In an age of convenience, business users are apt to use easily accessible tools for analysis. BEx Web Analyzer in SAP NetWeaver BI 7.0 can be that tool for business users. It can serve as an entry point to all your reports in BEx Analyzer through a URL, providing the user flexibility to access reporting within and outside various technical environments. This shortcut exposes the user to the familiar categorized InfoAreas in which InfoCubes and queries pre- exist and where ad-hoc reporting on various InfoCubes can take place on the spot. Users of BEx Analyzer will discover that it is very similar to the steps of opening a query in BEx Analyzer.

To do this, you must first employ Web Application Designer (Web AD) in SAP NetWeaver BI 7.0. Web AD is important because the BEx Web Analyzer Web template exists in Web AD under the technical name 0ANALYSIS_PATTERN.

Before you obtain the URL through Web AD, you must alter the template so that it mimics the way the variable screen is displayed in BEx Analyzer. By default in BEx Web Analyzer, BEx Web queries are executed instantly, bypassing the variable screen for user input. This scenario often leads to the re-execution of the report for values desired of the business user. You need to change some of the configuration within the template itself so that the variable screen appears when a user selects a BEx Web Analyzer query with variable inputs.

First, you must execute Web AD to alter the behavior of the template. To do this, you or your IT personnel must have authorization or role privileges to make changes. To access the standardized BEx Web Analyzer template, click on the open icon located at the top left corner in Web AD.

This brings up a dialog box for opening a particular template. In our example, we want to locate the 0ANALYSIS_PATTERN template. Under the Search Method text description, enter 0ANALYSIS_PATTERN and select Search in Description and Search in Technical Name (Figure 1). Click on the Find button. In the results, highlight the template you want and click on the Open button (Figure 2).

Figure 1

Click on the Find button to search for a given method

Figure 2

Highlight 0ANALYSIS_PATTERN

To keep this standard template version of 0ANALYSIS_PATTERN unscathed, copy it so that you can configure the BEx Web Analyzer template to meet the needs of general users. Copy the template by clicking on the Web Template menu item located at the top left corner of Web AD. Select the Save as… option and use your company's IT naming standards for description and technical naming. You should save the template to a specific role so that other IT personnel can access it if a production support issue presents itself.

Now you can make the changes necessary for this template to function properly. In Web AD, click on the Layout tab. In the Properties section, select the drop-down menu that displays all the Web items Figure 3. Select Web Template so that two tabs appear: General and Web Template Parameters (Figure 4).

Figure 3

Select Web Template

Figure 4

General and Web Template Parameters tabs

To customize the template so that it displays the variable screen when the user wants to run a Web BEx Analyzer report, you must alter the properties in the Web Template Properties tab. The Behavior section contains an option labeled Display Variable Screen. Select this option so that a check mark appears in the check box and it says On (Figure 5). Click on the save icon.

Figure 5

Activate the Display Variable Screen option

Capture the URL

Now that your template is more user friendly, you can capture the URL and place it anywhere for user convenience. Web AD has an option that obtains the URL and copies it to a clipboard. On the Web AD menu bar, select Web Template>Publish>Copy URL into Clipboard.This stores the URL link to your customized BEx Web Analyzer template. You can then paste the link in an Internet browser or post it to a portal page.

You can also use the URL to display your customized BEx 7.0 template inside your Business Server Page (BSP) application. To do this, implement IFrame functionality to display the inline frame by entering a simple HTML code inside the BSP application. You achieve this by creating a BSP application using Object Navigator or Web Interface Builder.

If you are going to make only one BSP page to display a customized template, then Object Navigator is a good option to develop a BSP application to reside on a BSP page. Otherwise, you can use Web Interfaces to build a Business Planning and Simulation (BPS) applications. You can use Web Interface Builder to create a BSP application to combine the customized template BSP page with BPS planning applications. It is useful to have both in the same application so business users can use the customized template to look up any existing query. They can also create a new query to gather data to enable and support their operational and strategic decision making process, and then use any BPS planning applications to enter data for their planning and forecasting activities.

Object Navigator

To implement the URL into the BSP application using Object Navigator, log in to SAP NetWeaver BI and execute transaction SE80. Then enter a new customized BSP application with a name that begins with Z to follow the SAP NetWeaver BI naming standard to create a new custom object. Next, click on the Layout tab and enter a simple HTML code to create IFrame functionality with the template URL as a source of the IFrame inside the layout (Figure 6).

Activate the BSP application by clicking on the activate icon. Then test the application by clicking on the test icon . This automatically launches a new window and displays the BSP application with your customized template URL embedded inside the IFrame.

Web Interface Builder

To use the Web Interface Builder, log in to SAP NetWeaver BI and execute transaction BPS_WB. Create the application by clicking on the New button and assigning the application a name that begins with Z to follow the SAP NetWeaver BI naming standard for a custom application.

Next, create a new subcomponent by right-clicking on the page and selecting Text, Image, HTML. Assign a name to the subcomponent and then click on Ok. Finally, click in the Text field to display text and select the Use F4 Help to Edit Text option (Figure 7). Enter the simple HTML code shown in Figure 6. To make sure the text subcomponent displays as HTML, change the HTML option in Figure 7 to true.

Figure 7

Enter a component name, select text, and enable HTML

Execute the Web Interface application. Click on the generate icon to generate the application. Then click on the Display Preview button to launch the BSP application automatically.

Access the URL

You have now implemented a simple HTML code to create IFrame functionality to display our customized BEx 7.0 template inside the BSP application. You can also use the BSP application's URL for your portal environment or to open the BSP URL from your Internet Explorer Favorites folder.

If you paste the URL into an Internet Explorer window, you can log on using your SAP NetWeaver BI user ID and password. After you log in, you can access any BEx Analyzer report by clicking on the New Analysis button (Figure 8). A dialog box appears that allows the user to access BEx queries from the History, Favorites, Roles, and InfoArea tabs (Figure 9).

Figure 8

Access BEx Analyzer reports with the New Analysis button

Figure 9

Select where you would like the user to access the query

Clicking on any of the items listed in any of the tabs executes the report. A variable screen appears if there are variable options in the BEx report. We copied the standard template and changed the properties so that the system prompts us for a variable entry as shown in Figure 10. Enter the desired values for your report and click on OK to execute. The BEx Web Analyzer report appears allowing users to navigate, filter, chart, and analyze their data easily through a URL link (Figure 11).

Figure 10

Variable Entry screen

Figure 11

BEx Web Analyzer report

Add the URL to Portal Site

In certain situations you might want to integrate the URL in an SAP NetWeaver Portal to present the application to the business customers. First, you or your IT personnel must have access to Portal Content Studio, which is an environment for developing and managing portal contents. There are several ways to create an iView.

Develop an iView in the Development Folder

One way would be to develop an iView under your development folder by right-clicking a folder to open a drop-down list of options and clicking on New>iView. A new iView page and tab appears on the right side of the page. Accept a default option to use the iView template and click on Next.

Then, you should be presented with an iView template selection page. If you created a BSP application with IFrame functionality, select the SAP BSP iView template and click on Next. Enter the appropriate required iView name and iView ID fields.

When completed, click on Next. Choose either Application or Alias for the BSP definition type. We recommend using Alias because it is simpler.

Next, you come to the BSP Parameters page. For the system setting, choose the SAP NetWeaver BI system. For the BSP alias, enter sap/bc/bsp/sap/(insert your BSP namespace here) . Finally, enter the BSP application name ending with .htm in the Start Page option and then click on Next. This takes you to the summary page, which is the final process of creating an iView. Click on Finish to complete the process and you should now see your iView under your development folder.

Use the Web AD URL

If you did not create a BSP application, use the Web AD URL instead. First, right click your folder to open a drop- down list of options so you can click on New>iView. A new iView page and tab should appear on the right-hand side of the page. Accept a default option to use the iView template and click on Next.

An iView template selection page appears. Select the BI 7.x Web Application iView template option and then click on Next. Enter the appropriate names for the required Name and ID fields and then click on Next. The BEx Web Application parameters page appears in which you select the SAP NetWeaver BI landscape system for the System option.

For Query String, inspect the template URL and enter the URL path that begins with TEMPLATE=(NAME OF WEB AD). When completed, click on Next for the iView summary page, and then click on Finish to complete the iView creation process.

Publish the iView in Web AD

Another way to create an iView is to publish the iView in Web AD to your development folder in SAP NetWeaver Portal. In Web AD, go to menu option Web Template>Publish>To Portal. Click on the selection icon to the right of the Folder field. Find your development folder, click on Transfer, and then click on Execute. Close the confirmation window, and then go to Content Administration in SAP NetWeaver Portal and verify that the iView is visible under the development folder.

Create a Portal Page

After you have completed creating or publishing an iView to your development folder, you need to create a portal page. The portal page presents the iView to the business users.

Right-click your development folder and then click New>Page. Enter the appropriate Page Name and Page ID, and then click on Next. Accept the default Page Template selection for the page and click on Next. We recommend choosing the 1 Column (Full Width) layout to fully display the application in the portal.

When completed, click on Next and then Finish to complete the page creation process. Select the check box to edit the object if it is not already selected and click on Next. To add the iView to the page, right-click on the iView under your development folder and select Add iView to Page>Delta link from the context menu (Figure 12). Figure 13 shows the result of adding the iView delta link to the portal page. Click on Save when you are finished.

Figure 12

Add the iView delta link to the page

Figure 13

After you add the iView delta link

Organize the Portal Page

You can organize the portal page using a portal role. Right-click on your development folder and select New>Role from the context menu to create a new role if you do not have an existing role. Enter the appropriate Role Name and Role ID and then click on Next. Finally, review the role creation process summary and then click on Finish. Accept the default option to edit the role object and then click on Next. The Role Object editor for the role appears on the right side of the screen.

Right-click on the role and select New Folder from the context menu to create a new folder under the role to serve as first level navigation if you do not have one already. Edit the new folder properties and change the Entry Point option to Yes to enable the folder to act as an entry point on the first-level navigation.

Click on Save to save your work. Right-click on the portal page you just created and select Add Page to Role>Delta Link to add the page to the role. The page appears on the second-level navigation. You can also add a second new folder to serve as the second-level navigation and then add the page under this new folder. With the latter option, the page link appears in the navigation on the left.

Assign Users and Groups

Now you can assign users or groups, such as Active Directory groups, to the portal role under User Administration in the portal's first-level navigation (Figure 14). This allows business users to see a page that contains the template. If you do not see User Administration, consult your SAP Portal Administrator to give you the User Administration role or have the administrator add users or groups for you.

Figure 14

Template displayed in SAP NetWeaver Portal