Business Objects XI 2

[Skittle]

I ma have an opportunity to get involved with Business Objects XI. I worked for a while with Crystal Reports and Crystal Enterprise a few years ago but I've never done anything with Buiness Objects.

I'd like to get a feel for Business Objects without having to contact a salesman or buying an expensive copy of the software.

Anybody have any suggestions on how I could grasp the basics of what Business Objects is and the sort of stuff you can do with it?

I had to do the same thing with SQL server a few years ago and bought a copy of the software an a quick guide book but I can't see any quick guide books on Business Objects and the software looks much more expensive than a stand alone SQL server developer licence.


Dazed and confused

 

[blom0344]

Don't bother and try to buy a personal BO license for the purpose In the course of time some books have been written on BO , but the main distinction is on whether to focus on the design aspects (metadata-layer) or on the frontend (webbased versus traditional clientbased)

Cindy Howson is best-known as an BO author and her comprehensive book(s) are still available. I am not sure if the webbased tools are covered extensively though.

If you have some background with databases, SQL and reporting it may well be a worthy investment.

The largest user-community (MUCH more alive then here) is:

http://www.forumtopics.com/busobj

Ties Blom

 

[xlbo]

2nd everything that Ties Blom has said. Basically, BOBJ is much like crystal in that it allows you to more easily write reports over databases. The big difference (AFAIK) is that BOBJ has a metadata layer called a universe which acts like a database schema and drives how the SQL is generated. Not used the WebI tool but the basics are:

Admin package (Supervisor) for security / user options
Metadata Layer - universes (can have many over 1 database)
Reporting Layer - either thin (WebI) or Fat Client (not sure if Fat Client is continued for v11) - This layer uses drag n drop functionality to set up the query for the base data (using the universe defintions). This returns data in a cube (which can be linked to other cubes) which can then be presented to the user

Rgds, Geoff

We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names and all are different colours but they all live in the same box.

Please read FAQ222-2244 before you ask a question

 

[blom0344]

Fat client is indeed still available , but renamed 'Desktop Intelligence' in XI.
(And to me still the ultimate all-round reporting and analysis solution!)

Ties Blom

 

[xlbo]

Thanks for the confirmation - we're still using 5.1.8 so a little behind the times....

Rgds, Geoff

We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names and all are different colours but they all live in the same box.

Please read FAQ222-2244 before you ask a question

 

[Skittle]

Sorry for the delay in responding.

So my options on tinkering are limited.
It's books and a full licence are the only options.
No handy student or cheap personal versions out there.

Dazed and confused.

Remember.. 'Depression is just anger without enthusiasum'.

 

[skrandel]

I don't agree. You can download eval versions from the tech support site. They come with 90 day license keys.

XI R3 is the current version.

The only problem might be.....Now that SAP is running the site (it's awful), the free downloads may be hard to get.

Steve Krandel
Intuit

 

[Skittle]

Hmmm OK. Thanks thats good to know.


Dazed and confused.

Remember.. 'Depression is just anger without enthusiasum'.

 

[1veger]

take a look here:

http://www.xtremeincite.com/