Business Objects  

Zero Admin BusinessObjects (ZABO)

BUSINESSOBJECTS 5.1 and Zero Admin BUSINESSOBJECTS are the same product.

In this manual, Zero Admin BUSINESSOBJECTS refers to the server side components of the thin-client deployment of BUSINESSOBJECTS 5.1.

On the client side, the functionality available to you as an end user differs slightly depending on whether you installed BUSINESSOBJECTS 5.1 from the CD, or whether you installed it via a web browser, however, because security and logins are handled in a slightly different way.

• If you install BUSINESSOBJECTS 5.1 from the CD, you will be able to work with both a client/server connection and a web connection to access and refresh data. If a zero-administration deployment of BUSINESSOBJECTS 5.1 is set up in the company, BUSINESSOBJECTS users who have installed the full version of BUSINESSOBJECTS 5.1 from a CD or Master installation can also take advantage of middleware stored on the server to build queries and refresh documents.

When users log on to BUSINESSOBJECTS, they just have to choose the web portal login.

• If you install BUSINESSOBJECTS 5.1 through a web browser, you can neither access data using stored procedures, free-hand SQL, and OLAP multidimensional servers, nor use data from SAP BW and SAP BAPI applications. For these options, you need to install from the CD.

On the other hand, you enjoy the advantages of a true zero administration solution.

Three-tier architecture

Like WEBINTELLIGENCE, Zero Admin BUSINESSOBJECTS has a three-tier architecture:

• Tier 1: the client

The BUSINESSOBJECTS software is installed on the client machine.

• Tier 2: the Zero Admin BUSINESSOBJECTS server

BUSINESSOBJECTS 5.1 uses the HTTP processing layer in the WEBINTELLIGENCE system to communicate with the HTTP server. The WEBINTELLIGENCE server manages security and connectivity information and downloads the required information to the client the first time he connects. BUSINESSOBJECTS uses the WIQT for the user session and to communicate with the repository and database.

• Tier 3: data sources

WebIntelligence SDK

WEBINTELLIGENCE SDK (Software Development Kit) is an extension of WEBINTELLIGENCE, which enables you to customize the look, behavior, and workflow of a WEBINTELLIGENCE deployment. As a result, you can tailor WEBINTELLIGENCE to match the needs of a wide user audience while providing enhanced navigation and finer analysis.

This type of customization is imperative for any type of extranet deployment, in which your corporate users will be communicating with entire populations of external users through the web.

From a developer’s viewpoint, this means that you have tight control over how your WEBINTELLIGENCE deployment operates and how it appears to end-users. From the users’ viewpoint, this means they can access documents and perform queries and analysis in an environment with which they are familiar.

A common use of WEBINTELLIGENCE SDK is to align WEBINTELLIGENCE deployments with current corporate intranet or extranet solutions.

Customizing the WEBINTELLIGENCE client

With WEBINTELLIGENCE SDK you can automate many user operations and customize the integration of WEBINTELLIGENCE within your business. For users, this means easy and intuitive access to information.

For example, you can:

• Personalize the user interface.

• Embed prompts in web pages. You can determine which prompts are returned depending on a user’s profile and you can determine the results sent back to the user based on their input.

• Add a hyperlink to a document, which launches the Web Panel.

• Include ActiveX and other components in web pages. For example, you can display a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet in the same page as a BUSINESSOBJECTS document.

Extending the server

The following are examples of how you can define the means and scope of data access from your WEBINTELLIGENCE server.

You can:

• Build a custom web-based document list by editing the existing layout, or by creating a completely new layout. If your business has existing web page templates you can adapt the document catalog to conform to your own styles and standards.

• Personalize the workflow for a group of users and determine the reporting capabilities available, based on user profile.

Customizing WebIntelligence for an intranet or extranet

This type of customization runs from simply giving WEBINTELLIGENCE the look and feel of your organization for a corporate intranet, to using WEBINTELLIGENCE SDK to transform WEBINTELLIGENCE’s functionality into the engine of a powerful e-business extranet.

What is BOManager?

BOManager is a scalable, server-based form of the BUSINESSOBJECTS product that allows users to view and refresh BUSINESSOBJECTS documents using the WEBINTELLIGENCE system.

By default, it is automatically started whenever you launch WEBINTELLIGENCE.

BOManager can run on either Windows or UNIX servers.

                source http://www.BusinessObjects.com