Technical Articles
Analyze Excel data in SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.3 SP01 Web Intelligence
Data stored in Microsoft Excel files can be very important to business analysts especially when combined with main Enterprise information.
In this article I will describe how to create a new Web Intelligence document and query from Excel data source in SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.3 SP01.
Solution
Log into SAP BusinessObjects BI Launchpad and launch Web Intelligence app. Select Excel from the list of Data Source types.
Browse for Excel file saved in BI Launchpad and open it. In SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.3 SP02 it is also possible to use local Excel files in Web Intelligence Rich Client and Excel files stored in Google Drive.
Setup options of selected Excel file such as Sheet name, Selection and First row column names.
In the Query Panel change the name of the Query as needed, names of Dimensions and Measures, types of business objects, aggregate functions and other parameters. In the SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.3 SP02 a new Universal Query Panel was introduced which combines properties of all data source types into one single panel.
To review the Excel data before the query is run press Refresh. Press Run when the query it ready to be executed.
As soon as the query fetches the data from the Excel file the new Web Intelligence document is created.
Start exploring, visualize and analyze Excel data using tables, charts and other Web Intelligence elements.
Conclusion
In this article we have learned how to create a new Web Intelligence document from Excel data source in SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.3 SP01. We have created a new query from Excel file in Web Intelligence document, managed and updated properties of the query and it’s objects, visualized and analyzed data using tables, charts and other Web Intelligence elements and capabilities.
References
Images and information in this article were taken from a learning video guide on how to create a Web Intelligence document from Excel data source in SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.3 SP01.
You can find more information about the SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence with blogs, Q&A, videos and best practices in the SAP BusinessObjects and Web Intelligence topics.
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Hi there - we just updated from 4.2 to 4.3 SP2.
I have many documents that use excel as a data source from 4.2 that are still working, I seem unable to create a new document with excel as a data source because i can't see the excel files when I try to add them.
Can you tell me which permission I need to update in the CMC to make this possible?
or maybe what language to search as I am having trouble finding help.
Hello Donatos,
I have created a webi document based on XLSX data as you described above in your article.
Now I have the issue that I need to change the data type of an object defined as a measure in the XLS query panel to a dimension.
I'm able to change it in the object properties, but after re-running the XLS query, the changes in the Object Properties are lost.
How can I resolve this?
Tx for your advice.
Jan