2Basic Information to Tell Your Users

Basic Information to Tell Your Users

Basic Information to Tell Your Users

Exporting Results

You must have one of the following user type permissions:

• BI Consumer

• BI Author Limited

• BI Author Developer

• BI Tenant Administrator

Home > Oracle Business Intelligence > Catalog

1. Navigate to the analysis.

2. Click the Export link and select the appropriate export option.

   For more information on the export options, see "Export Menu Options for Views and Results".

Sorting Values in Table Views, Pivot Table Views, and Trellis Views

You can sort values in table views, pivot table views, and trellis views. You can sort on members, measures, and rows (where you see sideways triangles). You cannot sort on page or section edges. For more information on sorting, see "Sorting Data in Views".

Drilling in Results

Many of the results that are displayed in views represent hierarchical data structures. The metadata specifies these hierarchies, and this enables you to access the different levels of detail within them. For example, information in a sales graph might be categorized by region. Clicking a specific region in the graph might display each country within that region, if the country is the next level within the hierarchy of the metadata. Such clicking is referred to as "drilling."

If the content designer has set up views for drilling, then you can drill in them on dashboards.

What Is Drilling?

Drilling is a way to navigate through data in views quickly and easily.

• You drill down to display data in more detail, which displays more members.

  You can drill down to an actual item in the database. For example, if you work in sales, you can drill down to the city level within a sales analysis, and observe that there is a large sale pending in Paris. If you are using an Oracle Siebel operational application, then you can then drill down on the pending sale and go directly to that opportunity in the Oracle BI application.

• You drill up to display data in less detail, in hierarchical columns.

  For example, you might drill up from a month value to see a summary for the whole year. You can drill up in the current hierarchy, either for the entire column at the header level or for individual members. For example, you can drill up from District to Region. Drilling up hides the current level (such as District) and retains the higher level (such as Region).

Where Can I Drill?

You can drill in the following types of views:

• Table, pivot table, and trellis — See "Drilling in Tables, Pivot Tables and Trellises".

• Graphs — See "Drilling in Graphs".

Drilling in Tables, Pivot Tables and Trellises

When you drill down in a table, pivot table, or trellis, the detail level data is added to the current data. For example, when you drill from a continent, the table displays data for the continent and for the countries in that continent.

The way that you drill in tables, pivot tables, and trellises depends on the column type, as described in the following sections.

Drilling in Attribute Columns To drill in an attribute column, click the heading or member in which you want to drill. When you hover over the value before clicking, an underline is displayed below the value to indicate that you can click to drill.

When you drill in an attribute column, you add the lower level to the view. All views are affected by drilling in an attribute column, which is equivalent to a filter drill. After you click the value, a column is added to the analysis and a filter is automatically created and listed in the Criteria tab.

You cannot drill on groups for attribute columns. To see the definition of a group for an attribute column, edit the corresponding step in the Selection Steps pane.

You can also use the "Right-Click Menu for Tables, Pivot Tables, and Trellises" to drill in attribute columns.

Drilling in Hierarchical Columns To drill in a hierarchical column, click the Expand and Collapse icons beside the members. Click to expand or collapse one level. For example, expanding from Total Products to Products inserts the Product members while retaining the value for Total Products.

When you drill in a hierarchical column, you expand and collapse the nodes of data that are in the view. Drilling in a hierarchical column affects only that particular view. No other views are affected.

Drilling in level-based hierarchies and value-based hierarchies works the same. Each time you drill in a hierarchy, you expand or collapse one level. For example, if the hierarchy has a level for continents, regions, and cities, and the view shows continent data, you can expand from Australia down one level to display regions in Australia. From there, you can expand one level from a region, to cities in that region, or you can collapse one level, back to continents.

When you drill, the drill state is preserved. If you collapse at a higher level and re-expand, then the members are re-displayed at the same drill point.

When you click the Collapse icon, you collapse back to the current level any levels in the hierarchy that are present in the analysis, regardless of whether they were added by drilling down or by adding the levels from the Subject Areas pane.

You can perform asymmetric drilling, which enables you to drill various members to different levels. For example, if you expand World, then you might see Americas, Asia, and Australia at the same second-level for continents. You can then drill Americas to expand it and see its regions, while Asia and Australia are not expanded.

You can expand and collapse the members of a group for hierarchical columns. For example, if you have a group that includes cities and the group is included in a view, then you see the cities when you click the group name.

You can also use the "Right-Click Menu for Tables, Pivot Tables, and Trellises" to expand and collapse hierarchical columns.

Drilling in Graphs

When you drill down in a graph, the detail level data replaces the current data. For example, when you drill down from a continent, the graph displays data for the countries in that continent, but not for the continent itself.

You can drill down in the following ways:

• You can click a label (for which drilling is available) on any axis or in the legend to drill down. (A change in the mouse pointer indicates that drilling is available.)

• If the graph contains only attribute columns and measure columns, then you can click a data point to drill all columns.

• If the graph contains multiple columns including at least one hierarchical column, then when you click a label or a data point, you see a menu from which you can select which columns to drill down. If there are action links available, then the menu also displays those links.

You do not drill up in a graph. Use the Back button on the browser to return to a previous graph.

Note: The time series line graph does not support drill down on a time column where data types other than data or date-time are used.

Action Links and Action Link Menus in Analyses and Dashboards

As you analyze data in analyses, view dashboards, or view content delivered by agents, you might want to take some action because of the business insight you gained from the data. You can do so by using action links and action link menus, if available:

• An action link is a link embedded in an analysis (on a column heading or a data value) or dashboard page that, when clicked, runs an associated action.

  For example, suppose a data value in an analysis includes an action link that sends the analysis to a specified email address. If, after analyzing the data, you decide that your manager must see this analysis, then you can send it to him directly from the analysis by clicking the action link.

• An action link menu is a menu embedded on a dashboard page that groups multiple action links as options on the menu. An action link menu lets you select, from a list of action link options, the right action to take.

Running an Action Associated with Action Links in Analyses and Dashboards

You must have one of the following user type permissions:

• BI Consumer

• BI Author Limited

• BI Author Developer

• BI Tenant Administrator

Home > Oracle Business Intelligence > Catalog

1. Navigate to the action link.

2. Do one of the following:

   • If the action is associated with a standalone action link, then click the action link.

   • If the action is associated with an action link on an action link menu, then click the action link menu and then select the action link option.

3. Respond to any request for more information or any confirmation prompt that is displayed.

   Note: A successful invocation message indicates only that the action that is associated with the action link ran successfully. It does not indicate that the process or operation that the action represents ran successfully.

Using a Section Slider in a Graph or Gauge

You must have one of the following user type permissions:

• BI Consumer

• BI Author Limited

• BI Author Developer

• BI Tenant Administrator

Home > Oracle Business Intelligence > Catalog

1. Navigate to the analysis or dashboard page that contains a section slider.

2. Use the components of the section slider to select a value as follows:

   • To select a particular value, move the slider thumb to that value.

   • To move the slider thumb to a value to the left of the current value, click the decrease button (the second button from the left on the slider).

   • To move the slider thumb to a value to the right of the current value, click the increase button (the right-most button on the slider).

   • To sequentially move the slider thumb through all the values, click the play button (the left-most button on the slider). The play button changes to a pause button to allow you to stop on a particular value.

The data in the graph or gauge is limited by the current value as indicated by the slider thumb.

Zooming and Scrolling in Graphs

If zooming and scrolling has been enabled for a graph, then the graph includes a Zoom icon. The zoom icon enables you to zoom in and out of a graph's plot area using its axes. Once you zoom in on an axis, you can scroll the axis.

To enable zooming and scrolling in a graph, the content designer sets the zoom and scroll properties in the "Graph Properties dialog: General tab".

When you zoom an axis, a zoom and scroll slider is displayed.

A zoom and scroll slider consists of the following components:

• Left or bottom button — Scrolls to the left on the X axis or to the bottom on the Y axis, revealing portions of the graph that are out of view.

• Right or top button — Scrolls to the right on the X axis or to the top on the Y axis, revealing portions of the graph that are out of view.

• Scroll thumb — Represents the visible portion of the graph in relation to the full graph. You drag the scroll thumb to dynamically scroll the graph, revealing portions of the graph that are out of view.

• Resize handles — Are displayed at each end of the scroll thumb when you hover over the thumb. You use the resize handles to zoom in and out an axis.

• Tooltip — Is displayed only when a user hovers over either the thumb or a resize handle and describes the data that is currently displayed in the scroll thumb.

Zooming or Scrolling in a Graph

You must have one of the following user type permissions:

• BI Consumer

• BI Author Limited

• BI Author Developer

• BI Tenant Administrator

Home > Oracle Business Intelligence > Catalog

1. Navigate to a graph that has zoom or scrolling enabled.

2. Hover the mouse over the graph to display the Zoom button.

3. Click the Zoom icon and then:

   • If only one axis has zoom and scroll enabled, then select either Zoom In or Zoom Out.

   • If both axes have zoom and scroll enabled:

     • To zoom in and out and scroll on the X axis, select Horizontal Axis and then either Zoom In or Zoom Out. A zoom and scroll slider is displayed on the X axis.

       To unzoom the X axis and display the actual graph size, select Actual Size.

     • To zoom in and out and scroll on the Y axis, select Vertical Axis and then either Zoom In or Zoom Out. A zoom and scroll bar is displayed on the Y axis.

       To unzoom the Y axis and display the actual graph size, select Actual Size.

     • To unzoom both the X and Y axes and display the actual graph size, select Actual Size.

   You can now zoom and scroll as desired by:

   • Using the Zoom button to zoom in and out incrementally

   • Dragging the scroll thumb on an axis to dynamically scroll the graph, revealing portions of the graph that are out of view

   • Clicking the scroll buttons on an axis to scroll left and right (on the X axis) or up and down (on the Y axis)

   • Using the resize handles to zoom in and out on an axis

Scorecard Objects

The following scorecard objects can be added to a dashboard by the content designer:

• Cause & effect maps. See "Cause & Effect Map"

• Custom views. See "Custom Views"

• Strategy maps. See "Strategy Maps"

• Strategy trees. See "Strategy Trees"

• KPI watchlists. See "KPI Watchlists"

• Smart watchlists. See "Smart Watchlists"

For information on adding a scorecard object to a dashboard, see Adding Content to Dashboards.

As you work with scorecard objects, keep the following information in mind:

• If a dimension is not pinned, you can populate it by a prompt, if one is provided. For more information on dimensions, see "Dimensions and Pinned Dimension Values"

• There are two types of diagrams for a strategy tree:

  • Strategy tree diagram. See "Strategy Tree Diagram".

  • Contribution wheel diagram. See "Contribution Wheel Diagram".

  You can toggle between the two by right-clicking in the background area of the strategy tree and selecting either View as Tree Diagram or View as Wheel Diagram.

• If the content designer saved the smart watchlist with the Filter pane displayed as a:

  • Control panel, you can specify filter criteria to dynamically change what is shown in the smart watchlist.

  • Text summary, you can view a read-only summary of the current filter criteria.

  Note that the content designer also has the option to hide the Filter pane.

• In Accessibility mode:

  • Views (that is, cause & effect maps, custom views, strategy maps, and strategy trees) are rendered as watchlists. See Watchlists.

  • The Print function is disabled.

Order Prompts with Default Values are Applied

Because prompting enables you to build flexible dashboards and analyses, it is important to understand how Oracle BI initiates a complex dashboard's prompts.

The following list presents the order in which, at runtime, Oracle BI applies prompts with default values:

1. Hidden prompts whose scope is the dashboard page.

   For more information about hidden prompts, see "Adding a Hidden Dashboard Prompt to a Dashboard or Dashboard Page".

2. Hidden prompts whose scope is the whole dashboard.

3. Prompts whose scope is the dashboard page. The precedence order of dashboard page prompts is unspecified.

4. Prompts whose scope is the whole dashboard.

5. Prompts, either inline or named, whose scope is the analysis.

System Configuration and Governors

This is a short description.

Row/Data Limits

By default, the report row/time limit governors are the following. This applies to all users of the system:

• Report Retrieved Records Limit: 65000

• Report Runtime Limit: 10 minutes

Data Latency

The system data refreshes approximately once an hour. This means data may take an hour from when it is input to when it is reportable.

Maximum Rows Exported

The maximum number of rows that can be exported is 65000.

The maximum number of cells that can be exported is 2 millions (rows*columns=cells).