Chapter 8. Creating Dashboards and Analyses

In the previous chapters, we have installed a new system, learned how to administer the system, and developed the metadata (the .rpd file) for a brand-new project. This chapter is the culmination of all that work in that we are finally ready to develop reports that can be delivered to our end users.

We will cover creating analyses, and how to group them in Dashboards. We will also look at the various ways of representing and formatting data that are available, along with advice on best practices gained from implementation experience.

The drive behind OBIEE and other BI tools is to create analytical reports where we are focused on gaining insights that are difficult to pick up on in our daily dealings. This often means that we are looking for patterns or information over a historical period in an aggregated format. Using the operational examples, we might want to look at call volumes over a whole Year, so that we can make better choices about the staff numbers needed. In retail, we might want to see what types of products sell better in certain countries over a certain time period. So in essence, we are looking at giving ourselves information that drives more strategic or longer-term decisions rather than those that concern day-to-day matters. This also means that we traditionally would be looking at a dataset that changes less often than that used for operational reporting.

Creating our first analysis

Time to get stuck into creating some content. We will now create a simple analysis.

  1. Log into OBIEE.
  2. Use the URL http://[servername]:[port]/analytics. In our case, this is http://obiee:9502/analytics/:

    Creating our first analysis

    After log in, you are taken to the Home page. In the left-hand panel, you will see the Create... section:

    Creating our first analysis

  3. Click on the word Analysis:

    Creating our first analysis

  4. Select a Subject Area by clicking on Sample Sales Lite:

    Creating our first analysis

    You are now presented with the designer window. On the left side, you will see all of the columns you can choose from in your analysis.

  5. Click on the arrowhead to the left of the Time folder:

    Creating our first analysis

  6. Double-click on the Per Name Year column (Note: You can also drag and drop the column into the right pane.)
  7. Expand the Base Facts folder.
  8. Double-click on the Revenue column:

    Creating our first analysis

  9. Now click on the Results tab.
  10. You can now see the Revenue by year:

    Creating our first analysis

    We can also add columns whilst in the Results view.

  11. Expand the Time folder.
  12. Drag the column Per Name Month over to the table, and place it to the left of the Revenue column:

    Creating our first analysis

    Let's add a Graph to the results view.

  13. Click on the plus sign in the Views pane.
  14. Click on Graph.
  15. Click on Line Graph:

    Creating our first analysis

You are now presented with the View Designer page. Note the three separate panels:

  • The folders are in the left-hand panel. You can add columns even in the view designer page.
  • The layout panel is bottom-right. You can move columns around. Columns can be excluded from the view, or presented as Prompts.
  • The preview panel is top-right. You can turn off the Graph preview by clicking on the mini Graph icon:

    Creating our first analysis

Notice that the Year column was placed into the Sections box and that the Display as Slider is ticked.

You can move the columns around, for example you could put the Year column into the Graph Prompts box. This would present you with a drop-down column on the Graph so that you choose which Year to view. You could also move the Year column to the horizontal axis (by dragging and dropping onto the Line box). This would give you all Years on one Graph:

  1. Make sure the Year column is in the Sections box.
  2. Click Done.

    At this stage, you go back to the results view, but your Graph is nowhere to be seen! We have to put the Graph onto the page ourselves.

  3. Click on the Graph in the Views panel (bottom-left).
  4. Click on the right arrow or drag the view onto the right panel:

    Creating our first analysis

  5. We are now going to save the analysis that we just built.
  6. Click on the Save button (top right).
  7. Click on the Shared Folders (in the left-hand panel)
  8. Click on the New Folder icon, and enter a folder name (use Book). Click OK:

    Creating our first analysis

    Note

    When you save your analysis, you are saving the structure of the query. You are not saving the data.

  9. Click OK to save your analysis in the Book folder:

    Creating our first analysis

We have now created our first analysis called Analysis One. We put a Graph on the results page and saved it in a folder called Book.

This is a simple example which introduces the basic concepts involved.

Let's just have a quick look in the Catalog folder to see what we have just created:

  1. Click on the Catalog link on the top bar.
  2. Select the Book folder in the left-hand panel.
  3. You will now see your analyses listed:

    Creating our first analysis

So, you now know how to create an analysis, save it in a folder of your choice, and find it in the catalog.

Take a minute to look at the options available when you click on the More link under your analysis.

Later in the chapter we will explore more options when creating analyses, but for now, in the next section, we will put your first analysis onto a new Dashboard.

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