Dave's Adventures in Business Intelligence

One of the more powerful features of Web Intelligence (Desktop Intelligence as well) is the ability to combine data from more than one source into one document. This is done by creating multiple data providers, linking them up, and using the combined results in a report block. However, everything has to work out just right. Sometimes it doesn’t. 🙂

Merging Data Providers in Web Intelligence

Dimensions are the “keys” of a data provider. When two database tables are linked in a universe, certain columns are used to join them together. Dimensions serve this role in linking two data providers. When two (or more) data providers are built in Web Intelligence from the same universe they are automatically linked together using any common dimension objects. What happens when two different data sources are used? In that case, the report writer has to merge the information manually. And if the dimensions from each data provider are not identical, the report has what I call “unbalanced” data providers. That’s what I want to describe in this blog post. Continue reading “What Are Unbalanced Data Providers And Why Should I Care?”

Here is a number: 50

Here is a gauge:

Which is more effective? Which conveys more information, and why? Continue reading “Why Are Gauges Important?”

During the 2008 GBN Conference in Dallas I delivered a presentation related to universe design. The last third of the presentation demonstrated a solution for time-sliced measures that I have used on a couple of different projects now. After the presentation I had two different people make suggestions that were proposed as being easier to implement than what I showed.

In each case I was able to tell the person that we had considered and perhaps even tested their suggestion and found it lacking in some way. I didn’t have time to present all of the different options during the one hour slot that I had at the conference, but I have unlimited time to explain options here on my blog. 🙂 But before I go back and detail things that we tried that did not work out so well, I am going to have a few posts (it’s too long for just one) about the solution we did implement.

This blog post will cover slides 19 through 22 from the 2008 GBN Conference presentation. Continue reading “Time-Sliced Measures Part I: Defining the Problem”

I am proud to introduce the Dagira Group. *sound of crickets chirping*

What the heck is the Dagira Group? Astute readers (and that would be all of them, far be it from me to think anything less 🙂 ) will recognize that “dagira” is the domain name for my blog. At the moment the “group” is relatively exclusive, as it consists of exactly one person.

Me.

Why is that?

Here is something I don’t get to say very often… I resigned from my job yesterday. 🙂 In over twenty years I have only worked for three different companies. In the late 80’s I started in the technical support department of a software company named Fifth Generation Systems and eventually made my way into the IT group there. They made the top-selling personal computer backup program called Fastback, later followed by Fastback Plus. Yes, that is a highly-collectable still shrink-wrapped package from my computer museum that I have scanned and posted. (I say “museum”, my wife says “junk”, but to each their own, right?) 😆

I worked for Fifth Generation Systems until 1992. At that point I moved to Dallas to join a consulting firm where I continued to work until the end of 1994. I joined Integra Solutions and started learning Business Objects in January of 1995. That was a long time ago. 🙂 In 2007 Integra Solutions merged with Quorum Business Solutions but I’m going to still count that as one company.

So that means from 1988 to 2009 I only worked for three companies. What’s next?

First I am going to take some time off, as I already had some vacation scheduled. (I am going to get out of this Texas heat and go somewhere much cooler.) When I come back, I have some preliminary ideas about a universe review service that I would like to offer, as well as some other things that have been floating around in my brain for a while. I will be posting more details as they get finalized. I will still be doing the presentations that I was selected for at the GBN conference coming this fall, and I will continue to remain active on BOB. Those things won’t change.

The services that I have in mind will be provided by a new company named the Dagira Group, and ultimately this blog site will contain more information about the services that I hope to offer.

So as I said earlier in this post, I am proud to introduce the Dagira Group. *sound of much applause*

There, that was better. 😎

By the way, I have several blog posts written up and scheduled to be published while I am on vacation. You’ll never even know I am gone.

I did a fun presentation (at least I had fun) at the New York user group a few years back. I found the original download package and have posted it on the presentations page on this site. The download package includes the presentation in Adobe PDF format, several universes, some Microsoft Access database files, some sample reports… basically everything you need to go through the slides and review the examples.

There is a “readme” file that contains notes on how to get everything working. The reports and universes were originally built in version 5, but should be usable in any current version (up through XI 3.1 as I type this). The demonstration reports were all built in Desktop Intelligence.

There are so many things going on; I don’t know where to start. Some of the events are more global than others.

• XI 3.1 SP2 has been released. Dallas Marks has already provided details about the release. Tom Nather also posted that it’s lacking some fix packs.
• I just finished going through an Xcelsius training class. Expect to see some blog posts on it soon. 🙂
• DFW local user group meeting is coming up on Tuesday. I was scheduled to present but they moved the date which left me with a conflict. Now I don’t have a conflict, so I get to go.
  
• Voting for the 2009 BOB Member of the Year will open shortly. I have to finish checking the nominations and get the voting page ready to go. BOB members that have been registered for more than 90 days can vote.
• “Early Bird” registration for the 2009 GBN Annual Conference in Dallas expires on August 21st. You don’t want to miss “Return of the Variables” do you? 🙂
  

There is more potential news to come, but that’s what I have for now. I am also going to be taking some vacation soon. Don’t worry, I have some blog posts scheduled to come out while I’m gone so you can carry on without me. 😎

In an attempt to complete the blog posts related to my GBN Conference presentation from 2008 before the upcoming conference in 2009 kicks off I bring you Context Versus Alias: The Smackdown Cage Match. 😆 People often post on BOB as if contexts and aliases are competing for the same job, and that is certainly not true. Each technique has an appropriate use, and I will cover them (although not in much depth) in this post. I won’t be showing the process for creating contexts or aliases in this post as it would end up being too long.

This post is related to slides 13 through 17 from my 2008 conference presentation. Continue reading “Context Versus Alias Overview”

We got a new feature / parameter in Designer a while back called JOIN_BY_SQL. This feature allows a universe designer to turn on an option that changes how multiple SQL statements are processed. This is related to the multi-path SQL generation provided by Business Objects, which frankly I think is one of the most powerful features of the product. What is multi-path SQL? What does JOIN_BY_SQL do to change that? Read on for details. 🙂

Continue reading “What does JOIN_BY_SQL do?”

Measure objects are – in my opinion – the most critical objects in your universe. Without them you can only make lists. While lists might be good for a grocery store or library, they don’t do much to help someone run their business. Measures give your universe purpose. They also are the source of most of the design challenges like fan or chasm traps.

In this post I’m going to go back to a basic concept and talk about SQL aggregation and universe projection and how they work together. Continue reading “SQL Aggregate Versus Universe Projection”

I am going to be delivering two sessions at the 2009 GBN conference this fall. I have one scheduled on Monday and the other is on Wednesday. My first session will be about report variables, and will most likely use the 3.x line of Webi for the demonstration platform. I’ve posted about the history of the “Variables” series of presentations before. 🙂 Since I haven’t done one of those for a while, the title that was submitted was “Return of the Variables.”

Session Code: 902
Title: Return of the Variables
Session Date: Oct 19 2009
Session Time: 1:30PM – 2:30PM
Room: Fleur De Lis A&B

The past few years I have done a few presentations on universe design and I have another one this year too. I just finished a project where we had to deal with recursive (hierarchical) data, and we used quite a few interesting techniques to solve those challenges. I’m going to show various ways to model recursive data and the implications each design has on reports. The subject is a bit more specific than I usually like to use for a conference presentation, but it comes up enough that I decided to submit it anyway. I hope the folks that attend will find it useful.

Session Code: 1012
Title: Universe Models for Recursive Data
Session Date: Oct 21 2009
Session Time: 10:45AM – 11:45AM
Room: Grand Ballroom D

The conference is back in Dallas again this year, which means I don’t get to travel somewhere fun. More information on the conference (including a full schedule) can be found on the conference web site.

Related Links

• GBN Annual Conference