Siebel Business Analytics Server Administration Guide > Setting Up Mobile Analytics >

Defining Sourcing Queries for Mobile Analytics

The sourcing query is an analytics request, created in Answers and stored in the Siebel Business Analytics Web Catalog on the network. Your sourcing queries design is linked to the mobile database table schema and should be based on how your business is organized.

A unique identifier differentiates sourcing queries from the other queries stored in the Web Catalog. You create the sourcing queries in Answers (Siebel Business Analytics Web) on the enterprise server and run them to populate the SQL Anywhere database on mobile machines. For instructions about how to create requests in Answers, see Business Analytics Web Online Help.

Figure 19 illustrates how sourcing queries populate the mobile tables from the analytics repository. When a mobile user downloads application data, Disconnected Analytics Application Manager executes the sourcing queries on the Analytics Web Server. Siebel Business Analytics Web runs the sourcing queries and compresses the data for downloading to the laptop. The download operation and the subsequent load into the mobile SQL Anywhere database is performed by Disconnected Analytics Application Manager.

Data is downloaded to a mobile machine using sourcing queries and the Disconnected Analytics Application Manager. The administrator creates sourcing queries that download data for a specific application. Sourcing queries are created in Answers, stored in the Siebel Business Analytics Web Catalog, and executed from the application configuration file that is run by the Disconnected Analytics Application Manager.

When a mobile user requests a download (synchronization), Disconnected Analytics Application Manager sends the request to the Analytics Web Server. Siebel Business Analytics Web uses this sourcing query to the Analytics Server to obtain data and package it into a data set. Siebel Business Analytics Web returns the application data to the mobile user's mobile database and populates the mobile database tables.

Figure 19. Mobile Analytics Sourcing Queries Populate the Mobile Tables

Each sourcing query has a corresponding table in the SQL Anywhere database. The number, type, and order of columns in the sourcing query must correspond exactly to the number, type, and order of columns in the SQL Anywhere database table to which it corresponds. For example, if the Store table for the retail database described in Creating and Testing Tables and Indexes in the SQL Anywhere Database contains the following columns, the sourcing query for this table needs to contain the same four columns in this exact order:

• Integer identifier
• Thirty-character name
• Twenty-character city location
• Two-character state abbreviation

NOTE:  Sourcing queries can contain global filters (global filters apply to every mobile user) that the administrator adds to the source query. Additionally, mobile users can choose their own filter parameters on certain columns. To allow users to choose their filters, the administrator needs to add the appropriate columns during application configuration. For more information, see the descriptions for <filterables> and <formula> tags in Creating the Mobile Application Configuration File.

After creating a sourcing query, Siebel Business Analytics administrators can test their sourcing queries by executing them from within Siebel Business Analytics Web. For more information, see Business Analytics Web Online Help.