ProClarity Professional is a Windows application that is built for one purpose: analyzing Analysis Services cubes. Unlike general purpose tools such as Excel, the single-mindedness of this approach led to ProClarity becoming the leading third- party analytics tool for accessing Analysis Services cubes. While browsing cubes may not necessarily be easy, ProClarity made it as simple as possible, while still maintaining incredibly rich functionality. The ProClarity tools are very graphical in nature, assuming that charts make data easier to grasp and comprehend quickly.
ProClarity Desktop Professional can connect to one of four sources: a ProClarity Analytics Server, an Analysis Services cube, a local Briefing Book, and a Briefing Book from ProClarity Analytics Server. These various topics will be discussed throughout the chapter, but for new users the first connection will be directly to a cube. When starting the Professional clients, users are presented with the Welcome screen shown in Figure 6-26, where they can choose between the four options.
When choosing to open a cube, there are two options: opening a cube from an Analysis Services server or opening a local cube. Local cubes are a way of storing cubes, or pieces of cubes, on machines that may not be running Analysis Services. There are many limitations with local cubes and a full discussion of local cubes
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B u s i n e s s I n t e l l i g e n c e w i t h M i c r o s o f t O f f i c e P e r f o r m a n c e P o i n t S e r v e r 2 0 0 7is beyond the scope of this book; see the SQL Server Books Online for more information. Figure 6-27 shows the dialog box that allows users to choose either a server or local cube; in the screenshot the Advanced button has been clicked. The Advanced button opens two additional fields on the form that allow users to enter a username and password. These options are normally used when a cube is made accessible via HTTP; this makes it easier for companies to access cubes across firewalls in some cases. The username and password can also be used when accessing cubes across domains if a trust does not exist; the user can enter credentials that allow access to the domain on which Analysis Services resides.
After selecting a server name and clicking the OK button, the user is presented with a list of the server’s databases on the left, and a list of the cubes in the selected database on the right. In Figure 6-28, there is only a single database called Adventure Works DW, and on the right is a list of cubes and perspectives. A perspective in Analysis Services 2005 is much like a view in a relational database: it’s a way to limit what can be seen in the cube. A perspective is not a security mechanism but a way to reduce the complexity of a cube. This means that one large cube with many dimensions can be simplified by creating different perspectives for different groups of users. As far as client tools are concerned, cubes and perspectives are treated identically.
Figure 6-26 ProClarity Desktop Professional allows users to connection directly to a cube or to use one of three other options.
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Figure 6-27 Cubes may reside on the server or, in rare cases, locally on the user’s computer. Security may require a username and password for server-based cubes.
Figure 6-28 A server may have one or more Analysis Services databases and each database may have multiple cubes and perspectives.
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B u s i n e s s I n t e l l i g e n c e w i t h M i c r o s o f t O f f i c e P e r f o r m a n c e P o i n t S e r v e r 2 0 0 7After the user selects the cube or perspective to browse, a screen appears that allows the user to choose how they want to see the data. There are five choices on the page and a user can check the box at the bottom of the screen to make their next selection the default so that they are not again presented with this screen, which is shown in Figure 6-29. The choices available include
䉴 Chart View A standard bar chart by default, much like those of the Analytic Chart in PerformancePoint Server.
䉴 Decomposition Tree An advanced view that shows a history of the drill- down path.
䉴 Performance Map An advanced view in which one measure controls the size of rectangles while a second measure controls the shading.
䉴 Perspective A scatter point chart, good for comparing two measures at a very detailed level.
䉴 Grid A standard grid much like the Analytic Grid in PerformancePoint Server.
Most users will start with either a grid or a chart, although all are valid options. Starting with a chart will present users with a Big Blue Bar, just as with the Analytic Chart. This is because by default, ProClarity will select a Time dimension, if one exists, and place it on the Columns. The first dimension in the list will be placed on the Rows, and the default measure will be placed in the background. Much like the
Figure 6-29 After connecting to a cube, the user can select from five different types of view with which to start the analysis.
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Analytic Chart, the Big Blue Bar is live, and moving the mouse over it will change the cursor and a tooltip will appear that shows the actual value and may show additional information as well. Clicking on the bar will drill a user down the first hierarchy listed in the rows, just as with the Analytic Chart.