| Oracle® Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Mobile 11g Release 1 (11.1.1) Part Number E25318-02 |
|
|
PDF · Mobi · ePub |
| Oracle® Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Mobile 11g Release 1 (11.1.1) Part Number E25318-02 |
|
|
PDF · Mobi · ePub |
This chapter describes how to work with Oracle Business Intelligence Mobile.
This chapter contains the following topics:
"Navigating the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog and BI Content on Your iPad"
Note:
This chapter discusses working with Oracle BI Mobile and BI content in general terms. For details about working with Oracle BI Mobile in regard to specific BI catalog objects, see Chapter 4, "Working with BI Content."
You navigate BI content on your device by sliding or scrolling through your favorite objects and your recently viewed objects, and by directly accessing dashboards in a special dashboards hierarchy view. To access BI content that you have not already viewed, marked as favorite, or saved locally, you navigate or search the catalog on the server.
Figure 3-1 shows the Search screen. With the All toggle selected, you can see the hierarchy of folders in the catalog.
Inside folders, you see generic icons representing their content. When you have already opened BI content on the iPad, thumbnail images of the actual catalog objects replace the generic icons.
You use the All/Highlighted toggle at the top of the screen to specify which parts of the catalog will be included in your search. When you set the toggle to All, the search is performed in all folders (Local, Shared Folders, My Folders). When you set the toggle to Highlighted, the search is performed in the context of the folder that is highlighted in the catalog list.
This section includes the following topics:
For information on gestures that you use to interact with the application, see Appendix B, "Touch Gestures Used in Oracle BI Mobile."
You navigate the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog on your iPad using the device's standard list navigation for folders.
To navigate to an object and open it:
In a list of folders, perform one of the following actions:
To see the contents of a folder, tap the folder in the catalog list.
To go up a folder level, tap the arrow to left of the directory path (below the search bar).
When you find the object you want to open, tap it.
You can choose between two display styles for the Recent view and the Favorites view. That is, you can view your BI content in two different ways. These display styles are the following:
Carousel-style display. In the carousel, to navigate to a favorite object, you can swipe to move to the next item (to the side of the highlighted item), or you can tap the next item to move to it. Then tap it to open it. To open a highlighted folder, tap it or use the spread-fingers gesture. To close a folder, use the pinch gesture; this takes you to the upper-level folder above the folder you closed.
List-style display. In a list-style display, drag your finger up or down to navigate the list of objects, and when you see the item you want to view, tap it to open it.
To change from the carousel-style display to the list-style display, or vice versa, tap the respective icon. In the navigation bar, below the Options icon, you can see this carousel/list toggle. When you are in the carousel-style display, the toggle shows the List-style Display icon, and when you are in list-style display, the toggle shows the Carousel-style Display icon.
Figure 3-2 shows the carousel-style display of the Favorites view. Note that at the right edge of the navigation bar, there is the List-style Display icon.
Figure 3-3 shows the list-style display of the Favorites view. Note that at the right edge of the navigation bar, there is a Carousel-style Display icon.
You can access your dashboards on your mobile device as quickly and easily as you can in your desktop version of Oracle BI EE. The Dashboards screen displays a list of all the top-level dashboards to which you have access.
To open a dashboard:
In the tab bar, tap Dashboards.
A list of your top-level dashboards is displayed for you to scroll through. This set of dashboards is identical to the list you see when logged into Oracle BI EE with the desktop application.
Tap a dashboard.
There are significant differences in how users interact with applications when the user interface is touch-based rather than mouse-based.
In the content area of your iPad's screen, you can view BI content using standard iPad browser interactions, such as panning. The right-click functionality of the desktop application is accessed using a tap-and-hold gesture. As with many iPad applications, there is no dragging of content in Oracle BI Mobile.
See Appendix B, "Touch Gestures Used in Oracle BI Mobile" for information on the various interactions you can do in the Oracle BI Mobile application.
While viewing BI content, you can tap the Options icon in the title bar to access an Options menu. Menu items vary based on the type of BI content you are viewing.
When you have opened a catalog object, your screen includes a Previous icon and a Home icon. Tapping the Home icon takes you directly back to the Home page; it is essentially a shortcut that enables you to skip the navigation hierarchy when navigating backward.
Tapping the Previous icon navigates you in a backward sequence through the objects you have viewed while interacting with a dashboard, and then at the end of that navigation, to the Home page.
You can navigate backward between external URLs (when there is a navigation link in the BI content), and backward to a different dashboard page explicitly (through the title bar).
You cannot reverse-navigate from the base point of navigation, so when you are in the following views, there is no Previous icon to take you backward:
Favorites
Recent
Dashboard
Catalog
Search
Local Content
If the Refresh option is available, then you can refresh the data associated with the open BI content. The Refresh option updates the data associated with the object you are viewing; the Refresh option does not update any other modifications that may have happened to the report while you have had it open.
Open the object.
Tap the Options icon and then tap Refresh.
The query is rerun and the content is refreshed.
You can view read-only properties about your BI content, including type, description, owner, file location, and last-modified date. In addition, for alerts you can view alert definition fields (Last Run, General, Schedule, Condition, Content, Recipients, Destination, Actions).
To view properties for BI content:
Tap the Options icon and then tap Properties.
Review the catalog information.
When finished, tap Done.
You can apply any saved dashboard customizations (defined in the desktop version of Oracle BI EE) when viewing dashboards in the Oracle BI Mobile application.
The Apply Customizations option is visible in the Options menu only for dashboards in which the user has saved some customizations (through the desktop application).
For information on saving dashboard customizations, see "What Are Saved Customizations for Dashboard Pages?" in Oracle Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition.
Use the Oracle BI EE favorites feature on your iPad to add as favorite any BI content that you view regularly or want to view again at another time. If you already have favorites added from your use of the desktop version of Oracle BI EE, these favorites will pre-populate your favorites list when you begin using BI Mobile.
Your Favorites view shows all content you have added as favorite on your device and for your given server configuration. This means that you could configure another mobile device to the same server for the same user, and the user would see the same set of favorites.
Your desktop favorites and your mobile favorites are always in sync. Changes made in either place on a given server will be visible to you in both contexts.
In the Oracle BI Mobile application, you can navigate your Favorites hierarchy. While viewing a favorite, you can remove it from your favorites list. To organize your favorites, use the desktop application).
For general information on how favorites work in Oracle BI EE, see "What Are Favorites?" and that topic's related topics in Oracle Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition.
This section includes the following topics:
When viewing BI content, you will find it useful to add objects to your favorites list to enable you to quickly return to them later.
You access the Favorites screen by tapping Favorites in the tab bar.
To add a catalog object as a favorite:
While viewing the BI content, in the navigation bar where the object's title appears, tap the Options icon.
In the Action menu, tap Add to Favorites.
Note:
The Add to Favorites button does not appear in the Action menu for BI content that is already in your favorites list.
The BI content is added to your list of favorites.
In the tab bar, tap Favorites.
The Favorites screen is displayed.
(Optional) Tap the List-style Display icon or the Carousel-style Display icon to change the view from a list of favorites to a carousel.
Tap the favorite you want to open.
Synchronization of favorites happens at login. When you connect to a BI Presentation Services server from your mobile device, your mobile favorites automatically synchronize with your desktop favorites. Any favorites you have added from your mobile device are automatically added to the "root" category. Any favorites you have added while logged in from the desktop are automatically synchronized to the device.
To move favorites between folders or organize them differently, you must first log in to the desktop Oracle BI EE application. For more information on organizing favorites, see Oracle Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition.
Just like with your favorites, the list of your recent items is synchronized with the desktop version, and this happens at login. When you connect to a BI Presentation Services server from your iPad, your mobile list of recent items automatically synchronizes with your desktop recent items.
Local BI content does not appear in your recent items list, because your locally saved catalog objects are not available from the desktop version.
In Oracle BI Mobile, a local-content version of a catalog object is like a briefing book. It is a separate copy of the BI content, for which only the data can be refreshed.
You can work with BI content saved locally to your iPad whether you have a server connection or not.
This section is organized as follows:
You can save local versions of BI content to your mobile device. You can save analyses, dashboards, briefing books, and BI Publisher reports.
To save BI content locally:
While viewing BI content, tap the Options icon.
Tap Save to Local.
(Optional) Give the BI content a new name.
Tap OK.
Note:
There are security measures you can take with your iPad, outside of Oracle BI Mobile, that can enhance the security of your BI content and your organization's data. For example, you can enforce device security policies with regard to password protection. You can also remotely wipe the device clean in case of theft or loss.
In the Server Connection screen, you can go straight to your Local Content without connecting to a BI Presentation Services server.
To view local content:
(Optional) In the Server Connections screen, tap Offline.
You do not need to be offline to view local content. Take this step if you want to see only local content (that is, no live content from a BI Presentation Services server).
In the Local view, swipe to scroll through your local content.
Tap the thumbnail for the BI object you want to view.
When viewing BI content that is saved locally, you can readily see that the content you are viewing is a local copy rather than live content, because "Local Copy" appears immediately after the name.
You can refresh your Local content while in online mode to fetch data changes from the server.
To refresh your local content:
If you are in Offline mode and you want to refresh BI content you are viewing locally:
Tap the Back button to return to the Home page.
Tap the Options icon, and then tap Login [your BI Presentation Services server].
Tap Local, and return to the BI content you were viewing.
Tap the Options icon, and then tap Refresh.
The timestamp on the BI object thumbnail, when in the Local view, shows the time that you refreshed it from the server.
If you are in Online mode and you want to refresh BI content you are viewing locally:
Tap the Options icon, then tap Refresh.
In the desktop version of Oracle BI EE, administrators can disable access to the save-locally feature. This is done in the Security area of the Administration: Manage Privileges page, by restricting the privilege called "Enable Local Content." For more information, see Oracle Fusion Middleware Security Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition.
Figure 3-4 shows how the Enable Content Privilege can be disabled on a per-user basis, or by role, such as BI Consumer.
Oracle Business Intelligence Mobile provides the same search behaviors as the desktop version of Oracle BI EE. In the Oracle BI Mobile application, you can search on catalog object name, catalog object type, and description. The search is restricted to objects you can view with Oracle Business Intelligence Mobile.
The Search view displays the search directory below the search criteria field. When the All/Highlighted toggle is set to Highlighted, the search directory represents the base directory from which your search will be performed. If the toggle is set to All, the search will be performed across all folders (My Folders, Shared Folders, Local Content).
You can change your search options using the Search Settings screen. The Search Settings screen is accessed from the Search screen. For more information, see "Adjusting Search Settings".
Figure 3-5 shows the Search view.
The Search view has a toggle for All and Highlighted, and your search is performed either in a specific location within the catalog (that becomes highlighted when you choose it) or within the entire catalog, depending on which tab you select.
If you perform a search within a specific, highlighted location, and then want to expand your search to the entire catalog, you can tap Continue searching in other folders... to do so. This option appears below the last entry in the search result list.
You can cancel a search that is in progress by tapping the Cancel button.
Note:
Your local BI content is included in searches performed from the Search view. To search only among BI content saved locally, use the Search field in the Local view.
You access the search options set up for your device using the Search Settings dialog. It is here that you set the catalog object types you want to include in searches. Figure 3-6 shows the Search Settings dialog.
To adjust the search settings:
To the right of the Search field, tap the gear icon.
In the Search Settings dialog, tap the ON/OFF toggles for each type of catalog object you want to include or exclude in searches.
When you are finished, tap Done.
In the Oracle BI Mobile application, you search for BI content in the Search view.
To search for BI content:
In the tab bar, tap Search.
The Search view is displayed.
In the Search field at the top of the Search view, enter your search criteria. An example of criteria is "UPC*" to search all content for which the content name begins with "UPC".
The syntax of the search string is identical to that of the desktop version of Oracle BI EE, including usage of special characters. Search criteria are case-insensitive. See the reference topic about the Search pane in Oracle Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition.
Tap the Search button in the keyboard, as shown in Figure 3-7.
Your search is performed on the server and the search results are displayed in a list. Tap a row to open BI content.
If you have set up an email account on your iPad, you can embed links to BI content in emails you send. You can also send BI content as attachments to emails.
While you are viewing BI content, you can use the Options menu to send the BI content in any of the following ways:
Send email with only links. When you tap the Options icon and then choose the email option you prefer, an email window is launched, with links to the BI content embedded in the body of the email. The links are two URL types: one is a regular browser-launchable URL pointing to the content, and the other is a URL that launches the content in the recipient's instance of the Oracle BI Mobile application. Your recipient receives the two URLs, and then chooses how to view the BI content.
Note that some BI content linked to with a browser-launchable URL may not display correctly, depending on the recipient's browser. For example, if you send a link to BI content that includes a graph, and your recipient is using a browser such as Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0, the graph will not display correctly. The BI content should ideally be launched in a browser such as Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 (or higher), Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.
Send email with an attachment. Choosing this option enables you to keep the size of the email smaller than if you include incline content. Depending on the email client your recipient is using, the attachment you send may be unviewable, or images and text may be displayed incorrectly.
Send email with an attachment and with inline content. It is important to note that having the BI content included inline in the email can add to the size of the attachment. Also, BI content sent inline in emails may display incorrectly in older email clients. You determine whether inline content is included or not included using the Email Inline Content setting in the Settings screen, as described in "Sending BI Content Inline in Email".
To send BI content in an email:
While viewing the BI content, tap the Options icon, then tap one of the following:
Email (links only)
An email is created, embedded with links to the content. No actual content is attached.
Email (with attachment)
An email is created, embedded with the BI content as an attachment.
Enter the recipient's email address, and any accompanying message.
Tap Send.
When you send local BI content in an email, there are no links to embed. The content is always added either as an attachment or as inline content, or both. This is governed by the Email Inline Content setting in the Settings screen. Even if the Email Inline Content setting is OFF, and the Email (with attachment) choice is not selected, the local BI content is still added to the email as an attachment.
To send local BI content in an email:
While viewing local BI content, tap the Options icon, then tap Email (with attachment).
Enter the recipient's email address, and any accompanying message.
An email is created, embedded with the local BI content as an attachment.
Tap Send.
You can send BI content in an email from within the Oracle BI Mobile application using the Email Inline Content setting.
Depending on the email client your recipient is using, the inline BI content you send may be unviewable, or images and text may be displayed incorrectly. It is best to avoid using the Email Inline Content setting unless you know that the recipient's email client displays inline content. Certain older email clients may not be able to display inline content containing HTML and images.
To send BI content inline in an email:
In the branding bar, tap the Options menu, then tap Settings.
The Settings screen is displayed.
In the Settings screen, in the Email Inline Content row, tap ON.
After you modify this setting and when you email BI content, whether you embed a link to the content or you embed the content itself as an attachment, the content is included inline in the email as well.
If you are using an iPad that supports multitasking (that is, a device running iOS 4.2 or later), you can wirelessly print BI content.
Note:
For the printer discovery and execution of print jobs provided by the Apple iOS, you must have an AirPrint-enabled printer connected to the same wireless network as your iOS device.
To print BI content:
While viewing BI content, tap the Options icon.
Tap Print.
Note:
The XML format is not supported for printing. While you can view FO-formatted XML (XSL-FO) using Oracle BI Mobile, XML data cannot be printed from your mobile device.
|
 Copyright © 2010, 2012, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Legal Notices |
|
