SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio

Dwain Chang is an SAP BI consultant, originally from Surinam, who currently lives in the Netherlands. He has a master's degree in informatics and economics as well as in marketing from the Erasmus University Rotterdam. Dwain started his professional career in 2011 and participated in various SAP backend and frontend development projects. Dwain has done a number of SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio implementations at a wide range of clients in the fields of Logistics, Finance, PM, and HR, to name a few. Xavier Hacking is an SAP BI specialist from Eindhoven, the Netherlands, and works as a consultant for Interdobs. He has a master's degree in Industrial Engineering and Manage-ment Science from the Eindhoven University of Technology. He has worked with a wide range of products from the current SAP BW and SAP BusinessObjects BI toolsets, with a focus on dashboard development within SAP environments. Jeroen van der A is a SAP BI consultant from the Netherlands working for Interdobs. He has more than 15 years of experience with business intelligence and started using SAP products in 2005. Jeroen is focused on finding innovative ways to use BI products to create added value, and uses a broad range of products to achieve this goal.

. Foreword. 17

. Introduction. 19

. Acknowledgments. 25

. Part I: Getting Started. 27

1. Introduction to SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio. 29

1.1. What Is SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio?. 30

1.2. SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio and Existing SAP BusinessObjects BI Environments. 37

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

2.2. BEX Web Application Designer. 58

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

3.3. OLAP Application. 81

3.4. Summary. 89

4. Installation and Configuration. 91

4.1. Architecture, Components, and Prerequisites. 92

4.2. Preparing for Installation. 96

4.3. Installing the SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform Add-On. 100

4.4. Configuring the SAP BusinessObjects BI Platform. 108

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

4.8. Installing the SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio Client Tool. 135

4.9. Summary. 140

. Part II: The Basics. 141

5. The Integrated Development Environment. 143

5.1. Menu. 143

5.2. Toolbar. 177

5.3. Layout Editor. 179

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

7.2. Data Source Alias Component Properties. 227

7.3. Visual Component Properties. 229

7.4. Technical Component Properties. 293

7.5. Summary. 302

. Part III: Advanced Concepts. 303

8. Scripting for Interactivity. 305

8.1. BI Action Language. 305

8.2. Creating a Script. 313

8.3. Methods. 322

8.4. Example: Building Navigation Items. 350

8.5. Example: Manipulating Data Output. 359

8.6. Example: Building a Scorecard. 370

8.7. Example: Building an OLAP Application. 373

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

9.5. 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

10.5. Modifying Standard Components. 421

10.6. Summary. 427

11. Design Principles and Visualization Options. 429

11.1. General Design Principles. 429

11.2. Choosing a Visualization Method. 434

11.3. Building Complex Applications. 453

11.4. Designing for Performance. 463

11.5. Summary. 465

. Part IV: The Software Development Kit. 467

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

12.3. Moving an SDK through the System Landscape. 482

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

13.2. Registering the XML Definition. 498

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

14.3. Building Blocks of an SDK Extension. 527

14.4. Configuring the SDK Extension. 533

14.5. Building Internal Functionality. 544

14.6. Creating Methods. 557

14.7. Using the JavaScript Libraries. 559

14.8. Example: Building a Bullet Graph SDK Extension. 573

14.9. Summary. 613

. Part V: Examples. 615

15. Building a Real-Time Production Dashboard. 617

15.1. Application Overview. 617

15.2. Building the Application. 618

15.3. Summary. 638

16. Building a Sales Dashboard Application. 639

16.1. Application Overview. 639

16.2. Building the Application. 642

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

17.4. Summary. 698

18. Outlook. 699

18.1. SAP Analytics and Platform Strategy. 699

18.2. Roadmap. 702

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

. Index. 725