1 Introduction to SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio

29

1.1 What Is SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio?

30

1.1.1 Development Environment

32

1.1.2 Components

32

1.1.3 Data Sources and Platforms

33

1.1.4 Scripting

34

1.1.5 Cascading Style Sheets

34

1.1.6 Templates and Themes

34

1.1.7 Application Execution

35

1.2 SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio and Existing SAP BusinessObjects BI Environments

37

1.2.1 SAP BusinessObjects BI Tool Categories

38

1.2.2 Content Creation and Consumption

44

1.3 Recent Developments

46

1.4 Summary

48

2 SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio vs. SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards vs. BEx Web Application Designer

49

2.1 SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards

49

2.1.1 Setting Up a Dashboard

51

2.1.2 Components

53

2.1.3 Data Connectivity

56

2.1.4 Publishing

57

2.1.5 SDK

57

2.2 BEX Web Application Designer

58

2.2.1 Setting Up a Web Application Template

60

2.2.2 Web Items

62

2.2.3 Publishing

64

2.3 Key Differences

64

2.4 Summary

68

3 Usage Scenarios

69

3.1 Real-Time Production Dashboard

69

3.2 Sales Dashboard Application

75

3.2.1 Main Screen

75

3.2.2 Detail Screen

77

3.2.3 Quotes

79

3.3 OLAP Application

81

3.3.1 Starting the Application

82

3.3.2 Customizing the Application

83

3.4 Summary

89

4 Installation and Configuration

91

4.1 Architecture, Components, and Prerequisites

92

4.1.1 SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform

94

4.1.2 SAP Business Warehouse

95

4.1.3 SAP Enterprise Portal

95

4.1.4 SAP HANA

95

4.1.5 SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio Client Tool

96

4.1.6 Browsers

96

4.2 Preparing for Installation

96

4.2.1 Accessing Document Guides

96

4.2.2 Downloading Software Components

97

4.2.3 Helpful SAP Notes

98

4.2.4 Extracting Installation Files

98

4.3 Installing the SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform Add-On

100

4.4 Configuring the SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform

108

4.4.1 Initializing the Analysis Application Service

109

4.4.2 Setting the Number of Client Sessions

113

4.4.3 Assigning User Authorizations

114

4.4.4 Creating a Mobile Category

118

4.4.5 Creating an SAP BW OLAP Connection

120

4.4.6 Creating an SAP HANA OLAP Connection

123

4.5 Configuring SAP Enterprise Portal and SAP Business Warehouse

124

4.6 Configuring SAP HANA

131

4.7 Configuring Connections via Universes and Custom Data Sources

133

4.7.1 Universes

133

4.7.2 Custom Data Sources

134

4.8 Installing the SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio Client Tool

135

4.9 Summary

140

5 The Integrated Development Environment

143

5.1 Menu

143

5.1.1 Application

143

5.1.2 Planning

155

5.1.3 Edit

156

5.1.4 Layout

157

5.1.5 Search

158

5.1.6 View

160

5.1.7 Tools

162

5.1.8 Help

175

5.2 Toolbar

177

5.3 Layout Editor

179

5.3.1 Components View

180

5.3.2 Outline View

181

5.3.3 Properties View

186

5.3.4 Additional Properties View

190

5.3.5 Error Log View

192

5.3.6 Script Problems View

193

5.4 Summary

193

6 The Application Design Process

195

6.1 Setting Up the User Interface and Visualizations

197

6.2 Adding the Data

202

6.3 Making It Interactive

208

6.4 Formatting and Fine-Tuning

211

6.5 Executing the Application

214

6.6 Summary

216

7 Components and Properties

217

7.1 Application Component Properties

217

7.1.1 Custom CSS

220

7.1.2 Global Script Variables and On Startup

225

7.2 Data Source Alias Component Properties

227

7.3 Visual Component Properties

229

7.3.1 Common Properties

229

7.3.2 Analytic Component Properties

231

7.3.3 Basic Component Properties

261

7.3.4 Container Component Properties

283

7.4 Technical Component Properties

293

7.4.1 Backend Connection Component

294

7.4.2 Context Menu Component

296

7.4.3 Global Scripts Object Component

298

7.4.4 PDF Component

300

7.4.5 Text Pool Component

301

7.4.6 Action Sheet Component

301

7.5 Summary

302

8 Scripting for Interactivity

305

8.1 BI Action Language

305

8.1.1 Syntax

306

8.1.2 Expressions

309

8.1.3 Script Variables

311

8.1.4 Calling the Event Handler

312

8.1.5 Global Scripts

312

8.2 Creating a Script

313

8.2.1 Using the Content Assistance Screen

314

8.2.2 Creating Predefined Statement Templates

317

8.2.3 Finding Script Errors

320

8.2.4 Creating a Global Script

321

8.3 Methods

322

8.3.1 Convert Component

323

8.3.2 Data Source Alias Component

324

8.3.3 Application Component

329

8.3.4 ApplicationInfo Object Component

331

8.3.5 Bookmark Component

331

8.3.6 Math Component

332

8.3.7 Planning Component and Planning Function Component

333

8.3.8 Context Menu Component

335

8.3.9 Visual Components

335

8.4 Example: Building Navigation Items

350

8.4.1 Menu Navigation

350

8.4.2 Popup Navigation

353

8.4.3 Navigating between Applications

357

8.5 Example: Manipulating Data Output

359

8.5.1 Presenting Data in Text Components

359

8.5.2 Preparing Data for Variable Input

361

8.5.3 Data Binding

363

8.5.4 Changing the Chart View

367

8.6 Example: Building a Scorecard

370

8.7 Example: Building an OLAP Application

373

8.7.1 Initial Setup

373

8.7.2 Adding Charts

376

8.7.3 Selecting a Data Source

379

8.7.4 Bookmarking

380

8.8 Summary

383

9 Planning Applications

385

9.1 Prerequisites for Planning

385

9.2 Adding a Planning Connection

387

9.3 Manual Planning: Crosstab and Spreadsheet Components

390

9.4 Automated Planning: Planning Functions and Sequences

392

9.4.1 Planning Functions

392

9.4.2 Planning Sequences

393

9.5 Planning Functionality Options

394

9.6 Building a Planning Application

395

9.7 Summary

399

10 Enhancing Applications with CSS

401

10.1 CSS Themes

401

10.2 Using CSS Classes and Styles

404

10.3 Adding Custom CSS Classes

408

10.4 Making Applications Responsive

414

10.4.1 Hiding Panels Based on Screen Size

416

10.4.2 Rearranging Blocks

418

10.5 Modifying Standard Components

421

10.6 Summary

427

11 Design Principles and Visualization Options

429

11.1 General Design Principles

429

11.1.1 Don’t Make Users Think

430

11.1.2 Don’t Make Users Wait

430

11.1.3 Managing User Focus

431

11.1.4 Emphasizing Features

431

11.1.5 Keeping It Simple

432

11.1.6 Using Conventions

432

11.1.7 Getting the Most Out of Screen Room

432

11.2 Choosing a Visualization Method

434

11.2.1 Single Number

436

11.2.2 Line Chart

436

11.2.3 Bar Chart

437

11.2.4 Column Chart

440

11.2.5 Area Chart

442

11.2.6 Crosstab

443

11.2.7 Bubble Chart

444

11.2.8 Waterfall Chart

444

11.2.9 Pie Chart

446

11.2.10 Radar Chart

448

11.2.11 Scatter Chart

450

11.2.12 Chart Comparison

450

11.2.13 International Business Communication Standards

451

11.3 Building Complex Applications

453

11.3.1 Building Principles

453

11.3.2 Application Building Tips

454

11.3.3 Scripting

457

11.3.4 Managing the CSS Layout

461

11.4 Designing for Performance

463

11.4.1 Creating Row-Based Data Models

463

11.4.2 Ensuring Calculations Are Done in the Backend

463

11.4.3 Avoiding Variable Usage in Queries

463

11.4.4 Be Thoughtful When Loading Data Sources

464

11.4.5 How to Navigate

465

11.5 Summary

465

12 Using SDK Extensions in SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio

469

12.1 Extensions: What They Are and How They Work

469

12.2 Installing, Updating, and Removing SDK Extensions

471

12.2.1 Installing

471

12.2.2 Updating

478

12.2.3 Uninstalling the SDK

480

12.2.4 Falling Back to a Lower SDK Version

481

12.3 Moving an SDK through the System Landscape

482

12.3.1 Promoting in SAP BusinessObjects BI

483

12.3.2 Transporting with SAP Business Warehouse

483

12.3.3 Transporting with SAP HANA

484

12.4 Testing Changes to an SDK Extension

484

12.5 Third-Party SDK Extensions

485

12.6 Summary

489

13 SDK Installation and Deployment

491

13.1 Installing Eclipse

491

13.1.1 Java Development Kit

491

13.1.2 Eclipse

494

13.2 Registering the XML Definition

498

13.2.1 Downloading SAP Templates

498

13.2.2 Setting Up XML

499

13.3 Importing the Project

500

13.4 Setting the Target Platform

502

13.5 Summary

506

14 Building Components Using the SDK

507

14.1 Understanding the SDK Framework

507

14.2 Languages Used in an SDK

509

14.2.1 JavaScript Overview

509

14.2.2 XML Overview

524

14.2.3 HTML Overview

525

14.2.4 CSS Overview

526

14.3 Building Blocks of an SDK Extension

527

14.3.1 Contribution.xml

527

14.3.2 Component JavaScript

528

14.3.3 Additional Properties

529

14.3.4 Script Contributions

530

14.3.5 Component CSS

531

14.3.6 Icon

532

14.4 Configuring the SDK Extension

533

14.4.1 Extension Level

533

14.4.2 Component Level

535

14.4.3 Creating Data Bound Properties

540

14.5 Building Internal Functionality

544

14.5.1 Function Calls

544

14.5.2 Functions

546

14.5.3 Data Runtime JSON

549

14.6 Creating Methods

557

14.7 Using the JavaScript Libraries

559

14.7.1 jQuery

559

14.7.2 D3

561

14.7.3 SAPUI5

571

14.8 Example: Building a Bullet Graph SDK Extension

573

14.8.1 Overview

573

14.8.2 Setting Up the Project and Structure

574

14.8.3 Setting Up the Base Folder Structure

575

14.8.4 Expanding the Bullet Graph Component

586

14.8.5 Creating the Component JavaScript

592

14.8.6 Creating Additional Properties

607

14.8.7 Adding Methods

611

14.9 Summary

613

15 Building a Real-Time Production Dashboard

617

15.1 Application Overview

617

15.2 Building the Application

618

15.2.1 Views

620

15.2.2 CSS Classes

622

15.2.3 Components and Layout

623

15.2.4 Adding Data to the Views

628

15.2.5 Interaction

630

15.2.6 Applying Filters at Startup

633

15.2.7 Timer Component

636

15.3 Summary

638

16 Building a Sales Dashboard Application

639

16.1 Application Overview

639

16.2 Building the Application

642

16.2.1 Main Page

642

16.2.2 Detail Screen

660

16.2.3 Quotes

666

16.3 Summary

674

17 Building an OLAP Application Using a Template

675

17.1 Creating the Application

675

17.2 Application Properties

682

17.3 Application Components

685

17.3.1 Header

687

17.3.2 Body

688

17.3.3 Buttons

690

17.3.4 On Startup

695

17.3.5 Adding Filters

697

17.4 Summary

698

18 Outlook

699

18.1 SAP Analytics and Platform Strategy

699

18.2 Roadmap

702

18.2.1 Planned Innovations

704

18.2.2 Future Direction

705

18.3 Summary

705

Appendices

707

A Tips for Using SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio and SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, Edition for Microsoft Office

709

A.1 Creating a Design Studio Application

710

A.2 Smart Copying Data Sources

712

B SAP BusinessObjects Mobile and SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio

715

B.1 Supported Platforms

715

B.2 Connectivity

716

B.3 Using Content

717

C The Authors

723