BusinessObjects
Enterprise.
The Crystal Reports Offline Viewer allows you to do the following tasks:
• Print or export your report.
• Select the data that you want to view.
• Drill down for more detail in the report.
• Sort the data in the report you want to view.
• View multiple reports.
88 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
Working with Crystal Reports
Crystal Reports Offline Viewer
The Crystal Reports Offline Viewer functions similarly to Crystal Reports. For
more information about the tasks that you can perform with the Crystal
Reports Offline Viewer (selecting records, sorting records, graphing, choosing
Top N values, and so on), access the online help from the Crystal Reports
Offline Viewer Help menu.
Installing the Crystal Reports Offline Viewer
Contact your administrator for a copy of the program that installs the Crystal
Reports Offline Viewer. Once the viewer is installed, it resides locally as a
client-side viewer.
To install the Crystal Reports Offline Viewer
1. Run the Crystal Reports Offline Viewer installation program that is
provided by your administrator.
2. Follow the instructions on your screen and accept the default values
when possible.
3. When the installation is done, click Finish.
Launching the Crystal Reports Offline Viewer
8
The Crystal Reports Offline Viewer is launched when you select a Crystal
report (.rpt) file from your machine and double-click it.
Note: If Crystal Reports is installed on your computer, it takes precedence
over the Crystal Reports Offline Viewer and displays your reports by default.
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8
Crystal Reports Offline Viewer
90 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
Working with Web Intelligence Documents
chapter
Working with Web Intelligence Documents
9
Overview
Overview
When you work with Web Intelligence documents, you can use all of the
InfoView features that are described in “Working with Objects” on page 41.
This section describes additional features that are unique to working with
Web Intelligence documents, such as drilling, responding to prompts, and
editing queries.
Viewing Web Intelligence documents
When you click to view a Web Intelligence document, the document appears in a
viewer. Depending on the type of viewer that is deployed and the functions that
are enabled by your BusinessObjects Enterprise administrator, you can perform
a number of different activities. The following sections provide information about
the Web Intelligence toolbar and give instructions on how to work with the
navigation map, display user prompts, find text, and drill down data in your Web
Intelligence documents.
Web Intelligence toolbar
Option Description
Document actions
Allows you to edit or save the document.
View
Allows you to choose a view mode and show/hide the
left panel.
Save
Saves the document.
Find
Allows you to search for text in the document.
Undo
Reverses the previous action.
Redo
Reverses the undo action.
Zoom
Allows you to zoom in or out on the document.
92 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
Option Description
Navigation
Allows you to move through the pages of a document.
Go to Next Page, Go to Previous Page, Go to First
Page, and Go to Last Page are available options.
Refresh
Obtains the most up-to-date data from the document’s
data source. You must have the necessary rights, and
the document must contain the necessary data source
information before you can refresh the document.
Start/End Drill mode
Allows you to drill to data beneath charts.
Snapshot
Takes a picture of the screen during Drill mode. The
picture is saved on a tab for you to view at a later time.
Displaying the navigation map
The navigation map allows you to navigate to the reports that are contained in
your Web Intelligence document.
Working with Web Intelligence Documents
Viewing Web Intelligence documents
9
To display the navigation map
1. Open the document that you want to view.
2. Click View, and select Left panel.
3. From the left panel list, select Navigation Map.
Displaying user prompts
Prompts ask users to enter information. For Web Intelligence documents, this
information may determine what data appears in the document. For example,
in a document that is used by sales, there may be a prompt that asks the user
to choose a region. When the user chooses a region, the document displays
the results for that specific region instead of displaying the results for all of the
regions in the document.
To display user prompts
1. Open the document that you want to view.
2. Click View, and select Left panel.
3. From the left panel list, select User Prompt Input.
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9
Viewing Web Intelligence documents
Finding text in documents
You can search for text in your documents.
To find text
1. Open the document that you want to view.
2. Click Find.
The Find options appear in the left panel.
3. In the Find field, type the text you want to locate.
4. Select Match whole word and/or Match case.
5. Select the direction of the search: Up or Down.
6. Click Find Next.
Drilling documents
You can drill down on document data to show the data beneath charts and
summarized groups.
To drill document data
1. Open the document that you want to view.
2. Click Start Drill mode, and then click links in the document to drill down
to more information.
3. Click Add Drill Filter.
Filter options appear in a list.
4. Select a filter to apply to your drill session.
5. Click Snapshot to take a picture of the drilled view.
The snapshot is saved as a tab in the viewer.
6. Click the tab to view the snapshot.
7. Click End Drill mode to end the drill session.
94 BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2 InfoView User’s Guide
Working with Web Intelligence Documents
Creating Web Intelligence documents
Creating Web Intelligence documents
You can create Web Intelligence documents by selecting a universe in InfoView
and building one or more queries to define the data content of the documents.
Each universe maps to a database that contains business information. When
you connect to a universe, Web Intelligence automatically launches the
document editor that is selected in the Web Intelligence Document preferences
page in InfoView. For more information about the Web Intelligence Document
preferences page, see “Setting Preferences” on page 23.
Selecting a universe for a new document
To select a universe for a new document
1. In InfoView, click New, and select Web Intelligence Document.
The New Web Intelligence Document page appears.
2. Click the universe that you want to use as the data source for your
document.
Note: You can specify a default universe for Web Intelligence to use
when you create a Web Intelligence document. See “Selecting a default
universe” on page 39.
The Web Intelligence report panel opens.
9
3. Build one or more queries to use in your document.
Note: For instructions on how to use the report panel to build queries for
Web Intelligence documents, see the Building Queries Using the Web
Intelligence HTML Query Panel Guide.
4. Click Run Query.
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Creating Web Intelligence documents
Editing queries in existing documents
You can edit the queries on which your Web Intelligence documents are
based. By editing the queries, you can modify the data definitions of your
documents to match changes in your corporate data and business needs.
To edit queries while viewing documents
1. Open the document that you want to view.
2. Click Document actions, and then select Edit.
The report appears and displays the queries that are defined for the
document.
For information on how to modify the queries, see the Building Queries Using
the Web Intelligence HTML Query Panel Guide.
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Working with OLAP Intelligence Reports
chapter
10
Working with OLAP Intelligence Reports
Overview
Overview
OLAP Intelligence is a designer that allows you to create OLAP reports. If you
have a connection to a BusinessObjects Enterprise system that has OLAP
Intelligence installed, you can create, view, and manage OLAP reports from
your web browser—you do not need to install OLAP Intelligence on your local
machine.
To view OLAP Intelligence reports in InfoView, you must have one of the
following system deployments:
• BusinessObjects Enterprise Premium with OLAP Intelligence installed on
the BusinessObjects Enterprise server.
• BusinessObjects Enterprise Professional and OLAP Intelligence installed
on the BusinessObjects Enterprise server.
You can use the Interactive Viewer to create a report and analyze your data
from within InfoView. (You select viewers for OLAP Intelligence reports on the
Preferences page in InfoView. For more information, see “OLAP Intelligence
preferences” on page 27.) The various functions that are available in OLAP
Intelligence, such as the ability to format, sort, and filter data, are also
available in the Interactive Viewer.
For more information about the features of OLAP Intelligence, see the OLAP
Intelligence User’s Guide, which is available in the
product distribution.
docs directory of the
Connecting to an OLAP server
Before you can create an OLAP report in InfoView, you must create a new
connection or open an existing connection to an OLAP server. If you try to
create an OLAP report before any server connections are established, the
following error message appears:
No connections defined.
Creating a connection to an OLAP server
You can create a new server connection if you have the “Add objects to the
folder” permission in BusinessObjects Enterprise.
To create an OLAP server connection
1. Log on to InfoView.
2. On the Header panel toolbar, click New, and select OLAP Intelligence
Connection.
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Connecting to an OLAP server
3. Type a title and a description for your connection.
4. Select the type of OLAP connection that you want to create. You can
choose from the following connection types:
• Hyperion Essbase (7.0, 7.1)/IBM DB2 OLAP (8.2) Enhanced
• IBM DB2 OLAP Server (Legacy)
• Hyperion Essbase (Legacy)
• Microsoft OLE DB Provider for OLAP Services
• Microsoft OLE DB Provider for OLAP Services 8.0
5. Complete the remaining fields to configure your server connection. (For
details, see “Data source connection settings” on page 101.)
6. Click Test Connection to verify whether or not your connection details
are valid.
7. Click OK.
If the connection is successfully made, a confirmation message appears,
and a link to the connection listing page is displayed.
8. Click the link.
A list of available connections to OLAP servers is displayed.
10
Editing a connection to an OLAP server
You can edit the settings of an existing connection to an OLAP server if you
have the necessary folder rights.
To change an OLAP server connection settings
1. Log on to InfoView.
2. On the Header panel toolbar, click New, and select OLAP Intelligence
Report.
A list of available connections to OLAP servers is displayed. An arrow
appears beside the name of each connection.
Note: If no connections are listed, then you must create a new OLAP
server connection. For more information, see “Creating a connection to
an OLAP server” on page 98.
3. Click the arrow beside the name of the server connection that you want to
edit to display a list of available actions.
Note: If you do not have the “Add objects to the folder” permission in
BusinessObjects Enterprise, you cannot edit a server connection; the
Edit function is unavailable.
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Working with OLAP Intelligence Reports
Creating OLAP reports
4. Click Edit to display the OLAP Connection page.
You can now change the contents of any of the fields to reconfigure the
OLAP server connection. (For details, see “Data source connection
settings” on page 101.)
5. Click Test Connection to verify whether or not your connection details
are valid.
6. Click OK.
Deleting a connection to an OLAP server
To delete an OLAP server connection
1. Log on to InfoView.
2. On the Header panel toolbar, click New, and then select OLAP
Intelligence Report.
A list of available connections to OLAP servers is displayed.
3. Select the check box beside the name of the OLAP connection that you
want to delete.
4. Click Delete.
Creating OLAP reports
To create an OLAP report, you must first create a connection to an OLAP
server or ensure that there is an existing connection that is available for you
to use. For details, see “Creating a connection to an OLAP server” on
page 98.
To create an OLAP report
1. Log on to InfoView.
2. On the Header panel toolbar, click New, and then select OLAP
Intelligence Report.
A list of available connections to OLAP servers is displayed.
3. Click an OLAP server connection.
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