ABA

Activant Business Analyzer

This class is designed for…

This course was designed for managers who need to look at business performance and make proactive decisions based on current information in an intuitive format.

Objectives

Gain a general understanding of Activant Business Analyzer. Explore ABA’s basic capabilities and fundamentals of queries.

This class will not cover…

Detailed instructions on ABA’s advanced functionsFor further training on ABA please contact pss@activant.com to schedule time with an Activant AC

ABA Cubes

Each night your P21 DB will be uploaded to the ABA’s DB, called the Star DB. Your data in ABA will be as of the day before.

Sales cube: Updated nightlyInventory cube: will show value of “today” and end of month value for each month in ABA databaseA/P cube: will show value of “today” and end of month value for each month in ABA databaseA/R cube: will show value of “today” and end of month value for each month in ABA database

Basic ABA Terminology

Layout:Includes all Pages, Work Areas and Queries

Page:Includes all Work Areas and Queries

Work Area:An area that contains a graph or data on the page, usually multiple work areas per page

Query:A specific request for data from your database

Measure:a piece of quantifiable data. Cost, price, profit dollar, sales, PO value, etc.

Dimension:ways to break down measures

Layout

Page

Work Area(s)

Query

Activant ABA Pre Defined Layout

OverviewSales (Sales Dollars)Sales (Profit Dollars)InventoryOrders QuotesPurchasingA/PA/R

Activant ABA Pre - Defined Layout

Cannot save over pre-defined layout, pages, queriesCan modify pre-defined Layout, pages and queries as needed and “Save As”

Editing Work Areas

Open A/R page, double click on A/R Aging By Due Date header to expandRMB on the data area (pie chart) and select “Designer View”

Editing Work Areas

In designer view, click on Customer Name in the Filter On field

Editing Work Areas

DisplayTop 10Show OnlyShow All ExceptExpressionSnapshot

Editing Work Areas

To select multiple criteria, with focus on first name, hold shift and click on desired end nameSelect range using the shift key

Editing Work Areas

Click on Run to view new results

Editing Work Areas

Chart ViewTable ViewGauge ViewReport View

Editing Work Areas

Selecting Table View

Editing Work Areas

Save optionsLayoutPage Query

Can save to User, System or Role

Editing Work Areas

Save Layout or PageFile – Save Layout or Page

Save QueryMust be in Designer ViewTop left of Page has options of Open and Save

Appshare

Open default A/R PageLimit customer to a range for A/R Aging By Due DateRename PageSave Layout, Page and Query

Inserting Pages

Page – New Blank Page

Inserting Work Areas

Page – New Work Area –Select Position

Inserting Analytics

Insert - Analytics

Designing Queries

Measure:A piece of quantifiable data. Cost, price, profit dollar, sales, PO value, etc.

Dimension:Ways to break down measures

Filter OnDimension used to limit results

Designing Queries

Designing Queries

Sales to show Sales and Sales Year to DateThe Sales Measure (in the Show field) can be modified to show sales as of today and the previous year(s) to allow for accurate comparison

Designing Queries

Select Year from Filter on Field and limit results to Last Year from the Relative Dates menu.Run Query

Designing Queries

Results should look similar to this

Designing Queries

RMB functions of Column HeaderQuick TotalQuick Sort and Subtotal by “X”Hide “X”Column Select Columns to ViewSet Alerts On Sales Clear Alerts On SalesShow FiltersControl PanelBudget

Designing Queries

RMB – Column –Customize ColumnSet decimal placesTitle columnAdd currency, percent and

commasSet justification

Designing Queries

RMB – Column – Insert ColumnAllows the insertion of a

calculated columnAllows selection of many

operations for columnName column

Designing Queries

Alert: the ability to highlight a cell based upon set parametersOn column header – RMB - Set Alerts – choose Red, Yellow, or GreenSet parameter desired and value

Designing Queries

Designing Queries

Left Side “By”I would replace with

“Creates a single row for each returned element related to the selected dimension

Designing Queries

Bottom “By”I would replace with

“Creates a single column for each returned element related to the selected dimension

Example is using the Month Dimension

AppShare

Add new Page and Analytics Create a basic Sales query

Show = SalesBy = Sales Rep NameBottom By = Month (x2)

Change column nameFormat columns

Add dollar sign and commasTotal at bottom

Add a column to calculate differenceSet a Red alert

Advanced Navigation

While using the Table view, RMB – Control Panel has Layout, Export and Print optionsRight side of window has shortcut icons. Hold cursor over to view label

Advanced Navigation

Page ContextAllows for all Work Areas on a Page to be limited to specified

DimensionThe dimension must exist on each work area’s query in the

Filter On field in order for Page Context to work

Drill Downs

Drill DownThe ability to create queries within work areas to show further detailIn any type of work area in Dashboard view, RMB –Create DrillSeveral options for how Drill Down appears

New WindowNew PageCurrent PageSet Page ContextReset Page Context

Budgets

Design queryInsert budget columnEnter budget valuesSave budgetInsert Proration columnInsert Projection column

Budgets

Proration: Where sales should be RMB – Column – Insert ColumnSet Column valuesLeave date as default

Budgets

Projection: Based on sales numbersRMB – Column – Insert ColumnSet Column valuesLeave date as default

Budgets

Charts

RMB on Chart – Chart TypePointLineSplineBarStacked BarColumnStacked ColumnAreaSpline AreaStacked AreaPieDoughnut

Charts

RMB on Chart – 3 Dimensional Display & Show LegendRMB on chart – Properties – Edit chart and select chart type

Tools – User Maintenance

Setup new users Determine Users’ ABA rightsRestrict dimensions that user can useRestrict access to specific cubes

Tools – User Maintenance

Create and add users to rolesRoles are used for saving specific layout, pages and queries to defined group

Tools – Address Book

Any contact that will be sent reports through email must be set up here

Tools - Schedule Maintenance

ABA has the ability to send out emailed Alerts and ExportsEach Schedule must be setup priorCan be set to send out hourly, daily, weekly, monthly

Tools – Task Maintenance

Allows users to create automatic emails to be sent out with data from Queries, Pages and Layouts

Tools – Task Maintenance

AlertA query that at designated

schedule time will run and email results if any are returned

ExportAn email containing query,

page or layout that will be sent at time specified in schedule

Tools – Task Viewer

View Alerts and ExportsRMB – Execute NowCan uncheck Enable

Host Configuration

Start – All Programs – Activant Business Analyzer – Utilities – Set HostsHosts tab

IP addresses of ABA Server

Host Configuration

Host DetailsProduct Key: Enter the Product Key/Serial Number provided on the cd sleeve of the ABA install cd you received

Host Configuration

Email TabFrom email accountUsername & Password of valid email accountTest Connection

Host Configuration

Host ConfigurationMust have user and password for user from ABASet the service up to automatically start your Norris Scheduler

Summary

Gain a general understanding of Activant Business Analyzer. Explore ABA’s capabilities and see examples of queries.Learn basic functionality to help you to get started with the ABA.

For More Information…

ABA Help FilesVisit Activant on the web: http://distribution.activant.com/

View Educational Services course offeringsBrowse DocumentationSearch the Solutions databaseSubmit a Support case

E-mail Professional Services Salespss@activant.com