I explain how users can use Platform Search capabilities with BI Launch Pad and how you can configure Platform Search for optimal efficiency and use within the Central Management Console (CMC) of SAP BusinessObjects.

How to Use Platform Search in BI Launch Pad

Users can enter search text either in the search field at the top of the BI Launch Pad screen or in the search field on the left-side search drawer on the Documents tab. Results of the search appear in the Details component of the Documents tab. When the end user runs the search, the results are broken down within the left-side search drawer sorted by facet. Figure 1 shows the BI Launch Pad screen with an entry in the search field, search results in the Details area, and results broken down by facet in the left-side search drawer.

Figure 1

The BI Launch Pad Documents tab with search results

As in previous releases of BusinessObjects, users can conduct platform searches of content in the SAP BusinessObjects system by using techniques similar to those used in other search engines such as Google, Yahoo, or Bing. Therefore, users can enter a partial word or multiple words in the search field or use the following search operators:

• Quotes (“”) to search for an exact word or set of words
• A dash (-) before a word or site to exclude all results that include that word
• An asterisk (*) as a placeholder for any unknown or wildcard terms
• The word “and” if the search results need to include both words
• The word “or” if the search results can include any of the words

Configure Platform Search in the Central Management Console (CMC) [Heading 2]

An administrator of BusinessObjects can configure and modify Platform Search within the Platform Search Application Properties management area of the CMC. Within this page, an administrator can determine how and when content within the SAP BusinessObjects system is indexed so that end users can search the content within the BI Launch Pad application.

To access the Platform Search Application Properties management area of the CMC, log on to the CMC. Go to the Applications area of the CMC. Select Platform Search Application as shown in Figure 2. Click Manage and then Properties to open the Platform Search Application Management area. The Platform Search Application Management area appears as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 2

The Applications area of the CMC with Platform Search Application selected

Figure 3

The Platform Search Application management area of the CMC

The Stop/Start Indexing option enables and disables the search indexing process to allow for a switch from continuous crawling to schedule crawling or for maintaining the search index. The Default Index Locale option determines the language of the documents contained within the SAP BusinessObjects system. Content relevance in search results is based on the language of the documents contained in the search index.

The Crawling Frequency option determines whether the search index is continuously updated (Continuous Crawling) or if the search index is updated based on a schedule (Scheduled Crawling). Continuous Crawling means that the search index is constantly running and the search index is updated whenever content is added, modified, or deleted within the SAP BusinessObjects system. Scheduled Crawling means that the search index is updated based on the execution of a platform search job. See the section “Schedule Search Index Crawling in the CMC” for configuration and scheduling of the platform search job.

The Index Location option determines the physical location on the SAP BusinessObjects server or network location of the files that contain the search indexes, including master index location (indexes, spellers), persistent data location (content stores), and nonpersistent data location (temporary surrogate files or delta indexes).

The Level of Indexing option determines the level of information contained within the search indexes. Level of Indexing includes Platform Metadata, Platform and Document Metadata, and Full Content options. When the Platform Metadata option is used, only titles, keywords, and descriptions of documents are contained with the search indexes. When the Platform and Document Metadata option is used, titles, keywords, and descriptions are contained with the search indexes, but the creation date, modification date, and name of the author of documents are also contained within the search indexes. When the Full Content option is used, titles, keywords, descriptions, creation date, modification date, and name of the author of documents are contained with the search indexes. However, the actual document content, content of prompts, and a list of values, charts, graphs, and labels are also contained within the search indexes.

The Content Types option determines which type of content is either included or excluded from the search indexes. Content types that can be chosen include Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, text, Adobe Acrobat, rich text, Crystal Reports, Universe, and Web Intelligence.

The Rebuild Index option allows you to delete the existing search index and to rebuild a complete search index from the start. If the Rebuild Index option is unselected, then the search index is incrementally updated from the start without deletion of the existing search index.

The Documents Excluded from Indexing option explicitly keeps specific documents from being included within the search indexes.

The configuration of schedule crawling of Platform Search is conducted in the Folders management area of the CMC rather than the Platform Search Application management area of the CMC. To access the Platform Search Scheduling options of the CMC, log on to the CMC. Go to the Folders area of the CMC. Click the Platform Search Scheduling Folder. The Platform Search Scheduling Object appears in the Details area under the word Title as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4

The Platform Search Scheduling folder of the CMC

An administrator of BusinessObjects can configure how long the Platform Search Scheduling Object executes. The default value is 20 minutes. The minimum value that can be chosen is 1 minute, and the maximum value that can be chosen is 525,600 minutes. To configure the duration for the execution of the Platform Search Scheduling Object, right-click anywhere on Platform Search Scheduling object in the Details area under the word Title to open a context menu. Select Platform Search Schedule Duration as shown in Figure 5. 

Figure 5

Select the Platform Search Schedule Duration option within the CMC

Setting the correct Platform Search Schedule Duration is important for the Platform Search Scheduling Object to accurately index all the content and documents within the BusinessObjects system. If the duration is too short, both new and unindexed content and documents within the BusinessObjects system are not added to the search index. If the duration is too long, the Platform Search Schedule Object uses system memory and system resources longer than necessary and may ultimately slow down performance of the entire BusinessObjects system. Therefore, the rule of thumb is to set a high duration (i.e., more than 200 minutes) after importing or loading large amounts of documents to the BusinessObjects system (so that all of the new documents can be indexed). Set a relatively low duration (i.e., 20 minutes) for on-going and regularly scheduled execution of the Platform Search Scheduling Object so that system memory and system resources are only used for a short period of time.

Set the Platform Search Schedule Duration by entering the number of minutes in the Schedule Duration field as shown in Figure 6. Click the Save button to save the schedule duration.

Figure 6

Set the duration

An administrator of BusinessObjects can also configure the date or time when the Platform Search Scheduling Object executes. To configure the schedule for the Platform Search Scheduling Object, right-click anywhere on Platform Search Scheduling object in the Details area under the Word Title to open a context menu. Select Schedule as shown in Figure 7.

Figure 7

Choose the schedule option

Click Instance Title to specify a title for the schedule instance as shown in Figure 8. Click Recurrence and select a recurrence pattern from the Run Object drop-down menu (Figure 9). The Run Object drop-down menu provides the following recurrence patterns that you can select:

• Now
• Once
• Hourly
• Daily
• Weekly
• Monthly
• Nth Day of Month
• 1st Monday of Month
• Last Day of Month
• X Day of Nth Week of Month
• Calendar (Custom)

Figure 8

Set the instance title

Figure 9

Set the recurrence option

An administrator of BusinessObjects can view a history of the execution of the Platform Search Scheduling Object from the same place that you configure the Platform Search Scheduling Object. To view the history for the Platform Search Scheduling Object, right-click anywhere on Platform Search Scheduling Object in the Details area under the word Title to open a context menu. Select History as shown in Figure 10.

Figure 10

Select the History option

The history of the Platform Scheduling Object appears (Figure 11).

Figure 11

The history of the Platform Scheduling Object