HP Storage Essentials Storage Resource Management Report Optimizer Software 6.0 Performing On-Report Analysis with Web Intelligence (August 2008)

Analyzing results56
When do you use query drill?
You use query drill when your report contains aggregate measures calculated at the
database level. It is designed in particular to provide a drill mode adapted to databases
such as Oracle 9i OLAP, which contain aggregate functions that Web Intelligence either
does not support, or cannot calculate accurately at the report level during a drill session.
The kinds of aggregate functions that are candidates for drilling in query drill mode are:
percentages, distinct counts, ranks, standard deviations and variances, running
aggregates, lead and lag functions. Because query drill modifies the query at each drill
operation, it ensures that these aggregates are recalculated by the server each time you
drill.
Query drill is also useful for reducing the amount of data that Web Intelligence must store
locally during a drill session. Because query drill reduces the scope of analysis when you
drill up, Web Intelligence is able to purge unecessary data.
Drilling with query drill
Drilling down
When you drill down, query drill behaves similarly to standard drill at the point where the
data moves outside the scope of analysis.
When Web Intelligence filters a drilled dimension in query drill mode it does so by adding
a query filter in addition to a drill filter. For example, if you drill on Year=2001, Web
Intelligence adds a filter at the query level to restrict the Year dimension to 2001. For this
reason, the only value that appears in the drill toolbar for the drilled dimension is the value
on which you drilled (in this case 2001). This is different from standard drill mode, in
which all values of the dimension are visible in the toolbar. As a result, you cannot change
filter values in query drill mode (for example, drill on Year=2001 then switch to
Year=2003) as you can in standard drill mode.
Because query drill automatically extends the scope of analysis, you can use it only if your
BusinessObjects XI administrator has granted you the the right to drill outside the scope.
See your administrator for more details.
Drilling up
When you drill up, query drill removes dimensions from the query. For example, if you drill
up from Month to Quarter, Web Intelligence removes Month from the query. This has two
consequences:
• Query drill is incompatible with drill snapshots. For more information, see ”Query drill
and drill snapshots” on page 57.
• Web Intelligence does not allow you to drill up beyond any dimension that appears as
one of the report objects. For example, if your report displays Year, Quarter and
Revenue, you cannot drill up from Quarter to Year because this would remove quarter
from the list of report objects.