Xi31 Sp3 Voyager User en
Xi31 Sp3 Voyager User en
Xi31 Sp3 Voyager User en
User's Guide
2010-05-24
Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction to BusinessObjects Voyager 15
About this guide.........................................................................................16
What is BusinessObjects Voyager?.....................................................16
Who should read this guide?................................................................19
Removing a filter................................................................................108
Ranking the data in the crosstab.............................................................109
To add a rank......................................................................................110
To modify an existing rank..................................................................110
Adding a second rank.........................................................................111
Removing a rank................................................................................111
Displaying sorts, filters, and ranks applied to the query..........................112
Hidden sorts, filters, and ranks................................................................112
Automatically removed sorts, filters, and ranks.......................................113
Combining a filter and rank......................................................................113
Combining a sort and filter.......................................................................113
Combining a sort and rank......................................................................113
Excluding null values...............................................................................114
To filter out all null rows and columns from a query...........................114
To filter out only null rows or null columns from a query....................114
To remove null suppression................................................................115
Nesting dimensions.................................................................................155
To nest dimensions.............................................................................155
Changing the order of nested dimensions.........................................156
Changing the slice of data.......................................................................157
Drilling down and drilling up.....................................................................157
To expand-drill down a level in a crosstab.........................................159
To expand-drill up a level in a crosstab..............................................159
To expand-drill down a level in a chart...............................................159
To expand-drill up a level in a chart....................................................159
To focus-drill down a level in a crosstab.............................................160
To focus-drill up a level in a crosstab.................................................160
To focus-drill down a level in a chart..................................................160
To focus-drill up a level in a chart.......................................................161
Drilling through to underlying relational data...........................................161
To drill through to relational data........................................................161
The relational table viewer.................................................................162
Exporting drill-through data................................................................162
Copying a component to compare variations in data..............................163
Resizing and moving components...........................................................164
To move or resize a chart or crosstab................................................166
Undo and Redo........................................................................................167
Chapter 17 Using Voyager with Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and 2008 Analysis
Services 205
Overview of Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and 2008 Analysis Services.....206
Using Analysis Services 2005 and 2008 hierarchies in Voyager.............208
Chapter 19 Using Voyager with Oracle Hyperion Essbase Data Sources 225
Overview of Oracle Hyperion Essbase features support in Voyager.......226
Attribute dimensions................................................................................227
Using attribute dimensions to filter data.............................................228
Index 321
1
1 Introduction to BusinessObjects Voyager
About this guide
This guide provides you with information and procedures for the following
tasks:
• Analyzing OLAP data.
• Using BusinessObjects Enterprise to save your Voyager workspaces for
other members of your organization to view over the Web.
• Printing and exporting your workspaces.
Voyager is a powerful, web-based OLAP analysis tool that can help you to
gain insight into business data and make intelligent decisions that impact
corporate performance.
OLAP data is displayed in the Voyager analysis window with crosstabs and
charts. You create a workspace, add crosstab and chart objects to the
analysis window, connect those objects to OLAP data sources, and then
interactively define queries to explore your data.
For a list of the supported data sources, please see the Voyager
Administrator's Guide.
Note:
SAP BW connectivity is available as a separate add-on to Voyager. Please
contact Business Objects for further details.
The crosstab and chart are connected to the cube they represent. With the
controls on the crosstab, users can reorient the crosstab, swap dimensions,
and "slice and dice" the data to get answers to business problems.
The documentation set for Voyager comprises these guides and online help
products:
Getting started
To get started working with Voyager workspaces and analyzing data, see
Opening a workspace and analyzing data.
2
2 Understanding OLAP
OLAP Overview
OLAP Overview
Relational databases store data as individual records. Each record may
contain a number of fields, but all these fields relate to just one record. For
example, a Product record might have a number of fields containing
information about that Product, such as sales transactions to different
customers in different regions.
This spreadsheet shows sales for each Product within each Region. This
data has two dimensions: Product (shown in the rows), and Region (shown
in the columns). Also, each dimension comprises several members; in this
example, members of the Region dimension include USA, Canada, and the
UK.
The data cube allows analysts to slice data in different ways in order to get
answers to different business questions, such as:
• How are our products selling in each region (view Product by Region, as
before)?
• How do our products sell at different times of the year in each market
(Product by Region by Time)?
• How do our products sell at different times of the year (view Product by
Time)?
This example has only three dimensions. OLAP applications can handle
many more than three.
This is harder to picture than three dimensions, but it works in the same way;
with another dimension, there are more possible ways of slicing the cube,
to provide answers to questions such as 'Which UK customer buys the most
(or least) of a certain product at Christmas?'
Hierarchical data
OLAP also allows analysts to organize each one of the data dimensions into
a hierarchy of sub-groups and totals to reflect the organization of their
business.
OLAP allows analysts to view data for All Toys at the top level, then drill-down
to lower and lower levels of detail, so that they can discover the precise
source of a particular performance variation in their data.
By allowing analysts to use several dimensions in their data cube, with the
possibility of a hierarchy in each dimension, OLAP reflects the way they
picture their business, and is not constrained by the structure of information
storage.
3
3 Getting Started with BusinessObjects Voyager
Opening a workspace and analyzing data
You may also want to read a few brief definitions of some terms that are
used throughout this guide.
• Some essential terminology
1. Application toolbar
2. Tab panel
3. Metadata explorer
4. Analysis window
Voyager terms
A bar, line, or other type of chart object that you drag into
chart compo- the analysis window to visualize your data.
nent For more information about charts, see Chart component
reference.
The area within the Data tab that displays cube dimensions
and members in a tree structure, indented to show parent-
metadata explor- child relationships.
er
For more information about the metadata explorer, see
Data tab metadata explorer.
A specific view of data from the OLAP cube that you want
to analyze.
query
For more information about queries, see Queries and visual
components explained.
Note:
• If your system administrator has not granted you sufficient rights,
“Voyager Workspace” does not appear in the New menu. For more
information about rights and access levels, see the Voyager
Administrator's Guide.
• If you have selected a default connection in the "Voyager Client"
section of the "Preferences" page in InfoView, your new workspace
opens with that default connection already added to the workspace.
The Choose Connection dialog box is not shown.
4. Click a connection in the list, and then click OK to add it to your
workspace.
Alternatively, you can double-click the desired connection to add it to your
workspace.
Note:
Voyager includes a set of sample cubes that you can use to explore the
many analysis features Voyager provides. Your system administrator can
install these sample cubes and create connections for them so that you
can add them to your workspaces. For more information, see "Installing
sample data cubes" in the BusinessObjects Voyager Administrator's
Guide.
If authentication fails, first verify that you entered your credentials correctly.
If authentication continues to fail, see your system administrator. Your
credentials may not be set up properly in the Central Management
Console, or the OLAP server may be offline.
Related Topics
• Define a query
• Add charts and more crosstabs
Define a query
Once you have added a connection, you can define a query and begin
working with your data in the analysis window. For information on queries
and how to define them, see Creating and defining queries to answer your
business questions.
After you define a basic query, you can add charts and more crosstabs, and
manipulate your data using operations such as sorting, filtering, exception
highlighting, and calculations. For more information about those and other
Voyager features, see the relevant sections of this User's Guide.
For detailed information about charts and crosstabs, see Overview of Voyager
charts, Chart component reference, and Crosstab component reference.
Once you've created a workspace and defined a query on the crosstab, you
can add a chart simply by clicking a button on the application toolbar.
Alternatively, you can drag a chart from the application toolbar into the
analysis window, to the position you select. The drop location is highlighted
as you move the mouse cursor in the analysis window.
Note:
If you drag a chart family button to the analysis window, the default type
from that chart family is added to the analysis window. You can change
the chart type later if you wish.
1. Click the Delete button on the right side of the component's title bar.
You can add a second crosstab if you want to explore a different view of
your data, or if you want to compare data from two separate data sources.
If you add a second new crosstab to the page, Voyager creates an undefined
query and links the second crosstab to it. You can then define a different
cube view with the new query. Or, you can copy the first crosstab and make
changes to the copy.
If you add a second chart to the page, the new chart is automatically linked
to the most recent query: the second query. You can then compare two cube
views, each with a crosstab and chart, on a single page.
•
Click the Crosstab button on the application toolbar.
The crosstab is added to the page, below or to the right of existing
components.
Alternatively, you can drag a crosstab from the application toolbar into
the analysis window, to the position you select. The drop location is
highlighted as you move the mouse cursor in the analysis window.
Related Topics
• Create a Voyager workspace
• Define a query
4
4 Using Queries to Analyze Cube Data
Creating and defining queries to answer your business questions
Defining queries
You define queries by populating a crosstab with data. Start by choosing
dimensions or members to add to the crosstab's row, column, and slice axes.
Then you can expand and refine the query using the many analysis tools
that Voyager provides.
You can also define queries using a chart component if you prefer. For details,
see Adding data to a chart.
For more information on using the crosstab and chart, see Queries and visual
components explained, Crosstab component reference and Chart component
reference.
For more information on the Data tab and how it displays dimensions and
members, see Data tab.
2. Click the dimension or members to select or deselect them.
• Click a member to select it; click the member again to deselect it.
• To select or deselect a range of members, hold down the Shift key
as you click members.
• You do not need to hold down the Ctrl key to select multiple individual
members.
3. When you have selected the dimension or members that you want to
place on the first axis, drag them from the Data tab to the appropriate
drop zone in the crosstab:
• To add the selected items to the crosstab's rows, drag them to the
"Drop Row" area.
• To add the selected items to the crosstab's columns, drag them to the
"Drop Column" area.
• To add the selected items to the crosstab's slice, drag them to the
"Drop Slice" area.
• If you are placing members of a measures dimension onto a crosstab,
you can also drag them to the cell drop zone; the main grid of the
crosstab component.
You can also use the buttons above the metadata explorer on the Data
tab to populate your crosstab. First, select a component in the analysis
window, and then click one of these buttons to add the members to the
crosstab:
•
Click Add to Rows to add the selected dimension or members
to the rows on the crosstab.
•
Click Add to Columns to add the selected dimension or members
to the columns on the crosstab.
•
Click Add to Slice to add the selected dimension or members
to the slice axis.
4. Repeat step 3 for the other crosstab axes.
When you have added dimensions or members to the view axes (rows
and columns), Voyager validates your query and displays the requested
data.
Note:
• You cannot add members from the same dimension to two axes.
• When you place a dimension on an axis, the dimension's default
member is automatically selected. The default member for a dimension
can be specified on the cube server, depending on your OLAP provider.
Modifying queries
You can modify a query in several ways:
• Open the Member Selector and select different members for the crosstab
or chart. For information on selecting members, see Selecting Members
to Display in Crosstabs and Charts, and Member Selector reference.
• Apply functions from the Voyager application toolbar. For information on
using the toolbar, see Toolbar reference.
• Drill up or down on members. For information on drilling, see Drilling down
and drilling up.
• Drag new dimensions or members from the same connection onto the
crosstab's or chart's drop zones, or drag dimensions between axes, or
drag dimensions off the component.
You can also use the buttons above the metadata explorer area on the
Data tab to populate your crosstab. First, select a component in the
analysis window, and then click one of these buttons to add the members
to the crosstab:
•
Click Add to Rows to add the selected dimension or members
to the row axis on the crosstab.
•
Click Add to Columns to add the selected dimension or members
to the column axis on the crosstab.
Note:
• You cannot add members from the same dimension to two axes.
• When you place a dimension on a row, column, or slice axis, the
dimension's default member is automatically selected. With Microsoft
Analysis Services, the dimension's default member can be set on the
OLAP server. For other OLAP providers, the default member is the
first member on the top level of the dimension.
Related Topics
• Defining queries
• Adding queries
• Creating complex queries by nesting dimensions
• Linking a component to a different query
• Deleting queries
• Queries and visual components explained
Adding queries
Voyager automatically adds an empty crosstab to each new page, and creates
an undefined query for each crosstab. You define those queries by dragging
dimensions and members onto crosstabs or charts.
If you want two or more different views of your data on the same page, you
can manually add multiple queries to your page with the Add Query button.
Note:
Voyager also creates a new undefined query when you manually add a new
crosstab to a page.
To nest dimensions
1. In the metadata explorer, locate the dimension or members that you want
to nest with an existing dimension on the crosstab
For more information on the metadata explorer and how it displays
dimensions and members, see Data tab metadata explorer.
2. Click the dimension or members to select or deselect them.
When you release the mouse button, the selected members are "nested"
with the existing members.
For example, if you've defined two queries, Query 1 and Query 2, and you
have a chart linked to Query 2, you may want to move the chart to Query 1
to see the chart visualization of the data in Query 1.
Deleting queries
When you delete chart or crosstab components, queries that those
components were linked to are not automatically removed, so your workspace
may contain unused queries.
To delete a query
1. Select the query on the Structure tab.
2.
Click Delete on the Structure tab toolbar.
Alternatively, you can press the DEL key.
Note:
If you try to delete a query that has crosstab or chart components linked
to it, you are prompted to confirm that you want to remove the query and
any linked components.
Related Topics
• Defining queries
• Modifying queries
• Adding queries
• Creating complex queries by nesting dimensions
• Linking a component to a different query
• Queries and visual components explained
To define a query, you specify the measures and dimensions that you want
to include in the cube view. You do this by dragging the dimensions or
members that you want to analyze onto the crosstab or chart component. In
the preceding example, Store Costs and Year are the two dimensions that
you would use when defining this query.
It is important to understand that the query stores the structure and values
of the data but the crosstab and chart visual components display the data.
Visual components
You can display a cube view in different types of visual components: for
example a crosstab, or a horizontal bar chart.
Crosstab and chart components contain clearly identified drop zones. You
drag dimensions or members from the Data tab to these drop zones to define
a query, and Voyager displays the results of the query in the component.
A crosstab and chart belonging to the same query can be thought of as linked
because they display the same view or set of cube data. In other words, they
refer or point to the same query. If you modify the query in any way on one
visual component, the equivalent action is performed on any of the linked
components. For example, if you drill down on USA to display data for states
on the crosstab component, any linked charts also re-render to display data
for states.
5
5 Using Charts to Visualize Data
Overview of Voyager charts
You can also unlink, or disconnect, a chart component from its current query,
and link it to a different query or to a new query.
Charts can be easily customized. You can change the chart type, or change
the appearance of the chart to increase clarity. You can also drill down on
data in the chart to examine the data in more detail.
This section describes each of the chart types, how to add a chart to a page,
how to add data to a chart, and how to customize a chart's appearance.
Related Topics
• Adding a chart to the analysis window
• Adding data to a chart
• Chart types
• Scrolling through large data sets in charts
• Customizing charts
For example, click the arrow beside the Bar charts button to see the
list of available bar chart types, and then select one of the types to add
it to the analysis window.
Note:
• If you drag a chart family button to the analysis window, the default
type from that chart family is added to the analysis window. You can
change the chart type later if you wish.
• Before your chart will show any data, you must add a data connection
to the page, and add data to the chart.
Related Topics
• Connecting to OLAP data sources
• Adding data to a chart
• To change the chart type
• Resizing and moving components
For example, if a page contains only a single crosstab, and if that crosstab
has been used to define a query (data has been added to the crosstab), then
when you add a new chart to the page, the chart is populated with the same
data that is in the crosstab.
Typically, the chart's data series correspond to the crosstab's rows, and the
chart's categories correspond to the crosstab's columns.
If you add a chart to a new page that contains only an empty crosstab and
an undefined query, you will need to define the query to add data to the chart.
For more information about creating and defining queries, see Defining
queries.
If you want to create a page that contains only a chart component, you can
use an empty chart component to create a query, without first having to
define the data view in a crosstab component.
Each chart component has drop zones, which represent areas you can drag
data onto from the Data tab.
You can modify your query in a chart much like you would modify a query in
a crosstab. For example, you can swap dimensions using the chart
component's dimension panel, and use the Member Selector to choose
different members for the chart axes.
Related Topics
• Modifying queries
• Chart dimension panel
Chart types
Voyager provides a variety of chart types to help you visualize your data.
Line
Multi line chart Multi line charts
charts
Pie
Multi pie chart Multi pie charts
charts
Scatter
Scatter chart Scatter charts
charts
Related Topics
• Chart component reference
• Adding a chart to the analysis window
• Adding data to a chart
• Scrolling through large data sets in charts
• Customizing charts
Clustered bar and column charts show values compared across categories,
or over time; for example, sales for each region by month. Several values
(a "cluster") are shown grouped together in each category or time period.
Stacked bar and column charts show how related sets of values compare
to each other and contribute to a total. Stacked charts are similar to 100%
stacked charts except that stacked charts show the absolute contributions
of members to a total while 100% stacked charts show the relative
contributions of members to a total.
For example, if you create a column chart that illustrates sales per product,
you can use a stacked column chart to show data from several years, one
year on top of another.
100% stacked bar and column charts show visually what percentage a
member contributes to a total. 100% stacked charts are similar to stacked
charts except that all bars or columns are the same length and represent
100% of a total. 100% stacked charts show the relative contributions of
members to a total, while stacked charts show the absolute contributions of
members to a total. The size of each segment of a 100% stacked bar
represents the percentage that a member contributes to the total.
3D column charts
The x-axis is the category axis; the y-axis is the data series axis; and the
z-axis is the value axis.
Line charts are used to show trends in data over time or categories. Markers
are shown at each point in the line where a data value exists.
Pie charts display the sizes of items that compose a data series, proportional
to the sum of the items. A pie chart is used to show the relative contributions
of values, and is useful when you want to emphasize a significant element
in the data. Each pie in a multi pie chart represents a category; each pie slice
represents a data series.
To make your pie charts more legible, you can suppress the labels for small
pie slices.
Related Topics
• Pie chart labels
Scatter charts
While line charts treat one set of values as non-numeric labels, scatter charts
treat both sets of values as numeric data. Therefore, scatter charts require
two measures (and only two). If the query subsequently changes so that the
chart contains fewer than two measures, the scatter chart cannot display
any data.
Other charts
Box plots are useful for analyzing small data sets that do not suit histograms
or column charts. Because of the small size of a box plot, it is easy to compare
several box plots in a chart. A box plot is a good alternative or complement
to a histogram and is usually better for showing several simultaneous
comparisons.
Box plots show five values that describe the data set:
• top edge of box = upper (3rd) quartile
• bottom edge of box = lower (1st) quartile
• horizontal line within the box = median value
Outliers are displayed as small circles on the box plot. If your data set contains
no outliers, the lower vertical line corresponds to the smallest value and the
upper vertical line corresponds to the largest value. If your data set does
contain outliers, the lower vertical line corresponds to the smallest non-outlier
value, and the upper vertical line corresponds to the largest non-outlier value.
The smallest and largest values that are not outliers are shown with short
horizontal lines connected to the box with vertical lines.
By default, Voyager does not plot a parent member if its child members are
part of the query.
Bubble charts
While line charts treat only one set of values as numeric data, and scatter
charts treat two sets of values as numeric data, bubble charts treat three
sets of values as numeric data. Therefore, bubble charts require at least
three measures. If the query subsequently changes so that the chart contains
fewer than three measures, the bubble chart cannot display any data.
You can specify on the Properties tab which of the available measures are
to be plotted on the X and Y axes, and which measure is to be represented
by the bubble sizes.
Radar charts
Radar charts are useful for comparing the values of several data series and
presenting a visual overview of those data sets. For example, if you plot
annual rainfall amounts in various cities on a radar chart, the data series that
produce the larger shapes on the chart represent cities that have more annual
rainfall. Also, the actual shape of the plot for each city gives an overall
comparative view.
Note:
You can hide the range slider by clicking the arrow at the edge of the
range slider. To restore the range slider, click the arrow again.
The selected range is shown with a white background in the range slider
when using the Default or Shadow chart styles, or with a black background
when using the Presentation styles.
Customizing charts
Voyager provides several options for customizing the appearance of your
charts. All these options are available from the Properties tab.
Related Topics
• Adding a chart to the analysis window
• Adding data to a chart
• Chart types
• Scrolling through large data sets in charts
The chart's name appears on the chart itself both on screen and when printed.
The chart's comments appear only if you print the chart to a PDF. For more
information, see Chart display options.
You can choose from several predefined color palettes for displaying your
charts. For details on the palettes available, see Chart display options.
Chart styles
You can choose from several predefined styles for displaying your charts.
For details on the styles available, see Chart display options.
Display font
You can set the character font used in your charts. For details, see Font.
Depending on the type of chart and the type of data the chart displays, you
may want to simplify the chart by hiding null values.
For details on suppressing null values in charts, see Excluding null values
and Suppress NULL Values.
On a chart, visual totals are hidden by default. For example, if a pie chart
contains several members and a visual total representing the sum of the
other members, the sum is not normally displayed in the pie chart because
the sum would always occupy exactly half of the pie chart.
If you want more room for displaying the chart graphic, you can hide the
chart dimension panel.
3. On the Properties tab, set the Show Dimension Panel property to No,
and then click Apply.
You can add labels to the chart axes. See Descriptions of chart display
options for details on the chart axis labels.
A scatter chart needs sets of values for the X and Y axes for data to be
displayed. A bubble chart needs a third set of values, represented by the
sizes of the bubbles. You can select which of the available measures in the
query are to be plotted on the X and Y axes, and which measure is to be
used for the bubble sizes.
When a pie chart contains several small slices, you may want to suppress
the labeling of the smallest slices.
3. On the Properties tab, set the Manually Edit Chart Labels property to
Yes.
The Hide Labels Less Than property is enabled.
4. Type a percentage value between 0 and 100 into the Hide Labels Less
Than field.
5. Click Apply.
6
6 Selecting Members to Display in Crosstabs and Charts
Overview of member selection
The rest of this section describes selecting members using the Member
Selector. For more information about the metadata explorer, see Data tab
metadata explorer.
When you place a dimension on any of the three axes on chart and
crosstab components, a Member Selector button is shown beside the
For details, see Selecting individual members from a list of all members.
• Search for members.
Because selections from multiple search results are cumulative, you can use
multiple searches to build the set of members you want to analyze.
For example, if you wanted to analyze sales of books and magazines, you
would perform these steps:
• Perform a search for "book" in the Member Selector.
• Select appropriate members from the search results.
• Without closing the Member Selector, perform a second search for
"magazine."
• Select members from the second search results.
When you click OK, all selected members from both searches are displayed.
For more information about searching for members in the Member Selector,
including tips on search-string syntax and using wildcards, see Displaying
member names and captions and Member Selector Start Search button.
2.
In the Member Selector, click Display Mode to choose which
member text to search.
If you want to search by member names only, select Name. If you want
to search by member captions only, select Caption. If you want to search
by both member names and captions, select either Name : Caption or
Caption : Name.
3. Type a search string in the text box at the top of the Member Selector.
4.
Click Search or press Enter.
Members that match the search string are displayed in a hierarchical list.
Also, any members that were already included in the query are highlighted
in the search results.
For example, for the member Quarter 2, its parent member could be 2007,
its child members could be April, May, and June, and its sibling members
could be Quarter 1, Quarter 3, and Quarter 4.
To select multiple individual members, hold down the Ctrl key while
selecting members. To select a range of members, select one end point
of the range, hold down the Shift key, and then select the second end
point.
The two methods are equivalent. If you want to restore a hidden member to
the crosstab or chart, use the Member Selector to re-select the hidden
member.
If you already have a dimension placed on the slice axis, you can use the
Member Selector to set new slice members for the axis. Alternatively, you
can drag members from the metadata explorer on the Data tab to the slice
axis.
You can specify either a single member or multiple members for your slice
axis, depending on which cube provider your crosstab is connected to and
which type of dimension you are choosing slice members from. You can
specify only a single member from a Measures dimension for the slice axis.
If you connect to a cube provider that supports custom aggregation, you can
specify multiple members on a slice dimension. Microsoft Analysis Services
and SAP BW support custom aggregates. Oracle Hyperion Essbase does
not support custom aggregates.
Therefore, if your data source is Essbase, you cannot place multiple members
in the slice area.
If the slice axis is already populated, drag the members to the center drop
zone on the slice axis to swap the existing slice members with the selected
members. Or, drag the members to a side drop zone to nest the slice
members with the existing members.
Deselecting members
You can deselect members by clicking them individually in the Member
Selector, or you can deselect groups of members simultaneously:
• Deselect all members.
• Deselect all members at a level.
• Deselect parent, child, or sibling members.
Note:
After you deselect all members, the OK button in the Member Selector
is disabled because you must select at least one member for each
dimension on the crosstab.
When you add a favorite group to a crosstab or chart, the members of the
group are added, not the favorite group itself. Therefore the favorite group
name does not appear in the component's Member Selector.
Favorite groups are saved with the workspace, so they are still available
after you save and re-open a workspace.
by the cube designer, or both the server names and the captions. When both
names and captions are displayed, you can search for members by names
or captions.
Note:
The default display mode is Caption.
7
7 Sorting, Filtering, and Ranking Data
Sorting data columns or rows
You can add a sort to one column member and one row member. On an axis
that has nested dimensions, the selected member must be on the innermost
dimension.
Cells that are uninitialized (null) or invalid are ranked in value below any
other cells; they appear last in a descending and first in an ascending sort.
An icon appears beside the member name, indicating the direction of the
sort.
An icon appears beside the member name, indicating the direction of the
sort.
Note:
• The sort button is disabled until you select a single row or column in
a crosstab.
• If your crosstab contains nested dimensions, you can add a sort only
to a member of the innermost dimension.
For more information about sorting and the different sort types, see Sort
button.
Related Topics
• Combining a sort and filter
• Combining a sort and rank
If you turn on the Maintain Hierarchies option, you can apply ascending and
descending sorts with the hierarchy of the data preserved—parent members
are sorted in order, and child members below the parents are sorted in their
own order.
The Maintain Hierarchies option is applied at the axis level. If you apply the
option to the row axis, but not to the column axis, then any sorts that you
apply to members on the row axis will maintain hierarchies, but sorts that
you apply to members on the column axis will not maintain hierarchies.
The Maintain Hierarchies option remains turned on until you explicitly toggle
it off again.
1. In the crosstab, select the row or column member heading that you want
to sort.
2.
Click the arrow beside the Sort button, and then click Maintain
Hierarchies.
Alternatively, right-click the member heading, point to Sort, and then select
Maintain Hierarchies.
Removing a sort
You can manually remove a sort, or Voyager can remove sorts automatically.
Whenever you swap, replace, or nest dimensions on the row or column axes,
all sorts are automatically removed from the query. However, sorts are not
automatically removed if you perform a "swap axis" operation.
Related Topics
• Automatically removed sorts, filters, and ranks
1. In the crosstab, select the row or column member heading that you want
to remove a sort from.
2.
Click the arrow beside the Sort button, and then click Clear.
Note:
If the crosstab contains a sort on the other axis, that sort remains in effect.
For more information about filters, see Filter button and Filter Editor dialog
box.
3. In the Filter Editor dialog box, select the type of filter you want to add to
the selected rows or columns.
For details on the types of filters you can apply, see Filter Editor dialog
box.
4. Choose a condition and type values for your filter.
For example, if you are applying a "greater than" filter, enter the minimum
number that you want to be included in that row or column.
5. Click OK.
The target rows or columns are filtered, and a Filter icon appears beside
the member names.
2.
Click Filter.
Alternatively, right-click the member heading, point to Filter, and click Set,
or click the Filter icon beside the filtered member's name.
The Filter Editor dialog box opens, showing the existing filter's condition
and values.
Note:
• The filter button is disabled until you select a single row or column in
a crosstab.
• If your crosstab contains nested dimensions, you can add a filter only
to a member of the innermost dimension.
Related Topics
• Combining a filter and rank
• Combining a sort and filter
When you add a second filter to a different member on the same crosstab
axis, the second filter is applied to the results of the first filter. Both filters are
in effect, and the crosstab displays only the rows or columns that satisfy both
filter conditions.
Removing a filter
You can manually remove a filter, or Voyager can remove filters automatically.
Whenever you swap, replace, or nest dimensions on the row or column axes,
all filters are automatically removed from the query. However, filters are not
automatically removed if you perform a "swap axis" operation.
Related Topics
• Automatically removed sorts, filters, and ranks
1. In the crosstab, right-click the row or column member heading that you
want to remove a filter from.
2. Point to Filter, and then click Clear.
Alternatively, you can right-click the Filter icon beside the filtered
member's name and click Clear Filter.
Only the target filter is removed. If the crosstab contains other filters,
those remain in effect.
For example, a data analyst may start with a crosstab that shows all product
brands. She then performs a ranking action to see only the unit sales of the
Top 20 product brands, sorted from highest to lowest unit sales.
For more information about ranking, see Rank button and Rank Editor dialog
box.
To add a rank
1. In the crosstab, select the row or column member heading that you want
to apply a rank to.
2.
Click Rank.
Alternatively, right-click the member heading, point to Rank, and click
Set.
3. From the Rank Editor dialog box, select a rank Condition, and then enter
the Number of Members or the Percentage of Total.
For details on the types of ranks you can apply, see Rank Editor dialog
box.
4. Click OK.
The target row or column is ranked, and a Rank icon appears beside the
member name.
The Rank Editor dialog box opens, showing the values defined for the
existing rank.
Note:
• The Rank button is disabled until you select a single row or column in
a crosstab.
When you add a second rank to a different member on the same crosstab
axis, the second rank is applied to the results of the first rank. Both ranks
are in effect, and the crosstab displays only the rows or columns that satisfy
both rank conditions.
For example, if you apply a "Top 20" rank to one member, and then apply a
"Top 10" rank to another member on the same axis, the crosstab displays
the top 10 members out of those 20 members.
Removing a rank
You can manually remove a rank, or Voyager can remove ranks automatically.
Whenever you swap, replace, or nest dimensions on the row or column axes,
all ranks are automatically removed from the query. However, ranks are not
automatically removed if you perform a "swap axis" operation.
Related Topics
• Automatically removed sorts, filters, and ranks
1. In the crosstab, right-click the row or column member heading that you
want to remove a rank from.
2. Point to Rank, and then click Clear.
Alternatively, you can right-click the Rank icon beside the ranked
member's name and click Clear Rank.
Only the target rank is removed. If the crosstab contains other ranks,
those remain in effect.
Click the Display Member Settings button in the crosstab's button area
to open the list. In the Member Settings dialog box, you can review the
conditions applied to your data, and remove any conditions you no longer
want to apply.
If your data has hidden conditions applied, you can click the Display
Member Settings button to view the list of conditions. Then, you can use the
Member Selector to restore the hidden members to the crosstab if desired.
For more information, see Displaying sorts, filters, and ranks applied to the
query.
When you apply a sort and a rank to the same member, the explicitly applied
sort always overrides the sort applied by the ranking operation.
You can clarify the visual display of your crosstabs and charts by filtering
out rows and columns that contain only null values.
The null suppression applies to the entire query; therefore, all crosstab and
chart components linked to that query are affected by the suppression.
You can suppress entire rows, columns, or both rows and columns.
To restore the removed rows and columns, click the Null Suppression
button again.
Note:
By default, null values in the crosstab are displayed as empty cells, but
you can change the way null values are displayed. For details, see
Properties tab.
8
8 Highlighting Exceptions in Data
Overview of exception highlighting
Note:
On an axis that has nested dimensions, you can add row or column
highlighting only to members of the innermost dimension.
Related Topics
• Applying exception highlighting
• Removing exception highlighting
For example, if your business data describes sales figures across the country,
you could use traffic light highlighting to find the regions that require further
investigation. By drilling down into red cells in the crosstab, you might identify
problems causing poor sales in those regions.
Related Topics
• To apply traffic light exception highlighting
Shades of red and green exception highlighting is useful for providing a quick
visual indication of how good or bad the values in your data are.
For example, if your business data describes sales figures across the country,
you could use shades of green highlighting to identify all regions with
Shades of red and green highlighting is also useful for providing a graduated
highlighting. If you apply a different type of exception highlighting, for example
traffic light highlighting, the thresholds for good and bad values are sharply
defined. However, you may want to know if any values are close to those
thresholds. For example, if you set the threshold for bad values to be 100,
you would probably want to know if any values are 101 or 102.
Related Topics
• To apply shades of red or green exception highlighting
Hot and cold exception highlighting is useful for indicating how close values
are to a target range.
For example, if your business data describes inventory levels in stores across
your organization, you may want to know which stores' inventory levels are
optimal, or are too high (money is tied up in inventory) or too low (customers
are lost because orders cannot be fulfilled). Hot and cold highlighting can
Related Topics
• To apply hot and cold exception highlighting
Alternatively, you can use one of the predefined exception highlighting types
(traffic light, shades of red, shades of green, shades of red and green, hot
and cold) to automatically define some of the ranges for you.
The Exception Highlighting dialog box opens, with one end point defined:
Minimum. The default range is defined as Minimum to Maximum.
3. Add appropriate ranges of values, up to a maximum of seven ranges.
Related Topics
• To add a range
• To delete a range
• To change the start or end point of a range
• To change the highlight color of a range
• To apply traffic light exception highlighting
• To apply shades of red or green exception highlighting
• To apply hot and cold exception highlighting
Related Topics
• To add a range
• To delete a range
• To change the start or end point of a range
• To change the highlight color of a range
Note:
If the division results in a non-integer number, the result is rounded to the
nearest integer.
Related Topics
• To add a range
• To delete a range
• To change the start or end point of a range
• To change the highlight color of a range
with blue indicating cold (farther away from target range) and red indicating
hot (closer to target range).
Note:
The sizes of the upper and lower bands may be different, depending on
how you defined the target range.
Related Topics
• To add a range
• To delete a range
• To change the start or end point of a range
• To change the highlight color of a range
To add a range
1.
Type a value in the "Enter range point" field at the top of the dialog
box, and press Enter or click Add to add that value as another end point.
The new end point is added to the list.
Voyager selects colors for the highest and lowest ranges automatically,
leaving any other ranges you define unhighlighted. You can add highlight
colors to those other ranges, or change the colors used to highlight the
highest and lowest ranges.
When using shades of red or green, or hot and cold highlighting, Voyager
creates the ranges for you, but you can adjust the end points manually.
3. Click OK when you have defined all the ranges you need.
To delete a range
1. For global exception highlighting, click the Select All Cells button in
the crosstab. For row and column exception highlighting, select the row
or column member heading that you want to remove exception highlighting
ranges from.
2.
Click Exception Highlight.
Alternatively, for global highlighting you can right-click any data cell in the
crosstab, point to Global Exception Highlighting, and click Set, or for
row and column highlighting you can right-click a row or column member
heading, point to Highlight Exceptions, and click Set.
3. In the Exception Highlighting dialog box, select the range you want to
delete by clicking anywhere on the row.
4. Click the Delete button to delete the selected range.
When you define exception highlighting ranges and colors, you may decide
to reverse the colors that you applied, or that Voyager automatically applied.
•
To reverse the highlighting colors, click the Reverse highlighting
colors button in the "Exception Highlighting" dialog box.
9
9 Defining Calculations
Overview of calculations
Overview of calculations
Crosstabs that contain raw multidimensional data are not always easy to
read or understand. Sometimes, there are trends which are hidden by the
data, or are only revealed when new information is derived from the data.
Revealing these trends is accomplished by applying calculations to the data
on the crosstab.
Voyager calculations include both visual totals, which aggregate the data
currently displayed in the crosstab, and calculated members, which are
calculations that behave as members. You can manipulate the calculated
members much like standard data members.
Some basic Voyager calculations are predefined; you don't need to specify
any parameters before applying them to your data. However, you can create
custom calculations if the basic calculations don't meet your requirements.
Visual totals
Visual totals are dynamic aggregations of your data, such as sums or
averages, displayed in rows or columns added to the crosstab. Visual totals
aggregate the data in the crosstab without regard to members' relationships
in the hierarchy. For example, if your crosstab displays the members Drink
and Food, and also the child members Bread and Meat, the visual total
aggregates the data for all four members despite Bread and Meat being child
members of Food.
Visual totals appear at the bottom or at the right side of the crosstab but are
not created as members like other calculations are. (For example, visual
totals do not appear in the Member Selector.) They can be added and
removed individually, or all turned on and off simultaneously.
A typical visual total calculation would be the sum of all values in a row or
column, although you can apply other summary calculations as well:
Name Description
Name Description
These calculations are dynamic; the result set is always based on the
members that have been selected in the query. For example, if you add a
Sum calculation row, the calculation sums the values from all row members.
If you then remove a row member, the calculation adjusts automatically for
the removed member, summing only the values from visible row members.
For more information about the different visual total calculations, see Custom
calculations.
Note:
• Visual totals ignore cells that are the result of other calculations.
• Visual totals do not take into account parent-child relationships when
calculating cell values in a range. For example, if both a parent member
and its child member are specified on an axis, and the visual total added
is a Sum, the child member is added to the Sum twice: once as a single
member and again as a contribution to the total of its parent member.
For Microsoft data sources, the default totals are the aggregate type that is
defined on the server. For other data sources, the default totals are sums.
•
On the toolbar, click the Visual Totals button.
Alternatively, you can click the Select All button in the crosstab, right-click
any data cell in the crosstab, and select Show Visual Totals.
Once you've added a visual total to a crosstab, you can easily change it to
a different type.
You can either turn off all totals simultaneously or remove individual totals.
•
Click the Visual Totals button to turn off the totals.
Alternatively, you can click the Select All button in the crosstab, right-click
any data cell in the crosstab, and clear the check mark beside Show
Visual Totals.
Note:
Both the Visual Totals button and the Show Visual Totals menu item
toggle on and off all visual totals. If you have chosen to display several
totals, they are all turned on and off simultaneously with the Visual Totals
button or Show Visual Totals menu item.
•
Click the arrow beside the Visual Totals button, click More, and
then clear any totals you want to remove from the crosstab.
Alternatively, you can right-click a visual total and select Remove Total.
If a visual total calculation is applied to filtered data, three visual total rows
or columns are added:
• "Displayed"—Calculates totals based on the values allowed by the filter.
• "Excluded"—Calculates totals based on the values excluded by the filter.
• "All"—Calculates totals based on the full, unfiltered set of members.
If you apply visual totals to a crosstab with nested dimensions, you can also
display subtotals of the inner dimensions.
When subtotals are displayed, the visual total is displayed as the last member
at the top level of the inner dimension.
When visual totals are enabled on a crosstab, any chart components linked
to the same query also display the visual totals, if the Show Visual Totals
property is set to Yes for those charts. By default, visual totals are not shown
on charts.
Basic calculations
Basic calculations are simple arithmetic calculations involving two members;
for example, the sum of two column members. Basic calculations do not take
any additional parameters. If you want to create more complex calculations,
see Custom calculations.
The basic calculations are available from the drop-down list on the
Calculation button.
Calculation Description
Divide The cell values from the first selected member row or column
are divided by the values in the second selected row or
column.
Related Topics
• Custom calculations
To edit a calculation
To delete a calculation
Custom calculations
If the visual totals and basic calculations do not satisfy your need for more
detailed analysis of information from the data cube, you can create custom
calculations. With custom calculations, you define the parameters of the
calculations:
• The arguments of arithmetic calculations can be any combination of two
members or fixed numeric values.
Arithmetic calculations
Calculation Description
Square Root Calculates the square root of the target member's values.
Summary calculations
Calculation Description
Calculation Description
Median Calculates the median for the values of the specified members.
Calculation Description
Variance Calculates the variance for the values of the specified members.
Standard Devi- Calculates the standard deviation for the values of the specified
ation members.
Percentage calculations
Calculation Description
Percent Differ- Calculates the difference between the values of two members
ence as a percentage of one of the members.
Time-based calculations
Calculation Description
Available only with Essbase data sources, and only on the time
Dynamic Time
dimension. For details on using these calculations, see Dynamic
Series
Time Series.
Rank calculation
Calculation Description
Related Topics
• To edit a calculation
• To delete a calculation
• Basic calculations
2.
On the application toolbar, click Calculation.
Alternatively, you can right-click the member heading, point to Calculation,
and click Add.
3. In the Calculation Editor dialog box, select the type of operation you want
to use for the calculation.
See these sections for information about the different types of calculations
available:
• Mathematical operations
• Time-based operations
• Rank calculation
4. Optionally change the default caption.
5. Enter any additional information required to define the custom calculation.
6. Click OK.
The calculation is added to the crosstab as a calculated member.
Mathematical operations
Arithmetic operations
As you might expect, arithmetic operations constitute the four most common,
or "simple" calculations: Addition, Subtraction, Product (Multiplication), and
Division. Arithmetic operations also include additional calculations: Round,
and Square Root.
In the case of simple operations, you can define calculations to perform the
operation on two members, or perform the operation on one member and a
constant value. For example, you can create an addition calculation where
the values of two members are added together, or you can add the value of
a single member to a constant value.
Rounding operation
The rounding operation displays values with fewer decimal places than the
actual values contain. For example, the actual values in a member might be
the following:
142.3251
589.8386
27.2727
You can add a Round calculation, set to 1 decimal place, to produce these
values instead:
142.3
589.8
27.3
If the leftmost removed digit is 5 or greater, the last retained digit is rounded
up; if the leftmost removed digit is less than 5, the last retained digit is rounded
down.
Square root
The square root operation calculates the number that can be multiplied by
itself to equal the selected value.
Summary operations
Maximum
The values of the selected members are compared and the largest of the
values is selected.
Minimum
The values of the selected members are compared and the smallest of the
values is selected.
Median
The median is the middle value in a set. The number of values above the
median is equal to the number of values below the median.
When working in probability and statistics, two related calculations which are
commonly applied to data are variance and standard deviation. Both
calculations are a measure of how spread out values in a set of data are
from the average.
In such a set of numbers, the average is 10, and the variance and standard
deviation are 0. This is because there is no spread of values (they are all
10).
In this set of numbers the average is also 10, but the variance is 50 and the
standard deviation is approximately 7.07.
Variance
The variance is a measure of how much a set of numbers varies from the
average. When the values in a set are all close to the average, variance is
small. When the values in a set are significantly larger and smaller than the
average, the variance is large. Variance is calculated using the biased
population formula (that is, divided by N).
Standard Deviation
Standard deviation is the square root of the variance.
Rollup
The rollup aggregates the values of the selected members using the
aggregation scheme defined in the data server. Rollup is available only for
data provided by Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services connections.
Percentage operations
Percentage
This operation calculates the values of Member 1 as a percentage of Member
2.
Percent difference
This operation calculates the difference between the values of Member 1
and Member 2 as a percentage of Member 2.
You can specify which total to base the percentage calculation on:
• Dimension total—The percentage contribution is calculated based on
the overall dimension's total.
• Parent total—The percentage contribution is calculated based on the
immediate parent's total.
Time-based operations
Note:
For information about Essbase Dynamic Time Series calculations, see
Dynamic Time Series.
Prior Period
Parallel Period
The time interval represents the length of time between the two periods.
Taking the typical time intervals of Year, Quarter, and Month, a time interval
of one Year would indicate a comparison of quarters or months between the
current year and the previous year.
You must supply information in the Calculation Editor dialog box in order to
successfully set up a Parallel Period calculation:
• The dimension to calculate the Parallel Period for.
Moving Average
Period to Date
In the Calculation Editor dialog box, the Period field defines the time period
for the calculation. For example, if you choose Year for the period, the Period
to Date calculation returns the sum of all months starting from January of
the current year.
You must provide information in the Calculation Editor dialog box to set up
a Period to Date calculation:
• The measure whose values you want to aggregate; for example, store
sales.
• The aggregation function for the calculation: Sum (default), Average,
Maximum, or Minimum.
• Which time dimension to use for the calculation, if there is more than one
dimension in the data cube that is of the type time.
• The period to base the calculation on.
Rank calculation
You can use the rank operation to assign a ranking to the members of a
dimension based on their values.
For example, you may want to show the ranking of the selected values
compared to each other, or you may want to show the ranking compared to
all values that the selected data shares a parent with.
10
10 Exploring Different Views of Your Data
Swapping dimensions
Swapping dimensions
You can swap dimensions with others to reorient the view of data in the
crosstab or chart.
You can swap a row or column dimension with one of the slice dimensions,
or with another row or column dimension.
See Sorting data columns or rows, Filtering the data in crosstabs and charts,
and Ranking the data in the crosstab for more information about sorting,
filtering, and ranking.
Removing dimensions
You can remove dimensions from the crosstab's or chart's axes to simplify
your analysis.
Nesting dimensions
Displaying two or more dimensions in a particular row or column in the
crosstab is known as nesting. When you nest dimensions, the one nearest
the cells is called the inner dimension, and any others are called the outer
dimensions.
To nest dimensions
1. Drag a dimension toward the dimension that you want to nest it with.
Note:
After you nest dimensions, you can apply sorting, filtering, and ranking
only to the inner dimensions.
You can change the order of the dimensions in a row or column by swapping
the dimensions. See Swapping dimensions.
The slice Member Selector is similar to the Member Selector for row and
column dimensions, except that you can select only one slice member at a
time. Some data sources however, for example Microsoft Analysis Services,
allow you to select multiple slice members.
Note:
When you drag a dimension to the slice axis, it returns to the default
member.
Related Topics
• Overview of member selection
Collapsing the member structure to show only the parent member is called
drilling up.
A plus sign next to a member indicates that the member can be drilled
down to show its child members; a minus sign indicates that the member
has been expanded-drilled down, and can be collapsed to hide its child
members.
You can perform either expanded drill or focused drill operations on members.
Expanded drill
If you perform an expanded drill down on the member Bakery, you see Bakery
and its child members, as well as any other members that are currently
selected on the same view axis. For example, if Bakery, Grocery, and Meat
are currently displayed on the row axis of your crosstab, applying an
expanded drill down on Bakery to display its children does not remove
Grocery and Meat from the row axis.
If you perform an expanded drill up on Bakery, the view returns to the state
that existed before the expanded drill down.
Focused drill
If you perform a focused drill down on Bakery, you see only the child members
of Bakery. Grocery and Meat are removed.
If you perform a focused drill up on one of the child members of Bakery, you
see Bakery and its siblings.
Alternatively, you can right-click the member, point to Drill, and click Down.
Alternatively, you can right-click the member, point to Drill, and click Up.
For definitions of data series and category members, see Chart component
reference.
Alternatively, you can right-click the member, point to Drill, and click
Focused Down.
Alternatively, you can right-click the member, point to Drill, and click
Focused Up.
For definitions of data series and category members, see Chart component
reference.
You can continue drilling down into lower levels. When you have drilled
down as far as your data allows, the Drill Down option is unavailable.
Alternatively, you can right-click the chart object, and click Focused Drill
Up.
The relational table viewer displays the transaction data that results from
performing the drill-through action.
You can page through the relational data using the buttons at the upper-right
corner of the viewer.
Note:
Jumping to the last page can take several minutes if the result set comprises
a very large number of records.
1.
In the relational table viewer, click Export and then select Excel.
2. In the dialog box, specify whether you want to view the file or save the
file to disk, and then click OK.
If you choose to save the file to disk, specify the name and location of
the file that you want to export your data to.
1.
In the relational table viewer, click Export and then select CSV.
2. In the dialog box, specify whether you want to view the file or save the
file to disk, and then click OK.
If you choose to save the file to disk, specify the name and location of
the file that you want to export your data to.
If you choose to view the file, it opens immediately in your .csv file viewer,
which is Microsoft Excel by default.
Note:
If you choose to export data to Excel from a published workspace, and
then save the newly created Excel worksheet, the data is saved on a local
hard disk rather than to BusinessObjects Enterprise.
You can copy a component to the same page or to a different page. When
you copy components, the queries associated with the original components
are also copied.
To copy a component
1. Select the component that you want to copy.
2.
Click Copy on the application toolbar.
Alternatively, you can press CTRL+C to copy the component.
3.
Click Paste on the application toolbar to paste a copy of your
component onto the current page.
Alternatively, you can press CTRL+V to paste the component.
If you want to paste the copied component onto another page, change
to a different page before you paste the component.
The copied component is added below or to the right of existing
components on the page.
Note:
You can also maximize a component to fill the analysis window, by clicking
the Maximize button in the component's title bar.
The redo feature reverses an undo. If you move or resize a component, for
example, and do not like its new position, you can click Undo to move it back
to its original position. If you then change your mind, you can click Redo to
restore the latest change.
•
To undo an action, click Undo on the toolbar.
The first time the button is clicked, it reverses the most recent change
made to the workspace. Each additional time the button is clicked, it
reverses the next most recent change.
•
To redo a change after you have undone it, click Redo on the toolbar.
Voyager disables the Undo and Redo buttons whenever there is nothing
to undo/redo or when you have made a change that cannot be reversed.
Note:
You can only undo or redo actions in order from the most recent backward.
You cannot undo an action without undoing more recent actions.
Related Topics
• Undo button
11
11 Formatting Crosstab Data
Formatting data in the crosstab
Note on formatting
Formatting alters only the appearance of the data, not the value of the data
itself. For example, displayed data may be rounded off. To see the real values
of the data, set the "Display formatted cell values" property to "No" on the
Properties tab.
Thousands separator
You can display or suppress the thousands separator. For example, a value
of 1000 can be displayed as 1,000.
Negative values
You can configure how negative values are displayed. For example, you can
display a negative value of 1000 as -1000 or (1000).
Decimal places
Although the default number of decimal places is 2, you can set this number
to be anything from 0 (show numbers as integers) to 99. Remember that
changing the number of displayed decimal places does not affect the value
of the data.
Scale
You can scale the displayed values to make them easier to read in the
crosstab. For example, if a column contains several values between
5,000,000 and 20,000,000, you can select the Millions scale to display those
values as 5M to 20M.
Note:
Data must be present on the row and column axes before the Formatting
button is enabled.
2. On the Type list, click the number format that you want to use.
The formatting options depend on the type that you selected:
You can show values in scientific notation and set the num-
Scientific
ber of decimal places.
3. Set the options and then click OK to apply the formatting to the data.
Resizing columns
Crosstab column widths are defined by the Column Width property on the
Properties tab. If the default width obscures member headings or restricts
the number of cells displayed in the crosstab, you may want to resize the
columns.
To resize a column
1. Point to a column heading separator; the resize symbol appears:
Resizing rows
Cell data may span multiple lines. You can resize rows to show all the data
within a cell.
To resize a row
1. Point to a row heading separator; the resize symbol appears:
12
12 Using Pages in the Workspace
Working with pages in the workspace
Pages are useful for grouping related analyses together in one workspace.
For example, one Voyager workspace might represent the solution to a
particular problem, with each page representing a step in the solution.
You navigate between pages by using the page tabs and paging control at
the bottom of the analysis window. Pages can be renamed, added, copied,
and removed by right-clicking a page tab.
When you save your workspaces, the active page status and the state of
the tab panel are preserved. For example, if you save a workspace with page
3 active, page 3 will be active the next time the workspace is opened, and
the tab panel will reflect the metadata and queries on page 3.
Note:
Each page has its own set of queries and components, which are not shared
and which cannot be linked across pages. Queries and components on one
page can therefore have the same names as queries and components on
other pages.
Related Topics
• Inserting and deleting pages
• Modifying page captions
• Navigating to a page in the workspace
• Copying a component to compare variations in data
To insert a page
1. Right-click a page tab.
2. Select Insert After.
A new page is created and a new page tab is inserted to the right of the
page tab that you clicked. The new page becomes the active page.
To delete a page
1. Right-click the page tab corresponding to the page you want to remove.
2. Select Delete.
If the page to be deleted contains a crosstab or chart component, a
confirmation dialog box appears. Click Yes to confirm the page deletion.
If the deleted page was the active page, the page to the left of the deleted
page becomes the active page.
3. Click outside the page tab, or press Enter to save the changed caption.
13
13 Saving and Sharing Voyager Workspaces
Saving Voyager workspaces
You can choose to save your changes to the existing workspace, or to save
the modified workspace as a new workspace in the repository.
Note:
To save a workspace to the BusinessObjects Enterprise repository, you must
have sufficient rights. See your system administrator if you are not sure
whether you have such rights.
If you leave your workspace idle, Voyager automatically saves the workspace
to your Favorites folder as "Voyager autosave" before your session
terminates. Typically, a session is terminated after approximately 20 minutes
of inactivity, unless your system administrator has set the timeout duration
to a different value.
Note:
Because the "Voyager autosave" workspace is overwritten every time a
workspace is automatically saved, you should manually save workspaces
that you want to keep, with unique filenames.
In addition to saving workspaces, you can also export data from Voyager
workspaces to Microsoft Excel or to a comma-separated-values file.
Related Topics
• Exporting Data to Microsoft Excel or Comma-Separated-Values (.csv) Files
2. Type a new title and select a location to save the workspace to.
In the Location area of the Save Document page, browse to the folder
where you want to save your workspace. The default folder is your
Favorites folder.
When your workspace has been idle for several minutes, Voyager
automatically saves a copy of the workspace to your Favorites folder before
your session terminates.
If you then return to your session before the session is terminated, the
auto-save cycle is reset, and your workspace is auto-saved again the next
time your workspace becomes idle for several minutes.
If you want to share your Voyager workspaces over the web with other
analysts and end users, you can save your workspaces to a public folder in
the BusinessObjects Enterprise repository.
Note:
To save a workspace to a public folder in the BusinessObjects Enterprise
repository, you must have sufficient rights. See your system administrator if
you are not sure whether you have such rights.
1.
On the application toolbar, click the arrow beside the Save button,
and choose Save As.
2. Type a title for your workspace.
3. In the Location area of the Save Document page, expand the Public
Folders folder and browse to the folder where you want to save your
workspace.
You can also enter the following optional information:
• A description of the workspace.
• One or more keywords to serve as search criteria.
4. If desired, select the categories to which you want to save the workspace.
For information on using and managing categories, consult your
BusinessObjects Enterprise documentation.
5. Click OK.
Related Topics
• Saving Voyager workspaces
• Sending a Voyager workspace to another user
Send functionality exists as a regular part of InfoView. You can send Voyager
workspaces to these destinations:
• InfoView Inbox.
• Email address.
Note:
To send a Voyager workspace to another user or an email recipient, you
must first save it to the repository.
For more information on sending workspaces from InfoView, see the SAP
BusinessObjects Enterprise InfoView User's Guide.
Related Topics
• Saving Voyager workspaces
1. In the Document List in InfoView, navigate to the folder that contains the
workspace that you want to send.
2. Select the workspace.
3. Click Send To.
4. Select Business Objects Inbox.
5. If you want to specify the Inboxes to send the workspace to, clear the
Use the Job Server's defaults option.
1. In the Document List in InfoView, navigate to the folder that contains the
workspace that you want to send.
2. Select the workspace.
3. Click Send To.
4. Select Email.
Note:
If you receive this error message: "The destination plugin required for
this action is disabled. If you require this functionality, please contact
your system administrator", inform your system administrator that the
BusinessObjects Enterprise Destination Job Server has not been
configured.
5. If you want to specify the email address to send the workspace to, clear
the "Use the Job Server's defaults" option.
Or, if you want to send the workspace to the email address that is
configured on the BusinessObjects Enterprise Job Server, select the "Use
the Job Server's defaults" option. Then skip to step 7.
6. Enter the appropriate parameters.
You can also search for workspaces by keyword, title, description, and
other parameters. For more information on searching for objects in the
repository, see the SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise InfoView User's
Guide.
Note:
When you navigate to other pages in the workspace, you may be prompted
for your credentials again if components on those pages are linked to
other connections that require authentication.
14
14 Exporting Data to Microsoft Excel or Comma-Separated-Values (.csv) Files
Exporting data from Voyager to Excel
Data is exported in the orientation displayed in the crosstab. If the query has
only a chart component associated with it, data from that query is exported
but the chart visualization is not. Rows in the exported file correspond to
rows in the crosstab, or data series in the chart. Columns in the exported file
correspond to columns in the crosstab, or categories in the chart.
Sorts, filters, and ranks are preserved in the exported data. Calculated data
is exported, but the calculation formulas are not preserved.
Note:
The Export button is disabled until the current page contains a valid query.
Data is exported in the orientation displayed in the crosstab. If the query has
only a chart component associated with it, data from that query is exported
but the chart visualization is not. Rows in the exported file correspond to
rows in the crosstab, or data series in the chart. Columns in the exported file
correspond to columns in the crosstab, or categories in the chart.
Sorts, filters, and ranks are preserved in the exported data. Calculated data
is exported, but the calculation formulas are not preserved.
If you choose to view the file, it opens immediately in your .csv file viewer,
which is Microsoft Excel by default.
Note:
The Export button is disabled until the current page contains a valid query.
15
15 Linking to reports
To create a link to a report
When you analyze OLAP data in Voyager, you may find interesting
information that you would like to explore in a related Web Intelligence or
Crystal report. Typically, a power user or report designer creates these Web
Intelligence or Crystal reports, and makes them available to Voyager users.
To access a report, you create a link to it within your Voyager workspace.
When you open a linked report, Voyager passes contextual information, such
as row and column member names, as parameters to the report. These
parameters enable the report to display more information related to those
members.
For example, while analyzing your data in Voyager, you discover that 4601
of your loyalty customers have purchased generic coffee beans from the
Seattle store in 2008. You decide to run a promotion to encourage those
customers to try premium coffee beans instead. A report designer has
provided you with a Crystal report that retrieves the names and addresses
of your loyalty customers from a database. You create a link from your
Voyager query to the Crystal report, and select the parameters “generic
coffee beans”, “Seattle”, and “2008” to send to the linked Crystal report. The
report queries the relational database and returns the names and addresses
of the loyalty customers who bought generic coffee beans from the Seattle
store in 2008.
The report that you link to can contain transactional data related to the OLAP
cube's data. When this is the case, linking is similar to drill through. However,
the linked report can contain any type of data; it is only necessary that the
report accepts at least one parameter from the workspace.
Once defined, the links are stored in the workspace until manually deleted.
You can therefore share the workspace with other users, enabling them to
explore the information in the linked report as well.
Related Topics
• Drilling through to underlying relational data
If you want to access reports based on a different universe, clear the "Display
only reports based on the associated Universe" check box.
16
16 Printing
Printing Voyager workspaces
Voyager creates a PDF representing the data or components that you want
to print, and opens it in a new browser window using your default PDF viewer.
You can then print hard copies of the data from the PDF viewer.
Note:
A component must have dimensions on both of its view axes before it appears
in the list of components in the Print dialog box.
Note:
When printing raw data, if a cell contains a number and that number does
not fit completely inside the cell, the rightmost digits of the number are
replaced with the number sign (“#”) to indicate that the number has been
truncated for printing.
5. Click OK.
Your data is converted to a PDF and opened in a new browser window
using your default PDF viewer. You can then print hard copies of the data
from the PDF viewer.
Related Topics
• Print a crosstab as it appears on the screen
• Print a chart as it appears on the screen
• Print options
The crosstab's name, as defined on the Properties tab, is printed above the
crosstab. If comments are defined on the Properties tab, they are printed
below the crosstab.
Member headings that don't fit within the column widths may be truncated
differently from how they are truncated on screen.
The chart's name, as defined on the Properties tab, is printed above the
chart. If comments are defined on the Properties tab, they are printed below
the chart.
Print options
These print options are available:
Option Description
All elements of the print output will use this font size except
Font Size for the page number.
Paper Size Choose from these paper sizes: Letter, Legal, A4, and A3.
Page Orienta-
Select Landscape or Portrait orientation.
tion
When you print a crosstab, you can choose the print order of
pages:
• Down then over (default).
• Over then down.
Print Direction
For example, you might choose "Over then down" so
that all columns in the crosstab appear on consecutive
pages.
Related Topics
• Print raw data
• Print a crosstab as it appears on the screen
• Print a chart as it appears on the screen
17
17 Using Voyager with Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and 2008 Analysis Services
Overview of Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and 2008 Analysis Services
Dimensions
Dimensions in Analysis Services 2005 and 2008 are collections of hierarchies.
Hierarchies
Attributes are the building blocks of dimensions, and are used in Analysis
Services 2005 and 2008 to organize measures contained in a cube.
Fact tables
A fact table is a database table that contains measures or metrics of a
business process. For example, a fact table for a grocery store might include
measures such as Sales, Inventory, and Profit.
Dimension tables
A dimension table is a database table that contains attributes that describe
the business entities of an enterprise. The attributes are used by data analysts
to constrain and group database queries. For example, a Store table might
include store locations and sizes.
Measure groups
A measure group contains one or more measures from the same fact table.
All Analysis Services 2005 and 2008 cubes and perspectives contain at least
one measure group.
In Voyager, measure groups are shown on the Data tab only; they do not
appear in the Member Selector. Also, you cannot select a measure group;
only the members within a group.
Display folders
Display folders are optional folders that can be configured on the Analysis
Services server to organize hierarchies into folder structures. The folder
structures make it easier for users to navigate the hierarchies grouped under
a single dimension from a client application.
In Voyager, display folders are shown on the Data tab only; they do not
appear in the Member Selector. Also, you cannot select a display folder; only
the hierarchies within the display folders.
Perspectives
Cubes can be very large and thus difficult to navigate in SQL Server Analysis
Services. A single cube can represent the contents of an entire data
warehouse, with each measure group in a cube representing a single fact
table, and each dimension representing a dimension table in the data
warehouse. This prospect can be daunting to users, who often need to
interact with only a small portion of a cube to satisfy their business intelligence
and reporting requirements.
In Analysis Services 2005 and 2008, a perspective can reduce the perceived
complexity of a cube by allowing you to define a viewable subset of the cube.
The perspective's definition controls which objects in a cube are visible to a
business intelligence application.
18
18 Using Voyager with SAP
Logging on to SAP
Logging on to SAP
Logging on to SAP is the same as logging on to any other data source, with
the exception that if there are variables requiring user entry, the Set Variables
dialog box opens so that you can select values for the variables.
The Set Variables dialog box contains at least one row, and can contain
several, depending on the complexity of the data structure and the number
of variables set up by the SAP administrator in the SAP query cube. Each
row represents a different variable.
If default or personalized variables are set up, rows of the Set Variables
dialog box may already contain values. You can accept these values, or you
can select different values.
Although you can type in the member key of the variable, you can also select
new values using the Member Selector.
The Member Selector has all the same functionality for SAP queries as for
any other Voyager query. For more information about the Member Selector,
see Selecting Members to Display in Crosstabs and Charts.
Related Topics
• Logging on to SAP
• Using variables
• Compounded characteristics
• Mutually exclusive hierarchies
• Unbalanced and ragged hierarchies
Using variables
Variables are defined by SAP administrators on the underlying data in an
SAP query cube. When you select a hierarchy or set of members with defined
variables to display in Voyager, you must first select values to act as filters
on the data that is returned and displayed.
To select values, you are prompted with the Set Variables dialog box.
There are several actions performed while working in Voyager that make it
necessary to enter values for variables:
• Adding a connection with a query containing variables.
• Opening a saved workspace with a query containing variables.
• Navigating to a page for the first time in an open workspace.
• Manually refreshing data.
There are several variable types, and variables can be mandatory or optional.
Mandatory variables
Mandatory variables are variables that you must provide a value for when
the Set Variables dialog box opens. Mandatory variables are denoted with
an asterisk next to their name. If you do not enter a value and attempt to
continue, Voyager alerts you and presents the Set Variables dialog box again
with warning flags next to mandatory variables.
Optional variables
Optional variables are variables which you do not have to select values for
when prompted. Queries with optional variables you do not select values for
return data based on either personalized values or default values, depending
on which of those two types of values have been set up for the variable.
Related Topics
• Default and personalized values for variables
• Mandatory variables
Default values
Default values are values that Voyager automatically selects if they were
defined by the SAP administrator for a variable in the Set Variables dialog
box.
Default values are set up by an SAP administrator at the time the variables
are created or modified. Default values are the same for all users.
Personalized values
Personalized values are similar to default values, except personalized values
are visible to only you and no other users. Other users may have their own
personalized values; however, you cannot see them. If you have personalized
values that also have default values, your personalized values are used.
Voyager does not allow you to set personalized values; it only displays your
personalized values. See your SAP administrator to learn how to set
personalized values for variables.
Related Topics
• Optional variables
• Mandatory variables
Variable types
Voyager supports many, though not all, of the variable types provided by
SAP.
For single value variables you can select only a single value from the Set
Variables dialog box. For multiple value variables, you can select one or
more values.
The data that is returned and displayed depends on how the SAP
administrator configures the default variable filter:
Include in selec- The set of values returned from the SAP cube comprise
tion (default) the values you select and their direct ancestors.
Exclude from se- The set of values returned from the SAP cube comprise all
lection values except the values you select.
When you are prompted by the Set Variables dialog box, you select a single
or multiple members from the custom hierarchy.
Characteristic variables
Characteristic variables are defined on the default flat hierarchies of a
dimension. There are different types of characteristic variables.
When you are prompted by the Set Variables dialog box, you select a single
or multiple members to be returned from the default flat hierarchy.
Related Topics
• Hierarchy variables
• Characteristic interval (range) variables
• Complex characteristic selection variables
• More about variables
Hierarchy variables
The hierarchy you select in the Set Variables dialog box restricts the
hierarchies you can use on that dimension to the chosen hierarchy.
Hierarchy variables often come paired with hierarchy node variables, where
both variables apply to the same dimension. The hierarchy node variable
can dynamically apply to whichever hierarchy has been selected for the
hierarchy variable. In these cases, you make a selection for the hierarchy
variable before making a selection for the hierarchy node variable.
Related Topics
• Characteristic and hierarchy node variables
• More about variables
Characteristic interval variables consist of two members that you select using
the Set Variables dialog box. The two members create a range which is used
as a filter for the data returned and displayed in Voyager from the SAP query
cube.
The member(s) you indicate are used differently, depending on what type
of operation you select:
Operation Meaning
Display members that are not between the two selected members
<>
in the dimension.
Display the selected member, and members that are after the se-
=>
lected member.
Display the selected member, and members that are before the
<=
selected member.
Related Topics
• Characteristic and hierarchy node variables
Key date variables are single-value variable types where you can indicate a
specific date for the data you want to see (provided that data is configured
in the cube to be time-dependent). Time-dependent metadata is filtered
based on the key date variable.
Formula variables
Currency variables
There are methods of presenting and structuring data that are specific to
SAP query cubes.
The SAP administrator may set up hierarchies in the underlying SAP query
cube so that they are not visible to you in Voyager. In situations where there
is hidden data, but you are prompted in the Set Variables dialog box to
provide variables to filter the data (including the hidden hierarchies), Voyager
may return and display data from those hidden hierarchies.
Variables in structures
You are prompted by the Set Variables dialog box to enter the value which
is then used by Voyager to filter ("restrict") the key figure.
Multiple structures
Voyager supports variables in multiple structures. For more than one structure
in a cube, there are intersections of selections between the structures. The
intersecting cells can be filtered by a variable.
Related Topics
• Using variables
Free characteristics
Free characteristics are areas of the SAP query cube where characteristic
dimensions can be put. Free characteristic dimensions can contain filters,
variables, and hierarchies. These dimensions are used for navigation.
The SAP administrator can create an SAP query cube that has no visible
key figures (no visible measures hierarchy). There is no measures formatting
for these query cubes because they contain no measures (or the measures
are not visible).
Related Topics
• Logging on to SAP
• Member Selector with SAP data
Display attributes
Members have several string properties which are visible in Voyager:
• Key
• Short description
• Medium description
• Long description
• Key and short description
• Key and medium description
• Key and long description
These string properties can be viewed and changed from the Properties tab
of the Tab panel.
Note:
Key and text properties are concatenated into a single string, and are
therefore displayed in a single column or row caption field. They do not
appear as separate columns or rows.
Compounded characteristics
An SAP administrator can connect several characteristic dimensions together
into one entity, known as a compounded characteristic. Once these
dimensions are combined together, they can only be used in combination.
Key Name
Display attributes are used as the text for the column or row headings.
Note:
For some headings you can display attributes which are a concatenation
of the Key and one of the three text properties. They do not appear as
separate columns or rows.
19
19 Using Voyager with Oracle Hyperion Essbase Data Sources
Overview of Oracle Hyperion Essbase features support in Voyager
Note:
Voyager supports connections to Essbase cubes that have MetaRead
permissions defined on members. Voyager respects the restrictions put in
place by such permissions, by limiting the members that users can see in
the metadata explorer and Member Selector. Any cells containing data that
has been restricted by MetaRead permissions, such as data for all ancestors
of a restricted member, appear as NULL cells (blank by default). This means
that the default view of data is often blank, because the default member
selection consists of the top level parent members. Users can see data by
changing their member selection to members that don't have restricted
descendants.
Here are brief overviews of the extended Essbase features:
Aggregate storage
One strength of Essbase is in financial applications where the stored data
in cubes is dense. The type of storage that is used for dense cubes is called
block storage. To facilitate the use of Essbase in applications where the data
is sparse, aggregate storage is used. Aggregate storage offers significant
performance improvements in applications with sparse data and can
dramatically reduce the amount of disk storage used.
Attribute dimensions
Attribute dimensions contain information that describes characteristics of the
data. Attribute dimensions cannot be used directly as standard dimensions
but must be associated with standard dimensions.
Attribute dimensions
With Oracle Hyperion Essbase Analytic Services, you can retrieve and
analyze data not only from the perspective of dimensions, but also in terms
of characteristics, or attributes, of those dimensions. For example, you can
analyze product profitability based on size or packaging. Or you can reach
a more effective conclusion from your analysis by incorporating a market
attribute such as the population size of each market region.
Such an analysis could tell you that decaffeinated drinks that are sold in cans
in small markets are less profitable than you had anticipated.
To get more detailed information, you can filter the analysis by specific
attribute criteria, including minimum or maximum sales, and profits of different
dimension
attribute dimension
measures dimension
time dimension
You can filter the data for a base dimension by selecting a member of an
associated attribute dimension.
Note:
If you select the parent member of the attribute dimension, which in this
case is Caffeinated, the crosstab displays data for base dimension
members associated with any of the attribute dimension's child members.
Often, the value of a parent member is equal to the sum of the values of its
child members. For example, consider this simple cube view:
books 18
fiction 7
reference 5
history 6
Books is the parent member; fiction, reference, and history are child members.
The value of books is equal to the sum of the values of the child members.
When you use attribute dimensions to filter data for a base dimension, you
can also use the Attribute Calculations dimension to change the values of
parent members to calculated values other than sums.
books 6
fiction 7
reference 5
The value for the parent member books is now the average of the values of
the child members.
Count member
The Count member is a special case. Use the Count member when you want
a count of members in the base dimension that match the attribute that you
have selected.
books 2
fiction 1
reference null
history 1
The calculation returns a count of book types that are printed in paperback.
Note:
If the parent member Attribute Calculations is selected instead of one of the
child members (Sum, Count, Avg, Min, Max), the calculated values default
to Sums.
You can add a calculation that returns a period-to-date value and displays
on the time dimension.
1.
Select any member within the time dimension where you want to
add the calculation and click Calculation on the application toolbar.
2. In the Calculation Editor dialog box, choose the Dynamic Time Series
operation, and type a caption for the calculation.
3. In the Definition area, select one of the available Dynamic Time Series
functions.
4.
Click the Member Selector icon to select a leaf member.
A leaf member is a member that has no child members. Leaf members
are at the ends of branches in a tree structure.
For example, if you choose the Year-to-Date function, and if you want to
calculate aggregate values for the year up to August, you would choose
the leaf member August.
Alias tables
An alias is an alternate name for a dimension member. Dimension member
names that are stored in a database outline are often not recognizable to a
business user. For example, an SKU (Stock Keeping Unit: a number that is
associated with a product for inventory purposes) may not help a business
user to determine what information is contained in the member. Aliases
Aliases are created by a system administrator and are stored in one or more
tables as part of a database outline. An alias table maps a set of alias names
to member names.
The active alias table is the table that is currently being used to display
member aliases. When you change the active alias table, all member captions
for the connection are based on the selected alias table.
The active alias table is applied to all queries linked to a connection. If there
are charts and crosstabs on several pages of the workspace, all linked to
the same connection, those components will all display the aliases from the
active alias table.
The aliases from the active alias table are displayed in these components:
• Member Selector
• crosstab axis
• chart axis and legend
The active alias table is saved with the workspace so that when the
workspace is re-opened, the active alias table is the same one that was
active in the previous session.
Note:
If aliases have been defined for dimension members, those aliases are
displayed. Members that do not have aliases defined in the active alias table
will be displayed using member names.
For example, if you select the Long Names alias table but the Product
dimension members do not have any aliases in this table, then instead of
displaying an alias like "Diet Cola", Voyager displays the member name
"100-20".
1. In the connections area on the Data tab, select the Essbase connection
whose alias table you want to change.
2.
Click Select Alias Table.
A list of all available alias tables for the selected cube is displayed.
3. Select an alias table from the list and click OK.
You can search for members by their aliases in the Member Selector. First,
set the active alias table from the Data tab. For details, see Setting the active
alias table. Then, search for members as usual in the Member Selector. See
Selecting members by searching.
Note:
• The search is case-insensitive.
• You can search only for aliases in the active alias table.
20
20 User Interface Reference
Workspace reference
Workspace reference
A workspace is a Voyager data-analysis object. You create a workspace in
Voyager, analyze your data in it, and save it as a single file in the
BusinessObjects Enterprise repository. You can then re-open the workspace
to continue your analysis, or share the workspace with other users.
1. Application toolbar
2. Tab panel
3. Metadata explorer
4. Analysis window
A workspace contains the analysis window where you analyze data, the tab
panel where you manage metadata and the visual components of your
analysis, and the application toolbar.
The default workspace contains three pages, each with an empty crosstab
and undefined query. You can add crosstab and chart components to the
analysis window, or add additional pages to the workspace, as your analysis
increases in scope.
Crosstab and chart components can occupy any of the four quadrants in the
analysis window, or two adjacent quadrants, or all four quadrants if you have
a single component on the page.
The areas in the analysis window where you can drag components to from
the toolbar are called drop zones. The locations of the component drop zones
change as you add or reposition components in the analysis window.
For example, when there are three components in the analysis window, the
locations of the drop zones depend on how the existing components are
positioned. If there are two components at the top of the analysis window
and one at the bottom, there are only two drop zones: at the lower-left and
lower-right sides of the analysis window. If there are two components at the
left of the analysis window and one at the right, the drop zones are at the
upper-right and lower-right sides of the analysis window.
Related Topics
• Workspace reference
• Tab panel reference
• Toolbar reference
• Crosstab component reference
• Chart component reference
Data tab
On the Data tab, you add predefined connections to data sources (cubes),
and view the dimensions and members defined in those data sources.
Related Topics
• Tab panel reference
• Structure tab
• Properties tab
At the top of the Data tab is a list of active connections that have been added
to the workspace. When you create a new workspace, you are prompted to
add the first connection, but you can later add as many connections as you
want.
For more information about connections, see OLAP data connections. For
information about defining OLAP connections, see "Creating OLAP data
source connections" in the Administrator's Guide.
Once you have added at least one connection, you can select the connection
to view the metadata for that cube in the metadata explorer, and define your
query in the analysis window.
If any of your connections are disabled, Voyager does not execute the queries
that are based on the disabled connections. The disabled connections still
appear in the active connections list, but are unavailable. See Re-establishing
a disabled connection for more information.
Related Topics
• Data tab connections buttons
• Data tab metadata explorer
• Data tab metadata explorer buttons
• Data tab
• Structure tab
• Properties tab
Above the connections area on the Data tab are buttons that you can use
to add, remove, and refresh data connections.
Note:
• This button is visible only when an SAP BW connection that contains
variables is added to the workspace.
• This button is enabled only when an SAP BW connection that contains
variables is selected in the Data tab connections area.
Note:
• This button appears only when an Essbase connection is added to the
workspace.
• This button is enabled only when an Essbase connection is selected in
the Data tab connections area.
• For more information on Essbase alias tables, see Alias tables.
Help button
Click this button to open a help topic about the Data tab connections area.
Related Topics
• Data tab connections area
• Data tab metadata explorer
• Data tab metadata explorer buttons
• Data tab
• Structure tab
• Properties tab
attribute dimension
(Essbase only)
time dimension
favorite group
parent member
leaf member
Note:
• Microsoft uses the term "dimension" to refer to a collection of related
hierarchies of members. In this guide however, the term "dimension"
refers to a collection of related members. Microsoft hierarchies are treated
and referred to as dimensions.
• SAP uses the term "characteristic" to refer to a collection of related
hierarchies of members. In this guide however, the term "dimension"
refers to a collection of related members. SAP hierarchies are treated
and referred to as dimensions.
• Oracle Hyperion Essbase data sources support attribute dimensions. For
information on attribute dimensions, see Attribute dimensions.
You define queries using the metadata explorer. You select dimensions and
members for your query and add them to a crosstab or chart in the analysis
window.
Note:
• All dimensional metadata for the entire cube is shown in the metadata
explorer.
• For specific information about Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and 2008
Analysis Services data sources and how to work with them on the Data
tab, see Using Voyager with Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and 2008 Analysis
Services.
• For specific information about SAP BW data sources and how to work
with them on the Data tab, see Using Voyager with SAP, and the
documentation for the BusinessObjects Integration Kit for SAP.
• For specific information about Oracle Hyperion Essbase data sources
and how to work with them on the Data tab, see Using Voyager with
Oracle Hyperion Essbase Data Sources.
Related Topics
• Data tab connections area
• Data tab connections buttons
• Data tab metadata explorer buttons
• Data tab
• Structure tab
• Properties tab
Above the metadata explorer area on the Data tab, there are buttons that
you can use to populate your crosstab or chart, instead of dragging
dimensions and members into the analysis window.
The slice axis is a special case. See Understanding the crosstab and Custom
aggregates and multiple members on a slice dimension for more information
about using the slice axis.
Note:
If members from the source dimension are already specified on a crosstab
axis other than the row axis, the existing members from the source
dimension are removed from the crosstab.
Help button
Click this button to open a help topic about the metadata explorer.
Related Topics
• Data tab connections area
• Data tab connections buttons
• Data tab metadata explorer
• Data tab
• Structure tab
• Properties tab
If you connect to a cube provider that supports custom aggregation, you can
specify multiple members on a slice dimension. Microsoft Analysis Services
2000/2005 and SAP BW support custom aggregates. Oracle Hyperion
Essbase does not support custom aggregates.
Therefore, if your data source is Essbase, you cannot place multiple members
in the slice area.
Note:
You cannot place multiple members from a measures dimension on the slice
axis.
Structure tab
The Structure tab shows the relationships between queries and visual
components (crosstabs and charts) on the current page. The Structure tab
also lets you add new queries and move visual components between queries.
Related Topics
• Tab panel reference
• Data tab
• Properties tab
Structure tree
The structure tree shows the queries and visual components on the current
page.
You can expand the nodes of the tree by clicking the plus sign beside
expandable tree nodes, and you can collapse them by clicking the minus
sign.
For example, you may have two crosstabs, Crosstab 1 and Crosstab 2, linked
to separate queries, Query 1 and Query 2. When you add a chart, Chart 1,
it is automatically linked to the most recent query, which is Query 2. Therefore,
Chart 1 reflects the same data as Crosstab 2 because both components are
linked to the same query. If instead you want to visualize the data in Crosstab
1, not Crosstab 2, you can drag Chart 1 onto Query 1 in the structure tree.
If you want only a chart, with no crosstab, click the Add Query button In the
Structure tab. You can then drag the chart onto the new query. Any data in
the chart is removed because the new query is undefined.
Related Topics
• Structure tab buttons
• Data tab
• Structure tab
• Properties tab
The top of the Structure tab contains buttons that you can use to add queries
to your page, and delete queries.
Help button
Click this button to open a help topic about the Structure tab.
Related Topics
• Structure tree
• Data tab
• Structure tab
• Properties tab
Properties tab
The Properties tab displays a set of properties for the selected object. You
can select a crosstab or chart, and view the properties for that object on the
Properties tab. The properties available to view or modify on the Properties
tab depend on the component selected.
• Name
• Comments
• Display NULL Values As
• Suppress NULL Values
crosstab • Column Width
• Row Height
• Wrap Text
• Display Formatted Cell Values
• Name
• Comments
• Palette
• Style
• Font
• Suppress NULL Values
• Show Parents
• Show Visual Totals
• Show Dimension Panel
• Show Hierarchical Labeling
• Show Legend
chart • Category Label
• Category Scale
• Category Scale Symbol
• Value Label
• Value Scale
• Value Scale Symbol
• Data Series Label
• X Axis Measure
• Y Axis Measure
• Size Measure
• Manually Edit Chart Labels
• Hide Labels Less Than
For descriptions of these properties and how to use them, see Crosstab
display options and Chart display options.
Related Topics
• Tab panel reference
• Data tab
• Structure tab
Toolbar reference
You can perform most of your data-analysis tasks with the Voyager
application toolbar.
Note:
Some of the toolbar buttons may be disabled, depending on the rights that
have been assigned to users within the Central Management Console, and
depending on which object or component is selected in the analysis window.
For more information on rights in the Central Management Console, see
your system administrator or the BusinessObjects Voyager Administrator's
Guide.
For details on using the application toolbar buttons, see the following topics:
Related Topics
• Workspace reference
• Analysis window reference
• Tab panel reference
• Crosstab component reference
• Chart component reference
Toolbar overview
The application toolbar contains buttons for the most commonly used
functions in Voyager. You can create, save, print, and customize your pages
with the toolbar buttons.
Note:
Many of the toolbar functions are also duplicated in context-sensitive
right-click menus. For example, if you right-click a dimension or a member,
a menu that contains relevant options appears.
Save button
Option Function
Save If you have created a new workspace and have not yet saved
it, choosing the Save function executes instead the Save As
function.
Option Function
For more information about saving your workspaces, see Saving Voyager
workspaces.
Export button
Click the Export button to export data to Excel, or click the arrow beside the
Export button to choose from the export options.
Note:
The exported file contains only crosstab data. Any charts that were in the
original workspace are not retained in the exported file.
For more information about exporting, see Exporting data from Voyager to
Excel and Exporting data from Voyager to comma-separated-values (.csv)
files.
Print button
Use this button to print your data to a PDF file. When you click this button,
the Export/Print to PDF dialog box opens. From the dialog box, you can
Undo button
Redo button
Use this button to re-apply the action that was reversed by the Undo
button.
Note:
Voyager saves a maximum of ten redo levels.
Copy button
Note:
The Copy button is disabled until you select a crosstab or chart component.
Related Topics
• Copying a component to compare variations in data
Paste button
Use this button to paste the copied crosstab or chart component to the
same page or a different page.
Note:
The Paste button is disabled until you copy a crosstab or chart component.
Related Topics
• Copying a component to compare variations in data
Delete button
Use this button to delete the selected crosstab or chart from the page.
Note:
The Delete button is disabled until you select a crosstab or chart component.
Calculation button
Click the Calculation button to open the Calculation Editor dialog box if you
want to create custom calculations, or click the arrow beside the Calculation
button to choose from predefined basic calculations.
Note:
The Calculation button is disabled until you select one or more members in
a crosstab. If you select two members, you can access the basic arithmetic
calculations as well as the custom calculations.
These calculation options are available:
Calcula
Description
tion
Calcula
Description
tion
Displays the Calculation Editor dialog box. Use this dialog box to
define the parameters of a new custom calculation you want to add
More
to the crosstab. For more information about custom calculations,
see Overview of calculations.
Opens the Calculation Editor dialog box so that you can change
Edit
the definition of an existing calculation.
Sort button
Click the Sort button to apply the default ascending sort, or click the arrow
beside the Sort button to display a list of sorting options that you can select
from.
Note:
• The Sort button is disabled until you select a single row or column in a
crosstab.
• The Remove option is disabled until you select a single row or column in
a crosstab, that has a sort applied to it.
• If your crosstab contains nested dimensions, you can add a sort only to
a member of the innermost dimension.
When a member has a sort applied, an icon appears beside the member
name, indicating the direction of the sort.
For more information about sorting and the different sort types, see Sorting
data columns or rows.
Rank button
Click the Rank button to open the Rank Editor dialog box.
For more information about ranking and the different ranking types, see
Ranking the data in the crosstab and Rank Editor dialog box.
Note:
The Rank button is disabled until you select a single row or column in a
crosstab.
When a member has a rank applied, the rank icon appears beside the
member name:
Filter button
Use this button to filter the data displayed in crosstabs and charts.
Click the Filter button to open the Filter Editor dialog box. For more information
about filtering and the different filter types, see Filtering the data in crosstabs
and charts and Filter Editor dialog box.
For example, you might want to highlight a value that is greater or less than
a predetermined value.
• The number of decimal places displayed (any number from 0 to 99; the
default is 2).
• The way negative values are displayed.
For more information about formatting measures, see Formatting Crosstab
Data.
Click this button to display a list of all sort, filter, and rank conditions that
are applied to the current query.
All applied conditions are included in the list whether or not the members
that the conditions are applied to are visible in the crosstab. You can remove
any conditions that you no longer want to apply to your data.
For more information, see Displaying sorts, filters, and ranks applied to the
query and Hidden sorts, filters, and ranks.
Use this button to swap the horizontal and vertical crosstab axes.
All members on the row axis swap places with all members on the column
axis.
Note:
The Swap Axis button is disabled until you select a crosstab or chart.
Use this button to add visual totals to the crosstab. Visual totals include
these calculations:
• Sum
• Average
Use the Insert Crosstab button to place a crosstab onto your page. You
can place up to four visual components on a page, in any combination of
crosstabs and charts.
To place a crosstab on a page, drag the Crosstab from the application toolbar
into the analysis window. Alternatively, you can click the Crosstab button to
insert the crosstab on the current page. The component is added to the page,
below or to the right of existing components; however, you can reposition
components in the analysis window later.
Chart buttons
Use the chart buttons to place a chart onto your page. You can place up to
four visual components on a page, in any combination of crosstabs and
charts.
To place a chart on a page, click a chart button. Or, if the chart that you want
to add to the page does not have its own button, but instead is a member of
one of the chart families, click the arrow beside the button for that chart
family, and then select a chart type from the list. The component is added
to the page, below or to the right of existing components; however, you can
reposition components in the analysis window later.
Chart Type
Clustered Column
Stacked Column
3D Clustered Column
Line
Pie
Clustered Bar
Stacked Bar
Scatter
Other charts
Box Plot
Bubble
Radar
Note:
For more information about charts, see Using Charts to Visualize Data and
Chart component reference.
Help button
Use this button to open a help topic about the application toolbar.
The crosstab provides you with a dynamic view of your business data. You
can interactively change your row, column, and slice dimensions by dragging
them between drop zones in the crosstab or from the Data tab to the crosstab.
This makes it easy for you to view trends over time, or track other changes
in your data.
1. Dimension panel
2. Slice dimension
3. Row dimension
4. Column dimension
5. Row members
6. Column members
Related Topics
• Understanding the crosstab
• Crosstab title bar
• Crosstab dimension panel
• Crosstab grid
• Crosstab buttons
• Crosstab display options
• Crosstab tooltips
• Workspace reference
• Analysis window reference
• Tab panel reference
• Toolbar reference
• Chart component reference
The crosstab comprises three axes, although only two can be displayed on
the screen.
• Row axis: the vertical axis that displays rows of data.
• Column axis: the horizontal axis that displays columns of data.
• Slice axis: the axis that is perpendicular to the two-dimensional crosstab
display.
Dimensions that are placed on the row axis are called row dimensions.
Similarly, you also use column dimensions and slice dimensions in your
analyses. See Understanding OLAP for more information on dimensions and
slices.
With row and column dimensions, you can see several members
simultaneously on the crosstab. With the slice dimension however, you fix
a slice of the data in the crosstab at any one time. The member you select
in the slice dimension is called the slice member. For example, if Week is a
slice dimension, you can select any week as the slice member.
Although with some OLAP providers you can place multiple members on the
slice axis, you cannot place multiple members from a measures dimension
on the slice axis. For more information about placing multiple members on
the slice axis, see Custom aggregates and multiple members on a slice
dimension.
For all dimensions in the cube that are not used on the row, column, or slice
axes, the default member is used to generate data in the crosstab. Therefore,
you can generate a valid query by placing dimensions on only the row and
column axes because Voyager uses the default member for all other
dimensions. If you place a dimension on the slice axis and leave the default
member unchanged, the data in the crosstab is also unchanged.
The arrangement of the rows, columns, slices, and the selected members
is known as a crosstab view. When you save a workspace, the crosstab view
is also saved. The next time you open the workspace, the crosstab looks
the same as when you saved it.
To see a different view of the data (for example, to view Products against
Week rather than Products against Measures), you can swap the two
dimensions. This is also known as "reorienting" or "pivoting" the crosstab.
See Swapping dimensions.
You can also display more than one dimension on a row or column axis; for
example, you can place both a Measures dimension and a Years dimension
on the same axis to show data from the Measures dimension over several
years. This is called "nesting dimensions". See Nesting dimensions.
Definitions:
Drop zones are the locations in the dimension panel where dimen-
Drop
sions or members can be dropped, to define and manipulate
zones
queries.
Row axis The row axis is the vertical axis on the crosstab.
Column
The column axis is the horizontal axis on the crosstab.
axis
Related Topics
• Crosstab component reference
• Crosstab title bar
• Crosstab dimension panel
• Crosstab grid
• Crosstab buttons
• Crosstab display options
• Crosstab tooltips
If the measures dimension is not placed on any of the axes in the component,
the title bar displays the name of the default member of the measures
dimension.
Related Topics
• Crosstab component reference
• Understanding the crosstab
• Crosstab dimension panel
• Crosstab grid
• Crosstab buttons
• Crosstab display options
• Crosstab tooltips
For more information about nesting dimensions, see Creating complex queries
by nesting dimensions.
The crosstab's dimension panel contains drop zones for placing dimensions
when you define a query. An additional drop zone, in the crosstab grid, is
used to add members of a measures dimension to the crosstab. See Cell
drop zone for more information.
You drag a dimension or members to the center drop zone to add members
to an empty axis, or to replace existing members on that axis.
Dimension functions
Crosstab grid
The crosstab grid is where member headings and data are displayed.
Member functions
You can right-click a member heading in the crosstab grid to access these
functions:
• Drill—For information on drilling up and down on members, see Drilling
down and drilling up.
• Sort—For information on sorting data, see Sorting data columns or rows.
• Filter—For information on filtering data, see Filtering the data in crosstabs
and charts.
• Rank—For information on ranking data, see Ranking the data in the
crosstab.
• Exception Highlighting—For information on highlighting exceptions in
data, see Overview of exception highlighting.
• Calculation—For information on adding and defining calculations, see
Overview of calculations.
• Hide Member—For information on hiding members, see Hiding members
from view.
When you drop measures on the cell drop zone, those measures are placed
on the column axis.
If you have already placed a measure member on the slice axis, dropping
another member onto the cell drop zone swaps the measures dimension to
the column axis and adds the new member to the selection.
Related Topics
• Crosstab component reference
Crosstab buttons
At the upper-left corner of the crosstab component are buttons for changing
the view of the crosstab.
Related Topics
• Crosstab component reference
• Understanding the crosstab
• Crosstab title bar
• Crosstab dimension panel
• Crosstab grid
• Crosstab display options
• Crosstab tooltips
Use this button to swap the horizontal and vertical crosstab axes.
All members on the row axis swap places with all members on the column
axis.
Use this button to suppress all rows and columns that contain only null
cell values from being displayed in the crosstab.
You can also suppress null rows only, or null columns only. For details, see
Crosstab display options and Chart display options.
Click this button to select all cells in the crosstab before applying global
exception highlighting or adding visual totals.
Related Topics
• Applying exception highlighting
• Visual totals
Option Values
Option Values
Name
This option defines the name of the crosstab component. The name is
displayed in the crosstab's title bar, and is printed in the page header when
you print a crosstab. The name is also used to identify the crosstab on the
Structure tab. The default value is the name generated automatically by
Voyager when the crosstab is created.
Comments
In addition to the crosstab's name, you can add comments to describe the
crosstab, up to a maximum of 255 characters. Comments are optional and
are not displayed on the crosstab component, but if you print a crosstab to
a PDF document, the comments appear beneath the crosstab component.
Option Function
Hides all columns and rows that contain only null cell values.
Column and Note:
Row The Column and Row option is equivalent to clicking the Null
Suppression button in the crosstab.
Column only Hides all columns that contain only null cell values.
Row only Hides all rows that contain only null cell values.
Column Width
This option defines the width of crosstab columns, in pixels. The value you
enter applies to all columns in the crosstab.
Row Height
This option defines the height of crosstab rows, in pixels. The value you enter
applies to all rows in the crosstab.
Wrap Text
This option defines whether text in crosstab cells wraps.
Crosstab tooltips
The tooltip for a member heading displays the member level and caption.
Related Topics
• Crosstab component reference
• Understanding the crosstab
• Crosstab title bar
• Crosstab dimension panel
• Crosstab grid
• Crosstab buttons
• Crosstab display options
1. Dimension panel
2. Slice dimension
3. Data series dimension
4. Category dimension
5. Data series members
The chart component comprises the main chart graphic and a dimension
panel above the graphic. The dimension panel is where you place dimensions
and members to define a query. With large data sets, a range slider is also
displayed to help you navigate the data in the chart.
For more information about charts, see Using Charts to Visualize Data.
Definitions:
Drop zones are the locations in the dimension panel where dimen-
Drop
sions or members can be dropped, to define and manipulate
zones
queries.
Cate Categories are the groupings that elements of a data series belong
gories to.
Related Topics
• Chart dimension panel
• Chart range slider
• Chart title bar
• Chart graphic
• Chart display options
• Workspace reference
• Analysis window reference
• Tab panel reference
• Toolbar reference
• Crosstab component reference
The chart's dimension panel contains drop zones for placing dimensions
when you define a query.
You drag a dimension or members to the center drop zone to add members
to an empty axis, or to replace existing members on that axis.
You drag a dimension or members to the left or right drop zone to add
members to existing members on that axis. The new members are nested
beside the existing members. For more information, see Creating complex
queries by nesting dimensions.
Dimension functions
Selected range
The area between the range slider bars is the selected range. This range is
expanded in the main chart graphic. You can also drag the selected range
within the range slider to scroll through the chart.
Use the overview scroll bar to move the range slider to different subsets of
the full data set.
Hide/restore button
To allow the main chart graphic to occupy more space in the chart component,
you can hide the range slider by clicking the arrow button at the edge of the
range slider. Click the arrow button again to restore the range slider.
Paging buttons
The arrow buttons at the ends of the range slider move the selected range
by one "page" of elements within the range slider. A page is defined as the
current size of the selected range.
With very large data sets, the range slider represents only a portion of the
full data set. In that case, the arrow buttons move the selected range by one
page of elements as usual, until the selected range reaches the end of the
range slider. Clicking an arrow button again moves the selected range further
but also moves the range slider within the full data set.
For more information about using the chart range slider, see Scrolling through
large data sets in charts.
Related Topics
• Chart component reference
• Chart dimension panel
If the measures dimension is not placed on any of the axes in the component,
the title bar displays the name of the default member of the measures
dimension.
Related Topics
• Chart component reference
• Chart dimension panel
• Chart range slider
• Chart graphic
• Chart display options
Chart graphic
The chart graphic displays the data returned by the defined query.
Member functions
You can right-click a member heading in the crosstab grid to access these
functions:
• Drill Up, Drill Down, Focused Drill Up, Focused Drill Down—For
information on drilling up and down on members, see Drilling down and
drilling up.
• Hide Member—For information on hiding members, see Hiding members
from view.
• Chart Type—For information on chart types, see Chart types.
Related Topics
• Chart component reference
• Chart dimension panel
• Chart range slider
• Chart title bar
• Chart display options
Member captions that are omitted from the chart can be viewed in tooltips
when you rest the mouse pointer over members.
See Chart range slider for more information about large data sets in charts.
Voyager provides several color palettes and styles for displaying your charts.
For more information about customizing chart colors and styles, see Chart
display options.
The measures defined on a cube might not be based on the same unit of
measure or data type. For example, measures such as Unit Sales, Store
Cost, and Store Sales use the data type double, but the Sales Count
measure uses the data type integer. When the chart is rendered, all
numeric values are converted to the data type double.
The following options are available to customize your charts. You can access
these options from the Properties tab.
Option Values
Option Values
Default
Cool
Warm
Hot
Lavender
Palette
Rose
Desert
Forest
Ocean
Monochrome
Default
Shadow
Style
Presentation
Presentation Shadow
Off
Row only
Name
This option defines the name of the chart component. The name is displayed
in the chart's title bar, and is printed in the page header when you print a
chart. The name is also used to identify the chart on the Structure tab. The
default value is the name generated automatically by Voyager when the chart
is created.
Comments
In addition to the chart's name, you can add comments to describe the chart,
up to a maximum of 255 characters. Comments are optional and are not
displayed on the chart component, but if you print a chart to a PDF document,
the comments appear beneath the chart component.
Palette
Voyager provides several predefined color palettes to help you customize
your chart components.
Style
Voyager provides these styles for customizing your charts:
Default none
Shadow 3D effect
Font
The fonts available in the Print dialog box and in the chart Properties tab are
default fonts. Your system administrator can enable additional fonts.
The default value is Off. For details, see Suppress NULL Values.
Show Parents
This option toggles the display of single parent members on and off. The
default value is No, which means that parent members will not be displayed
on the chart if their child members are displayed on the chart. For more
information, see Displaying parent members.
Show Legend
Choose Yes if you want the chart legend to be displayed. The default value
is Yes.
Note:
If there is limited space available in the chart component, the chart legend
is automatically removed.
Category Label
The category axis corresponds to one of the following axes, depending on
the type of chart:
Category Scale
You can scale the displayed values. For example, if a chart contains several
values between 5,000,000 and 20,000,000, you can select the Millions scale
to display those values as 5 to 20.
Value Label
The value axis corresponds to one of the following axes, depending on the
type of chart:
Value Scale
You can scale the displayed values. For example, if a chart contains several
values between 5,000,000 and 20,000,000, you can select the Millions scale
to display those values as 5 to 20.
X Axis Measure
For scatter and bubble charts, this option defines which of the measures
available in the query is plotted on the chart's X axis.
Y Axis Measure
For scatter and bubble charts, this option defines which of the measures
available in the query is plotted on the chart's Y axis.
Size Measure
For bubble charts, this option defines which of the measures available in the
query is represented by the sizes of the bubbles.
Additionally, you can change the member of the Measures or Key Figures
dimension by clicking the Member Selector button beside the Measures or
Key Figures dimension name in the component title bar.
When you open the Member Selector, the member list is automatically
expanded to show all members that are currently displayed in the crosstab
or chart.
The Member Selector dialog box can be resized by dragging the sizing handle
at the lower-right corner.
Member names may not be displayed fully in the default Member Selector
dialog box size, because of long member names or large indents for low-level
members. The Member Selector can be resized to accommodate these
member names by dragging the lower-right corner of the dialog box.
Often, you can select or deselect members more efficiently by using the
buttons on the Member Selector toolbar:
Note:
After you deselect all members, the OK button in the Member Selector is
disabled because you must select at least one member for each dimension
on the crosstab.
For more information about displaying all members at a particular level, see
Selecting all members at a particular level in the dimension.
Use the Show Selected Members button to toggle between showing all
members within the dimension, and showing only the selected members.
For more information, see Showing only selected members in the Member
Selector.
Use this button to choose a display mode for member names and
captions in the Member Selector. Choose from one of these available modes:
• Caption
• Name
• Caption : Name
• Name : Caption
Use this button to toggle between appending the parent names to the
member names, and just displaying the members as chosen with the Display
Mode button.
For example, if you toggle the display of parent members on, a member
name might look like this: Wednesday (2002 > Qtr 2 > June > Wk
1).
For more information about displaying parent and child members, see
Displaying the parent names of all members.
You can search member names and captions. For details, see To search
for member names or captions.
Use the Return to Member List button to clear the search results and
return to the full member list. Any members that you selected from the search
results remain selected.
book Note:
If you search for book , your search will not find a member
named booklet . To find booklet , you could search for book* .
See Using wildcards in your search.
Selects only members that contain the exact text inside the
quotation marks.
"glass bowls"
In this example, the search would find glass bowls but not
glass soup bowls .
Note:
Search terms are not case-sensitive. Searching for book is the same as
searching for Book or BOOK or boOk .
Wildcard Represents
Use this button to clear the search results and return to the full member
list. Any members that you selected from the search results remain selected.
You need to provide two parameters to define a rank: a condition and a value.
The sort direction applied by the rank operation depends on the selected
operator. If you choose a "Top members by value" or "Top contributors to %
of total" rank, the rank also applies a descending sort. If you choose a "Bottom
members by value" or "Bottom contributors to % of total" rank, the rank also
applies an ascending sort.
Related Topics
• Ranking the data in the crosstab
Condition Description
Condition Description
greater than or equal Shows cells that are greater than or equal to a specified
to numeric value.
Related Topics
• Filtering the data in crosstabs and charts
To select (or enter) values for SAP query variables, use the Set Variables
dialog box. You are prompted with this dialog box any time a query must be
executed.
There are several actions performed while working in Voyager that make it
necessary to enter values for variables:
• Adding a connection.
If default or personalized variables are set up, rows of the Set Variables
dialog box may already contain values. You can accept these values, or you
can select different values.
Related Topics
• Using Voyager with SAP
21
21 Connecting to OLAP data sources
OLAP data connections
You can add several connections to your workspace, and use a different
connection for each query in your workspace. However, once metadata has
been specified, the query and visual components are fixed to the connection.
You cannot drag metadata from a different connection into this component.
Once you have a connection added to your workspace, you can define a
query and begin working with your data in the analysis window. For
information on queries and how to define them, see Creating and defining
queries to answer your business questions.
Related Topics
• OLAP data connections
• Changing to a different OLAP cube connection
• Removing an OLAP cube connection from a workspace
• Re-establishing a disabled connection
Note:
You cannot add data from the new connection to a component that already
contains data from another connection.
Related Topics
• OLAP data connections
• Adding an OLAP cube connection to a workspace
• Removing an OLAP cube connection from a workspace
• Re-establishing a disabled connection
A
A More Information
https://boc.sdn.sap.com/
Developer resources
https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/businessobjects-sdklibrary
https://service.sap.com/notes
Notes These notes were formerly known as Knowledge Base ar-
ticles.
http://www.sap.com/services/education
http://service.sap.com/bosap-support
http://www.sap.com/services/bysubject/businessobjectscon
sulting
U wildcards 301
workspace, definition 28
unbalanced hierarchies 223 workspaces 28
undo 255 creating new 28, 32
undo/redo 167 distributing 180, 183
universe, associate with connection 195 exporting to Microsoft Excel or .csv file 254
URL syntax for openDocument 187 opening 28, 186
printing 198, 254
reference 236
V saving 180, 182, 183, 253
Value Label property 289 sending to others 184, 185
Value Scale property 289 sharing using openDocument 187
Value Scale Symbol property 289 wrapping text 276
variables, SAP 210, 211, 214, 240
variance and standard deviation calculations X
147
view tab panel 253 X Axis Measure property 289
visual totals 132, 262
changing 136
displaying 81
Y
on charts 138 Y Axis Measure property 289
removing 136
with filtered data 137
with nested dimensions 137 Z
zeros 275
W
Web Intelligence reports 194