Data Analysis with Microsoft Excel 

The BEx Analyzer helps you to analyze and present BI data in a Microsoft Excel environment. Queries, query views and InfoProviders that are created with the BEx Query Designer are embedded in workbooks for this purpose.

You can adapt the interaction of the workbooks individually and use formatting and formula functions of Microsoft Excel. The workbooks that are created can be saved as favorites or made available to other users using the role concept. The workbooks can also be sent to other user groups by e-mail. The broadcasting of BI contents will be explained in a later section.

SAP NetWeaver BI provides a default workbook with which you can create reports with no significant formatting effort. The default workbook is the workbook into which queries are opened. You can adapt this workbook to your needs or create a new one using the functions of Microsoft Excel or the design functions of the BEx Analyzer. You can then define this self-defined workbook as the default workbook for all subsequently opened queries.

In the BEx Analyzer, you work in three modes: In analysis mode you navigate in the report results, in design mode you develop flexible individual workbooks, and in formula mode you format the results area of the analysis pane to suit your requirements.

Analysis Mode

Once you have inserted a query in a workbook, the first view on the analysis grid displays the distribution of the characteristics and key figures in the rows and columns of the query. You can change the query and generate additional views on the BI data using the navigation functions.

When you navigate, you execute OLAP functions such as filtering, drilling down, and sorting characteristics and key figures in rows and columns of the analysis grid. You can also expand hierarchies as well as activate or deactivate conditions and exceptions. In the variable dialog you can specify variable values so that you only fill individual components of the query or the entire query with values when it is displayed in the BEx Analyzer.

There are the following types of navigation:

●      Context Menu

You open the context menu for a given cell using the alternative mouse button.

●      Drag and drop

You move individual cells in the analysis grid or in the navigation pane using the mouse.

●      Symbols

The analysis grid and the navigation pane can contain various types of symbols for navigation, for example a symbol for sorting in increasing or decreasing order.

●      Double-click the left mouse button

You can for example double-click a key figure in the analysis grid to filter the results according to this structure member.

Formula Mode

From analysis mode, you can go to formula mode from the context menu of the analysis grid. In formula mode you can use all the formatting functions of Microsoft Excel, including the auto-formatting functions.

In formula mode the result values called from the server with the formula are still displayed in the analysis grid. The formula of the selected cell is displayed in the formula bar. You can move/copy a formula to another position in the worksheet, thereby displaying the corresponding value in another cell of the worksheet independently of the table. For example, you can highlight or compare individual values, such as sales, for a certain period in the workbook outside the analysis grid. When you navigate in the analysis grid, only the data for the values is retrieved from the server; the standard formatting of the analysis grid is not retrieved. Your individual formatting is retained.

You can also add VBA programs (Visual Basic for Applications) that you defined yourself.

Design Mode

In BEx Analyzer design mode, you design the interface for your query applications. As for Web items in the Web Application Designer, you use design items to visualize the data and to design the layout of the workbooks. You can define characteristics that suit your requirements for each design item that you insert in a workbook.

In design mode, your workbook appears as a collection of design items represented by their respective icons. In analysis mode, the results of the query are displayed in accordance with the configuration in the design items. With the design items you create an interface that defines how you will analyze the results and how you will navigate in them in analysis mode.

Results of the query are displayed in the analysis grid design item, in which you also navigate and analyze the query results, with the assistance of the navigation pane design item. The interface of your query can be designed by adding and restructuring design items.

You can define filters with various design items, such as with a dropdown box or radio button group. and display a list of filters that are currently active.

The List of Conditions and List of Exceptions design items permit you to list all existing conditions and exceptions and the corresponding status, and to activate or deactivate them in the list.

More Information

Analysis and Reporting: BEx Analyzer