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DB2 OLAP Access Pack Users Guide

BusinessObjects Enterprise 6

Windows


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2 DB2 OLAP Access Pack Users Guide

Copyright No part of the computer software or this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form

or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any

information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Business

Objects S.A.

The information in this document is subject to change without notice. If you find any problems

with this documentation, please report them to Business Objects S.A. in writing [email protected].

Business Objects S.A. does not warrant that this document is error free.

Copyright Business Objects S.A. 2003. All rights reserved.

Printed in France.

Trademarks The Business Objects logo, WebIntelligence, BusinessQuery, the Business Objects tagline,

BusinessObjects, BusinessObjects Broadcast Agent, Rapid Mart, Set Analyzer, Personal

Trainer, and Rapid Deployment Template are trademarks or registered trademarks of Business

Objects S.A. in the United States and/or other countries.

Contains IBM Runtime Environment for AIX(R), Java(TM) 2 Technology Edition Runtime

Modules (c) Copyright IBM Corporation 1999, 2000. All Rights Reserved.This product includes code licensed from RSA Security, Inc. Some portions licensed from IBMare available at http://oss.software.ibm.com/icu4j.

All other company, product, or brand names mentioned herein, may be the trademarks of their

respective owners.

Use restrictions This software and documentation is commercial computer software under Federal Acquisition

regulations, and is provided only under the Restricted Rights of the Federal AcquisitionRegulations applicable to commercial computer software provided at private expense. The use,

duplication, or disclosure by the U.S. Government is subject to restrictions set forth insubdivision (c)(1)(ii) of the Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software clause at 252.227-

7013.

Patents U.S. Patent Numbers 5,555,403, 6,247,008, and 6,578,027.

Part Number 359-10-610-01


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DB2 OLAP Access Pack Users Guide 3

Contents

Contents

Preface Maximizing Your Information Resources 5

Information resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Useful addresses at a glance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

About this guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Chapter 1 Introducing the DB2 OLAP Access Pack 13

What You Can Do with the DB2 OLAP Access Pack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

How BusinessObjects Integrates with the DB2 OLAP Access Pack . . . . . . 16

The BusinessObjects Environment for the DB2 OLAP Access Pack . . . . . . 19

Chapter 2 OLAP Concepts 25

Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Aggregation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Ancestor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Cell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Child . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Database Outline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Descendant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Dimension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Drill Down/Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Generation, Hierarchical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Hierarchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Level, Hierarchical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Measure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Member, Dimension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Nesting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32


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Contents

OLAP (Online Analytical Processing) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Parent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Sibling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Slice and Dice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Chapter 3 Getting Started 35

The Document Creation Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37Step 1: Selecting a Report Layout and Connecting to a DB2 OLAP Server 38

Step 2: Selecting Your Initial Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Step 3: Fine-Tuning your Initial Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Step 4: Selecting a Level of Detail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Step 5: Selecting Report Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Step 6: Generating the BusinessObjects Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Step 7: Refreshing and Editing Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Chapter 4 Advanced Techniques 65

Power Users and Basic Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Modifying Restricted Data in a Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Creating an Interactive Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Working with Differences between Data Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75Advanced Techniques for the Generated Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Index 85


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preface

Maximizing Your InformationResources


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Maximizing Your Information Resources

Information, services, and solutions

The Business Objects business intelligence solution is supported by thousandsof pages of documentation, available from the products, on the Internet, on CD,and by extensive online help systems and multimedia.

Packed with in-depth technical information, business examples, and advice ontroubleshooting and best practices, this comprehensive documentation set

provides concrete solutions to your business problems.Business Objects also offers a complete range of support and services to helpmaximize the return on your business intelligence investment. See in thefollowing sections how Business Objects can help you plan for and successfullymeet your specific technical support, education, and consulting requirements.


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Information resources

Information resources

Whatever your Business Objects profile, we can help you quickly access thedocumentation and other information you need.

Where do I start?

Below are a few suggested starting points; there is a summary of useful webaddresses on page 10.

Documentation RoadmapThe Documentation Roadmap references all Business Objects guides andmultimedia, and lets you see at a glance what information is available, fromwhere, and in what format.

View or download the Business Objects Documentation Roadmap at

www.businessobjects.com/services/documentation.htm

Documentation from the productsYou can access electronic documentation at any time from the product you areusing. Online help, multimedia, and guides in Adobe PDF format are availablefrom the product Help menus.

Documentation on the webThe full electronic documentation set is available to customers with a validmaintenance agreement on the Online Customer Support (OCS) website atwww.businessobjects.com/services/support.htm

Buy printed documentationYou can order printed documentation through your local sales office, or from theonline Business Objects Documentation Supply Store atwww.businessobjects.com/services/documentation.htm

Search the Documentation CDSearch across the entire documentation set on the Business ObjectsDocumentation CD shipped with our products. This CD brings together the full setof documentation, plus tips, tricks, multimedia tutorials, and demo materials.

Order the Documentation CD online, from the Business Objects DocumentationSupply Store, or from your local sales office.
http://www.businessobjects.com/services/documentation.htmhttp://www.businessobjects.com/services/support.htmhttp://www.businessobjects.com/services/documentation.htmhttp://www.businessobjects.com/services/documentation.htmhttp://www.businessobjects.com/services/support.htmhttp://www.businessobjects.com/services/documentation.htm


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MultimediaAre you new to Business Objects? Are you upgrading from a previous release orexpanding, for example, from our desktop to our web solution? Try one of ourmultimedia quick tours or Getting Started tutorials. All are available via the OnlineCustomer Support (OCS) website or on the Documentation CD.

How can I get the most recent documentation?

You can get our most up-to-date documentation via the web. Regularly check thesites listed below for the latest documentation, samples, and tips.

Tips & TricksOpen to everyone, this is a regularly updated source of creative solutions to anynumber of business questions. You can even contribute by sending us your owntips.

www.businessobjects.com/forms/tipsandtricks_login.asp

Product documentationWe regularly update and expand our documentation and multimedia offerings.With a valid maintenance agreement, you can get the latest documentation inseven languages on the Online Customer Support (OCS) website.

Developer Suite OnlineDeveloper Suite Online provides documentation, samples, and tips to thosecustomers with a valid maintenance agreement and a Developer Suite licensevia the Online Customer Support (OCS) website.

Send us your feedback

Do you have a suggestion on how we can improve our documentation? Is theresomething you particularly like or have found useful? Drop us a line, and we willdo our best to ensure that your suggestion is included in the next release of ourdocumentation: [email protected]

NOTE

If your issue concerns a Business Objects product and not the documentation,please contact our Customer Support experts. For information about CustomerSupport visit: www.businessobjects.com/services/support.htm
http://www.businessobjects.com/http://www.businessobjects.com/forms/tipsandtricks_login.aspmailto:[email protected]://businessobjects.com/services/support.htmhttp://businessobjects.com/services/support.htmmailto:[email protected]://www.businessobjects.com/forms/tipsandtricks_login.asphttp://www.businessobjects.com/


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Services

Services

A global network of Business Objects technology experts provides customersupport, education, and consulting to ensure maximum business intelligencebenefit to your business.

How we can support you?

Business Objects offers customer support plans to best suit the size andrequirements of your deployment. We operate three global customer supportcenters:

Americas: San Jose, California and Atlanta, Georgia

Europe: Maidenhead, United Kingdom

Asia: Tokyo, Japan and Sydney, Australia

Online Customer SupportOur Customer Support website is open to all direct customers with a currentmaintenance agreement, and provides the most up-to-date Business Objectsproduct and technical information. You can log, update, and track cases from thissite using the Business Objects Knowledge Base.

Having an issue with the product?

Have you exhausted the troubleshooting resources at your disposal and still not

found a solution to a specific issue?For support in deploying Business Objects products, contact WorldwideCustomer Support at: www.businessobjects.com/services/support.htm

Looking for the best deployment solution for your company?

Business Objects consultants can accompany you from the initial analysis stageto the delivery of your deployment project. Expertise is available in relational andmultidimensional databases, in connectivities, database design tools,

customized embedding technology, and more.

For more information, contact your local sales office, or contact us at:www.businessobjects.com/services/consulting.htm

Looking for training options?

From traditional classroom learning to targeted e-learning seminars, we can offera training package to suit your learning needs and preferred learning style. Findmore information on the Business Objects Education website:www.businessobjects.com/services/education.htm
http://www.businessobjects.com/services/support.htmhttp://www.businessobjects.com/services/consulting.htmhttp://www.businessobjects.com/services/education.htmhttp://www.businessobjects.com/services/education.htmhttp://www.businessobjects.com/services/consulting.htmhttp://www.businessobjects.com/services/support.htm


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Useful addresses at a glance

Address Content

Business Objects Documentation

www.businessobjects.com/services/documentation.htm

Overview of Business Objects documentation. Linksto Online Customer Support, Documentation Supply

Store, Documentation Roadmap, Tips & Tricks,Documentation mailbox.

Business Objects Documentation

mailbox

[email protected]

Feedback or questions about documentation.

Product documentation

www.businessobjects.com/services/support.htm

The latest Business Objects product

documentation, to download or view online.

Business Objects product information

www.businessobjects.com

Information about the full range of BusinessObjects products.

Developer Suite Online

www.techsupport.businessobjects.com

Available to customers with a valid maintenanceagreement and a Developer Suite license via theOnline Customer Support (OCS) website. Providesall the documentation, latest samples, kits and tips.

Knowledge Base (KB)


Technical articles, documents, case resolutions.

Also, use the Knowledge Exchange to learn whatchallenges other users both customers andemployees face and what strategies they find to

address complex issues. From the KnowledgeBase, click the Knowledge Exchange link.

Tips & Tricks

www.businessobjects.com/forms/tipsandtricks_login.asp

Practical business-focused examples.
http://www.businessobjects.com/services/documentation.htmhttp://www.businessobjects.com/services/documentation.htmmailto:[email protected]://www.businessobjects.com/services/support.htmhttp://www.businessobjects.com/services/support.htmhttp://www.businessobjects.com/http://www.techsupport.businessobjects.com/http://www.techsupport.businessobjects.com/http://www.businessobjects.com/forms/tipsandtricks_login.asphttp://www.businessobjects.com/forms/tipsandtricks_login.asphttp://www.businessobjects.com/forms/tipsandtricks_login.asphttp://www.techsupport.businessobjects.com/http://www.techsupport.businessobjects.com/http://www.businessobjects.com/http://www.businessobjects.com/services/support.htmmailto:[email protected]://www.businessobjects.com/services/documentation.htm


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Useful addresses at a glance

Online Customer Support


www.businessobjects.com/services

Starting point for answering questions, resolvingissues.

Information about registering with WorldwideCustomer Support.

Business Objects Education Services

www.businessobjects.com/services/education.htm

The range of Business Objects training options andmodules.

Business Objects Consulting Services

www.businessobjects.com/services/consulting.htm

Information on how Business Objects can helpmaximize your business intelligence investment.

Address Content
http://www.techsupport.businessobjects.com/http://www.businessobjects.com/services/http://www.businessobjects.com/services/education.htmhttp://www.businessobjects.com/services/education.htmhttp://businessobjects.com/services/consulting.htmhttp://businessobjects.com/services/consulting.htmhttp://businessobjects.com/services/consulting.htmhttp://www.businessobjects.com/services/education.htmhttp://www.businessobjects.com/services/http://www.techsupport.businessobjects.com/


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About this guide

This guide describes the DB2 OLAP Access Pack, a data provider that letsBusinessObjects users access DB2 multidimensional servers.

Audience

This guide is intended for the person who uses the DB2 OLAP Access Pack withBusinessObjects to access data from DB2 multidimensional servers.

Conventions used in this guide

The conventions used in this guide are described in the table below.

Convention Indicates

This font Code, SQL syntax, computer programs. Forexample: @Select(Country\Country Id).This font is also used for all paths, directories,scripts, commands and files for UNIX.

Some code

more code

Placed at the end of a line of code, the symbol ()indicates that the next line should be enteredcontinuously with no carriage return.

$DIRECTORYPATHNAME The path to a directory in the Business Objectsinstallation/configuration directory structure. For

example: $INSTALLDIR refers to the Business Objects

installation directory.

$LOCDATADIR refers to a subdirectory of theBusinessObjects installation directory calledlocData.


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chapter

Introducing the DB2 OLAPAccess Pack


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Introducing the DB2 OLAP Access Pack

Overview

This chapter describes:

what you can do with the DB2 OLAP Access Pack in combination withBusinessObjects

how BusinessObjects integrates with the DB2 OLAP Access Pack the key features of the BusinessObjects environment for the DB2 OLAP

Access Pack


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What You Can Do with the DB2 OLAP Access Pack

What You Can Do with the DB2 OLAP AccessPack

Online analytical processing (OLAP) describes a software technology extractsand presents multidimensional data from different points of view.

The DB2 OLAP Access Pack is a tool that lets BusinessObjects users retrieve

data from DB2 multidimensional servers. A DB2 OLAP server is a datamanipulation engine that supports and operates on multidimensional datastructures. These data structures are represented by objects that you manipulatewith the DB2 OLAP Access Pack.

The data structures represent how you think about your business. Your products,the territories in which they are sold, the time in which sales occur or costsaccrue, and how you measure your business activity (units sold, net profit, etc.)are represented as dimensions. How you measure your business activity isrepresented as a special type of dimension, an account, which BusinessObjectsrepresents as a measure.

You select the dimensions and measures to focus on the part of your businessthat you want to analyze. From these dimensions and measures, you create adata provider from which you generate a BusinessObjects report. You use theBusinessObjects report for query and analysis with the multidimensional datastructures in the DB2 OLAP server.


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How BusinessObjects Integrates with the DB2OLAP Access Pack

Analyzing data using BusinessObjects and the DB2 OLAP server is a two-phaseprocess:

creating the data provider and generating the BusinessObjects report with the

DB2 OLAP Access Pack using the BusinessObjects report to perform and distribute your analyses

Once you have generated the BusinessObjects report, you can return to theOLAP Access Pack to access different data for the analysis you are conductingwith BusinessObjects.

What you can do with the DB2 OLAP Access Pack

The DB2 OLAP Access Pack provides you with the tools to select the dimensionsand measures you want to use in your BusinessObjects report. You use theAccess Pack for the following operations:

Select the initial report layout You select either the standardBusinessObjects report format or a customized format from a template.

Select the initial data You select the initial data from a cube that containsinformation in a multidimensional structure. You drag and drop data objectsinto a Grid that represents the edges and body of a crosstab. Your selected

objects and their position on the Grid determine the data fetched from theunderlying database. The data appears in the Grid as soon as you drop theobjects in a chosen space.

Fine-tune your data When you place data objects along the Grid,BusinessObjects quickly fills in the resulting data values. You can modify thedata objects along the Grid by adding and deleting members or by using afilter to restrict the data returned from the database. For example, if youinitially choose to look at sales data for cities, have data for three cities, but

decide that only one city requires your attention, you can remove thedimension members that produce data for the two cities that do not interestyou. Or, you can use the dimension member for the one city as a filter andview data for just that city.

Select an appropriate level of detail In a multidimensional data structure,dimensions such as Geography are typically set up as hierarchies. Within thehierarchy there are generations. In a Geography dimension, typicalgenerations are postal code, city, state, country, and continent. The data

values for a higher generation of the hierarchy such as country are calculated


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How BusinessObjects Integrates with the DB2 OLAP Access Pack

by aggregating the data values for the lower generations. When you move adata object, such as country, to the Grid, you can drill-down on it to see datavalues at the state generation. Or, you can drill-up at the state generation tosee values at the country generation. By drilling up and down along the edgesof the Grid, you can select the appropriate level of detail to show the importantinformation in your report.

Generate the BusinessObjects report You use the integrated tools in

BusinessObjects to continue your analysis. You click one button in the Grid togenerate the report from the data you have moved to the Grid.

What you can do with a BusinessObjects report

BusinessObjects provides you with the tools to analyze, format, and distribute thedata you selected with the OLAP Access Pack. When you want to use differentdata in your report, you edit the data provider by invoking the DB2 OLAP AccessPack from BusinessObjects.

You can use BusinessObjects to do any of the following on the data you haveaccessed with OLAP Access Pack.

Create a layout for your report A reports layout dictates the way the datain the report appears. A report can consist of one or more large blocks of data.Blocks can be tables, crosstabs, or charts. Most reports consist of sectionsthat contain smaller blocks of data.

Build on an existing report You can add tables, crosstabs, and charts toexisting reports. You can change tables into crosstabs, crosstabs into charts,

charts into tables, etc. You can pivot data in tables, crosstabs, and charts,which enables you to display previously undisplayed data, to move data, andto remove it. Pivoting also enables you to build crosstabs and 3-D matrixcharts from tables and 2-D charts respectively. You can also manipulatecolumns, rows, and cells.

Control the data that appears in a report You can apply breaks in tablesand crosstabs. You can use sorts to control the order in which data appears.You can use ranking to view the top and bottom values in a range of data. You

can make calculations on report data, either inside a table or a crosstab.

Slice and dice data Slice-and-dice mode enables you to switch theposition of data in a report. You can move data from columns to rows;rename, reset, and delete blocks; turn tables and crosstabs into charts, andvice versa; apply, edit, and delete breaks, sorts, ranking, and calculations.

Format reports for a specific look You can resize and position blocks andcells; apply shading and borders to sections, blocks, and cells; format thecells or chart elements; format the data; use page headers, footers, andmargins; display page numbers, dates, and times.


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Print your reports or publish them on the Web You can convert yourdocuments to HTML and place them on a Web server so that people with aWeb browser can access them. For further information about usingBusinessObjects and the Web, refer to the InfoView Users Guide.

Send and receive documents to and from other users You can exchangedocuments with other users through a document repository created by aBusinessObjects supervisor or by electronic mail.

Schedule document tasks You can have tasks on your documents carriedout at specified times or intervals, enabling work to be done on yourdocuments while you are away from your computer.


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The BusinessObjects Environment for the DB2 OLAP Access Pack

The BusinessObjects Environment for the DB2OLAP Access Pack

The OLAP Panel is the primary element of the BusinessObjects environment forthe DB2 OLAP Access Pack.

The OLAP panelThe OLAP Panel is the graphical interface that lets you create BusinessObjectsreports from the data in a DB2 OLAP server. A DB2 OLAP server is a datamanipulation engine specifically designed to support and operate onmultidimensional data structures. Like other Microsoft Windows applications, itfeatures toolbar buttons, dialog boxes, and online help.

a. The OLAP toolbar

b. The Database Outline box

c. The Filters box

d. The Grid

e. Options. This button displays a dialog box from which you can set the font used for text and

numbers in the Grid or filters, and set options for managing the volume of data to beretrieved.

e

a

b

c

d

f g h i


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f. Clear. This button clears the panel of all dimensions, dimension values, filters, and data

values.

g. Continue. This button generates a BusinessObjects report.

h. Cancel. This button closes the OLAP Panel and returns to the New Report wizard from whichyou can select another DB2 application or database.

i. Help. This button displays OLAP Panel online help.

The database outline box

In the OLAP Panel, the Database Outline box uses a tree structure to show theobjects contained in the database and to represent their relationships.

In the Database Outline box, the symbol indicates a dimension and thesymbol represents a dimension that has been translated into a BusinessObjectsmeasure.

You select one of two modes to view the database objects, depending onwhether you want to begin your analysis with entire hierarchical generations or

individual dimension members. The Database Outline box shown below is inView by Member mode, which allows you to begin your analysis by examiningresults for individual dimension members.

The Database Outline box in View by member mode, showing dimensions and members.

The box shows the name of the DB2OLAP Application Tbc, the DB2 Database SoftDrin,

and the server name Boston.

Dimension

View by generationView by member

Member


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Further informationFor further information about dimensions, dimension members, hierarchies, andhierarchy generations, refer to Chapter 3, "OLAP Concepts" on page 25.

For further information about how to begin your analysis, refer to Chapter 3,"Getting Started" on page 35.

Viewing and hiding the database outline

You can view the Database Outline in one of two modes: by member orgeneration. You can switch modes by clicking the buttons at the bottom edge ofthe Database Outline box

View by member modeIn View by member mode, dimensions and members are displayed hierarchicallyby parent/child relationship.

In this mode, you can select individual members of a dimension for your analysis.For example, if you want to view values for Q1 only, first view the outline bymember, then drag and drop the Q1 member icon into the Grid.

If you drag a dimension to the Grid in this mode, only the root value appears. Youcan, however, drill down to the dimension's child members.

View by generation modeIn View by generation mode, dimensions are displayed with all their generations.


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In this mode, you can select a dimension generation to begin your analysis, butyou cannot select individual dimension members. For example, if you want toview values for all quarters, first switch the mode to view by generation, then dragthe Quarter symbol into the Grid. A Database Outline box in View by generationmode is shown below.

The Database Outline box in View by Generation mode, showing dimensions and

generations. The generation names, such as Region and State, must be specified on the

DB2 server. If no names are specified on the DB2 server, they display with the name of the

dimension followed by a numeral to indicate their generation.

Hiding the Database OutlineTo show or hide the Database Outline box, click Show/Hide Database Outline

on the toolbar.

Database name

View by generationView by member

Dimension

Generations

Show/Hide

DatabaseOutline


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The filters box

What are filters?Filters restrict the data values returned from the database based on the criteriayou set. To create a filter, you place dimensions, members or generations in theFilters box. For example, if you have a dimension Customers that organizes datafor many countries and you want to see data only for your Canadian customers,

you can drag and drop the dimension member Canada into the Filters box.

Showing and hiding the Filters boxTo show or hide the Filters box, click Show/Hide Filters on the toolbar.

Displaying filters in the Filters boxTo position the filters vertically within the Filters box, click Wrap Filters on thetoolbar. At least two filters must be in the Filters box to enable the toolbar button.

The grid

The Grid is the area of the OLAP Panel that you populate with dimensions,generations, and dimension members from the Database Outline.

The Grid is made up of three areas:

Area 1 is the body of the Grid.

Area 2 is the down edge of the Grid. Area 3 is the across edge of the Grid.

Show/Hide

Filters

Wrap Filters


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The toolbar

The buttons on the toolbar allow you to modify the OLAP Panel display, reverseactions, hide or display areas of the OLAP Panel, or add or remove values froma dimension. The toolbar buttons are described in the following table.

The toolbar buttons are described in the following table:

Toolbar Button Description

Displays or hides the Database Outline box in the OLAPPanel.

Displays or hides the Filters box in the OLAP Panel.

Displays or hides the Status Bar in the OLAP Panel.

Aligns filters horizontally within the Filters box. Any filtersthat cannot be viewed on one line in the Filters box appearon a second, third, or further line. The button is availableonly if there are at least two filters in the Filters box.

Reverses actions you performed. When you click the buttonfor the first time, you reverse the most recent action; thesecond time you click the button, you reverse the actionpreceding the most recent one. In this way, you can reverseup to five consecutive actions.

Displays the Add/Remove Panel, which allows you to addmembers to, or remove members from, a dimension. Thischanges the dimension members that appear along the Gridedges and therefore refines the information in the report.

Exchanges the dimensions in the down edge with those inthe across edge. Swap Edges does not alter the values of

dimensions.

Opens the Dimension Properties dialog box, which allowsyou to modify the properties of the selected dimension.


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ch

apte

r

OLAP Concepts


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OLAP Concepts

Overview

This chapter describes terms that are commonly used in discussingmultidimensional databases and online analytical processing (OLAP).

The chapter indicates:

any term usage that is specific to DB2 OLAP servers mapping between the OLAP term and the corresponding BusinessObjects

term, when necessary


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Accounts

Accounts

In the DB2 data model, a dimension defined with the Account attribute becomesthe database Account dimension. The Account dimension corresponds tomeasures in BusinessObjects and in other OLAP servers in that they representthe numeric data of primary interest to database users such as sales or cost data.In BusinessObjects, measures are not dimension members. Having the account

(or measure) defined as a type of dimension allows you to drill on the measure inthe OLAP Panel Grid. The members of the Account dimension that you selectdepend on the type of information you want to analyze.

In the BusinessObjects Database Outline box, the measures you use to populatethe Grid are members of a dimension defined with the Accounts attribute. Theyare contained in a separate folder that is represented by the icon.

Aggregation

In multidimensional databases, data is often collected at the lowest generationlevel of detail (the leaf node) and aggregatedinto higher levels for analysis. Forexample, data might be collected for the number of units of a product sold bystore and then aggregated to produce information about the number of units soldby city, state/department/province, country, continent, and world.

The aggregation occurs within a dimension hierarchy. The above example is fora Geography dimension and the hierarchical relationship specifies that store is

the lowest generation level and that store data aggregates into city data, whichaggregates into state/department data, etc.

Through aggregation, the data is precalculated for a database outline, whichsupports the efficient querying of a multidimensional database.

NOTE

The terms aggregation and consolidation are used interchangeably.

(See also dimension; hierarchy; generation, hierarchical; level, hierarchical)


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OLAP Concepts

Ancestor

A dimension member at any generation level above a particular generation levelin a dimension hierarchy branch. Consider, for example, a Geography dimensionwith the generations Continent, Country, State/Department/Province, and City.The dimension member North America is the ancestor of the dimensionmembers Canada, Ontario, and Toronto.

(See also descendant; dimension; hierarchy; generation, hierarchical; level,hierarchical; member, dimension)

Cell

In a database outline, the single datapoint specified by the intersection when onemember is selected from each dimension. For example if the dimensions areTime, Product, Geography, and the account (a measure in other OLAP servers)

is Sales, then the dimension members January 1998, Chewing Gum, and Japanspecify a unique intersection along all dimensions that uniquely identifies a singledata cell, the value of chewing gum sales in Japan for January 1998.

(See also cube; dimension; account; member, dimension)

Child

A dimension member that is in the next lower generation level in the hierarchythat is directly related to the current dimension member. The child dimension

members are included in the calculation to produce the aggregated total for theirparent dimension member. For example, in a Geography dimension containingthe generation levels Continent, Country, and City, Italy and Spain are childrenof Europe.

(See also aggregation; dimension; generation; hierarchical; level, hierarchical;member, dimension; parent)

Database Outline

A database outline can be thought of as a group of data cells containing datavalues and arranged in a multidimensional structure by the dimensions of thedata.

(See also cell; dimension; account; OLAP)


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Descendant

Descendant

A dimension member at any generation level below a particular level in adimension hierarchy branch. Consider, for example, a Geography dimension withthe generations Continent, Country, State/Department/Province, and City. Thedimension member Toronto is the descendant of the dimension membersCanada and Ontario. Values of descendants are included in the calculation that

produces the aggregated total for an ancestor.(See also ancestor; dimension; hierarchy; generation, hierarchical; level,hierarchical; member, dimension)

Dimension

A dimension is a structural attribute of a database outline that is a list ofmembers, all of which are of a similar type in the users perception of the data.

For example, all days, weeks, quarters, years, etc. make up the Time dimension.The dimensions that structure a database outline describe the set of membersupon which the user wants to base an analysis. For example, a database outlinethat will be used to analyze sales of consumer products typically has Time,Product, and Geography dimensions.

A dimension represents the highest aggregation level in the database outline. Adimension acts as an index for identifying values within a database outline. Thus,dimensions offer an efficient way of organizing and selecting data for retrieval,

calculation, and updating.In BusinessObjects, by default, the concept of the OLAP dimension maps to theconcept of the BusinessObjects hierarchy. You can modify this in the DimensionProperties dialog box such that the OLAP concept and BusinessObjects conceptof a dimension are the same. See Chapter 4 "Advanced Techniques" on page 65for further information.

Drill Down/Up

Drilling down or up is a technique for navigating through levels of data rangingfrom the most summarized (up) to the most detailed (down). For example, on aTime dimension, to view the details of sales data by year, the user can drill downon a year to display sales data by quarter, and further to display sales data bymonth. The drilling paths are defined by the dimension hierarchy.

(See also dimension; hierarchy)


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OLAP Concepts

Generation, Hierarchical

An element of a dimension hierarchy. Generations refer to aggregation levelswithin each dimension. Generations describe the dimension order from the root(most summarized) level to the leaf(most detailed) level of data. Two membersof a dimension with hierarchies are at the same generation level if within ahierarchy branch; there is the same number of ancestors between the members

and the root level.In the Database Outline, the symbol indicates a generation.

In other OLAP servers, hierarchical levels refer to the dimension order from themost summarized to the most detailed.

In BusinessObjects, by default, the concept of the OLAP dimension maps to theconcept of the BusinessObjects hierarchy. The concept of the OLAP level (DB2generation) maps to the concept of the BusinessObjects dimension.

(See also ancestor; descendant; dimension; hierarchy; level, hierarchical)

Hierarchy

An arrangement of members of a dimension into generations where eachgeneration represents the aggregated total of the data from the generationbelow. Members in a hierarchy are arranged from the more general to the morespecific; for example, Year, Quarter, Month.

In BusinessObjects, a group of related dimensions is referred to as a hierarchy.A BusinessObjects dimension is an object that can be used for multidimensionalanalysis. In BusinessObjects, by default, the concept of the OLAP dimensionmaps to the concept of the BusinessObjects hierarchy.

(See also dimension; generation, hierarchical; level, hierarchical; member,dimension)


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Level, Hierarchical

Level, Hierarchical

Levels refer to the branches within each dimension, but they reverse thenumbering that DB2 uses for generations. Levels describe the dimension orderfrom the leaf(most detailed) level to the root(most summarized) level. The rootlevel number varies depending on the depth of the hierarchy branch.

In other OLAP servers, hierarchical levels describe the dimension order from the

most summarized to the most detailed. For Essbase and DB2 OLAP servers,hierarchical generations describe the position of the hierarchy member in relationto the root node.

In BusinessObjects, by default, the concept of the OLAP dimension maps to theconcept of the BusinessObjects hierarchy.

(See also dimension; generation, hierarchical; hierarchy; member, dimension)

Measure

Measures are the numeric data of primary interest to cube users, such as salesor cost data. The measures you select depend on the type of information youwant to analyze.

In DB2, Measures are members of a dimension that uses Accounts data andmight also contain formulas and special tags to help DB2 calculate the outline.

(See also accounts)

Member, DimensionA dimension member is an item in a dimension representing one or moreoccurrences of data. For example, a Geography dimension can have dimensionmembers New York and Cairo.

In the Database Outline, the symbol indicates a member.

(See also dimension; generation, hierarchical; level, hierarchical)


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OLAP Concepts

Nesting

Nesting is a display technique used to show the results of a multidimensionalquery that returns a sub-cube. In the Grid, the across or down edge labels displaythe extra dimensionality of the output by nesting the labels describing themembers of each dimension. As a result, the members of one dimension canappear several times within the other dimension.

In the following example, the Geography dimension is nested within the Timedimension.


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OLAP (Online Analytical Processing)

OLAP (Online Analytical Processing)

OLAP is a category of software technology that enables analysts, managers, andexecutives to gain insight into data by accessing a wide variety of views ofinformation. Such information has been organized to reflect the realdimensionality of the users enterprise.

OLAP functionality is characterized by dynamic, multidimensional analysis of

consolidated enterprise data, which supports analytical and navigationalactivities such as the following:

Calculating and modeling across dimensions and through hierarchies

Analyzing trends over sequential time periods

Creating slices of data for on-screen viewing

Drilling down to lower levels of aggregation

Reaching through to underlying detail data

Rotating to change the dimensional orientation in the viewing area(See also dimension; drill up/down; hierarchy)

Parent

The dimension member that is one generation up in a hierarchy from anotherdimension member. The parent value is usually an aggregation of all of itschildrens values.

(See also aggregation; child; dimension; generation, hierarchical; level,hierarchical; member, dimension)

Sibling

A member in a dimension hierarchy that is a child of the same parent as aspecified member. For example, in a Time dimension with Year and Month levels,the members January 1997 and February 1997 are siblings.

(See also ancestor; child; descendant; parent)Slice and Dice

The user-initiated process of navigating by calling for data displays interactively,through the specification of filters, by swapping edges in the Grid, and drillingdown/up.


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OLAP Concepts


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ch

apte

r

Getting Started


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Getting Started

Overview

This chapter explains the BusinessObjects document process using the datastored on the DB2 OLAP server. You will learn to:

use the New Report Wizard to create a report

select intial data

fine-tune data

select the levels of detail

select report options

generate the BusinessObjects report

refresh and edit documents


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The Document Creation Process

The Document Creation Process

The OLAP Access Pack allows you select the data to create reports that answerquestions such as:

Which part of my business needs to be reviewed?

Which product line, geographic territory, and time periods are over or under-performing?

In the Database Outline box, objects such as product and market are representedas dimensions and dimension members. Numbers such as profit are defined asdimensions in the database and then represented as measures inBusinessObjects.

You use the BusinessObjects New Report wizard to connect to an OLAP serverand create a BusinessObjects document. After you have provided all theinformation required by the wizard, the OLAP Panel appears. You select, move,

and manipulate data in the OLAP Panel in order to create a report. The processof creating a document usually consists of seven steps:

Step Description

Step 1 Selecting a report layout and connecting to a DB2 OLAP server

Step 2 Selecting your initial data

Step 3 Fine-tuning your initial data

Step 4 Selecting a level of detailStep 5 Selecting report options

Step 6 Generating the BusinessObjects report

Step 7 Refreshing and editing your document

38 DB2 OLAP A P k U G id


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Getting Started

Step 1: Selecting a Report Layout andConnecting to a DB2 OLAP Server

The first step in creating a new BusinessObjects report is to open the New ReportWizard.

1. From BusinessObjects, click New Report Wizard on the Standard toolbar to

start the New Report wizard.The wizard Welcome screen or the wizard Create a New Report screenappears.

2. Select the type of report you want to generate.

The wizard Specify Data Access screen appears.

New Report

Wizard

If Then

you want to generate astandard

BusinessObjects report,

select Generate a standard reportand clickBegin.

you want to apply aspecial layout andformat to the report,

select Select a template and click Begin.

For further information on selecting a templateand applying a special layout to a report, seeBusinessObjects Users Guide: Reporting

Techniques and Formattingand Getting Started withBusinessObjects.



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Step 1: Selecting a Report Layout and Connecting to a DB2 OLAP Server

You need to connect to a DB2 OLAP server to access the database you wantto use for your analysis.

3. In the Specify Data Access screen, select the Others option button.

4. Select OLAP DB2 from the drop-down list, then click Next.

5. In the Define Connection Parameters screen, type or select the connectionparameters: Host, User Name, and Password. The Host is the name of theDB2 OLAP server. If you have previously connected to a DB2 OLAP server,

the name of that server appears by default. Click Next.If you do not know the name of your server, contact your Information System(IS) manager.

6. In the Select a DB2 OLAP Database screen, select the application anddatabase you wish to use.

A DB2 application is a collection of related databases. The selection listdisplays only the applications that you are allowed to use and that contain atleast one database.

7. Click Finish.The OLAP Panel appears.

NOTE

Your ability to establish a connection to a DB2 OLAP server depends on youraccess rights to the server and on the server security.

EXAMPLE

Connecting to a DB2 OLAP server

In this example, you are a sales manager reviewing the most recent yearly profitpercentage and product share data for beverage sales in the United States. Youtake the following steps:

1. Launch BusinessObjects and select File, New, from the main menu or clickNew Report Wizard on the Standard toolbar to start the New Report Wizard.

2. In the Create a New Report screen, select Generate a standard reportandclick Begin.

The Specify Data Access screen appears.

3. Select Others option button and OLAP DB2 from the drop-down menu. ClickNext.

The Define Connection Parameters screen appears asking for the name ofthe host, and your user name and password.



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40 DB2 OLAP Access Pack User s Guide

Getting Started

4. Type or select the connection parameters. Click Next.

The Select a DB2 OLAP Database screen appears.

5. Select an application and database. Click Finish.

The OLAP Panel appears on your screen.

You are now connected to the OLAP server and ready to begin adding dimensionmembers and levels, and measures to the Grid. The OLAP Panel shows thename of the database and the server.

This example is continued in the example "Selecting report data" on page 44.

database name

and server name

(in parentheses)



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DB2 OLAP Access Pack User s Guide 41

Step 2: Selecting Your Initial Data


To select the data for your report, drag generations, members, and measuresfrom the Database Outline to the Grid.

A description of the Grid is available in the section "The grid" on page 23.

Moving objects to the grid

1. Choose between viewing members or generations.

If Then

you want to moveindividualmembers of adimension to theGrid,

select the View by member radio button in theDatabase Outline.

Members are units within one hierarchical generationof a dimension. For example, if a generation of theTime dimension is Quarter and you want to view

values for Q1 only, you first choose to view the outlineby member

you want to moveallthe memberswithin ahierarchicalgeneration of adimension to theGrid,

select the View by Generation radio button in theDatabase Outline.

A generation is a structure within a dimension thatgroups dimension members. For example, in theTime dimension, the Quarter generation includes Q1,

Q2, Q3, and Q4. The Year generation can include1999, 2000, and 2001.



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Getting Started

2. Drag the member, generation, or measure from the Database Outline to thedown edge or across edge of the Grid. You can drag single members,generations, or measures, or use multi-selection. The following rules apply todragging and dropping to the Grid.

If Then

you drag two ormore members

of the samedimension to aGrid edge,

they appear in the across edge or down edge in the Grid,and in the order in which they appear in the Database

Outline. You cannot change the sort order of thedimension members in the Grid.

When the dimension members appear in aBusinessObjects report, by default they appear inalphabetic order. You can change the sort order ofdimension members in a report. See "Step 5: SelectingReport Options" on page 55.

you drag amember from adifferentdimension tothe Grid,

it appears in a separate location on the Grid edge: to the right of an existing dimension when you drag it to

the right side of the down edge

to the left of an existing dimension when you drag it tothe left side of the down edge

above an existing dimension when you drag it to the topof the across edge

below an existing dimension when you drag it to the

bottom of the across edge

you drag ameasure to theGrid,

it appears in the Grid edge in which you dropped it. If thereis already a measure present in the Grid, it appears in thesame edge as that measure.

Measures appear in the Grid in the same order as in theDatabase Outline. You can change the sort order in thereport, but not in the Grid.



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When you drag and drop members on the Grid, BusinessObjects providesfeedback to indicate if you are adding members to the Grid edge or replacingexisting members.The shape of the mouse cursor changes and a messageappears in the status bar. The following table describes what each mouse cursorand status bar message indicate.

Replacing objects on the grid

1. From the Database Outline, select the object you want to move to the Grid.

2. Holding down the mouse button, drag the object to the same place on the Gridas the object you want to replace.

Note that the cursor and the status bar message, Replaces memberwithmember, indicate that you are replacing the object on the Grid with the objectfrom the Database Outline.

3. Release the mouse button.

Cursor and message Description

Adds memberto the

edge

This indicates that the selected member will be

added to the Grid edge in the location youselected.

Replaces memberwith member

This indicates that the member on the Grid edgewill be replaced with the member you selected inthe Database Outline.

Cannot add dimensionto edge

This indicates that you cannot move theselection to this Grid edge.



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Getting Started

Removing objects from the grid

To remove an object from the Grid, select the object and drag it from the Grid tothe Database Outline.

EXAMPLE

Selecting report data

This example builds on the scenario from the example "Connecting to a DB2

OLAP server" on page 39. To review profit and product share for yearlybeverages sales in the United States, you need to select the data needed to buildthe report. You take the following steps:

1. Drag the Year and Market dimensions to the accross edge of the Grid.

2. Drag the Beverages product line to the down edge of the Grid.

3. If you think that packaging and the sales channel are significant performancepredictors, add them to your analysis. You can add other measures anddimensions to the Grid depending on the result of the initial analysis.

4. Add Profit % and Product Share to the down edge.

In the Database Outline, measures such as Profit, Inventory, and Ratios area special form of dimension. They are displayed in a tree structure in theDatabase Outline and you can drill on them or add and remove members aswith other dimensions.

The initial data shows that the Profit % was lower in the south than in otherregions for all beverage lines. Also, aside from the south there was little

significant difference in Profit % for a beverage line from one region toanother..

5. To continue your inquiry, you want to fine tune your data and concentrate onthe south. You will learn to do this in the example "Fine-tuning your initialdata" on page 49.



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Further informationFor further information about dimensions, generations, members, and measures,refer to refer to Chapter 4, "OLAP Concepts" on page 25.

For further information about the OLAP Panel, refer to Chapter 4, "Introducingthe DB2 OLAP Access Pack" on page 13.



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Getting Started

Step 3: Fine-Tuning your Initial Data

You have created a basic query, but you will want to narrow the parameters ofyour analysis to the important information. Two common methods of fine-tuningthe initial data that appears in the Grid are:

Adding and removing dimension members Adding and removing memberschanges which dimension members appear along the edges of the Grid and

therefore which values appear in the Grid and in the report. Using a filter Using a filter restricts dimension members that appear along

the edges of the Grid to those included in the filter. You can add and removedimension members from a filter.

Adding and removing dimension members from the grid

1. Click Add/Remove Panel.

The Add/Remove panel shows all the dimensions currently populating the

Grid and the Filters box.

2. Click the tab (Across Edge orDown Edge) that contains the dimension youwant to modify.

3. From the Available Dimension Members box, select the dimension you wantto modify.

The Available Dimension Members box displays dimension members for the

selected dimension. Click the + beside the dimension or a dimension member

Add/RemovePanel



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to see all the dimension members. The Selected Dimension Members boxdisplays the currently selected dimension members.

4. Click Apply. then OK.

TIP

You can gain access to the Add/Remove Panel from the Grid. Right-click a dimension

or member. From the popup menu, select Add/Remove Members.

If Then

you want toadd membersto thedimension,

select the members you want to add from the AvailableDimension Members box, and do one of the following:

click the double right arrow button

drag and drop the members into the SelectedDimension Members box

Note: If you are adding members to a nested dimension,using the double arrow button adds the selectedmembers everywhere it is appropriate within the nesteddimension. Consider the following example:

You have the dimension Time nested within thedimension Price. Time has the members 1999, 2000,

and 2001, and you are adding the member Q4. Using thedouble arrow button, adds Q4 to 1999, 2000, and 2001.

By dragging and dropping, you can select the individualmembers to which you want to add Q4.

you want toremovemembers fromthe dimension,

select the members you want to remove from theSelected Dimension Members box, and do one of thefollowing:

click the double left arrow button

drag and drop the members into the AvailableDimension Members box

Note: Using the double arrow button removes allinstances of the members you select. By dragging anddropping, you can remove individual instances of amember.



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Getting Started

Creating a filter

Filters restrict the values displayed in the Grid by restricting the data returnedfrom the database.

For example, if you want to view the sales for just one market region, you movedimension members to the edges of the grid and then create a filter from theMarket dimension member for the region.

1. Select the View by member option button or View by generation option

button below the Database Outline box as necessary.2. Drag a member or generation from the Database Outline box and drop it in

the Filters box.

The filter appears as a drop-down list. The data values in the Grid correspondto the member displayed in the filter.

NOTE

A dimension or generation cannot appear in the Filters box and the Grid at thesame time.

Adding members to or removing members from a filter

You can add members to or remove members from a filter by doing one of thefollowing:

Using the Add/Remove Panel

Dragging and dropping the filter

Adding or removing filter members using the Add/Remove Panel1. Right-click on the filter.

2. In the popup menu, click Add/Remove Members.

The Add/Remove Panel appears.

3. In the Filters tab, select and move the members you want.

- To add members, select members in the Available Dimension Members list

box. Then either click the arrow pointing to the Selected Dimension Memberslist box, or drag the selection and drop it in the list box.

- To remove members, select members in the Selected Dimension Memberslist box. Then either click the arrow pointing to the Available DimensionMembers list box, or drag the selection and drop it in the list box.



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Removing filter members by dragging and dropping1. Select the filter member you want to remove.

2. Drag it to the Database Outline box.

Adding filter members by dragging and dropping1. Select the View by members option button below the Database Outline.

2. Click the + to the left of the dimension containing the member you want to add.

3. Drag the member from the Database Outline box and drop it in the Filters box.

EXAMPLE

Fine-tuning your initial data

This example uses the report created in the example "Selecting report data" onpage 44. You want to focus on beverage sales in the south. To restrict the datadisplayed, you want to create a filter so that only values for the south aredisplayed in the Grid.

To create the filter, drag the dimension member South from the across edge tothe Filters box. The Grid displays values only for the south.

Notice that colas have the highest product share and the lowest profit %. Younow want to look at this result in more detail to see if all states in the southshowed the same results and if there were individual colas whose performancediffered from the other products in their classification.



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Getting Started

Step 4: Selecting a Level of Detail

As you proceed with your analysis, you need to be aware that importantinformation may not be visible at the most aggregated levels of data. Forexample, in reviewing sales for a line of products that at the country level hasaverage sales, you want to look at the data at its lower levels. Average sales ata higher level can include both excellent and poor sales, so you need to reviewthe less aggregated levels of detail to know if there are poorly performing stores.

You can select an appropriate level of detail for your analysis by expanding andcollapsing the dimensions along the edges of the Grid. You can view values forall possible members of a dimension or for the aggregated values of thosemembers in the dimension hierarchy.

For example, you can view sales figures for each month of a year, for eachquarter, or for the year as a whole. You can expand a quarter or all quarters andsee values for the months included in the quarters. You select the level of detail

by drilling on the dimension members or by drilling on a filter.You expand the levels of a dimension member by drilling down on it. You collapsethe levels of a dimension by drilling up on one of the dimension members.

When you have used a filter to control which dimension appears along the edgeof a Grid, you drill on the filter to select the level of detail of that dimension.

Drilling down on a dimension

1. Right-click the dimension or one of its members.

A popup menu appears.



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2. In the popup menu, select a drill down command:- Drill Down on Selected Occurrence expands the member to the level belowit.

- Drill Down on all Occurrences expands all the occurrences of the memberwithin a nested dimension to the level below them.

The following figure shows the nested dimension Year expanded to the nextlevel.

TIP

To drill down on a selected occurrence of a dimension, press Ctrl and double-click a

member. To drill down on all occurrences, double-click a member.



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Getting Started

Drilling up on a dimension1. Right-click the dimension or one of its members.

A popup menu appears.

2. In the popup menu, select a drill up command:

- Drill Up on Selected Occurrence collapses the member to the level above it.

- Drill Up on All Occurrences collapses all the occurrences of the memberwithin a nested dimension to the level above them.

TIP

To drill up on a selected occurrence, press Ctrl + Shift, then double-click a member.

To drill up on all occurrences, press Shift and double-click a member.

Drilling on a filter1. Right-click the filter on which you want to drill.

2. In the popup menu, select Drill Down orDrill Up.



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EXAMPLE

Selecting a level of detail

This example uses the report created in the example "Fine-tuning your initialdata" on page 49. Now you want to create a report with more detailed informationabout cola sales in the south. The resulting report will answer the followingquestions:

Were profit % and product share consistent across all states in the region orwere there noteworthy differences?

Were profit % and product share consistent across all types of colas or therewere noteworthy differences?

The report already has the report filtered by the south region. You want to movethe filter back to the Grid and drilling down on it.

To move the filter to the Grid:

1. Drag and drop the filter on the across edge.

2. Drill down one level on South.

The following figure shows the South dimension member restored to the Gridand drilled down one level.



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Getting Started

3. Drill down one level on Colas to view more details of profit % and productshare.

The following figure shows the OLAP Panel displaying values for the differentcola product lines in individual states in the south.

The data shows that profit % was consistently lower in Arkansas in comparisonwith the other states in the region regardless of product share.

Before creating a BusinessObjects report, you need to customize its appearance.



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Step 5: Selecting Report Options


Once you have populated the OLAP Panel with the necessary dimensions,members, measures, and filters, you can select options for the Grid and theBusinessObjects report such as:

swapping the across and down Grid edges

selecting dimension labels

selecting value labels for missing and inaccessible data selecting decimal display

selecting the dimensions to use as BusinessObjects measures

selecting the sort order for dimension members

selecting how totals and subitems are displayed

selecting how much data will be displayed in the report

Swapping edges

You can rotate the Grid for a different view of the data values. You can then selectwhich arrangement of dimensions and edges you want to appear in the report.

Click Swap Edges. The dimension members, levels, and measures along theacross edge change places with the dimension members, levels, and measuresalong the down edge.Swap Edges



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Getting Started

Selecting dimension labelsIt is sometimes convenient to have more than one label for the same dimensionmember. For example, in global businesses, it is very convenient to havedimension member names translated into different languages. Databaseadministrators can create alias tables for dimension member names that providethese different labels. You select an alias table to specify which labels you wantto see in the Grid and the BusinessObjects report.

To select an alias table:1. Click Options in the OLAP Panel.

The OLAP Panel Options dialog box appears.

2. Select the General tab

3. In Aliases, select the Use Table check box.4. Select an Alias table from the drop-down list.

5. Click OK.



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Selecting value labels for missing and inacessible dataYou can modify the labels that appear in the Grid and in the BusinessObjectsreport with your own messages. By default the following messages appear:

To modify a label:

1. Click Options in the OLAP Panel.

The OLAP Options dialog box appears.

2. Type the message you want to appear in the corresponding box in the ValueLabels text box.

3. Click Apply, then OK.

Selecting decimal display

You can set the decimal places for numbers displayed in the Grid.

To set the decimal display:



2. In Decimals, specify the decimals display.


Message Description

#Missing The values are not present in the database.

#Inaccessible The DB2 OLAP administrator has not given you access

rights to certain data.#Empty Empty values can occur when there is an imbalance of

members within a dimension.

For example, if you place the Year dimension in the Grid,you can view the quarters and months of the years in thedimension. However, if you remove the months of Q1 whileleaving the months of all other quarters, you create animbalance in the dimension. The values for the months ofQ1 are considered empty.

If Then

you want to restrict the number ofdecimal places,

click Fixed and type a number inthe field.

you want to let the DB2 OLAP serverset the number of decimal places,

click Variable.



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Getting Started

Selecting the dimensions to use as BusinessObjects measuresIn the DB2 data model, the standard OLAP measure is a dimension defined withspecial tags. By default, the members of the DB2 dimension labelled Accountsare treated as BusinessObjects measures. If Accounts is not present, themembers of the first dimension in the Database Outline are treated asBusinessObjects measures.

You can select a different DB2 dimension to use as a BusinessObjects report

measure.To select the dimension to be used as the BusinessObjects measure:



2. In Report measures, select a dimension from the drop-down menu.


Further informationFor further information about the differences between the DB2 andBusinessObjects data models, refer to Chapter 4, "Advanced Techniques" onpage 65.

Selecting sort order

From the OLAP Panel, you can specify how the dimension members are sortedin the report.

1. In the Database Outline, select a dimension populating the Grid.2. Click Dimension Properties in the toolbar.

The Dimension Properties dialog box appears.

3. Select the sort order that you want.

Dimension

Properties

If Then

you want dimension members to appear in thesame sort order as in the Database Outline,

selectApply sortdefined on server.

you want dimension members to appear inalphabetically ascending order (the default sortorder for a BusinessObjects report),

clearApply sort definedon server.



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Selecting how totals and subitems are displayedFrom the OLAP Panel, you can select how totals and subitems are displayed inthe report. You can choose one of the following:

for totals to appear after subitems in the report

for indents to be applied to totals and subitems

Making totals appear after subitemsTotals commonly appear after subitems in financial reports. To have totalsappear after subitems in a the BusinessObjects report, you must use the sortorder defined on the server and turn the dimension hierarchy into a single reportdimension.

Turning the dimension hierarchy into a single report dimension makes it a flathierarchy. By default, in BusinessObjects, the concept of the OLAP dimensionmaps to the concept of the BusinessObjects hierarchy. Turning the dimensionhierarchy into a single report dimension makes the BusinessObjects dimension

into an OLAP dimension, which has other effects on the BusinessObjects report.See Chapter 4, "Advanced Techniques" on page 65 for further information.

To make totals appear after subitems:

1. In the Database Outline, select a dimension populating the Grid.

2. Click Dimension Properties in the toolbar.

The Dimension Properties dialog box appears.

3. Select whether or not totals should be displayed after subitems in the report.

Applying indents to totals and subitemsYou can choose to apply a left indent to either the subitems or the totals in aBusinessObjects report. If you want to apply indents, you must use the sort orderdefined on the server and turn the dimension hierarchy into a single reportdimension.

Dimension

Properties

If Then

you want totals to appear afterthe subitems in the report,

selectApply sort defined on server,Turn hierarchy into a single Report

Dimension, then Display totals aftersubitems.

you do not want totals to appearafter subitems in the report,

clearDisplay totals after subitems.


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Step 6: Generating the BusinessObjects Report

Step 6: Generating the BusinessObjects Report

Once you have populated the OLAP Panel with the necessary dimensions,members, and filters, you are ready to generate a BusinessObjects report.

After generating the report, you can view and work on it in BusinessObjects, andreturn to the OLAP Panel to edit or refresh the document.

Generating a BusinessObjects report

To generate a BusinessObjects report from the values in the OLAP Panel:

Click Continue.

Differences between the grid and the BusinessObjects report

If you do not specify that you want to maintain the Server (Database Outline) sortorder in the Grid, the dimension members, except for the Time dimension, willdisplay in alphabetical order.

You can perform different types of analyses in the Grid and in a BusinessObjectsreport. For further information, see "How BusinessObjects Integrates with theDB2 OLAP Access Pack" on page 16.

There are differences between the DB2 and BusinessObjects data models. Forfurther information see the topic, "Working with Differences between DataModels" on page 75.

DB2 Filters and the BusinessObjects report

From the dimension members you added to the Filters box in the OLAP Panel,BusinessObjects creates a master/detail report. For every member in a filter,BusinessObjects creates in the report one section containing a master and adetail, the data values associated to the filter member.

By default, each member displayed in the Filters box generates a section in thereport; however, a dimension that is tagged as a BusinessObjects measure andplaced in the Filters box does not appear as a section in a report. The Filters fetch

options (OLAP Panel Options dialog box, General tab) have no effect on such adimension, and all the filter values appear in the report.



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Getting Started

EXAMPLE

Generating the report

To create the BusinessObjects report from the OLAP Panel:

Click Continue.

The following figure displays the report.

You can now continue your analysis in BusinessObjects and refresh thedocument. If you need to edit the data provider, you can return to the OLAPPanel.



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Step 7: Refreshing and Editing Documents

Step 7: Refreshing and Editing Documents

Refreshing the document

After creating the report, you can work on it and refresh it in BusinessObjects.Refreshing the report updates it with the most recent data in the OLAP server.You can refresh the report with the Refresh Data command or you can selectvarious options for having it refreshed automatically. For further information on

refresh options, see BusinessObjects Users Guide: Reporting Techniques andFormatting.

To refresh the document and generated report with the Refresh Data command,click Refresh Data on the BusinessObjects toolbar.

Editing the document

After continuing your analysis with the report in BusinessObjects, you may wantto add data to the report. To add dimensions or measures from the Database

Outline, you need to return to the OLAP Panel. When you have finished yourmodifications you apply them to the report.

To return to the OLAP Panel and edit the document:

1. Click Edit Data Provider.

The OLAP Panel appears on your screen. If you have more than one dataprovider, a dialog box appears in order for you to select the data provider youwant to edit.

2. Modify the members, levels, and measures in the OLAP Panel following theprocedures in the previous steps in this chapter.

3. Click Continue.

The modified report appears on your screen.

Refresh Data

Edit Data

Provider



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Getting Started

Changing the number of columns and rows in a documentWhen you add dimensions to a document, it can change the number of columnsand rows in the report. If this happens, a dialog box appears asking whether youwant to leave the current report as is or display the new data in a new report.

If Then

you do not want the updateddata to be displayed in the

current report,

select Leave the current report as it is. Thenew data is still available. You can view it in a

table, a crosstab, or a chart.

you want the updated data tobe displayed in the currentreport,

select Display the new data in a new report.The new data will be displayed in a new reporttab.


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ch

apte

r

Advanced Techniques



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Advanced Techniques

Overview

This chapter shows you how to use the OLAP Panel to perform more advancedtasks than those presented in Chapter 3, "Getting Started". This chapter iswritten for BusinessObjects power users. After describing the differencesbetween a power user and a basic user, the chapter explains how to do thefollowing tasks:

modify restricted data in a document

create an interactive document

work with differences between the DB2 and BusinessObjects data models

customize a data display

optimize fetching speed and memory use

The chapter also lists some advanced techniques that you can perform on yourBusinessObjects generated report and refers you to other sources of information.



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Power Users and Basic Users

Power Users and Basic UsersWith BusinessObjects and the DB2 OLAP Access Pack you can conductextensive OLAP analyses, create reports, and distribute them over the Web.These multiple functions suggest that there can be different types of users.

In a business or organization, it is possible to have one type of BusinessObjectsuser, the power user, who needs to use its full functionality to conduct the in-depth analyses necessary to review results, spot trends, and mine the data setfor information that might not be obvious at first glance.

The other user, the basic user, takes these reports, pulls out the informationspecific to their jobs, and applies that information to long-term business strategyor short-term needs.

The power user directs the creation of the report. The basic user requiresappropriate pieces of the information in the report.

For example, a sales manager (the power user) needs information about sales

trends, sales of competing products, regional sales performance, individual salesrepresentative performance, quotas, and so on. A sales representative (the basicuser) needs information about the performance of individual accounts incomparison with previous time periods. The sales manager creates a report forher own use that provides all the information that she and the salesrepresentatives will need. She then distributes the appropriate pieces of thereport to sales representatives. The sales representatives review the report inorder to have the information they need to perform their jobs.



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Advanced Techniques

Modifying Restricted Data in a DocumentWhen you conduct an analysis, you typically want to restrict the data in yourreports in order to focus on key issues. In BusinessObjects, filters restrict the dataused to create and refresh documents. As you progress, you will either want torestrict your focus even more or widen your focus with comparative data. Youmodify the restrictions on your data by modifying the filter that is restricting thedata.

Modifying filters

You modify filters in the following ways:

adding and removing members

selecting what the filter fetches and displays

Adding members to and removing members from a filterYou can add members to or remove members from a filter by:

using the Add/Remove Panel

dragging and dropping members

Modifying a filter with the Add/Remove Panel1. Right-click the filter.

2. From the popup menu, click Add/Remove Members.

The Add/Remove Panel appears. The current filter members are displayed in

the Selected Dimension Members box.3. Select the members you want to add or remove.

4. Click OK.

To... Select...

add members tothe filter,

the members in the Available Dimension Members box.Then either click the double-right arrow or drag and dropthe selected members into the Selected DimensionMembers box onto an existing member.

remove membersfrom the filter,

the members in the Selected Dimension Members box.Then either click the double-left arrow or drag and dropthe selected members into the Available DimensionMembers box.


S l i h fil f h d di l


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Modifying Restricted Data in a Document

Selecting what a filter fetches and displaysYou can select which members of the dimension are used as filter fetch valuesand whether all the filtered values will be displayed. This can limit both theamount of data fetched and the amount of data displayed.

1. From the OLAP Panel, click Options to display the OLAP Panel Optionsdialog box.


2 I Filt l t th ti t f filt i th OLAP P l


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Advanced Techniques

2. In Filters, select the option you want for filters you use in the OLAP Panel.


Option Description

Fetch only current

filter members

The data is filtered on the members currentlydisplayed in the Filters box of the OLAP Panel.

Fetch all filter

members but display

only current members

Values for all filter members are retrieved from theserver, but only those currently displayed in theOLAP Panel Filte

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