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eBook editionsOther titles in the Business Objects Press series:Xcelsius 2008 Dashboard Best Practices (Business Objects Press)by Loren Abdulezer
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:THE DEFINITIVE, COMPREHENSIVE, OFFICIAL GUIDE TO XCELSIUS 2008 DASHBOARDS Using Xcelsius, you can create powerful, interactive dashboards, gather data from spreadsheets or databases, and deliver knowledge that can be instantly understood and acted upon. Now there’s a definitive, authoritative guide to making the most of Xcelsius 2008, the newest version of this breakthrough product.
Loren Abdulezer, editor-in-chief of Xcelsius Journal, shares insider’s knowledge that goes far beyond any other book or online help resource. Abdulezer introduces Xcelsius 2008, reviews its core concepts, and demonstrates the wide range of dashboards it can create. After you know what’s possible, you’ll go deep inside Xcelsius, gaining hands-on experience with every feature you need to master. You’ll learn how to quickly represent any data with charting components; use dials, gauges, and speedometers; incorporate multiple layers in your dashboards and visualizations; use Xcelsius to perform more useful analyses and manage more interactively; work with maps, demographics, and segmented data; create “smart data” and alerts; and much more.
Abdulezer offers tips and tricks you won’t find anywhere else. You’ll learn how to work with data that isn’t rock-solid--and even how to create your own custom components that go beyond Xcelsius’s built-in features. Whether you’re a business intelligence or database professional, power user, developer, or consultant, this book will help you create superior Xcelsius dashboards--and make better decisions.
THE ONLY XCELSIUS 2008 DASHBOARDING BOOK YOU NEED
ON THE WEB
Introduction 1 Getting What You Need from This Book 3 Locating Specific Techniques Quickly 3 How to Read This Book 3 Accessing Legacy Xcelsius Files 4 Best Practices Versus Shortcuts 4 What This Book Covers 5 Conventions Used in This Book 7 Part I Xcelsius 2008 Fundamentals 1 Motivation for Using Xcelsius 2008 11 The Original Killer App 12 The Spreadsheet as an Open-Source Dashboard 13 From Excel to Xcelsius 16 A Walk-Through of Xcelsius 17 Where to Go from Here 27 Working the Xcelsius Dashboard 27 Dashboards: More Than Skin Deep 28 Dashboard Functionality Enhancements 29 Watching Out for Limits 29 Importing Spreadsheets into Xcelsius 2008 30 Putting Some Computational Oomph into Your Dashboards 30 Closing Thoughts 31 2 Showcase of Xcelsius 2008 Dashboards 33 Embedding Spreadsheet Smarts in a Dashboard 34 Thinking Creatively with Colors and Visual Components 35 Putting Your Data on the Map 35 Rethinking Dashboard Interface Design 36 Choosing the Data You Want to View 36 Desktop Client Portals 37 Viewing Multiple Sources of Information in a Single View 37 Managing the Visibility of Components in Your Dashboards 38 Embedding Visual Analytics in a Dashboard 38 Interesting Approaches to Financial Analysis in Xcelsius 38 New Features in Xcelsius 2008 39 Enhanced Spreadsheet Support 39 Improved Support in Existing Components 40 New Components in Xcelsius 2008 40 Web Connectivity in Xcelsius 2008 41 Closing Thoughts 41 3 Getting Familiar with Xcelsius 2008 43 Learning to Build Dashboards 44 Organizing the Xcelsius Workspace 46 Elements of the Workspace 46 Customizing Your Workspace Layout 47 The Canvas 48 The Object Browser 48 Positioning the Components Pane, Object Browser, and Properties Panel 51 Using the Dashboard Design Facilities of Xcelsius 52 Text-Based Components 53 Chart-Based Components 54 Container Components 58 Selectors 59 Maps 61 Art and Background Components 61 Achieving a Uniform Look and Feel in Dashboards and Visualizations 62 Simple Replication at the Component Level 62 Pasting Components Between XLF Files 63 Xcelsius 2008 Themes 64 Fonts in Xcelsius 66 Closing Thoughts 67 4 Embedded Spreadsheets: The Secret Sauce of Xcelsius 2008 69 Spreadsheet Fundamentals 70 Formula Fundamentals 71 Building Spreadsheet Models in Xcelsius 2008 73 Spreadsheet Cell References 73 Named Ranges 77 Using Excel Functions in Xcelsius 2008 79 Understanding the Role of Spreadsheet Functions and Operators in Xcelsius 2008 79 Mathematical and Statistical Functions in Xcelsius 2008 82 Aggregation and Statistical Functions 82 Financially Oriented Functions 92 Mathematical Functions in Xcelsius 2008 95 New Excel Functions Supported in Xcelsius 2008 108 Making Dashboards Date and Time Aware 110 NOW and TODAY 110 Constructing Dates 110 Parsing Dates and Time: YEAR, MONTH, DAY, HOUR, MINUTE, and SECOND 111 Keeping Track of Your Days at Work: NETWORKDAYS 111 Other Date Functions 112 Using Calendar Arithmetic 113 Manipulating Text in Spreadsheet Formulas 116 Making Text Conform to a Specific Appearance 116 Splicing and Restructuring Text 117 Using Selector-Style Spreadsheet Functions 119 OFFSET 119 INDEX 122 CHOOSE and MATCH 123 VLOOKUP and HLOOKUP 123 Closing Thoughts 125 5 Using Charts and Graphs to Represent Data 127 Choosing the Right Components for a Dashboard 128 Building on Your Visualizations 132 Putting Your Data onto a Timeline 132 Viewing Grouped Data with Stacked Charts 135 Avoiding Needless Data Series Congestion 137 Drilling Down with Pie Charts 139 Working with XY and Bubble Charts 141 Working with XY Charts 141 Extending Graphical Presentation with Bubble Charts 145 Working with Tree Maps 148 Issues and Techniques Related to Scaling 150 Exploring the Scaling Laboratory 150 Dealing with Vastly Different Values on the Same Chart 152 Putting Visual Data Analysis into Focus 154 Closing Thoughts 154 6 Single Value Components: Dials, Gauges, Speedometers, and the Like 157 Understanding the Single Value Components 158 Working with Sliders and Progress Bars 159 Simple Sliders 160 Exotic Sliders 161 Dual Sliders 164 Progress Bars 166 Working with Dials 166 Scaling Dials, Gauges, and Sliders 167 Enhancing Your Dials 168 Working with Gauges 171 Using Gauges 171 Constructing Wraparound Gauges 174 Working with Spinners 175 Closing Thoughts 176 Part II Xcelsius 2008 Best Practices and Techniques 7 Using Multi-Layer Visibility in Your Dashboards and Visualizations 181 Taming Complexity and Usability by Making Presentations Compact 182 Managing Complexity Through Containment 182 Using Context Switching to Contain Visualizations and Dashboards 184 Controlling the Visibility of Individual Components in a Dashboard 188 Understanding Dynamic Visibility 188 Managing Multi-Layer Visibility 192 Designing a Dashboard with Multiple Screens Controlled by a Label-Based Menu 192 The Logical Approach to Orchestrating Multi-Layer Visibility 193 Working with Multi-Layer Visibility the Right Way 199 The Practical Rationale for Multi-Layer Visibility 200 Closing Thoughts 200 8 Managing Interactivity 203 Interacting with Chart Data 204 Data Animation 206 Chart Label Size 206 Drill Down Behavior 207 Interacting with Selectors 209 The Accordion Menu 209 The Check Box Component 209 Traffic Light Alerts in Combo Boxes and List Boxes 210 The Ticker Interface 211 Picture Menus 211 Toggle Button and Icon Components 213 Filter Components 214 Interacting with Single Value Components, Maps, and Text Components 216 Labels and Input Text Areas 218 Art & Background Components: Using the Image Component 220 Rectangle, Ellipse, and Background Components 220 The Image Component 222 Interacting with Web Connectivity and Other Components 222 The Print Button and Reset Button Components 222 The Local Scenario Button Component 223 The Calendar Component 223 The Trend Icon Component 224 The Trend Analyzer 224 Grid and Spreadsheet Table Components 224 The History Component 226 Closing Thoughts 226 9 Xcelsius and Statistics 229 Understanding Statistics 230 What Makes Statistical Measures So Special? 231 Elementary Statistics Concepts and Dashboard Tools 231 Measures of Dispersion Around a Central Value 235 Understanding Probabilities 237 Simple Rules for Combining Outcomes 237 Understanding Conditional Probability and Bayes’ Theorem 239 Probability Distributions 242 Discrete Probability Distributions 242 Continuous Probability Distributions 246 The Trend Analyzer Component and Trend Analysis 252 Closing Thoughts 255 10 Financial Analysis 257 Some Basic Ideas in Accounting and Their Importance in Financial Analysi 258 Value at Risk (VaR) 258 Bringing Accounting into the Dashboard Equation 261 Accounting for the Element of Time in a Financial Analysis 263 Preparing an Aging Report 264 Financial Ratio Analysis 266 The Buck Starts Here 267 Using Ratios and Metrics to Judge the Overall Health of a Business 271 Closing Thoughts 272 11 Maps in Xcelsius 275 Basic Ideas About Maps in Xcelsius 276 The Parts of an Xcelsius Map 276 Using a Map to Obtain Further Information 278 An Augmented Map Framework 280 Colorizing Maps 283 Multiple-Region Map Selection and Tally Maps 286 Multi-Selection Maps 287 Tally Maps 288 International Map Types 289 The World by Continent Map Component 290 The Connected Maps Reference Implementation 291 Closing Thoughts 294 12 Smart Data and Alerts 297 Understanding Alerts in Xcelsius 298 The Haves and Have-Nots of Alerts 298 Basic Alert Features in Xcelsius 2008 299 Why You Should Use Multiple Data Series 301 Showing Multiple Shades in Charts Based on Values in a Cell Range 301 Unconventional Uses of Conventional Components 302 Using Smart Text in Visualizations and Dashboards 302 Using Spreadsheet Values to Set the Text Color 305 Smart Text Spinners 306 List Box and Other Inline Alerts 309 Going Beyond the Built-in Alerts in Xcelsius 310 Closing Thoughts 312 13 Working with Less-Than-Optimal Data 315 The Digitization of Data 316 Dealing with Category I Digitization Errors 317 Dealing with Category II Digitization Errors 317 Dealing with Category III Digitization Errors 318 Fixing Problematic Spreadsheets 318 Detecting the Presence of Transposed Digits 318 Dealing with Raw Data 319 Dealing with Unclean Data 320 Dealing with Rounding and Truncation Errors 322 Poorly Positioned Data on a Worksheet 324 Detecting and Fixing Formula Problems 325 Dealing with Scaling Issues 328 Repurposing Existing Spreadsheets 329 Dealing with Improperly Structured Data 331 Closing Thoughts 334 14 Other Dashboard Techniques and Practices 337 An Important Preliminary Issue 338 Simple Fixes in Visualizing Data 339 Charting Multiple Data Series That Have Similar Values 339 Filled Radar Charts with Alerts 341 Avoiding Occlusion with Area Charts 342 Viewing Line Chart Data 343 Constructing ABC (Actual Budget Comparison) Charts 344 Using a Candlestick Component as a Box Plot 347 Closing Thoughts 350 Part III Advanced Features 15 XML and Data Connectivity 353 Strategies for Packaging Dashboard Information 354 Open-Ended Dashboards 355 The Xcelsius Data Manager 355 Adding XML Maps to Xcelsius 2008 357 Setting Up XML for Xcelsius When You Are Using Excel 2007 357 Setting Up XML for Xcelsius When You Are Using Excel 2003 357 Setting Up Excel XML Maps 359 Connecting Your Dashboards to Web Services 364 Understanding Web Services 365 Using Web Services in Xcelsius 2008 365 Setting Up Cross-Domain Policy Files 368 Closing Thoughts 369 16 Creating Custom Components for Fun and Profit 371 Understanding Custom Components 372 Installing Custom Components 372 Custom Component Construction Workflow 373 Programming with Flex Builder 373 Getting Ready to Build Custom Components 375 Software You Will Need for Constructing Custom Components 375 Initial Software Setup 376 Building Custom Components 378 Constructing a Basic Slider Component 378 Building a Component’s Source 378 Connecting Your ActionScript and MXML Code 385 Generating the SWF File for Your Custom Component 385 The Relationship Between a Custom Component and a Property Sheet 386 Packaging and Deploying Your Custom Components 387 Packaging Your Custom Component 387 Loading, Testing, and Enhancing Components 391 Where to Go from Here 394 Additional Features in the SDK 394 Avoiding Potential Landmines 395 Closing Thoughts 397 Part IV Appendices A Supported Spreadsheet Functions in Xcelsius 2008 401 Supported Spreadsheet Functions in Xcelsius 2008 402 Logical Values and Spreadsheet Operators in Xcelsius 2008 411 B Xcelsius Product Family Comparison 415 Xcelsius Functionality 416 Xcelsius Components 419 C Xcelsius Best Practice Techniques and Hip Pocket Tips 425 Index 431 Book News Annotation:This tutorial guide for new and experienced Xcelsius users shows how
to use Xcelsius to create interactive dashboards, gather data from
spreadsheets or databases, and deliver information that can be
immediately understood. Abdulezer, editor-in-chief of Xcelsius
Journal and founder of the Xcelsius Best Practices web site, reviews
the software's core concepts, demonstrates the wide range of
dashboards it can create, and provides step-by-step instructions for
the software's features. He also shows how to create custom
components that go beyond Xcelsius's built-in features. The book is
for business intelligence and database professionals, power users,
and developers.
Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) Synopsis:THE DEFINITIVE, COMPREHENSIVE, OFFICIAL GUIDE TO XCELSIUS 2008 DASHBOARDS Using Xcelsius, you can create powerful, interactive dashboards, gather data from spreadsheets or databases, and deliver knowledge that can be instantly understood and acted upon. Now there’s a definitive, authoritative guide to making the most of Xcelsius 2008, the newest version of this breakthrough product.
Loren Abdulezer, editor-in-chief of Xcelsius Journal, shares insider’s knowledge that goes far beyond any other book or online help resource. Abdulezer introduces Xcelsius 2008, reviews its core concepts, and demonstrates the wide range of dashboards it can create. After you know what’s possible, you’ll go deep inside Xcelsius, gaining hands-on experience with every feature you need to master. You’ll learn how to quickly represent any data with charting components; use dials, gauges, and speedometers; incorporate multiple layers in your dashboards and visualizations; use Xcelsius to perform more useful analyses and manage more interactively; work with maps, demographics, and segmented data; create “smart data” and alerts; and much more.
Abdulezer offers tips and tricks you won’t find anywhere else. You’ll learn how to work with data that isn’t rock-solid--and even how to create your own custom components that go beyond Xcelsius’s built-in features. Whether you’re a business intelligence or database professional, power user, developer, or consultant, this book will help you create superior Xcelsius dashboards--and make better decisions.
THE ONLY XCELSIUS 2008 DASHBOARDING BOOK YOU NEED
ON THE WEB
Introduction 1 Part I Xcelsius 2008 Fundamentals 1 Motivation for Using Xcelsius 2008 11 2 Showcase of Xcelsius 2008 Dashboards 33 3 Getting Familiar with Xcelsius 2008 43 4 Embedded Spreadsheets: The Secret Sauce of Xcelsius 2008 69 5 Using Charts and Graphs to Represent Data 127 6 Single Value Components: Dials, Gauges, Speedometers, and the Like 157 Part II Xcelsius 2008 Best Practices and Techniques 7 Using Multi-Layer Visibility in Your Dashboards and Visualizations 181 8 Managing Interactivity 203 9 Xcelsius and Statistics 229 10 Financial Analysis 257 11 Maps in Xcelsius 275 12 Smart Data and Alerts 297 13 Working with Less-Than-Optimal Data 315 14 Other Dashboard Techniques and Practices 337 Part III Advanced Features 15 XML and Data Connectivity 353 16 Creating Custom Components for Fun and Profit 371 Part IV Appendices A Supported Spreadsheet Functions in Xcelsius 2008 401 B Xcelsius Product Family Comparison 415 C Xcelsius Best Practice Techniques and Hip Pocket Tips 425 Index 431 Synopsis:Xcelsius is an award winning, point and click software that transforms any type of data into interactive visualizations. It has taken the Business Intelligence world by storm since its introduction in 2005, and it has already been adopted by many Fortune 500 corporations. Using Xcelsius you can create powerful, interactive dashboards, gathering data from spreadsheets or databases, and then easily integrate that dashboard into a PowerPoint presentation, a Word or PDF document, or a Web page. This book is the first definitive guide to Xcelsius, going deeper than any other information previously available on the product. It details best practices and techniques for harnessing visual analytics and creating innovative dashboards. It is completely up to date with Xcelsius 2008, the brand new version. And it is written by one of the leading proponents of Xcelsius. About the AuthorLoren Abdulezer is CEO and president of Evolving Technologies Corporation, a New York-based technology consulting firm that specializes in visual data analysis. He has a long-standing record in the Xcelsius community and has been a staunch proponent of the technology since its early days.
Loren is the editor-in-chief of Xcelsius Journal (www.XcelsiusJournal.com), an online magazine dedicated to users in the Xcelsius user community. Loren also started the website Xcelsius Best Practices (www.XcelsiusBestPractices.com). Loren is the author of Excel Best Practices for Business and Escape from Excel Hell. He served as the technical editor of Crystal Xcelsius For Dummies. He can be reached at dashboards@evolvingtech.com. Table of ContentsPart I - Introductory Material Relating to Xcelsius Chapter 1 - Motivation for using Xcelsius Chapter 2 - Preview/Showcase of Xcelsius Examples Chapter 3 -Getting familiar with Xcelsius: A Best Practices Guide to Xcelsius Features Chapter 4 - The Spreadsheet: The Secret Sauce to Making Xcelsius Interactive Part II - Xcelsius Best Practices and Techniques Chapter 5 - Using Charts and Graphs to Represent Data Chapter 6 - Dials, Gauges, Speedometers, and the Like Chapter 7 - Using Multi-Layers in your Dashboards and Visualizations Chapter 8 - Managing Interactivity Chapter 9 - Xcelsius and Statistics Chapter 10 - Financial Analysis Chapter 11 - Maps, Demographics, and Segmenting Data Chapter 12 - Smart Data and Alerts Chapter 13 - Working with less than optimal data Chapter 14 - Hip Pocket Tips and Tricks Part III Advanced Features Chapter 15 - XML and Data Connectivity Chapter 16 - Custom Designed Components Appendix A: Crash Course in Actionscript Appendix B: Setting up the Flex Environment Appendix C - Hip Pocket Techniques and Tips Appendix D - Intriguing Interfaces and Visualizations
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