Business Objects

Using Advanced Techniques

Slice & Dice

Florida State University

Business Objects Administration

https://bo.omni.fsu.edu
BusinessObjects@admin.fsu.edu

Greg Tulenko
Penny Bowman
Scott Copeland

May, 2005
Revision 2

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 Contents

Log on & Set-Up Business Objects_________________________________________________ 3

Create a New Report ____________________________________________________________ 3
Select Objects for the Report _____________________________________________________ 3
Create Conditions for the Report __________________________________________________ 4
Run the Report ________________________________________________________________ 4
Format Your Report – Breaks & Calculations _______________________________________ 4
Create Sections ________________________________________________________________ 5
Use Pivot Table to Format the Contents of Your Report________________________________ 5
Use Slice & Dice to Create a Section _______________________________________________ 6
Use Slice & Dice With A Break ___________________________________________________ 7
Use Slice & Dice With Calculations________________________________________________ 7
Use Slice & Dice With Filters_____________________________________________________ 7
Use Slice & Dice With Ranking ___________________________________________________ 8
Create a Grouping Variable ______________________________________________________ 8
Create a Chart _________________________________________________________________ 9
Save A Query / Report___________________________________________________________ 9
Publish as a Corporate Document _________________________________________________ 9

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Log on & Set-Up Business Objects
For this workshop, you can logon to the Business Objects Web Page https://bo.omnifsu.edu/
Click the blue button in the center of the page.

Then log on to Business Objects with a designated training UserId, which has limited access to
university data. The UserIDs (also known as Logon Names) are FSTM01 through FSTM12, in
uppercase. The instructor will provide the current password.

Follow these steps to configure Business Objects web interface when viewing and creating
Business Objects documents:
1. Click the Options tab
2. Click View
3. Under Business Objects Documents, click Business Objects Format and then click Apply.
4. Click Create/Edit.
5. Click BusinessObjects then click Apply.
6. Click Home to return to the first page.

Click the Home button to return to the first screen.

Create a New Report

Click Create a new document using Business Objects:
– For the Report Layout – Select Generate a Standard Report Begin
– For the Way to Access Data – Select Universe Next
– Select ‘Training DB in Oracle’ Finish

Note: The list of Universes that you see depends upon the authorizations for your USERID

Select Objects for the Report

Select these objects from Student Master Class:
■ Curr Class and Class Desc The Class Desc is a detail related to the Curr Class object.
Double click on the Class Desc detail to select both of the objects.
■ Curr Div
■ Curr Major
■ Degree Sought
■ Count A special object that counts the rows for a summary report.

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Create Conditions for the Report
Create conditions on both the Curr Class and Division objects allowing multiple values to be
selected each time the report is refreshed. Use “In List” with a Prompt for each condition.

Run the Report

Select all the Curr Class values and the first 3 Divisions.
Click Ok.

Notice the base report is a set of rows with a count representing how many student rows are in the
database.

Format Your Report – Breaks & Calculations

■ First Customize the Header area:
Move the report table around on the page
Center and change the title to “Student Report”
Insert a new Cell for a Subheading
Insert the last refresh Date under the subheading
Select the heading cell, subheading cell, and refresh date cell and remove the frames.

■ Then duplicate your base report and name your report “My First Report”
■ Insert a Break on Class Desc
Click on any value in the Class Desc column
Right click Insert Break
Notice there is a summary line at the end of each Break
It is best to add these breaks before you add any calculations to your report.

■ Insert a Sum Calculation for the Break

Click on any value in the Count column
Right click Calculations Sum
Notice there are totals at every break and at the end of the report

■ Insert a Count and a Count All Calculation for the report

Click on any value in the Curr Major column
Right click Calculations Count All
Then repeat Click on any value in the Curr Major column
Right click Calculations Count
Notice the Count gives a count of how many unique values there are in that column in
the report section
The Count ALL gives a count how many total rows are displayed in that section on the
report

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■ Duplicate your report and name it “My Second Report”
Right click on a value in the Class Desc column Format Breaks
Notice there are several ways you can customize the break.
Click on the Fold then Apply.
Notice that only a summary line is included for each break value.

Create Sections
■ Duplicate your base report and name it “My Third Report”

Right click on a value in the Current Division column Set as master

Right click on a value in the Class Description column Set as master
Delete the Curr Class Column Hover above Curr Class and watch for the down
arrow then Right Click Delete

■ Notice there is a section for each Division and Class

Insert a Calculation to Sum the Count
Click on the Map on the left side of the report window and notice you can drill into the
report sections on this new report format.

Use Pivot Table to Format the Contents of Your Report

Now you decide you want to give this report to a customer, but without all the fields.

■ With the cursor over some part of the data in the First report, right click Format Table…
■ Click the Pivot tab at the top of the Table Format window.
■ Notice the list of Available variables on the left, and the used variables on the right.
■ This panel controls the sequence of the included variables on the report.
■ You can move the fields up or down on the right side or remove the fields you no longer
want to include in the Report.
■ You can use the Remove button in the middle of the window.
■ Click Apply. Notice the change to the report behind your window. The fields are changed
for this format only and automatically re-sorted left to right.
■ Click OK to make the change and return to the report.
■ Practice making a few other Pivot Table changes.

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Use Slice & Dice to Create a Section
■ Duplicate your base report and name it “First Slice & Dice”

While you are viewing the new report, click Analysis Slice and Dice
Click the first 3 buttons on the tope left corner:
■ Show/Hide Available Variables
■ Show/Hide Sections
■ Show/Hide Status Bar

■ You can re-arrange the placement of the objects in the Block Structure window pane by
clicking and dragging.

■ Notice the Undo and the Reset Buttons:

The Undo Button restores changes within this Slice and Dice Panel that have not been
applied to the report.
The Reset Button restores changes to the report format.

■ Move the Curr Div into the Section Pane

Click Apply.
Close or Minimize the Slice and Dice Panel and review the report format.
Click on the Map on the left side of the report window and notice you can drill into the
report sections on this new report format.

■ Reopen the Slice and Dice Window Pane while viewing this report.
In the Block Structure Move the Class Desc and Curr Class above the Count.
There should be Curr Major and Degree Sought on the left of the vertical line and
all other objects to the right of the vertical line.
Click Apply.
Close or Minimize the Slice and Dice Panel and review the report format.
Click on the Map on the left side of the report window and notice you can drill into the
report sections.

■ Reopen the Slice and Dice Window Pane while viewing this report.
In the Block Structure Move the Curr Class below Class Desc and add a sort to
Curr Class.
Click Apply and Review the Report again.
Notice the current class columns only appear where there are students to count for that
Division.

■ Notice the report width is determined by the number of Class selected when the report is
refreshed. Reports can get too wide to be manageable, so design your reports carefully.

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Use Slice & Dice With A Break
■ Duplicate your “First Slice & Dice” report and name the new one “Second Slice & Dice”
■ Reopen the Slice and Dice Window Pane while viewing this report.
In the Block Structure Click on Curr Major and then click on the Apply Break
Button.
You can double-click on the button to change the sort of the Break.
Click Apply and Review the Report.
■ Reopen the Slice and Dice Window Pane again:
Remove the Break from the Curr Major:
■ You can click on the Break Button and then press the Delete Key
■ Or you can click on the Break Button and Drag it off to the side
Move the Degree Sought to the left side of Current Major.
Add a Break to the Degree Sought object.
Click Apply and Review the Report.

Use Slice & Dice With Calculations

■ With your “Second Slice & Dice” Report, reopen the Slice and Dice Window Pane
Click on Count then click the Calculator Button notice the first calculator on
Count. Click the Calculator again notice the second calculator on Count.
The first calculator is for vertical calculations and the second one is for horizontal
calculations.
Double click each Calculator to choose the calculations for the report. Choose
SUM for both calculators.
Click Apply and Review the Report.
It is best to add Breaks BEFORE you add Calculations to a report format.

Use Slice & Dice With Filters

■ With your “Second Slice & Dice” Report, reopen the Slice and Dice Window Pane
Click on Curr Major then click the yellow filter funnel button
Click the Curr Major Values you want to include on the report page.
Notice this list represents what was returned to your report – it does not represent all
the majors in the database.
Click Apply and Review the Report.
Notice there may be some empty sections that don’t have the major codes you selected
in the filter.
If there are empty sections, you may want to convert this filter to be a “global filter”:
■ Close the Slice and Dice Window pane
■ Review the Second Slice & Dice Report format.
■ Click on the report table to select it then click Format Menu Filters.
■ Move the filter to the Global Folder and click OK.
■ Note: Global Filters no longer appear in the Slice and Dice Window.
Now use the Slice and Dice Window Pane to add a filter on section Division.
Click Apply and Review the Report.

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Use Slice & Dice With Ranking
■ Duplicate your “Second Slice & Dice” Report, and name it “With Ranking”.
Remove all the filters in your report format, both in the Global Filter Window and on
the Slice and Dice Window.
In the Slice and Dice Window Click on Curr Class then click the Apply Ranking
button. Click Yes to overwrite any existing sort or filter on the report.
Select the Top 2 Values of the Curr Class field of each Division based on Count. Click
okay.
Click Apply and Review the Report.
Repeat this for the Bottom 2 Values.

Create a Grouping Variable

What if you wanted to report the number of students which are Seniors, Undergraduates, and
Graduates by Division and Major Code?
■ Duplicate your “Second Slice & Dice” Report, and name it “With a Group”.
■ To create a new grouping variable click Data Variables.
Notice the list of variables.
Click Curr Class and then Group…
Define the Name of the Variable Curr Class Groups
Click the New button to add a new Group of Values
Name the first group Undergraduates
Name the second group Seniors
Name the third group Graduates
Now decide which of the Curr Class values belongs in each of the groups:
■ Add values 1, 2, 3 to the Undergraduates group
■ Add value 4 to the Seniors group
■ Add higher values to the Graduates group
■ Remove any empty groups you have
■ Click OK and Close
■ Now – you can add this grouping variable to your report format.
■ Using the Slice and Dice panel, modify your report:
Curr Div is the Section – remove any filter
Curr Major is on the left side of the vertical line – remove any filter.
Place Curr Class Groups above Count on the right side.
Place both calculators on Count.
Click Apply and Review the Report.
■ Note Groups are defined based on the values in your report. If you get a different set of
values next time you refresh your report, the group definitions may need to be changed.

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Create a Chart
You can create a chart from an existing report or from a new query.
Open a corporate document in the Training category named WorkshopLevel1E.
Duplicate the Division / Gender Report format.
Name the new format My Chart.

Click on the report table right click Turn to Chart

Choose the 3-D Column Chart Type OK.
Practice formatting the chart.

Save A Query / Report

■ To Save a Report
– Click File Save As…and enter a name
– The file is saved in the default directory for Business Objects Version 6.1b
c:\My Documents\My Business Objects Documents\userDocs
■ To send the report to another BusO user as an email attachment
– Click File SendTo mail
■ If you need some assistance building your report, you can send your report to the Business
Objects email account

Publish as a Corporate Document

If you have a good report that you want others to be able to run, you can publish the report as a
Corporate Document in the Business Objects Repository.

First – remove the data from the report so you publish only the query and the report formats. When
this report is retrieved, it can be Refreshed to rerun the query and repopulate the data in the report.

Data View Data

– Click the Results Tab
– Click the Purge button click Yes – you are sure you want to purge the
data
– Then click the Definition Tab
– Name - give the report a meaningful name
– Editable - check only if you want others to be able to change the query
once they retrieve it from Corporate Docs
– Refreshable - click so the users can refresh the data when they retrieve the
empty report from Corporate Documents
– Then Click OK.