You can refresh Web Intelligence documents created from Personal data sources such as text, excel files and from Custom data sources such as Web Services from the BI launch pad.
To manage the refresh option of a Web Intelligence document created using text or excel file, you must edit the RefreshOnServer parameter in the registry with one of the following values:
• NO or DISABLE - to disable refresh option
• YES or ENABLE - to enable refresh on server option and use the data source files from the Server_Path. If the data source path is not specified in the Server_Path, then the data source is taken from the original source location (location of data source from where the Web Intelligence document is created). By default, the RefreshOnServer parameter is set to ENABLE.
• ALLOW_USE_WINDOWS_SHARE - to enable refresh option from Windows shared location/UNC Path. As a fallback mechanism, if the source could not be reached then the source is looked up in the Server_Path.
Note:
• Server_Path is a registry parameter which specifies the path of the personal data sources on the server. By default, the Server_Path folder is not created during installation. You must manually create the Server_Path folder. You can also change the Server_Path value in the registry by editing the Server_Path parameter.
• The RefreshOnServer registry parameter is not applicable for custom data sources. For File based custom data sources, plug-in is free to implement the data source look-up / fallback mechanism.
On Windows platforms, you must edit the RefreshOnServer parameter found at the following location in the registry:
• Text: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE]\SOFTWARE\SAP BusinessObjects\Suite XI 4.0\default\Web Intelligence\Calculator\PDP\TXT
• Excel: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE]\SOFTWARE\SAP BusinessObjects\Suite XI 4.0\default\Web Intelligence\Calculator\PDP\XLS
To modify the value of Server_Path parameter, you must edit the Server_Path entry located at:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\SAP BusinessObjects\Suite XI 4.0\default\Web Intelligence\Calculator\PDP
By default, the value of Server_Path parameter is <SAP_BOBJ_INST_DIR>\PersonalDPFiles>.
On UNIX platforms, to manage the refresh option of a document created using Text and Excel personal data sources, you must edit the RefreshOnServer parameter with the YES/ENABLE or NO/DISABLE value in the .registry file. The default value of RefreshOnServer parameter is ENABLE. You can find the .registry file in the following locations:
• Text: <SAP_BOBJ_INST_DIR>/sap_bobj/data/.bobj/registry/64/software/sap businessobjects/suite xi 4.0/default/webintelligence/calculator/pdp/txt
• Excel: <SAP_BOBJ_INST_DIR>/sap_bobj/data/.bobj/registry/64/software/sap businessobjects/suite xi 4.0/default/webintelligence/calculator/pdp/xls To modify the value of Server_Path parameter, you must edit the .registry file located at: <SAP_
BOBJ_INST_DIR>/sap_bobj/data/.bobj/registry/64/software/sap businessob jects/suite xi 4.0/default/webintelligence/calculator/pdp/
By default, the value of Server_Path parameter is home/<username>/<SAP_BOBJ_INST_DIR>/Per sonalDPFiles.
Example: Refreshing Web Intelligence documents based on Excel datasource
Scenario A: User A creates a Web Intelligence document using Web Intelligence Rich Client from an excel datasource located at C:\xyz.xls. The user exports this document to the repository. Now, the user wants to view and refresh the document using BI Launchpad where Web Intelligence Server is installed on a different machine.
To refresh the document, perform the steps:
1. Place xyz.xls in the C:\ directory on the server machine.
2. Place xyz.xls under a pre-defined path on server - the default server path is
<INST_DIR>\Business Objects\PersonalDPFiles. You can change this path by changing the value of Server_Path in the registry ([HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE]\SOFTWARE\Business Objects\Suite 12.0\default\WebIntelligence\Calculator\PDP])
Scenario B: User B creates a Web Intelligence document using Web Intelligence Rich Client from an excel datasource located in the UNC Path: \\MySharedLocation\MYXLSFILEs\xyz.xls To refresh the document, the user must either place the data source under Server_Path as mentioned in the Scenario A above or set the value of RefreshOnServer parameter to
ALLOW_USE_WINDOWS_SHARE. This value indicates to enable refresh on Windows shared locations.
However, there is a fallback mechanism to the Server_Path location if the UNC Path is not accessible from the Server.
Note:
• The above example applies for Text data source also.
• The Server Intelligence Agent (SIA) must be managed by a valid user authentication in the network domain. SIA is managed using local system account. Hence, if you are in the Scenario B mentioned above and the service is not able to access the shared location of your excel file, even if you are able to access the file through start > Run > \\MySharedLocation\MYXLSFILEs; in such cases, you can either start the SIA through the credentials which has access to the shared location or put the file in the Server_Path.
7.1 Points to consider before refreshing a document from BI launch pad
Before refreshing a document from BI launch pad, ensure that the following points are taken care:
• If the requirement is not to use UNC (Universal Naming Convention) path even if it is the original location of the data source, then the data source file must be located on the SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise server at the Server_Path. If the SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise server is clustered, then each and every cluster must be updated with the same copy of the data source file.
• If the requirement is to enable the use of UNC paths, then the Server Intelligence Agent (SIA) should be managed with a user account which has an access to the network domain. In usual installations, the SIA uses the local system account; this is not recommended because the UNC paths may not be accessible with such accounts.
To manage the SIA with a particular account (username/password), perform the following steps:
1. Launch the Central Configuration Manager (CCM).
2. Stop SIA.
3. Right-click SIA, and click on Properties.
4. In the Properties tab, under Log On As, if the System Account option is selected, unselect it, and enter the user and password credentials.
5. Click Apply, and OK.
6. Start SIA.
Note:
This is applicable only for Windows.
• For refreshing a document based on generic WS, update the net.properties file located at:
<SAP_BOBJ_INST_DIR>\SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise XI
4.0\win64_x64\sapjvm\jre\lib(For UNIX, <BOBJ_INST_DIR>/sap_bobj/enter prise_xi40/<platform>_x64/sapjvm/jre/lib) with the following lines:
http.proxyHost=<http proxy hostname>
http.proxyPort=<http proxy port number>
http.nonProxyHosts=localhost|127.0.0.1
where,
• proxyHost is the name of the proxy server. For example, proxy.mydomain.com.
• proxyPort is the port number to use. By default value is 80.
• nonProxyHosts is a '|' separated list of hostnames which should be accessed directly, ignoring the proxy server. By default the value is localhost & 127.0.0.1.
• Provide the following values for HTTPS parameters:
https.proxyHost=<http proxy hostname>
https.proxyPort=<http proxy port number>
where,
• proxyHost is the name of the proxy server. For example, proxy.mydomain.com
• proxyPort is the port number to use. By default value is 443. The HTTPS protocol handlers uses the http nonProxyHosts list.