Introduction: Reporting with the Business Explorer
The Business Explorer (BEx) is the tool for reporting in the Business Information Warehouse. You work with the Business Explorer when you define queries, analyze InfoCube data by navigating through queries, or save queries in workbooks (evaluate query data). You also use the Business Explorer to select and organize your queries or workbooks.
A query is a combination of a selection of characteristics and key figures (InfoObjects), and is used to analyze InfoCube data for BW. Queries are defined in the Business Explorer Analyzer, and stored in the BW Server.
A workbook is a Microsoft Excel file with several worksheets. In the BEx Analyzer, you can insert one or more BW queries into a workbook. You can also insert a query more than once into a workbook to display different views of the data (various navigation states) at the same time. You can store the workbook in your favorites or in your role on the BW Server. You can also store the workbook locally on your computer.
In order to evaluate the data contained in an InfoCube, queries are defined and inserted into workbooks. The total of all InfoObjects for an InfoCube forms the basis of the query definition. With the query definition in the BEx Analyzer, you select certain combinations of characteristics and key figures, or reusable structures. Characteristics can be restricted either to individual characteristic values, characteristic value intervals, or hierarchy nodes. They can also be inserted as free characteristics for navigation. You can restrict key figures and define new, so-called calculated key figures. With the query definition, the first view of the data that is displayed directly after the insertion of the query into the workbook, is also determined by the distribution of the characteristics and key figures or the structures in the rows and columns. Furthermore, you can formulate conditions so that after you insert the query into the workbook, only the data that interests you is displayed. With the help of Exception Reporting you can highlight abnormal deviations of key figure values, which you specified as threshold values in the query definition, with different colors.
See also:
- Evaluating Query Data
Reporting in the Business Information Warehouse provides user-friendly functions for the interactive analysis and presentation of InfoCube data. In the BEx Analyzer, you can insert queries into workbooks, navigate and refresh queries, and process them further using Microsoft Excel.
Navigating in a query allows you, for example, to filter characteristics on a single value, drilldown on all values for a characteristic, regroup characteristics and key figures in the rows and columns of the results area, or hide key figures. Navigation results in different views of the InfoCube data. In addition, a range of further functions is available which allow you to edit a query interactively (for example, sorting, cumulated output, among others). You can also use the editing functions available in Microsoft Excel to configure individual format templates, print results areas or create graphics.
See also:
- Selecting and Organizing Queries or Workbooks
Workbooks with queries that are assigned to a user via the user roles, are managed in the BEx Browser. You can select those workbooks that you use more frequently from the various roles and transfer them into your favorites. You can name your favorites however you want, and group them according to individual grouping criteria.
See also:
Reporting with the Business Explorer
The Business Information Warehouse delivers information for the analysis of all of the factors that influence the business activities of an enterprise. The database of the Business Information Warehouse is structured into self-contained business data areas (InfoCubes). An InfoCube consists of InfoObjects which are themselves made up of characteristics and key figures. Imagine an InfoCube as an n-dimensional data cube with a key figure axis: Each characteristic corresponds to one dimension of the data cube, and the number of values for this characteristic determines the length of the cube’s edge along its dimension. The amount of key figures in the InfoCube forms a dimension of its own. Using the Business Information Warehouse’s reporting function, you can evaluate the dataset for the InfoCube according to different characteristics and key figures. You have the option of carrying out any number of variance analyses (for example, plan-actual comparison, fiscal year comparison).
Reporting in the Business Information Warehouse is structured into the following substeps:
- Query definition
A query enables the analysis of all the data in an InfoCube. When defining the query, you determine how the data is evaluated, and which characteristics and key figures of the InfoCube are analyzed more closely.
If you imagine the InfoCube as a multi-dimensional cube, then by selecting characteristics and key figures, you are cutting a subcube (a query) from the InfoCube. In this way, you can evaluate InfoCube data quickly and effectively. The more precisely you define the query, the smaller the subcube, and the quicker you can navigate and refresh the query. The query evaluates the entire dataset of the InfoCube. Selecting certain characteristics means that they can be more closely analyzed while others remain unspecified. The resulting key figures are aggregated across all characteristic values for these unspecified characteristics.
Default navigation is also defined in the query definition, where the characteristics and key figures are arranged in the rows and columns of the query.
- Navigation
After inserting a query into a workbook, the view of the data determined in the query definition is shown. The query is changed by navigation, and further views of the query data (navigation states) are created. With the help of the different navigation functions, you evaluate and present query data.
The following graphic gives an overview of the substeps in reporting:
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