SBO Mobile BI - things to know when upgrading to SAP BI 4.0
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This article covers and refers to:
- SBO Mobile BI on iOS operating system
- SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.0 SP06 release
Overview of SBO Mobile in XI 3.1 and 4.0
There are significant improvements/enhancements in SBO Mobile between the XI R2, 3.1 and 4.0 releases. Here are the highlights of the new updates and changes introduced in SBO BI 4.0 release for SBO Mobile;
Server side
Mobile Installation Package
SAP BusinessObjects Mobile 4.0 is delivered as part of the SBO Business Intelligence platform installation package by default.
Mobile Services
The two mobile servers that used to be listed in the CCM (Central Configuration Manager) are replaced by the embedded .WAR file — MobileBIService.
User Rights Support
Mobile rights for users and groups.
Enhanced platform support
More and enhanced platform supports are introduced in SAP BI 4.0 release.
Client (App) side
Home Page
When you log in to SAP BusinessObjects Mobile, the home page appears, showing the list of documents that can be opened on your mobile device.
Searching BI documents
SAP BusinessObjects Mobile allows you to search BI documents in the BI platform repository, providing quick and easy access to BI documents.
Sending a link of the BI document by e-mail
You can send BI document URLs through e-mail and the recipient can open the document on his or her desktop browser by accessing the openDocument URL in the email body.
Deployment
Deployment Method
The deployment method for SBO Mobile has changed between 3.x and 4.x releases. Up until the 3.1 release, you had to manually deploy and configure the SBO Mobile server components, but starting from BI 4.0 base release, the steps and deployment of SBO Mobile server components are different.
Check here for the complete details on how SBO Mobile is deployed manually in 3.1;
https://websmp110.sap-ag.de/~sapidb/011000358700001336762011E/31sp5_mob_admin_en.pdf under the section called Deploying MobileBIService.war for Mobile Application Support
Check here for the details how SBO Mobile is deployed automatically in BI 4.0 release;
https://websmp201.sap-ag.de/~sapidb/011000358700000442372013E/xi4sp6_mob_inst_deploy_en.pdf under the section called Auto-Deployment of Mobile Server
Note:
The important thing to note here is that because the SBO Mobile deployment is automatic, you do not have to worry about patching (separately) anymore.
Configuring SBO Mobile
Configuration of SBO Mobile in SBO BI 4.0 release has changed. Some of the the important things to note are the location of the property file and the location of the .WAR (aka MobileBIWebService) file.
| SBO Mobile Version | Location of clientsettings.propertiesand mobi.properties files |
|---|---|
| XI 3.1 SP03, SP04, SP05, SP06 | <WebApp root>\webapps\MobileBIService\WEB-INF\ |
| BI 4.0, SP05 and below versions | <WebApp root>\webapps\MobileBIService\WEB-INF\ |
| BI 4.0, SP06 | <WebApp root>\webapps\MobileBIService\WEB-INF\config\default |
Platform Support
The platform support has been enhanced between SAP BusinessObjects XI 3.1 and SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.0 releases.
| SAP BusinessObjects XI 3.1 | SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.0 |
|---|---|
Operating Systems: Windows | Operating Systems: Windows, Linux, AIX and Solaris |
Web Application Servers: SAP NW, Tomcat, and WebSphere | Web App Servers: JBoss, SAP NW, Tomcat, Weblogic and WebSphere |
Check here for the complete and latest list of supported platform components with their release/version information;
Differences, enhancements, and new features between SBO Mobile in 3.1 and 4.0
Multidimensional Data source support
- BW
- Other OLAP Data Source
Multiple BI content support
- Dashboards **
- Design Studio
- Webi as PDF
Chart
- Support for Combined Chart
- Support for Horizontal Bar Chart
- Support for Bubble Chart
- Support for Waterfall chart
- Support for Hierarchy Charts
- Enhanced control over chart properties
Collaboration
- BI Inbox
** Note:
Starting SAP BI 4.0 and up to the SP04 release, the Dasboard's support was flash-based. Starting in SP05, Dashboards are supported through HTML5 technology.
Sizing and performance
SBO Mobile's performance largely depends on the stability and performance of two important tiers / components in the architecture:
- Web Application Server where MobiServices .WAR files are deployed, which acts as the gateway between the SBO Mobile client and the SAP BI platform
- SAP BI platform services responsible for individual content types supported by SBO Mobile.
Follow the sizing guidelines provided in the SAP BI platform sizing guide and perform a detailed sizing estimation in order to determine the required amount of resources.
Migrated contents
Once you migrate the contents (from BOE XI R2 or 3.1 to BI 4.0), all the SBO Mobile-supported contents will be ready for consumption from mobile devices through the SBO Mobile BI App. You must perform the required SBO Mobile configuration steps in the SAP BI 4.0 platform, then create a connection to the platform from the mobile devices for users to start consume the contents.
Challenges / know-how’s for upgrading 3.1 SBO Mobile to BI 4.0
Listed below are some of the known challenges to note while planning your upgrade to SAP BI 4.0. Carefully review and apply the steps:
- Back up SBO Mobile and Client settings property files from the following location;
<WebApp root>\webapps\MobileBIService\WEB-INF\ - Refer to section 4.2.5 of this document for the steps to deploy SBO Mobile.
- To update property files, copy the backed-up SBO Mobile and client setting property file to the following location:
<WebApp root>\webapps\MobileBIService\WEB-INF\config\custom
Notes:
- We often hear from customers that the property file is lost during upgrade. Therefore make sure you backup and secure the property files first
- Also, copy the web-inf\config\custom\*.* to the following location: SAP <PATH>\SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 4.0\warfiles\webapps\MobileBIService\WEB-INF\config. At the end this is used by wdeploy to build the war files and willnot get deleted after applying patches (the webapps folder just get deleted with an undeploy including your customizations).
- Follow the above steps in sequence. Some of these steps will be automated post-SP05.
