Dashboard Reporting: Design Tips and Tricks

1. Dashboard Reporting: Design Tips and Tricks Melinda Rojo Kathy Kimball

2. OBIEE offers a rich array of “widgets” for use in designing and developing dashboards, from dashboard prompts to view selectors to column selectors. This session will share the tips and tricks we’ve discovered on how best to use the powerful capabilities. Session Overview

3. Session Topics • Overall Design Tips & Tricks • Dashboard Tips & Tricks • Answers Tips & Tricks • Dashboard Terminology • Usage Tracking • Resources

4. Overall Design Tips & Tricks • Develop and implement standards for both dashboards and requests • Summarize and then drill to detail • Make prototypes • Make use of visual indicators where appropriate and useful • Reuse! Reuse! Reuse! • Prompts • Requests • Filters • Document requests and filters to facilitate reuse and maintenance

5. Dashboard Tips & Tricks • Prompts • Section Properties • Request Properties • Saved Selections • Branding • Download Options • Printing

6. Dashboard Prompts • Use prompts to filter results on either an entire Dashboard or the current Dashboard page

7. Dashboard Prompts • Tips & Tricks • Select from many operators available • Use SQL Results to set choices shown • Use Server Variables to set defaults • Set Presentation Variables • Use constrain • Use multiple prompts • Example • Only show departments and funds that a user is interested in. But still allow them to search on any.

8. Dashboard Prompts

9. Dashboard Section Properties • Guided Navigation • Can guide users to a related set of results either by static or conditional links • Drill in Place • Shows the new results directly in the dashboard rather than replacing the entiredashboard page • Arrange Horizontally • Displays all requests in this sectionhorizontally

10. Dashboard Report Properties • Show View • Option shows available viewsof a report • Default is Compound Layout • Report Links • Option controls links displayedunder reports

11. Dashboard Saved Selections • Use saved selections to allow users to view dashboard pages with the their most frequently used choices • Applies to many aspects of a dashboard page • Filters • Prompts • View selections • Stored on BI Server Web Catalog in /root/users/username/_selections

12. Dashboard Saved Selections • Tips & Tricks • Add a button to all dashboard pages allowing users to clear their selections

13. Dashboard Branding • OBIEE can be customized to your institution using styles, skins, and custom images • Tips & Tricks • Name your dashboard (bg_banner.jpg)http://obiee101.blogspot.com/2008/09/obiee-portal-customization-part-1.html • Change “Powered by Oracle” on page footer (siebelbug.gif)http://obiee101.blogspot.com/2008/10/obiee-replacing-siebelbuggif-powered-by.html

14. Dashboard Download Options • Download to Excel and Download to Excel 2000 behave a little differently depending on the platform and browser used • We recommend Mac users use the Firefox browser and the Excel 2000 link • Excel and Excel 2000 file format is really *.mht; *mhtml though the extension is .xls • You’ll want to save the file as a Microsoft Excel Workbook before editing the file

15. Download to Excel or Excel 2000 • Formulas are not downloaded.  The value in a cell is downloaded as that value, not as a formula.  • Monetary columns download as numbers.  Values with commas are formatted as numbers and retain formatting that was displayed on the Dashboard, i.e., if two decimal places are shown then those appear in Excel. • Monetary columns without a comma are formatted as general, which is a number but with no specific number format.  The value does not change but decimal places are suppressed if zeros appear to the right of the decimal place. • Columns that are numeric and contain values with leading zeros lose the leading zeros when downloaded to Excel.

16. Conditional Formatting Indicators • We’ve had inconsistent results using conditional formatting indicators such as a flag or bubble and the image may move when the rows are sorted • Conditional formatting indicators appear as a broken images when Download to Excel 2000 is used in both Firefox and IE 7 on Windows/PC • No testing has been done on Macs yet

17. Download to Data • Download to Data creates a CSV (Comma Separated Values) file, which includes all of the columns included in the Answers request (not just the view displayed on the screen)  • Formatting from the screen will not be carried over to the file • Additional download results have been documented on our website: http://polydata.calpoly.edu/dashboards/faqs.html

18. Dashboard Printing • PDF or HTML of displayed view • Headers or Footers appear in PDF if added to the Compound Layout

19. Headers and Footers • Cal Poly footer includes: • Saved Name (name of the request) • Print Date • Page Number • Author Name (person running the dashboard request)

20. Answers Tips & Tricks • Column Selector View • View Selector View • Narrative View • Compound Layout • Saved Filters • Saved Data Formats • Value Interaction (Navigation)

21. Column Selector View • Use column selectors view to allow users to dynamically change which columns appear in a request

22. Column Selector View • Tips & Tricks • Standardize on label text such as “Show Column:” • Color code column selector to make visible to end users • Standardize on “common” columns and sort in same order on all requests • Used Advanced Tab to edit XML and copy/paste • Include all members of hierarchies in column selectors so they can “jump” to level • Add column selector to a hidden field on a Pivot to sort results (otherwise only available on table view) • Uncheck “automatically refresh when a new column is selected” so users have GO button

23. View Selectors View • Use view selector view to select a specific view of the results from among the saved views

24. View Selectors • Tips & Tricks • Standardize on label text such as “Select a View:” • Create view to display filters • Create view with instructions before displaying data • Create view to easily download data

25. Narrative View • Use narrative view to combine text with the results of a request • Useful for referencing variables

26. Compound Layout View • Use compound layout view to assemble different views for display on a dashboard • Tips & Tricks • Remove the Title view • Know your boundaries (upper, lower, left, right) • View Boundaries • Report Boundaries • Use multiple compound layouts for requests with multiple layouts but the same criteria

27. Compound Layout

28. Saved Filters • Use saved filters so they may be shared with multiple requests • Document shared filters in a flow chart to show dependencies on specific saved filters

29. Saved Filters

30. Saved Filters • Tips & Tricks • Create to match all columns in a dashboard page prompt • Create to match all columns in the criteria • Create to match all columns in standard column selectors • Create to use for “development” while building new requests • Order of filters matters!

31. Saved Data Formats • Use saved data formats to apply, save, and re-use column properties on Value Format tab, Column Format tab, and Conditional Format tabs • Scope of save can vary • For a specific column • As a system-wide default for this column • As a system-wide default for this data type • Stored in an XML file in the Web Catalog in the /root/system/metadata folder

32. Saved Data Formats • Tips & Tricks • Save the email address field to display system-wide using mail-to format • Will display on all requests using that column

33. Value Interaction • Use value interaction to specify what should happen when a user clicks on a column heading or column value • Allows users to navigate to multiple requests or dashboards • If multiple navigation paths, pop-up window displays caption • Provides drill-to-detail capability

34. Value Interaction • Source Request • Set Interaction Type to Navigate • Add Navigation Target to an Answers request • Add caption (if multiple targets)

35. Value Interaction • Target Request • Use filter with operator of ‘Is Prompted’ • Include all possible columns • Columns in Pivot Axis • Columns in Prompts • Column Selectors • Column names must match source request EXACTLY

36. Dashboard Elements

37. Dashboard Terminology • Dashboard – content separated by Functional Areas • Dashboard Pages – one or more related requests • Dashboard Page Prompt – controls requests on dashboard page • Narrative text – allows static and variable text • Request – query • Hyperlinks - hierarchical drills, drill to detail options, and links to related information • Filter – selection criteria for request • Column Selector – view different columns of data • View Selector – select different reports within the same request • Conditional formatting using green, yellow, red symbols • Presentation Catalog Folder – list of content related requests

38. Usage Tracking • OBIEE provides a usage tracking system with the standard installation • Usage Tracking includes • SQL statements to create tracking user and tables/views • RPD containing Usage Tracking models • Web Catalog for Usage Tracking dashboard

39. Usage Tracking • Installing the Usage Tracking components includes: • Creating a database user to host the Usage Tracking objects • Creating the Usage Tracking database objects • Merging master RPD with Usage Tracking RPD • Altering NQSConfig.ini to enable • Importing Usage Tracking web catalog components • Reference Blog for step-by-step instructionshttp://obiee101.blogspot.com/2008/08/obiee-setting-up-usage-tracking.html

40. Usage Tracking

41. Usage Tracking

42. Resources • Oracle Metalink 3.0http://metalink3.oracle.com • Oracle Business Intelligence obiee-101http://obiee101.blogspot.com • Business Intelligence – Oraclehttp://oraclebizint.wordpress.com • FAQs for PolyData Dashboardshttp://polydata.calpoly.edu/dashboards/faqs.html

43. Questions?

44. Contact • OBIEE Technical Conference:http://polydata.calpoly.edu/dashboards/obiee_conf/index.html • Email: polydata@calpoly.edu