(iHub) 3.1 and 3.1.1 - Technical Summary of New Features

OpenText™
Information Hub
(iHub) 3.1 and 3.1.1
OpenText Information Hub (iHub) 3.1.1 meets the growing
demand for analytics-powered applications that deliver data
and empower employees and customers to take action.
It includes a REST API and template-based embedding
of custom visualizations that enable easier, faster integration
of analytics in web and mobile applications without extensive
coding. Its improved dashboard performance and flexible,
powerful data security keep pace with current enterprise
requirements and user expectations. These and other
improvements, summarized in this Technical Summary
of New Features, demonstrate how OpenText™ Analytics
and Reporting helps to enable the digital world.
Table of Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
iHub Improvements in 3.1.1 Release . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Improved Dashboard Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Data Security Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Additional Improvements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Features New to iHub 3.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
REST API . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Custom Visualizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Enhanced Microsoft PowerPoint Emitter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
®
®
Tree View Selector in Dashboards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Supported Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
TECHNICAL SUMMARY
O F N E W F E AT U R E S
OPENTEXT™ INFORMATION HUB
3.1 AND 3.1.1
Introduction
OpenText™ Information Hub (iHub) 3.1.1 includes enhancements that:
•
Improve dashboard performance, thanks to changes in system resource
management that allow more dashboards, and more complex dashboards,
to operate superbly for larger numbers of users.
•
Build upon iHub’s industry-leading data security with powerful, flexible Data Security
Rules that give an organization’s security experts more and better tools to safeguard
valuable data.
The features introduced in iHub 3.1 enable development teams to:
•
Simplify the process of creating and deploying data driven apps by easily
embedding reports, data visualizations, and other analytics content in mobile and
web applications using a REST API. This enables businesses to deliver rich charts,
dashboards and infographics to their mobile and desktop users.
•
Incorporate data visualizations, charts and graphs from third-party libraries in their
output. This Custom Visualizations function boosts productivity by reducing manual
coding from days to hours.
This document describes these and other new capabilities in more detail.
iHub Improvements in 3.1.1 Release
Improved Dashboard Performance
Dashboards that combine interactive charts, crosstabs, formatted text and other content
are readily available with iHub. Dashboards are popular as business users demand that
interactive information be delivered to them quickly, efficiently, and visually. Leading
technology analysts confirm that dashboards are among the most popular tools
for businesses users who consume information from Business Intelligence (BI) and
analytics systems.1
FIGURE 1
Multi-tab dashboards containing charts
and interactive data visualizations are
powered by iHub
1 See the Dresner Advisory Services Embedded Business Intelligence Market Study, p. 18 (http://www.actuate.com/info/dresnerwsta/); The Forrester Wave: Enterprise
Business Intelligence Platforms, Q1 2015, p. 9 (http://www.actuate.com/info/web-q215-forrester-wave-enterprise-bi-platforms/); and Next Generation Analytics:
Who, What, Where, and How from TDWI (http://tdwi.org/research/2015/02/next-generation-analytics-and-platforms-infographic.aspx)
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TECHNICAL SUMMARY
O F N E W F E AT U R E S
OPENTEXT™ INFORMATION HUB
3.1 AND 3.1.1
To support the ongoing and growing importance of dashboards to business users, iHub
3.1.1 incorporates several improvements in dashboard system resource management to
increase user scalability, memory efficiency, and overall dashboard generation speed.
Improvements have been made in two areas:
•
iHub 3.1.1 supports a larger number of concurrent sessions, meaning more
gadgets can be executed in parallel on a single dashboard and more users can
run dashboards simultaneously without impacting performance. Gadgets are the
foundation of iHub Dashboards: A gadget is a self-contained data viewer that displays
one interactive report, table, crosstab, chart, or other element. A single dashboard
can consist of multiple components – including gadgets and data selectors – that
communicate and interact with each other to deliver a unified view of aggregated data.
•
Dashboard process handling in iHub supports multiple threads per process,
resulting in improved dashboard performance. Dashboards now start up faster,
receive data faster, and are more responsive to user input and interaction. In previous
releases, maintaining performance levels when adding a large number of users
required additional system resources. With iHub 3.1.1, overall system response time
is less impacted by additional users, so performance is more predictable and more
consistent from user to user. Software stability is also improved.
Improvements in these areas increase dashboard interactivity and enhance user experience. Furthermore, dashboard performance and response time improvements extend to
customer deployments in which multiple users operate their own unique dashboards and
each of those dashboards includes multiple gadgets. Although every system configuration
is unique and individual results will vary, laboratory testing of iHub 3.1.1 Dashboards
measured a performance improvement of 5x or greater over earlier versions of iHub.
Data Security Rules
iHub 3.1.1 enhances the multi-layered, industry-leading data security of iHub with new
Data Security Rules. Data Security Rules can be assigned to categories, columns, or a
combination of the two in data models, and apply both to data sources that access live
data, and to data stores that access cached data.
Data Security Rules are reusable, declarative, efficient, and flexible. These examples
demonstrate these strengths:
•
Data Security Rules are confined in data design files. A data file generated from a
data design file contains the data security rules of the data design file at the time the
data file is generated.
•
A user must meet all of the requirements of every Data Security Rule applied to the
data in order to access the data. If a Data Security Rule combines security IDs and
data values, the user must meet both requirements. It is possible to create and assign
a Data Security Rule that uses multiple security IDs.
•
A Data Security Rule can use columns from any category or data set in the model,
and be assigned to any category in the model. If a rule assigned to a category uses
columns from a different category or data set, the joins between the linked data sets
are used to enforce the rule.
•
Data Security Rules can be reassigned and applied to another category or
categories, and one category can use multiple rules. Because rules are tied to
the data design, they can only be reused within a single project.
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TECHNICAL SUMMARY
O F N E W F E AT U R E S
OPENTEXT™ INFORMATION HUB
3.1 AND 3.1.1
FIGURE 2
The Data Security Rule Expression
Builder is used to create, edit and assign
Data Security Rules.
Data Security Rule Manager
Data Security Rules are created, edited, and deleted using the new Data Security Rule
Manager. The Expression builder in iHub makes rule creation flexible, because IT teams
don’t have to write security statements in code; instead they use the builder to create a
declarative expression of the code they need. Either JavaScript or EasyScript can be used
to write data security rules expressions, but only expressions written in JavaScript can
check security IDs. Changes made to one Data Security Rule apply wherever that rule is
assigned, so IT teams don’t need to make changes multiple times or in multiple locations.
The Data Security Rule Manager offers two views of rule assignments: a list of rules
assigned to each category, and list of categories assigned to each rule. Data Security
Rules supersede existing access control lists.
FIGURE 3
Data Security Rule assignments can
be viewed by Rules (left) or by
Categories (right).
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TECHNICAL SUMMARY
O F N E W F E AT U R E S
OPENTEXT™ INFORMATION HUB
3.1 AND 3.1.1
Additional Improvements
In addition to Dashboard and security improvements, iHub 3.1.1 includes many other
enhancements, including:
•
Sample Designs and Application Examples: The iHub 3.1.1installation package
includes dozens of samples and examples to inspire developers and illustrate
best practices for working with the product. These include four complete sample
applications, a sample dashboard, and a large collection of sample reports that
showcase a variety of iHub capabilities.
•
New Trial Edition: A trial edition of iHub is now available. This full-featured product enables
IT leaders and their teams to experiment with iHub for 45 days at no cost or obligation.
•
Comparison Calculations: Interactive Crosstabs in iHub now enable users to
compare values in rows or columns and display the difference. Computed values in
rows can also be compared. Comparisons can be created, modified, or removed with
a few clicks.
FIGURE 4
Comparisons in Interactive Crosstabs
are built using an intuitive dialog box.
•
Painless upgrades: Upgrading to iHub 3.1.1 is now handled through an intuitive GUI
installer. Upon installing iHub 3.1.1, the user is asked whether an existing installation is
being upgraded or a new installation is being created. If the installation is an upgrade,
all content, configurations and settings are preserved. The improved installer, which
can upgrade from iHub 3.0 and 3.1, is available for Windows platforms only.
•
Keystore Password Utility: A utility in iHub 3.1.1 now enables system
administrators to update the keystore password used by iHub. This is useful when
an administrator wants to use a new keystore with a different password, or wants to
update the password in the existing keystore.
•
Sample Integration Code: Because integration is a key strength of iHub 3.1.1,
the product now includes links to sample code demonstrating how to use the iHub
integration framework. For developer productivity, these links are built directly into
the product rather than being embedded in documentation.
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TECHNICAL SUMMARY
O F N E W F E AT U R E S
OPENTEXT™ INFORMATION HUB
3.1 AND 3.1.1
Features New to iHub 3.1
REST API
API implementations and usage have grown tremendously over the last decade, partly
because of enhancements to integration standards, such as REST (Representational
State Transfer). REST APIs are lightweight and make it very easy to embed functionality
into mobile and web applications, and the iHub REST API is no exception. It enables
simple Create, Read, Update, and Delete (CRUD) operations using JSON responses
over HTTP. The REST API standard separates the data from the visualization, resulting in
better code modularization and agility and improved application response due to efficient
network traffic.
Working with the iHub REST API
The REST API provides access to iHub encyclopedia data, data in reports and data
models, and report generation and management services. You can use the REST API to
deliver analytic content and data from iHub to any mobile or web application. Using the
REST API, you can:
•
Retrieve data from an iHub document or iHub Data Object for integration into an application
•
Integrate data visualizations into applications, in conjunction with the existing iHub
JavaScript API (JSAPI)
•
Generate new visualization documents based on user interaction with your application
•
Convert visualizations into AdobeTM PDF or MicrosoftTM Excel for distribution
•
Schedule the generation of new visualizations for later retrieval
•
Upload files to and download files from iHub
•
Retrieve iHub Encyclopedia contents
Additionally, an administrator using REST API can:
•
Create and modify users and user groups
•
Control access to files and data by assigning user and group privileges
iHub comes with several sample applications that demonstrate best practices for using
the REST API.
REST API High-Level Architecture
The REST API is a resource extension that gets installed with iHub. It uses universal
resource identifiers to convey user requests to the iHub system. The REST API service is
built into and deployed as part of iHub, and can also be deployed as a dedicated service
for applications requiring high scalability.
FIGURE 5
REST API Tiered Architecture
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TECHNICAL SUMMARY
O F N E W F E AT U R E S
OPENTEXT™ INFORMATION HUB
3.1 AND 3.1.1
API Sandbox and Documentation
The iHub REST API documentation is delivered in an interactive format with a test sandbox
and documentation technology from Swagger. This provides a complete framework for
describing, producing, consuming, and visualizing REST web services. Using the documentation, developers can understand and experiment with the API without having to set
up and install an iHub server.
Using the sandbox UI, users can enter the parameters and options for the API call of
interest, and the sandbox returns the syntax of the REST API call (in the form of a URL),
as well as the response body in the form of a JSON object. Figures 6 and 7 show the
process for a REST call to authenticate a user. The username (demo) and password
(Demo1234) can be entered as parameters and the response type can be chosen, then
the sandbox returns a response to the authentication request.
FIGURE 6
Example of a REST API sandbox request
for authenticating a user
FIGURE 7
Example of a REST API sandbox
response for authenticating a user.
The sandbox authenticates the user and
returns an authentication token for use
within the session.
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TECHNICAL SUMMARY
O F N E W F E AT U R E S
OPENTEXT™ INFORMATION HUB
3.1 AND 3.1.1
Custom Visualizations
Effective data visualizations help users find valuable insights in their data. iHub has many
built-in data visualizations, including charts, maps and gadgets. The new Custom Visualization function in iHub 3.1 takes the product’s data visualization capabilities a step farther by
allowing developers to integrate third-party visualizations from external JavaScript libraries –
including heat maps, treemaps, and word clouds – into an application with minimal coding.
This is accomplished by making iHub Data Objects available for consumption by thirdparty visualizations, and by providing iHub capabilities (like Print and Export) for these
visualizations. Figure 8 shows two examples of visualizations from external libraries.
FIGURE 8
Two of the many Custom Visualizations
available in iHub: Zoomable Circle
Packing from D3.js and Heat Map
from HighCharts.
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TECHNICAL SUMMARY
O F N E W F E AT U R E S
OPENTEXT™ INFORMATION HUB
3.1 AND 3.1.1
How Custom Visualizations are Built
OpenText™ Analytics Designer (formerly called BIRT Designer Professional), the free
companion designer for iHub, offers a new Report Items selection on the Palette called
“Custom Visualization.” The graphical builder for Custom Visualization uses the same
interface as other Report items to select, group, sort and filter data before binding it to
the properties of the custom visualization. The developer can build and test the external
visualization using the built-in IDE or with JSFiddle, a popular online JavaScript IDE.
FIGURE 9
The Custom Visualization Editor in
OpenText Analytics Designer is accessed
via the Report Items selection on the
Palette. A pop-up displays a list of
included sample templates.
The Custom Visualization feature provides an extensive list of sample templates for
popular visualizations such as Google Maps™, heat map, and word cloud from various
JavaScript libraries into an application. Rich and visually appealing visualizations can be
easily added from JavaScript visualization libraries, including D3.js, Google Maps, and
Highcharts using these sample templates.
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OPENTEXT™ INFORMATION HUB
3.1 AND 3.1.1
TECHNICAL SUMMARY
O F N E W F E AT U R E S
®
®
Enhanced Microsoft PowerPoint Emitter
Business presentations that include visualizations to support data analysis are easier
to understand. The powerful emitters in iHub allow users to export reports as native,
editable Microsoft PowerPoint presentations. This functionality improves users’ productivity and empowers them to jumpstart presentations with content and layouts created
in iHub. PowerPoint users can add new slides that have the same look and feel as a
current presentation, or add data visualizations and additional information to existing
slides. Tables, text, page layouts and other report items are exported from iHub as native
PowerPoint components for ease of editing.
Tree View Selector in Dashboards
A Tree View Data Selector gadget allows hierarchical presentation of information like
geographical data (e.g. Country, State, and City), time measurements (e.g. Year, Month, and
Date), and other such information. This selector makes efficient use of dashboard screen
space, leaving maximum room for content. The Tree View Data Selector allows the user
to expand or collapse items to reveal or hide sub-items. The user is able to make multiple
selections at various levels and clear them with one click. Once the user is done selecting,
the selections can filter the data and refresh all the linked visualizations on the dashboard.
FIGURE 10
Dashboard Tree View Data Selector
gadget for selecting locations
Supported Products
iHub includes support for the latest browsers, operating systems and databases. See the
Supported Products document for more information.
http://developer.actuate.com/resources/supported-products/ihub/birt-ihub3-1-1/
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