SAP Business objects Enterprise XI 3.1 Conversion Tool Guide

BusinessObjects XI 3.1 Report Conversion Tool Guide

BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 3.1

windows

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2008-09-02

Report Conversion Tool Overview 5Chapter 1

What is the Report Conversion Tool?..........................................................6

Report Conversion Tool working modes 9Chapter 2

Report Conversion ToolConnected mode..................................................10

Report Conversion ToolStandalone mode.................................................10

Using the Report Conversion Tool 13Chapter 3

Installing the Report Conversion Tool........................................................14

Editing user settings for the Report Conversion Tool................................14

Launching the Report Conversion Tool.....................................................14

Selecting reports........................................................................................15

Viewing conversion results and selecting the audit database...................20

To launch the Report Conversion Tool in Connected mode.................14

To launch the Report Conversion Tool in Standalone mode................15

To explore the repository......................................................................16

To search for reports with the Report Conversion Tool........................16

To select individual reports for conversion...........................................16

To select reports by folder for conversion............................................17

To select reports by category for conversion........................................17

To save and open lists of reports for conversion..................................17

To convert reports.................................................................................18

Report conversion status icons............................................................18

Converting reports that contain stored procedures..............................19

To create an audit connection and assign it to the Report Conversion

Tool.......................................................................................................20

BusinessObjects XI 3.1 Report Conversion Tool Guide 3

Contents

To view the audit report for the Report Conversion Tool......................21

Publishing converted reports.....................................................................22

To publish converted reports................................................................22

To compare fully converted reports...........................................................22

The Report Comparison Tool...............................................................23

Desktop Intelligence feature conversion 29Chapter 4

Not converted or partly converted Desktop Intelligence features..............30

Formula conversion in the Report Conversion Tool...................................38

Get More Help 39Appendix A

Index 43

4 BusinessObjects XI 3.1 Report Conversion Tool Guide

Report Conversion Tool Overview

What is the Report Conversion Tool?

You use the Report Conversion Tool to convert Desktop Intelligence reports to Web Intelligence format in the BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 3.1 platform.

Before you can convert your Desktop Intelligence reports, you first need to install and configure BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 3.1. If you are migrating a previous deployment of the BusinessObjects Enterprise suite, use the "Import Wizard" to migrate your repository and reports to BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 3.1. After you migrate your BusinessObjects reports, you can view or edit them using Desktop Intelligence or convert them to Web Intelligence.

You use the Report Conversion Tool to convert the following types of report to Web Intelligence XI 3.1 (WID) format:

• BusinessObjects (REP) reports migrated to Desktop Intelligence (REP)

format with the "Import Wizard"

• Desktop Intelligence reports created directly in Desktop Intelligence and

based on these data providers:

• a Business Objects universe

• a Microsoft Excel document

• an ASCII file (formats ASC, PRN, CSV and TXT)

• free-hand SQL and stored procedures

Note:

Desktop Intelligence is the new name of the product formerly called BusinessObjects. It was first shipped under this new name in the BusinessObjects Enterprise XI release.

What is the Report Conversion Tool?

The Report Conversion Tool converts Desktop Intelligence XI 3.1 reports to Web Intelligence XI 3.1 format and publishes the converted reports to the CMS.

It retrieves reports from the "Central Management Server" (CMS), in the "Public", "Favorites", or "Inbox" folders. Once converted, you can publish to the same folder as the original Desktop Intelligence report or to a different folder.

The tool does not convert all Desktop Intelligence features and reports. The level of conversion depends on the features in the original report. Some

6 BusinessObjects XI 3.1 Report Conversion Tool Guide

Report Conversion Tool Overview

What is the Report Conversion Tool?

features prevent the report from being converted. Other features are modified, reimplemented, or removed by the tool during conversion.

The tool assigns one of three statuses to each report:

• "Fully Converted"

• "Partly Converted"

• "Not Converted"

The Report Conversion Tool also lets you audit your converted reports. This enables identification of reports that cannot be fully converted by the Report Conversion Tool and helps you understand why.

BusinessObjects XI 3.1 Report Conversion Tool Guide 7

Report Conversion Tool Overview

What is the Report Conversion Tool?

8 BusinessObjects XI 3.1 Report Conversion Tool Guide

Report Conversion Tool working modes

Report Conversion ToolConnected mode

You can work with the Report Conversion Tool in two modes: "Connected" or "Standalone".

Report Conversion Tool"Connected" mode

In "Connected" mode, the Report Conversion Tool is connected to a CMS.

• You can convert Desktop Intelligence XI 3.1 documents that are stored

in a CMS to Web Intelligence XI 3.1. Documents created with earlier versions of Desktop Intelligence or BusinessObjects must first be migrated to XI 3.1 format and then published to a CMS.

• You can publish converted documents to a CMS.

• If a universe needs to be created on-the-fly during the conversion session,

it is created in the CMS.

Security in "Connected" mode

When you work in "Connected" mode, the security rights of your user account are applied by the CMS.

Report Conversion Tool"Standalone" mode

In "Standalone" mode, the Report Conversion Tool is not connected to a CMS and no security is enforced. You can work with local, unsecured documents and universes only. Local means saved to the computer's hard disk. This does not include network servers.

You cannot import documents to or export documents from a CMS when you are in "Standalone" mode.

The middleware required to create and refresh local, unsecured documents with local, unsecured universes must be installed on the computer with the Report Conversion Tool.

• You can convert Desktop Intelligence XI 3.1 documents to Web

Intelligence XI 3.1.

10 BusinessObjects XI 3.1 Report Conversion Tool Guide

Report Conversion Tool working modes

Report Conversion ToolStandalone mode

• You can convert documents created with earlier versions of Desktop

Intelligence or BusinessObjects to Web Intelligence XI 3.1 provided the universes they are based on have been copied to the local XI 3.1 universe folder and unsecured (saved for all users).

• You cannot convert documents based on freehand SQL or stored

procedures to Web Intelligence XI 3.1.

When to use "Standalone" mode

You use "Standalone" mode when you want to work with neither CMS security nor a CMS connection. This allows you to convert any number of locally stored, unsecured documents in a single operation without affecting CMS performance.

BusinessObjects XI 3.1 Report Conversion Tool Guide 11

Report Conversion Tool working modes

Report Conversion ToolStandalone mode

12 BusinessObjects XI 3.1 Report Conversion Tool Guide

Using the Report Conversion Tool

Installing the Report Conversion Tool

The Report Conversion Tool runs on Microsoft Windows platforms. It is installed by default when you run a Client or Server installation of BusinessObjects XI 3.1. When you run a "Custom" installation, you must select Report Conversion Tool to install it.

Note:

You must install Designer if you want to create an audit log or if you want to detect "Free-Hand SQL" and "Stored Procedure" reports.

Editing user settings for the Report Conversion Tool

By default, users in the "Administrators" group or the "Report Conversion Tool Users" group have the appropriate rights to use the Report Conversion Tool.

You can edit the user rights through the Central Management Console in the Business Objects Enterprise Applications > Report Conversion Tool section.

Launching the Report Conversion Tool

You can launch the Report Conversion Tool in either of its working modes:

• "Connected"

• "Standalone"

To launch the Report Conversion Tool in "Connected" mode

In "Connected" mode, security is handled by the CMS.

When you launch the Report Conversion Tool in "Connected" mode, you have a client-server connection to the CMS.

14 BusinessObjects XI 3.1 Report Conversion Tool Guide

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