After developing a visual model in SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards, we will need to somehow share it with users. We want to put it into a format that everyone can see on their machines. The simplest way is to export it to a standard SWF file.
One of the great features SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards has is the ability to embed dashboards into different Microsoft Office file formats. For example, a presenter could have an MS PowerPoint deck, and in the middle of the presentation, have a working dashboard that presents an important set of data values to the audience. Another example could be an executive level user who is viewing an MS Word document created by an analyst. The analyst could create a written document in MS Word and then embed a working dashboard with the most updated data to present important data values to the executive level user.
You can choose to embed a dashboard in the following file types:
- MS PowerPoint (.pptx)
- MS Word (.docx)
- MS Outlook
- PDF (.pdf)
- HTML (.html)
- In the menu toolbar, go to File | Export | Flash (SWF).
- Select the directory in which you want the SWF to go to and name your SWF file.
SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards compiles the visual model into an SWF file that everyone is able to see. Once the SWF file has been compiled, the dashboard will then be ready for sharing.
Note
It is mandatory that anyone viewing the dashboard SWF has Adobe Flash installed. If not, they can download and install it from http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/.
If we export to MS PowerPoint, we can then edit the PowerPoint file however we desire.
If you have an existing PowerPoint presentation deck and want to append the dashboard to it, the easiest way is to first embed the dashboard SWF to a temporary PowerPoint file and then copy that slide to your existing PowerPoint file.
Exporting to an SWF file format makes it very easy for distribution, thus making the presentation of mockups great at a business level. Developers are thus able to work very closely with the business and iteratively come up with a visual model closest to the business goals. It is important though, when distributing SWF files, that everyone viewing the dashboards has the same version, otherwise confusion may occur. Thus, as a best practice, versioning every SWF that is distributed is very important.