Reporting With SAP Business

Objects Web Intelligence

(Interactive Analysis)

MOTIVATION

LEARNING METHOD

This material explains how to

analyze data through the
development of reports
utilizing SAP Business
Objects Interactive Analysis
SAP systems. It is aimed at
students at universities,
universities and other
educational institutions with
limited experience with
Business Intelligence.

The learning method used is

guided learning. The benefit
of this method is that
knowledge is imparted
quickly. Students also acquire
practical skills and
competencies. As with an
exercise, this method
explains a process or
procedure in detail.

It can be used in the

classroom or for self-study.

Exercises at the end enable

students to put their
knowledge into practice.

On completion of the course,

students will be able to
understand the basic
concepts of reporting and
develop reports with this tool.
The material also serves as a
reference for occasional users
of SAP systems.

Requirements
Product

SAP Business Objects

Interactive Analysis

Install Interactive
Analysis

Universe which is the

output if the Universe
Design Tool tutorial

Level
Beginner

Focus
Report Development

Author
Paul Hawking

Version 3

Paul Hawking

June 2012

SAP Business Objects Web Intelligence

(Interactive Analysis)
SAP Business Intelligence provides a broad range of reporting tools to facilitate decision making of
the different end users. SAP Business Objects Web Intelligence is an ad-hoc query, reporting, and
analysis tool that is used to create queries or use existing reports, format retrieved information and
perform analysis to understand trends and root causes. It provides an easy-to-use interface for
analyzing data in a data warehouse or transactional system to facilitate decision making. Business
analysts can interact with reports and the underlying data without the need to understand the
technical details of how the data is stored or defined in the source system. Interactive Analysis is a
desktop version of Web Intelligence.
The following tutorial is designed to introduce you to the fundamentals of building queries and reports
using SAP Business Objects Interactive Analysis. You will create reports that will provide an analysis
of sales for Global Bike Inc. SAP enables you to download a trial version of Business Objects Web
Intelligence to evaluate its capabilities. This tutorial can be completed using the trial version of SAP
Business Objects Interactive Analysis. You can download SAP Business Objects Interactive Analysis
from:

http://www.sap.com/solutions/sap-crystal-solutions/query-reportinganalysis/sapcrystalinteractive/index.epx

Reporting Scenario
Global Bike International (GBI) is a world class bicycle company
serving both professional and amateur cyclists. The company
sells bicycles and accessories. In the touring bike category,
GBIs handcrafted bicycles have won numerous design awards
and are sold in over 10 countries. GBIs signature composite
frames are world-renowned for their strength, low weight and
easy maintenance. GBI bikes are consistently ridden in the Tour de France and other major
international road races. GBI produces two models of their signature road bikes, a deluxe and
professional model. The key difference between the two models is the type of wheels used, aluminium
for the basic model and carbon composite for the professional model. GBIs off-road bikes are also
recognized as incredibly tough and easy to maintain. GBI off-road bikes are the preferred choice of
world champion off road racers and have become synonymous with performance and strength in one
of the most gruelling sports in the world. GBI produces two types of off-road bike, a mens and
womens model. The basic difference between the two models is the smaller size and ergonomic
shaping of the womens frame.
GBI also sells an Accessories product line comprised of helmets, t-shirts and other riding accessories.
GBI partners with only the highest quality suppliers of accessories which will help enhance riders
performance and comfort while riding GBI bikes. Figure 1 displays the GBI range of products.

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June 2012

GBI
GBI

BIKE
BIKE
Bicycles
Bicycles
TOUR
TOUR
Touring
Touring
DXTR
DXTR
Deluxe
Deluxe
touring
touring
bike
bike

ACCR
ACCR
Accessories
Accessories
ORBK
ORBK
Off
Road
Off Road

PRTR
PRTR
Professiona
Professiona
ll touring
touring
bike
bike

DXTR
1000
DXTR 1000
Black
Black

PRTR
PRTR 1000
1000
Black
Black

DXTR
2000
DXTR 2000
Silver
Silver

PRTR
PRTR 2000
2000
Silver
Silver

DXTR
3000
DXTR 3000
Red
Red

PRTR
PRTR 3000
3000
Red
Red

PROT
PROT
Protective
Protective

ORMN
ORMN 1000
1000
Mens
Mens
standard
standard

PADS
PADS
Pads
Pads

ORWM
ORWM
1000
1000
Womens
Womens
standard
standard

HLMT
HLMT
Helmets
Helmets

UTIL
UTIL
Utilities
Utilities
SHRT
SHRT 1000
1000
T-shirt
T-shirt

EPAD
EPAD 1000
1000
Elbow pads
pads
Elbow

OHMT
OHMT 1000
1000
Of
Of f
f road
road
helmet
helmet

RKIT
RKIT 1000
1000
Repair
Repair kit
kit

KPAD
KPAD 1000
1000
Knee
Knee pads
pads

RHMT
RHMT 1000
1000
Road
Road
helmets
helmets

PUMP
1000
PUMP 1000
Air
pump
Air pump
CAGE
1000
CAGE 1000
Water
Water
bottle
bottle cage
cage
BOTL
1000
BOTL 1000
Water
Water
bottle
bottle
FAID
FAID 1000
1000
First aid
aid kit
kit
First

Figure 1 GBI Product Range

Traditionally GBI was a wholesaler who sold their bikes to retailers who then resold the bikes to the
end consumers. Recently GBI has decided to sell their bike to the end consumer via the internet.

Organisational Structure
GBIs headquarters are located in Dallas and the European subsidiary company (GBI Europe) is
based in Heidelberg, Germany. In regards to the GBI sales process there are two sales organisations
for America (Eastern US and Western US) and two for Germany (Northern Germany and Southern
Germany). All sales organisations have a wholesale distribution channel responsible for delivering the
products to the customers. However only one sales organisation is required in each country to
support internet sales. The diagram below displays the GBI organisation to support the sales
process.

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June 2012

Requirements
GBI management currently SAP ECC to manage and automate their business processes.. The
Department Heads have indicated that while SAP ECC provides a range of reports containing all the
required sales information. These reports are sometimes not easy to interpret or manipulate the data.
They would like the information provided in a more user friendly format. This will facilitate them to
gain greater insight to their sales data to understand the trends and sales performance. In response
to these concerns, it was decided to build a number of reports using SAP Business Objects Interactive
Analysis.
Sales Report; This report is required to analyze data related to the sales of materials (bikes and
accessories) in relation to Sales Organisations, Distribution Channels for different Time periods.

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June 2012

Opening Interactive Analysis

1.

Choose Start Programs Interactive Analysis Interactive Analysis.

Depending of which version of SAP Business Objects Interactive Analysis and alternate path is
Start Programs SAP Business Objects Enterprise XI 4.0 SAP Business Objects
Enterprise Client Tools Interactive Analysis Desktop.

Interactive Analysis appears on screen.

SAP Business Objects Interactive Analysis uses queries to retrieve data from a data source to be
displayed in a report (document). The data source could be a
Relational database including those that underpin ERP systems.
Local data source such as text files or Microsoft Excel files
SAP InfoCube in a SAP NetWeaver Business Information Warehouse (BW)
Web service

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June 2012

One way the data from the data sources is represented in the queries is through the use of a
universe. The universe provides a non-technical interface for users to run queries against a
database to create reports and perform data analysis. The universe design tool contains objects that
represent database structures, for example columns and database functions, that users need to
access and query, to get the information necessary to meet their business requirements. The objects
created in the universe are described from a business perspective providing a business focussed
front end to the SQL structures in the database.
For the purpose of this tutorial a universe has been created based on the GBI data structures.

2.

Click

3.

Click

4.

Click

to display a list of available universes.

your previously created Universe or Global_Bike_International to select it.
to open Interactive Analysis and load the GBI universe.

The Query Manager screen appears with GBI universe loaded.

It consists of four areas (panes):

Data Manager,
Result Objects,
Query Filters and the
Data Preview.

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June 2012

Data Manager Pane

The Data Manager Pane lists the objects that are contained with the universe. These include:
Classes and subclasses Objects are grouped into folders called classes. Each class can
also contain one or more subclasses. The role of classes is to organize the objects into
logical groups. When you create queries on the universe, classes help you to find the
objects that represent the information that you want to use in a query. GBI and GBI Sales are
examples of classes.

Dimension object - A dimension object represents data that provides the basis for analysis
in a report. Dimension objects typically retrieve character-type data that provide meaning to
the key measures, For example; Material Group, Product Category and Material provide
meaning to a Sales Quantity. Dimension objects appear as follows:

Detail Object - A detail object provides descriptive data about a dimension. A detail object
is always attached to the dimension for which it provides additional information. For example,
the Material dimension contains the Material Description, Standard Price, and Unit Cost detail
objects. Detail objects appear as follows:

Measure Object - A measure object is numeric data that is the indicates a value in a
transaction. They can be the result of calculations on data in the database. There is a
relationship between the dimensions and the measures. Measure objects can be
aggregated in the query. The most common types of aggregation are; sum, count, average,
maximum and minimum. There are two types of measure:
classic measures - calculated by Interactive Analysis
smart measures - calculated by the database on which the universe is based.
Examples of measure objects in the GBI universe are quantity, revenue, and cost. Measure
objects appear as follows:

Result Objects Pane

The Result Objects Pane displays the data (objects dimensions, details, and measures) that will
appear in the report.
Query Filters Pane
To create a filter on the data in the query you can drag and drop an object to the Query Filters Pane.
Data Preview Pane
As the name implies you can preview the results of your query in the Data Preview Pane.

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June 2012

Creating a Query
You create a query to answer a business question that requires data from a data source. The query
is your means to ask the database for information. The universe is a representation (semantic layer)
of the data and its structures in the data source. The universe is displayed in the Query Manager
for you to select the dimensions, details and measures that represent the information that you want
to retrieve. These objects are added to the Results Objects pane. Once you have constructed your
query, you then run the query against the database to retrieve the data.
The request for information is processed in the data source, and the results are sent back to the
Interactive Analysis in the form of a document. The document contains all the information that you
asked for in the query, arranged in table columns and rows.
You are now going to create a simple sales report. The first step is to drag the required objects to the
Result Objects pane.
5.

Click

6.

Drag

next to the

class to display the contained objects.

the Date dimension to the Result Objects Pane.

You can get a preview of the impact of including this dimension in your query by using the Data
Preview pane.

7.

Click

in the Data Preview Pane to preview query result.

You are now going to add more objects to your query.

8.

Click

9.

Double Click

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next to the

class to display the contained objects.

Sales Organisation to add this dimension to the Result Objects pane.

June 2012

10.

Add the following objects

Class
GBI
Material
Material
Material
GBI Sales
GBI Sales
GBI Sales

Object
Distribution Channel
Material Group
Product Category
Material
Quantity
Revenue
Cost

You can remove an object from the Result Objects Pane by dragging the object back to the Data
Manager Pane. You can also rearrange objects by drag and drop.

11.

Click

in the Data Preview Pane to preview query result.

Running a Query
When you run a query for the first time Interactive Analysis creates a report based on the objects you
included in the query. The order in which the objects are arranged in the Result Objects pane
determines the order of the columns in the report.

12.

Click

to run the query.

Your report appears on screen.

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You will notice there are a number of tabs and controls which are available to improve the format and
functionality of your report. We will cover some of this functionality in later exercises.
Before you continue you should save your report.
13.

Click

to save your document.

The Save Document dialog box appears on screen.

14.

Type

GBI Sales <your name> in the File Name: text field to replace the default name.

You will accept the other defaults.

15.

Click

to complete the save process.

Editing a Query
At the moment your report uses the abbreviation codes for Sales Organisation, Distribution Channel,
Material etc. Using these abbreviations require the report user to remember the associated data with
each abbreviation. It would be better if the actual descriptions were included in the report. To achieve
this you will need to edit the original query.

16.

Click

17.

Click

18.

Click

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tab to display the available options.

tab if not already selected.

to return to the Query Manager.

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19.

Click

next to the
detail objects.

20.
Double Click
pane.

dimension in the Data Manager pane to display the

Material Group Description to add the detail object to the Results Objects

It appears at the end of the existing objects. At this stage we are not concerned with its location.
21.

Repeat the process for the following detail objects:

Class
Object
GBI
Distribution
Channel
GBI
Sales Organisation
Material
Product Category
Material
Material
GBI Sales
Date
Year of Date
Quarter of Date
Month of Date

Detail Object
Distribution Channel
Description
Sales Organisation Description
Product Category Description
Material Description

Your screen should appear similar to:

22.

Click

to run the query.

Your report appears. Notice that the detail objects do not appear in the report. However they do
appear in the Available Objects pane.

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The additions of objects to your query are not automatically inserted in the report. That is why the
order they were inserted in the query was not important. There are a number of techniques which can
be used to insert objects into a report.
23.

Right Click

column header to display the context menu.

24.

Select Insert Insert column on right

A new column appears in your report.

25.

Drag and drop Material Description detail object onto the heading of the blank column.

If you make a mistake you can use the Undo icon

to return to the previous step.

Now you have included the Material Description in your report it is no longer necessary to include the
Material code.
26.

Right Click

27.

Select Delete.

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any of the values in the Material column to display the context menu.

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The Material column is removed from the report. However notice that this dimension still appears in
the Available Objects pane meaning that it can be added to the report at any stage.
28.

Click

to save your document.

To make the report more meaningful you need to add the other detail objects to the report and
remove their corresponding dimensions. It is important that the objects are kept in the same order
as the calculation of measures will change if they are not.
29.

Add

the following detail objects and delete their corresponding dimensions.

Distribution Channel
Description
Sales Organisation Description
Product Category Description
Notice that some of the fields have been truncated because the column is not wide enough. If this is
a problem with measures then the data is displayed as
. One way to resolve this is by
widening the relevant columns. An easy technique to achieve this by double clicking the column
heading vertical border.
31.

Double click

`the column heading border between Revenue and Cost.

32.

Drag

33.

Repeat this process for the Sales Organisation Description, Material Group Description,
Product Category Description columns.

30.

Click

the column heading border between Material Description and Quantity until the data
is displayed.

to save your document.

Analysing Data
You currently have a summary of sales transactions for 2009 and 2010 grouped week, Sales
Organisations, Material Group, Product Category, and Material Description. Interactive Analysis
provides a range of functionality to further analyse this data. However before you perform the
different analysis you need to make a copy of the report.
31.

Right Click

to display the context menu.

32.

Select Duplicate to create a copy of the report.

Another copy of the report appears on screen. You need to label the different reports to make them
easy to distinguish.
33.

Right Click

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to display the context menu.

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34.

Select Rename to display the Rename dialog box.

35.

Type

Analysis in the New value: text field.

36.

Click

to complete the process.

Notice the heading to report changes automatically.

37.

Repeat the process to rename Report 1 to Sales.

38.

Click

to save your document.

Currently the measures (Quantity, Revenue and Cost) are aggregated for each week. If you remove
the Date dimension then the measures would be re-calculated for a summation based on the 2
years of values.
39.

Right Click

the Date dimension to display the context menu.

40.

Select Delete to remove this dimension from the report.

Notice that the measures have been recalculated and that the Date dimension still appears in the
Available Objects pane for later use.
41.
Insert
column.

the date dimension in report to the right of the Sales Organisation Description

The measures are recalculated. Using the techniques just covered to analyse by removing/inserting
or re-arranging dimensions answer the following questions.
Test Your Skills

What is the total sales revenue for the week starting 5/2/09?
What quantity of t-shirts have been sold?
What are the total sales revenue of Air Pumps sold through the Internet Distribution Channel?
What is the total sales revenue for 2010?
What is the total quantity sold via the Wholesale Distribution Channel?

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Filtering Data
There are a number of ways to restrict the values displayed in report through the use of Filters. You
can apply Filters at the query and or report level. Query Filters are defined in the Query Manager
screen and limit the data retrieved from the data source and returned to Interactive Analysis. This
means that you only retrieve the data you need to answer a specific question and minimize the
quantity of data returned to the document to optimize performance. Report Filters limit the values
displayed on reports, tables, charts within a document. They do not modify the data that is retrieved
from the data source. They simply hide the values not required on the report level. You are now
going to create a Query Filter to limit the range of dates (weeks in 2010) retrieved from the data
source. Firstly you need to modify your report.
42.

Modify the Analysis report to the display the following data.

Notice that 2009 dates appear.

43.

Click

at the bottom of the screen to move to the last page of your report.

Take note of how many pages are currently contained in your report.
44.

Click

45.

Click

46.

Click

47.

Click

to save your document.

tab to display the available options.

tab if not already selected.

to return to the Query Manager.

To create a Filter you drag the object relevant to the Filter to the Query Filters pane of the screen.
48.

Drag

Year of Date dimension to the Query Filters pane.

You now need to slect the operator which is going to be incoproarted in the Filter. There are a number
of Filters available. These are described below.

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Operators See the list below for available operators.

Operator
Equal to.

Explanation
Equal to one value

Not Equal to

Select all other values not equal to one particular value.

Greater than

Greater than a particular number, date, or character.

Greater than or Equal to

Greater than or equal particular number, date, or character.

Less than

Less than a particular number, date, or character.

Less than or Equal to

Less than or equal to a particular number, date, or character.

Between

Records between and including two values for example, Between

1/1/09 and 1/2/09

Not Between

All values outside a particular range.

In list

Returns only the records matching the value or multiple values

specified. If multiple values are specified, separate each with a
semicolon (;).

Not in List

Returns records that do not match any of the values specified. If

multiple values are specified, separate each with a semicolon (;)

Is null

Records are returned in which no value has been entered, i.e., is

empty. Null is not the same as zero.

Is not null
Matches pattern

Returns records that contain a value.

Returns records that begin with or end with a particular string. This
operator is used with a wildcard character such as % or _
(underscore).
% - matches more than one space.
_ (underscore) matches one particular space
A% will return all Materials beginning with A.
_N% will return all Materials with N as the second letter.

Different from pattern

Does not match the pattern specified.

Both

Returns records containing both of the two values that you specify.
You must specify two values as the criteria for this operator.

Except

Returns records containing values other than the value you specify
for this operator.

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49.

Click

in the drop down list box to display the filter operators.

50.

Click

51.

Type 2010 in the value field.

52.

Click

Equal to select this operator.

to run the query.

Your report appears. Notice that only dates in 2010 appear and that the number of pages in the
report has been reduced.
You can add more than one object to Query Filter pane to create more complex filters. You can also
prompt the user for the filter values. This provides more flexibility in using the report as the same
report could be used by different users. You are now going to create a filter that prompts the user for
the Year and then the user can select a Material from a list of values.

53.

Click

to return to the Query Manager.

54.

Click

to display the value input options.

You want the system to prompt the user for the Year.
55.

Click

to select this option.

A text message appears in the value field. This is the message which appears to the user in the
prompt.

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June 2012

You now need to add the Material Description detail object to the Query Filter pane to be able to
Filter on this object.
56.

Drag

Material Description to the Query Filters pane.

Notice that a link appears between both objects to indicate that both (And) objects contents need to
be satisfied in the filtered data. This could be changed to Or.

You now need to specify the filter properties for the Material Description.
57.

Click

58.

Click

59.

Click

60.

Click

61.

Click

in the drop down list box to display the filter operators.

in list if not already selected.

to display the value input options.

to select this option.
to save your query.

You have now included two objects with prompts in your Filter. You now need to run the query to test
your Filter.

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June 2012

62.

Click

to run the query.

A prompt dialog screen appears.

63.

Type

64.

Click

2009 to indicate the required date.

to display the Material Description Filter
prompt.

65.

Double Click
list box.

66.

Click

67.

Click

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Deluxe Touring Bike (Black) to transfer this value to the Selected Value(s)

Deluxe Touring Bike (Red) to select it.

to transfer this value to the Selected Value(s) list box.

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68.

Click

to run the query based on the Filter values.

Your report should display all sales for 2009 for the Deluxe Touring Bike (Red) and Deluxe Touring
Bike (Black). Remember that the Query Filter you developed limits the amount of data extracted
from the data source. An alternate type of Filter is a Report Filter. Before you build this type of Filter
you will remove the previous Filter objects.

69.

Click

70.

Click

71.
Drag
Filters pane.

to return to the Query Manager.

the Year of Date Filter object to select it.
the selected object to the Universe Outline pane to remove it from the Query

72.

Repeat the process for the Material Description detail object.

73.

Click

74.

Click

to save your query.

to run the query.

Test Your Skills

Create a query that displays all sales after 10/9/2009

Create a query that displays sales between two dates. It should prompt the user to select the
dates from a list of dates.

The report displays weekly sales for all Materials. There are two types of Report Filters you are going
to create. The first one uses the Filter Bar within the report. This can be accessed from the Interact
tab under the Analysis tab. Once the Filter Bar appears you can drag the objects onto the Filter
Bar to create Filter objects. This type of Filter can use dimension objects. In other words you can
not drag detail or measure objects onto the Filter Bar.

75.

Click

76.

Click

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to display the available options.

to display the available options.

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June 2012

77.

Click

to display the Filter Bar.

78.

Drag

79.

Select 2010 from the Filter to display only these sales.

80.

Select All Year of Date to display all sales.

the Year of Date dimension onto the Filter Bar.

You can apply more than one dimension in the Filter Bar. You can also apply dimensions in the
Filter that are not displayed in the report.
81.

Drag

Distribution Channel dimension to the Filter Bar.

82.

Select 2009 from the Year of Date dimension Filter.

83.

Select WH from the Distribution Channel dimension Filter.

Your report values are changed to reflect these Filters.

To highlight these changes you can include Distribution Channel Description detail object in the
report.
84.

Drag

Distribution Channel Description detail object onto your report column headings.

85.

Select All Year of Date and All Distribution Channel to display all sales.

The Simple Report Filter you have been using only allows you to use an equal to operator. In other
words display all values where Year is equal to 2010. A more powerful Standard Report Filter allows
you to apply any filter operator. You access Standard Report Filters by selecting a value in the report
and then selecting Filter from the context menu.
86.

Right Click

Air Pump to display the context menu.

87.

Choose

Filter Add Filter to display the Report Filter dialog box.

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88.

Double Click

Air Pump in the Material Description list box.

Notice the Air Pump value is copied to the Selected Value(s) list box.
89.

Click

to apply the Filter.

Only sales for the Air Pump are displayed in the report. You can apply other operators to Filters. For
example we can display the weeks when less than Air Pumps were sold.
90.

Right Click

a value in the Quantity column to display the context menu.

91.

Choose

Filter Add Filter to display the Report Filter dialog box.

The Report Filter dialog box displays any filters which are currently applied to the report

You need to change the Filter operator to Less than for Quantity.
92.

Click

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In list for Quantity to display the Filter operators.

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93.

Click

Less than to select this operator.

94.

Type

25 in the Type a value text field.

95.

Click

to apply the Filter.

Only sales for Air Pumps with less than 20 Quantity are displayed.
96.

Click

to save your report.

Calculations
You can apply calculations and formulas to report to provide a greater level of analysis. For example
your report currently incorporates the measures, Quantity, Cost, and Revenue. GBI management
have requested a report that enables them to view the profit for each record. This is achieved by
creating another column and then populating this column based on a calculation (Revenue Cost).
First you need to remove the Filters you previously applied.
97.

Right Click

a value in the Quantity column to display the context menu

98.

Choose

Filter Edit Filter to display the Report Filter dialog box.

99.

Click

100.

Click

101.

Right Click

a value in the Cost column to display the context menu

102.

Choose

Insert Insert Column on the right.

103.

Right Click

a field in the new column to display the context menu

104.

Choose

Edit Formula to display the Formula Editor dialog screen.

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to remove the Filters.

to apply the changes.

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Notice that the Formula Editor has a number of panes. The Formula pane is where the formula is
created. The Available Objects pane lists the objects available in your report. You can drag and
drop or double click an object to include in in the formula. The Functions pane lists available
functions which can be incorporated in your report. The functions available include average, standard
deviation, maximum and minimum. The Operators pane list the available operators including the
common arithmetic operators. You now need to create the calculation for the new column.
105.
Double Click
calculation.
106.

Click

in the Available objects list box to insert this measure into the

- in the Operators area to insert minus operator into the calculation.

107.
Double Click
calculation.

in the Available objects list box to insert this measure into the

Your formula should appear the same as below.

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Before you apply the formula you should check its validity.
108.

Click

to the right of the Formula text box

The following message

109.

Click

appears below the Formula.

to calculate the Profit values.

Notice that the column you inserted for the Profit calculation does not have a title. You can easily
create or edit a column heading through the Formula Bar.
110.

Click

the profit column heading to select it.

111.

Type

Profit in the Formula Bar.

112.

Click

to validate and insert the text to the column heading.

Test Your Skills

Create a column titled % Profit and add a formula that displays the percentage profit.
The formula is (Revenue Cost)/Revenue

113.

Click

Paul Hawking

to save your report.

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Sections
To improve the navigation in reports you can divide the report into sections. Sections group related
data together and only display the data relevant to the dimension on which the section is created.
For example, if you create a section on the Material dimension, the tables and charts in the section
for Air Pump will only display data for the Material Air Pump. Before you create a section in your
report you are going to create a duplicate of your last report.
You can create a section by selecting the dimension and then selecting Set as section from the
context menu.

114.

Right Click

to display the context menu.

115.

Select Duplicate to create a copy of the report.

Another copy of the report appears on screen. You need to label the different reports to make them
easy to distinguish.
116.

Right Click

to display the context menu.

117.

Select Rename to display the Rename dialog box.

118.

Type

119.

Click

Section in the New value: text field.

to complete the process.

GBI management would like a report created so they can quickly view the Quantity, Revenue, Cost,
Profit, % Profit for each Material for each Distribution Channel for each Year.
121.

Modify the Section Report as follows:

122.

Right Click

123.

Click

Paul Hawking

a value in the Material Description field to display the context menu

Set as section to insert a section in the report based on the select dimension.

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June 2012

Notice that is easier to view the results through the use of Sections. You can also add sub-sections to
improve report navigation.
124.
menu

Right Click

125.

Click

a value in the Distribution Channel Description field to display the context

Set as section to insert a section in the report based on the select dimension.

Notice that the report now has an added section related to Distribution Channels.

126.

Click

to save your report.

Formatting Reports
You will notice that although your report has been contains the correct data and has been displayed
correctly its appearance could be improved through the correct formatting. Interactive Analysis
includes all the standard formatting functionality. This functionality can be accessed under the Format
tab

Firstly you need to remove comma from the Year of Date.

127.

Click

128.

Click

129.

Click

130.

Click

131.

Click

Paul Hawking

a value in the Year of Date field to select all the values.

to display the available options.

.

to display the available formats.

1235; -1235 to select this format.

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June 2012

Test Your Skills

Format % Profit values as percentage and Profit values as currency.

You also need to format the report name to make it more meaningful.
132.

Click

Section to select the text box.

Notice that formula appears in the Formula Bar.

133.

Delete Reportname ()

134.

Type

135.

Click

136.

Resize the report heading text through selecting and dragging to fit the contents.

137.

Click

138.

Resize the text box to display the full product name.

Sales of Materials by Distribution Channels.

to validate and insert the text to the report heading.

Deluxe Touring Bike (black) to select the text box

Check the rest of report to check if anything else needs resizing.

To aid in the visual display of your report you can use conditional formatting to alert the user to any
values which they should be aware of. GBI management wanted to be alerted to Material sales
where the Cost is greater than the Revenue. Conditional formatting is available under the Analysis
and Conditional tabs.
139.

Click

140.

Click

141.

Click

a value in the Revenue column to select all values.

to display the options.

.

You need to create a rule to which the conditional formatting will apply.

142.

Click

Paul Hawking

to display the Formatting Rule Editor dialog screen.

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First you need to give your conditional formatting rule a name.

143.

Type

Sales Loss in the Name: text field to replace the existing text.

144.

Type

This rule formats the values if the costs are greater than the revenue in the
Description: text box.

You now need to create the rule. Notice that the column (Revenue) you selected has automatically
been inserted in the Filtered object or cell field.
145.

Click

144.

Click

to display the available operators.

Less.

You now need to indicate the Operands which in this case is the Cost measure.
145.

Click

146.

Click

147.

Click

148.

Click

to display the list of options.

Select object or variable to display the available objects.
to select this measure.
to transfer the selection to your rule.

You will accept the default formatting (red).

148.

Click

to apply your conditional formatting rule.

You will notice that Knee Pads and Elbow Pads values have now been highlighted so management
can take action.

Paul Hawking

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June 2012

149.

Click

to save your report.

Inserting a Chart
You can enhance your report through the inclusion of one or more charts on the reports in Interactive
Analysis. You can create a chart when you build or new report or insert charts into an existing report.
To create a chart:
select a chart template
allocate dimensions and measures to the chart axes
view the results displayed on the chart
The chart templates are found under the Chart tab under the Report Elements tab.

GBI management have indicated that they would like a chart sales revenue for a Material for each
month. It has been determined that the best way to create this chart is to include a table of results on
the report which users can filter the data through the Filter Bar. The results of the Filter will then
appear on the chart. First you need to add a new report which you are going to insert a table of results
and a chart.
150.

Right Click

to display the context menu.

151.

Select Add Report to insert a blank report.

152.

Create the following table of results

153.

Format Year of Date values to remove the comma.

154.

Create the following Filters on the Filter bar.

155.

Test

the Filters to ensure that they work correctly.

You now need to add a chart template to your report.

156.

Click

157.

Click

to display the options.

to display the chart templates.

You have decided to use a line chart in the report.

158.

Click

156.

Click

Paul Hawking

to select this chart template.

in a blank area of the report to insert the select chart template.

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June 2012

You now need to indicate the dimensions and measures to be included in the chart. To make it easier to
view the results on the chart you need filter the displayed data.
157.

Select

2009 in the Year of Date Filter.

158.

Select

BOTL 1000 in the Material Filter

159.

Drag

Revenue measure from Available objects pane onto the Y axis (Vertical) of the chart.

160.
chart.

Drag

Month of Date dimension from Available objects pane onto the X axis (Horizontal) of the

Your chart now displays the Revenue for each Month for the Water Bottle material. You can select another
material via the Filter to display its Revenue in the table of results and the chart.
161.

Select

DXTR1000 (Deluxe Touring Bike (Black)) in the Material Filter.

Notice the chart changes accordingly. You can use the standard formatting functionality through the
context menu to improve the appearance of your chart.

162.

Click

to save your report.

Test Your Skills

Create another report to Include Year of Date, Material, Material Description, Revenue, Cost and
Profit (calculated). Create a Filter on the Filter Bar for Year of Date. Create a Simple Filter to display
only Bicycles. Create a Chart with Profit (Y axis) and Material Description (X axis). Change the
Format of your Chart.

You have now completed the tutorial on Interactive Analysis. This tutorial was designed to provide an
introduction to this reporting tool and provide the fundamental skills to build reports.

Paul Hawking

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June 2012

Resources
There are many resources available on the internet that can further enhance your skills. A good place to
start is at the SAP developer Network.
SAP Business Objects Web Intelligence at SDN
http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/boc/webi
SAP Business Objects Online Tutorials.
http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/web-intelligence-elearning?refer=main

Paul Hawking

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June 2012