Transcript ADD ELEGANCE TO YOUR WEB INTELLIGENCE REPORTS

Relying on Breaks Instead of Sections To
Build WebI Reports
Deborah L. Lennington
AGENDA
1. Format requirements for a key management report
2. Defining the formatting issues
3. Understanding breaks - in and out of the box
4. One-table reporting – the breakthrough solution
5. Conclusion
6. Q&A
FORMAT REQUIREMENTS FOR A
KEY MANAGEMENT REPORT
When the look of the report just couldn’t change - No
matter what!
THE TASK AT HAND - REBUILD A KEY
MANAGEMENT REPORT
MOST IMMEDIATELY OBVIOUS
FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS
 Centered table titles
 Indented section titles
 Table headers to show once only on page
 Project grant numbers & descriptions to show once only for
break titles
 All columns must print on one page
 Grand totals shown with double accounting lines
DEFINING THE FORMATTING
ISSUES
Where I will need to trick Web Intelligence into doing
what I want !
GETTING OFF TO WHAT SEEMS A
GOOD START
ESTABLISHING THE MAIN SECTION
AND MORE
Project Grant kept here to
allow custom sort
Concatenated Formula will allow
removal of duplicate values when
set as break.
A LITTLE BIT ON CONCATENATION
 A Web Intelligence break is limited to one field at time
 But, can concatenate variables to create that one field!
 Custom sorting not possible on concatenated field
 But, can custom sort on individual “original” fields!
 Can “pretty-up” concatenation for use as title, or not
 Can “hide” from view any unwanted fields
PICTURE THIS: CONCATENATION
Note Custom Sort
Concatenated Formula for Titles
Fields to “hide”
HIDING “STUFF” IN PLAIN SIGHT
 White format a column’s cell font
 White format a column’s background color
 Remove all column borders
 Reduce column width to 4 pixels
 PDF-saved version – no column!
 Excel-saved version – column there, but keeps Web
Intelligence formatting. Go ahead and delete!
BACK TO REPORTING WOES
Looking (unhappily) at column widths…
BACK TO REPORTING WOES
Look what happened with Save as Excel…
Colored Cells automatically “merged” when saved
MY PERSONAL “ISSUES”
 Can’t seem to automatically center report titles, or “step-in”





break headings
Autofitted column widths are varying between sections
Grand total row positioning can’t shift when column widths
do
Since break values must be included on report rows, how is
a report to be printed on one page across when using
multiple breaks?
Additional time requirements (whenever report runs) to
reformat Excel-saved versions
…and where are those double accounting lines?
NERVOUS BREAKDOWN TIME
UNDERSTANDING BREAKS – IN AND
OUT OF THE BOX
Long story short…It’s all about space!
WHAT BREAKS USUALLY LOOK LIKE
 Break values shown on the first line of its break –
(assuming values not duplicated)
 Break headers disabled for any break levels column
headings not wanted for
 Break footers enabled only when subtotals required
WHAT A BREAK-BASED REPORT
CAN ACTUALLY LOOK LIKE
MORE ON WHAT CAN BE
AN EXISTENTIALIST VIEW OF
BREAKS
 Most simply, breaks are a means of manipulating space and
formula contexts
 Break values can be made visible anywhere within an overall area
defined as a header or footer
 Break-based reports can look like “master/detail” ones – while
providing enhanced abilities for:
 Formatting
 Providing Sub and Grand Totals
 Saving into Excel
 Breaks are very cool!
ONE-TABLE REPORTING – THE
BREAKTHROUGH SOLUTION
And now you too can learn the magic!
BUT FIRST – A FEW WORDS ON
MERGES
 You can merge left or right!
 You can merge up or down!
 You can stagger merges between lines and columns!
 You can even set “dummy” columns or rows to extend
your merging options!
MERGES IN ACTION
Horizontal Merge
Vertical Merge
A COLOR-CODED PICTURE OF
WHAT I DID FOR MY REPORT
WHAT I DID – THE DETAILS
 Properties tab:
 Headers Enabled


Whole table
First two of the three breaks
 Footers Enabled
 Whole table
 All three breaks
 Page Layout set to Ledger/Tabloid, Landscape
 (Provides additional workable space)
 (Can and will print to letter though)
 Fonts throughout table sections reset between 6 through 10
pixels, and row heights reduced as well

(Which is effective size that “Print to Page” resulted in anyway)
WHAT I DID – MORE DETAILS
 Inserted two lines above column title line in Table Header
 “Cleared Cell Contents” for all cells in break headers
 Merged:
 All cells across in each of the Table Header’s two inserted
lines

Centered text
 First four cells of first break header
 Second and third cell of second break header
 Copied break variables into merged cells in appropriate
break headers
 Formatted cells holding first and second break variables
 White font
 Narrow Width
YET ANOTHER COLOR-CODED
PICTURE
ABOUT THOSE DOUBLE LINES
 Format borders with lines for the applicable cells on
the totals row
 Insert row – beneath the totals row (this new row will
have copied the format and borders of the row it was
inserted beneath)
 Reduce the row height of the inserted row
LIFE IS GOOD!
Back to Sections for a Moment
 Can be useful when both charts and graphs wanted
together.
 Can set a section without being “obvious” about it:
 Establish section by dragging field over.
 Delete section cell, but not the section.
 Hide section header in Properties
 If desired, include section value in a table/break title.
Fitting Report Width to One Page:
The WebI Report Piece
1.
2.
3.
Set Page Layout (use icon) to see actual page.
Set fonts in headers, footers, and body to 6 or 7
points. (If you think about it, that was the effective
size anyway when Page Setup was set to Fit to Print1 page wide in Business Objects).
In Page Properties, set Page Size to Legal or Ledger
,and set Paper Orientation to Landscape.
Fitting Report Width to One Page:
WEBI Printing Piece
1.
2.
Request printing in WebI (use icon)
On Make Printable Version popup - establish Page
size as Legal or Ledger, and set Orientation to
Landscape.
Fitting Report Width to One Page:
Adobe Printing Piece
1.
2.
3.
Request printing in Adobe (use icon or File-Print)
On Print Popup – Page Handling, set Page Scaling to
Reduce to Printer Margins.
Still on Print Popup – enable Properties
Fitting Report Width to One Page:
Adobe Printing Piece
1.
2.
3.
In Print Properties, on the Paper Quality Tab, Paper
Options – set size as Letter.
On Finishing Tab – set Orientation to Landscape.
Go ahead and print already!