Design Studio SDK (1.4) - Datasource SDK Test

[mike_howles4]

EDIT (11/26/2014): Github Source for this moved to a different 1.4 Git Repo -- Installable .ZIP can be found there, too.

entmike/DesignStudio1.4SDK · GitHub

Original Post:

So, 1.4 is available.

I went straight to Help -> Help Contents -> Developer Guide -> SDK Extensions as Data Sources (Data Source SDK)

After reading about the two types of Data Sources (DataSource and its extended version DataBuffer), I decided to try my luck with a Data Source Test SDK Component using DataBuffer.  Details of the two types are in the help guide.

I then made sure to download the 1.4 SDK Samples here: http://help.sap.com/businessobject/product_guides/AAD14/en/DS_14_SDK_SAMPLES.zip

Eclipse SDKer note: Don't forget to update your sdk.xsd reference with the new one provided!

Test 1:

I first took a look at the example 'Constant Data Source' SDK example.  It basically is just a hard-coded Data Source JSON structure to demonstrate structure expected to be returned:

So below we just see evidence that it indeed does work with a simple Chart Component.

Test 2:

I moved on to see what the 'CSV Data Source' SDK example had to offer.  It appears to be simple as well (as examples should be) to show how you can point a Data Source to a URL hosting a CSV file and return it JSON format.

It indeed does just that (CSV URL: http://mikehowles.com/data2.csv )

Test 3 - My Turn!:

How about letting the designer just paste in some CSV text at design time instead of hosting it somewhere?  Also maybe allow for some crosstab rows/columns flipping (very primitive) and specifying how many dimensions are in columns?  No idea how much of this is a good idea but it sure seems to work!

Example when setting 'Measures in Rows' to true:

Also, I have a proof-of-concept parameter called 'Mutators' and this is just to allow for what-if analysis via design time or BIAL methods:

Setting the 'Mutators' array to [0.25,1,2] basically just multiplies the first measure by .25, the second by 1, and the third by 2:

I also added one BIAL Method called setMutator that allows us to modify measures at runtime.

Sure enough, at runtime when running the code, the first measure changes to 40% of it's original value.

(Caveman simple) what-if analysis successful!  :grin:

Observations:

Come components don't seem to acknowledge SDK Datasources existence.  Maybe I'm doing something wrong however even the SAP Samples did not work with the Crosstab or Filter Panel components.  The message in those components would say "Data source not loaded".

The Chart component and my other databound SDK components DID work with them though (all the screenshots I took).

Things to think about:

Local projection, Filtering, Navigation - are these possible or bad ideas?  Maybe after the holiday.  Time to rest, but before I go:

The source code is available on Github in my Utility Pack:

EDIT (11/26/2014): Github Source for this moved to a different 1.4 Git Repo -- Installable .ZIP can be found there, too.

entmike/DesignStudio1.4SDK · GitHub

Code specific to my Data Source Test component:

DesignStudio1.4SDK/dataTest.js at master · entmike/DesignStudio1.4SDK · GitHub

General SDK Installation instructions can be found here along with other examples:

Design Studio 1.2/1.3 SDK - Design Studio Utility Pack

Enjoy - and Happy Thanksgiving.