This appendix can be used as a great reference for developers. We have provided a list of online resources that are very useful for problem solving and additional knowledge. We have also provided the necessary Excel functions that users can print out and keep handy on their desk. In addition, during installation and planning, users can refer to the System and software requirements section found at the end of the appendix.
The following is a list of online resources:
- SAP Community Network (SCN): The SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards section at http://scn.sap.com/community/businessobjects-dashboards.
The Official SAP Community Network provides a wealth of knowledge on SAP products, forums to help developers overcome any problems, blogs to learn new tips and tricks, and much more.
- BusinessObjects Board: http://www.forumtopics.com/busobj/.
Before SAP bought BusinessObjects, this was the largest support forum that developers would go to. Even after the acquisition of BusinessObjects, the forum still remains very active.
- SAP Help: SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards 4.1 page: http://help.sap.com/bodash/.
This is the official SAP help page where you can find information on new releases, known issues, fixed issues, an error message guide, documentation on the SDK and SAP installation, and user guides. Also, documentation on older versions of SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards is available here.
- EverythingXcelsius.com: Xcelsius Gurus Network: http://www.everythingxcelsius.com.
This is a website for all your SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards (Xcelsius) news, tips, tricks, templates, consulting, and training.
- MyXcelsius.com: http://www.myxcelsius.com.
This is a blog that contains a huge amount of tips, tricks, and best practices for SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards.
- Interactive Data Visualization by Ryan Goodman: http://ryangoodman.net/blog/.
This is Ryan Goodman's blog on data visualization, location intelligence, and dashboard creation with SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards.
- Visual Business Intelligence by Stephen Few: http://www.perceptualedge.com/blog/.
Stephen Few is a well-recognized author and trainer on the topic of data visualization. In this blog, he shows and explains his ideas on how to create proper visualizations of data.
- Data Ink by Josh Tapley: http://data-ink.com/.
Josh Tapley's blog provides a lot of interesting ideas and examples of dashboards created with SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards.
- HackingSAP.com: http://www.hackingsap.com/.
This is Xavier Hacking's blog that provides a wealth of information on SAP-related products, focusing mainly on the Business Intelligence realm.
- David Lai's Business Intelligence Blog: http://www.davidlai101.com/blog.
David Lai's blog provides a great number of tips, tricks, and best practices mainly on SAP BusinessObjects-related products. He also provides insight into other Business Intelligence toolsets.
- Colorbrewer: http://colorbrewer2.org.
Colorbrewer is a very useful online tool that can help you to choose good color sets for your charts and maps.
- DashboardSpy: http://www.dashboardspy.com/.
At the DashboardSpy website, you can find a lot of dashboard examples.