Mobile BI should be attractive and a smooth ride experience. When looking at data riding a bumpy bus or commuting on a crowded train, every tap counts. Keep in mind how and where your users will engage with exploding pie charts or flying info windows. Have mercy, and provide an easy way to navigate from one report to the next; not every iPad travels in business class.
You should have completed the previous recipes to continue. In My Reports folder inside the Web Interface right-click on the document numbered 41 and select Properties. From the dialog box copy and write down the ID of the document (see the following screen capture):
We will modify the 40 iPad Landscape Portrait views document that we created in one of the previous recipes; so you need to have completed it before going further. Start by saving that document with a new name: 42 iPad Landscape Portrait Landing Page.
We are creating a home page with a link to the document number 41:
- Open the document 42 in design mode, switch to the landscape view and from the Insert menu select Shape | Rectangle.
- This time (very important) answer Yes to the warning message, so that the rectangle will be visible in portrait view as well.
- Draw the rectangle and open its Properties and Formatting….
- Set these values:
- In Properties | Layout:
Left:
40and Top:40Width:
Fixed at 160and Height:Fixed at 160 - In Format | Color and Lines:
Fill | Color: (any color you like as long as it is Indigo)
- In Properties | Layout:
- Click on OK to confirm; now from the Insert menu choose Text.
- Again, answer Yes to the message and draw the text area inside the indigo rectangle.
- Type
Tap to open the Category Dashboardinside the text area. - Click on the Format menu and use the toolbar to modify the color and the font of the text (set it Arial 18 points, white).
- Now right-click on the text area and open the Properties and Formatting… and set:
- In Properties | Layout:
Left:
45and Top:45Width:
Fixed at 150and Height:Fixed at 150
- In Properties | Layout:
- Confirm with OK.
- Switch to portrait view; note that the rectangle and the text did not maintain the layout, this is by design. We need to re-set the properties for dimension and location of the controls.
- So, open Properties and Formatting… for the rectangle and set:
- In Properties |Layout
Left:
40and Top:40Width:
Fixed at 160and Height:Fixed at 160
- In Properties |Layout
- Repeat for the text:
- In Properties | Layout
Left:
45and Top:45Width:
Fixed at 150and Height:Fixed at 150
- In Properties | Layout
- Save the document, overwrite it, and run it.
- Switch to design mode and change the view to landscape.
- Open Properties and Formatting… for the text area (see screen capture):
- In Properties | General, check the option Is hyperlink, and type this URL (you can copy it from the companion code file):
http://192.168.1.89/MicroStrategy/asp/Main.aspx?&src=Main.aspx.2048001&evt=2048001¤tViewMedia=2&documentID=805F19C8487550C3383F3A916911AA0E - Change the IP
192.168.1.89with that of your machine and the ID805F19C8487550C3383F3A916911AA0Ewith the ID of your document numbered 41, uncheck Open in a new window and confirm with OK. - Save the document, overwrite the existing one, and open it on the iPad to see it.
With hyperlinks you can chain several documents together and create a consistent navigation path, so that the user will be redirected from one screen to another in a rational way.
With hyperlinks you can create a custom home screen for your mobile users; open the MicroStrategy Mobile Administrator:
- Click on Mobile Configuration in the top-right of the page.
- Under the Actions header, click on the Modify icon, and then select the Home Screen tab.
- Click on the radio button labeled Display a custom home screen, the option Display a report or document is already selected, then hit the small down arrow button to open the login information dialog for the COOKBOOK project.
- Type
Administratorand the corresponding password, then click on Login. - Navigate to My Reports folder and pick the document number 42.
- Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on Save.
- Back to the Mobile Configuration page click on the globe icon to open the Generate Configuration URL dialog box and click on Generate URL.
- Copy the URL again and send it via e-mail to you iPad.
- Open the link from your mobile device and MicroStrategy client will automatically open the landing document with the hyperlink to the dashboard.
- The Answering prompts in reports or documents recipe in Chapter 10, Mobile BI for Users