SAS BI Dashboard 4.3

New Features in SAS BI Dashboard 4.3

Here are some of the new features in SAS BI Dashboard 4.3:
  • configuration information is now saved in the metadata, which simplifies the ability to deploy the SAS BI Dashboard in a clustered middle-tier environment.
  • more integration with other SAS products, such as the SAS Add-In for Microsoft Office.
  • a new dashboard builder that enables you to create a dashboard by using a drag-and-drop operation.
  • optimization of screen space so you can view the entire dashboard at once. You also have the ability to zoom in on each indicator.
  • the ability to filter all dashboard indicators at once.
  • bookmarks to quickly access your favorite indicators.
  • the ability to create and view comments on dashboards and indicators.
For more information about the new features and enhancements in SAS BI Dashboard 4.3, see the following resources:

Differences between SAS BI Dashboard 4.2 and 4.3

Changes in the Appearance of the Dashboard

Here are the changes that you might see when viewing a dashboard in SAS BI Dashboard 4.3:
  • In bar charts, solid colored bars are used. In SAS BI Dashboard 4.2, the bars were gray. Using solid colors enables you to more easily identify the individual bars.
  • The values of the column that is assigned to the Column group by role appear at the top of the graph. In 4.2, these values appeared at the bottom of the graph and were labeled with the name of the column that was assigned to the Column group by role.
  • Some labels on the X axis might be repeated.
  • The bars on the right side of the graph might be wider than the bars on the left side of the graph.
  • If you used HTML to change the color of a label in SAS BI Dashboard 4.2, then this HTML code is displayed as part of the label in SAS BI Dashboard 4.3. Use the new labeling functionality that is available in SAS BI Dashboard 4.3 to customize your labels.
  • SAS BI Dashboard 4.3 automatically aggregates the data for you, so you will not see bar charts stacked on top of each other or pie charts with numerous slices. Tooltips are not available for any summarized graph. To display tooltips on a summarized graph, optimize the query so that the query (rather than the graph) aggregates the data.
  • HTML is not supported in SAS BI Dashboard 4.3. For example, if an indicator includes HTML output from a SAS Stored Process, then these indicators are blank or display an error message in SAS BI Dashboard 4.3.
  • If an indicator from a previous release of SAS BI Dashboard contains images, then the images might not be displayed when these indicators are migrated. To view the images in these indicators, select Use proxy on the General Properties pane.
As a result of these changes, your output in SAS BI Dashboard 4.3 could be different from your output in SAS BI Dashboard 4.2. In SAS BI Dashboard 4.3, you can edit the objects in the dashboard (such as change the size of an indicator or modify a label) to meet your needs.

Location of Dashboards and Indicators

After you upgrade to SAS BI Dashboard 4.3, dashboards and any objects in the dashboard (such as indicators, models, and ranges) are metadata objects and are saved in SAS Folders, so any dashboards that you created prior to SAS BI Dashboard 4.3 are saved as metadata objects. The default location for these metadata objects is the Products\BIDashboard 4.3 directory. This directory contains the DashboardConfigs, IndicatorDefinitions, ModelConfigs, and RangeDefinitions subdirectories.

Documentation Enhancements

Instead of the traditional Help delivery system, SAS BI Dashboard 4.3 now includes more embedded user assistance, so you can get help when you need it. Additional documentation is available from the SAS BI Dashboard: User’s Guide at http://support.sas.com/documentation/onlinedoc/bidashboard.

Review SAS Notes for SAS BI Dashboard 4.3

Before you upgrade to SAS BI Dashboard 4.3, review SAS Note 40474: SAS BI Dashboard is completely new software at http://support.sas.com/kb/40/474.html. From this SAS Note, you can view other SAS Notes for SAS BI Dashboard 4.3.

Upgrading to SAS BI Dashboard 4.3

To upgrade to SAS BI Dashboard 4.3, run the SAS Deployment Wizard. This wizard automatically detects if there are SAS software products in your order that are more recent than the products you have deployed on your machine. For example, if your order includes a new release of the SAS Add-In for Microsoft Office, SAS Web Report Studio, and SAS BI Dashboard, then all of these products are upgraded when you run the SAS Deployment Wizard. You do not need to run the SAS Deployment Wizard separately for each product upgrade. Also, if you have not applied the third maintenance release for SAS 9.2, then these updates are installed as well. If your SAS order contains any new products that were not in your current deployment, you must rerun the SAS Deployment Wizard to add the new products to your deployment.
For instructions on how to upgrade to SAS BI Dashboard 4.3, see Upgrading SAS Products.
Note: You can configure SAS BI Dashboard 4.3 to use a server cluster. To obtain the latest information about how to deploy SAS applications to a server cluster, see SAS Note 37310 at http://support.sas.com/kb/37/310.html and contact SAS Technical Support.

Preserving the Folder Structure after an Upgrade

When you upgrade to SAS BI Dashboard 4.3, the dashboard objects are placed in the SAS Folders\Products\BI Dashboard 4.3 directory.
CAUTION:
Do not move the contents of these folders. If the contents of these folders are moved to different folders, these objects cannot be used with their dashboards.

Updating Favorites in Your Web Browser

After the deployment of this new release, you must change 4.2 to 4.3 in the resolved URL that you use to open the product. The updated URL is http://server:port/SASLogon/index.jsp?_sasapp=BI+Dashboard+4.3&.
If you saved the URL for the 4.2 release as a Favorites link in a Web browser, then this link is broken when you upgrade to the 4.3 release. You must re-create this favorite for the 4.3 release. You can also access SAS BI Dashboard 4.3 by using this unresolved link: http://server:port/SASPortal.

Uninstalling SAS BI Dashboard 4.2

After you validate your upgrade, you can uninstall the previous release of SAS BI Dashboard. If you previously installed SAS BI Dashboard 4.2, remove the EAR files for the 4.2 release from the SAS-configuration-directory/Lev1/Web/Staging/Backup directory.
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