Creating Web Intelligence Documents for Excel Format Export · Simone Caneparo – SAP Active...

Simone Caneparo – SAP Active Global Support

February, 2014

Creating Web Intelligence

Documents for Excel Format Export

© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. 2 Public

Introduction

When exporting Web Intelligence documents to Excel format,

rarely you will get an WYSWYG output, because:

Web Intelligence allows free positioning of tables and cells

across the document

Excel is a spreadsheet with columns and cells

Therefore, when converting a document to Excel, WebI will

create a grid that splits the objects

If the document is not designed with some basic rules, the

output can become messy and change when upgrading to

different SP / patch levels


In this first example we have designed a report out of e-Fashion, without

minding the best practices for exporting to Excel

Example #1: free design



When exporting to Excel, Web Intelligence builds a grid that will be used for

designing rows and columns of the spreadsheet



This is how the spreadsheet will look

(borders have been made in solid color to highlight the grid)



These are the WebI document and the Excel spreadsheet side-by-side

Please notice: (there are extra columns and rows added, we will explain why later)


Rule #1: Use the Grid

By using the View Grid and Snap to Grid options:

It will be possible to align the cells, tables, etc. so that:

Objects are aligned to each other without gaps

Web Intelligence will be able to build a sharper grid


Example #2: Using the Grid

To use the Grid, go to Document Properties, Application, Viewing

Select Show Grid and Snap to grid options



The cells are now sharply aligned with other objects and columns of the table



The cells are now sharply aligned with other objects and columns of the table



This is how the spreadsheet will look

(borders have been made in solid color to highlight the grid)



This is a comparison of the spreadsheets before and after using the grid

Although there are less columns and rows, there is some more work to do yet…


Rule #2: Remove Page Margins

In order to get leaner layout when exporting to Excel:

Set the page margins to 0

Align the objects to the left-hand and top side of the

document


Rule #2: Remove Page Margins

To remove the margins, go to Page Setup, Margins, and set all margins to 0


Example #3: Removing the Margins and aligning to the left

This example uses the grid, and then removed the margins and aligned to the left


Example #3: Removing the Margins and aligning to the left

It gets better and better, but we still need to fix all the extra columns in the middle


Rule #3: Use fixed width / height

Avoid extra columns or rows

by setting a fixed width:

The tables have different width

because they are set to auto-width

This was the cause for the extra

columns in our sample

The picture shows four only, but

there are many more…


To set fixed width/height, right click on a cell, select Format Cell, uncheck Autofit

width / Autofit height and set a fixed value. Better to do some tests to see if the

content fits the width

Rule #3: Use fixed width / height


Example #4: Use fixed width / height

In our example we have set fixed width and now the columns are perfectly aligned

throughout the document


Example #4: Use fixed width / height

The final output is lean and clean, there are no added columns and the layout will

be kept regardless of upgrades


Before and after

With few simple steps we now have a leaner spreadsheet


Summary

When exporting WebI documents to Excel,

in order to get the most accurate output :

Follow the guidelines in KBA 1969285 - How to best export

WebIntelligence data to Excel for further processing

Use the Grid when designing the layout

Remove page margins

Optional: align the layout to the left hand side

Use fixed width for the columns, optional for the rows

Keep the cells, tables etc. aligned so that their borders do not trigger an

extra column/row

https://service.sap.com/sap/support/notes/1969285








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