This was a webcast given by Visual BI on their latest extensions late last month.
Look at how deliver advanced visualizations using Design Studio with their extensions as an example
Figure 1: Source: Visual BI
Figure 1 covers the add-ons. What are the extensions? They are add-ons to Design Studio, certified by SAP.
They work with Design Studio 1.4 or higher and integrate with BI platform. The extensions include more than 40 chart types, with additional mapping capability, to close gaps in Design Studio to giveyou more visualization capabilities to quickly turn around what business users are looking for
Components are developed for developer productivity, to create a menu structure, list box with alerting capability, components that don’t need scripting so you can focus on visualization without scripting
Figure 2: Source: Visual BI
What are some of the key features that the extensions deliver?
You don’t have to figure out style sheet classes or scripting, they are already embedded in component
There is a table component that has the look and feel instead of finding the style sheet classes (which have changed between on version and the other)
Mobile front – component to create different look and feel for devices and device sizes. Instead of one look and feel for desktop, tablet, iPhone – do have components with work with devices
Figure 3: Source: Visual BI
More than 40 chart types come with the extensions
Give you a column/pie charts with additional charts; will also offer charts that do not come out of the box with DS – Marimekko, box plot, define axis types
Allow you to assign permanent colors, such assign colors to certain products
Export, print, drill down to charts
Conditional formatting, drilldown for hierarchies, reuse data sources for multiple charts to keep the number of data sources down
Chart selector so business user can change chart types on the fly
Figure 4: Source: Visual BI
In-place expand and collapse, the labels move with the hierarchy and you can see the hierarchy
No scripting
Figure 5: Source: Visual BI
Trendlines are offered, along with error bars
Figure 6: Source: Visual BI
Container to handle different chart types without scripting
Developer decides which chart types are available
Figure 7: Source Visual BI
You can develop a theme code
Identical scaling; take a chart, assign to a group, these charts will always be on an identical scale; allows users to compare values
Figure 8: Source: Visual BI
Create conditional formatting based on a single value
You can create formatting based on a calculation
Maps
Figure 9: Source: Visual BI
Two different types of maps are offered
400 maps are added out of the box – regional maps – starting from world map, countries, to California showing areas inside the state
You don’t have to create a definition, Europe or the countries
Have ability to go to longitude and latitude values and marker values shown in Figur e9
Inside the maps, you can perform drilldowns
No scripting needed
Maps integrate with BusinessObjects systems; map is a start for an analytical workflow
Figure 10: Source: Visual BI
FIPS code support is offered as shown in Figure 10
Figure 11: Source: Visual BI
The map can take the context and pass it over to another report in your BusinessObjects system
The business user can treat the map as a starting point for overall workflow
Figure 12: Source: Visual BI
No notes but this feature is a common question here on SCN
Figure 13: Source: Visual BI
Draw a circle or box around those items as a filter
Figure 14: Source: Visual BI
Read GeoJSON file, map attributes defined, to the data in DS, plot custom areas and regions on the map and decide on which measures to visualize
Filters & Selectors
Figure 15: Source: Visual BI
Filters that go beyond a basic workflow
Listbox and a combo box; SAP has this too
VBX Benefit is listbox and combo box has no scripting to feed data, combined with conditional formatting; filter those items that are critical
Figure 16: Source: Visual BI
BusinessObjects Explorer had an exploration workflow, now this is provided in the VBX extension
It works in a cascading fashion
Figure 17: Source: Visual BI
Slider component takes various forms; bottom left with static information with a range
On the right side switching between products
The top shows slider component with conditional formatting where overall moving the sliding – to a good area
Figure 18: Source: Visual BI
List box and combo box with features such as search
On the fly, the user can decide to see key, text or both
Capability to provide alerting
Figure 19: Source: Visual BI
Define how data should be filtered
Provide true hierarchy filtering from BW and HANA
Utilities
Figure 20: Source: Visual BI
Combine items that do not focus on visualization aspects but need as part of the project
Able to export PowerPoint, Word, PDF, send an e-mail
Figure 21: Source: Visual BI
Table component; SAP does give crosstab, why create table component
- Sort the table like Excel – sort by column 4 without sorting others
- Resize the column
- Interactive filtering
- Conditional formatting
- Freeze header row
- Supports mobile touch instead of swiping
Figure 22: Source: Visual BI
Configure dashboard and create multiple layouts in a single Design Studio project
Which components visible, and which placed where
Different layouts, mobile or desktop or both
Do we have to create different projects for iPhone, tablet or desktop – that question is not there as you can do it in a single project
Figure 23: Source: Visual BI
Items for quick prototyping, leverage HTML, JavaScript, and ability to use spreadsheet as a data source
Local Excel or on BI platform or Google Sheets and use them in production
KPI tile – header, footer, chart, alert, icons
What-if Scenario – take data you have and decide change values using percentages and not change the actual data in source system, just show you the impact of the scenario
Planned Functionality
Next 2-4 months
Figure 24: Source: Visual BI
Figure 24 is an overall roadmap (subject to change)
Figure 25: Source: Visual BI
Waffle charts are planned (square pie chart) – 10 by 10 chart, focusing on providing key metrics as a percentage value – “how full glass is” – see top right of Figure 25
Calendar heat map – daily weekly monthly
Add gauges to what they have – show up to 3 values – 2 data values and a trend indication
Figure 26: Source: Visual BI
Conditional formatting for maps is planned
Marker will change color – sales revenue, color code states that achieve goal
Figure 27: Source: Visual BI
Taking responsive UI to the next level; specify font re-size
Tile that allows you to define structure yourself
Figure 28: Source: Visual BI
Gantt chart is planned along with an open context menu for charts
Figure 29: Source: Visual BI
Day and week selector will be added
Capability to export large tables
Question and Answer
Q: Can this be installed on desktop without server components?
A: Yes; install to Design Studio design tool; if you want to share then install on BI platform
Q: Color palettes?
A: on the list; for maps on Q2 release; for charts part of Q3
Q: Scheduling and broadcasting offered?
A: not on the list as SAP is already working on this based on their roadmap
Q: Offline capabilities?
A: Looking at solutions
Next week
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