BusinessObjects Performance
Manager User Guide
BusinessObjects Performance Manager 3.1
Windows
Copyright
© 2008 Business Objects, an SAP company. All rights reserved. Business Objects
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2008-09-03
Contents
Performance Manager 7Chapter 1
About this documentation............................................................................8
Goals Management in Performance Manager.............................................9
My Goals in Performance Manager...........................................................20
Strategy Builder in Performance Manager................................................23
Metrics in Performance Manager..............................................................41
Viewing available goals in Goals Management....................................10
Creating a goal in Performance Manager............................................13
Removing a goal in Goals Management..............................................18
Editing a goal in Goals Management...................................................18
Copying a goal in Goals Management.................................................19
Refreshing a goal in Goals Management.............................................19
Purging a goal in Goals Management..................................................19
Publishing a goal in Goals Management..............................................19
The goals list in My Goals....................................................................20
Contents of a goal in My Goals............................................................21
The Home tab in Strategy Builder .......................................................23
The Strategy tab in Strategy Builder ...................................................29
The Catalog tab in Strategy Builder ....................................................36
The Organization in Strategy Builder...................................................37
Create Role wizard...............................................................................39
Displaying information about an existing metric...................................42
Publishing a metric in Performance Manager......................................42
Purging the metric history.....................................................................43
Metric attributes....................................................................................44
Performance Manager repository tables..............................................47
BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide 3
Contents
The Create Metric wizard ....................................................................47
Troubleshooting metrics.......................................................................54
Aggregation functions...........................................................................54
Metric Trees in Performance Manager......................................................55
What makes up a metric tree?.............................................................56
Building a metric tree............................................................................56
Sliced metrics in metric trees...............................................................58
Previewing a metric tree.......................................................................59
Saving a metric tree as an analytic......................................................59
Editing a metric tree.............................................................................61
Copying a metric tree...........................................................................61
Removing a metric tree........................................................................62
Setting properties for metric trees........................................................62
Adding metric trees to dashboards......................................................68
Emailing metric trees............................................................................70
Linking metric trees..............................................................................71
Rules in Performance Manager.................................................................73
Rule information...................................................................................73
Managing rules in Performance Manager............................................74
Creating and editing rules in Performance Manager............................75
Variables in action formulas of Performance Manager rules..............132
Goal & Metric Publishing Wizard.............................................................135
The Strategy step of the Goal & Metric Publishing Wizard................135
The Who step of the Goal & Metric Publishing Wizard......................136
The What panel of the Goal & Metric Publishing Wizard...................137
The When panel of the Goal & Metric Publishing Wizard..................138
The Actions step of the Goal & metric publishing wizard...................138
The Summary panel of the Goal & metric publishing wizard.............140
Goal and strategy analytics in Performance Manager.............................141
Goal....................................................................................................142
Goal Subscriptions.............................................................................143
4 BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide
Contents
Map....................................................................................................144
Metric List...........................................................................................148
Metric Tree.........................................................................................151
Metrics Overview................................................................................158
Pareto Chart.......................................................................................160
Strategy Map......................................................................................164
Analytic display modes.......................................................................169
Creating an analytic based on an existing analytic............................172
Sample metric analytics.....................................................................172
Sample statistical analytics................................................................184
Linking from goal, universe query and metric-based analytics................190
Linking to multiple documents from an analytic based on a goal, metric
or universe query................................................................................190
Linking from a goal, metric or universe query-based analytic to a document
or analytic...........................................................................................192
Using variables for dynamic links to documents................................194
Sending information to the Viewer analytic in a dashboard using
openAnalytic.......................................................................................234
Performance Manager Terms..................................................................236
A - F....................................................................................................236
G - M..................................................................................................244
N - Z...................................................................................................256
Get More Help 265Appendix A
Index 269
BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide 5
Contents
6 BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide
Performance Manager
1
Performance Manager
1
About this documentation
BusinessObjects Performance Manager helps an organization communicate
strategy, manage performance, and provide users with the key information
they need for making decisions.
Using Performance Manager, you create a goal based on metrics. You create
and reuse decision and analysis workflows to facilitate the analysis and
resolution of common business problems.
Performance Manager has the following tabs:
• Goals Management
Click the Goals Management tab to add new goals, or view, remove, edit,
copy, or publish an existing goal.
• My Goals
The My Goals tab shows scorecards providing an intuitive, visual way to
track achievement against key performance targets with stoplights, trend
arrows, and key metric values.
• Strategy Builder
Strategy Builder helps you assign new actions and owners. Owners are
individuals or groups of people, and each owner has the ability to choose
all parameters surrounding the goal and associated groups.
• Metrics
Create metrics to measure performance.
• Metric Trees
Use metric trees to organize visually goals and metrics.
• Rules
Use Rules to monitor activities.
About this documentation
This documentation introduces you to Performance Manager, the
measurement system you use to track goal achievement and improve
strategic planning.
Performance Manager helps you:
• define goals
8 BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide
Performance Manager
Goals Management in Performance Manager
• know when goals are not being met
• utilize feedback to improve planning
Goals Management in Performance
Manager
A goal lets you measure performance based on a specific metric. Metrics
measure actual values, and goals represent ideal targets for their related
metrics. A specific target value and, optionally, a tolerance range around the
target value define a goal.
A goal inherits key information from its metric:
• the goal status based on metric performance
• the calendar
For example, a goal based on a monthly metric follows monthly intervals
and a goal based on a fiscal week metric follows fiscal week intervals.
• the type
1
For example, a goal based on a Revenue metric is typed as "Increase is
Good".
A metric can have multiple goals associated with it. For example, a metric
can have plan, forecast and benchmark goals.
You can perform the following actions in the "Goals Management" page:
• View available goals
• Add goals
• Remove goals
• Edit goals
• Copy goals
• Refresh goals
• Purge a goal
• Publish a goal
Note:
Click Close to exit the "Goals Management" page.
BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide 9
Performance Manager
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Goals Management in Performance Manager
Viewing available goals in Goals Management
There are panes in the "Goals Management" page:
• The left-hand pane for managing goals.
• The right-hand pane displays goal analytics.
The left-hand pane in the Performance Manager Goals Management
The left-hand pane in the Performance Manager "Goals Management" page
displays the following information:
• a list of universes for which goals are available, or for which you can
create goals
From the list, select the universe on which you want to create a goal or
whose existing goals you want to view.
• a list of available goals in the selected universe
The list of available goal displays:
• the goal name
• the metric on which the goal is based
• the goal type
In the left-hand pane, you can perform the following actions:
• Add goals
• Remove goals
• Edit a goal
• Copy a goal
• Refresh goals
• Purge goals
• Publish goals
Related Topics
• Creating a goal in Performance Manager on page 13
10 BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide
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Goals Management in Performance Manager
The right-hand pane in the Performance Manager Goals Management
The right-hand pane in the Performance Manager "Goals Management" page
displays the analytic related to the goal selected in the left-hand pane. You
can select the time period to display by sliding the start and finish dates in
the "Time Slider".
You can perform the following actions on analytics in this pane:
• Add analytics to My Dashboard
• Edit the default properties of an analytic
• Email an analytic to a person or group.
• Save an analytic.
• Refresh an analytic with the latest values in the database
Add to My Dashboard
When previewing a goal on the Performance Manager Goals Management
page, click Add to My Dashboard to add the goal to a My Dashboard tab.
Refer to the Dashboard Builder documentation for more information on My
Dashboard.
1
Edit
Click Edit in the Performance Manager Goals Management right-hand pane
to edit the default view of the goal.
Under Graph properties, you can customize:
• Select one of the following views from the list: Variance or Deviation.
• Optionally, enter a title for the goal.
• If you select Use title as hyperlink to go to, enter a URL. This action
creates a link on the goal title.
• To display the trend, select Show goal trend.
• To display the acceptable, tolerance, and unacceptable zones in green,
yellow and red respectively, select Show GYR zones in background.
• To display percentages instead of absolute values, select Show percent
of goal.
Under Time window, you can select one of the following options for the time
slider:
• Show all goal span to display the goal span defined during goal creation.
BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide 11
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Goals Management in Performance Manager
• Show only the last x metric values in goal span, where x is a value
you select from the list.
If you change the default view properties, click Save as Default View to
save the changes and return to the view analytic pane, or click Cancel to
return to the pane without saving any changes.
Click Email in the Performance Manager Goals Management right-hand
pane to send the selected goal to other users by email.
Note:
You need to have an SMTP server defined in Dashboard and Analytics
System Setup. Refer to the Dashboard and Analytics Setup documentation
for details.
Save or Save As
Click Save or Save as to save your goal as an analytic. The Save an Analytic
section appears. The following options are available:
• In the General section:
• Title - Choose or edit the title for the goal.
• Description - Enter text that describes the goal.
• Keywords - Enter keywords that help locate the goal during a search.
• Display Mode - Select the type of display for the goal analytic.
• Refresh - Choose whether to refresh the goal manually or automatically
when it is opened.
• Overwrite - Choose whether to overwrite an analytic with the same
name when saving.
• Location
Select the folder or subfolder in which to save the analytic.
• Categories
Assign the analytic to a Personal or Corporate category in InfoView.
Refresh
To refresh the values in a selected goal, click Refresh in the Performance
Manager Goals Management right-hand pane.
12 BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide
Goals Management in Performance Manager
Creating a goal in Performance Manager
A goal is defined with a metric and target value. The "New Goal" wizard takes
you through the process of creating a goal.
1. In Performance Manager > Goals Management, select a universe in
which to create a goal.
2. Click Add.
The "New Goal" wizard launches.
Related Topics
• The New Goal wizard in Performance Manager on page 13
The New Goal wizard in Performance Manager
The "New Goal" wizard has the following steps:
• "Name and Metric"
• "Auto-fill and Tolerance"
• "Edit Values"
Performance Manager
1
Setting the name and metric for a goal
1. In the "Name and Metric" step of the Performance Manager "New Goal"
wizard, type a name for the new goal.
2. Select a goal type from the list.
Several goals can share a common type. You can also add, remove, or
edit a goal type by clicking Edit types.
3. To select the metric to associate with the goal, click Select a Metric.
4. In the "Select a Metric" dialog box, select a metric from the list of available
metrics.
Once you select the metric, you see the actual trend displayed with the
calendar that it uses, and the unit and dimension on which it is based.
Note:
Make sure the goal is based on the same calendar as its metric.
5. Click the goal span calendar icons to select the start and end dates.
BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide 13
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Goals Management in Performance Manager
For example, define dates based on a quarterly goal or four-year goals.
Note:
You can leave the end period unspecified. If you do this the last period
retrieved from the query determines the end of the goal.
6. Click Next to go to the "Auto-fill and Tolerance" step.
Related Topics
• Setting the auto-fill and tolerance for a goal on page 14
Setting the auto-fill and tolerance for a goal
In the Auto-fill and Tolerance step of the Performance Manager "New Goal"
wizard, you do the following:
• Set the auto-fill
• Set the tolerance
Note:
Setting the tolerance for a goal is optional.
Related Topics
• What is tolerance? on page 262
Selecting the data source on auto-fill and tolerance in the Performance Manager New Goal wizard
In the Auto-fill and Tolerance step of the Performance Manager "New Goal"
wizard, you can select one of the following from the dropdown list:
• Auto-Fill
• Universe query
Related Topics
• Setting the auto-fill on a goal in the Performance Manager New Goal
wizard on page 14
• Creating a goal using a universe query on page 16
Setting the auto-fill on a goal in the Performance Manager New Goal wizard
Auto-fill describes the way in which a goal’s target values are defined.
14 BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide
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Goals Management in Performance Manager
1. In the "Auto-fill and Tolerance" step of the Performance Manager "New
Goal" wizard, select Auto-fill from the dropdown list.
2. The default is "Period to Period Change". Choose the most appropriate
method to help you fill the goal values:
• Constant value for a goal that remains flat over time.
• Period to Period Change for a goal that follows a straight line slanting
up or down over time.
• Period to Period Percent Change for a goal that follows an
exponential curve going up or down over time.
• Year to Year Change for a goal that follows a straight line from year
to year.
• Year to Year Percent Change for a goal that follows an exponential
curve going up or down from year to year.
3. Select the goal values as follows:
• For "Constant value" goals, enter the first value of the goal, or click
Use metric history to select the first date for the goal range. Select
the date that corresponds to the beginning of the goal range. In the
Apply percentage field, enter or select the percentage of the metric
value to be used for the first goal value.
1
For example, if you want the first goal value equal to 90% of the metric
value on 1/1/2005, select 1/1/2005 from the metric history, enter 90%
in the Apply percentage field and click OK. The first goal value is
calculated and entered in the "First Value" field.
• For "Period to Period Change" goals, enter the first value of the goal,
or click Use metric history to select the first date for the goal range.
For the last value of the range:
• Select Last value is known if the last value of the goal range is
known. Enter the last value of the goal, or click Use metric history
to select the first date for the goal range.
• Deselect Last value is known if the last value of the goal range
is not known. In the "Change" field, enter the change in goal for
the period.
• For "Period to Period Percent Change" goals, enter the first value of
the goal, or click Use metric history to select the first date for the
goal range. For the last value of the range:
BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide 15
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Goals Management in Performance Manager
Select Last value is known if the last value of the goal range is
•
known. Enter the last value of the goal, or click Use metric history
to select the first date for the goal range.
• Deselect Last value is known if the last value of the goal range
is not known. Enter the percent of change for the goal over the
goal period.
• For "Year to Year Change" goals, enter the change in value of the
goal from year to year.
• For "Year to Year Percent Change" goals, enter the percentage of
change in the goal value from year to year.
4. Do one of the following:
• Set the tolerance for the goal.
• Click Next to go the "Complete" step.
Related Topics
• Setting the goal tolerance in the Performance Manager New Goal wizard
on page 17
Creating a goal using a universe query
Universe query lets you create a query on a universe. You can analyze goals
imported from external data sources. For example, if you have budget targets
stored in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, you can use that data to create a
universe. From the universe you build a goal call "Budget" and then use an
analytic like the Interactive Metric Trend to analyze the targets against real
expenditure.
Note:
To set a tolerance for your goal, include a measure that calculates the
percentage tolerance you want for the goal. For example, if you want a
tolerance of 10% for a [Budget] measure, you would create the [Budget]
measure and then create a second measure based on the following
calculation: [Budget]*1.1 that you could name "Tolerance 10%".
1. In the "Auto-fill and Tolerance" step of the "New Goal" wizard, select
Universe query from the dropdown list.
2. Click Define query.
a. Select a universe.
b. Select objects in the "Universe Objects" list and click the arrow button
to add the items to the "Results Objects" list.
16 BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide
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Goals Management in Performance Manager
Note:
If the universe does not include date prompts, you must select a date
object and at least one measure object for the target value. You can
select other measure objects for the tolerance values.
c. Select filters in the "Universe Objects" list and click the arrow button
to add the items to the "Query Filters" list.
d. Click OK.
3. Select the target.
4. Optionally, select the target green "Upper tolerance".
5. Optionally, if you are setting a bi-polar goal, select a yellow "Upper
tolerance" level.
6. Select the date.
7. Optionally, select the date for the green "Upper tolerance" and yellow
"Upper tolerance" levels.
8. If the goal is based on a sliced metric, select the dimension.
9. Click Next to go the "Complete" step of the wizard.
Setting the goal tolerance in the Performance Manager New Goal wizard
1
When you specify a tolerance, you must define a range of values between
which the metric's performance is acceptable.
1. In the "Tolerance" step of the Performance Manager "New Goal" wizard,
select a tolerance from the list:
• No Tolerance
The goal has a fixed value and no tolerance.
• Percentage of Goal Value
Specify the upper and lower tolerance percentage values.
• Absolute Value
Specify two absolute values for the tolerance.
2. Click Next to go the "Complete" step of the wizard.
Completing the creation of a goal in the New Goal wizard
In the "Complete" step in the Performance Manager "New Goal" wizard, you
can overwrite the target values that were generated by the wizard.
BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide 17
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Goals Management in Performance Manager
1. Select one of the following options:
• Keep auto-filled values
• Manual entry to change auto-filled values.
Note:
If you created a goal based on a universe query, you have no values to
correct.
2. Click Finish to create and complete the goal.
The goal is displayed in an analytic in the right-hand pane.
3. If you are defining a goal based on a universe query, you need to refresh
the goal.
Related Topics
• Refreshing a goal in Goals Management on page 19
Removing a goal in Goals Management
1. In Performance Manager > Goals Management, select the universe on
which the goal is based.
2. Select from the list of available goals the goal you want to remove.
3. Click Remove.
4. Click OK to permanently delete the goal, or Cancel to cancel the deletion.
Editing a goal in Goals Management
1. In Performance Manager > Goals Management, select the universe on
which the goal is based.
2. Select from the list of available goals the goal you want to edit.
3. Click Edit.
4. Use the "Edit Goal" wizard to edit your goal. The steps of the "Edit Goal"
wizard are the same as those in the "New Goal" wizard.
Related Topics
• The New Goal wizard in Performance Manager on page 13
18 BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide
Goals Management in Performance Manager
Copying a goal in Goals Management
1. In Performance Manager > Goals Management, select the universe on
which the goal is based.
2. Select the goal you want to copy.
3. Click Copy.
A copy of the selected goal appears in the list of available goals. By
default, its name is "Copy of <the name of the original goal>".
4. To change the name or other attributes of the copy, refer to the topic on
editing a goal.
Related Topics
• Editing a goal in Goals Management on page 18
Refreshing a goal in Goals Management
Performance Manager
1
1. In Performance Manager > Goals Management,select the universe on
which the goal is based.
2. Select the goal you want to refresh.
3. Click Refresh.
Purging a goal in Goals Management
1. In Performance Manager > Goals Management,select the universe on
which the goal is based.
2. Select the goal you want to purge.
3. Click Purge.
Publishing a goal in Goals Management
1. In Performance Manager > Goals Management,select the universe on
which the goal is based.
2. Select the goal you want to publish.
BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide 19
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My Goals in Performance Manager
3. Click Publish to launch the "Goal & Metric Publishing Wizard".
Note:
Even after the goal is published, it can still be reused. You can edit and
republish the goal as often as you want.
Related Topics
• Goal & Metric Publishing Wizard on page 135
My Goals in Performance Manager
The "My Goals" page in Performance Manager helps you to:
• monitor the performance of key metrics against established targets
• access historical details about metric performance
• exchange information with co-workers
To view the contents of a goal, select a goal in the goals list.
Note:
To add the "My Goals" list to a dashboard, use the Goals Subscription
analytic. For information refer to the Performance Manager documentation.
Related Topics
• Contents of a goal in My Goals on page 21
The goals list in My Goals
The goals list in Performance Manager > My Goals shows your goals and
their goal trend and status.
You can do the following:
• click a goal in the list to view its contents
• sort the goals list
Types of goals list sort
Sort the goals list by:
• Priority
20 BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide
• Date
• Strategy
• Status
• Subject
• Type
• Roles
Contents of a goal in My Goals
You can see the following for each goal:
• Title and date sent bar
• "Insight" tab
• "Collaborate" tab
My Goals Insight tab
The "Insight" tab for a goal in Performance Manager > My Goals contains
the following information for the goal:
• the strategy
• the recipients for the goal
• the goal owner
• one or more analytics that contain the following:
• Goal status
• Goal trend
• the target value
• the actual value
• Recommended actions
Performance Manager
My Goals in Performance Manager
1
Recommended actions in goals
In Performance Manager a goal author sets recommended actions when
publishing a goal.
When you have completed these actions, select Done next to the action to
notify the goal author that you have completed the action.
BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide 21
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My Goals in Performance Manager
My Goals Collaborate tab
The "Collaborate" tab for a goal in Performance Manager > My Goals shows
details of goal activity including:
• date and time of activity actions
• add note icon
• status icon
• notes
Notes in Performance Manager goals
In the "Collaborate" tab for a goal in Performance Manager > My Goals,
you can add and read notes linked to goal activities.
Reading a note for a goal activity
In the "Collaborate" tab for a goal in Performance Manager > My Goals,
an activity can have notes sent by anyone who is a goal recipient.
1. Click a note under an activity.
2. To reply to the note, click Respond.
3. Type your reply in the "Note" box.
4. Select the recipients.
5. Click Submit.
Your note appears under the note to which you replied.
Sending a note for a goal activity
In the "Collaborate" tab for a goal in Performance Manager > My Goals,
you can send a note to anyone who is a recipient.
1. Click the add note icon next to the activity date and time.
2. Type your text in the "Note" box.
3. Select the recipient for the note:
• All Goals Recipients - Select this option for the note to be visible to
everyone who views it in the "Collaborate" tab.
• Specific People or Roles - Select this option to choose recipients by
name or role.
• Goal Publisher - Select this option for the note to be visible in the
"Collaborate" tab to the goal publisher only.
22 BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide
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Strategy Builder in Performance Manager
4. Click Submit.
The note appears under the activity.
Strategy Builder in Performance Manager
Strategy Builder is useful because:
• It allows companies to set and manage strategies for using enterprise
information.
• It ties information usage to business roles and objectives.
• It optimizes information usage around the extended enterprise.
A key element of Strategy Builder is its awareness of the corporate
organization structure. It takes into account the roles that are in the company,
and ensures that the appropriate people are getting the appropriate
information.
The Strategy Builder has four tabs:
• Home
• Strategy
• Catalog
• Organization
1
When you open Strategy Builder, the Strategy Builder schema appears on
the main panel. Click objects in the map to see the different areas of Strategy
Builder.
The Home tab in Strategy Builder
The Home tab contains strategies assigned to and created for the user.
The "Home" tab includes two important areas:
• My Strategies
• Getting Started
Note:
If you click Items assigned the "Assigned Items" chart appears. If you click
Items created or your personal strategies Details list, the "Created Items"
chart appears.
BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide 23
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Strategy Builder in Performance Manager
Related Topics
• Items assigned in My Strategies on page 25
• Items created in My Strategies on page 26
• Details in My Strategies on page 24
My Strategies in Strategy Builder
The "My Strategies" pane offers the following items:
• Details
• "Items assigned"
• "Items created"
Details in My Strategies
In Strategy Builder > Home, when you click Details next to "My Strategies",
three tabs appear:
• "Administrator"
This shows your title and login name
• "Assigned Items"
These are from the "Items assigned" list
• "Personal Variables"
This is a list of your personal variables
• Variable options:
• New
• Edit
• Delete
Related Topics
• Items assigned in My Strategies on page 25
Personal Variables in My Strategies details
In Performance Manager > Strategy Builder > Home > My Strategies >
Details > Personal Variables, there are several default strategy variables:
• Email
• FirstName
• FullName
24 BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide
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Strategy Builder in Performance Manager
• LastName
• LogonName
These variables usually contain information from user accounts imported
from LDAP so you cannot edit them unless they are preceded by yellow
bullets.
Creating a user variable in My Strategies details
1. In Performance Manager > Strategy Builder > Home > My Strategies
> Details, click New.
2. In the "User Variables" panel, click Create.
3. In the "Create" box, type the name of the new variable.
4. If the variable is an LDAP variable, click LDAP and select attributes from
the "LDAP Attributes" list.
5. Click Add.
6. Close the panel.
7. To define the variable, select it and click Edit.
Editing a personal variable in My Strategies details
1. In Performance Manager > Strategy Builder > Home > My Strategies
> Details, select a variable from the "Personal Variables" list.
2. In the "Edit Variable" panel, in the "Value" box, enter a new value for the
variable.
3. Click OK.
1
Deleting a personal variable in My Strategies details
1. In Performance Manager > Strategy Builder > Home > My Strategies
> Details, select a variable from the "Personal Variables" list.
2. Click Delete.
3. Click OK to confirm.
Items assigned in My Strategies
In Performance Manager > Strategy Builder > Home > My Strategies
and "My Strategies"Details, when you click Items Assigned, the "Assigned
Items" tab appears with a list of your assigned goals. You can organize your
list of goals.
If you click a goal in the "Assigned Items" list, the goal details appear.
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Strategy Builder in Performance Manager
Related Topics
• List of My Strategies goals on page 26
• Goal details in My Strategies on page 26
Items created in My Strategies
In Performance Manager > Strategy Builder > Home > My Strategies,
when you click Items Created, the "Created Items" tab appears with a list
of the goals you created.
If you click a goal in the Created Items list, the goal details appear.
Related Topics
• Goal details in My Strategies on page 26
List of My Strategies goals
You can organize the list of "My Strategies" goals in the following ways:
• "None" - the list is sorted by goal name
• "Content" - the list is sorted by goal or metric type
• "Role" - the list is sorted by role, starting with the most powerful
• "Priority" - the list is sorted by priority, starting with the critical goals
• "Strategy" - the list is sorted by group, starting with company goals
The following information is given for each goal in the list:
• "Name" - the name of the goal
• "Priority" - the priority of the goal
• "Recipients" - the people or group that are receiving the goal
• "When" - the schedule for goal data refresh
• "Last Triggered" - when the goal was last triggered
• "Active" - the status of the goal
Note:
Click a column header in the list to select it for a sort, and click the sort column
a second time to change the sort from ascending to descending.
Goal details in My Strategies
The goal details displayed are:
• "Strategy" - click the strategy to see all of its assigned items.
• "Recipients Targeted" - click to see all of the items assigned to the goal.
• "Goal" - click the goal to see its attached analytic.
26 BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide
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Strategy Builder in Performance Manager
• "Schedule" - this explains the schedule attached to the goal.
• "Recommended Next Steps" - this list shows the actions assigned to this
goal.
• "Activity" - this section lists the activities associated with the goal.
Note:
Click a column header in the list to select it for a sort, and click the sort
column a second time to change the sort from ascending to descending.
• "Publication"
You can apply these actions on a goal:
• Deactivate
• Activate
• Edit
• Delete
Deactivating a My Strategies goal
You can deactivate a goal assigned to you if, for example, you need to go
from test to production mode, or you need to deactivate a specific item that
is causing trouble.
1. In Performance Manager > Strategy Builder > Home > My Strategies,
select the goal that you want to deactivate.
2. Click Deactivate.
1
Note:
The deactivation of the goal is listed as an activity in the Activity pane.
3. To reactivate the goal, click Activate.
Activating a My Strategies goal
1. In Performance Manager > Strategy Builder > Home > My Strategies,
select the goal you want to activate.
2. Click Activate.
Note:
The activation of the goal is listed as an activity in the "Activity" pane.
3. To deactivate the goal, click Deactivate.
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Strategy Builder in Performance Manager
Editing a My Strategies goal
1. In Performance Manager > Strategy Builder > Home > My Strategies,
select the goal you want to edit.
2. Click Edit.
Related Topics
• Goal & Metric Publishing Wizard on page 135
Deleting a My Strategies goal
1. In Performance Manager > Strategy Builder > Home > My Strategies,
select the goal you want to delete.
2. Click Delete.
3. Click Delete Publication to confirm.
Getting Started in Strategy Builder
In the "Getting Started" area of the Strategy Builder "Home" tab, you publish
goals and metrics, and create new strategy folders, strategies, and roles.
The "Getting Started" area offers the following items:
• Publish Goal or Metric - click to open the "Goal & metric Publishing
Wizard".
• New Strategy - click to create a strategy folder.
• New Role - click to open the "Create Role" wizard.
Related Topics
• Goal & Metric Publishing Wizard on page 135
• Create Role wizard on page 39
Creating a strategy in the Strategy Builder Home tab
1. In the "Getting Started" area of Performance Manager > Strategy Builder
> Home, click New Strategy.
The "Create Strategy" panel appears.
2. In the "Name" box, enter the name for the strategy.
3. To view or edit the list of existing variables, click Variables.
28 BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide
Strategy Builder in Performance Manager
Note:
To create a variable, go to the Strategy tab, select a folder, and click
Variables at the bottom of the right panel.
4. In the "Description" box, type a brief description of the strategy.
5. In the "Parent Strategy" list, select the folder in which this strategy is to
be located.
6. Click Create Strategy.
Related Topics
• Variables sub tab in the Strategy Builder Strategy tab on page 35
The Strategy tab in Strategy Builder
The "Strategy" tab in Performance Manager Strategy Builder offers an overall
perspective on the strategy hierarchy tree defined within Performance
Manager. Navigate directly to information strategy definitions, and edit and
create strategies. You also get a list of roles for the strategy.
Performance Manager
1
When you click the "Strategy" tab, the Strategy Builder schema appears on
the bottom right side. Click objects in the map to see the different areas of
Strategy Builder.
The "Strategy" tab in Strategy Builder is composed of two areas:
• the "Strategies" tree providing a list of the folders that contain strategies
• the "Goals" panel for the selected folder in the "Strategies" tree
Strategy sub tabs in the Strategy Builder
When you select a strategy folder, the panel includes the following sub tabs
at the bottom of the panel:
• Content
• Roles
• Security
• Variables
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Strategy Builder in Performance Manager
Strategy goal content in Strategy Builder
The "Content" sub tab in the Performance Manager Strategy Builder "Goals"
panel includes the following information:
• the strategy folder title
• the strategy folder description
• "Strategy" - you carry out the following actions on a goal:
• New
• Edit
• Copy
• Delete
• Validate
• Deactivate
• Activate
• "Author" - the user who created the strategy folder
• "Create Publication" - click to open the Goal & metric publishing wizard.
• "Goals" list
Related Topics
• Creating a strategy in the Strategy Builder Home tab on page 28
• Goal & Metric Publishing Wizard on page 135
• The list of goals in the Strategy Builder Strategy tab on page 32
Editing the strategy goal content in Strategy Builder
To edit procedures of a strategy goal in the "Strategy" tab of Performance
Manager Strategy Builder, proceed in the same manner as when creating a
strategy, and click Update Strategy when you have entered the parameters.
Note:
To change the parent Strategy, use the "Copy" procedures.
Related Topics
• Creating a strategy in the Strategy Builder Home tab on page 28
• Copying the strategy goal content in Strategy Builder on page 30
Copying the strategy goal content in Strategy Builder
1. In Performance Manager > Strategy Builder > Strategy > Goals, select
the goal you want to copy.
2. Click Copy.
30 BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide
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Strategy Builder in Performance Manager
3. In the "Copy Strategy" panel, select the strategy to copy.
4. Select the strategy in which you want to place the copy.
5. Click Copy Strategy.
The strategy is copied to all of the flows, roles, and sub-categories of the
destination strategy. The new strategy is automatically in an deactivated
state, because you need to verify that the roles and users are valid in the
new location.
6. Click Validate.
The action is reviewed for inconsistencies.
7. If there are no inconsistencies, click Activate.
Once you activate the strategy, its goal publications are activated and
can be triggered.
Deleting a strategy goal in Strategy Builder
1. In Performance Manager > Strategy Builder > Strategy > Goals, select
the strategy folder or strategy goal that you want to delete.
2. Click Delete.
3. Click Delete Strategy to confirm.
1
Caution:
This action also deletes sub-strategies.
Validating a strategy goal in Strategy Builder
The "Validate" action in the "Strategy" tab of the Performance Manager
Strategy Builder reviews strategies and looks for invalid goals.
A strategy is invalid if it is linked to a document that no longer exists or if its
goals or metrics no longer exist. If the strategy is invalid, check the following:
• Do linked documents still exist?
• Do the attached goals and metrics still exist?
You need to edit the strategy until it is valid; only then can you reactivate it.
1. In Performance Manager > Strategy Builder > Strategy > Goals, select
the goal you want to validate.
2. Click Validate.
Strategy Builder evaluates the strategy and returns a list of any errors.
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Strategy Builder in Performance Manager
3. Click OK.
If the validate returned errors, Invalid appears above the strategy name
when you return to the "Goals" panel, and the solid folder icon in the
"Strategies" tree is now a split folder icon.
Deactivating a strategy goal in Strategy Builder
1. In Performance Manager > Strategy Builder > Strategy > Goals, select
the goal you want to deactivate.
2. Click Deactivate.
3. To deactivate the sub-strategies, select Include Sub-Strategies.
4. Click Deactivate Strategy.
5. To reactivate the goal, click Activate.
Activating a strategy goal in Strategy Builder
1. In Performance Manager > Strategy Builder > Strategy > Goals, select
the goal you want to activate.
2. Click Activate.
3. To activate the sub-strategies, select Include Sub-Strategies.
4. Click Activate Strategy.
5. To deactivate the goal, click Deactivate.
The list of goals in the Strategy Builder Strategy tab
In the "Content" sub tab of the Performance Manager Strategy Builder, when
you click a strategy folder in the left-hand list, the goals list for that folder
gives the following information for each goal in the strategy folder:
• "Name" - the name of the goal
• "Strategy" - the strategy folder of the goal
• "Priority" - the priority of the goal
• "Recipients" - the people or group that are receiving the goal
• "When" - the schedule for goal data refresh
• "Last Triggered" - when the goal was last triggered
• "Active" - the status of the goal
Note:
Click a column header in the list to select it for a sort. Click the sort column
to toggle between ascending and descending order.
32 BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide
Strategy Builder in Performance Manager
Roles sub tab in the Strategy Builder Strategy tab
In the "Roles" sub tab of the Performance Manager Strategy Builder "Strategy"
tab, you view existing roles and add new roles.
To create a role, click New. The "Create Role" wizard appears.
Related Topics
• Roles in Strategy Builder and Performance Manager on page 33
• Create Role wizard on page 39
Roles in Strategy Builder and Performance Manager
You use the following roles in Performance Manager Strategy Builder:
• "Abstract role"
The abstract role represents groups or people with similar responsibilities
that can span departmental boundaries. They do not have any reporting
relationship. For example, the Executive Team or Account Managers in
a company can be interdepartmental.
Performance Manager
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• "Everyone role"
The most important role in the Performance Manager system is the
Everyone role. A dynamic role that is used to establish the domain of all
users who are Performance Manager users, it is one of the first roles that
you set up in the system.
• "Organization role"
In the Performance Manager Strategy Builder, the organization role reports
to or can be reported to by another role. For example, the Engineer reports
to the Development Manager. Such roles themselves are defined
hierarchically
Role definition
Define the Organization role and the Abstract role in the following:
• Distribution List
• Dynamic
Roles defined at sub-strategy levels are only accessible to flows defined
within those sub-strategies.
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Strategy Builder in Performance Manager
Security sub tab in the Strategy Builder Strategy tab
The "Security" tab contains the following:
• "Access Role" actions:
• Add
• Modify
• Delete
• the role names, their read and write rules, and your ability to administer
them
• Inherent from parent Strategy
Select this option for the strategy to inherit access control settings from
the parent strategy.
Note:
You can define most generic access control settings at the root level
strategy, so that they are by default inherited throughout the strategy tree.
You can add additional access control settings for a particular strategy,
in addition to the settings inherited from the parent.
Deactivate this option to specify isolated access control settings applicable
only to the selected strategy.
Adding security to a strategy in Strategy Builder
1. In Performance Manager > Strategy Builder > Strategy > Security,
click Add.
The "Strategy Access" panel appears.
2. From the "in" list, select the folder that contains the roles that you want
to add.
3. To see the affiliations of the roles in the list, click Who are they.
4. Select Org. Chart if the desired role is part of an organization tree, for
example CEO.
5. Select Abstract if the desired role is an abstract role, for example an
email group that has no reporting hierarchy. An example of an abstract
group with no reporting hierarchy is 'All Sales Staff'.
6. Select permissions for the roles.
7. Click OK.
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Strategy Builder in Performance Manager
Modifying the security for a role in Strategy Builder
1. In Performance Manager > Strategy Builder > Strategy > Security,
select a role in the list.
2. Click Modify.
The "Strategy Access" panel appears.
3. Select role permissions.
4. Click OK.
Deleting the security on a role in Strategy Builder
1. In Performance Manager > Strategy Builder > Strategy > Security,
select a role in the list.
2. Click Delete.
3. Click Delete again to confirm.
Variables sub tab in the Strategy Builder Strategy tab
In the "Variables" sub tab, you edit, delete and create variables.
1
Note:
Variables are available to all strategies.
The "Variables" sub tab contains the following:
• Variable actions:
• New
• Edit
• Delete
• the variable names, and their values and scopes
Note:
Variables with names preceded by a gray bullet cannot be edited or deleted.
Variables with names preceded by yellow bullets can be edited or deleted.
Creating a strategy variable in the Strategy Builder Stategy tab
1. In Performance Manager > Strategy Builder > Strategy > Variables,
click New.
2. In the "Strategy Variables" panel, click Create.
3. In the "Create" box, type the name of the new variable.
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Strategy Builder in Performance Manager
4. Click OK.
The new variable appears in the "Strategy Variables" list.
5. Close the panel.
6. To assign a value to this variable, click Edit.
Editing a strategy variable in Strategy Builder
1. In Performance Manager > Strategy Builder > Strategy > Variables,
select a variable.
Note:
Variables with names preceded by a gray bullet cannot be edited.
Variables with names preceded yellow bullets can be edited.
2. In the "Edit Variable" panel, type in the "Value" box a new value.
3. Click OK.
Deleting a strategy variable in Strategy Builder
1. In Performance Manager > Strategy Builder > Strategy > Variables,
select a variable.
2. Click Delete.
Note:
Variables with names preceded by a gray bullet cannot be deleted.
Variables with names preceded by yellow bullets can be deleted.
3. Click OK to confirm the deletion.
The Catalog tab in Strategy Builder
The "Catalog" tab in Performance Manager Strategy Builder provides a way
to query and view all of the strategy definitions. From the entire list you can
sort by strategy, role, analytic, or recipient. You can select an information
flow and go into more details.
When you click this tab, the Strategy Builder schema appears on the bottom
right side. Click objects in the map to see the different areas of Strategy
Builder.
The "Catalog" tab is composed of two areas:
• a "Strategies" tree providing a list of the folders that contain strategies
36 BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide
• the goals list for a folder in the "Strategies" tree
Catalog goals list in Strategy Builder
In the "Catalog" tab of the Performance Manager Strategy Builder, the goals
list gives the following information for each goal in the strategy folder:
• "Name" - the name of the goal
• "Strategy" - the strategy folder of the goal
• "Priority" - the priority of the goal
• "Recipients" - the people or group that are receiving the goal
• "When" - the schedule for goal data refresh
• "Last Triggered" - when the goal was last triggered
• "Active" - the status of the goal
Note:
Click a column header in the list to select it for a sort, and click the sort column
a second time to change the sort from ascending to descending.
Performance Manager
Strategy Builder in Performance Manager
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The Organization in Strategy Builder
The "Organization" tab in Peformance Manager Strategy Builder shows how
roles in the overall organization are managed.
You can:
• view and access the organization or abstract roles created through
Performance Manager
• select a role and view its details
• edit or create a role.
When you click the "Organization" tab, the Strategy Builder schema appears
on the right, lower side. Click objects in the map to see the different areas
of Strategy Builder.
The "Organization" tab in Strategy Builder is composed of the following:
• "Roles" tree - a list of the folders that contain roles
• Org. Chart - select to view the organization chart or roles in your
organization.
• Others - select to view the Abstract or Other roles within your organization.
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Strategy Builder in Performance Manager
• the "Role" panel for a role in the "Roles" tree.
The Role panel in the Strategy Builder Organization tab
The role panel contains the following tabs:
• "General"
• "Variables"
Related Topics
• Variables sub tab in the Strategy Builder Strategy tab on page 35
The General tab in Strategy Builder role organization
The General tab in the role panel contains the following sections:
• the role name
• the role description
• role options:
• New - Select to open the "Create Role" wizard.
• Edit - Select to open the "Update Role" wizard which follows the same
procedures as the "Create Role" wizard.
• Delete
• Refresh Membership - this selection updates the "Role Membership"
list.
• the Role Membership list - this lists all of the roles that are included in
the parent role.
Note:
Click any role in the list to see its details.
• Items assigned to the role
Note:
Click any goal items to see their goal details.
Note:
Click a column header in any list to select it for a sort, and click the sort
column a second time to change the sort from ascending to descending.
Related Topics
• Roles in Strategy Builder and Performance Manager on page 33
• Create Role wizard on page 39
38 BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide
• Goal details in My Strategies on page 26
Deleting a role in Strategy Builder
1. In Performance Manager > Strategy Builder > Strategy > Organization
> General, select the role you want to delete.
2. Click Delete.
3. Click Delete Role to confirm.
Create Role wizard
The "Create Role" wizard in Performance Manager Strategy Builder lets you
create a roll in three steps:
• "General"
• "Definition"
• "Summary"
Related Topics
• Roles in Strategy Builder and Performance Manager on page 33
Performance Manager
Strategy Builder in Performance Manager
1
Using the general step in the create role wizard
The "General" step is a part of the "Create Role" wizard in Performance
Manager Strategy Builder.
1. Select the strategy in which you want to create the role.
2. To make this role report to another role, activate Check here if this role
reports to another role. If you select this option, select the reporting
role.
3. Click Next.
The "Definition" step appears.
Related Topics
• Roles in Strategy Builder and Performance Manager on page 33
BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide 39
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Strategy Builder in Performance Manager
Using the definition step in the create role wizard
The "Definition" step is a part of the create role wizard in Performance
Manager Strategy Builder.
1. Select the role type:
• Distribution list
"Distribution list" selects a name per role from the entire list of
employees in the company. For example, when defining the CEO of
the company, you can pick the name of the person acting as CEO.
• Dynamic (Business Objects Query)
The "Dynamic" option creates a role defined through a variable. For
example, while defining a CEO role, you choose the variable for CEO.
The advantage of this is that when the person acting as CEO changes,
the system automatically picks the new name and starts sending
information to the new individual in the role.
2. Select roles and individuals for the distribution list and click Add to add
them to the "Selected Members" list:
• Org. Roles - list of roles in the organization
• Other Roles - list of abstract or other roles within the organization
• Individuals - list of all individuals
• Groups - list of groups
Note:
When you select a list, you can choose to see the list for the entire
company or within a specific group.
3. To see a list of the members in a role, click Who are they?
4. Click Next.
The "Summary" step appears.
Related Topics
• Roles in Strategy Builder and Performance Manager on page 33
40 BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide
Metrics in Performance Manager
Using the summary step in the create role wizard
The "Summary" step is a part of the create role wizard in Performance
Manager Strategy Builder.
1. In the "Name" box, type the name of the new role.
2. In the "Description" box, type a brief description of the new role.
3. To view or edit the variables associated to the role, click Variables.
The "Edit Variables" panel appears. Variables with names preceded by
a gray bullet cannot be edited. Variables with names preceded by yellow
bullets can be edited.
Note:
To create a variable, go to the "Strategy" tab, select a folder, and select
Variables at the bottom of the right panel.
4. Check that the information in the "Type", "Strategy", "Reports to", and
"Memberships" fields is correct.
5. If they are not, click Previous to return to the previous panels and correct
the information.
6. If the role is correct, click Create Role.
Performance Manager
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Related Topics
• Roles in Strategy Builder and Performance Manager on page 33
• Variables sub tab in the Strategy Builder Strategy tab on page 35
Metrics in Performance Manager
Metrics are the building blocks of analytics. Metrics are the KPIs (Key
Performance Indicators) used in monitoring and managing performance.
They are time-based aggregate values that measure the actual performance
of indicators. Using Performance Manager, you create metrics and goals
against which you can compare actual performance measured by metrics.
Metrics can be based on data stored in a Business Objects universe. For
details on universe design, refer to the Designer documentation. Once you
have created a universe, you must make it available by adding it in
Dashboard and Analytics Setup > System Setup > Universes.
BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide 41
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Metrics in Performance Manager
When you change the universe in Designer, you must then update it in the
Dashboard and Analytics Setup. Refer to the Dashboard and Analytics Setup
documentation for details.
Metrics usually consist of:
• a measure
• a filter
• a calendar
Besides using this page to create metrics using the "Create Metric" wizard,
you can:
• Display information about metrics
• Purge the metric history
• Refresh a metric
• Publish a metric
Displaying information about an existing metric
You can view the list of available metrics:
• as a flat list
• by measure (on which the metric is based)
• by sets or subsets if your metric is part of a set universe
1. In Performance Manager > Metrics, select the universe on which the
metric is based from the list under "Available Metrics".
2. Click Available Metrics to refresh the list of metrics in the universe you
selected.
3. Select a metric from the list.
The attributes of the selected metric are displayed in the right pane. The
metric attributes are defined in the "Create Metric" wizard.
Related Topics
• Metric attributes on page 44
Publishing a metric in Performance Manager
A metric needs to be published before you can use it in analytics.
42 BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide
• Select a metric from the list and click Publish.
The "Goal & Metric Publishing Wizard" launches.
Note:
• You may only publish metrics and goals if the administrator has granted
you the appropriate rights.
• You cannot publish sliced metrics.
Related Topics
• Goal & Metric Publishing Wizard on page 135
Purging the metric history
If you have refreshed a selected metric at least once, urge the metric history
by clicking Purge.
Clicking Purge empties the data in the metric history section, and deletes
the metric data from the ci_probe_value table in the Performance Manager
repository.
Performance Manager
Metrics in Performance Manager
1
If you do not want to purge the entire metric history, select the number of
past periods to refresh. The calendar you selected for the metric defines the
periods.
Refreshing a metric in Performance Manager
When you create a metric, you specify a start period, and optionally a stop
period for the refresh. The start and stop dates must be within the span of
the calendar defined for the metric. When you define only a start period, the
metric is refreshed up to the current period.
When you refresh a metric, an SQL statement is run against the database
and an aggregated value is returned for each period of the metric. The date
and time that a metric was last refreshed is stored in the Performance
Manager repository and exposed in the metric attributes.
1. In Dashboard and Analytics > Performance Manager > Metrics, select
the metric you want to refresh from the list of "Available Metrics".
2. Click Refresh.
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Metrics in Performance Manager
If the refresh is successful, the "Metric Histor"y section in the "Metric
Attributes" appears grayed out. If the refresh fails, the "Metric History"
section is editable.
Related Topics
• Metric attributes on page 44
The metric engine
The metric engine is responsible for executing the SQL required to build
metrics, retrieving the queried data from the database, and writing it to the
Performance Manager repository stored in a relational database. The
Performance Manager repository stores information about metrics, including
their definition and their values.
Metric attributes
When you select a metric to view from the list of available metrics, its metric
attributes appear in the right pane. You assign metric attributes when you
create or edit a metric.
The metric attributes include:
• "Metric name"
The name of the metric.
• "Description"
Descriptive text to help explain to the user what the metric represents.
The description field is limited to a maximum of 1024 characters. This
field is empty by default.
• "Calculation interval"
The calculation interval that provides the date condition for the metric.
The duration of the time period that makes up the metric is called the
grain. The calendar you select for the calculation interval defines the
grain. A fine grain means a short time span between metric value
calculations. For information on calendars, refer to the Dashboard and
Analytics Setup documentation.
44 BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide
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Metrics in Performance Manager
• "Refresh type"
Independent Refresh is the default option for Enterprise metrics (metrics
without set restrictions). External Refresh delegates the refresh of the
metric to an external process.
Note:
If you select New Manual Entry Metric, the only possible refresh type is
Manual Entry.
• "Storage options"
Options for storing the metric values:
• "Store all metric values"
• "Store last metric value only"
• "Disable"
Since metric values require little storage space, consider storing all metric
values. This option enables you to use the metric's full history for trending
purposes.
Note:
If you select New Manual Entry Metric, the only possible storage option
is Store all metric values.
1
• "Default smooth"
Specifies the statistical transformation that is used in reporting on the
metric. The nature of the data determines the most appropriate smoothing
type. Available transformations are determined during system
configuration. Refer to the Dashboard and Analytics Setup documentation
for details.
• "Trend is good when"
Determines which type of trend indicates good performance for the metric:
• "On-target" (the metric values stay close to a target value)
Examples: New hires, stock level
• "Increasing" (the metric values increase over the calculation interval)
Examples: Sales, Customer satisfaction index
• "Decreasing" (the metric values decrease over the calculation interval)
Examples: Costs, Customer complaints
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Metrics in Performance Manager
• "Unit"
This read-only field displays the unit defined in the selected measure's
object properties in the universe. The unit is used for display purposes.
• "Owner"
By default, the metric creator's name is displayed. To modify the owner,
click Select a User. In the "Select a User" window, enter characters and
click Search now to launch a search for available users in the repository.
To display all available users in the repository, leave the search field
empty. You can select one user from the list of available users. Click OK
to validate your choice.
• "Metric history > Start"
The start date for metric calculation. The start date must be within the
span of the calendar defined for calculation interval.
• "Metric history > Stop"
This option enables you to select a stop date for metric calculation. By
default, the stop date is undefined. Use the calendar to define a stop date.
The stop date must be within the span of the calendar defined for
calculation interval, and must be later than or equal to the start date.
Activate Stop at current period to stop calculation at the current date.
• "Metric history > Last Refresh"
This read-only field displays the last date and time that the metric was
refreshed. If the metric has never been refreshed or if it has been purged,
this field is empty. The refresh time is displayed in local time zone of the
server that houses the metric engine.
Note:
The format of the refresh date is customized by an administrator in
Dashboard and Analytics Setup > System Setup > Parameters. Refer
to the Dashboard and Analytics Setup documentation for details.
Related Topics
• External metric refresh on page 47
• Refreshing a metric in Performance Manager on page 43
46 BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide
Metrics in Performance Manager
External metric refresh
A metric can have one of two refresh types, "Independent" or "External"
refresh, that is applied in the metric's properties in Performance Manager.
An Internal refresh can be refreshed using the metric engine, however it
requires a link to a database supported by the metric engine. If you have a
database or database connection that is not supported by the metric engine,
you need to use the external refresh to delegate the refresh of the metric to
an external process.
To be able to create a metric with an external refresh, you need to connect
to a metric universe that has no executable_sql statement and have
modifications made to the ci_probe_values table after the metric is created.
The entire process for configuring an external metric refresh is available in
the BusinessObjects deployment documentation.
Performance Manager repository tables
Performance Manager
1
Metrics are stored in tables in the Performance Manager repository:
The Create Metric wizard
The "Create Metric" wizard enables you to create different types of metrics:
• metrics based on universe measures
• metrics based on set universes
BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide 47
contains this informationThis table in the repository
the ID assigned to the metricci_probe
calendar valuesci_period
calendar definitionci_series
metric valuesci_probe_value
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Metrics in Performance Manager
• sliced metrics
• manual entry metrics
• model-based metrics based on sets
Related Topics
• Creating a sliced metric on page 50
Creating a metric from a universe in the Create Metric wizard
1. In Performance Manager > Metrics, click Add > New Metric.
2. In the "Measures" step, select one or several measures on which to base
the metric. Use the control or shift keys to select more than one measure.
Note:
If you select multiple measures, you can select only one aggregation
function in the next step.
3. Select one or more aggregation functions. The list of available aggregates
depends on the data source you selected. If an aggregate is included in
the definition of the measure, then it is automatically applied and the list
of available aggregation functions is grayed out in this step.
Note:
If you selected multiple measures in the previous step, you can only select
one aggregation function.
4. Click Next to proceed to the next step.
5. In the "Filter" step, select a filter to apply to the metric. Use the control or
shift keys to select more than one filter from the list.
6. Click Next to proceed to the next step.
7. In the "Attributes" step, assign attributes to the metric.
8. Click Finish to create the metric.
Example: Creating a Sum of Sales metric
An important KPI is the amount of each product that the sales teams sell.
You therefore want to create a sum of sales metric on the Sales universe
so that you can track sales from a corporate dashboard.
On the metrics page, select the sales subject area and launch the "Create
Metric" wizard. Select the sales measure that contains the sales data, then
48 BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide
apply the SUM aggregation function. This action creates a metric that sums
the sales data in the sales universe. You can now display the sales metric
in analytics on dashboard pages, and create goals and targets for the sales
teams based on the new metric.
Related Topics
• Aggregation functions on page 54
• Metric attributes on page 44
Sliced metrics
Sliced metrics are metrics on which a dimension is defined. Metrics can be
sliced on different dimensions for display or security reasons. For example,
a large organization slices a metric and restricts access to specific slices,
so that employees can only view data related to their specific activity.
When a sliced metric is calculated, two SQL statements are executed:
• a sliced metric for the all value, which is the total value of all slices of the
• a sliced metric that includes a GROUP BY statement based on the
Metrics in Performance Manager
metric
dimension that returns a distinct result for each slice
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For example, if you create a dimension object for product line on the Revenue
metric, refreshing the metric executes one SQL statement to calculate total
revenue, and another SQL statement with a GROUP BY statement on the
product line object that returns revenue data for each product line.
The slice values are written to the Performance Manager repository:
Information stored about sliced dimensionsRepository table
CI_PROBE_DIM
CI_PROBE_DIM_VALUE
stores the name and description of the sliced dimension.
stores the list of slices generated for the dimension. Each row returned corresponds to an individual slice and is allocated an ID. An additional
row is returned whose ID is 0 and whose value
corresponds to the all value of the metric.
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CI_PROBE_VALUE
Sliced metrics allow users to drill down on individual segments of data,
providing them with a more detailed look at the data that interests them.
Creating a sliced metric
1. In Designer, create a dimension object on the metric universe, then save
and export the metric universe.
2. In Dashboard and Analytics Setup > System Setup > Universes,
update the metric universe. Refer to the Dashboard and Analytics Setup
documentation for details.
3. In Dashboard and Analytics Setup > System Setup > Dimensions,
create a dimension. Refer to the Dashboard and Analytics Setup
documentation for details.
4. In Performance Manager, select Metric > Add > New Metric.
In the "Measures" step, select a measure on which to base your metric.
Information stored about sliced dimensionsRepository table
stores the actual value of the metric for each
distinct slice for the defined time period.
Note:
No row is created for a slice that returns no data.
5. Select one or several aggregation functions. The list of available
aggregates depends on the data source you selected. If an aggregate is
included in the definition of the measure, then it is automatically applied
and the list of available aggregation functions is grayed out in this step.
6. Select the dimension you created in step 3 from the list.
7. Click Next to proceed to the next step.
8. In the "Filter" step, select a filter to apply to the metric. Use the control or
shift keys to select more than one filter from the list.
9. Click Next to proceed to the next step.
10. In the "Attributes" step, assign attributes to the metric.
11. Click Finish to create the metric.
Related Topics
• Aggregation functions on page 54
• Metric attributes on page 44
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Metrics in Performance Manager
Creating metrics on a set universe in the Create Metric wizard
1. Select a set universe.
The list of available set metrics appears. You can view the list by:
• Flat list
• By Sets
• "By Measures"
• "By Subsets"
• "Show Groups"
2. Click Add > New Metric.
The "Create Metric" wizard launches.
3. In the "Set" step, in the left pane, select a set.
Note:
You can display the list of available sets by sets or by groups.
The available subsets in the selected set are displayed in the right pane.
1
4. Select one or several subsets. Use the control or shift keys to select more
than one subset.
5. Click Next.
6. In the "Measure" step, select a measure from the list. This measure applies
to the selected set and subset. For example, you can create a metric to
determine the age of the broken stayers subset of the active buyers set.
7. Select an aggregation function if any are available for the measure you
selected. The list of available aggregates depends on the data source
you selected. If an aggregate is included in the definition of the measure,
then it is automatically applied and the list of available aggregation
functions is grayed out in this step.
8. Select a dimension from list. A dimension allows you to drill down to obtain
a more detailed view of the set.
9. Click Next.
10. In the "Attributes" step, assign attributes to the metric.
Note:
An additional refresh option is available if you are creating a metric based
on a set universe: With Set. This option enables you to select a set with
which the new metric is refreshed.
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11. Click Finish to create the metric.
Related Topics
• Metric attributes on page 44
What are multi-set metrics?
For a particular set, you can select multiple subsets or measures or
transformations to define multiple metrics. For a particular group, you can
define metrics for each set that belongs to the group.
For a particular level of the tree list, you can refresh or purge all the metrics
under this level. You can use a view by measure, by set, by subset or by
group. Multi-set metrics enable you to track relationships between sets over
time.
Four types of multi-sets metrics are built into the product:
• "Migrants"
Migrants are individuals who left a given tier to join another given tier.
Migrants in a given period from Set A to Set B are: Set A leavers of the
period that joined Set B in that same period.
Migrant metrics are applicable to temporal sets only. Also they are not
commutative which means that Migrants from A to B are different from
Migrants from B to A.
• "Overlapping members"
Overlapping Members of Sets A and B are: Set A Members of the period
that are also Members of Set B in that same period.
Overlapping Members are applicable to temporal sets only. They are
commutative which means that Overlapping Members of A and B are
identical to Overlapping Members of B and A.
• "Same time Joiners"
Same time joiners in a given period of Sets A and B are: Set A Joiners
of the period that joined Set B in that same period.
Same time joiners are applicable to temporal sets only. They are
commutative which means that Same time joiners of A and B are identical
to Same time joiners of B and A.
• "Same time Leavers"
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Same time leavers in a given period of Sets A and B are: Set A leavers
of the period that left Set B in that same period.
Same time leavers is applicable to temporal sets only. They are
commutative which means that Same time leavers of A and B are identical
to Same time leavers of B and A.
Creating a manual entry metric
Manual entry metrics enable you to define KPIs and their time-based values
manually. Manual entry metrics are useful to define KPIs that do not exist in
the database, like survey results.
1. Select a subject area.
2. Click Add > New Manual Entry Metric.
3. In the "Attributes" step, assign attributes to the metric.
4. Click Next to proceed to the next step.
The "Values" step appears, with a list of dates next to empty fields. These
empty fields correspond to the start and stop dates you selected in the
"Metric History" section of the "Metric attributes" step. The interval is
based on the calendar you selected in the "Calculation interval" section
of the "Metric attributes" step.
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5. Next to each date, enter the value that corresponds to the date.
6. Click Finish to create the metric.
7. Once you have created the manual entry metric, edit the values you
entered manually by clicking Edit Values under "Metric History".
Related Topics
• Metric attributes on page 44
Creating a model-based metric
You need a Predictive Analysis module before you can create a model-based
metric. For information on Predictive Analysis modules see the Predictive
Analysis documentation.
1. Select a subject area.
2. Click Add > New Model-based Metric.
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3. Select the model on which you want to create the metric.
4. Optionally, select an aggregation function. The available functions depend
on the model you select. For a list of the available aggregation functions,
refer to the Predictive Analysis documentation.
5. Click Next to proceed to the next step.
6. In the "Attributes" step, assign attributes to the metric.
7. Click Finish to create the metric.
Related Topics
• Metric attributes on page 44
Troubleshooting metrics
If your metric does not contain any data, try the following:
• Refresh the metric.
If you have already refreshed the metric and it still does not show any
data, check the Performance Manager repository. If the ci_probe_value
table contains metric values for the metric, try the following:
• Login and logout.
• Close the browser.
• Stop and restart the application server.
If there is no data for the metric in the ci_probe_value table, check the
SQL in the ci_probe table. If the SQL is valid and correct:
• Check the database connection in Dashboard and Analytics Setup >
System Setup > Connections.
Aggregation functions
The following aggregation functions are available to use in Performance
Manager metrics:
• Count all
• Count distinct
• Count null
• Sum
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Metric Trees in Performance Manager
• Sum distinct
• Average by individual
• Average
• Average distinct
• Maximum
• Minimum
• Sample variance
• Population variance
• Sample standard deviation
• Population standard deviation
• Geometric mean
• Harmonic mean
• Sample skew
• Population skew
• Sample kurtosis
• Population kurtosis
• Product
Note:
For information on variance, standard deviation, means, skews and kurtosis,
see the Performance Manager Terms section in the Performance Manager
documentation.
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Product
The product of values.
Metric Trees in Performance Manager
Metric trees let you present metrics and goals hierarchically, with high-level
goals at the top of the tree and the lowest-level goals at the bottom of the
tree. Metric trees include connectors that show how the metrics and goals
at the different levels on the tree related to each other.
For example, a high-level metric that measures operating costs is connected
to a lower level metric that measures machine failure and repair costs. Using
this scenario, you track which specific area or activity of the corporation
contributes to the under- or over-performance of a high-level goal.
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Metric Trees in Performance Manager
You can save metric trees as analytics and add them to dashboards using
Dashboard Builder or via the "Default view".
What makes up a metric tree?
A metric tree consists of a single root node and multiple leaf nodes or leaves.
Each node is a box on which you can place a metric or goal.
Choose a high-level metric or goal for the root node at the top of the tree
that provides an overview of performance. For the leaves of the root node,
choose low-level metrics that contribute to the overall performance measured
at the top level.
Connect the nodes on a metric tree using connectors (or arrows) that show
how the low-level metrics or goals relate to the high-level metrics or goals.
Place metric trees on a background image, such as a map or process
schema, to show how the hierarchy of KPIs displayed on the metric tree
relate to specific geographies or business activities.
You can link nodes on a metric tree to other analytics or documents. This
allows users to navigate to broader or more detailed information related to
the metric or goal displayed on a node. You can also link nodes to other
metric trees.
If you have a lot of data to put in a tree, define a main, large tree and link
the large tree to sub-trees on the leaves.
Building a metric tree
1. Go to Performance Manager > Metric Trees, and then click Add.
The "Create Metric Tree" dialog box appears.
2. In the "Metric Tree Name" box, enter a name for the metric tree.
3. In the "Description" box, enter a description for the metric tree.
When you save the metric tree, this description appears next to the name
of the metric tree in InfoView.
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4. To create a leaf node, click the dropdown arrow next to the box directly
below "Available Metrics" and select the subject area that has the metrics,
sets, or goals you want to include on the tree.
The metrics, sets, and goals in the selected subject area appear in a list.
If the subject area includes sets, you can select the type of set you want
to include on the tree, by clicking the drop down arrow on the box and
selecting one of the following:
• Single set
• Migrants
• Ovelapping Members
• Same Time Joiners
• Same Time Leavers
5. From the list of available metrics, select the metric that defines the
top-level leaf node and drag this to the uppermost section of the right
pane of the dialog box.
Note:
• You can change the horizontal position of the metric, but the vertical
position remains constant within a level.
• If the metric is a sliced metric and if you user profile allows you to see
more than just one slice, you can select a different slice for inclusion
on the metric tree.
1
6. To add other metrics, sets, or goals to lower-level leaf nodes, repeat step
4 and then drag the metric, set, or goal onto the pane on the right, at the
appropriate level in the tree.
When you have placed several metrics or goals on a metric tree, you can
place connectors between the leaf nodes, to show the cause and effect
relationship between the metrics, sets, and goals.
7. Place the pointer on a leaf node and click the tree icon, then keeping the
pointer pressed, move it to the leaf node to which you want to connect.
As you drag the mouse a line starts to appear.
8. Release the pointer.
A connection is made between the two leaf nodes.
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Metric Trees in Performance Manager
9. To reposition a leaf node on the metric tree, click and drag the leaf node
to the new position.
Tip:
To select multiple metrics or links, use the control key on your keyboard.
You can include the same metric several times on the same metric tree,
except for at the highest-level node. You can also define a node with
multiple parents.
10. To delete nodes or connectors, select the node or connector and then
press the Delete key on your keyboard.
11. To save the metric tree, click OK.
The new metric tree appears in the list.
Related Topics
• Changing the slice in a sliced dimension on page 58
Sliced metrics in metric trees
Metric trees support sliced metrics. To obtain a slice of data, you apply a
dimension to a metric. When you refresh a sliced metric, a value is calculated
for each distinct value of the associated dimension.
For example, when you refresh the Sales Revenue sliced by the Country
dimension, sales revenue is calculated and returned for each country in the
metric universe.
Note:
For a secured sliced metric, the default slice is "Automatic", which displays
the slice according to your security profile.
Changing the slice in a sliced dimension
1. In Performance Manager > Metric Trees, click Add.
2. In the "Create Metric Tree" dialog box, click the dimension icon.
The list of slices for the metric is displayed in a separate window.
To see how to launch the Metric Tree dialog box, see the instructions on
building a metric tree.
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3. Select the slice you want for the node.
Tip:
If you choose to select a slice, the list of slices for the metric pops up; the
user can select one and only one slice among the available slices.
Related Topics
• Building a metric tree on page 56
Previewing a metric tree
Preview a metric at any time to see how the metric tree would appear once
inserted into a dashboard.
Tip:
Preview metric trees to test links on the metric tree that link from a specific
goal or metric to another analytic.
1. In Performance Manager > Metric Trees, select the metric tree you
want to preview.
2. Click Default View.
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The metric tree appears in HTML format in a new browser window.
Saving a metric tree as an analytic
You can save metric trees as analytics in your "My Folders" space or in
"Public Folders" in InfoView just like other analytics.
1. In Performance Manager > Metric Trees, select the metric tree you
want to preview.
2. Click Default View.
The metric tree appears in HTML format in a new browser window.
3. The next step depends on whether the metric tree has been saved
previously.
• If the metric tree has not been saved previously, click Save.
• If the metric tree has been saved previously, click Save As.
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The "Save an Analytic" page appears.
Related Topics
• Saving an analytic as a document on page 60
Saving an analytic as a document
Using the "Download" option in the analytic's edit mode, certain analytics
can be saved in Comma Separated Values (CSV) or an HTML format that
complies with Section 508 of the U.S. disabilities act.
The following analytics can be downloaded:
HTML 508CSVAnalytic
XControl chart
XGauge
XGoal-based influencer detail
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XXIndividual list
XInfluencer detail
XInfluencer gains chart
XInteractive metric trend
XKey influencers
XMetric forecaster
XModel gains chart
XVariable profile box plot
Editing a metric tree
1. In Performance Manager > Metric Trees, select the metric tree you
want to preview.
2. Click Edit.
The "Edit Metric Tree" dialog box appears.
3. Make any of the following changes in the right pane:
• Move the root node or the leaf nodes
• Add or remove the connectors between nodes
Select the connector then press the Delete key.
• Delete nodes
Select the node then press the Delete key.
• If a node contains a sliced metric, you can select a different slice of
data.
• Link a node to a different metric tree.
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4. To save your changes, click OK.
Related Topics
• Changing the slice in a sliced dimension on page 58
Copying a metric tree
Instead of building a new metric tree from scratch, you can copy an existing
metric tree and then modify it to create a tree.
Note:
When you copy a metric tree, you copy the entire tree with its sub levels.
1. In Performance Manager > Metric Trees, select the metric tree you
want to copy.
2. Click Copy.
A copy of the selected tree appears in the list of metric trees.
You can now edit the metric tree contents, layout, name, and description.
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Removing a metric tree
When deleting a metric tree, you need to update any existing trees that
reference it. If you try to delete a tree that is referenced in some other trees,
a warning message appears.
1. In Performance Manager > Metric Trees, select the metric tree you
want to remove.
2. Click Remove.
A prompt appears asking you to confirm you want to remove the selected
metric tree.
3. Click Yes.
The metric tree is removed.
Setting properties for metric trees
You can set the following properties for metric trees:
• the tree orientation
• the title and description
• the levels
• the connectors between metric tree nodes
• a background image
• metric status and trend options
• tooltips
• the background color of a metric tree node
• the time period
• metric tree links
Setting the orientation of a metric tree
You can display Metric Trees horizontally (across the page) or vertically
(down the page).
1. In Performance Manager > Metric Trees, select the metric tree you
want to format.
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2. Click Default View.
The metric tree appears in HTML format in a new browser window.
3. Click Edit.
The formatting and properties options appear.
4. Expand Graph Properties, then select Vertical Tree or Horizontal Tree.
5. To save your changes click Save as Default View.
Editing the metric tree title and description
By default, metric trees display the title given to them when they are created.
If you want a different title or comment to appear on a metric tree you can
specify the title of your choice.
Note:
The title you specify does not modify the name of the metric tree.
1. In Performance Manager > Metric Trees, select the metric tree you
want to format.
2. Click Default View.
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Metric Trees in Performance Manager
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The metric tree appears in HTML format in a new browser window.
3. Click Edit.
The formatting and properties options appear.
4. Expand Graph Properties.
5. To specify a different title than the name of the metric tree, click Display
text , and then type the title you want into the text box.
6. To save your changes click Save as Default View.
Related Topics
• Setting properties for metric trees on page 62
Setting the levels on a metric tree
In the default view, you can specify the number of levels that are unfolded,
and the number of levels that display in the default view. If you want users
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to view only the first level of the tree and to scroll down to view lower levels,
for example, select 1 in the "Maximum levels on page" box.
You can also display only one unfolded level at a time. In this case, the
default view only displays the root node, or the selected number of level of
leaves. To view additional levels, click the leaves on each level to display
the leaves in lower levels.
1. In Performance Manager > Metric Trees, select the metric tree you
want to format.
2. Click Default View.
The metric tree appears in HTML format in a new browser window.
3. Click Edit.
The formatting and properties options appear.
4. Expand Graph Properties.
5. To specify a maximum number of levels for the metric tree, type a number
in the "Maximum levels on page" box or click the + and - buttons to reach
the number you want.
6. To specify a maximum number of unfolded levels, type a number in the
"Number of unfolded levels" box or click the + and - buttons to reach the
number you want.
7. To save your changes click Save as Default View.
Related Topics
• Setting properties for metric trees on page 62
Formatting the connectors between metric tree nodes
The connectors illustrate how the different leaf nodes and the metrics they
contain contribute to the higher level nodes on the tree. You can choose
directional arrows and line shapes for the connectors.
1. In Performance Manager > Metric Trees, select the metric tree you
want to format.
2. Click Default View.
The metric tree appears in HTML format in a new browser window.
3. Click Edit.
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The formatting and properties options appear.
4. Expand Graph Properties.
5. To format the connectors, click the dropdown arrow next to "Arrows" and
select the style you want:
• None – lines without arrow heads
• Downward – lines with arrow heads pointing downwards
• Upward – lines with arrow heads pointing upwards
• Both – lines with arrow heads at both ends
6. To format the shape of the line, select the shape you want:
• Straight – straight lines
• Elbow – lines with a right angle bend
• Curved – curved lines
7. To save your changes click Save as Default View.
Selecting a background image for a metric tree
A background image, for example a map or process schema, can show how
the hierarchy of key performance indicators (KPIs) displayed on the metric
tree relate to specific geographies or business activities.
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Supported image files include *.jpg, *.gif and *.bmp.
1. In Performance Manager > Metric Trees, select the metric tree you
want to format.
2. Click Default View.
The metric tree appears in HTML format in a new browser window.
3. Click Edit.
The formatting and properties options appear.
4. Expand Graph Properties.
5. Select Show a background image.
6. Type in the text box the http address or the absolute or relative path to
the location of the image file on the local Dashboard and Analytics server.
7. To save the changes click Save as Default View.
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Activating metric status and trend options on a metric tree
Status and warnings help you see at a glance which of the key performance
indicators (KPIs) displayed on a metric tree require further analysis.
1. In Performance Manager > Metric Trees, select the metric tree you
want to format.
2. Click Default View.
The metric tree appears in HTML format in a new browser window.
3. Click Edit.
The formatting and properties options appear.
4. Expand Box Title.
5. Click the options for the status and warning icons you want displayed on
the metric tree:
• warning signs – indicates that there is a red status in the node and
draws your attention to red goals that are not visible
Note:
This option is available only if you have Performance Manager
installed.
• goal status – shows whether current results are below, above or on
target compared to a goal
• metric trends – show whether the current results reveal an upwards
or downwards trend
6. To save your changes click Save as Default View.
Tooltips in metric trees
You can include fields in the tool tips displayed on the nodes on a metric
tree. This is very helpful to users viewing a metric tree because they can
easily see metadata such as the percentage change since the last metric
refresh, the metric name or ID, and the target value set for a goal.
Setting the tooltips in metric trees
1. In Performance Manager > Metric Trees, select the metric tree you
want to format.
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2. Click Default View.
The metric tree appears in HTML format in a new browser window.
3. Click Edit.
The formatting and properties options appear.
4. Expand Box Content.
5. Click Add.
The "Customize View" window appears. The available fields are listed
on the left.
6. To add a field to the descriptor, select the field you want from the list on
the left, and then click the >> button to add it to the list on the right.
7. Click OK.
8. Once you have selected the fields you can:
• click Remove – to remove fields from the tool tip
• click Rename – to rename a field
• click Move up – to move a field nearer the end of the tool tip text
• click Move down – to move a field nearer the beginning of the tool tip
text
1
9. To save your changes click Save as Default View.
Selecting the background color of a metric tree node
You can select colors for the background shading on the nodes in metric
trees. You can either choose any color compatible with HTML or set the
background to display the color that matches the current status of the goal.
For example, if the current result of a metric is below the target specified for
a goal, the node (or box) that displays that metric appears red.
1. In Performance Manager > Metric Trees, select the metric tree you
want to format.
2. Click Default View.
The metric tree appears in HTML format in a new browser window.
3. Click Edit.
The formatting and properties options appear.
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4. Expand Box Content.
5. Select one of two options:
• to specify a color either type the hexadecimal color reference into the
text box or click Palette and then select a color.
• to set the background color to match current goal status, select Fill
with goal status color.
6. To save your changes click Save as Default View.
Changing the time period for a metric tree
You can modify the time period for the metric results displayed on a metric
tree. You can specify that you always want to see results for the last period
– to see the latest results – or you can specify the date for which you want
to see results.
1. In Performance Manager > Metric Trees, select the metric tree you
want to format.
2. Click Default View.
The metric tree appears in HTML format in a new browser window.
3. Click Edit.
The formatting and properties options appear.
4. Expand Time Window.
5. Select one of the two options:
• Show last period – shows latest results
• Select specific period – and then select a date from the dropdown
lists or from the calendar
6. To save your changes click Save as Default View.
Adding metric trees to dashboards
You can add metric trees to dashboards as an analytic in the following ways:
• In Performance Manager > Metric Trees select the metric tree that you
want to add to a dashboard and click Default view. The metric tree
appears in a separate browser window.
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• In Dashboard Builder > Create New Analytic > Performance Manager
Analytics > Metric Tree, select the metric tree from the list. Select the
options for the appearance of the metric tree and click OK. For information
on configuring a Metric Tree analytic, see the Dashboard Builder or
Performance Manager documentation.
Related Topics
• Adding analytics to dashboards on page 69
Adding analytics to dashboards
A dashboard is composed tabs that contain analytics. These analytics provide
key information. You can add to dashboards analytics saved on the Central
Management Server (CMS) or embedded in other dashboards.
1. Do one of the following:
• In My Dashboard, open an existing tab or create a tab.
• In Corporate Dashboards, open an existing dashboard or create a
dashboard tab or sub tab.
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1
2. Click Edit Dashboard.
3. In the "Analytics Toolbox", navigate to the analytic you want to add:
• If you want to insert an analytic from the CMS, select it from the "List
of Analytics", "Corporate Analytics" or "Existing Analytics" categories.
• If you want to insert a new analytic and customize it via the dashboard,
select it from the "Analytics Catalog" or "New Analytics" categories.
Note:
Analytics selected from these categories and configured within a
dashboard are saved as embedded objects in the dashboard, not as
independent InfoObjects on the CMS. Embedded objects are always
refreshed on open. It is more efficient to use InfoObjects on which you
have scheduled a refresh. See the section on Scheduler in the
Dashboard Builder documentation.
4. Resize and move the analytic as necessary in the dashboard.
5. When you have finished changing the dashboard, click Save > Exit Edit
Mode.
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Note:
To quickly add a CMS analytic to a new or existing My Dashboard page,
click Add to My Dashboard in the analytic view mode.
Emailing metric trees
You can email metric trees just like analytics.
Related Topics
• Emailing an analytic on page 70
Emailing an analytic
You can email analytics to other Dashboard and Analytics users.
Note:
You cannot email an analytic from a dashboard.
1. Open the analytic, then click Email.
2. From the list, select the format of the email:
• CSV
• HTML
An empty email message appears with the analytic attached.
3. Enter the email address, a message in necessary, and send the email.
Related Topics
• Downloading an analytic on page 70
Downloading an analytic
You can download the following analytics as CSV or HTML:
70 BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide
XControl Chart
XGoal-based Influencer Detail
XIndividual List
XInfluencer Detail
XInfluencer Gains Chart
XKey Influencers
XMetric Forecaster
XModel Gains Chart
XVariable Profile Box Plot
Related Topics
• Emailing an analytic on page 70
Performance Manager
Metric Trees in Performance Manager
HTMLCSVAnalytic
XGauge
XXInteractive Metric Trend
1
Linking metric trees
You can link the nodes on metric trees to related analytics or documents to
provide more detailed metrics.
You can also link a node on one metric tree to another metric tree. In the
case of a very large metric tree, instead of building one single tree, you can
define a main tree with links to sub-trees on the leaves.
Linking a metric tree title to an analytic or document
Linking metric tree titles to analytics or documents lets users navigate from
high-level results on a Metric Tree to more detailed or broader information
available in another analytic or report.
1. In Performance Manager > Metric Trees, select the metric tree you
want to format.
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2. Click Default View.
The metric tree appears in HTML format in a new browser window.
3. Click Edit.
The formatting and properties options appear.
4. Expand Graph Properties.
5. Select use title as hyperlink to go to.
6. Click Browse, and then navigate to the document to which you want to
link the title.
7. Click OK.
8. To save your changes click Save as Default View.
9. To test the link, place your pointer on the metric tree title, and then if the
hand sign appears, click the link to view the target document.
Linking to other metric trees
Linking a metric tree to other trees allows you to create a small metric tree
that provides an overview of KPIs and link from the tree leaves to other metric
trees that provide more detailed data.
1. In Performance Manager > Metric Trees, select the metric tree on which
you want to create a link.
2. Click Edit.
The "Edit Metric Tree" dialog box appears.
3. Click the tree icon, on the nodes you want to link.
4. The list of available metric trees appears in a popup list.
5. Select the Metric Tree to which you want to link, then click OK.
6. If you want to link other nodes, repeat steps 3 to 5.
7. Click OK.
8. To test the new links, click Default View, then click the new links that
have the tree icon.
72 BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide
Rules in Performance Manager
Rules in Performance Manager
Rules and alerts automate the process of detecting and interpreting change,
and delivering relevant analysis. Rules enable you to monitor proactively
your business and to take appropriate and timely action in response to specific
events.
Rules are composed of:
• triggers (events)
• conditions
• actions
For example, you can create a rule that alerts you by email when a metric
value drops below a certain threshold.
The "Rules" tab enables you to create rules and alerts.
Rule information
Performance Manager
1
To view information for an existing rule, in Performance Manager > Rules,
select the rule in the list of available "Business Rules". The description of
the selected rule is displayed in the lower pane.
Optionally, click Available Business Rules to refresh the list of available
rules.
The list of available business rules displays the following information about
available rules:
• "Active"
Select the check box next to a rule to activate or deactivate it.
• "Scope"
When you create a rule, you define its scope as public or private. A private
rule is visible only to you, as the rule creator. A public rule is visible to all
Dashboard and Analytics users.
• "Folders"
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When you create rules, you may store them in folders for convenient
organization. Rule folders are stored in the ci_rule_folder table in the
Performance Manager repository.
• "Rule Name"
You specify a name for a rule when you create it. To edit the name of an
existing rule, select the rule from the list and click Edit.
• "Created"
The created column displays the date on which the rule was created.
Managing rule folders
1. In Performance Manager > Rules, above the list of available rules, click
Folders.
The list of available folders appears.
2. To activate or deactivate a folder and all the rules it contains, click the
box in the Active column next to the folder.
3. To edit a folder, select the folder in the list and click Edit. To add a new
folder, click Add.
The "Edit Rule Folders" dialog box opens. Edit the following fields:
• Activated: deactivate to deactivate the folder and the rules it contains.
• Public: select to make the folder and its rules visible to all users.
• Private: select to make the folder visible to you only.
• The name of the folder
4. To delete a rules folder, select the folder from the list and select Delete.
When you delete a folder, the rules it contains are not deleted.
Managing rules in Performance Manager
To manage rules, select a rule from the list in the Performance Manager
Rules tab, then select one of the following actions:
• Remove
Removing a rule deletes it from the repository and from the list of available
rules.
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• Edit
Double-click an existing rule, or select it from the list and click Edit to
launch the "Rule Edition" window.
• Copy
Use the copy feature when you want to create a rule that is like an existing
rule. When you copy an existing rule, the "Duplicate Rule" window
launches. By default, the name of the duplicate rule is Copy of (name
of original rule). You can change the rule name and edit the
description in the "Duplicate Rule" window.
• Run
To execute a rule immediately, select the rule from the list and click Run.
A message appears indicating whether the rule was successfully executed.
Creating and editing rules in Performance Manager
1. In Performance Manager > Rules, above the list of available rules, click
Add.
2. Optionally, select Activated to activate the rule immediately after it has
been created. Optionally, you can wait and activate the rule later.
3. Optionally, activate Run Concurrently to enable the rule actions and
slices to be executed concurrently.
4. Select Private or Public from the "Scope" list.
5. Optionally, select a folder in which to save the rule.
6. Optionally, select a template from the list.
1
Templates provide pre-defined structure for common rule types, and
consist of a rule name, a description and an XML structure. Templates
are created by administrators in Dashboard and Analytics Setup >
Parameters > Rules and stored in the ci_rule_template table of the
Performance Manager repository. You create, edit and delete rule
templates on this page. For more information, refer to the Dashboard and
Analytics Setup documentation.
7. Next to the "Rule description" pane, use the buttons to add the following
elements to the rule:
• Events
• Conditions
• Actions
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• Feedback
Note:
The elements you add are displayed in the "Rule description" pane. Rules
definitions cannot exceed 1,000,000 characters.
8. Click OK to create the rule.
Rules are written to the ci_rules table in the Performance Manager
repository.
Related Topics
• Rule information on page 73
Events in Performance Manager rules
In the "Add Rule" or "Rule Edition" windows, click Events next to the "Rule
description" pane. Use one of the following events to trigger a rule:
• schedule
• metric refresh
• set refresh
• named event
• control chart refresh
Applying a scheduled event to a rule
The AFSchedule Program enables you to schedule the execution of a rule
immediately or at a predefined time. For example, you can schedule a metric
or analytic to refresh overnight to avoid using resource during peak working
hours.
1. In Performance Manager > Rules > Add or Edit, click Events.
2. In the "Rule triggering events" window, select schedule from the "Type
of Events" list.
3. Click the right arrow or double-click schedule to add it to the "Triggering
events" pane.
The AFScheduleProgram window opens.
4. From the "Run object" list, select a time frame for the execution of the
scheduled event. Depending on the time frame you choose, additional
fields are displayed:
• Now
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The schedule is executed as soon as you apply the rule.
• Once
The schedule is executed once. Select the start date and time and
end date and time for execution.
• Hourly
The schedule is executed every N hours and X minutes. Select the
"Hour(N)" and the "Minute(X)" on which to execute the schedule, the
start date and time and the end date and time.
• Daily
The schedule is executed once every N days. Select the "Days(N)"
on which to execute the schedule, the start date and time and the end
date and time.
• Weekly
The schedule is executed every week on the days you select. Select
the days of the week on which to execute the schedule, the start date
and time and the end date and time.
1
• Monthly
The schedule is executed every N months. Select the month on which
to execute the schedule (where N is a calendar month from 1 through
12), the start date and time and the end date and time.
• Nth day of month
The schedule is executed on the Nth day of each month. Select the
"Day(N)" on which to execute the schedule, the start date and time
and the end date and time.
• 1st Monday of Month
The schedule is executed on the first Monday of each month. Select
the start date and time and the end date and time.
• Last Day of Month
The schedule is executed on the last day of each month. Select the
start date and time and the end date and time.
• X day of Nth Week of the Month
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5. In the "Server Group" section, designate a server to execute the schedule.
6. In the "Events" section, select events in the CMC that cause the rule to
7. Click Schedule.
Note:
• You can monitor the status of a scheduled task on the Dashboard Builder
• To modify the schedule, select the event in the "Rule triggering events"
The schedule is executed on the X day of Nth week of the month.
Select the "Week(N)" and the "Day(X)" on which to execute the
schedule, the start date and time and the end date and time.
• Calendar
The schedule is executed based on a calendar defined and stored in
the Central Management Console (CMC).
be triggered.
For information on creating these types of events, see the BusinessObjects
Enterprise administrator documentation.
> Scheduler page.
window and click Edit.
Applying a metric refresh event to a rule
Add the metric refresh event to a rule to generate a specific action when a
particular metric is refreshed.
1. In Performance Manager > Rules > Add or Edit, click Events.
2. In the "Rule triggering events" window, select metric refresh from the
"Type of Events" list.
3. Click the right arrow or double-click metric refresh to add it to the
"Triggering events" pane.
The "Metric Selection" window opens.
4. Select the subject area.
The available metrics are displayed.
5. Click the arrow key to select the metrics.
6. Click OK to confirm the selection.
The selected metrics are displayed in the "Rule triggering events" window.
78 BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide
Note:
To modify the metric selection, select the event in the "Rule triggering events"
window and click Edit.
Applying a set refresh event to a rule
When you select a set as a trigger for a rule, the rule is triggered when at
least one metric belonging to that set is refreshed.
1. In Performance Manager > Rules > Add or Edit, click Events.
2. In the "Rule triggering events" window, select set refresh from the "Type
of Events" list.
3. Click the right arrow or double-click set refresh to add it to the "Rule
triggering events" pane.
The "Set" selection window opens.
4. Select the set folder that contains the set you want to refresh.
5. Select the set from the list of available sets.
6. Click OK to make the selection.
The selected set is displayed in the "Rule triggering events" window.
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Rules in Performance Manager
1
Note:
To modify the set selection, select the event in the "Rule triggering events"
window and click Edit.
Applying a named event as a trigger for a rule
Named events are defined in the Central Management Console (CMC) and
stored in the Central Management Server (CMS).
You must create a named event in the "Events" section of the CMC before
you can apply it to a rule. Refer to the BusinessObjects Administrator
documentation for information on creating events.
1. In Performance Manager > Rules, next to the "Rule description" display,
click Events.
2. In the "Rule Triggering Events" window, select named event from the
"Type of Events" list.
3. Click the right arrow or double-click named event to add it to the "Rule
Triggering Events" pane.
The "Enter an Event Name" window appears.
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4. Select a named event from the list.
5. Click OK to make the selection.
The selected named event is displayed in the "Rule Triggering Events"
pane.
Note:
To modify the selection, select the event in the "Rule Triggering Events"
pane and click Edit.
Applying a control chart refresh event to a rule
Note:
Control charts are created in the Process Analysis application.
You can select the refresh of a control chart as a rule trigger.
1. In Next to the "Rule description" display, click Events.
2. In Performance Manager > Rules, next to the "Rule Triggering Events"
window, select control chart refresh from the "Type of Events" list.
3. Click the right arrow or double-click control chart refresh to add it to the
"Rule Triggering Events" pane.
The Control Chart list window opens.
4. Select a control chart from the list.
5. Click OK to make the selection.
The selected control chart is displayed in the "Rule Triggering Events"
window.
Note:
To modify the selection, select the event in the "Rule Triggering Events"
window and click Edit.
Conditions in Performance Manager rules
A condition is evaluated when the event on which the rule is based occurs.
When the event occurs, the rule evaluates the condition and executes actions
accordingly.
To build a condition you use the following elements:
• functions
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• operators
• variables
The Condition Formula Editor
The "Condition Formula Editor" lists available functions and mathematical
operators, organized in logical classes, to facilitate the condition building.
You can specify the variables used in the rule formula and action definitions.
Variables are built based on the metrics available, for example:
when metric 1 > metric 2, alert me
The following panes are available in the "Condition Formula Editor":
• The "Formula" pane at the top of the window displays the formula you
build using variables, functions and operators.
• The "Variables" pane allows you to define variables based on available
goals and metrics for the condition formula. You can add, remove, and
edit variables in this pane.
• The "Functions and Operators" pane groups the functions and operators
you can use to build a condition formula into logical classes.
• The "Dates" calendar icon at the bottom of the window allows you to
select dates for use in the condition formula.
1
To launch the "Condition Formula Editor", click Condition in the "Add Rule"
or "Rule Edition" dialog box or in the "Rule description" pane of an existing
rule.
Related Topics
• Functions and operators in Performance Manager rule conditions on
page 83
Building a Condition formula for a rule
1. In Performance Manager > Rules > Add or Edit, click Condition.
2. Under "Functions and Operators", double-click the function or operator
that you want to add to the formula.
3. Use the calendar to select dates if the formula requires date restrictions.
4. Click Parse to check the formula.
5. Click OK to exit the Formula Editor.
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Related Topics
• Functions and operators in Performance Manager rule conditions on
page 83
Using variables in the condition formula of a rule
1. In Performance Manager > Rules > Add or Edit, click Condition.
2. Under "Variables", click Add.
3. Select the type of variable you want to define:
• Metric Variables
The "Metric Selection" window opens.
• Goal Variables
The "Goal Variable" window opens.
• Report Variables
The "Document list" window opens.
4. Select a goal, metric or report to use in the variable definition.
The new variable appears in the "Variables" pane.
5. To use variables displayed in the pane in the condition formula,
double-click the name of the variable.
The name of the variable appears in the "Formula" pane.
Rule conditions
The following are examples of some basic conditions that you can apply to
rules:
• The "always true" condition
1=1
• If the metric increases by 10% or more:
METRICVALUE(metric1.ID,0) > 1.1 * METRICVALUE(metric1.ID,-
1)
-1 = same metric, previous period
• If one metric value is greater than another:
METRICVALUE(metric1.ID,0) > METRICVALUE(metric2.ID,0)
0 = different metric, same period
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• If the actual metric value exceeds a linear forecast based on the last six
periods of metric history:
FORECASTLINEAR(METRICVALUES(metric1.ID,6),7) <METRICVALUE(met
ric1.ID,0)
Functions and operators in Performance Manager rule conditions
When you call a function in a condition formula, use the #f and % characters
to enclose the function and differentiate it from other text.
For example, to show an alert that uses the Average function in a condition
formula, use the following syntax:
The average of the last three values is: #f Average(40,50,45)%.
The text displayed as a result of this alert function is:
The average of the last three values is: 45.
Use the parse button to test your function.
1
The expression editor enables you to build actions using variables, functions
and operators. You can call the expression editor in the following actions:
• to create an alert title or text within an alert
• to create text in an email subject or the body text
• to create an SQL statement within an action
The available classes of functions and operators are:
• Logical Operators
• Logical Values
• Mathematical Operators
• Text Operators
• Statistical
• Forecast
• Metric Behavior
• Mathematical
• Date
• Crystal Report
• Text
• Cube
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• Metric Attributes
• Metric
• Goal Attributes
• Goal
Logical operators in rule conditions
Logical operators are used in declarative statements that are either true or
false.
RepresentsOperator
Less than<
Less than or equal to<=
Equal to==
Not equal to!=
Greater than>
Related Topics
• Functions and operators in Performance Manager rule conditions on
page 83
Logical values in rule conditions
Logical values are the truth values of a statement:
• TRUE
• FALSE
84 BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide
Greater than or equal to>=
And sign&&
Or sign||
AndAND
OrOR
Related Topics
• Functions and operators in Performance Manager rule conditions on
page 83
Mathematical operators in rule conditions
Mathematical operators combine values to construct an expression.
Mathematical operators that you can use are:
Related Topics
• Functions and operators in Performance Manager rule conditions on
page 83
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Rules in Performance Manager
RepresentsOperator
Plus (add)+
Minus (subtract)-
Multiply*
Divide/
1
Text operators in rule conditions
+
Concatenation operator for text strings.
Related Topics
• Functions and operators in Performance Manager rule conditions on
page 83
Statistical functions in rule conditions
Statistical functions perform aggregation operations on numeric input.
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DescriptionFunction
Average(list)
Median(list)
Var(List), Varp(List)
Stdev(list), Stdevp(list)
Returns the average of the list of values.
• Syntax: Average(#v1,#v2,#v3)
• Input: List: List of numbers
• Output: Average
Returns the median for a list of values.
• Syntax: Median(#v1,#v2,#v3)
• Input: List: List of numbers
• Output: List of metric values
Var returns the variance for a list of values. Varp
returns the variance for a population.
• Syntax: Var(#v1,#v2,#v3) or Varp(#v1,#v2,#v3)
• Input: List: List of numbers
• Output: Variance
Stdev returns the standard deviation for a list of
values. Stdevp returns the standard deviation for a
population.
• Syntax: Stdev(#v1,#v2,#v3)
• Input: List: List of numbers
• Output: Standard Deviation
Returns the Zscore of the last list element (or value)
using the full list.
Zscore(list)
Related Topics
• Functions and operators in Performance Manager rule conditions on
page 83
86 BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide
• Syntax: Zscore(#v1,#v2,#v3)
• Input: List: List of numbers
• Output: Zscore of the last element or value
Forecast functions in rule conditions
Forecast functions predict the nth value of a series of values using different
mathematical functions.
DescriptionFunction
Forecasts the nth-point of a series using a linear
function.
ForecastLinear(list,n)
• Input Parameters: List: the series of values n: the
• Output Parameters: Forecast of the nth point
Forecasts the nth-point of a series using an expo-
ForecastExponen
tial(list,n)
nential function
• Input Parameters: List: the series of values, n: the
• Output Parameters: Forecast of the nth point
nth point
nth point
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ForecastPower(list,n)
ForecastLogarith
mic(list,n)
ForecastHyperbo
la(list,n)
Forecasts the nth-point of a series using a power
function.
• Input Parameters: List: the series of values, n: the
nth point
• Output Parameters: Forecast of the nth point
Forecasts the nth-point of a series using a logarithmic function.
• Input Parameters: List: the series of values, n: the
nth point
• Output Parameters: List: the series of values, n:
the nth point
Forecasts the nth-point of a series using a hyperbola function.
• Input Parameters: List: the series of values, n: the
nth point
• Output Parameters: Forecast of the nth point
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ForecastParabola(list,n)
ForecastCubic(list,n)
ForecastLogistic(list,lim
it,n)
DescriptionFunction
Forecasts the nth-point of a series using a
parabola function.
• Input Parameters: List: the series of values, n: the
nth point
• Output Parameters: Forecast of the nth point
Forecasts the nth-point of a series using a cubic
function.
• Input Parameters: List: the series of values, n: the
nth point
• Output Parameters: Forecast of the nth point
Forecasts the nth-point of a series using a logistic
function using a limit value.
• Input Parameters: List: the series of values, Limit:
a number, n: the nth point
• Output Parameters: Forecast of the nth point
Returns the mean error of the forecast for the list
using the specified method.
ForecastGom
pertz(list,limit,n)
• Input Parameters: List: the series of values, Limit:
a number, n: the nth point
• Output Parameters: The mean error of the forecast
for the list
Forecasts the nth-point of a series using the best
forecast function.
ForecastBest(list,n)
• Input Parameters: List: the series of values, n: the
nth point
• Output Parameters: Forecast of the nth point
Returns the name of the best forecast function.
ForecastBestName(list)
88 BusinessObjects Performance Manager User Guide
• Input Parameters: List: the series of values
• Output Parameters: Name of the best function
ForecastMeanError(method, list)
ForecastMeanAbsError(method, list)
ForecastMeanAbsPercentError(method, list)
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Rules in Performance Manager
DescriptionFunction
Returns the mean error of the forecast for the list
using the specified method.
• Input Parameters: List: the series of values,
Method: forecast method
• Output Parameters: Mean Error
Returns the mean absolute error for the list using
the specified forecast.
• Input Parameters: List: the series of values,
Method: forecast method
• Output Parameters: Mean absolute Error
Returns the mean absolute percent error for the
list using the specified forecast.
• Input Parameters: List: the series of values,
Method: forecast method
• Output Parameters: Mean Absolute Percent Error
1
Returns the root mean square error for the list using
ForecastRootMeanSquareError(method, list)
Related Topics
• Functions and operators in Performance Manager rule conditions on
page 83
• What is the root-mean-squared-error? on page 259
• What is a mean error? on page 250
• What is a mean absolute percentage error? on page 250
• What is mean absolute error? on page 249
the specified forecast.
• Input Parameters: List: the series of values,
Method: forecast method
• Output Parameters: Root mean square error
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Metric behavior functions in rule conditions
Metric behavior functions predict future metric values based on values for
past periods.
MetricAnnualChange
Forecasts one year ahead using year-to-year relative change to the raw data.
You need at least two years of data.
• Syntax: MetricAnnualChange(metricId, [,nbPeriod])
• Input Parameters: Metric ID: ID of the metric, (Optional) nbperiod:number
of periods in the past for calculating annual change instead of current
period
• Output Parameters: Forecast one year ahead
MetricMovingAvg
Returns the moving average for the metric based on span number of points.
The average function is useful to smooth out values over several periods
and to remove spikes in data trends.
• Syntax: MetricMovingAvg(metricId, span, [nbPeriod])
• Input Parameters: Metric ID: ID of the metric, span: Number of points,
(Optional) nbperiod:number of periods in the past
• Output Parameters: Moving Average
You can use this function to compare a group of values for different periods
on a non-sliced metric. You can also create a condition that is true if spikes
exist in the data trend. This is useful so that users know that a particular
change is out of the norm of the data trend.
Example: Creating a condition that compares the average of values for
the last five periods with the average of values for the five periods prior
to that, and that measures spikes of 20% or more in the data trend.
The following syntax creates a condition that measures the average for the
two time periods (last five periods and the five periods prior to that, for a
total span of ten periods) and specifies that a change in the trend of 20%
or more is out of the norm:
0.2 < ( ( MetricMovingAvg(metric1.id, 10) - MetricMovin
gAvg(metric1.id, 10, 2) ) / MetricMovingAvg(metric1.id, 10,
2) )
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You can create an alert that informs users of the average two periods ago
and now as follows:
2 periods ago: #f MetricMovingAvg(metric1.id, 10, 2) % Now:
#f MetricMovingAvg(metric1.id, 10) %
To create an alert that informs users when the condition is true (when the
change is greater than 20%):
Percentage Change = #f 100 * ((MetricMovingAvg(metric1.id,
10)-MetricMovingAvg(metric1.id, 10, 2))/(MetricMovingAvg(met
ric1.id, 10, 2)) %
MetricPeriodAvg
Forecasts Same day average one week ahead, or the same month and same
quarter average one year ahead
• Syntax: MetricPeriodAvg(metricId, span[, nbPeriod])
• Input Parameters: Metric ID: ID of the metric, span: Number of points,
(Optional) nbperiod:number of periods in the past
• Output Parameters: Forecast
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MetricMovingLR (metricId, span[, nbPeriod])
Forecasts by fitting to a linear regression trend line
• Syntax: MetricMovingLR (metricId, span[, nbPeriod])
• Input Parameters: Metric ID: ID of the metric, span: Number of points,
(Optional) nbperiod:number of periods in the past
• Output Parameters: Forecast
MetricSES
Forecasts the next period by adjusting previous period forecast for error.
• Syntax: MetricSES(metricId, span, smoothing constant[, nbPeriod])
• Input Parameters: Metric ID: ID of the metric, smoothConst: a number
between 0 and 1, span: Number of points
• (Optional) nbperiod:number of periods in the past
• Output Parameters: Forecast
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Mathematical functions in rule conditions
Mathematical functions perform mathematical operations on the specified
numeric value.
DescriptionFunction
Abs(number)
Sign(number)
Round(number,digits)
Int(number)
Log(number,base)
Exp(number)
Returns the specified number's absolute value.
Returns 1 for a positive value; -1 for a
negative value and 0 for 0.
Rounds a number to a specified number of decimal places.
Generates a random number.Rand()
Returns the sum of a list of values.Sum(list)
Returns the integer portion of a number.
Returns the log of a number in the
specified base.
Returns the base 10 log of a number.Log10(number)
Returns the Natural Log of a number.Ln(number)
Returns the exponential value of a
number.
Count(list)
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Raises a number to a specific power.Power(number,power)
Counts the number of elements in a
list.
Returns the square root of a number.Sqrt(number)
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Date functions in rule conditions
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DescriptionFunction
Returns the specified root of a number.Root(number,Root)
DescriptionFunction
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CurrentDate()
CurrentDay()
CurrentMonth()
CurrentYear()
Date(Year,Month,Day)
Day(date)
Returns the current date.
Input: none
Returns the current day of month.
Input: none
Returns the current month.
Input: none
Returns the current year.
Input: none
Returns the date constant for the specified month,
date, and year.
Input: year, month, day
Returns the current day of month for the date.
Input: date
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DescriptionFunction
Month(date)
Year(date)
WeekDay(date)
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Returns the month for a date.
Input: date
Returns the year for a date.
Input: date
Returns the day of week for a date.
Input: date
Crystal Reports functions in rule conditions
The rules engine can call Crystal Reports data. Use the CrystalReportData
function to read values in reports and to evaluate rule conditions.
CrystalReportData
• Syntax: CrystalReportData(reportID, bInst, scheduler, grpPath, sumField
[, offset]) where:
• reportID: the Crystal Report ID
• bInst: indicates whether the report is an object (FALSE) or an instance
(TRUE)
• scheduler: specifies the user name of the profile with which the report
should be refreshed, or the owner of the schedule
• grpPath: indicates which dimension values should be used
• sumField [, offset]: indicates which report value should be used (note that
you must use the ' escape character to indicate an apostrophe in
a report name)
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Example: Creating a rule using the Crystal Reports data function
To create a function to call data from Report1 using the following
parameters:
• the report is refresh on-demand
• the dimension is Country, and the slice to use is France
• the summary field (which specifies which report value to use) is Last year's
sale per country
Use the following syntax:
CrystalReportData(report1, FALSE, ' ', '/country[France]','Sum
({Last Year's Sales}, {Customer.Country})'
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Text functions in rule conditions
Text functions return data as a text string.
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Name
TextWeekday(date)
DescriptionFunction
Returns the specified expression as a text field.Text(expression)
Returns the name of the specified object (metric, set,
filter or subject) based on its ID.
Syntax: Name(metricid|segementid|filterid|sub
jectid)
Converts the date to a text string.TextDate(date)
Returns the day of the week customized to your location.
Returns the month name customized to your location.TextMonth(date)
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Cube functions in rule conditions
Cube functions return specific data about data in a specified cube.
DescriptionFunction
Returns the cube row with the minimum value for the
measure for each dimension value in the cube.
min(cube)
max(cube)
Input Parameters: Cube that has one or more rows of
dimension data and one measure.
Output Parameters: One row or Line of the cube with
the minimum measure value for each dimension value.
Returns the cube row with the maximum value for the
measure for each dimension value in the cube.
Input Parameters: Cube that has one or more rows of
dimension data and one measure.
Output Parameters: One row or Line of the cube with
the maximum measure value for each dimension value.
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MeasureValue
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DescriptionFunction
Returns a single measure value or a cube with several
values for the measure; based on the filters applied
and aggregation performed. Projection and filtering
remove all dimension information.
Syntax: MeasureValue(cube, measure_name, ag
gregation_function, filter_list)
Input Parameters: Cube that contains the dimensions
and measures; measure name for which the measure
values are computed; aggregation function for projection of measures and filter list that assists in filtering
cube rows.
Output Parameters: One or more values for the same
measure
Returns the cube with one dimension removed.
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ProjectCube
FilterCube
Syntax: ProjectCube(cube,column_index)
Input Parameters: Cube for which projection is desired;
index of the column to remove, starting with zero.
Output Parameters: A reduced cube with the column
specified by the index removed.
Returns a filtered cube for the column specified.
Syntax: FilterCube(cube,column_index)
Input Parameters: Cube for which the filtering is required; column index that specifies the filtering by value.
Output Parameters: A reduced cube filtered by the
column specified.
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DescriptionFunction
Returns a cube sorted by the column specified in ascending order.
sortcube(cube, column_index)
merge
cube(cube1,cube2)
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• Functions and operators in Performance Manager rule conditions on
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Input Parameters: Cube for which the sorting is required; column index that specifies the column for the
sort.
Output Parameters: An ascending cube sort based on
the column specified.
Returns a cube that is a merge of two cubes. Can be
a merge of all lines from both cubes.
Input Parameters: cube1 and cube2 that specifies the
two cubes to be merged.
Output Parameters: A merged cube that is a result of
the merge of all lines from cube1 and cube2.
Metric attributes in rule conditions
Metric attributes return data about a specified metric. Apply the attribute as
a suffix to a metric variable to return information about the metric referenced
by the variable. For example, typing the following function:
metric1.id
returns the ID of the metric whose variable name is metric1.
returns this dataThis attribute
.id
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the ID attribute of the metric referenced by the specified
variable.
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returns this dataThis attribute
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.value
.name
.slice
the value attribute of the metric referenced by the specified
variable.
the name attribute of the metric referenced by the specified
variable.
the values of the dimension metric slices referenced by
the specified variable. If you do not specify a slice ID, this
suffix returns the values of all the slices including the
global slice. If you do not specify a period, the latest (current) value is returned. For example:
metric1.slice()
returns the latest value of all slices of the metric, including the global slice (whose ID is 0).
You can also use the slice attribute to obtain the value
of one individual slice of the metric. For example:
metric1.slice(2)
returns the latest value of the slice whose ID is 2.
You can use the slice attribute with additional suffixes
to obtain metadata about a metric's slices:
• .slice.id
• .slice.code
• .slice.name
.dim.id
.dim.name
For example, use the following syntax to return the
name of the slice whose ID is 2:
metric1.slice(2).name
the ID of the dimension on which a sliced metric is based.
The attribute does not return information about individual
slices.
the dimension name attribute of the metric referenced by
the specified variable.
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.slice.id
.slice.code
.slice.name
returns this dataThis attribute
the slice ID attribute of the metric referenced by the specified variable. For an example of using the slice attribute,
refer to .slice.
the slice code attribute of the metric referenced by the
specified variable. For an example of using the slice attribute, refer to .slice.
the slice name attribute of the metric referenced by the
specified variable. For an example of using the slice attribute, refer to .slice.
You can return the names of all slices of the metric using the following syntax:
metricN.slice().name
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