15 Using Oracle Business Intelligence Mobile

Which BI Content is Viewable Using Oracle Business Intelligence Mobile?

All of your Oracle BI EE content is available for immediate consumption on your mobile devices. There is no need to move content to specially marked folders. Nor do you need to redesign any content specifically for viewing on the mobile devices.

Oracle Business Intelligence Mobile supports the following object types:

• Dashboard

• Analysis

• BI Publisher report

• Agent-resultant report

• Scorecard

For all supported object types, Oracle Business Intelligence Mobile supports rendering of all report content, though content is sometimes altered to optimize for the mobile context. In analyses and dashboards, the Oracle BI Mobile application provides all analytic actions (such as drill, action link, prompts, and so on). For BI Publisher, the actions supported match those of the desktop (based on output type). In scorecards, the Oracle BI Mobile application provides a subset of actions.

Localization of BI Content

You can use a setting—called Device Locale— within the Oracle BI Mobile application to determine how BI content is rendered on the mobile device. This setting affects only BI content, not the user interface language of the application shell.

Adding, Modifying, and Removing Server Connections

If you need to connect to more than one Oracle BI Presentation Services instance, you will want to configure multiple server connections.You can use the Settings screen to add, modify, and remove server connections.

To add or modify a server connection:

1. In the tab bar, tap Settings.

   The "Settings screen" is displayed.

2. Add or modify a server connection as follows:

   • If you are adding a new server connection, next to Add Server, tap the blue Add icon.

   • If you are modifying a server connection, next to the server name, tap the blue Next icon.

     The "Server Setting screen" is displayed.

3. In the Server Setting screen, specify the following:

   • Name. Settings Name. Once set, this name cannot be changed.

   • Host. Enter either the IP address (for example: 192.168.1.1) or the fully qualified host name of the computer on which Presentation Services is running (for example, myname.us.oracle.com). If entering the name, make sure that you do not enter an alias or a redirecting URL; otherwise a connection cannot be made. For example, you cannot enter a URL that is a network alias, such as analytics.mycompany.com, when the actual server URL is itfx1234.mycompany.com. Similarly, do not enter a stand-in URL, such as tinyurl.com/1234, which redirects to a server.

   • Port. Enter the port number, for example, 7001.

   • SSL. A toggle to select ON or OFF.

   • SSO. A toggle to select ON or OFF.

   • Username

   • Password

   • Save Password. A toggle to select ON or OFF. If set to ON, the password you enter in the Password field is saved as part of the configuration for the device. If set to OFF, you will be prompted to enter your password each time you launch the application.

   • Device Locale. A toggle to select ON or OFF. If set to ON, the application uses the device's settings for user interface language and region format. If set to OFF, language and region formats are based on the user preferences for Presentation Services. This toggle affects BI content only; setting it to OFF has no bearing on the application shell user interface.

   • Analytics Path. For example, /analytics/saw.dll

   • Publisher Path. For example, /xmlpserver

4. Tap Save.

To remove a server connection:

1. In the tab bar, tap Settings.

   The "Settings screen" is displayed.

2. In the Settings screen, select the server connection you want to remove.

3. Next to the server connection name, tap the blue Next icon.

4. Scroll down to find the red Delete button, and tap it.

   Note:

   The default server connection cannot be deleted.

5. Tap Done.

Switching Between Servers

You can switch between Presentation Services servers in the Settings screen.

To switch between servers:

1. In the tab bar, tap Settings.

   The "Settings screen" is displayed.

2. In the Settings screen, select the server connection to which you want to switch.

3. In the confirmation dialog, tap OK.

4. Press the device's Home button to exit the application.

5. Relaunch the application.

   You are now connected to the newly selected BI Presentation Services server.

Specifying the Layout for Oracle Business Intelligence Mobile

Using the Mobile Layout setting in the Settings screen, you can control the default layout of a dashboard or analysis report—that is, how it displays when opened. (The layout of a report can also be changed once it is open, by tapping the Properties button on the Action menu for the report.)

The Mobile Layout property does not affect other object types, such as BI Publisher reports, scorecard content, or alerts.

When Mobile Layout is set to OFF, the layout of the dashboard or analysis is the same as that of the full-browser version. When Mobile Layout is set to ON, the layout is optimized for the mobile device's screen: all the views are stacked vertically and sized to fit the screen horizontally as much as possible.

Figure 15-6 Mobile Layout Setting in the Settings Screen

To set your preferred viewing layout for dashboards and analyses:

1. In the tab bar, tap Settings.

   The "Settings screen" is displayed.

2. In the Settings screen, in the Mobile Layout row, tap ON or OFF.

Setting Console Logging

You can enable console logging for your device in the Settings screen.

Console logging can be useful when it is necessary to debug issues on mobile devices. Console logging can slow down the performance of the Oracle BI Mobile application, however, since it requires that numerous messages are written to console logs on the device. (You can access these device logs using the iPhone configuration utility available from Apple.)

Because console logging impacts application performance, the default setting is OFF.

Figure 15-7 Console Logging Setting in the Settings Screen

To enable or disable console logging:

1. In the tab bar, tap Settings.

   The "Settings screen" is displayed.

2. In the Settings screen, in the Console Logging row, tap ON or OFF.

Marking Favorites

While viewing BI content, mark it as a favorite if you intend to return to it later.

To mark BI content as a favorite:

1. While viewing the BI content, in the navigation bar where the BI content's title appears, tap the Menu icon.

2. In the Action menu, tap Add to Favorites.

   Note:

   The Add to Favorites button does not appear on the Action menu for BI content that is already in your Favorites list.

   The BI content is added to your Favorites list.

Opening Favorites

You access the Favorites screen by tapping Favorites in the tab bar.

To open a favorite:

1. In the tab bar, tap Favorites.

   The "Favorites screen" is displayed.

2. In the Favorites list, tap the favorite you want to open.

Removing Favorites

You can remove a favorite in the same way that you delete in general on your iPhone or iPad.

To remove a favorite:

1. In the Favorites list, tap Edit.

2. At the left side of the favorite, tap the red Delete icon.

   Alternatively, you can swipe the favorite and then tap the red Delete icon that appears as a result of your swiping.

Opening Alerts

You open BI content associated with alerts in the Alerts screen.

To open the BI content associated with an alert:

1. In the tab bar, tap Alerts.

   The "Alerts screen" is displayed.

2. In the list of your alerts, tap the row of a particular alert.

   The BI content associated with the alert is displayed.

Clearing Alerts

You can clear an alert by swiping its row or by tapping its Edit button. When you clear an alert instance in the mobile environment, its elimination is synchronized with the full-browser version of Oracle BI EE. Likewise, when you clear an alert instance in the full-browser environment, its elimination is synchronized in the mobile environment.

To clear an alert:

1. In the Alerts list, tap Edit.

2. At the left side of the alert, tap the red Delete icon.

   Alternatively, you can swipe the alert and then tap the red Delete icon that appears as a result of your swiping.

Navigating the Catalog

You navigate the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog on your mobile device using your device's standard list navigation for folders.

To navigate the catalog:

1. In the tab bar, tap Catalog.

   The "Catalog screen" is displayed.

2. Perform one of the following actions:

   • To see the contents of a folder, tap the folder in the catalog list.

   • To go up a folder level, tap the Previous icon in the navigation bar.

Opening an Object in the Catalog

Access the Catalog screen to open an object on your mobile device.

To open an object:

1. In the tab bar, tap Catalog.

   The "Catalog screen" is displayed.

2. In the Catalog list, tap a folder or successive folders until you have navigated to the object you want.

3. In the Catalog list, tap the object's row.

Navigating Directly to Dashboards

You can access your dashboards on your mobile device as quickly and easily as you can find them with your desktop browser. The Dashboards tab of the Catalog screen displays a two-level list of all dashboards to which you have access.

To open a dashboard:

1. In the tab bar, tap Catalog.

   The "Catalog screen" is displayed.

2. In the navigation bar, tap Dashboards.

   The dashboards to which you have access are displayed.

3. In the dashboards list, tap a dashboard or a dashboard page.

Setting Properties for Searches

You access the search options set up for your device using the Search Criteria icon in the Search screen. Tapping the Search Criteria icon brings you to the Search Criteria screen. The Search Criteria screen is shown in Figure 15-12.

Figure 15-12 Search Criteria Screen on an iPhone

To set your search criteria:

1. In the tab bar, tap Search.

   The "Search screen" is displayed.

2. In the Search screen, tap the Search Criteria icon.

   The "Search Criteria screen" is displayed.

3. In the Search Location list, do one of the following to set the base search path:

   • Change the base search path by tapping the Next character and using the "Search Location screen" to select a folder to search.

   • Tap ON to search the entire catalog.

4. In the Search Filter list, specify which catalog objects should be searched by tapping ON or OFF in the rows of object types.

5. When you are finished, tap Done in the navigation bar.

Searching for BI Content

You search for BI content in the "Search screen".

To search Oracle BI EE using the Oracle BI Mobile application:

1. In the tab bar, tap Search.

   The "Search screen" is displayed.

2. In the Search field at the top of the Search screen, enter your search criteria. An example of criteria is "UPC*" to search all content for which the content name begins with "UPC".

   The syntax of the search string is identical to that of the full-browser version of Oracle BI EE, including usage of special characters. Search criteria are case-insensitive.

3. Tap the Search button.

   Your search is performed on the server and the search results are displayed in a list. Tap a row to open BI content.

Viewing BI Content

While viewing BI content, you can tap the Menu icon in the title bar in order to access an Action menu. Menu items vary based on the type of BI content you are viewing. This section describes the actions you can take from the Action menu:

• Refresh. See "Refreshing BI Content".

• Properties. See "Viewing Properties of BI Content".

• Apply Customizations. See "Applying Saved Customizations".

• Desktop Layout. See "Specifying the Layout for BI Content".

• Mobile Layout. See "Specifying the Layout for BI Content".

• Add Favorite. See "Adding BI Content to Favorites".

Working with Analyses and Dashboards

On the iPhone, by default, analysis and dashboard content is displayed in a manner optimized for the mobile device. Content is stacked vertically, and sized to fit the screen horizontally. In this default display, called Mobile Layout, a single column layout is used. You can disable the default display setting to view analysis and dashboard content as defined in Oracle BI EE.

On the iPad, by default, analysis and dashboard content is displayed as it was designed for the full-browser version of BI EE.

These initial default settings can be changed in two places, depending on whether you want to reset the default behavior for general use or simply change the view for the currently open analysis or dashboard. To change the display setting for viewing of BI content, see Specifying the Layout for Oracle Business Intelligence Mobile.

With Oracle Business Intelligence Mobile, you can see all the same views provided by the full-browser version of Oracle BI EE. You can perform all analytic actions in the Oracle BI Mobile application: prompts, drills, action links, and so on.

You can view graphs as static images. Graphs are not interactive in the Oracle BI Mobile application. That is, you cannot perform actions such as drill or zoom directly on the graphs.

In gauges, use of the slider prompt is slightly different. You cannot change slider prompts by interactively dragging, so instead, you tap the text value and textually change it.

A typical view of BI content on an iPhone is shown in Figure 15-13.

Figure 15-13 BI Content on an iPhone

A typical view of BI content on an iPad is shown in Figure 15-14.

Figure 15-14 BI Content on an iPad

Working with Oracle BI Publisher Content

You view Oracle BI Publisher content in the Oracle BI Mobile application in much the same way you view it in the full-browser version of Oracle BI EE: you can open it straight from the Oracle BI catalog. Viewing of BI Publisher content is interactive in the Oracle BI Mobile application. You can apply parameters for BI Publisher reports as well.

You can view read-only catalog information about the active report in the "Login screen". For more information, see "Applying Saved Customizations".

Working with Scorecard Content

You view scorecard content in the Oracle BI Mobile application differently from how you view it in the full-browser version of Oracle BI EE. The main differences are that in the Oracle BI Mobile application, you view scorecard content in a tabular format, and drilling is not supported.

You can open scorecard content straight from the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog. You can view KPIs. In dashboards, all Flash-based views (such as Strategy Map, Strategy Tree, Cause & Effect Map, Custom View) are rendered in tables as watchlists.

Working with Alerts and Agents

You can view your list of active alerts in the Alerts screen. The list has all the same entries as the full-browser version.

The associated alert output (analyses and dashboard pages) for your active alerts can be opened from the Alerts screen as well. As with the full-browser version of the alert output, these are non-interactive reports.

For more information, see:

• "Opening Alerts"

As with the full-browser version, you can execute agents in the Oracle BI Mobile application through a schedule, or explicitly from the catalog entry for the agent.

To run an agent from the catalog:

1. In the Catalog screen, navigate to the agent you want to run.

2. Tap the agent to access an Action menu.

3. In the Action menu, tap Run Agent.

   The agent executes, and when complete, a success or failure message displays. When execution is successful, the Alerts screen is updated appropriately.