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Kelly Limberg , Engineering Services Architect [email protected]
SAP BusinessObjects Reporting
Terms of This Presentation
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2009 and is subject to change or withdrawal by CA at any time without notice.
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2 August 12, 2009 SAP BusinessObjects Reporting Copyright © 2009 CA
For Informational Purposes Only
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3 August 12, 2009 SAP BusinessObjects Reporting Copyright © 2009 CA
Session Abstract
Do you want to learn how to go from Actuate to
Business Objects?
Join this session to learn Business Object installation
tips, and how to use or expand our universe or how
to create your own.
In addition we will discuss WEBI – what is it and how
to use it.
Agenda
> SAP BusinessObjects Overview
> Installation Tips / Best Practices
> SAP BusinessObjects Components
> Converting from Actuate
> Universe Design
> WEBI Reports / WEBI User Interface
> Crystal Reports
> Importing/Exporting content
> Performance Hints
> Summary
SAP BusinessObjects Overview
> SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise (BOE XI)
Market-leading reporting platform
Wholly-owned subsidiary of SAP
Creates and markets business intelligence applications
Customers have asked for it for a long time
Known for its ease of use
– Long learning curve with Actuate
SAP BusinessObjects and Clarity
> SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise (BOE XI)
Enhances reporting capabilities for Clarity:– Crystal Reports
– WEBI templates
– Ad-hoc reporting
CA has standardized on SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise XI as its reporting solution for all products
Support for BOE XI comes in Clarity 8.1.1+
SAP BusinessObjects Overview
> CA Business Intelligence (CA BI) A CA-developed specially licensed OEM version of BOE XI that installs at
a very specific patch-level
> Which version are you supported on?
> CA BI 2.1 – Latest and greatest supported release
Fixes many defects +introduces support for 64-bit Windows
– Note: BOE XI files are compiled as 32-bit native binary. Must use 32-bit data source middleware connectivity.
Use C:\WINDOWS\SysWOW64\odbcad32.exe for DSN
CA BI Supported On... BOE XI Release
CA BI 2.0 Clarity 8.1.x / 12.0 BOE XI R2 SP3 + FP3_3
CA BI 2.1 Clarity 8.1.4 + / 12.0.2 + BOE XI R2 SP4
CA BI 3.0 TBD BOE XI R3 SP1 + FP1_5
SAP BusinessObjects Overview
Crystal Reports
– Similar to the Actuate eReports of old
– Stock reports with Clarity / PMO pack
– Parameterise reports from Clarity UI
Web Intelligence (WEBI) Reports
– Drag-and-drop reporting in your browser
– Once saved, can be launched from InfoView or Clarity
Universe Designer
– Used for managing/administering the “universe”
(Crystal Reports Designer)
– Not included in CA BI - purchase directly from SAP - only required for custom Crystal report design
> Key Components for CA Clarity PPM
SAP BusinessObjects Overview
SAP BusinessObjects Overview
> Most-used Components
Central Management Server (CMS)
– Maintains info on security, objects and servers in BOE XI DB
Web Application Server (WAS)
Cache Server
– Looks for cached copies of the report; if nothing found then
forwards a request to Page Server
Page Server
– Generates the report and connects to the Clarity DB and a
new copy of the report is cached to Cache Server
SAP BusinessObjects Overview
> User Authentication and BOE
Clarity is the system of record for user
When the Clarity user runs any report it will:
– Check the BOE report server to see if that user exists in
BOE
– If the user does not exist it will create the user in BOE
– The BOE user will have the same user name as the Clarity
user with an encrypted password
Does not become a licensing issue as we have an
unlimited user license (see next slide!)
SAP BusinessObjects Overview
> CA BI Licensing
The CA BI OEM version of BOE ships with a 10 CPU tier
license:
– No restriction on number of users
– Max number of concurrent users supported dependent on
hardware deployed to run SAP BOE
– The OEM license can only be used with the CA products
named in the OEM contract
– Data access is limited to data created or used by CA
products named in the OEM contract
– This license cannot be used with a data mart or data
warehouse beyond CA products named in the OEM contract
Installation Tips / Best Practices
> Can pre-existing BOE deployments be used? Only if:
Your existing license allows enough users for every user in
Clarity that will run reports
– Each Clarity user will have a BOE user that can only be used by
Clarity
– Discuss your licensing/env setup directly with SAP
Be aware that Clarity will create/update users in the BOE
Repository
– If there are users who already use BOE and their Clarity
username is the same, their password WILL be reset each time
they run a Clarity report to an encrypted form!
BOE must be configured to use Enterprise Authentication
Installation Tips / Best Practices
> Can pre-existing BOE deployments be used? Only if:
User specified in NSA must have full admin privileges
You have the same BOE patch level as the CA BI release
The BOE Web Services module must be installed
Import Wizard can be used to load the BIAR file, but
reports must be restored to the appropriate folder
(check Reports admin screen in application for path)
CA Clarity Support offers restricted levels of support to
non-CA BI installations
> We highly recommend you deploy the CA BI software
Installation Tips / Best Practices
> Go OEM with CA BI:
Be 100% supported by CA Clarity Support
Stay with Tomcat
– No real performance benefit over WebSphere/WebLogic
– Minimal configuration effort required on Tomcat
– From 12.0.3+, WebLogic/WebSphere supported for
upgrade customers only
MySQL OK for < 100 concurrent reports users and small
non-production environments
Installation Tips / Best Practices
> Stock Reports Installed from the NSA or Command Line
Any existing CA Clarity universe and Clarity Stock
Reports will be overwritten
Custom universes will not be overwritten
– Custom reports and modified stock reports in custom
folders will not be overwritten
Post Installation Setup
> NSA Configures Both Actuate and BOE
Can only have one configured to run at a time
Can switch later if needed
> One BOE server per Clarity Instance
Last one to install wins
Post Installation SetupWhere you define if you are using BOE or Actuate
Points to the web service URL, CMS (BOE specific) and base URL to reporting server
Actuate
BOE
Define the Actuate Volume Name
The Database ID for the reports to run against
These fields must be fully completed before you install reports from the NSA or command line.
SAP BusinessObjects Components
> Reports and universe packaged in a BIAR file
Business Intelligence Archive Resource (BIAR)
Clarity BIAR files
– ca_clarity.biar (Stock reports and Universe)
– ca_clarity_csk.biar (PMO Accelerator reports)
Installed from NSA or “nikuadmin reports” command
Imports the file using Java
Ensure CMS service is contactable by Clarity before doing
this (check NSA configuration!)
“nikuadmin reports –verbose” can be used to try and elicit
more detailed error messages if you are having problems
SAP BusinessObjects Components
> InfoView
A portal that allows
users access to view
and manage
published reports
View history of report
instances previously
run
> URL to InfoView http://<SERVER>:<PORT>/businessobjects/enterprise115/desktoplaunch/InfoView/
SAP BusinessObjects Components
> Central Management
Console (CMC)
Web application where
you define users,
groups, security, and
other administrative
tasks
Tune the configuration
settings for BOE services
> URL for CMC http://<SERVER>:<PORT>/businessobjects/enterprise115/admin/en/admin.cwr
SAP BusinessObjects Components
> The "Universe"
A set of metadata that describes what’s in the CA Clarity
PPM database and/or data mart
Structured using the concept of
– classes, objects, and measures.
Semantic layer between a user and a database
Have meaningful names and are user-oriented
Can be used for the creation of WEBI (ad hoc) and Crystal
Reports
SAP BusinessObjects Components
> The "Universe"
Each universe is organized into logical functional areas, such as Project, Time and Resource.
Universes can be used for Crystal reporting, WEBI templates or simply ad hoc reporting in WEBI.
SAP BusinessObjects Components
> Without a Universe
Need to understand Clarity data model
Need to understand the Joins between tables
Have to spend time writing complex SQL
> With a Universe
Simply drag and drop the required fields
> Power of a Universe
SAP BusinessObjects Components
> OOTB Universes
CA_Clarity
– Handles security and supports the out-of-the-box Crystal reports and PMO reports
– Not (really) designed for ad hoc reporting
CA_Clarity_EVM
– Comes with the Earned Value add-on
– Not (really) designed for ad hoc reporting
> For ad-hoc reporting Create custom universe based on reporting requirements Alternatively, consider purchasing a pre-built universe
– (see next slide!)
SAP BusinessObjects Components
> CA BI Universe Accelerators from GSE
Smaller, manageable universes that are built for ease of use and ad hoc reporting
– Projects - Resources– Timesheets - Project Financials – Earned Value
Encapsulate years of experience of reporting against the
Clarity data model
Accelerates report development
Knows all the tricks so you don’t have to
5 universes so far – more to come
Extensible through building and linking
custom universes
Contact your AD for more information
Universe Design
> Descriptive & User Friendly
Class and Object Naming
conventions come from
Users
Order Objects for effective
user interaction
Users not having to click
from Subclass to Subclass
to find Objects
>Only add what is needed Objects are not overwhelming in number or depth
Users not looking at 100’s of Classes, 1000’s of Objects
Universe Design
Converting from Actuate
> Actuate will be end-of-service with Clarity after 12.x
> Decide which reports you want to keep…
Not all reports may be adding value – remove/redesign?
Work with the stakeholders and get their buy-in and views
> For the reports that remain:
Convert to Webi or Convert to Crystal?
For pure data feeds maybe look at producing a CSV
extract
> CA (GSE) offers a chargeable Reports Conversion service
Please contact your AD for more details
Converting from Actuate
> Remember:
Crystal Reports Designer is not supplied OEM
Possible to reuse stored procedures (if you use them)
Invest up front in a well designed Universe
– Link your custom universe to the Clarity OOTB/GSE
universes
Make universe changes in your custom universe to preserve
changes
See TEC485863, TEC485859 on support.ca.com for
guidance on how to do this
TEC484618 shows how to install Universe Designer on a
client PC
WEBI Reports
> Launched from InfoView
> Web based Java Applet
> Build reports based off the
universes or custom SQL
> Drag and drop formatting
> Drag and drop queries based
on Universe
WEBI User Interface
WEBI User Interface
> Can be deployed
as a Report / Job
in Clarity or run
from InfoView
> WEBI Reports can
be modified in
Clarity
WEBI User Interface
> Modifiable on the fly
Add Totals
Charts
New columns from
the universe
Can not modify
Ad Hoc SQL
> Security Concern
Users can add any available field from the universe
Build a custom Universe without sensitive information if
you wish to roll WEBI out to a wider user base
Crystal Reports
> Design Considerations
End user access to reports / jobs, same as Actuate
3 different ways to handle Row level security:
1. Use “Manage Security” option from Universe Designer
2. Join Security Views/Tables to the Tables in the Universe to
filter what users see
3. Add Security Query to the Report Query in the Report
Designer like Crystal Designer
Examples are provided in the OOTB Universe for stock
reports, such as the 'Key Task and Milestone Report'.
Please refer to TEC495372 on support.ca.com for the
full low-down on applying row-level security
Crystal Reports
> Reports can be built
off a number of data
sources
Universes
Stored Procedures
Crystal Reports
Database Expert
Query Builder
Crystal Reports
Importing/Exporting Content
> Import Wizard
Installed with Business
Objects client tools for
Windows
Used to import / export
content in BIAR file
format from central
management server
– Folders, WEBI report,
Crystal Reports,
Universes, etc…
> Crystal Reports can be distributed as native .RPT files
Performance Hints
> Tuning Parameters in the CMC
Crystal Cache Server– Maximum Cache Size Allowed: 512200 (default=256000)
– Minutes before an Idle Connection is Closed: 10 (default=20)
Page Server– Minutes before an Idle Connection is Closed: 10
(default=20)
– Minutes before an Idle Report Job is Closed: 20 (default=60)
Report Application Server (RAS)– Number of database records to read when previewing or
refreshing a report: Unlimited (default=20000)
– Number of records per batch:1000 (default=100)
Exclusive Offer for CA Customers Only
> Get 20% off the normal price of Crystal Reports
Designer!
http://www.businessobjects.com/campaigns/ca-cr08/
Questions?