Professional Documents
Culture Documents
BusinessObjects Enterprise XI
Patents Business Objects owns the following U.S. patents, which may cover products that are offered
and sold by Business Objects: 5,555,403, 6,247,008 B1, 6,578,027 B2, 6,490,593 and
6,289,352.
Trademarks Business Objects, the Business Objects logo, Crystal Reports, and Crystal Enterprise are
trademarks or registered trademarks of Business Objects SA or its affiliated companies in the
United States and other countries. All other names mentioned herein may be trademarks of
their respective owners.
Index 85
chapter
1 Introduction to BusinessObjects Enterprise XI
About this guide
chapter
2 What’s New in BusinessObjects Enterprise
Welcome to BusinessObjects Enterprise XI
Supported products
All Business Objects products are now available under the same platform.
BusinessObjects Enterprise XI provides full support for the management,
security, delivery, and interaction for the following products and versions:
• Crystal Reports XI
• BusinessObjects Web Intelligence XI
• BusinessObjects OLAP Intelligence XI
• BusinessObjects Data Integrator XI
New features
BusinessObjects Enterprise XI represents the full integration of traditional
Business Objects and Crystal products, combining the best features of each
product line. Whether you have an existing BusinessObjects Enterprise
system or a Crystal Enterprise system, you will notice a wide range of new
features in BusinessObjects Enterprise XI.
End-user experience
BusinessObjects Enterprise XI provides a significantly enhanced user
experience for all customers.
Categories
If you are upgrading or migrating from an existing Crystal Enterprise
deployment, you will notice the addition of categories to BusinessObjects
Enterprise XI. If you’re migrating from BusinessObjects Enterprise 6.5, you
can import your existing categories with the Import Wizard.
Folders and categories work together to provide strong navigation capabilities.
Folders are used as a location to store documents. Complimentary to folders,
categories are used for classifying documents in BusinessObjects Enterprise.
Categories provide an effective way of classifying documents that makes it
easier for users to organize documents. The categorization of documents
enables users to locate information more easily regardless of where it is stored
within the system. Users can classify documents by using categories created by
themselves and by others. By creating a combination of folders and categories,
and setting appropriate rights for them, you can organize documents according
to multiple criteria and improve both security and navigation.
For example, if you currently organize your files into departmental folders, you
could use categories to create an alternate filing system that divides content
according to different roles in your organization, such as managers or VPs.
You can associate documents with multiple categories, and you can create
subcategories within categories.
Discussions
Discussions provide threaded notes on all documents within BusinessObjects
XI, allowing users to add comments to documents in BusinessObjects
Enterprise.
In BusinessObjects Enterprise XI, you can add discussions to any document
in the system either by selecting it from the document list or while the user is
viewing the document. By adding discussions to documents, you can share
knowledge about the information in the documents. You can grant other users
access to the threaded discussions to allow new users to keep track of
historical comments added to the documents.
InfoView
BusinessObjects Enterprise XI introduces a new InfoView, a completely
updated business intelligence portal. InfoView has been designed to allow
users to do most tasks within the BI environment without the need of IT
intervention. Users familiar with previous versions of InfoView or ePortfolio
will see that old features have been fully updated and improved. New features
allow users to be even more productive.
Through extensive testing and design, the new look and feel is designed for
intuitive user interaction, combined with comprehensive support for the entire
product line. From a single web environment, users can view, create, and
interact with information.
InfoView is available as a .NET (ASPX) version or a J2EE version (JSP). The
delivery of both .NET and J2EE versions gives the customer the flexibility of
deploying InfoView in their established environment.
Publishing
In BusinessObjects Enterprise 6 systems, the term publishing is related to
sending a document to multiple users containing different information
depending on the user rights. This functionality, traditionally provided by the
Broadcast Agent Publisher and is now part of BusinessObjects Enterprise XI
itself. The important features provided by the Broadcast Agent Publisher are
provided in BusinessObjects Enterprise XI, including scheduling to different
formats, and scheduling directly to email or printers. For more information on
migrating documents, see the BusinessObjects Enterprise Installation Guide.
Report design
BusinessObjects XI includes Crystal Reports, the leading report design tool in
the market. Crystal ReportsXI provides improved report design, usability, and
processing, including significant enhancements to parameters to allow for the
dynamic generation of lists of values.
Semantic Layer
BusinessObjects Enterprise XI includes both Universes and Business Views,
to help make the report design process even simpler.
Universes
Universes are patented Business Objects technology. They act as a semantic
layer between the user and a database.
All universe objects and their associated connections are stored and secured
in the repository of BusinessObjects Enterprise XI itself.
If you’re migrating from an existing BusinessObjects Enterprise deployment,
you can use Import Wizard to import your existing universes and their
connection objects.
Business Views
Business Views is a flexible and reliable multi-tier system that enables
companies to build detailed and specific Business Views objects that help
report designers and end users access the information they require.
Note: Business Views can be used only by Crystal Reports, while Universes
are accessible by both Crystal Reports as well as Web Intelligence.
Developer flexibility
BusinessObjects Enterprise development tools
BusinessObjects Enterprise provides SDKs for enterprise application developers
to build application and portal integration on top of the platform. Recognizing the
need for comprehensive support for different development environments,
BusinessObjects Enterprise XI provides extensive .NET and Java SDKs.
Note: BusinessObjects Enterprise also continues to support existing
development in COM, although we recommend migrating to .NET or Java.
BusinessObjects Enterprise XI includes an enhanced version of the Unified
Web Services provided with the BusinessObjects Crystal Integration Pack.
Unified Web Services includes server components (the providers) and both
.NET and Java APIs that are used to write applications that consume the
provided web services. The consumers simplify application development.
Web Services
The integration pack Web Services have been updated to support the new
BusinessObjects XI platform features:
• The Web Intelligence documents are served by the BusinessObjects XI
Web Intelligence report engine.
• The LDAP authentication is natively supported.
• Web Farm is support.
As in the integration pack, the BusinessObjects XI Web Services deliver a
Session service (Session management, authentication, and so on), a
BICatalog service (InfoObject list, category management, and so on), and a
ReportEngine service (Crystal Reports and Web Intelligence document
viewing including prompt and drill management).
System administration
BusinessObjects Enterprise provides an efficient and scalable architecture for
processing, managing, and delivering information to your users.
Management
The Central Management Console provides users with a centralized point for
administering a variety of details including scheduling, security, and auditing.
Architecture
If you are upgrading from an existing BusinessObjects Enterprise 6.5 system,
you will notice key differences in the architecture of BusinessObjects
Enterprise XI.
BusinessObjects Enterprise XI is built on a component- or services-based
architecture. As a services-oriented architecture, it provides better flexibility,
scalability, fault tolerance, and extensibility.
BusinessObjects Enterprise XI inherits most of the new platform services from
the proven Crystal Enterprise architecture, widely recognized as a highly
scalable, reliable, and powerful platform by customers and industry experts
alike. The service-oriented platform allows current Business Objects products
such as Web Intelligence to plug directly into the framework without requiring
extensive configuration.
Enhanced PageServer
One of the many improvements in BusinessObjects Enterprise XI is the
enhanced PageServer. The PageServer has the ability to grow and create sub
processes as required, offering dynamic growth, improved reliability, and the
smart use of resources. This leads to an increase in efficiency and performance.
Auditing
Instead of using a separate auditing component, BusinessObjects Enterprise
XI features built-in auditing features.
The auditing functionality of BusinessObjects Enterprise XI focuses on
enabling administrators to gain a better understanding of the users accessing
the system and the documents they are interacting with.
The auditing functionality within BusinessObjects Enterprise has been
implemented with the concept of a central auditor and individual server
auditees, The auditor role is fulfilled by the Central Management Server
(CMS), while individual services with auditing functionality are considered the
auditees. This means that the overall system, as well as the individual
services, can be audited depending on the level of detail required.
The CMS collects and collates the auditing data from the system interactions
and writes the information into the auditing database. You can then create
reports based on this auditing data.
There is no migration or integration of the BusinessObjects Auditor product.
For more information on auditing, see the auditing chapter of the
BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrator’s Guide.
Fault tolerance
BusinessObjects Enterprise provides fail-over at the system management
level (for scheduling, security, and authentication, for example). The system
also provides full support for replication of all server components. Redundant
components automatically take over the load if the system encounters a
hardware failure or excessive wait times.
BusinessObjects Enterprise XI includes enhanced support for session-level
failover. If a processing service fails, another service identifies the failure and
continues the processing. The enhanced fault tolerance ensures seamless
reporting and query analysis for your users.
Load balancing
Intelligent load balancing algorithms eliminate bottlenecks and maximize
hardware efficiency. In a multi-server environment, you need to balance the
load across multiple machines, in order to enhance scalability and maintain
efficient server performance. BusinessObjects Enterprise XI includes built-in
load balancing across all system management and report processing
functions. It applies a mixture of active and passive approaches to maximize
server availability and minimize response time for your users.
Migration
An administrator will be able to create users and groups, and import users
and groups from existing BusinessObjects Enterprise and Crystal Enterprise
deployments into BusinessObjects Enterprise XI using the Import Wizard.
The Import Wizard maps most security rights from current systems directly to
new users and groups in BusinessObjects Enterprise XI.
For details on how rights are mapped or for more information on the Import
Wizard, please see the BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Installation Guide.
chapter
3 Planning Your Installation
Installation overview
Installation overview
BusinessObjects Enterprise offers a completely customizable and scalable
solution by providing a number of distinct client and server components that
can be distributed in various ways across a number of machines. However,
for the purposes of this introductory guide, the product’s diverse components
are grouped together as “BusinessObjects Enterprise” and treated whenever
possible as a single application.
This chapter recommends several preliminary installation scenarios that
enable you to get BusinessObjects Enterprise up and running quickly. The
scenarios described here are ideal for individuals and organizations who are
interested in familiarizing themselves with the features and functionality of
BusinessObjects Enterprise.
The full stand-alone installation is generally the quickest to perform, and it
provides you with all the functionality you will require to proceed through the
remaining chapters in this guide.
For complete installation procedures, consult the BusinessObjects Enterprise
Installation Guide (install.pdf) included with your product distribution.
System requirements
For a detailed list of tested environments, consult the Platforms.txt file
included with your product distribution. This file includes specific version and
Service Pack requirements for supported web application servers, web
browsers, databases, and operating systems. Generally, however, the
following components must be installed and configured correctly before you
install BusinessObjects Enterprise:
• Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator
• Web application server software
• Database software that is compatible with the Central Management
Server
Note: BusinessObjects Enterprise requires a database to store information
about the system and its users. On Windows, the Setup program can install
its own Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE) database by default.
chapter
4 Using InfoView
InfoView overview
InfoView overview
BusinessObjects Enterprise comes with a standard web desktop. Think of it as
a window to a broad range of useful business information around your
company, including Crystal Reports, OLAP Intelligence reports, spreadsheets,
and other documents.
The features available in InfoView vary by content type, but in general, you
can view information in your web browser, export it to other business
applications (such as Excel), and save information to your local machine.
This chapter provides a quick introduction to some of InfoView’s key features.
For more information, see the BusinessObjects Enterprise User’s Guide.
Note: The tasks that you can perform in InfoView are determined by the
rights you have been granted on the system by your administrator.
Accessing InfoView
To access InfoView, type the URL for InfoView directly in your web browser.
To access InfoView
1. Go to the following page:
http://webserver/BusinessObjects/enterprise11/
Replace webserver with the name of the web server that is set up for
BusinessObjects Enterprise. You may need to check with your
administrator for the web server name or exact URL to enter.
InfoView appears.
2. When accessing InfoView, you will either be automatically logged on to
your existing account or prompted for your log on information.
Scheduling objects
Scheduling an object lets you run it automatically at specified times. When a
scheduled object runs successfully, an instance is created. An instance is a
version of the object containing the data available at the time it was run—
instances created later contain more recent data.
You can see a list of instances by looking at an object’s history, and you can
click the link to any historical instance.
By scheduling and viewing instances, you can ensure you have the latest
information available for viewing, printing, and distributing. For example, you
can schedule a report object to run every night so it’s available for you first
thing in the morning.
Note: Before scheduling objects, check your time zone setting on the
Preferences page in BusinessObjects Enterprise. The default time zone is
local to the web server that is running BusinessObjects Enterprise, not to the
Central Management Server (CMS) machine(s) that each user connects to.
By setting your time zone, you ensure that your scheduled objects are
processed in accordance with the time zone in which you are working. You
must have your own account on the system in order to set your preferences.
To schedule an object
• Click the Schedule link beneath the object title.
The Schedule page appears.
Server Group
You can specify the default servers that InfoView will use to schedule an
instance. When specifying your servers, you have three options:
• Use the first available server.
• Use the servers that belong to a selected group first (and, if the servers
from that group aren’t available, use any available server).
• Use only servers that belong to a specific group.
Parameters
Some objects use the parameters feature. Parameters prompt the user to
enter information. For report objects, this information may determine what
data appears in the report. For example, in a report used by sales, there
might be a parameter that asks the user to choose a region. The report
returns the results for the specific region instead of returning the results for all
of the regions.
You can set parameters on the Schedule page. If the object you schedule
does not contain parameters, you will not be able to see this option.
To export a report
1. View any report in a Crystal Report Viewer.
2. On the viewer’s Standard toolbar, click Export this Report.
The Export Report dialog box appears.
3. From the File format list, select an export format type.
4. In the “Page Range” area, select either All or Pages. For the latter,
specify the page range.
5. Click Export.
Your browser may prompt you for security information. If you choose to
save the report to your computer, the Save As dialog box appears (see
step 6); otherwise the report opens, unsaved, in the specified application
and the export process is complete.
6. In the Save As dialog box, browse the Save in list to navigate to the
folder in which you want to save the report, and next to File name enter a
name for the report.
7. Click Save.
The Exporting Report dialog box appears, displaying the progress of your
report. When the report has been exported, a message appears asking if
you would like to open it.
8. Click Open to open the exported report or Open Folder to navigate to
the report; otherwise, click Close.
Note:
• When you export a report to a file format other than Crystal Reports
format (.rpt), you may lose some or all of the formatting that appears in
your report. However, the program attempts to preserve as much
formatting as the export format allows.
• The difference between Excel and Excel (Data only) is that an export to
Excel attempts to preserve the look and feel of your original report, while
an export to Excel (Data only) exports only the data, with each cell
representing a field.
chapter
5 Managing Accounts
Administration overview
Administration overview
Administration can be thought of as all of the tasks that are required to make
sure that everyone who requires access to your BusinessObjects Enterprise
content has an account, belongs to the appropriate group, has sufficient
privileges, and has a report to access. These tasks are usually performed by
System Administrators or Information Technology Specialists.
In most implementations, administrators will use three applications to manage
BusinessObjects Enterprise:
• Central Management Console
• Publishing Wizard
• Central Configuration Manager
This chapter focuses on how to create and modify user accounts with the
Central Management Console (CMC), the largest of the three administration
applications.
See the BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrator’s Guide for in-depth
information about administration tasks. You can access the guide by clicking
the Administrator’s Guide link in the BusinessObjects Enterprise
Administration Launchpad.
Administration tasks
This section describes how to perform several different administrative tasks.
These tasks range from accessing the Central Management Console to changing
password settings. Each task includes the relevant procedural information.
As you proceed through the steps, you will create your own administrative
account that you can use to log on to the system.
chapter
6 Publishing Objects to BusinessObjects Enterprise
Publishing overview
Publishing overview
Publishing is the process of adding objects such as reports to the
BusinessObjects Enterprise environment and making them available to
authorized users. There are several types of objects that you can publish to
BusinessObjects Enterprise: reports (from Crystal Reports, OLAP
Intelligence, and Web Intelligence), programs, Microsoft Excel files, Microsoft
Word files, Microsoft PowerPoint files, Adobe Acrobat PDFs, rich text format
files, text files, and hyperlinks, as well as object packages, which consist of
report and/or program objects.
When you publish an object to BusinessObjects Enterprise, an entry is made in
the Central Management Server (CMS) database. The Input File Repository
Server stores the new object below the \Enterprise\FileStore\Input\
data\ directory. When a user schedules an instance of any object,
BusinessObjects Enterprise queries the CMS for the location of the object file;
the appropriate server component then retrieves and processes the object file
from the Input File Repository. The processed instance is stored by the Output
File Repository Server below the \Enterprise\FileStore\Output\data\
directory.
Note: Only reports, programs, and object packages can be scheduled. Thus,
only these three types of objects have instances.
You can publish objects to BusinessObjects Enterprise in three ways:
• Use the Publishing Wizard when you:
• Have access to the locally installed application.
• Are adding multiple objects or an entire directory.
For details, see “Publishing with the Publishing Wizard” on page 44.
• Use the Central Management Console (CMC) when you are:
• Publishing a single object.
• Taking care of other administrative tasks.
• Performing tasks remotely.
For details, see “Publishing with the Central Management Console” on
page 53.
• Save directly to your Enterprise folders when you are:
• Designing reports with Crystal Reports.
• Using the OLAP Intelligence Application Designer.
• Creating other objects with BusinessObjects Enterprise plug-in
components.
For details, see “Saving objects directly to the CMS” on page 55.
Publishing options
During the publishing process, you specify how often an object is run. You
can choose to set a schedule (recurring), or you can choose to let users set
the schedule themselves (on demand).
For RPT report files, this affects when data is refreshed and what data users
see. (You cannot schedule OLAP Intelligence reports (CAR files).)
Each publishing option has potential benefits and drawbacks:
• Specifying the data that users see (recurring)
This option is recommended for objects that are accessed by a large number
of people and that do not require separate database logon credentials.
Benefits
• Users view the same instance of the report, reducing the number of
times the database is hit (and thus system resources are used more
effectively).
• The report instance is static (contains saved data) and is stored on
the Cache Server, allowing multiple users to access the report at the
same time.
Drawbacks
• The report instance the users see is based on the selection criteria
(parameters and record selection formulas) and schedule set by the
administrator.
• Allowing users to update the data in the report (on demand)
This option is recommended for smaller reports that use parameters and
selection formulas, require separate database logon credentials, or have
frequent data changes.
Benefits
• Users are able to determine the frequency in which the data in the
report is updated.
Drawbacks
• Multiple users generating reports at the same time increases the
load on the system and the number of times the database is hit.
• Each unique report page is cached separately. It’s possible that the
Cache Server can contain many copies of the cached report, each of
them being generated by hitting the Page Server and database.
Adding objects
1. In the Select Files dialog box, depending on the type of object you are
adding, click either Add Files or Add Folders.
2. Navigate to and select the object you want to add.
If you are adding a folder, you can choose to also add its subfolders by
selecting the Include Subfolders check box.
Tip: Ensure the appropriate file type is listed in the Files of type field; by
default this value is set to Report (*.rpt).
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for each of the objects you want to add.
Note: From the wizard, you can delete only new folders and object
packages. (New folders are green; existing folders are yellow.)
If you are adding multiple objects and want to place them in separate
directories, see “Duplicating the folder structure” on page 46.
2. Click Next.
The Confirm Location dialog box appears.
You can also add folders and object packages by selecting a parent
folder and clicking the New Folder or New Object Package button. To
delete a folder or object packages, select it and click the Delete button.
You can drag-and-drop objects to place them where you want. And you
can right-click objects to rename them.
By default, objects are displayed using their titles. You can display the
objects’ local file names by clicking the “Show file names” button.
2. Click Next when you are finished.
The Specify Categories dialog box appears.
Setting parameters
Some objects contain parameters for data selection. Before such an object
can be scheduled, you must set the parameters in order to determine the
default prompts.
1. In the Set Report Parameters dialog box, select the object whose
prompts you want to change.
The object’s prompts and default values appear in a list on the right-hand
side of the screen.
2. Click Edit Prompt to change the value of a prompt.
Depending on the type of parameter you have chosen, different dialog
boxes appear.
3. If you want to set the prompts to contain a null value (where possible),
then click Set Prompts to NULL.
4. Click Next after you have finished editing the prompts for each object.
The Specify Format dialog box appears.
3. On the left side of the page, click the type of object you want to add.
4. Enter the object’s properties.
The properties that appear vary according to the type of object you are
adding:
chapter
7 BusinessObjects Enterprise Architecture
Architecture overview and diagram
The remainder of this chapter describes each tier, the key BusinessObjects
Enterprise components, and their primary responsibilities:
• “Client tier” on page 60
• “Application tier” on page 62
• “Processing tier” on page 68
• “Data tier” on page 72
Tip: When you are familiar with the architecture and want to customize your
system configuration, see the BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrator’s
Guide.
Note: BusinessObjects Enterprise supports reports created in versions 6
through XI of Crystal Reports. Once published to BusinessObjects Enterprise,
reports are saved, processed, and displayed in version XI format.
Client tier
The client tier is the only part of the BusinessObjects Enterprise system that
administrators and end users interact with directly. This tier is made up of the
applications that enable people to administer, publish, and view reports and
other objects.
InfoView
BusinessObjects Enterprise comes with InfoView, a web-based interface that
end users access to view, schedule, and keep track of published reports.
Each BusinessObjects Enterprise request that a user makes is directed to the
BusinessObjects Enterprise application tier. The web server forwards the
user request directly to an application server where the request is processed
by the WCA.
InfoView also serves as a demonstration of the ways in which you can use the
BusinessObjects Enterprise Software Development Kit (SDK) to create a
custom web application for end users. In the case of .NET, InfoView also
demonstrates how you can use the BusinessObjects Enterprise .NET Server
Components. For more information, see the developer documentation
available on your product CD.
Publishing Wizard
The Publishing Wizard is a locally installed Windows application that enables
both administrators and end users to add reports to BusinessObjects
Enterprise. By assigning object rights to BusinessObjects Enterprise folders,
you control who can publish reports and where they can publish them to. For
more information, see “Publishing overview” on page 42 and the
BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrator’s Guide.
The Publishing Wizard publishes reports from a Windows machine to
BusinessObjects Enterprise servers running on Windows or on UNIX.
Import Wizard
The Import Wizard is a locally installed Windows application that guides
administrators through the process of importing users, groups, reports, and
folders from an existing BusinessObjects Enterprise, Crystal Enterprise, or
Crystal Info implementation to BusinessObjects Enterprise. For more
information, see the BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrator’s Guide.
The Import Wizard runs on Windows, but you can use it to import information
into a new BusinessObjects Enterprise system running on Windows or on UNIX.
Application tier
The application tier hosts the server-side components that process requests
from the client tier as well as the components that communicate these
requests to the appropriate server in the intelligence tier. The application tier
includes support for report viewing and logic to understand and direct web
requests to the appropriate BusinessObjects Enterprise server in the
intelligence tier.
The application tier includes:
• “Application tier components” on page 62
• “Web development platforms” on page 63
• “Web application environments” on page 64
Java platform
All UNIX installations of BusinessObjects Enterprise include a Web
Component Adapter (WCA). In this configuration, a Java application server is
required to host the WCA and the BusinessObjects Enterprise Java SDK. The
use of a web server is optional as you may choose to have static content
hosted by the application server.
• Managing servers
By staying in frequent contact with each of the servers in the system, the
CMS is able to maintain a list of server status. Report viewers access this
list, for instance, to identify which Cache Server is free to use for a report
viewing request.
• Managing auditing
By collecting information about user actions from each BusinessObjects
Enterprise server, and then writing these records to a central audit
database, the CMS acts as the system auditor. This audit information
allows system administrators to better manage their BusinessObjects
Enterprise deployment.
Note: In previous versions of Crystal Enterprise, the Central Management
Server (CMS) was known as the Crystal Management Server, and also as the
Automated Process Scheduler (APS).
Typically, you provide the CMS with database connectivity and credentials
when you install BusinessObjects Enterprise, so the CMS can create its own
system database and BusinessObjects Enterprise Repository database using
your organization’s preferred database server. For details about setting up
CMS databases, see the BusinessObjects Enterprise Installation Guide, and
the BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrator’s Guide. See the
Platforms.txt file included with your product distribution for a complete list
of tested database software and version requirements.
Note:
• It is strongly recommended that you back up the CMS system database,
and the audit database frequently. The backup procedure depends upon
your database software. If you are unsure of the procedure, consult with
your database administrator.
• The CMS database should not be accessed directly. System information
should only be retrieved using the calls that are provided in the
BusinessObjects Enterprise Software Development Kit (SDK). For more
information, see the developer documentation available on your product CD.
• You can access the audit database directly to create custom audit
reports. See the BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrator’s Guide for
more information.
On Windows, the Setup program can install and configure its own Microsoft
Data Engine (MSDE) database if necessary. MSDE is a client/server data
engine that provides local data storage and is compatible with Microsoft SQL
Server. If you already have the MSDE or SQL Server installed, the installation
program uses it to create the CMS system database. You can migrate your
default CMS system database to a supported database server later.
Cache Server
The Cache Server is responsible for handling all report viewing requests. The
Cache Server checks whether or not it can fulfill the request with a cached
report page. If the Cache Server finds a cached page that displays exactly the
required data, with data that has been refreshed from the database within the
interval that you have specified as the default, the Cache Server returns that
cached report page.
If the Cache Server cannot fulfil the request with a cached report page, it
passes the request along to the Page Server. The Page Server runs the
report and returns the results to the Cache Server. The Cache Server then
caches the report page for future use, and returns the data to the viewer. By
storing report pages in a cache, BusinessObjects Enterprise avoids
accessing the database each and every time a report is requested.
If you are running multiple Page Servers for a single Cache Server, the Cache
Server automatically balances the processing load across Page Servers.
For more information, see the BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrator’s
Guide.
Note:
• The Input and Output File Repository Servers cannot share the same
directories. This is because one of the File Repository Servers could then
delete files and directories belonging to the other.
• In larger deployments, there may be multiple Input and Output File
Repository Servers, for redundancy. In this case, all Input File Repository
Servers must share the same directory. Likewise, all Output File
Repository Servers must share a directory.
• Objects with files associated with them, such as text files, Microsoft Word
files, or PDFs, are stored on the Input File Repository Server.
Event Server
The Event Server manages file-based events. When you set up a file-based
event within BusinessObjects Enterprise, the Event Server monitors the
directory that you specified. When the appropriate file appears in the
monitored directory, the Event Server triggers your file-based event: that is,
the Event Server notifies the CMS that the file-based event has occurred. The
CMS then starts any jobs that are dependent upon your file-based event.
After notifying the CMS of the event, the Event Server resets itself and again
monitors the directory for the appropriate file. When the file is newly created in
the monitored directory, the Event Server again triggers your file-based event.
Note: Schedule-based events, and custom events are managed by the
Central Management Server.
Processing tier
The processing tier accesses the data and generates the reports. It is the only
tier that interacts directly with the databases that contain the report data.
Page Server
The Page Server is primarily responsible for responding to page requests by
processing reports and generating Encapsulated Page Format (EPF) pages.
The EPF pages contain formatting information that defines the layout of the
report. The Page Server retrieves data for the report from an instance or
directly from the database (depending on the user’s request and the rights he
or she has to the report object). When retrieving data from the database, the
Page Server automatically disconnects from the database after it fulfills its
initial request and reconnects if necessary to retrieve additional data. (This
behavior conserves database licenses.)
The Cache Server and Page Server work closely together. Specifically, the
Page Server responds to page requests made by the Cache Server. The Page
Server and Cache Server also interact to ensure cached EPF pages are reused
as frequently as possible, and new pages are generated as soon as they are
required. BusinessObjects Enterprise takes advantage of this behavior by
ensuring that the majority of report-viewing requests are made to the Cache
Server and Page Server. (However, if a user’s default viewer is the Advanced
DHTML viewer, the report is processed by the Report Application Server.)
The Page Server also supports COM, ASP.NET, and Java viewer Software
Development Kits (SDKs).
Data tier
The data tier is made up of the databases that contain the data used in the
reports. BusinessObjects Enterprise supports a wide range of corporate
databases.
See the Platforms.txt file included with your product distribution for a
complete list of tested database software and version requirements.
Report viewers
BusinessObjects Enterprise includes report viewers that support different
platforms and different browsers in the client tier, and which have different
report viewing functionality. (For more information on the specific functionality
or platform support provided by each report viewer, see the BusinessObjects
Enterprise User’s Guide or the Crystal Reports Developer’s Guide.)
All of the viewers fall into two categories:
• client-side viewers
Client-side viewers are downloaded and installed in the users’ web
browser.
Information flow
This section describes the interaction of the server components in order to
demonstrate how report-processing is performed. This section covers two
different scenarios:
• “What happens when you schedule an object?” on page 74
• “What happens when you view a report?” on page 75
• The client-side report viewers (the ActiveX and Java viewers) are
implemented through viewrpt.aspx, hosted by the WCA.
The Crystal Web Request is executed internally through viewer code on
the application server. The viewer code communicates with the
framework in order to retrieve a report page in .epf format from the Cache
Server and Page Server.
If they haven’t already done so, users are prompted to download and
install the appropriate viewer software.
Live data
On-demand reporting gives users real-time access to live data, straight from
the database server. Use live data to keep users up-to-date on constantly
changing data, so they can access information that’s accurate to the second.
For instance, if the managers of a large distribution center need to keep track
of inventory shipped on a continual basis, then live reporting is the way to give
them the information they need.
Before providing live data for all your reports, however, consider whether or
not you want all of your users hitting the database server on a continual basis.
If the data isn’t rapidly or constantly changing, then all those requests to the
database do little more than increase network traffic and consume server
Saved data
To reduce the amount of network traffic and the number of hits on your
database servers, you can schedule reports to be run at specified times.
When the report has been run, users can view that report instance as
needed, without triggering additional hits on the database.
Report instances are useful for dealing with data that isn’t continually
updated. When users navigate through report instances, and drill down for
details on columns or charts, they don’t access the database server directly;
instead, they access the saved data. Consequently, reports with saved data
not only minimize data transfer over the network, but also lighten the
database server’s workload.
For example, if your sales database is updated once a day, you can run the
report on a similar schedule. Sales representatives then always have access
to current sales data, but they are not hitting the database every time they
open a report.
Tip: Users require only View access to display report instances.
appendix
A Business Objects Information Resources
Documentation and information services
Documentation
You can find answers to your questions on how to install, configure, deploy,
and use Business Objects products from the documentation.
D intelligence tier 65
data
choosing live/saved 79 J
live 79 Java platform 64
refreshing 43 Java SDK 64
saved 80 Job Servers 69, 69
data tier 72
directories, publishing 44
documentation L
feedback on 83 launchpad, accessing 34
on product CD 82 List of Values Job Server, description 71
on the web 82 live data 79
roadmap 82 logging off, CMC 36
logging on, CMC 34
E
education. See training M
ePortfolio. See InfoView management areas, defined 36
Event Server 68
exporting reports 31 N
new features 11
F
features, new 11 O
feedback, on documentation 83 object packages
File Repository Servers 67 creating 45
folders, creating 43 moving 46
publishing objects to 53
G objects
group, adding users 37 history 30
publishing 41
multiple 44
H options 43
history 30 with CMC 53
saving to CMS 55
I scheduling 28
Import Wizard 61 viewing 27
information flow, between servers 73 OLAP Intelligence, saving objects to CMS 55
information resources 82 Online Customer Support 83
InfoView 26, 60 options, publishing 43
Input File Repository Server 67 Output File Repository Server 67
installation
overview 22 P
procedure 22 Page Server 71
Windows 22 viewing with 76
password settings R
changing 39 Report Application Server 70
administrator 40 viewing with 77
user 39 Report Viewers 72
platforms report_view_advanced.aspx 75
Java 64 report_view_dhtml.aspx 75
Windows .NET 64 reports
previewing reports 27 alerts 30
printing reports 32 exporting 31
processing tier 68 history 30
program credentials specifying 49 previewing 27
program objects printing 32
accessing other files 52 publishing 41
batch 48 multiple 44
binary 48 options 43
command line arguments 52 with CMC 53
Java 48 saving to CMS 55
script 48 scheduling 74
programs. See program objects viewing 75
publishing 42 resources 82
object packages 53
options 43
reports and objects 41 S
with CMC 53 sample web desktop. See InfoView
with Publishing Wizard 44 saved data 80
Publishing Wizard 44 scheduling
adding information flow 74
folders 44 reports 28
objects 44 servers 58, 65, 68
creating category on CMS 47 application tier 62
creating folder on CMS 45 information flow 73, 73
database log on 50 intelligence tier 65
duplicating folder structure 46 processing tier 68
modifying support 83
default values 49 customer 83
object properties 50 locations 83
moving reports between folders 46 technical 83
repository refresh 48 web site 83
scheduling objects 47 system architecture 58
selecting system requirements, Windows 23
category on CMS 47
folder on CMS 45 T
setting parameters 51 tasks, administration 34
technical support 83
tiers 58
U
UNIX
application server 63
installation 64
WCA 64
user account
creating 36
deleting 39
modifying 38
V
viewers
and InfoView 75
client-side 72
zero client 72
viewing
BusinessObjects Enterprise architecture 75
information flow 75
with the Cache Server 76
with the Page Server 76
with the Report Application Server 77
viewrpt.aspx 76
W
WCA 63
description 63
web 83
customer support 83
getting documentation via 82
useful addresses 84
Web application environments 64
Web Component Adapter. See WCA
web desktop. See InfoView
web servers 65
web sites 83
support 83
training 84