4 Working with BI Content
This chapter covers details of using the Oracle BI Mobile application to work with specific object types within the catalog.
This chapter includes the following topics:
Working with Analyses and Dashboards
With Oracle BI Mobile, you can see the vast majority of views provided by the desktop version of Oracle BI EE. You can perform all analytic actions in the Oracle BI Mobile application: prompts, drills, action links, and so on. You can interact with the data by filtering and sorting.
You can interact with graphs, drilling and zooming directly in the graph.
Figure 4-1 shows an example of BI content on an iPad.
When a dashboard has multiple pages, tap the page icon (at the right side of the page-title area) to access an overlay showing the available pages and tap again to navigate to one of them. You can also swipe through the page titles to find the page you want, and then tap it to open it.
You can maximize an individual view within a dashboard by double-tapping on it. The individual view then displays within the full screen of the iPad. When viewing an analysis independent of a dashboard, you can double-tap on it to expand the view to full-screen display. To revert back to the non-maximized view, repeat the double-tap gesture, or click the Previous icon in the title bar.
Figure 4-2 shows an example of a graph from the dashboard shown in Figure 4-1, expanded to use the full screen of the iPad.
Note:
Double-tapping on a view to maximize it works on most view types. Exceptions include gauges, simple trellis views, and performance tiles.
Which Objects Are Disabled when Embedded in Dashboards?
Certain objects, when embedded in dashboard pages in the desktop version of Oracle BI EE, are disabled for display in the mobile application. The following objects are suppressed from dashboard pages in Oracle BI Mobile:
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Portal header
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Report links
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Edit link in empty home dashboard
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Embedded content (iframe) view
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Alerts view
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Logical SQL view
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Create Segment view
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Create Target List view
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Briefing books
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Folder view
Working with Tables, Pivot Tables, and Trellis Views
In Oracle BI Mobile, a tap on a cell in a table and pivot table provides the same set of actions as a left-click of the mouse in the desktop version of Oracle BI EE. As for right-click actions, Oracle BI Mobile provides the same actions that are available in Oracle BI EE, except in the mobile application you use the tap-and-hold gesture rather than the right-click of the mouse.
Note:
Because there is no usage of right-click on an iPad, this guide refers to the "right-click menu" as the "context menu."
For example, to sort data, tap and hold on the column header to access the mobile version of the desktop application's right-click menu and then select Sort Column, as shown in Figure 4-3.
In tables, pivot tables, and trellis views, when Data Viewing is set to "fixed headers" in the Properties dialog (see Figure 4-4) for an analysis, you can use a single-finger drag gesture to scroll through data in all directions.
Working with Graphs
User interaction with graphs is different in Oracle BI Mobile from that of the desktop version of Oracle BI EE.
In the desktop version of Oracle BI EE, you can initiate actions using the mouse: a left-click (for example—drill, action-link, master-detail), or hovering the mouse (to show a tooltip).
In Oracle BI Mobile, where the user interaction is touch-based rather than mouse-based, gestures perform the actions.
How Do Tooltips Display in Graphs?
A tap gesture launches a tooltip (as does hovering the mouse in the desktop version), and the tooltip includes a button that can initiate the desktop version's left-click action.
The tooltips and menus that display on graph markers provide a layer to perform actions on the graph data. When there is only one action available for a marker, that action's button is readily visible in the tooltip layer. When there are multiple actions available, you see an Options button in the tooltip layer.
To dismiss a tooltip:
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Do one of the following:
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Tap an empty area of the graph.
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Tap on a different graph marker. (This launches a new tooltip.)
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In some cases—for example, in a graph with bars much thinner than the finger with which you tap and drag—you may need to nudge a tooltip to an adjacent bar so that the tooltip you want is the one that is actually displayed.
To move a tooltip:
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Drag the tooltip to an adjacent bar.
The tooltip now displays the value or action for the bar to which you have moved it.
How Do Legends Display in Graphs, Funnel Graphs, and Gauges?
The display of a graph, funnel graph, or gauge legend is different on a mobile device than it is on a desktop:
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On a desktop (where the graph or gauge format is Flash), the legend list is scrollable and the legend text does not wrap.
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On a mobile device (where the graph or gauge format is PNG), the legend list is not scrollable and the legend text can wrap.
Working with Performance Tiles
Performance tiles work in Oracle BI Mobile in the same way as any other view, and they display in the mobile application as they do in the desktop version of Oracle BI EE. To interact with performance tiles in Oracle BI Mobile:
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You can access an action link on a performance tile by tapping the performance tile.
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You can tap and hold on the performance tile to display the full text of a tooltip.
Working with Prompts
In Oracle BI Mobile, dashboard prompts are rendered in a manner that is optimized for the mobile context and for finger gestures. While nearly all functionality of the desktop version is available, it is rendered differently.
Supported prompt types include column prompts, variable prompts, and currency prompts. Most input options are supported, including text, radio button, checkbox, and so on.
Image map prompts and hierarchical prompts are rendered inside the BI content, while other supported prompts are rendered in the prompts bar (shown in Figure 4-5).
What Do Prompts Look Like in Oracle BI Mobile?
Figure 4-5 shows the prompts bar, which displays across the top portion of the screen.
Figure 4-6 shows the same prompts bar as in Figure 4-5, along with a prompt for selecting display months.
You can hide the prompts bar by tapping the Options icon then tapping Hide Prompts, as shown in Figure 4-7. To make the prompts bar visible again, tap Show Prompts.
What are Simple Prompts and Advanced Prompts?
Oracle BI Mobile uses two variants of prompts, as described in the following list:
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Simple prompt. Displays when there is a small number of entries in the prompt list. The simple prompt is optimized for the user's quick selection of items from the list.
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Advanced prompt. Displays when there is a relatively large number of entries. Additional options are included that support filtering of the larger list.
Note:
In Oracle BI Mobile, in a prompt list with a large number of items, viewing the complete list, beyond 256 entries, is different than on the desktop version. To view beyond 256 entries in a prompt list, you tap "Display the next 256 members" at the end of the list.
Figure 4-8 shows a simple list prompt that accepts a single entry from the user.
Figure 4-9 shows an advanced list prompt that includes a Search field.
The Show Selections button is a toggle that switches to Show All. When you tap Show Selections, only the list items you have selected are displayed rather than the entire list provided by Show All. The Clear All button enables you to clear all your selections at once.
Working with Text Boxes in List Prompts
Figure 4-10 shows a list prompt that includes the Between operator (a hyphen) and two text boxes.
To work with text boxes in list prompts:
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With the focus on the first text box, select an item from the list to add it.
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Tap the second text box to move the focus there, then select an item from the list to add it.
What Do Slider Prompts Look Like?
Figure 4-11 shows a double-thumb slider prompt using a Between operator (a hyphen) to show a range of revenue totals.
Working with Changeable Prompt Operators
In the desktop version of Oracle BI EE, a prompt can be defined such that the end user is able to vary the prompt's operator, from within the dashboard. In the desktop version of this feature, a list of operators displays in a dropdown next to the prompt, as shown in Figure 4-12 and Figure 4-13. From the dropdown, the desktop user selects the desired operator (for example, "contains").
In Oracle BI Mobile, changeable prompt operators display differently, as shown in Figure 4-14. There is a single button (circled in red in the figure) displayed in the top left of the prompt box. With each tap you do, you toggle to the next operator in the list.
To vary the prompt operator in a changeable prompt:
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Tap the changeable prompt operator button at the top left of the prompt box.
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Continue tapping until the prompt you want to use is chosen.
Setting Search Options for Prompts
The Search field in a list prompt filters the visible list of items.
Figure 4-15 shows the Search Options dialog where you can specify details including the search operator, and whether your search is to be case-sensitive.
To specify search options for a prompt:
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In the prompt dialog, tap the Search Settings icon (the gear).
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Select a search operator:
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In the Search Options dialog, tap the Operator row.
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Tap the operator you want to use, for example Contains.
Your selection of a search operator returns you to the Search Options dialog.
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Specify whether you want the search to be case-sensitive by tapping the Case Sensitive toggle to ON or OFF.
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Tap Previous to return to the prompt dialog, then tap Done.
Working with Map Views
This section complements "Working with Map Views on Dashboard Pages" in Oracle Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition. This section explains how to work with maps in the Oracle BI Mobile application, as the methods differ. If you are new to viewing maps in Oracle BI EE, you should begin with "Working with Map Views on Dashboard Pages" in Oracle Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition before learning the gestures described in this section.
Oracle BI Mobile provides interactive map-view functionality that is optimized for the iPad.
Use touch gestures to work with maps on your iPad, as follows:
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Double-tapping. To render the map as a single visualization using the entire screen, double-tap on it.
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Panning. To pan, drag the map around with one finger.
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Zooming. To zoom, use the standard two-finger gesture of pinching and spreading.
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Drilling. To drill or display a popup with options, use a single tap.
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Modifying thresholds for slider formats. To edit the text for a slider threshold, tap the text and use the keyboard.
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Showing or hiding formats. To show or hide a format, tap to check it or uncheck it.
Note:
You can work only with visible formats and you cannot change which formats are available.
Figure 4-16 shows a map view.
Figure 4-17 shows the same map view expanded to fill the entire screen.
You can move back and forth between the expanded and unexpanded map views.
To return to the unexpanded map view:
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Tap the Previous icon (at the top left of the screen).
You can display a legend for the map.
To view the map legend:
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Tap the Legend icon, shown in Figure 4-18.
The My Location feature enables you to find your current location on a map and place a pin on it.
To view your location:
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Tap the My Location icon, shown in Figure 4-19.
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If prompted to allow the application to use your location, tap Allow.
The My Location icon displays inactive while the application searches for your location.
If your location can be found, a pin is displayed at the position where the device calculates your location to be.
If your location cannot be found, a message is displayed.
To remove your location pin:
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Tap the pin.
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Tap Remove.
Working with Oracle BI Mobile Apps
You can view Oracle BI Mobile apps in the Oracle BI Mobile application. The Oracle BI mobile apps appear in the catalog, just like other BI content. When you tap the thumbnail for an Oracle BI Mobile app, the mobile app is launched and you can navigate within it.
To return to Oracle BI Mobile from the Oracle BI mobile app:
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Tap once in the iPad's status bar (where the current time displays) to reveal the Previous icon.
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Tap the Previous icon.
Note:
Another way to navigate back from the Oracle mobile app to Oracle BI Mobile is to swipe from the left of the screen to reveal the navigation bar, then tap one of the navigation icons.
An example of viewing an Oracle BI Mobile app on an iPad is shown in Figure 4-20.
Working with Oracle BI Publisher Content
You view Oracle BI Publisher content in the Oracle BI Mobile application in the same way you view it in the desktop version of Oracle BI EE. You can open reports directly from the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog and you can view them in dashboards.
Viewing of BI Publisher content is interactive in the Oracle BI Mobile application. You can apply parameters for BI Publisher reports.
You can save BI Publisher reports as local content, and when connected to the Oracle Business Intelligence Presentation Services server, you can refresh their data. You can email locally saved reports as static attachments, but not as embedded content.
Working with Scorecard Content
In dashboards, you view scorecard content in the Oracle BI Mobile application in much the same way as you view it in the desktop application. When scorecard objects are embedded in a dashboard, you can see a fully interactive and complete view of scorecard content on the iPad. You can view KPI watchlists, smart watchlists, custom views, strategy maps, strategy trees, KPI contribution wheels, and cause & effect maps.
Note:
For interactive use on an iPad, it is strongly recommended that scorecard views be embedded in a dashboard rather than requiring that the mobile user open the files directly from the catalog.
You can also open scorecard content (except smart watchlists) directly from the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog; this displays the content in a simplified table format. (See Figure 4-23.)
In Oracle BI Mobile, a subset of the context menu options are available. You can access the context menu in a watchlist or for a diagram node by using the tap-and-hold gesture.
You can view and interact with a KPI contribution wheel in a dashboard. Tap and hold a KPI node on a scorecard diagram, KPI watchlist, or smart watchlist, and then tap View as KPI Contribution Wheel.
To zoom in or out in all of the scorecard graphical diagrams (except for the KPI contribution wheel), use the pinch gesture. In the KPI contribution wheel, use the pinch gesture to increase or decrease the number of concentric rings displayed.
Figure 4-21 and Figure 4-22 show two versions of a strategy tree—the first is on the desktop version of Oracle BI EE, and the second is the same strategy tree viewed in Oracle BI Mobile.
Figure 4-23 shows a DHTML view of a strategy tree. This is how the strategy tree is displayed when opened in Oracle BI Mobile from the catalog, as an object not embedded in a dashboard.
Working with Alerts and Agents
In terms of user interface elements provided by Apple iOS, an "alert" is the popup that displays to provide important information before you take an action and that has a short title and an OK button to exit out of it. This guide refers only to alerts as understood as a part of Oracle Business Intelligence, that is: a notification generated by an agent that delivers personalized and actionable content to specified recipients and to subscribers to the agent.
On your mobile device, you can view the same agent-generated list of active alerts you view in the desktop version of Oracle BI EE. Each alert in your list provides the associated object's name and its last execution time.
The Oracle BI Mobile application checks for alerts on application startup and again periodically when you are working with the application or have it open.
The Alerts bar, shown in Figure 4-24, displays your current alerts. The most recent displays at the left. The Alerts bar also displays the Alerts icon (a bell) that shows the number of current alerts. You can scroll through multiple alerts. You can clear alerts. You can hide the Alerts bar.
The associated alert output (analyses and dashboard pages) for your active alerts can be opened from the Alerts bar on your mobile device as well. As with the desktop version of the alert output, these are non-interactive reports.
To hide the Alerts bar:
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Do one of the following:
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Tap the Alerts icon (the bell).
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Tap the New Alerts icon (the red-circled number overlapping a small bell).
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When the Alerts bar is not visible, the New Alerts icon displays to the left of the Options icon on the title bar.
You can open BI content associated with alerts.
To open the BI content associated with an alert:
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In the Alerts bar, tap the alert.
The BI content associated with the alert is displayed.
You can clear an individual alert or multiple alerts at once.
When you clear an alert in the mobile environment, its elimination is synchronized with the desktop version of Oracle BI EE. Likewise, when you clear an alert in the desktop environment, its elimination is synchronized in the mobile environment.
To clear an alert:
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In the Alerts bar, tap and hold until the Close control (an X) displays in the upper-right corner of the alert thumbnail. (At this point you can clear multiple alerts if you wish, because all your alerts display the Close control.) Tap the Close control. When finished, tap outside the Alerts bar to exit the clearing mode.
When all your alerts have been cleared, the Alerts bar disappears.
As with the desktop version of Oracle BI EE, you can execute agents in the Oracle BI Mobile application through a schedule.
To run an agent from the Alerts bar:
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In the Alerts bar, tap the alert associated with the agent you want to run.
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In the alert's view, tap Run Agent.
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Tap Done.
The agent executes, and when complete, a success or failure message displays. When execution is successful, the Alerts bar is updated appropriately.