CAPTURING OLAP ANALYSIS THREAD AS REFRESHABLE BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE DATA

• US 20100287135A1
• Filed: 12/22/2009
• Published: 11/11/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/08/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP SE
• Inventors: BRULAND, AXEL, Guder, Heike, Mohraz, Karim, Kalisz, Karol
• Granted Patent: US 8,892,501 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/600
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/283 Multi-dimensional databases or data warehouses, e.g. MOLAP or ROLAP

Abstract

Described herein are methods and systems for capturing OLAP analysis thread and transferring the data into a data visualization tool. According to one aspect, OLAP analysis step queries and the corresponding results are recorded and transferred to a data visualization tool. In another aspect, the data in the data visualization tool may be refreshed without affecting the data format.

Claims

1. A computer readable medium comprising computer readable instructions, which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform a method, the method comprising:

recording an analysis step from an OLAP analysis that changes a corresponding query to a multi-dimensional data source, wherein the query is associated with a first part of an analysis step record for the analysis step;

recording a result set corresponding to the query, wherein the result set is associated with a second part of the analysis step record; and

transferring the analysis step record into a data visualization tool.

2. The computer readable medium of claim 1, further comprising storing the analysis step record in a file, the file to serve as a mediator to the data visualization tool.

3. The computer readable medium of claim 2, wherein the file is a BICS XML document.

4. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the analysis step record is placed as a table or a chart in the data visualization tool.

5. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the analysis step record is placed on a separate slide in the data visualization tool.

6. The computer readable medium of claim 1, further comprising refreshing the data in the data visualization tool.

7. The computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein refreshing the data in the data visualization tool does not affect the data format.

8. The computer readable medium of claim 5, wherein the data visualization tool comprises an overview slide with a link for quick access to the analysis step record placed in the separate slide.

9. A computerized method for transforming an OLAP analysis into a data visualization tool, comprising:

recording an analysis step from the OLAP analysis that changes a corresponding query to a multi-dimensional data source, wherein the query is associated with a first part of an analysis step record for the analysis step;

recording a result set corresponding to the query, wherein the result set is associated with a second part of the analysis step record; and

transferring the analysis step record into a data visualization tool.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising storing the analysis step record in a file, the file to serve as a mediator to the data visualization tool.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the file is a BICS XML document.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the analysis step record is placed as a table or a chart in the data visualization tool.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the analysis step record is placed on a separate slide in the data visualization tool.

14. The method of claim 9, further comprising refreshing the data in the data visualization tool.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein refreshing the data in the data visualization tool does not affect the data format.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the data visualization tool comprises an overview slide with a link for quick access to the data contained in the separate slide.

17. A system for transforming an OLAP analysis into a data visualization tool, comprising:

an OLAP database;

a data access interface to connect to the OLAP database and provide unified data access;

an OLAP client to send queries to the data access interface;

a BICS XML file to keep track of the queries sent and the results received; and

a data visualization tool document to present the data from the BICS XML file.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the data visualization tool document is refreshed upon receiving notice of updates in the OLAP database.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the data in data visualization tool document is refreshed without affecting any custom format of the data.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the data visualization tool document comprises an overview slide with links for quick access to a plurality of slides containing queries and results received.