Tuesday 1 March 2016

Visualizing Your Data

INFOLETS - VISUALIZING DATA SIMPLY

My last post was from OpenWorld 2015.  I can't believe so much time has passed already.

During that passage of time, I've been getting used to many of the features of HCM Cloud R10.  I've already written articles on Goal Mangement and Performance Management, but in this post I want to concentrate on another useful feature which helps you quickly visualize your data - Infolets.

What is an Infolet?

Infolets are small windows which you can configure onto you SUI Springboard.  They consist of up to 3 phases.  Each phase can be used to drill into more detail.  The implication of the last sentence is that the first phase should be a headline piece of information.

This is an example of a two phase Infolet.  Phase 1 shows a headline figure (e.g. Number of New Hires), and the second shows a graph by country.

Phase 1            Phase 2

 

 How Do You Construct An Infolet?

Infolets are constructed using standard BI processes, e.g. OTBI and/or BI Administrator.   Once constructed, they are then exposed on the SUI.   So, it's a two stage process.

To construct the Infolet itself, go to BI Administrator and create your report.  Use the views functionality to  create a specific view.   The example in phase 1 above is a 'Performance Tile' view.  The second phase is a 'Pie Chart' view.

You will need to make sure that the size of the views is compatible with the container you will place them in on the SUI.

On the SUI, you will need to open a sandbox.  In the sandbox, you access the Structure woerkarea from the navigator.  On this screen there is a button 'Set System Options'.  Use this to indicate that Infolets are to be configured.   Then you will be able to create Infolets, or at least the containers for them.



This part of the configuration is a little over engineered!  You now have to use 'Customise Workarea' to personalise the page and add your Infolet.



By doing this, you expose the 'Create Infolet' function (see screenshot above).  Hence my comment on 'over-engineering'.

The 'Create Infolet' function opens a window which allows you to specify the infolet properties, including the size (1x1, 2x2, 3x3 etc.) and the name of the underlying report.





Depending on the dimensions of the Infolet, you will need to configure the first, second and third 'phases'.  These are called the 'front',  'back' and the 'expanded' views respectively.



Now you have configured the container, you can use standard Page Composer functionality to add the content.



 And that's how you create an Infolet!














 















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