Going Live With Xcelsius - Options,
Tricks, and Tips
Jackson Whitfield
2009 SAP BusinessObjects User Conference 2
Learning Points
Tips on designing an interactive, low maintenance
dashboard.
Understanding of various connection methods and security
Best practices when promoting dashboards from a test to a
production environment.
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Return on Investment
Following the tips in this presentation will reduce the labor
hours spent maintaining dashboards.
Ensure data can be accessed quickly by the right people.
Give confidence in knowing dashboards released into
production have been tested and properly promoted.
2009 SAP BusinessObjects User Conference
What is Xcelsius?
A user friendly dashboarding tool
Works with Excel to create interactive visualizations that
can display data in real time
Components are mapped to Excel, but data does not have
to be contained in Excel
Allows users to perform what-if analysis
Looks really cool!
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Best Practices – The Design Phase
Consider how your data will behave in the future and what
can be done to account for that.
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The Design Phase
In Xcelsius, extend data selection beyond current data to
account for future data
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The Design Phase
Use Ignore Blank Cells feature on charts and selectors to
suppress blank values.
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The Design Phase
Notice what happens as blank values are filled in
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The Design Phase
Have a company logo or some other type of image? Not
embedding the image will ensure the dashboard updates
as the image does.
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The Design Phase
Add in a link to your company’s website
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Design Phase
Remove the URL label and its background to create a hot
spot over the logo
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PPT Note – Embedding Xcelsius SWF Files
Slides with Xcelsius swf files embedded in them must be
exported to PPT, and saved as PPT, not PPTX
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The Design Phase
Have multiple charts with a changing scale?
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The Design Phase - Smooth out the Display
Add an entry effect on the charts so they don’t look as
jumpy when toggling back and forth, and set manual scale.
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The Design Phase - Smooth out the Display
Add a background to make switching charts appear even
more seamless
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The Design Phase – Maintenance Free Scale
In Excel, use the Max function to return the largest data
point in your data range
Use the Round function on that value so your scale will
have an even max value
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The Design Phase – Smoothing out the Display
Have a single value component that should be used just as
an output component? Add in a background.
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Connection Methods Overview – XML data
Can load XML data directly into a Xcelsius dashboard to
display data real time.
Relies on a process to query data from the database and
return it into an XML file.
The dashboard refresh will be dependent upon the refresh
of the XML file.
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Connection Methods Overview – Web Service
Uses an existing SOAP web service to connect a Xcelsius
dashboard to under lying data source.
Allows for dashboard users to be able to perform real time
queries against a data source.
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Connection Methods Overview – QaaWS
Query as a Web Service works similar to the previous
method of connecting to a SOAP Web Service.
Real time queries against data source.
Difference is, using the QaaWS builder, users actually
create their own web services based off of SAP data.
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Connection Methods Overview – Live Office
Xcelsius dashboards can connect to SAP data using a Live
Office connection.
Can use a preexisting Web Intelligence document, Crystal
Report, or a new Universe query.
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The Design Phase – Incorporating Live Data
If we have a prompted query, we can use the selectors in
our Xcelsius model to respond to the prompt and trigger the
refresh of the query.
This can be accomplished with Live Office and Query as a
Web Service.
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We will setup the yellow highlighted cell as the cell
that triggers the input to the prompted query. Pink
cells will display data
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The Design Phase- Live Data - QaaWS
The trigger cell for Query as a Web Service is setup in the
connections properties.
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The Design Phase- Live Data – Live Office
If using Live Office, we must first bind the prompt to what
will be the trigger cell in Excel.
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The Design Phase- Live Data - Live Office
The Live Office object(s) and prompt(s) will be displayed
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The Design Phase- Live Data - Live Office
Choose Excel Data Range
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The Design Phase- Live Data - Live Office
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Bind to trigger cell
2009 SAP BusinessObjects User Conference
The Design Phase – Incorporating Live Data
In Xcelsius the refresh trigger setup is the same for LO or
QaaWS
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Connection Properties Selector Properties
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The Design Phase- Live Data - QaaWS
We can manipulate the data returned for a better fit with
Xcelsius components.
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The Design Phase- Live Data - QaaWS
Using Ignore End Blanks in Xcelsius, the 0’s will still be
plotted
Hard coding text will prevent this, and the text will be
overwritten when data exists
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Best Practices – Using the Final SWF
How Live Office, Query as a Web Service, and SWF files
work together
Refreshing data
Keeping the data secure
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LO and QaaWS in the Completed SWF File
SWF – Originally known as Shockwave Flash and later
changed to Small Web Format, uses a flash player to
display interactive content.
The completed Xcelsius model can generate a stand alone
SWF file which can be sent out to users via email, Infoview,
a network drive, and embedded in Microsoft applications.
Xcelsius will not be required at this point.
All components and data connections will be contained in
the SWF.
SWF will be able to show real time data.
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LO and QaaWS in the completed SWF - Security
Unless viewing through Infoview, user will be prompted
when refreshing the SWF:
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Must have a BO login with privileges to the Universe and
Universe connection that the LO or QaaWS is based on.
PC attempting the refresh must have access to the BO
server.
2009 SAP BusinessObjects User Conference
LO and QaaWS in the completed SWF – Refresh
If SWF is created with best practices, a QaaWS dashboard
can show the most up to date data each time a dashboard
user triggers the refresh.
With Live Office, the dashboard will refresh only to the
extent that the underlying report is refreshed (unless setup
with a binded prompt as in previous example).
Dashboard cannot be scheduled but the underlying document
can.
In the underlying LO document, a last update function can be
placed so the dashboard users will know the actual time of
the refresh.
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2009 SAP BusinessObjects User Conference
Best Practices - Promotions
Before a dashboard is deemed production ready, it should
be tested, often in a test environment.
The following slides will illustrate how to move a dashboard
that has been signed off on in a Staging environment to a
Production environment.
Focus on Live Office and Query as a Web Service.
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Promotion – Query as a Web Service
Create the Query as a Web Service in the source
environment and Import it into Xcelsius.
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Promotion – Query as a Web Service
Remove the server reference from the Web Service URL.
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Promotion – Query as a Web Service
Build your dashboard and export to Infoview.
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Promotion – Query as a Web Service
Once tested and signed off on, run the Import Wizard to
promote to the Production environment.
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Promotion – Query as a Web Service
Create a biar file from the source content.
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Promotion – Query as a Web Service
Select the following options to import.
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Promotion – Query as a Web Service
Choose the QaaWS, SWF file, and universe.
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Promotion – Query as a Web Service
Once the biar file is created, run the Import Wizard again to
promote the biar to the destination environment, select
same content.
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Promotion – Query as a Web Service
No need to overwrite anything, but if you decide to, it is
recommended that you take a biar file back up of the
destination environment first.
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Promotion – Query as a Web Service
After following the rest of the Import Wizard steps, the
SWF, web service, and universe will all exist in the
destination environment.
SWF will now refresh inside of Infoview off of production
data.
For the SWF to work outside of Infoview, the server must
be included in the Web Service URL in Xcelsius.
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Promotion – Live Office
Create a Live Office enabled spreadsheet and import into
Xcelsius.
Build dashboard and promote to production using similar
promotion steps as QaaWS.
Select the report and universe that is being used, as well as
the SWF file.
Promote to a biar and then into the Production
environment.
SWF will refresh inside and outside of Infoview.
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Key Learnings
We have looked at a basic overview of connection methods
Dashboard design
Security and promoting of a dashboard
Questions?
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Thank you for participating
Please remember to complete and return
your evaluation form following this session.
SESSION CODE:
1210