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Creating and Saving Requests in Siebel Answers

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A Siebel Analytics request contains SQL statements that are automatically generated through the point-and-click features in Siebel Answers. A request also contains information about how you want the results to appear, and can also include different views of the data.

When you run a request, the associated SQL statements are executed and the results are returned in the format you specify, such as in an interactive table or a chart. The default format is to have results returned in a table.

To create a new request in Siebel Answers

Navigate to Siebel Answers.
Select a subject area by doing the following:
In the selection pane, click the Catalog tab.
In the New Request list, click a subject area to query.

The selection pane refreshes and shows the Columns tab.

To see the columns in a subject area, click on the plus sign (+) to expand it.
To add a column to the request, click it.

The selected column appears in the Requested Columns view in the right pane, on the Criteria tab.

Click on additional columns to add them to the request.

NOTE:  A request can include columns from only one subject area.

To see the results, click the Results tab in the right pane. You can also click Go.

The results appear in a table.

NOTE:  In Siebel Analytics applications, the Results tab might display an ODBC error if you do not include at least one measure in your request. (A measure, also known as a fact or a value, is a numeric additive quantity, such as price per unit or number of closed service requests.) If a request returns an ODBC error, add a measure to the request, and then run the request again. Adding a measure allows a meaningful result to be returned.

If you plan to run the same request again, you can save the request.

Saving a New Request in Siebel Answers

You can save a new request in your personal Siebel Analytics folder or, if you belong to a group, you can save it in the group's shared folder. Requests that are saved in your personal Siebel Analytics folder are added to your Quick Answers list. Requests that are saved in your My Folders directory can only be viewed, run, and modified by you. Requests that are saved in shared folders can be viewed, run, and modified by other users who belong to that group.

To save a request in Siebel Answers

In Siebel Answers, create or modify a request as needed.
Click Save.

The Save Request page appears.

At the top of the Save Request area, click the appropriate folder link in which you want to save the request.
To create a new folder in which to save the request, do the following:
Click the Create New Folder link.
In the Folder Name field, type a descriptive name for the folder.
In the Description field, type a brief description. For example, you could specify the type of information you are saving in the folder.
Click Create Folder.
Click Save Request Here.
In the Name of Request field, type a descriptive name for the request.
In the Description field, type a brief description of the request.

Typing a description is optional, but is a recommended best practice.

Click Save.

Saving Quick Answers Requests in Siebel Answers

Requests that you save into your primary folder, titled My Folders, are automatically added to your Quick Answers list. (The Quick Answers list appears in the right pane when you first access Siebel Answers, and provides links to the requests that you run most often.)

To save a request to your Quick Answers list in Siebel Answers

In Siebel Answers, create or modify a request as needed.
Click Save.

The Save Request page appears.

Make sure My Folders is selected as the location.

NOTE:  If My Folders is not the selected location, click the Change Location link and navigate to My Folders.

In the Name of Request field, type a descriptive name for the request.
In the Description field, type a brief description of the request.
Click Save.

Saving Siebel Analytics Reports to a Lotus Notes Database

There are two approaches to adding Siebel Analytic reports to a Lotus Notes database:

Save the report to a Web archive file (file extension .mht), and then upload the file to the Lotus Note database.
Schedule the report using Siebel Delivers to be emailed automatically to a specific address on a Lotus Notes server. The Lotus Notes server can then process the email and write it to the database.

Running a Saved Request in Siebel Answers

You can access and run saved requests in Siebel Answers.

To run a saved request in Siebel Answers

Navigate to Siebel Answers.
In the selection pane, click the Catalog tab.
In the Catalog area, expand the folders to display the saved requests.
Click a request to display it in the Results view.

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