Using Xcelsius 2008 With Sap Netweaver BW: Applies To

Using Xcelsius 2008 with SAP
NetWeaver BW
Applies to:
Xcelsius 2008 Enterprise Service Pack 02 (and higher)
SAP NetWeaver BW 7.0 Enhancement package 01 Service Pack 05 (and higher)
Summary
In this short article you will use the SAP NetWeaver BW direct connectivity with Xcelsius 2008.
Author: Ingo Hilgefort

Company: SAP
Created on: 8 June 2010
SAP COMMUNITY NETWORK SDN - sdn.sap.com | BPX - bpx.sap.com | BOC - boc.sap.com | UAC - uac.sap.com
© 2010 SAP AG 1
Using Xcelsius 2008 with SAP NetWeaver BW
Table of Contents
Xcelsius 2008 and SAP NetWeaver BW – Data Connectivity Overview ............................................................ 3
Copyright........................................................................................................................................................... 26
© 2010 SAP AG 2
Xcelsius 2008 and SAP NetWeaver BW – Data Connectivity Overview

With Xcelsius 2008 Service Pack 02 combined with SAP NetWeaver BW you can now connect Xcelsius
directly to SAP NetWeaver BW and I thought I provide some more details on how this connectivity works and
what kind of meta-data it offers based on your SAP BW system.
First of all you need to fulfill the following technical pre-requisites:
 SAP NetWeaver BW 7.01 (SAP enhancement package 01), Service Pack 05
 SAP BusinessObjects Xcelsius Enterprise 2008 Service Pack 02
 SAP Frontend 7.x installed on the client with BI Add-Ons
In addition, this new connectivity is based on the BI Consumer Services. Therefore, you need to have the BI
ABAP and BI Java stacks deployed. You can find further details in note 917950 and 937697.
Most of you are familiar with the image shown below outlining all the different options how to connect
Xcelsius to your SAP landscape.
This image does also include the new connectivity option where you can connect Xcelsius directly to your
SAP NetWeaver BW system.
When you leverage this new connectivity you can expect Xcelsius to leverage the existing meta-data from
your BW query. The here shown table outlines how Xcelsius will leverage the meta-data:
© 2010 SAP AG 3
SAP NetWeaver BW Xcelsius 2008

query element
Characteristic Each characteristic in the actual dataset is retrieved based on the
settings (such as the key and short, medium, and long texts) in the
SAP NetWeaver BW query. In addition, each characteristic is also
available with a list of members that you can use for filtering or
providing a list of values for variables.
Hierarchies Each level of the hierarchy is presented as a column in the data set.
The depth of the hierarchy depends on the configured number of
levels in the BEx Query Designer.
Key figures Each key figure can be shown as a plain numeric value or as a
formatted value based on the user preferences. This choice can be
made for each SAP NetWeaver BW connection configured in the
Xcelsius Designer Data Manager.
Calculated and Each calculated or restricted key figure is treated like a regular key
restricted Key figures figure. The user does not have access to the underlying definition in
the Xcelsius Designer.
Filter Filters are applied to the underlying query. The user has access to the
configured filter values and can use those values for display
purposes. The user can also set additional filter values for
characteristics from the underlying SAP NetWeaver BW query during
the runtime of the Xcelsius object.
Navigational attributes Navigational attributes are treated the same as a characteristic.
Display attribute Display attributes can be used for a list of values and can become
part of the overall dataset. In the actual data set, a display attribute
can only be shown with the actual characteristic.
Variables Variables from the SAP NetWeaver BW query are transferred to
Xcelsius as part of the connection. They are shown as variables in the
Input Values area of the SAP NetWeaver BW connection settings.
© 2010 SAP AG 4
In the next couple of steps I will use an example query and explain how the elements are made available to
you in the Xcelsius Data Manager. My sample SAP NetWeaver BW query is based on the SAP NetWeaver
Demo model InfoProvider 0D_NW_M01.
Our BW query contains three characteristics and two keyfigures and we also included a variable for
characteristic Country.
© 2010 SAP AG 5
Now to connect Xcelsius to the BW query:

1. In the Xcelsius Designer us the menu Data > Connections
2. Use the Add button and select the option SAP NetWeaver BW
3. Click on the button Browse. You will be asked to logon to the SAP system and can then select the
BW query.
4. After you connect to the BW query all the elements are shown in the Input and Output Values.
The Input area includes:

 Filters
 Variables
The Output area includes:

 Variables
 Characteristics
 Information about the BW query
 Static Filter information
 Error Messages
The variables are listed in the Input and Output area. In the Input area you actually can send values to be
used by those variables and in the Output area you can receive the list of members (F4 help).
© 2010 SAP AG 6
If we start with the Characteristic information in the Output area – here for characteristic Country, we can see
that for each characteristic we also have been provided with fields which we can use to create lists of
members. This is helpful when we build selectors in Xcelsius so that we can retrieve the list of members and
the data from the same connection.
In the Variables area of the Output we also retrieve additional information such as the label or display string
and we also retrieve the necessary fields to create a list of members. This might now initially look strange as
this seems to provide the same information as the characteristics area, but remember that you might have
variables in your BW query without actually including the characteristic into the BW query (example: a
restricted keyfigure filtered by Calendar Month without referencing calendar month in the query).
© 2010 SAP AG 7
The Static Filter area in the Output Area provides you the information about all the filters which already have
been created in the underlying BW query so that you can display this information as part of your dashboard
and the user then can identify all configured restrictions.
The Information area provides access to more detailed information about the SAP NetWeaver BW query.
You might be familiar with these items from the BEx Analyzer tool, where they are called BEx Textelements.
© 2010 SAP AG 8
The Messages are allows you to include upcoming error messages and display this information as part of
your dashboard.
© 2010 SAP AG 9
After finishing with the Definitions tab, click the Data Preview tab. Here you can preview the data as well as
rearrange the elements from the SAP NetWeaver BW query to form the data structure for your Xcelsius
dashboard.
The initial view in the Data Preview will be based on the placement of the characteristics in the BW query,
but the real power of the Data Preview is that you can re-arrange the elements as you need them. This
functionality is really helpful as you can now have a single BW query re-used several times but for each
connection in Xcelsius this single BW query might provide a different level of aggregation as you can define
the actual to be retrieved data set in the Data Preview tab.
In addition, the Data Preview shows you which elements from the characteristics are available for your
query.The new Xcelsius connectivity uses the display settings from the underlying SAP NetWeaver BW
query. So the Data Preview tab also shows you how many columns to expect for each characteristic.
© 2010 SAP AG 10
All the changes you do will have an impact on the actual data being returned. The data being returned is also
in the Output values and named Cross Tab Data. The Cross-Tab Data element represents basically the data
set you configure in the Data Preview Tab.
Now it is really important to also understand the actual structure of the returned data.
The image above shows a data set returned to Xcelsius based on two keyfigures and a single characteristic.
As you will notice the first row includes labels and the second row includes the Unit information for the
keyfigures. In our example the last row includes the overall result. The overall result is something you can
configure to be shown or hidden for each characteristic in the Display Settings in the BW query.
Now in the next couple of steps we will use the new data connectivity with the SAP NetWeaver demo model
and create our first Xcelsius dashboard.
© 2010 SAP AG 11
In our dashboard we want to show the numbers broken down by month and by Product. For our BW query
this means we need to have the Calendar month and Product Group as part of the BW query.
In the BW query as shown in we have the characteristic Product and the characteristic Cal. Year / month in
the rows and several keyfigures in the columns. The keyfigures represent the Net Sales, Product Costs, and
Open Order Value. The BW query is based on the NetWeaver Demo model InfoProvider 0D_ND_M01.
1. Start the Xcelsius Designer via START • PROGRAMS • XCELSIUS • XCELSIUS 2008.
2. Select the menu DATA • CONNECTIONS.
3. Click ADD.
4. Select the entry SAP NETWEAVER BI CONNECTION.
© 2010 SAP AG 12
5. Click BROWSE.
6. Logon to your SAP system.
7. Select the BW query.
8. Navigate to the DATA PREVIEW tab.
9. Move the characteristic CAL.YEAR / MONTH to the FREE CHARACTERISTICS area.
© 2010 SAP AG 13
10. Click REFRESH DATA PREVIEW to see a preview of the resultset.
The Data Preview allows you to change the view on top of the actual BW query. This provides you the option
to leverage one query several times because in the Data Preview you basically define the level of
aggregation.
11. Navigate back to the tab DEFINITION and enter Data by Product as the name for the connection.
12. Click ADD.
14. Select the newly created connection.
15. Click BROWSE.
16. Select the BW query again.
18. Move the characteristic PRODUCT to the FREE CHARACTERISTICS area.
© 2010 SAP AG 14
20. Navigate back to the tab DEFINITION and enter Data by Calendar Month as the name for the
connection.
21. Click ADD.
23. Select the newly created connection.
24. Click BROWSE.
25. Select the BW query.
27. Move the characteristic Product to the FREE CHARACTERISTICS area.
29. Navigate back to the tab DEFINITION and enter Data by Calendar Month (DRILL) as the name for
the connection.
30. Click Close.
© 2010 SAP AG 15
We will now prepare the embedded spreadsheet a little bit to organize all the elements better. We have two
connections for the data, we need a way to select the option to summarize the data by Product or Calendar
Month and we will need an area to store the selections done by the user; overall this means we might need
six sheets in our spreadsheet and four connections to organize things.
1. Navigate to the embedded spreadsheet.

2. Right click on the tab SHEET 1.
3. Select the menu INSERT and select a worksheet.
4. Repeat these steps to add another two sheets so that you have overall four sheets in the embedded
spreadsheet.
5. Change the names of the sheets as follows:
 Sheet 1: Settings


 Sheet 4: Sales by Month (Drill)
6. In our first sheet (Settings) enter the following text:

 Cell A1 :Summarized by:
 Product

 Cell B2: 1

7. Select the menu VIEW • COMPONENTS.

8. Drag and drop the RADIO BUTTONS component from the Category SELECTORS to the top left
corner of your canvas.
9. Right click the new components and select the menu item PROPERTIES
10. Use the button next to TITLE and set it to cell A1 in our sheet Settings.
11. Use the button next to LABELS and select cells A2 and A3 in our sheet 1.
12. Set the INSERTION TYPE to VALUE.
13. Use the button next to SOURCE DATA and select cells B2 and B3 in our sheet Settings.
14. Use the button next to DESTINATION and select cells B6 our sheet Settings.
15. Enter the text Selected value in cell A6 in our sheet 1.
16. Mark the value B6 in sheet 1 with a yellow color.
You just created two radio buttons that will use the text stored in the embedded spreadsheet for display
purposes and the values as the selected value. The user selection will be stored in a cell as well so that we
can use it later on to hide or unhide a chart depending on the choice the user made.
17. Drag and drop a COLUMN CHART from the category CHARTS to your canvas and resize it so that
it uses about half of the height of your canvas and three quarters of the width.
18. This chart will be the chart for showing the Net sales per product. Before we now configure the
properties we need to configure the data retrieval.
20. Select the connection DATA BY PRODUCT we created and navigate to the tab DATA PREVIEW.
21. Click the button REFRESH DATA PREVIEW to verify the structure of the data set. You should see
two columns for the Product and three columns for the keyfigures.
© 2010 SAP AG 16
22. Now navigate to the tab DEFINITION.

23. In the OUTPUT VALUES are select the top entry CROSS-TAB DATA.
24. Use the button next to INSERT IN and select a range of five columns and fifty rows (5x50) in
our sheet SALES BY PRODUCT in the embedded spreadsheet.
25. Click OK.
26. Navigate to the USAGE tab.
27. Select the option REFRESH ON LOAD.
28. Click CLOSE in the DATA MANAGER.

29. Navigate to the SALES BY PRODUCT in the embedded spreadsheet and mark the area that we just
used with a green color.
30. Right-click on the column chart in the canvas and select the menu PROPERTIES.
31. Enter “Net sales by product” as title for the chart and remove the subtitle.
32. Select the option BY SERIES for the DATA and use the “+” symbol to add a series.
33. Enter NET SALES for the NAME of the series.
34. Use the button next to VALUES (Y) and select the range C3 to C50 in our sheet Sales by
Product. Remember that the first two columns were the Product key and Product description and that
the first 2 rows contain meta data
© 2010 SAP AG 17
35. Use the button next to CATEGORY LABELS (X) and select the range B3 to B50 for the
Product descriptions.
36. Navigate to the tab BEHAVIOR of the PROPERTIES. Select the tab COMMON
37. Activate both options – IN SERIES and IN VALUES – for the option IGNORE BLANK CELLS.
38. Navigate to the tab SCALE from BEHAVIOR.
39. Activate the option FIXED LABEL SIZE to shorten the numbers on the Y-Axis.
40. Navigate to the tab COMMON from the BEHAVIOR area.
41. Use the button next to STATUS for the DYNAMIC VISIBILITY and select the cell B6 from our
sheet Settings, which is the cell where we store the user selection from the radio buttons.
© 2010 SAP AG 18
42. Set the KEY to the value 1, in that way when the user selects the summary by product the chart will
be shown; otherwise it will be hidden.
At this point we have an Xcelsius dashboard which allows us to select between a summary by PRODUCT or
CALENDAR MONTH, and in case we select the PRODUCT it shows the chart.
43. We will now add the second chart to our canvas and as first step we will use the OBJECT
BROWSER and hide the chart.
44. Select the menu VIEW • OBJECT BROWSER.
45. Select the option to hide the chart from your canvas.
46. Drag and drop a COLUMN CHART from the category CHARTS to your canvas and resize it so that it
uses about half of the height of your canvas and three quarters of the width and overlaps with the
chart we created previously. Here you can also select both charts in the OBJECT BROWSER and
use the menu FORMAT • MAKE SAME SIZE to align the size of both charts.
47. Select the menu DATA • CONNECTIONS
48. Select the connection DATA BY CALENDAR MONTH and navigate to the tab DATA PREVIEW.
one column for the Calendar month and three columns for the keyfigures.
51. In the OUTPUT VALUES are select the top entry CROSS-TAB DATA.
52. Use the button next to INSERT IN and select a range of four columns and fifty rows (4x50) in
our sheet SALES BY MONTH in the embedded spreadsheet.
53. Click OK.
57. Navigate to the sheet SALES BY MONTH in the embedded spreadsheet and mark the area that we
just used with a green color.
© 2010 SAP AG 19
58. Right-click on the column chart in the canvas and select the menu PROPERTIES.
59. Enter “Net Sales by Month” as title for the chart and remove the subtitle.
62. Use the button next to VALUES (Y) and select the range B3 to B50 in our sheet SALES BY
MONTH. Remember that the first column is the Calendar month and the first 2 rows contain meta
data.
63. Use the button next to CATEGORY LABELS (X) and select the range A3 to A50 for the
Calendar month descriptions.
64. Navigate to the tab BEHAVIOR of the properties. Select the tab COMMON.

68. Navigate to the tab COMMON from the BEHAVIOR area.
70. Set the KEY to the value 2, in that way when the user selects the summary by calendar month the
chart will be shown; otherwise it will be hidden.
71. Select the menu SAP • PUBLISH to save the Xcelsius dashboard to your SAP NetWeaver BW
system.
© 2010 SAP AG 20
72. Enter a description and technical name for your Xcelsius dashboard. Use BI160_XX as technical
name where you replace XX with your user number.
73. Select the menu SAP • LAUNCH to launch the BEx web runtime and to show your dashboard.
74. You will be asked to authenticate toward the web runtime:
75. Enter the credentials for the BI Java part of your SAP system.
76. You dashboard should be presented and you should be able to switch between a view by product
and calendar month
© 2010 SAP AG 21
Up to this point we created a Xcelsius dashboard showing us two different charts based on our selection for
either the month or the product. We will now add a drill down chart .
In our example we would like to show the numbers broken down by month in the lower level chart when the
upper level chart shows the number broken down by product.
77. Drag and drop a new column chart to the canvas and place it below the existing two charts.
Note: In the OBJECT BROWSER you can use the right click to open a context menu for each element of your canvas
and use the menu item RENAME to configure a name for each object. In that way it is easy to differentiate each
object from the others.
78. This chart should only be displayed when the upper chart shows the Net sales by Product, so we
need to configure the DYNAMIC VISIBILITY property.
79. Right click on the new chart and select the menu item PROPERTIES.
80. Navigate to the tab COMMON in the area BEHAVIOR.
82. Set the KEY to the value 1, in that way when the user selects the summary by product the chart will
be shown; otherwise it will be hidden.
84. Select the connection DATA BY CALENDAR MONTH (DRILL) we created and navigate to the tab
DATA PREVIEW.
one column for the calendar month and three columns for the keyfigures.
87. In the OUTPUT VALUES select the top entry CROSS-TAB DATA.
88. Use the button next to INSERT IN and select a range of four columns and fifty rows (4x50) in
our sheet SALES BY MONTH (DRILL) in the embedded spreadsheet.
89. Click OK.
© 2010 SAP AG 22

93. Navigate to the SALES BY MONTH (DRILL) in the embedded spreadsheet and mark the area that
we just used with a green color.
94. Right-click the chart and open the PROPERTIES.
95. Navigate to the GENERAL area.
96. Enter “Net sales by Month and Product” as title and remove the subtitle.
99. Use the button next to VALUES (Y) and select the range B3 to B50 in our sheet SALES BY
MONTH (DRILL). Remember that the first column is the Calendar month and the first 2 rows contain
meta data
100. Use the button next to CATEGORY LABELS (X) and select the range A3 to A50 from sheet
SALES BY MONTH (DRILL) for the Calendar month descriptions.
101. Navigate to the tab BEHAVIOR of the properties. Select the tab COMMON.
Without doing any further steps the lower chart would show the data for all month, but we would like to show
the Net sales for a single product which is selected in the upper level chart and therefore we need to
configure now the drill down.
105. Right click on the upper level chart showing the Net Sales by Product and select PROPERTIES or
you can also select the chart in the OBJECT BROWSER.
106. Navigate to the area DRILL DOWN.
107. Activate the option ENABLE DRILL DOWN.
108. Set the INSERTION TYPE to ROW.
109. Select Net Sales in the Series List
110. Use the button next to SOURCE DATA and select the cells A3 to B50 from our sheet SALES
BY PRODUCT, which represents the key and description from our characteristic Product.
111. Use the button next to DESTINATION and set it to the cells B10 to C10 in our sheet
SETTINGS.
© 2010 SAP AG 23
We configure the upper level chart to store the first two columns of each selected element of the bar chart
into the cells B10 and C10. The reason for using the key and description value is simply to ensure that we
send the actual key value as filter to our BW query and not the description value, because the description
value can be language dependent and is not unique.
Now we need to configure the filter for our data connectivity to only retrieve the values for the single product,
in case the user is setting a drill down but we also want to see the values for all products when the user
shows the net sales by month and therefore we need to put in a small condition with a formula in our
spreadsheet to define the correct filter.
112. Select the menu DATA • CONNECTIONS and select the NetWeaver BI connection Data by
Calendar Month (Drill).
113. Navigate to the tab DEFINITION and open the entry FILTER in the INPUT VALUES area.
114. Select the entry PRODUCT.
115. Use the button next to READ FROM and select cell B10 in our sheet SETTINGS.
116. Click OK.
117. Navigate to the tab USAGE.
118. Use the button and select cell B10 as TRIGGER CELL.
119. Click OK
120. Activate the option WHEN VALUE CHANGES

122. Right click on the lower level chart showing Net sales by Month and select the menu item
PROPERTIES.
123. Navigate to the GENERAL area.
124. Use the button next to the property SUBTITLE and select cell C10 from our sheet SETTINGS;
in this way the chart will show the product description for each drill down.
125. Select the menu SAP • Publish to save your changes.
126. Select he menu SAP > Launch to run your dashboard.
127. You will be asked to authenticate toward the web runtime:
128. Enter the credentials for the BI Java part or your SAP system.
© 2010 SAP AG 24
129. You dashboard should be presented and you should be able to switch between a view by product
and calendar month and when showing the chart by product you will also see a detailed chart below
and you can use the drill down capabilities of Xcelsius
© 2010 SAP AG 25
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Using Xcelsius 2008 with SAP

Author: Ingo Hilgefort

Xcelsius 2008 and SAP NetWeaver BW – Data Connectivity Overview

SAP NetWeaver BW Xcelsius 2008

Now to connect Xcelsius to the BW query:

The Input area includes:

The Output area includes:

10. Click REFRESH DATA PREVIEW to see a preview of the resultset.

19. Click REFRESH DATA PREVIEW to see a preview of the resultset.

1. Navigate to the embedded spreadsheet.

6. In our first sheet (Settings) enter the following text:

7. Select the menu VIEW • COMPONENTS.

22. Now navigate to the tab DEFINITION.

28. Click CLOSE in the DATA MANAGER.

66. Navigate to the tab SCALE from BEHAVIOR.

92. Click CLOSE in the DATA MANAGER.

121. Click CLOSE in the DATA MANAGER.

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