SAP Business Intelligence ( BI )

Financial and Budget Reporting

Level II

A Step (or Two) Beyond …

( Limited Edition – Signed Copies Available )

December 2009

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Table of Contents Personalize the Initial Variable Screen ....................................................... 3 Create Your Own View .............................................................................. 5 Bookmarks .................................................................................................. 8 Context Menu Options ................................................................................ 11 Fiscal Period Selection ............................................................................... 15 Hierarchies .................................................................................................. 16 Exceptions ................................................................................................... 19 Conditions / Criteria .................................................................................... 22 DrillDowns .................................................................................... 25 DrillAcross .................................................................................... 27 Additional Filtering ..................................................................................... 29

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Personalize Your Initial Variable Screen If you have a specific fund center or group of fund centers that you submit on a regular basis, you can “save” your input so that you do not have to re-enter the same information each time you want to run a report. Saving the input is called a “personalization.” In this example, I want to save the particular selection made below.

Right click the “Personalize” button and select the personalize option. When you do this, the screen will clear. However, a new button (All) will appear at the bottom of the window. You should also notice that the row that was used, Fund Center Hierarchy (Groups), will not be displayed. At this point, you simply have to click the “execute” button to run your report.

Selection to be saved / personalized

Personalize button

“All” button

Fund Center Hierarchy (Groups) row is “missing.”

“Execute” button

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To use your personalization, click the “All” button. Your personalization will be displayed … the “missing” row will re-appear. Also, the “Personalize” button, will now have a small face profile to indicate that the selection is a personalization.

To change your personalization, simply click the “Delete” button and make another selection in any of the variables. Delete Personalization To delete your personalization, right click the “Personalize” button. From the menu that opens, select “Delete Personalization.”

Row is now visible Selection button

Delete button

Free button

Face profile

Right click menu from Personalize button

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Create User Defined Views Each report tab comes with a number of different delivered views of the information. You can select a different view from the drop down list. You can also create your own views that will be available whenever you run a report in the future.

Any view you create will only be available for your use. No one else will have access to the views that you create. The value of this feature is that you can manipulate a current view by

expanding particular triangle / navigation nodes selecting various sorts using any screen available buttons adding filters / conditions on the information (to be discussed later).

Once you have the view changed to your liking, click on the “Create User Defined Views” button next to the view dropdown list.

Create User Defined View button

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A window will open. Click on the “Save View” button. (Click the “Close” button if you do NOT want to save the view.)

Another window will open. Enter a name for you view in the Description field.

Suggestion: Name each of your views in a consistent manner. For example, you might want to use the word “My” as the first word in each name you assign.

“Save View” button

“Close” button

Description field

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Your personal view is now available anytime you open the BI Report. In other words, it will be there whenever you use the BI Report. It does not go away when you close the session. You can create as many views as you like on each tab (other than the Dashboard tab). Your view will be included in the drop down list.

When you select your view, you also have the ability to remove / delete this view using the trash can icon that appears. Please note that you cannot delete any of the delivered views. The “Trash Can” button will only appear when a user defined view has been selected.

“My View” included in the drop down list

“My View” selected

“Trash Can” button to remove your user-defined views

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Bookmarks You have the ability to “bookmark” a report for future reference. Take the time to set up each tab the way you want to see it by selecting the appropriate view, including user-defined views on each tab. You can also include any filtering conditions and exceptions (topics to be discussed later) that you want on each tab. Once the entire report is as you want it, create a bookmark so that you do not have to repeat all these steps each time you submit your report. The bookmark can be saved as an Internet Explorer favorite for easy access. Utilizing a bookmark eliminates the need to complete the Initial Variable screen. When you click on the favorite, you will have to log-in to BI, but you will not have to complete the Initial Variable screen.

The favorite will only work on the PC where it was created. However, you can “copy and paste” the text of the link in an e-mail message so that others can create the same favorite … assuming they also have a SAP BI account.

Bookmark button on toolbar

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A new window will open. When done, the web address / link will be available.

A sample of “copying and pasting” the web address … https://maximus.sytec.passhe.edu:44430/sap/bw/BEx?SAP-LANGUAGE=EN&BOOKMARK_ID=4EQBHZWI1T01S6A5R8PGTN7GA

You have to add this bookmark to your Internet Explorer favorites in order to access it at a later time. (The entire web address needs to be copied.) You can create as many bookmarks as you like. When you use the bookmark to access the BI Report, the Initial Variable screen selection that was in place at the time the bookmark was created will be used. However, once you enter the BI Report, you can click on the appropriate link to return to the Initial Variable screen and select different fund centers.

Beginning of bookmark identifier …

Entire link must be used

when creating a Favorite or Shortcut

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Bookmarks versus User-Defined Views

Bookmarks / Favorites User-Defined Views All Initial Variable Screen selections are saved with the Bookmark / Favorite. All drill downs / expansions will be saved with the Bookmark / Favorite.

User defined views will not save any of the Initial Variable screen selections. These views will be available every time you use the BI Report, regardless of the Initial Variable screen selections.

Bookmarking will save the navigation state of all the tabs. Each tab will be saved as it was left when the bookmark was created.

User defined views will only impact the particular tab.

Multiple bookmarks / favorites can be created. Multiple views can be created on any tab (other than the Dashboard tab).

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Context Menu Options Various portions of the BI Report are web items – typically underlined like web links – that have a Context Menu associated with them. This menu can be accessed by right clicking on the underlined item. The Context Menu provides various functions that are dependent on the particular starting point. In other words, the content of the Context Menu can change from location to location.

Context Menu … sample

Note: This is a sample of the Context Menu. The menu options will vary based on where you right clicked to get the menu. The menu itself is context sensitive. If a particular menu option does not apply to a particular entry, it will not be displayed at that point.

Underline appears as mouse is rolled over the text …

Right click on the text to open the Context Menu.

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Context Menu Options Back Choose “Back” if you want to undo a navigational step in this query view. This takes you

back one step to undo your most recent action. Back to start Choose “Back to start” if you want to undo all of the navigational steps in this query

view. This will return you to the original / default query view. Bookmark Creates a bookmark of the page in the current configuration. After bookmarking, simply

add the web link to your Internet Explorer favorites for future viewing. This works the same as the Bookmark button on the toolbar.

Calculate result as... Use this function to recalculate the results rows and single values that are displayed in the

query according to the following criteria: a. Summation b. Maximum or Minimum c. Count All Values or Count all values < > 0 d. Average of All Values or Average of All Values < > 0 e. Standard Deviation or Variance f. Suppress Result g. First Value or Last Value.

Calculate single values as... Use this function to recalculate the single values that are displayed in the query according

to the following criteria: h. Normalize result i. Normalize total result j. Normalize … Ranked list or Olympic ranked list

Cumulated Use this function to cumulate the individual cells in an area. The first value is added to

the second value … the result is added to the third value … and so on. In the columns, the cells are cumulated from top to bottom, and in the rows, the cells are cumulated from left to right. With blocks of single values, that is, a drilldown in both the rows and the columns, the values are cumulated from top to bottom and from left to right.

Distribute Allows for the distribution of a query by e-mail. The Broadcaster Wizard dialog box will

display to guide the user through the e-mailing options.

Drilldown → across or down For characteristic descriptions (for example, country), you can choose Drill Down →

Vertically in the navigation block or from a label in order to drill down along the axes for the columns or rows.

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Export as → CSV file / MS Excel 2000 file MS Excel 2000 File … The navigation status does not change and the formatting is

transferred. You can see the filter restrictions and the data in the table. Exceptions are highlighted in color in the same way as they are on the web.

CSV File … You can export the query data into a CSV (comma separated value) file. Unlike exporting to MS Excel 2000, you do not see the numbers in context and you cannot see the filter data. The query formatting (such as how the exceptions are displayed) is not transferred to the CSV file.

Filter and Drilldown According to → Characteristic Use this to afix a characteristic to a value in one step (meaning to filter it) and to

drilldown according to another characteristic on the same axis (row axis or column axis). Goto Choose Goto when you want to access documentation and jump to a lower level of detail

in another report window. Keep filter value Choose Keep Filter Value if you want to see only the data for a characteristic value. The

characteristic value itself is removed from the drilldown. Fix filter value to axis Use Keep Filter Value on Axis if you only want to see the data for a characteristic value

but still want to see the characteristic value itself in the drilldown.

Key figure definition Use Key Figure Definition to see how a concrete figure is comprised in your web

application. You can check whether data has been loaded and/or analyze errors. Properties Use Properties when you want to change different settings for the characteristic or key

figure. Query properties Use Query Properties when you want to change different settings for the query at run

time. Remove drilldown Use Remove Drilldown if you want to remove a characteristic from the drilldown.

Select filter value Use Select Filter Value if you want to filter the web application according to values.

Sort → Sort ascending / sort descending Use this function to sort structural component values in ascending or descending order

Sort characteristic Use this function to sort characteristic values or attributes for a drilldown characteristic in

descending or ascending order. You can sort by the key or the name.

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Swap axes Use this function to swap the axes of the query. If you have characteristics in the rows

and key figures in the columns and you choose Swap Axes, then the key figures are displayed in the rows and the characteristics are displayed in the columns.

Swap characteristic 1 / structure 1 with → characteristic 2 structure 2 Use this function to swap a characteristic / structure with another characteristic /

structure.

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Fiscal Period Selection Many of the report tabs include a Fiscal Period / Year drop down list. This allows you to select a particular period (month) within the reporting fiscal year.

If you click on the Fiscal Period / Year link, the following window will open.

You can select specific periods and then click the “Transfer” button to move your selection to the report tab. It may take a few seconds to complete the transfer, so please be patient and wait. Do not click the “Transfer” button multiple times.

Fiscal Period / Year drop down

list Fiscal Period /

Year link

Selection of specific periods

Create a more unique selection of fiscal periods

Transfer button

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Hierarchies Hierarchies are tree-like structures to organize values … the following example is a fund center hierarchy based on our organizational structure.

The hierarchy can be removed either with the Context Menu or by using the appropriate toolbar button.

Hierarchy level … based on our organizational structure … identified with triangle / navigation nodes

Hierarchy level … based on our organizational structure … identified with triangle / navigation nodes

Hierarchy level … based on our organizational structure … identified with triangle / navigation nodes

Toolbar button to turn on (or turn off) the fund center hierarchy … toggle

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With fund center hierarchy turned off …

Commitment Item Hierarchy Operating node expanded further

Hierarchy turned off …

Operating node Expanded …

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A better way … Rather than clicking each individual node to expand things, take advantage of the Context Menu. Roll your mouse over the column title to get the underline. Then right click to open the Context Menu.

The Hierarchy portion of the Context Menu

Click on the Expand Hierarchy option. Then click on the appropriate level. The higher the level number selected, the greater the expansion. Selecting the highest number level will ensure complete expansion.

Roll mouse over column heading … underline will appear … right click to open menu …

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Exceptions

Please note that the following functionality is available on all but the Dashboard tab. The Exception functionality allows you to color code key figures based on thresholds that you determine. The color coding has three different shades of three different colors (green (good), yellow (critical), and red (bad)) for a total of nine options. Click on the “Exceptions and Conditions” button. The screen will expand.

“Exceptions and Conditions” button

“Create” button

“Close” button

Link for help

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Click the “Create” button to establish a new condition.

Define Exception section Enter a name for the Exception in the Description field. Select a field / column to be evaluated in the Evaluation for Budget Structure field. Exception Values section Select an operator (=, >, <, between, etc.) for the Exception. Enter the appropriate values. Make sure the first field in the row is selected / checked. Validity Area of Exception Make sure the Validity Area for All Characteristics Not Listed field is set to All. Click the “Transfer” button. Example: The example displayed above in the printscreen is set to highlight the Actuals & Commitments column values where the dollar amount is less than or equal to $5,000.

Enter a name for the Exception

Select the column involved

Select the appropriate operator

Enter appropriate limits

Select desired color

“Transfer” button

“Close” button

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To edit / delete an Exception …

Right click the Exception. A menu will open. Select the appropriate option. Make the appropriate changes. Click the “Transfer” button. The “Close” button will close the Exceptions & Conditions portion of the screen.

“Close” button

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Conditions / Criteria

Please note that the following functionality is available on all but the Dashboard tab. The example provided here uses the Trend tab as the starting point. Also, the example provided utilizes the Fiscal Period field for applying additional conditions / criteria. All of the other fields noted in the Navigation Block are available to use separately and/or in combination with each other. Click the “Trend” tab to move to this report.

In the CI Category drop down list, select the “Operating” option. Click on the “Display Navigation Block” button on the toolbar. Another section of the report will open.

CI Category drop down list

“Display Navigation

Block” button

Trend tab

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Click the “Fiscal Period” filter button. A “Select Filter Value for Fiscal Period” window will open.

Fiscal Period filter button

“Close” button

Fiscal Period / Year “Filter” button

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Click the appropriate check boxes to select the desired fiscal periods.

After checking all of the desired fiscal periods, click the “Transfer” button. Click the “Transfer” button and patiently WAIT for the screen to refresh. Click the “Close” button to hide the filter portion (Navigation Block) of the report.

Click the desired fiscal periods.

“Transfer” button

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Navigation Block Drilldown and DrillAcross

Please note that the following functionality is available on all but the Dashboard tab. The example provided here uses the Status tab as the starting point. Also, the example utilizes just one of the fields that is available. Click the Display Navigation Block icon on the toolbar. The Navigation Block will open.

Drilldown icon Drillacross icon DrillDown option …

Click on the Drilldown icon associated with the Fund Center field.

Drilldown icon associated with the Fund Center field

“Close” Navigation Block button

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Delivered / default view …

After clicking the drilldown icon associated with the Fund Center field …

Commitment Items

Each commitment item now has subtotals for

each fund center

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DrillAcross option …

After clicking the drillacross icon associated with the Fiscal Period / Year field …

DrillAcross option for the Fiscal Year / Period field

“Close” Navigation Block button

Dollar amounts broken down by fiscal period

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Removing DrillDown and DrillAcross functionality …

When a DrillDown or DrillAcross is executed, the particular image of that icon changes.

To remove a DrillDown or DrillAcross, simply click the icon again.

When clicking on icons in the Navigation Block, please wait patiently for the command to execute and the screen to refresh before clicking on the next command.

DrillDown by Fund Center applied …

icon changed DrillAcross by Fiscal Period / Year

applied … icon changed

DrillDown by Fund Center applied …

icon changed

DrillAcross by Fiscal Period / Year

applied … icon changed

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Additional Filtering

Please note that the following functionality generally applies only to the following types of fund centers 7511xxxxxx through 7519xxxxxx. Click the “Filter Buttons” icon. This will open a new section of the report.

This section of the report allows you to further filter the included fund centers. You can select 7511xxxxxx EG – Education & General 7512xxxxxx ES - Ed Supplies 7513xxxxxx FD – Faculty Development 7514xxxxxx HD – Human Resources (Staff) Development 7515xxxxxx IN – Presidential Initiatives 7517xxxxxx SS – Self Support 7518xxxxxx WK - Workshops 7519xxxxxx UG – Unrestricted Grants 7511xxxxxx through 7515xxxxxx 7517xxxxxx through 7519xxxxxx Click the appropriate button based on your filtering needs.

Individual filtering buttons

Group filtering buttons

Remove filtering options

“Close” button

“Filter Buttons” icon

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Note: Click the “Remove All Filters” button to remove any additional filtering that you had used. This will return the report to the point where all of the initially selected fund centers are included in the displayed results.

Click the “Close” button to close this section of the report. The second time around … Once you have added a filter for a set of fiscal periods (July / August / September in this example), you have to remove this filer before you can make a different selection within the same reporting session. If you exit the reporting system, this step is not necessary. Click the “Display Navigation Block” icon on the toolbar to open the Navigation block. Click the “Trashcan” icon associated with the Fiscal Period filter. This will remove the existing filter selection. Then click the “Filter” icon to select new fiscal periods.

Filter button for fiscal periods

Trashcan icon to remove existing

filters