WebFOCUS New Feature Highlights - Business Intelligence...

WebFOCUS New Feature HighlightsRelease 8.0 Version 10

June 26, 2015

Active Technologies, EDA, EDA/SQL, FIDEL, FOCUS, Information Builders, the Information Builders logo, iWay, iWay Software,Parlay, PC/FOCUS, RStat, Table Talk, Web390, WebFOCUS, WebFOCUS Active Technologies, and WebFOCUS Magnify areregistered trademarks, and DataMigrator and Hyperstage are trademarks of Information Builders, Inc.

Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat, Adobe Reader, Flash, Adobe Flash Builder, Flex, and PostScript are either registeredtrademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries.

Due to the nature of this material, this document refers to numerous hardware and software products by their trademarks.In most, if not all cases, these designations are claimed as trademarks or registered trademarks by their respective companies.It is not this publisher's intent to use any of these names generically. The reader is therefore cautioned to investigate allclaimed trademark rights before using any of these names other than to refer to the product described.

Copyright © 2015, by Information Builders, Inc. and iWay Software. All rights reserved. Patent Pending. This manual, or partsthereof, may not be reproduced in any form without the written permission of Information Builders, Inc.

Contents

WebFOCUS 8 New Feature Highlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Introduction to WebFOCUS 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

WebFOCUS Mobile Enablement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Suite of Mobile BI Products. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Mobile Faves App Enhancements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Reporting With WebFOCUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

WebFOCUS InfoAssist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

InfoAssist Report, Chart, and Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

InfoAssist Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

InfoAssist Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Active Technologies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

App Studio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Developer Studio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

HTML Composer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

HTML Composer and Visual Discovery Integration Features. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Document Composer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Report Painter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Reporting Language. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

WebFOCUS Online Analytical Processing (OLAP). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Charting With WebFOCUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

InfoAssist Chart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

New HTML5 and Flash Chart Engine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

WebFOCUS Graphics and Charts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Business Analytics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

RStat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Visual Discovery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Adapter for Geographic Information Systems (GIS). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Magnify. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Enable for Adobe Flex. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Developing Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Business Intelligence Portal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Managed Reporting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Maintain. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Scheduling and Distributing Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

WebFOCUS New Feature Highlights 3

ReportCaster. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Administering and Securing the Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

WebFOCUS Client Repository and Authorization Security. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Resource Analyzer and Resource Governor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Server Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Applications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Configuration and Monitoring. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Core Server and Clients. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Diagnostics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Security. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Web Console. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Adapter Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

SQL Adapters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

OLAP Adapters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Procedure Adapters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Sequential and Indexed Adapters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

DBMS Adapters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Social Media Adapters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Migrating WebFOCUS Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Tools Consolidation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

WebFOCUS RESTful Web Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Customer Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

4 WebFOCUS

Contents

WebFOCUS 8 New Feature Highlights

This documentation describes the new features available in WebFOCUS 8.

It is intended for all levels of users, including application developers, administrators, andend users. It is also intended to serve as a quick reference for users upgrading from a priorrelease.

For detailed information on each new feature, see the appropriate product documentationand the New Features manual for your release onhttp://documentation.informationbuilders.com.

In this document:

Scheduling and Distributing InformationIntroduction to WebFOCUS 8

Administering and Securing theEnvironment

Server Enhancements

Adapter Enhancements

Migrating WebFOCUS Environments

WebFOCUS Mobile Enablement

Reporting With WebFOCUS

Charting With WebFOCUS

Business Analytics

Developing ApplicationsTools Consolidation

WebFOCUS RESTful Web Services


http://documentation.informationbuilders.com/

Introduction to WebFOCUS 8

WebFOCUS 8 is a strategic release that includes significant new features and architectureenhancements across the product line. These new features and enhancements are described inthe WebFOCUS New Features manual. Through continued innovation and the expansion of ourunyielding commitment to support our customers, Information Builders will work in partnershipto help ensure your success with WebFOCUS 8 and beyond.

WebFOCUS Mobile Enablement

Information Builders eliminates the barriers to mobile Business Intelligence (BI) with WebFOCUSMobile. This suite of powerful, extensible mobile BI solutions fully exploits the native capabilitiesof the most popular mobile appliances today, allowing users to access and analyze any informationfrom any smartphone (iPhone®, Android™, BlackBerry®) or tablet (iPad®).

Suite of Mobile BI Products

The suite of Mobile BI products include:

WebFOCUS Active Technologies. A device-independent solution that combines data andinteractive analytic capabilities into a single document that can be delivered to any type ofmobile appliance. For more information on Active Technologies, see the Active TechnologiesUser’s Manual.

Mobile Favorites and the Mobile Faves App. WebFOCUS delivers portable anddevice-exploitive BI content that can be accessed using mobile browsers and emailattachments, or using our Mobile Faves native app for iPad and iPhone devices.

WebFOCUS Mobile Favorites. Deploy specific BI content, such as reports anddashboards, to mobile devices.

Mobile Faves App. A native application, or helper app, that enables users to manageand view content on iPhones and iPads, supporting the common paradigms and gesturesto which users of these devices have become accustomed.

WebFOCUS Maintain. Provides mobile transaction services that enable organizations toefficiently and economically build and deploy online transaction applications that can beaccessed and used from any smartphone or tablet computer.

6 WebFOCUS

Introduction to WebFOCUS 8

Mobile Faves App Enhancements

Release 8.0 Version 02

Users of Active Technologies dashboards and reports on iPad, iPhone, and Android devices willautomatically take advantage of the new HTML5-based visualizations, as well as device-awareuser interface characteristics and gestures. The Mobile Faves app for Apple® devices has beenenhanced to include significant new security features, such as single sign on support and dataencryption and password protection of content.


WebFOCUS is a complete information control system with comprehensive features for retrievingand analyzing data that enables you to create reports quickly and easily from real-time transactionalsystems, relational data warehouses, cubes, and any ERP or legacy source.

WebFOCUS InfoAssist

InfoAssist is a powerful report generation tool that enables business users to leverage state ofthe art ad hoc functionality. With InfoAssist, you can generate highly complex reports, charts,and documents from any enterprise information source without IT intervention. You can alsoanalyze multiple reports and charts simultaneously and output report data in a variety of formats.

InfoAssist Report, Chart, and Document


Multi-selecting Fields for Deletion in the Query Design Pane. In the Query Design pane,you can select and delete multiple data fields at one time. Press the Ctrl key, select two ormore data fields, right-click, and then click Delete.


New Indicator in Query Design Pane. When working with fields in the Query Design Pane,you can drag fields to rearrange the order in which they display in your report or chart. Whenyou drag a field to a different location, an indicator line displays. This line provides guidanceas to where the field will be placed.


Support for PowerPoint PPTX Format. The PowerPoint 2007 (*.pptx) format is availablein InfoAssist.




InfoAssist Drill Down, Optional Where Clauses, and Portal Refresh. In InfoAssist, youcan use new drill-down functionality which allows one report or chart to filter another reportor chart in the BI Portal. You can also use Optional Where clauses to enable reports andcharts to accept the filter.


Lightweight Mapping. The Lightweight Mapping chart type has been added to enable theregional display of underlying data. Using the Geographic Information System (GIS) capabilitiesthat are built into WebFOCUS 8, the map functionality converts data values into maps thatcan be used for visualizing patterns or trends. The Map button is located in the Chart Typesgroup on the Format tab.

User Selection Output Type. The User Selection output type has been added to allow usersto change the format output of a report at run time. The User Selection button is located inthe Output Types group on the Format tab.


Within Support for InfoAssist. New aggregation functionality is available in InfoAssist.Within functionality allows you to use specific aggregation tasks at different report levels. Youcan use the Within phrase to manipulate display field values as they are aggregated within asort group, rather than a report column.


Subquery Filter Using a HOLD File. You can create a subquery using a HOLD file. A subqueryis a nested query, which is added to the Where clause of an SQL statement. A subquery isvaluable, because it is reusable.

InfoAssist Basic. InfoAssist Basic is a modern web-based facility that provides comparablefunctionality to legacy reporting tools.

Accessibility. You can insert a title in a report, chart, or document that is 508 compliant.

Field to Field Conditional Styling and Drilldowns. Conditional Styling has been enhancedto allow field to field comparison and drilldown on conditional styling.

Missing Data. You can control the display of missing data values for charts.

8 WebFOCUS


InfoAssist Report


Restarting Page Numbering After a Page Break. You can specify that page numbersshould restart at 1 after a page break occurs.

Active Technologies Report Styling Options. The active report styling options availablein Report Assistant Releases 7.7.x are available in InfoAssist. You can style active reports,charts, and documents.

Default Currency Symbol. You can set the default currency symbol in reports.

InfoAssist Document


Multi-Page Documents and Dashboards. In Document mode, content can be created onmultiple pages. The available output formats are PDF, HTML, active report, PowerPoint®,Excel®, active PDF, and active Flash.

Relative Positioning. You can specify that report components should be relatively positioned.This means that based on the length of one report component, another report componentmay be positioned immediately after it.

Active Technologies

WebFOCUS Active Technologies reports and dashboards provide business intelligence (BI) forany computer or mobile device running a web browser. Active Technologies present data with avariety of interactive analytic capabilities in a single portable document, deliverable to any typeof mobile device. Users of rich interactive applications created with Active Technologies can easilymanipulate the data, intuitively explore information, and uncover critical trends and patterns usingdevice-specific user interface characteristics and gestures for multi-touch screens.

With Active Technologies, you can quickly develop completely portable BI applications, deliverinteractive reports and dashboards to any user, and reduce the load on the database and serversystems by allowing users to work in disconnected mode. The built-in analytics include sorting,filtering, performing data calculations, charting, and much more.


Exporting an Active Technologies Report to an Excel Worksheet. You can use the SETAREXPEXCEL command to export an active report to an Excel worksheet with the specifiedformat. At run time, you can make a selection from a column drop-down menu on the activereport to open the Excel worksheet with all records displayed.




Filtering an Active Technologies Report on a Dashboard Using Chained Form Controls.You can use the ARFILTER_ONCHANGE = ON property in a compound layout report to filter atarget active report or chart on an active dashboard with the values selected in chained activeform controls. When the value of the first active form control in a chain changes, the reportor chart is filtered with the initial value in the second and subsequent active form controls inthe chain.

Defining Custom Styles for an Active Technologies Report or Dashboard: Chart Classes.The Active Technologies .arChart class has been extended to include support for a gradientbackground for an active chart. It applies to FLEX and APDF output formats.


Controlling the Generation of the Active Technologies for HTML Output File. The SETAROUTPUT command enables you to control how and where the Active Technologies for HTMLoutput file is generated. For example, because all JavaScript processing is performed in thememory of the web browser, an active report has a processing limit of approximately 5,000records or 100 pages of output. The SET AROUTPUT = EXTJS command enables you to useexternal JavaScript files instead of embedding the JavaScript within the HTML output file, inorder to improve performance at run time.


Using an Active Technologies Form Control to Show or Hide Columns in a Report orChart. You can use a check box control to display a list of column names from a sourcereport. At run time, end users can check the name of each column that they want to show ina target report or chart on an active dashboard, and uncheck the name of each column thatthey want to hide. All target reports and charts that contain columns from the list are updatedwith the choice of columns as end users check and uncheck names.


Viewing Data as a Chart. When you run an active report on an iPad, you can tap the ChartType menu from the Chart menu to display the Chart Type categories, such as Bar, Pie, andLine. You can then tap a Chart Type category, for example, Pie, to display the specific charttypes available in that category, such as the Cylinder Donut type. This feature applies whenyou are using the ARGRAPHENGINE = JSCHART command.

10 WebFOCUS


Setting the ALPHA Background Color of an Active Technologies Report. You can setthe ALPHA background color of an active report or chart, and each report or chart object onan active dashboard, so that the color is transparent. The ALPHA background color includesthe background color of the data in the report or chart, and alternating background colors.This capability enables you to place an image in the background of a report or chart. Forexample, you can add a watermark behind a report.

Displaying the Heading in a Rollup Table. When using a rollup table generated from atabular active report, you can either display the heading that is supplied by Active Technologies,or display a custom heading that you supply in the original tabular report procedure.

Setting the Default Filter Value for a Column on an Active Technologies Dashboard.This feature sets the default filter value in an active form control and at run time automaticallyapplies the filter to the data in the report and chart objects on an active dashboard. It is anoptional property for an active form control.

Hiding a Report Object on an Active Technologies Dashboard. You may need to hide anactive report object on an active dashboard. For example, when you want to display non-datarelated objects in the first tab of the dashboard and place report and chart objects in thesubsequent tabs, you can hide the first report object using HIDDEN=ON syntax in yourWebFOCUS code. The data from the hidden report is still available for use in the global filteror other filter control.

Creating a Heading Area With Controls Using the Dashboard Bar. You can create aheading area for an active dashboard by adding a page layout for the dashboard bar(PAGELAYOUT=DASHBOARDBAR). On the page for the dashboard bar, you can insert ActiveTechnologies form controls, reports, and charts that are always displayed above the dashboardtabs.

Defining Custom Styles for an Active Technologies Report or Dashboard: MessageClasses and Mobile Tab Classes.

There are two new Active Technologies classes for styling an active report or dashboard:

.arLoadingMessage defines the font style of the Loading message text for an AHTML reportor dashboard.

.arMobileTabBar defines the background color of the tab area in Active Technologies formobile web apps.



App Studio


Adding Images From Within a Data Source BLOB Data Type to a PDF, DHTML, or HTMLReport. You can add Binary Large Objects (BLOBs) to a PDF, HTML, and DHTML formattedreport, using the Object Inspector, in the Report canvas.

Save Display Value Property. You can access the Save Display Value property in the HTMLcanvas, to save the display values of a report to a save selection file.


Autosize Children. You can use Autosize Children to change the size of any componentadded to the canvas to fit the maximum size of your available screen space. You can accessthe Autosize Children option from the Properties panel, in the Miscellaneous section, in theHTML canvas. For example, one component will take up one hundred percent of the availablespace, while two components will take up fifty percent each. This option is used so that whenyour HTML page is run on different devices, components and controls do not appear off thescreen and have to be scrolled to in order to use them.

Mobile Design for HTML Pages. You can use access mobile design options from theProperties panel, in the HTML canvas. You can also enable this option from theHTML/Document wizard. You can create HTML pages that are formatted specifically to beused on a mobile phone. When an HTML page is formatted for a mobile phone, componentsand controls are presented differently so that they can be used in conjunction with touch-screen technology.

jQuery Animations. You can use the jQuery Animations section of the Tasks & Animationspanel to animate options in your HTML page. The jQuery Animations section, in the Tasks &Animations panel, allows you to execute jQuery animations on your HTML page. The animationeffects in the Animations section can be used individually or in conjunction with each otherto create more complex animations.

Wizards. You can use wizards to assist you in streamlining the creation of content. A seriesof panes provide you with options relevant to the type of content that you want to create. Theyare accessed from the Home tab and from the Environments Tree panel shortcut menus,when you are creating content. You can access the Report Wizard, the Chart Wizard, theHTML/Document wizard, and the Data Source Definition Wizard.

Double Head Slider Control. You can use a double-head slider control to select a range ofvalues for displaying data in a report or chart. Rather than having one slider head, you havetwo. In order to use a double-head slider control, you must have two variables in the reportor chart that will be controlled by the double-head slider control.

12 WebFOCUS


JavaScript Canvas. You can use the JavaScript canvas to create JavaScript functions. Youcan access the JavaScript canvas from the New dialog box. The JavaScript canvas allows youto create JavaScript code. Here you can create your own API code to be used later.

Cascading StyleSheet Canvas. You can use the Cascading StyleSheet canvas to createcascading style sheets. You can access the Cascading Style Sheet canvas from the Newdialog box. The Cascading Style Sheet canvas allows you to create a cascading style sheet.The Cascading Style Sheet canvas uses the Microsoft IntelliSense® feature to assist in thecreation of code segments.

Developer Studio

Developer Studio provides intuitive GUI tools that enable you to concentrate on interface design,business logic, and data manipulation.


WebFOCUS Component Authentication Enhancement. A Kerberos option has been addedto the drop-down list in the WebFOCUS Components Authentication area of the WebFOCUSEnvironment Properties dialog box.


Source Control Enhancements. You can use Microsoft Team Foundation Server as a sourcecontrol provider in Developer Studio Release 8.0 Version 02 and higher. In order to use thisas a source control, you must have the Microsoft Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2012MSSCCI Provider 32-bit plug-in installed.

Developer Studio Viewer. When an application is run in Developer Studio, it opens in theDeveloper Studio Viewer. The Developer Studio Viewer functions similar to a web browser. Ithas forward, back, stop, and reload buttons. It also has an address bar for entering applicationnames and locations. Using the Output Viewer Options tab from the Developer Studio Optionsdialog box, you can choose to run applications in Internet Explorer. You can also choose torun applications in a new window or refresh in a currently open window.

Sort Columns in Master File Dialog Boxes. Master File dialog boxes accessed from theDeveloper Studio Data Servers area and Managed Reporting are enhanced to allow sortingof the files by clicking on the column header. The dialog box has also been enhanced to allowresizing.



Display Application Name in Master File Dialog Boxes. Master File dialog boxes accessedfrom Developer Studio and BI Portal tools are enhanced to display the Reporting Serverapplication directory name in addition to Description and Title. This enhancement allowsdevelopers to identify the location where the Master File resides and allows the Master Filelist to be sorted by the available columns.

Stop Running Requests. An option has been added to the Developer Studio main toolbarto allow users to stop running requests. Users can stop running requests from multipleWebFOCUS Environments that are configured in Developer Studio. A dialog box displays theenvironments where a user has made a connection when pressing the Cancel running objectsbutton. The last environment used to run a job is selected by default.

Controlling Screening Conditions Against Cross-Referenced Segment Instances in aLeft Outer Join. You can select the SHORTPATH command in the Set tool to control screeningconditions against cross-referenced segment instances in a left outer join.

Update Assist Enhancements. Enhancements to Update Assist include live display forselecting navigation and style, easier navigation for database functionality, and the ability toreopen and edit .mnt files that are created by Update Assist, if no changes have been madein the Maintain Development Environment (MDE).

HTML Composer


HTML Composer enables you to graphically create an HTML page that incorporates forms, reports,graphs, and web objects.

URL File Action. The URL File action, found in the Hyperlink Properties dialog box, will createa hyperlink that invokes a Managed Reporting .url file. You can select the .url file to link tofrom the Source section. This action is only available when creating an HTML page hyperlinkin the Repository area.

Function: IbComposer_getAllAmpersValues. The IbComposer_getAllAmpersValues is usedto get the current selected values from all the controls on your page layout. It then takesthose values and assembles them as a string that can be added to the end of a URL call.

Master File Parameter Support. If you reference or import an existing report that uses aMaster File that contains a parameter, the New Parameters dialog box opens with thatparameter in the list, as well as any parameters from the report procedure.

Default Theme Option and Additional Themes. You can use the Default Theme option toset the default theme of the HTML page. The Default Theme option is found in the HTML Pagetab of the Developer Studio Options dialog box. Additional themes have been added.

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Inserting a Bulleted or Numbered List. You can insert a bulleted or numbered list into atext object.

Chaining for Maps. Maps may participate in a chain. They can be anywhere in the chain.The user interface for maps has been completely redesigned with properties on the PropertySheet, as well as actions on the Properties and Settings dialog box to accommodate thisfunctionality.

Bing Maps. Mapping support has been expanded to include Bing® Maps. All the functionalityof Google® Maps integration is supported with Bing Maps.

Using JavaScript Code With Maps. Multiple JavaScript™ commands have been expandedupon in the maps chapter.

Date Formats for Calendar Options. New date formats are available for use by a calendar.

InfoWindow Action. An Action has been added for a hyperlink based on the Google MapsInfoWindow concept, whereby a window pops up to display content.

ESRI Flex Viewer Integration. You can integrate the ESRI® Flex Viewer product with HTMLComposer controls in HTML Composer.

ESRI Maps. Mapping support has been expanded to include ESRI Maps. Functionality issimilar to Google Maps.

Initial State of a RIA Window. When using a RIA theme, there is a new option in the Propertysheet that allows you to control the initial state of a RIA window, when run.

Populate a Control With Procedure Names. You can populate a control with procedurenames, which allows you to select from a set of procedure names and run them in an outputarea.

HTML Composer and Visual Discovery Integration Features

The following features are available for HTML Composer users that license Visual Discovery.


Values are VisDis Color By. The Values are VisDis Color By option has been added to theParameters Properties and settings dialog box.

Preselecting Values. You can preselect values of a Visual Discovery control that display atrun time, by adding the onInitialUpdate() function to the Client JavaScript tab of HTMLComposer. When you run the HTML page, the values you preselected will display.



Passing a Parameter Between a Visual Discovery Control and a Report. You can passa parameter between a Visual Discovery control and a report, so that when data is selectedfrom the Visual Discovery control, the same data is displayed in the report on the same page.

Passing a Parameter Between a Report and a Visual Discovery Control. You can passa parameter between a report and a Visual Discovery control, so that when data is selectedin the report, the same data is displayed on a new page that contains the Visual Discoverycontrol.

Chaining Into a Visual Discovery Control. You can chain into a Visual Discovery controlusing a parameterized procedure and a list box, double list box, or drop-down list. This allowsyou to select values from a list and the data correlating to that data will be displayed in theVisual Discovery control.

Excluding and Restoring Data. You can exclude and restore selected data in Visual Discoverycontrols by using the Visual Discovery Exclude and Visual Discovery Restore hyperlink actions.These actions are only available when a Visual Discovery control is present on an HTML page.

Document Composer

Document Composer enables you to design reports, and to coordinate and distribute layoutsmade up of multiple reports and graphics in a single document.


Applying Pre-Process Code and Post-Process Code to a Document. You can createpre-process code that applies to all objects added to a document.

Excel 2007 Output Format. The Excel 2007 output format is available from the Outputformat property in the Properties window.

Apply Filter On Load Option. The Apply filter on load check option is only available for activeoutput formats. It is available from the Properties and Settings dialog box and causes thedefault value to be applied to the reports and charts when the page is loaded.

Inserting Pages Before and After the Current Page Layout. You can insert new or existingpages before or after the current page layout.

Inserting Bulleted and Numbered Lists. You can insert bulleted and numbered lists intoa text object. You can also nest those lists within themselves.

Layering Objects. You can layer objects in a page layout by using the object right-click menu.

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Apply Filter on Load Property. The Apply filter on load property is available from theProperties and Settings window. This option causes the default value to be applied to allreports and charts when the page is loaded.

Page Color Property. The Page Color property is available from the Property window. Thisoption lets you set the page color.

Page Size E Property Option. The E page size is available from the Page Size Propertywindow option.

Switching the Chart Engine. You may switch between the default JavaScript charts andFusion charts. You can select the compound document from the Property Sheet and thenselect active report from the Output format property list. The Chart Engine property will nowbe available. Select one of the options, <Not Set>, Standard, Dynamic, Flex, or HTML5, fromthe Chart Engine property drop-down list.

Page Numbering Options in the Page Master. The following page numbering options areavailable from a page numbering object in the Page Master Insert context menu: Page Number,Total # of pages, Pages n of n, Date and Time.

Report Painter

Report Painter provides you with many powerful reporting features that enable you to create andstyle complex reports. You can graphically paint the report on the Report Painter window, agraphical representation of the report page.


Validate Input Option. The Validate Input check box is found in the Variable Editor dialogbox. When checked, at run time, this validates whether your data entry is consistent with thedefinition of a parameter.

Expression Builder. You are presented with the Assist mode directly. You can create multipleselection criteria statements in the dialog box without having to exit and select New. Anadvanced area within the dialog box is used for those who want to type code.

Quick Prompt for Amper Variables. There are three additional Compare Type choices,Parameter (Simple), Parameter (Static), and Parameter (Dynamic), which automatically generatethe value clause, similar to InfoAssist, so you do not need to invoke the Variable Editor dialogbox.

User Defined Function. A tool has been created to generate Define Function syntax. Thefunction dialog boxes within Developer Studio have been enhanced to accommodate theirusage.



Promote a Report to a Compound Document. You can promote reports in Report Painterto a Compound Document, similar to InfoAssist.

VISDISAE Output Format. The VISDISAE output format has been added to the unstyledformats and can be selected from the Output Format drop-down list in the Report Optionsdialog box.

DFIX Output Format. DFIX output format has been added to the unstyled formats and canbe selected from the Report Options dialog box.

Reporting Language

WebFOCUS is a complete information control system with comprehensive features for retrievingand analyzing data. It enables you to create reports quickly and easily. It also provides facilitiesfor creating highly complex reports, but its strength lies in the simplicity of the request language.

The Reporting Server Release 8.0 Version 08 includes the following Release 7.7 Version 05Reporting Language new features:

PowerPoint PPTX Display Format. With PowerPoint (PPTX), Microsoft® introduced enhancedfunctionality in a new presentation file format. WebFOCUS Release 8.0 Version 08 introducesthe capability to retrieve data from any WebFOCUS supported data source and to generate aPPTX presentation for data analysis and distribution. You can place report output on a specificslide in a PowerPoint template. This enables you to populate existing presentations withpreset Slide Masters, styling, and other business content. PowerPoint design templates (POTX)and PowerPoint macro-enabled templates (POTM) are stored on the server and can bedistributed automatically with ReportCaster.


MDN. and MDE. Prefix Operators. You can use the MDN. (median) and MDE. (mode) prefixoperators, in conjunction with an aggregation display command (SUM, WRITE) and a numericor smart date field, to calculate the statistical median and mode of the values in a field.


Embedded TrueType Font Support Enhancement. You can selectively embed a subset ofUnicode (Arial Unicode and MS Lucida Sans Unicode) or Non-Unicode (Tahoma, Times NewRoman, Trebuchet MS, and Courier New) TrueType fonts into a PDF output file. The generatedPDF file will contain only the characters required to render the document.

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Accordion By Row Enhancement. Multi-verb requests are supported in Accordion By Rowreports that contain sort fields on the highest-level display command.

Translation of WebFOCUS Formulas to Excel 2007/2010 Formulas. FORMAT XLSXFORMULA enables you to convert summed information (such as column totals, row totals,and subtotals) and calculated values into Excel formulas that will automatically update asyou edit the Excel worksheet.

Defining Column Width and Cell Wrapping in an Excel Worksheet. You can now definecolumn width and cell wrapping within an Excel worksheet using SQUEEZE and WRAP.

You can use SQUEEZE to size the worksheet columns. For FORMAT XLSX, SQUEEZE is alwaysset on. This means the worksheet columns will be sized to fit the largest data value withinthe field. To explicitly change the column width, define SQUEEZE as a number representingthe size in the specified UNITS parameter (default is inches). If the value within the cell islarger than the specified width, the data may be hidden from view, but is retained within thecell and can be viewed in the formula bar.

Additionally, as of Reporting Server Release 7.7 Version 05, wrap is available withinworksheets. By default, in all cells containing text values, wrap is turned on. Cells containingnumeric and date values are designated with wrapped turned off. You can set wrap on withinthe current column width, or redefine the column width to a size in the specified UNITS (n)and with WRAP ON.


Compound Layout Header Supports AS Name Syntax. The output file name for a CompoundReport can be specified as an AS name in the COMPOUND layout block. This allows the outputfile name to be defined by the compound syntax, rather than the first component report. If noAS name is specified, the Hold file name is taken from the ON TABLE HOLD phrase in thefirst component report.

DB_EXPR Function: Inserting an SQL Expression Into a Request. The DB_EXPR functioninserts a native SQL expression exactly as entered into the native SQL generated for a FOCUSor SQL language request.



Creating a Subquery or Sequential File With HOLD FORMAT SQL_SCRIPT. When usedin a request against a relational data source, the HOLD FORMAT SQL_SCRIPT commandgenerates the SQL SELECT statement needed to execute the current query and stores it inthe application folder as a file with a .sql extension along with the Master and Access Filepair that describes the SQL answer set. When used in a request against any other type ofdata source, the HOLD FORMAT SQL_SCRIPT command executes the current query and storesthe retrieved values in the application folder as a sequential file with a .ftm extension alongwith the Master File that describes the retrieved data. You can use the output from HOLDFORMAT SQL_SCRIPT as the target file for the DB_INFILE function.

DB_INFILE Function: Testing Values Against a File or an SQL Subquery. The DB_INFILEfunction compares one or more field values in a source file to values in a target file. It returnsthe value 1 (TRUE) if the set of source fields matches a set of values from the target file.Otherwise, the function returns 0 (FALSE). DB_INFILE can be used anywhere a function canbe used in a WebFOCUS request, such as in a DEFINE or a WHERE phrase. The target filecan be any data source that WebFOCUS can read.

Embedding TrueType Fonts Into WebFOCUS PDF Reports Generated in Windows.WebFOCUS can embed the following TrueType fonts into PDF output files generated in Windows:Courier New, Lucida Sans Unicode (normal style only is available), Tahoma (normal and boldstyles are available), Times New Roman, and Trebuchet MS.

Support for Column Totals in Accordion By Row Reports. Accordion By Row reports (ONTABLE SET EXPANDBYROW ON) display the grand total row as an anchor row below the data.This anchor row displays above the report and page footings aligned to the left margin of thereport.

Styling Tags for SUBTOTAL and GRANDTOTAL Lines. The tag is the text that is displayedin the leftmost portion of each SUBTOTAL and GRANDTOTAL row in a report. The tag is usedto identify the type of data represented within this row. The text used to generate this tag canbe customized by adding an AS name to the SUBTOTAL syntax.

Table of Contents for Coordinated Compound and Burst Reports. PDF coordinatedcompound reports defining the Table of Contents page or Bookmarks based on BY field entriescan be coordinated (MERGE=ON) to generate a report segmented by the primary sort key.Additionally, these coordinated reports can be burst into separate documents by the primarysort key and distributed using ReportCaster.

Support for Images Stored in BLOB Fields in HTML and DHTML Reports. For data sourcesthat support the Binary Large Object (BLOB) data type, images can be stored in BLOB fieldsfor HTML and DHTML report output.

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Displaying an Accordion By Row Report Using HOLD FORMAT HTMTABLE and-HTMLFORM. The HOLD FORMAT HTMTABLE command in conjunction with -HTMLFORMfunctionality supports the display of Accordion By Row (SET EXPANDBYROW) reports to createan HTML page.

Displaying Superscripts On Data, Heading, and Footing Lines. Superscript charactersare supported as a text style in text objects using HTML markup tags. The superscript markuptag is now supported in data columns, headings, and footings in HTML, PDF, and PS outputformats. Superscript values can be defined within the data, added to virtual fields, or addedto text strings displayed in headings and footings.

Support for Hyperlinks in Text Markups in PDF Report Output. Hyperlinks can be includedin text objects to point navigation to other WebFOCUS procedures, web pages, or webresources, such as an email application.

Support for Vertical Alignment of Text Markup in PDF Report Output. Text can bevertically aligned within Text Objects in PDF format. This feature supports top, middle, andbottom alignment options to explicitly place text within the defined position and dimensions.The vertical alignment tags can be used in conjunction with the horizontal alignment tags (left,right, full) to control the placement of any text object.

Zero Removal in Date-Time Formats. The components in date-time formats can be displayedusing a number of options. For example, when a day number is less than 10, you can displayit with zero suppression. Zero suppression replaces the zero with a blank space, leaving theremaining digit in the same position it occupied when the zero was displayed. There are nowzero removal options for month and day numbers. Zero removal eliminates the zero and movesthe remaining portion of the field one position to the left.

Controlling Display of an ACROSS Title for a Single Field. By default, when there is onlyone field displayed for an ACROSS sort group, no column title displays above that field. Usingthe SET ACRSVRBTITL command, you can control the display of ACROSS column titles whenthere is one displayed field for an ACROSS group. The field count that determines whetherthe ACROSS title displays is affected by certain components in the report request, such ascalculated fields or fields in headings. The output is unaffected by SET commands that adjustunderlines with titles, adjust the space between columns, or eliminate unpopulated ACROSScolumns on the page. The size of the title and the number of lines it occupies also do notaffect the output.

512-Character Field Names. The following attributes can be a maximum of 512 characterslong: FIELDNAME, ALIAS, TITLE, REFERENCE, and PROPERTY.



WebFOCUS Online Analytical Processing (OLAP)

WebFOCUS Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) enables you to view and quickly analyze data inorder to make critical business decisions.


OLAP Save Options. New settings have been added to the Administration Console thatspecify whether OLAP Save options are displayed.


In WebFOCUS 8, charting options have been expanded to include more advanced properties, aswell as a new output format that allows you to render a chart in the browser using a built-inJavaScript engine.

InfoAssist Chart

The following new features apply to InfoAssist charts.


HTML5 Output Format. The HTML5 output format allows you to render a chart in the browserusing a built-in JavaScript engine. Charts with this output format utilize the latest capabilitiesof the HTML5 web standard, including animation, high-quality vector output, and attractivealpha-channel and gradient effects. The charts and dashboards that are automaticallyMobile-ready.

Multiple Axis Assignment. Bar, Line, and Area chart types can have multiple axis charts,such as dual-axis charts and multi-y charts, meaning that you can compare one X-axis valuewith up to five Y-axis measures. InfoAssist allows you to assign each individual series to theY1 axis and Y2 axis for dual-axis charts.

File Menu. You can use the File menu to create an image file from a chart. When you selectthe File menu or if you choose Select a location and format from the File drop-down menu,you will be able to name the file and select the output type. The available output types arePNG, GIF, SVG, and JPEG.

Output Formats. There are additional output formats available in InfoAssist that are onlyavailable for charts. These output formats include PNG, GIF, JPEG, SVG, and PDF/GIF. Theseoutput types do not appear by default. You can enable them by opening the WebFOCUSAdministration Console and selecting Utilities and then InfoAssist Properties.

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Reversing the Order of a Series. When All Series is selected in the Select group, the ReverseOrder button allows you to reverse the order of the entire series of your chart. The Displaygroup, under the Series tab, provides access to the Reverse Order button and is available forall chart types.

Advanced Chart Dialog Boxes. Multiple advanced dialog boxes have been added to customizeand style charts. These dialog boxes can be found under the Legend, Grid Line, Axes, Gauge,Frame and Background, Data Labels, and Series options. To access the dialog boxes, eitherselect the drop-down arrow from the Ribbon and select More Options, or right-click the optionin the Results panel and select More Options.

Custom Chart Size and AutoFit. The AutoFit button allows you to make chart size dynamic.This means that other applications can override the size of the chart when the chart isembedded. The AutoFit button, in the Size and Arrange group, is only available for charts.

Additional HTML5 Chart Types (Candidate for Release). HTML5 is the new web standardfor constructing and viewing interactive content on the web and is supported by all the majorbrowsers. InfoAssist Release 8.0 Version 02 introduces the following Candidate for ReleaseHTML5 chart types: Mekko, Tag Cloud, Parabox, and Streamgraph.

New HTML5 and Flash Chart Engine


WebFOCUS 8 features an entirely new HTML5 chart engine (ARGRAPHENGINE = JSCHART). Thesecharts will work in both connected and disconnected mode. The ARGRAPHENGINE = FUSIONsetting is the default for the output format type FLEX created in the reporting tools, includingInfoAssist. When this is set in AHTML, it uses the current Flash charts, by default, on browserswith Adobe® Flash® Player that may not support the functionality in these JavaScript charts, suchas older releases of Internet Explorer®. These charts will automatically switch to the AHTMLJavaScript charts on browsers that do not support Adobe Flash Player, such as Safari® on theiPad.

WebFOCUS Graphics and Charts

You can include API calls in WebFOCUS procedures to create dynamic, sophisticated graphs thatshowcase your business data.

In Release 8.0 Version 06, the following features have been added for HTML5 charts:

Coloring Data Text for Negative Values. You can activate thechart.dataLabels.UseNegativeColor property in order to display the data labels for negativevalues in the color defined by the chart.dataLabels.negativeColor property. You can activatethis property in an HTML5 chart using the setUseNegativeDataTextColor(true); API call.



Plus and Minus Marker Shapes. The marker shape, circlePlus, displays a circle with a plussign (+) centered in it. The marker shape, circleMinus, displays a circle with a minus sign (-)centered in it.


Suppressing Data Text for Small Risers. The setAutoHideDataTextOnSmallRisers property,when enabled, suppresses the display of data text if the height of the riser is smaller thanthe height of the data text.

Making Y-Axis Labels Inherit the Region Color. The setAltFmMatchAxisLabelColor propertycontrols whether Y-axis Labels associated with the alternate frame region inherit the colorspecified for that region. When enabled, the labels are colored with the color specified forthe region. When disabled, labels are displayed using the default color.

Automatic Color Rendering and Styling of Graph Risers. There are two methods you canuse to automatically render the color and style of graph risers:

Repeated Shading. Automatically shades successive groups of risers by lightening ordarkening the colors used for the risers in the previous group. This is implemented usingcolor mode 4, a looping index, and a factor for lightening or darkening the colors.

Gradient Coloring. Automatically creates a gradient effect between the colors for thefirst and last risers by defining a starting color and ending color. This type of coloring isimplemented using color mode 5, a starting color, and an ending color.

Custom ToolTip for Server-Side Graphs. You can customize text that appears in a ToolTipwhen hovering over chart risers.

Setting the Color of the Page Surrounding the Graph. Graph functionality has beenenhanced to allow setting the color of the HTML page that surrounds the image directly fromthe graph procedure.

Output Format for Embedding GIF Images Into PDF. GIF graph images can be embeddedinto a PDF document by using output format PDF/GIF.

Business Analytics

Business analytics from Information Builders enable business users to instantly identify thefactors that impact their businesses, create more accurate forward-looking strategies, enhanceefficiency, increase profitability, and improve customer satisfaction and loyalty.

24 WebFOCUS

Business Analytics

RStat

WebFOCUS RStat is a data mining and predictive modeling workbench embedded in WebFOCUSDeveloper Studio. RStat supports common statistical and data mining tasks and the developmentof predictive models that can be deployed as scoring applications on any WebFOCUS platform.

Model Export C Files Compliant for Teradata UDF (User Defined Function) forIn-database Processing. This UDF export function generates a C program that is TeradataUDF compliant for in-database processing. When scoring large amounts of data, running thepredictive model using in-database processing results in significant performance gains.

Ability to Load R Scripts to the RStat GUI. The Rscript button in the RStat GUI can loadan R script with all models that R supports. If a new package is required, the new packageis loaded accordingly for specific model and code executions. Files or plots are outputted inthe R console or a new window, and then saved to the directory that is specified in the Rscript.

Visual Discovery

WebFOCUS Visual Discovery is an integrated extension of WebFOCUS Enterprise Reporting thatenables you to create advanced data visualization for executive-level dashboards. Data visualizationturns raw data into perceptive images, providing a powerful and dynamic instrument for thediscovery and reasoning of quantitative information.


Enhanced Loading and Storing of Data in Memory. Enhanced loading and storing of datain memory will allow most users to see an overall improvement in performance.

Adapter for Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Information Builders and ESRI® deliver a complete location intelligence solution that leveragesthe real-time reporting capabilities of the WebFOCUS BI platform and the powerful ESRI geographicinformation system. Information Builders integration with ESRI requires no Java™ script codingor other programming. WebFOCUS integrates with the ESRI Adobe® FLEX® Viewer, and can beleveraged as part of a SaaS or cloud implementation.


ESRI Configuration Editor for Flex Integration. Creates a configuration XML to define theintegration between WebFOCUS and ESRI using the ESRI Flex API.

ToolTips With Symbolizing Features in the Flex Map Viewer. Point features can haveToolTips.



TextSymbol in the Flex Map Viewer. You can use TextSymbol in the Flex Map Viewer todisplay text at points on the graphics layer.

Heat Map Overlay With the Flex Map Viewer. Creates a gradient map using discrete data,such as individual point locations.

Geocoding With the Flex Map Viewer. Use addresses to define the location for a point.

Geoprocessing Models for Creating Advanced GIS Maps and WebFOCUS Reports. TheArcGIS Server allows spatial models based on business decisions to be published. Thesemodels can be used with WebFOCUS reports to create smart maps.

Magnify

Magnify is an enterprise search solution that allows you to search your structured and unstructuredbusiness content across multiple data sources and systems. The Magnify search page is aneasy-to-use, interactive user interface that dynamically categorizes search results, allows you tosort results based on several criteria, and includes an option to present results in a tabularformat.


Sentiment Analysis Support. Sentiment Analysis software determines the general tone(positive, negative, or neutral) of an indexed record using natural language processing. Magnifyintegrates with the DataFacet Taxonomy Server for Sentiment (installed separately) to performsentiment analysis on structured and unstructured content.

Flat File Indexing and Synchronization. The Adapter for Flat File has been enhanced tomonitor file repositories so that administrators can index file repositories using Magnify andkeep them synchronized as new files are added, modified, renamed, moved, or deleted inthe repository.

Dynamic Partitioning Support. As the size of an index library increases, the search speeddecreases and can eventually cause the indexing or search process to stop working. Thedynamic partitioning feature enables the scalability of local index files by splitting index foldersinto partitions and thereby increasing the performance of the indexing and search processessignificantly.

Massive Parallel Search Support. Massive parallel searching enables you to distributeLucene® indexes in order to search across many machines in a network. This feature increasesthe speed at which large amounts of data can be searched.

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Business Analytics

Enable for Adobe Flex

Information Builders has developed a product that enables Flex developers to rapidly createBusiness Intelligence applications in Flex Builder, without the need to code ActionScript or MXML.

WebFOCUS Enable performs the most useful Business Intelligence functions out-of-the-box, toallow Flex developers to focus on front-end development and the user experience. At run time,the functions used are compiled in the SWF application.

Developing Applications

To address the varied information needs of all types and levels of users, developers must beable to quickly and easily build and implement sophisticated business intelligence and datamaintenance applications. With WebFOCUS, you can create applications that deliver simplifiedend-user reporting capabilities in a secured, business-oriented environment that can easily bemaintained and customized.

Business Intelligence Portal

The Business Intelligence Portal (BI Portal) is the successor to the Business IntelligenceDashboard. The BI Portal allows you to build complete modern websites.

Some of the highlights of the BI Portal include:

Visual editor with live preview.

Up to four banner areas.

Customizable Menu Bar.

Nine prebuilt themes.

Customizable individual objects, including different settings for different states.

User-dependent view, personalize, and edit capabilities at the portal level.

Single-area or column-based page layouts.

Optional navigation menu.

Repeatable object backgrounds.

Multiple border styles.

Easily added new pages.




Enhancement to Drill-Down Functionality. New functionality has been added that allowsone report or chart to filter another report or chart.


Custom Sign-In Page. You can create a custom sign-in page for WebFOCUS 8. This allowsyou to override the default sign-in page that is included with WebFOCUS 8, which is a basicsign-in screen branded for Information Builders.


WebFOCUS Visual Discovery Analyst Edition. Through the WebFOCUS Business IntelligencePortal, you can now link to WebFOCUS Visual Discovery Analyst Edition (AE) Projects. VisualDiscovery AE is an integrated extension of WebFOCUS Enterprise Reporting that enables youto create advanced data visualization for executive-level dashboards. Data visualization turnsraw data into perceptive images, providing a powerful and dynamic instrument for the discoveryand reasoning of quantitative information.

Filtering Reports Using an HTML Composer Form. Within your own portal created throughthe WebFOCUS Business Intelligence Portal, you can filter reports that were created in anytool, or even by hand, using a form that was built in HTML Composer.

Managed Reporting

Managed Reporting provides a selection of reporting tools that can be used to create and editreports, manipulate data in existing reports, submit reports for background processing, and viewreports while protecting sensitive or confidential information.


Alert Tools. Authorized users can run an Alert test interactively and optionally schedule it tobe distributed by ReportCaster.

Alert Assist Application Menu. The Alert Assist Application Menu provides a drop-down listcontaining the Save, Save As, Run, and Close options. Some of these options are also onthe Quick Launch toolbar.

Reporting Objects. The following are enhancements to the Reporting Objects tool for boththe browser and Developer Studio.

The Other component has been split into the Preprocessing Other component and thePostprocessing Other component, allowing the use of custom code before or after theexecution of other components.

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Developing Applications

The Reports and Graphs or Charts feature launches InfoAssist.

Maintain

Maintain is an application development tool that creates web-based data maintenance applicationsto be deployed across an enterprise. Using WebFOCUS Maintain and its multi-platform 4GLlanguage, you can easily create, test, and deploy complex business applications that span theInternet, IBM mainframes, midrange servers, and workstations.


Controlling Layers at Run Time Using the SetLayer Command. The SetLayer commandallows layers to be set as visible or invisible at run time.

CSSCLASS Property. A new property, CSSCLASS, has been added for most MDE controls.CSSCLASS gets or sets the cascading style sheet (CSS) class, rendered by the web servercontrol, on the client.

Pop-up Calendar for Date Fields. The pop-up calendar for date fields has an option todisplay datetime at the top of the screen.

BodyRowHeight Property. The BodyRowHeight property, for HTML tables only, allows youto set the height of each row in the HTML table.

Scheduling and Distributing Information

WebFOCUS ReportCaster ensures secure, automatic dissemination of critical information to theright person in the right context. A cutting-edge report delivery engine and state-of-the-art businessevent monitoring provides companies with a single point of control for real-time alerts, as wellas a mechanism for fully automating, scheduling, storing, and instantly distributing information.For example, WebFOCUS reports and dashboards or third-party content, to anyone within oroutside the organization.

ReportCaster


Group Ownership of Schedules. As of Release 8.0 Version 09, authorized users can changethe ownership of a schedule from a user to a Group. When the ownership of a schedule ischanged to a Group, any member of that Group with access to the folder in which the scheduleresides can access the schedule. The actions available to the user accessing a Group-ownedschedule are dependent upon the privileges granted to that user. When a Group-ownedschedule runs, it runs as the last user to own the schedule, generally the creator of theschedule.



Enabling Brief Notifications. The Enable Brief Notification Only check box is available inthe Email Distribution and Notification folder, under ReportCaster Configuration. This settingenables you to control whether Full Notification is available as a scheduling option. When thischeck box is selected, only Brief Notification can be selected when a schedule is created.Full Notification is not available.

Update to Migration in Place Utility. As of Release 8.0 Version 09, support for DB2 hasbeen added to the Migration in Place utility.


Support for PowerPoint PPTX Formats. The PPTX and PPTX Template formats for PowerPoint2010 are available in ReportCaster.


Support for Global Variables in ReportCaster for Use in Master File Filters. InReportCaster, support for global variables for use in Master File filters has been added.ReportCaster displays global variables that are used in FILTERS defined in Master Files andreferenced by a procedure.

Support for SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP). Enhancements have been made to theReportCaster Configuration tool. When distributing by FTP, you can now specify that the serverrequires SFTP. You can then specify one of the following authentication methods: Passwordor Public Key.

Update to Migration in Place Utility. Support for Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 and 2012has been added to the Migration in Place utility.


When configuring default FTP server information in the ReportCaster Configuration tool, youcan specify that the FTP server requires a secure SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP). Whenthis setting is checked in the Configuration tool, the setting will be checked, by default, inthe schedule tools. This default option can be overridden in the tools at schedule creationtime.

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Scheduling and Distributing Information


Overriding the Format Specified in the Procedure. Users are no longer required to specifya format when scheduling a procedure. If a format is not specified in the schedule, the reportoutput will be distributed in the format specified by the PCHOLD statement in the procedureor in the default online format (normally HTML). When scheduling a Graph procedure (.fex)that contains a PCHOLD statement that uses JPEG, GIF, PNG, or SVG, if you do not select aformat in the schedule, the output will be distributed in PNG format. If you require that theoutput be distributed as a JPEG, GIF, or SVG file, specify that format in the schedule. To doso, you can select the Override the Format Specified in the Procedure check box on the Tasktab of the Basic Scheduling tool to specify a format other than the one specified in theprocedure. You can also make this specification on the General tab of the Task dialog box inthe Advanced Scheduling tool.

Published Library Distribution Option. You can now select Published when specifyingLibrary Distribution Options in the ReportCaster Configuration tool. Library Distribution Optionsenable you to select the Library Access options and Email for Library options available tousers in the Basic Scheduling Tool and Advanced Scheduling Tool when distributing scheduledoutput to the Report Library.

Updates to Email and FTP Distribution of HTML Reports. A new setting has been addedto the ReportCaster Configuration tool that enables the use of a fully qualified FOCEXURL andFOCHTMLURL with Email and FTP distribution.

Universal Profile Setting. You can now specify that certain commands are to be run priorto the execution of a scheduled job by using the Universal Profile setting in the WebFOCUSAdministration Console.


Scheduling a Library Report as Published. ReportCaster has been updated to allow youto schedule a library report as published. You can also specify Private, Shared, or Sharedwith.

Collection of DBMS Statistics. ReportCaster can collect DBMS statistics from a ReportingServer that is running Resource Analyzer and display the DBMS information in the schedulelog.

Integration With WebFOCUS Client Security. ReportCaster is fully integrated with theWebFOCUS 8 WebFOCUS Client Security Authorization implementation. Users, Groups,Schedules, Distribution Lists, Access Lists, and Library Reports are stored in the WebFOCUSRepository. Administration of group or user authorization to access ReportCaster tools iscontrolled by the WebFOCUS Client Security Authorization.



Ability to Designate a Group Administrator. A user can be given the ability to manage theprivate Schedules, Distribution Lists, and Access Lists of other users.

Sharing of Schedules, Distribution Lists, and Access Lists. Users can share Schedules,Distribution Lists, and Access Lists with other groups and users they are authorized to sharewith.

Access to ReportCaster Items From the Content Tree. ReportCaster items (Schedules,Distribution Lists, Access Lists, and Library Reports) and tools are accessible from the Contenttree, which provides a single interface point of access to both Managed Reporting andReportCaster content and tools.

Tools With a Ribbon Look and Feel. The ReportCaster tools to create Schedules, DistributionLists, and Access Lists have been implemented as Rich Internet Applications, with a ribboninterface for ease of use and consistency with the InfoAssist reporting tool.

Subfolders in the Report Library. Reports can be stored in the Report Library in a treestructure that can be multiple levels deep.

Burst Support for Excel 2007 and 2010 Workbooks (XLSX). The Burst Report option issupported for EXL07 - Excel 2007 (*.xlsx) format and requires a Reporting Server Release8.0 Version 01 or higher. The burst feature enables you to instruct the Reporting Server tocreate the report in sections so that the sections can be distributed separately to differentrecipients or locations.

Saving a Library Report. You can save a Library report to your machine using the Save Ascontext menu option that is available when a Library report is selected from the Report LibraryVersions dialog box or the ReportCaster Explorer tree.

Administering and Securing the Environment

The new WebFOCUS Client repository and authorization security model uses an implementationof Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) to enforce security across all resources in the repository.The flexibility of the new model enables an administrator to implement security at a granular levelfor every resource in the WebFOCUS repository.

Resource Analyzer and Resource Governor help Information Systems (IS) organizations analyzeand control end user data access, as well as provide site-specific control options.

32 WebFOCUS


WebFOCUS Client Repository and Authorization Security

The WebFOCUS Client Repository and Authorization Security model expands and generalizes theaccess to Managed Reporting (MR) and Business Intelligence assets.


Kerberos stripDomainSuffix. Generally, Kerberos appends the Windows Domain of theuser to the user ID passed to WebFOCUS, in the format [email protected]. By default,WebFOCUS strips the domain from the value, leaving just the user ID. The user ID is thenused to complete the sign-in process. To append the domain, change the stripDomainSuffixsetting to false in the kerberosPreference section of the securitysettings.xml file.

Confirmation Message When Moving Folders. You can set theIBI_Move_Confirmation_Message parameter to specify whether WebFOCUS will requestconfirmation when a user moves a folder using a drag-and-drop operation. The default valueis False.


Resource Templates. To help organizations become productive more quickly, WebFOCUSincludes resource templates. These templates create folders, portals, groups, roles, serverapplication directories, and security rules to help enterprise and SaaS providers launch newdepartments or customers. You can also develop your own custom resource templates.

Security Zones. Using security zones, you can authenticate users with different methodsbased on their network location.

Remember Me. Administrators can configure an option so users can bypass the sign-in page.

Enhanced Configuration for Trusted Connections. Using the WebFOCUS AdministrationConsole, you can configure a trusted connection to the Reporting Server, where the user IDand groups are passed in the connection protocol.

Enhanced Security Integration With LDAP and Active Directory. LDAP and Active Directoryauthentication and authorization are facilitated through the Reporting Server LDAP securityprovider. WebFOCUS is configured to authenticate and authorize users to the Reporting Server.

Authentication and Authorization to Data in an RDBMS. WebFOCUS can authenticateand authorize users based on information maintained in an RDBMS.

Developing a Custom Security Provider. Custom authentication and authorization solutionscan be developed using the Reporting Server custom security provider interface. The customprovider can access security information from any source accessible to one of the ReportingServer data adapters.



Pre-Authentication Support for OpenID. WebFOCUS can be configured to authenticateusers through an OpenID provider, including Google Accounts, Yahoo, and AOL. You can alsouse this feature to integrate WebFOCUS with an in-house OpenID service to provide userswith a single sign on experience.

Resource Analyzer and Resource Governor

Resource Analyzer provides Information Systems (IS) organizations with the ability to managethe growing volume and unpredictable nature of ad hoc data access.

Resource Governor controls monitoring, system configuration parameters, and governing rules.It provides preemptive governing for requests issued to both relational and nonrelational datasources. Together, Resource Analyzer and its partner product, Resource Governor, are designedspecifically to help IS organizations analyze and control end user data access.


Collecting DEFINE Fields in Resource Analyzer. DEFINE fields and base Master File fieldsreferenced by a DEFINE are now collected for monitored sources.

Field Size Changed for Governing Field Names. Resource Governor has been enhancedso that Resource Thresholds, Rule file sources, and complied rule files names can now beup to 48 bytes long. The exception to this is the PDS deployed server, where names can onlybe eight bytes long due to PDS and PDSE name limitations.

Monitor Settings Page in Configuration Process. The Monitoring Properties page, wherethe granularity of monitoring can be set, is now included in the configuration process ofResource Management. It can still be accessed after configuration has been complete.

SMUSERID Size Increased to 128 Characters. Resource Management now supports themonitoring of users who have IDs up to 128 characters long.

Support for 512-Character Column Name. Resource Management now supports themonitoring of column (field) names up to 512 characters long.

Reports Show DBMS Time. A number of reports have been enhanced with a new data columnthat shows the time spent in the adapter used in a request.

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Server Enhancements

The following sections describe new features for the Reporting Server.

Applications


Upload Wizard. The Upload Wizard enables you to upload files from your local machine toserver application folders and to load them into a DBMS for use in creating synonyms andreports. You can then run a report with or without email, or schedule it.

Storing Application Contents in an SQL Database. You can now store the contents of anapplication folder in an SQL database.

Using an SQL Repository to Store Home Applications. Home applications can now bestored in an SQL Repository.

Configuration and Monitoring


Check Boxes Added to Kill Data Service Agents. The Data Services Agents page nowincludes check boxes to enable you to kill one or more agents.

Including Subject, Importance, and Body Information in Emails. Emails sent on thestart, completion, or failure of a procedure can now include subject, importance, and bodyinformation.

Support for Unlimited Connection Queue Size. Unlimited connection queue size is nowavailable from the Data Service Properties page. Set the maximum_q parameter to -1 forunlimited queue size.

Restoring Defaults for Application Settings and Scheduler Properties. A Restore Defaultsbutton has been added to the Application Settings and Scheduler Configuration pages. Itenables you to revert configuration values to the server defaults.

Creating Backup Copies of Server Configuration Files. Backup copies of the serverconfiguration files can now be saved to provide restore points when the files are changedthrough the Web Console or the Data Management Console.

Support for Procedures That Retrieve Email Addresses and User IDs. An email retrievalprocedure can now be entered in the Mail To field on the Manage Schedule and E-Mail andSubmit with E-Mail (Run with Options) pages, as well as the E-Mail field on the CustomizeNew Event Routing page.



Adding Reports to a Custom Page. You can now add a procedure that generates a reportto a Custom Page. The option is available from the Add Procedure button. The procedure isexecuted when the custom page is opened.

Limiting the Size of edaprint.log on PDS Servers. On PDS servers, you can now limit thesize of edaprint.log using the edaprint_max_lines and edaprint_max_days parameters. Thisallows you to delete the log from the JES spool when a limit has been reached.

Core Server and Clients


Installation Support for SMTP and Windows Firewall. The server installation now supportsoptional settings for SMTP information on all platforms. The Windows installation also includesFirewall entries for the Microsoft Windows Firewall.

Installation Support for Windows 8. The server installation for Windows now recognizesinstances of Windows 8 and uses a Windows 8 paradigm.

Updating Server Servlet Jars for a WebFOCUS Client Installation. An option to enableyou to update WebFOCUS Servlet jar files for a WebFOCUS Client Installation is now availablein the Web Console. The option, Refresh WF jar files, is available from the HTTP Listener menu.

Diagnostics


Group and Role Added to EDAPRINT Filter Categories. You can now filter the EDAPRINTServer Log by group and role.

Shortcuts Added to Last Agent Trace. You can display the last agent trace file from theright-click menu of the Workspace folder and the ribbon. The last trace will be available iftraces were enabled during the last execution, and it will show the agent trace from theexecution of the current session.

Capturing Event Routing for Specific FOCUS Error Conditions. You can now use theEMGSRV profile command to capture event routing for specific FOCUS error conditions.

Security


Configuring OPSYS as One of Multiple Security Providers. OPSYS security can now beconfigured as one of multiple security providers. The server has to be authorized to run securityOPSYS if OPSYS is a primary or secondary security provider.

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Server Enhancements

Transferring File Permissions With the GRANT Privilege. The server administrator normallyprovides access control permissions for application folders to groups and users. If the serveradministrator issues the GRANT privilege to another security subject (role, group, or user),that security subject can then grant its own file permissions to any other security subject.

Configuring Security Templates for Multi-tenant Environments. Very often, multipletenants in a multi-tenant environment have an identical security structure. Each tenant hasan identical set of application folders and groups that conform to a standard naming conventionthat includes the tenant ID in the name of each subgroup and application folder. The folderand group setup is repeated from one tenant to the others. In most cases, tenants have noaccess rights outside of their main application folder. In this type of configuration, you canestablish file privileges for a model tenant and its associated groups, and dynamically applythem to other tenant groups by creating a template based on the model tenant.

Assigning a Default Server Administrator for a Custom Security Provider. When youadd a custom provider, you need to enter the name of a procedure for authentication that youcreated beforehand. If you do not enter a procedure name in the cust_authenticateuser fieldon a custom provider, and you make it the primary provider using the Change Provider page,the server will prompt for a default server administrator. You can use this user ID to connectto the server when it is restarted. If you change the primary provider to a custom provider witha cust_authenticateuser procedure entered, the procedure will be used for user authentication.

User and Group System Variables for a Secured Server. The following two new DialogueManager System variables are now available and populated automatically:

&FOCSECUSER is the user ID of the user connected to the running agent on a serverrunning with security ON.

&FOCSECGROUP is the primary group ID of the user ID stored in &FOCSECUSER.

DATMG Privileges Required for SQL-based Upload. Uploading data to a relational databaseis only available to users who have DATMG privileges, which are part of the Metadata sectionon the General Privileges pane.

Web Console


Displaying the Live EDAPRINT Log File. You can now display the live EDAPRINT log file,enabling you to see current server activity as it is posted. The live EDAPRINT log file is availablefrom the right-click menu of the Workspace folder and from the ribbon. You can also open acopy of the EDAPRINT log file.



Ribbon and WebFOCUS 8 Compatibility Defaults. Two defaults for the Web ConsolePreferences have been changed. The Ribbon is now the default, rather than the Menu, andcompatibility with WebFOCUS 8 is now the default.

Creating a New Application When Saving Content. The Save As feature now enables youto create a nested application folder to hold the item that you are saving. This ability isavailable for procedures, synonyms, custom pages, and samples. It is also available whenuploading files.

Paging Support for Data Selection Values. When creating a DEFINE, COMPUTE, or FILTERexpression in a synonym, the server now supports paging to select from a large list of values.

Adding IBI_CLASSPATH Jar Files From the Web Console. The Web Console interface nowincludes a method for easily adding jar files to the IBI_CLASSPATH from the Java ServicesConfiguration page.

Dimension Builder Enhancements for Synonym Editor. The Synonym Editor availablefrom the Web Console has been enhanced to allow the selection of fields to be grouped asMeasures and Dimensions. A field can also be selected as an attribute or grouped withinlevels.


SQL Adapters


All SQL Adapters

Selectively Controlling FOCUS Function Optimization Through FEATOPT. The optimizationof some FOCUS features and functions can now be controlled using the FEATOPT SETcommand. This enables users to switch off SQL optimization for a particular function or featurewhen the optimization might produce unsatisfactory results.

Support for SELECT ON TABLE HOLD FORMAT SAME_DB. An SQL SELECT statement withall the sources in the same relational database can now be used with an ON TABLE HOLDAS name FORMAT SAME_DB command. This uses the underlying database capabilities, suchas INSERT INTO ... SELECT, that provide much faster throughput than alternative methods.

Full Synonym Support Added for SQL Strings. Synonyms created for SQL strings withoutparameters can now be used in JOIN, WHERE clause (passed to SQL), Aggregation (passedto SQL) and as a result of the ON TABLE HOLD FORMAT SAME_DB (passed to SQL).

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AUTOINCREMENT for PACK Fields Added. Surrogate Keys Support has been enhancedand now includes fields defined with the PACK data type. Therefore, auto-incrementing cannow be assigned to PACK data type fields.

BY HIERARCHY Reporting Available From SQL and Hold Files. BY HIERARCHY reportingcan now be applied to relational data sources. The end user is responsible for properlyrepresenting the hierarchy in the Master File. The Dimension Builder in the Data ManagementConsole enables you to assign the properties of the hierarchy.

Using Segment Names as Tags When Generating SQL. The default tag name used by theserver SQL generator is T1, T2, and so on. A new setting has been introduced that enablesyou to assign tag names to match the segment names that contain the referenced fields. Toswitch to using the SEGNAMEs as tag names, use the following setting:

SQL engine SET SQLTAG SEGNAME

Support for FOCUS Amper Variables as SQL String Parameters. The ability to run arequest against a synonym for an SQL string has been enhanced to allow the parameterizationof the SQL string using Dialogue Manager global variables. After the synonym has been createdagainst the relational adapter where the SQL will be processed, global variables can be addedto the source SQL file. The Synonym Editor is then used to add the Variable Declarations.

Specifying a Time Limit to Log on to a Data Source. A new LOGINTIMEOUT setting hasbeen added to the Session Parameter settings. It enables you to specify the amount of timethat an adapter should allow to complete a log on to a data source before returning an error.

Adapter for DB2: Truncate Table Added to Existing Table Target Properties. A Prior to Loadoption has been added for existing tables in DB2 on Windows, UNIX, and zSeries platforms. TheTruncate Table target property removes all rows from the target table without logging.

Adapter for EMC Greenplum. The Adapter for EMC Greenplum has been introduced in thisrelease and is available as a named adapter on the Web Console in the SQL folder.

Adapter for Informix: Truncate Table With Prior to Load Option Supported. When Truncatetable is selected as the Prior to Load option on a data flow target, the SQL generated now producesthe code to execute TRUNCATE TABLE on the Informix database.

Adapter for JBoss Application Server. The JBoss Application Server is now supported, andthe Adapter for JBoss is available as a named adapter on the Web Console in the SQL folder. Itreplaces the Adapter for MetaMatrix.

Adapter for Microsoft SQL Server: Primary Key Order Respected by the Create SynonymProcess. A new Create Synonym mechanism ensures that a Primary Key is prioritized, regardlessof how and in what order it was created in the DBMS.



Adapters for Microsoft SQL Server and Sybase: TSTOPACK Function: Converting aMicrosoft SQL Server or Sybase Timestamp Column to Packed Decimal. Microsoft SQLServer and Sybase have a data type called TIMESTAMP. Rather than containing an actualtimestamp, columns with this data type contain a number that is incremented for each recordinserted or updated. The value is stored in Binary(8) or Varbinary(8) format in the table, but isreturned as a double-wide alphanumeric column (A16). You can use the TSTOPACK function toconvert the timestamp value to packed decimal.

Adapter for Oracle

Support for XMLType Data Type. The Create Synonym facility can now describe a columndefined in the DBMS as native XMLType. This provides support for the XMLType in variousserver operations.

Support for NCLOB Data Type Added. The adapter can now report and update Oraclecolumns that are defined as NCLOB (National Character Large Objects) when the ReportingServer is configured for Unicode.

Adapter for PostgreSQL: Support for SERIAL Columns Added. The adapter now supportsPostgreSQL tables with SERIAL columns. The column that is produced by Create Synonym isidentified as auto increment and read-only.

OLAP Adapters


Adapter for SQL Server Analysis Services

Customized Connection Name. When configuring the Adapter for SQL Server AnalysisServices (SSAS), you can now customize the connection name.

Support for Version 2012. SQL Server Analysis Services Version 2012 is now supportedin both MDX and Tabular modes.

Tabular Deployment. The adapter now supports both the traditional SQL Server 2012 AnalysisServices Multidimensional Model and the new Tabular Model.

Passing READLIMIT to MDX as TOPCOUNT/BOTTOMCOUNT. The adapter can now generatethe TOPCOUNT and BOTTOMCOUNT for the reports that have both of the following:

BY [HIGHEST/LOWEST] TOTAL <measure field>

IF READLIMIT n

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Generating Qualified Field Names for Dimension Elements. The adapter can now generateMaster File field names for dimension elements based on the concatenation of dimension,hierarchy, level, and property captions. This feature is implemented by selecting GenerateQualified Field Names on the Web Console Create Synonym page.

Support for Multiple Field Restrictions in DBA Security Statements. The adapter nowhas the ability to use multiple field restrictions connected with the AND operator within a DBAsecurity statement in the Master File for SSAS cubes.

Procedure Adapters


Adapter for REST. The Adapter for REST has been introduced in this release and is availableas a named adapter on the Web Console in the Procedures folder.

Adapter for Web Services.

Using TX Fields as Input. The length of unstructured content can vary from a couple of wordsto many pages, which may be more than the allotted length of an Alpha field. In light of thissituation, the Adapter for Web Services can now accommodate TX fields as input.

Support for Proxy Server Connections Needing NTLM Authentication. Connectionsthrough a Proxy server that require NTLM (NT LAN Manager) authentication are now supported.

Sequential and Indexed Adapters


Adapter for Excel (via Direct Retrieval): Creating Synonyms for Named Ranges. Whencreating a synonym and after selecting a workbook, you can now see a list of all the namedranges in the workbook. You will be able to create a synonym for any of those named ranges.



DBMS Adapters


Adapter for iWay Adapter Framework (IWAF): Single Logon Support. When using the Adapterfor iWay Adapter Framework (IWAF) for a connection, such as to salesforce.com, each operationgenerates a server logon. This could result in a large number of logon attempts. Now this situationcan be handled with a single logon.

Social Media Adapters


Adapter for Facebook®. The Adapter for Facebook has been introduced in this release andis available as a named adapter on the Web Console in the Social Media folder.

Facebook Wizard. The Facebook Wizard enables you to easily configure and use the Adapterfor Facebook.

Adapter for Alchemy. The Adapter for Alchemy has been introduced in this release and isavailable as a named adapter on the Web Console in the Social Media folder. It providessentiment analysis of documents or web pages.

Adapter for WAND®. The Adapter for WAND has been introduced in this release and isavailable as a named adapter on the Web Console in the Social Media folder. It providesconsumer sentiment analysis using software from WAND, Inc.

Adapter for Words Analysis. The Adapter for Words Analysis has been introduced in thisrelease and is available as a named adapter on the Web Console in the Social Media folder.It performs word analysis on text fields.

Adapter for Twitter®. The Adapter for Twitter is available as a named adapter on the WebConsole in the Social Media folder. It provides the ability to read tweets for a specific ScreenName and perform a search on words indexed by Twitter for tweets.

Twitter Wizard. The Twitter Wizard enables you to easily configure and use the Adapter forTwitter.

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Migrating WebFOCUS Environments

New tools are available to migrate Managed Reporting security information, application content,and Business Intelligence Dashboards built in WebFOCUS 7.x releases. ReportCaster systemsbased on WebFOCUS 7.6.x and 7.7.x can also be migrated, in addition to Favorites and MobileFavorites.

The content migration process consists of two parts, export and import. The export can extractdata from a WebFOCUS 7.1.x, 7.6.x, or 7.7.x environment. On Windows, a .bat file is used toexport the content. On UNIX or Linux, a corresponding .sh script is used.

The data is extracted into a file structure consisting of XML files and folders (this structure willbe discussed later). This extract structure is used for the import. The import process reads theextracted file structure and imports the content into the WebFOCUS 8 environment.

The same Domains, Users, and Groups that are available in the WebFOCUS 7.x environmentexist in the WebFOCUS 8 environment after a successful import.


Partial Migration. Managed Reporting and ReportCaster migration now support the migrationof content selected by Domain or group, as well as the ability to choose whether or not toinclude deferred tickets or deferred output in the migration.

Tools Consolidation

Information Builders continues to enhance its WebFOCUS product line and add new capabilitiesand tools in order to meet customer requirements. In recent years, this meant applying newtechnologies to provide a rich, modern web-based experience for users of WebFOCUS.

Effective in WebFOCUS 8, Information Builders consolidated functionality found in the ReportAssistant and Graph Assistant legacy tools into InfoAssist, and has retired the legacy tools.Information Builders has a general policy of ensuring that our customers receive upgrades andnew features as a standard part of their maintenance contracts. In this case, we are extendingthat program. Customers who have licensed Report Assistant and Graph Assistant under theAnalytical Reporter or other licensing arrangements, upon upgrading to WebFOCUS 8 are entitledto trade those licenses in for no-cost InfoAssist Basic licenses. InfoAssist Basic, a subset ofWebFOCUS InfoAssist, contains all of the capabilities found in Report Assistant and GraphAssistant.

Effective with WebFOCUS 8, interfaces, tools, and product components have been replaced withweb-based Rich Internet Application facilities that will also eliminate the requirement to have aspecific release of the Java Virtual Machine present on each end-user machine.



For more information on tools consolidation, see the Technical Support website:

https://techsupport.informationbuilders.com/


WebFOCUS RESTful Web Services provide an API into WebFOCUS so that you can use yourpreferred development environment (for example, Visual Studio.Net or Java) to embed WebFOCUScontent within your application. WebFOCUS RESTful Web Service requests can be configured forcontent and tasks within the following areas:

WebFOCUS Authentication

WebFOCUS Managed Reporting

WebFOCUS Reporting Server

WebFOCUS Security and Administration

ReportCaster


Adding a User to a Group and Removing a User From a Group. When adding a user to agroup and removing a user from a group, you can now use a semicolon (;) character to specifymultiple groups for the groupPath parameter value.

Adding a Rule. You can now add a rule for multiple users or groups using a semicolon (;)character for the GroupUser parameter value.

For more information on using these enhancements, see the WebFOCUS RESTful Web ServicesDeveloper's Guide.

44 WebFOCUS


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