The major theme of Release 3.3 is enhanced data visualisation and user
interaction. We have not forgotten all the integration options you
need to so yep, there is more of that as well.
So what are the highlights? These include:
* Advanced Querying with Sub Queries
* Enhanced KPI and Dashboard Reporting
* Improved Chart interactivity
* Additional Related Report options - tabbed and linked
* SQL Reports with user prompts and source filters
* More Flexible Data Format Options
And a whole lot more.....
Yellowfin 3.3 Making BI even easier
The biggest change in 3.3 is the inclusion of sub queries these will
permit all users to write complex reports through our easy to use
interface. Beyond this the majority of changes are focussed on better
data visualisation and interaction with reports and data.
Changes to the KPI tab layout make metrics even easier to interpret.
Interactive charting will let your users swap metric on their charts
and enable them to better compare multiple series of data.
For those SQL report writers out there we have included scripting to
enable user prompts and source filters to be defined bringing the
functionality to be on par with drag and drop reports.
3.3 The good stuff
Sub Query
The biggest change in 3.3 is the inclusion of sub-queries. Sub queries
permit as user to generate far more sophisticated reports. For example
if you wanted to compare the sales results of this financial year with
past years you may wish to use an append query or if you wanted to
determine which customers were new in a particular year you would use
a minus query. In both these examples Yellowfin is generating two
distinct queries and then combining the result set to provide you with
a single table of results. With Yellowfin you can create 4 types of
sub query, these are:
1. Union - inserts new rows into a table
2. Append - inserts new columns into a table
3. Minus - removes data through advanced filter
4. Intersect - removes data through advanced filter
KPI and Standard Dashboard Tabs
* The KPI style tab has been updated with sparkline trend lines and
bullet charts for even better utilisation. These two elements assist
to visualise the trend (sparkline) and compare all metrics against
expected performance (bullet chart).
* Another feature has been the inclusion of associated reports to
dashboard tabs. This allows you to include reports that would
otherwise not fit on a dashboard as supporting reports for hat tab.
Interactive Charts
* To improve the visualisation of your data we are constantly
improving the interactivity of our charting objects. In this release
we have enabled series selection for both pir and category charts.
This allows the user to flip between metrics within the same chart.
Tabbed Reports
* 3.3 includes two new types of co-display reports for linking reports
together. These are tabbed and linked styles. The tabbed style lets
you create a 'workbook' of reports with tabs to navigate through them.
The linked style is used for charts such as meter charts where no data
is passed from one report to the other but you wish to see more
detail.
Changes - the small stuff
* Below you will find a detailed account of the changes between
Yellowfin 3.3 and the previous major release 3.2.
Charts
* Alerts Inclusion of bar and background alert formats.
* Chart Formatting Additional chart formatting options.
* Chart Interactivity The ability to swap metrics on charts such
as pie and category charts. This allows better visualisation of data.
Reporting & Dashboard
* KPI Page Changes to the look and feel of the KPI tab.
* Associate Reports The ability to add links to non-dashboard
reports to a selected dashboard tab.
* Data Formatters New data formatters including URL links to
external sites or applications. For example Yellowfin can pass an
invoice id from report into a * financial application.
* Total Labels Being able to include labels for column summaries.
* Tabbed Reports Create workbook style reports by creating
multiple tabs
* Linked Reports Links charts to detailed reports using as link
report option.
* Suppression of Duplicates Suppress duplicates in column based
reports for clearer report output and design.
* Report Section Summary Create section summaries and include these
at the top of your report with hyperlinks to the detail.
* SQL User Prompts and Source Filters Include user prompt filters
and source filters into SQL reports via a simple script.
Admin & Integration
* Command Line Importer Replace Allows you to replace reports and
dashboard tabs through the command line importer.
* Source Filter Wild Card Allows you to insert a wild card into the
source filter via web services.
* Broadcast Reply to Email Broadcast email link - make it
configurable so that it goes to an OEM organisation
* Log-off Link Location Determine the location of the logoff link
* Report URL Access Access reports via a URL or permalink
* More Localisation Set name, decimal and thousand separator
formats.
* Popup Suppression Allow the dashboard drill through to suppress
popups and always open reports in line.
* Report Category List Update to UI to make it easier to determine
the secure and default draft folders.
* Schedule Management The ability to view all scheduled tasks and
delete them if required.
Source & View
* Bulk View Field Edit Allows you to select and categorise multiple
view fields simultaneously.
* Copy View The ability to copy a view and edit a new instance.
Database / Platform Support
* Sybase IQ Support for Sybase IQ
* Cache DB Support for Cache DB
* Pervasive SQL Support for Pervasive SQL
Release 4.0 - Its big
As part of the Beacon program all clients and partners will be given
the opportunity to influence the next release cycle. Release 4.0 is
scheduled for release in April 2008
Just because Yellowfin is easy to use does not mean you have to forego
the functionality you require. So we say thankyou to all those people
that provided us with valuable feedback, suggestions and support for
this release and look forward to more innovative suggestions for 4.0.
For information on how to participate please see the Beacon program
for more details.
For any queries regarding functionality or if would like to include
functionality on the wish list please visit: http://forum.yellowfin.com.au
