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Siebel Analytics Server Administration Guide > Setting Up Disconnected Analytics >
About Disconnected Analytics
Siebel Disconnected Analytics allows customers to view Siebel Analytics data, dashboards, and queries when they cannot connect to the network to access the Siebel Analytics application. Typically, mobile users connect their personal machines (usually laptops) to an enterprise server running Siebel Analytics. After downloading a Disconnected Analytics application, they can disconnect their laptops from the network (for example, to travel on a business trip) and still view Siebel Analytics dashboards and queries on their laptop machines. For more information about using Disconnected Analytics on a mobile machine, see Disconnected Analytics Online Help. Table 22 contains definitions of terms used to describe Disconnected Analytics. Siebel Analytics provides the following disconnected solutions:
- Briefing Books allow mobile users to put a static snapshot of Analytics content on their laptop to access when they are working offline. You can use the static content in Briefing Books for tasks such as managed reporting and lightweight content distribution. Briefing Books can be scheduled and delivered using iBots and is available as part of Siebel Analytics Web. For more information about Briefing Books, see Siebel Analytics Web Administration Guide.
- Managed Disconnected Analytics is centrally administered and managed. It provides most analytical functionality that is available in the network-based Siebel Analytics application. After populating their local database, mobile users connect to a local dashboard through a browser and see the same UI that they would see on the dashboards on Siebel Analytics Web.
NOTE: In this guide, Disconnected Analytics refers to managed Disconnected Analytics. The disconnected database, disconnected repository, and other disconnected components are interchangeably referred to as mobile, local, or disconnected. When Siebel Analytics is used to describe components, it refers to components of the network-based Siebel Analytics application. For example, Siebel Analytics Server refers to the network-based Siebel Analytics Server.
Frequently Used Terms for Disconnected Analytics
Table 22 contains definitions of terminology used to explain the development and deployment of Disconnected Analytics applications.
Table 22. Frequently Used Terms for Disconnected Analytics
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Data set |
A written definition of how to create and/or populate a specified list of SQL tables for a disconnected application on a disconnected machine. A data set represents an inseparable downloadable unit of data for a synchronization operation. This gives mobile users more flexibility when downloading data for a disconnected application to their disconnected machine. For example, a rapidly changing fact table may have its own data set while the relatively static dimension tables may share another data set. Advanced users might select specific data sets that they wish to download during synchronization (in the Disconnected Analytics Application Manager, on the Advanced tab), but less-experienced users might prefer the default selection of data sets. |
Data set family |
A group of related data sets. One data set in the group, labeled the parent data set, does not depend on any other data set in the group. All other data sets in the group depend directly on the parent data set and only on the parent data set. |
Disconnected Analytics Application Manager |
The utility program used to synchronize, start, and delete a disconnected application on a disconnected machine. |
Disconnected application |
A completely self-contained Siebel Analytics application that runs on a disconnected machine. Application data resides in a disconnected SQL Anywhere database, Analytics Server metadata resides in a disconnected repository (the disconnected repository), and Analytics Web metadata resides in a disconnected Web Catalog. |
Disconnected application configuration file |
A file in XML format that defines a particular disconnected application, including associating sourcing queries and SQL Script files with data sets and identifying the location of the disconnected repository and disconnected Web Catalog. |
Disconnected machine |
The machine is typically a laptop on which Siebel Analytics is installed with the disconnected option. A mobile user connects to the enterprise server from this machine and initiates a synchronization operation to download a disconnected application. |
Disconnected repository |
The Siebel Analytics Server repository for a disconnected application downloaded from the enterprise server to a disconnected machine during a synchronization operation. |
Disconnected Web Catalog |
The Siebel Analytics Web Catalog for a disconnected application downloaded from the enterprise server to a disconnected machine during a synchronization operation. |
Enterprise application |
The fully functional Siebel Analytics application that runs on the enterprise server. The disconnected application is a version of the enterprise application that is configured for a single user. It typically contains fewer queries (reports) and dashboards and a subset of the data. |
Enterprise repository |
The Siebel Analytics Server repository for the enterprise application. |
Enterprise server |
The central machine that runs the complete version (as opposed to the disconnected version) of Siebel Analytics and hosts the enterprise application. Mobile users connect their disconnected machines to the enterprise server to download a disconnected application. |
Enterprise Web Catalog |
The Siebel Analytics Web Catalog for the enterprise application. |
Full data set |
A data set that represents all data for a particular disconnected application at a given point in time. Subsequent incremental updates are defined by incremental data sets. The full data set and the incremental data sets all belong to the same data set family. The full data set is the parent data set. |
Incremental data set |
A data set that defines additional data generated after a full data set. |
Parent data set |
The data set in a data set family on which all other data sets in the family depend. |
Sourcing query (report) |
A query that is stored in the Siebel Analytics Web Catalog on the enterprise server and is used to generate data files for downloading to a disconnected application. |
SQL script files |
Files containing SQL commands that create and populate tables and indexes in the SQL Anywhere database on a disconnected machine. |
Synchronization operation |
The mechanism for synchronizing a disconnected application on a disconnected machine with the corresponding application on the enterprise server. The following are some of the tasks that this operation performs:
- Downloading data files generated or stored on the enterprise server to a disconnected machine.
- Loading those files into a SQL Anywhere database on a disconnected machine.
- Downloading the disconnected repository.
- Downloading the disconnected Web Catalog.
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Distinguishing Between the Disconnected and the Enterprise Environments
The Siebel Analytics environment on the disconnected machine (typically a laptop) is a logical equivalent to the Siebel Analytics environment running on an enterprise server. However, the disconnected environment has been scaled down for a single user. The laptop contains its own data stored in a SQL Anywhere database. It contains a fully functional Siebel Analytics Server that accesses a disconnected analytics repository, and a fully functional Siebel Analytics Web Server that accesses a Disconnected Web Catalog. The following is a list of some of the primary differences between the disconnected and enterprise environments:
SQL Scripts
To create SQL Anywhere tables, and possibly indexes for those tables, on the disconnected machine, a Siebel Analytics administrator must create scripts with appropriate SQL commands. Each table must have a distinct corresponding script file, and all indexes for a given table share a distinct script file. For more information about SQL script files, see Creating and Testing Tables and Indexes in the SQL Anywhere Database. Sourcing Queries
Sourcing queries generate the data that is stored in the SQL Anywhere database on the disconnected machine. Siebel Analytics administrators create sourcing queries using Siebel Analytics Web and store them in the Web Catalog on the enterprise server. Sourcing queries do not differ substantively from any other queries (requests) stored in the Web Catalog. Only their use for populating the SQL Anywhere database on the disconnected machine distinguishes them from other queries. Each sourcing query corresponds to a specific table in the SQL Anywhere database on the disconnected machine. Therefore, the order, number, and type of columns in the sourcing query must exactly match the order, number, and type of columns in the associated table. For more information about sourcing queries, see Defining Sourcing Queries for Disconnected Analytics. The Disconnected Analytics Application Manager
The Disconnected Analytics Application Manager runs on the disconnected machine and coordinates the download process in conjunction with Siebel Analytics Web running on the enterprise server. The Disconnected Analytics Application Manager is installed on the laptop when you install Siebel Disconnected Analytics. It allows a mobile user to download tables and application data to a laptop database. It does not upload data from the laptop to the enterprise server. For instructions about how to use the Disconnected Analytics Application Manager, see Disconnected Analytics Online Help. CAUTION: You should not edit a DAD or SDC file. The Disconnected Analytics Application Manager is associated with the DAD and SDC file extensions.
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