Working in the Middle-Tier Environment

SAS Web Applications

SAS Web applications reside and execute on the middle tier. These applications require a Web browser on each client machine and a Web application server on the middle-tier machine where the application runs. These applications communicate with the user by sending data to and receiving data from the user's Web browser. For example, an application of this type displays its user interface by sending an HTML document to the user's browser. The user can submit input to the application by sending it an HTTP response, usually by clicking a link or submitting an HTML form.

SAS Web Report Studio

SAS Web Report Studio is a Web application that anyone can use to view, interact with, create, and distribute public and private reports. Simply open an existing report and interact with the information based on your current needs. For example, you can view, reply to, or add comments to a report. Report authors can easily point and click to query central sources of data. You can add prompts and design the layout of tables, graphs, and text using drag and drop to create a well-formatted report. All this is accomplished by using a Web browser. You do not need to understand a programming language. Period reports can be scheduled to process unattended on a recurring basis and then distributed using e-mail.

In addition, powerful SAS analytical results can be used by business professionals across an organization through their Web browsers by leveraging SAS stored processes in SAS Web Report Studio. Stored processes are SAS programs, created by business analysts who are proficient in SAS, that contain instructions for calculating analytical results that are rendered as part of a report or as a complete report. Stored processes typically include queries, prompted filters, titles, images, and statistical analyses to deliver predictive analytics to a large audience. SAS Web Report Studio combines query, reporting, and analytical capabilities in a single Web-based tool that everyone can use to meet a broad set of information needs.

The Report Wizard enables novice users to quickly create and distribute basic queries and reports based on either relational or multidimensional data sources in five easy steps. More advanced users can use additional layout and query capabilities that are available, including the ability to define custom calculations and complex filter combinations, multiple queries, and SAS analytical results into a single document. A gallery of predefined layout choices expedites the report creation process, and an extensive range of advance report components enable users to create and interact with reports from their Web browsers. Reports and the application can be branded to match a corporate style.

Reports can be shared with others or kept in private folders based on security settings. Certain pages of reports can be distributed to authorized users via e-mail or a subscription channel.

SAS Web Report Studio runs within the Web application server, and requires the SAS BI Report Services (which includes the report output generation tool) and the SAS BI Report Services Configuration (which creates libraries used by the SAS Web Report Studio). SAS Web Report Studio can be invoked from the SAS Information Delivery Portal.

SAS Information Delivery Portal

The SAS Information Delivery Portal is a Web application that enables you to aggregate data from a variety of sources and present the data in a Web browser. The Web browser content might include the output of SAS Stored Processes, links to Web addresses, documents, syndicated content from information providers, SAS Information Maps, SAS reports, and Web applications. The portal also provides a secure environment for sharing information with users.

Using the portal, you can distribute different types of content and applications as appropriate to internal users, external customers, vendors, and partners. You can use the portal along with the Publishing Framework to perform the following tasks:

Publish content to SAS publication channels or WebDAV repositories
Subscribe to publication channels
View packages published to channels

The portal's personalization features enable users to organize information about their desktops in a way that makes sense to them.

For more information, see the SAS Information Delivery Portal Help, which is available from within the product.

SAS BI Dashboard

SAS BI Dashboard 4.3 enables users to create, maintain, and view dashboards to monitor key performance indicators that convey how well an organization is performing. SAS BI Dashboard 4.3 includes an easy-to-use, drag and drop interface for creating dashboards that include graphics, text, colors, and hyperlinks. The application leverages Flash in the Rich Internet Application (RIA) architecture.

The Dashboard Viewer enables users to:

Interact with data through interactive highlighting
Quickly get to a subset of data through prompts and filters

Dashboards can link to:

SAS reports and analytical results
Scorecards and objects associated with solutions such as SAS Strategy Management
Stored Processes
Indicators
Virtually any item that is addressable by a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI)

With the ability to save favorite dashboards and add comments, users can collaborate and easily access dashboards with customized information. All content is displayed in a role-based, secure, customizable, and extensible environment.

For more information, see the SAS BI Dashboard: User's Guide.

SAS Documentation for the Web

Your installation can include the following documentation software:

SAS Help Viewer for the Web is an application that enables users to view and navigate SAS online Help in the various SAS Web applications.

Note: SAS Help Viewer Metadata Configuration is another name that is associated with this application. Whereas SAS Help Viewer for the Web is the name for the delivery system software, SAS Help Viewer Metadata Configuration is the name for the configured component. This component combines SAS Help Viewer for the Web software with various Help content and creates an EAR file that can be deployed on a Web application server.
SAS OnlineDoc for the Web is an application that contains an online library of reference documentation for the SAS System.

Note: You must manually deploy SAS OnlineDoc for the Web in your Web application server. Manual deployment is required even if you selected the automatic deployment option in SAS Deployment Wizard. For more information, see Deploying SAS OnlineDoc Manually for the Web. [cautionend]

You can install SAS Help Viewer for the Web without installing SAS OnlineDoc for the Web. However, the reverse is not true. In order to install and configure SAS OnlineDoc for the Web, in the SAS Deployment Wizard you must choose to install both SAS Help Viewer for the Web and SAS OnlineDoc for the Web.

SAS BI Portlets

The October 2009 Release and later provides SAS BI Portlets that are based on JSR 168 and available in the SAS Enterprise BI Server offering. These portlets are seamlessly integrated into the SAS Information Delivery Portal that runs on JBoss, WebLogic, or WebSphere Web application servers. SAS BI Portlets enable users to access, view, or work with content items that reside in either the SAS metadata server or the SAS Content Server.

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