Tutorials are designed to offer a guide to complete common objectives, while also acknowledging that individual developers need to respond to individual needs of their own solutions. Tutorial frameworks provide blueprints for these solutions and should be adapted to fit individual needs.

Analytics with Birst

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Infor Birst is an end-to-end, enterprise caliber analytics tool.

Birst delivers business intelligence and analytics dashboards to enable business decisions. Birst combines data from different sources in a single Networked BI platform. Reports, including charts, tables, geo maps, and key performance indicators, are organized into dashboards for presentation in a browser or a native mobile app. External content from other web pages can also enhance the end user experience.

Birst is available as a multi-tenant cloud architecture or as an Appliance for in-house deployments.

The Birst Networked BI platform combines the capability, scale, and data governance required for enterprise data with data from end users to create a blended data platform. Centralized and decentralized teams can leverage trusted corporate data along with local data for agile, robust business analytics.

The Birst Connectivity Framework provides access to data in the enterprise, whether it is in an existing data warehouse, in flat or structured files, or in cloud business applications. Birst extracts data from those sources, then organizes it and models it into a user data store, making the data ready for analysis. Birst does this using Automated Data Refinement (ADR) and a transformation language (ETL) to automatically merge data and create the data store, unlike the lengthy and complex work needed to create a traditional data warehouse. The data store unifies your data from multiple sources, refines it for business use, and provides a consistent view of all data to all users.

To augment the content in the user data store, Birst Live Access can directly query on-premise data sources in real time.

Key Concepts & Definitions

Component Parts

Birst provides an integrated Networked BI platform for data-driven analysis.

Birst includes:

Want to learn more?

Quick Reference

There is a lot to learn in the Infor Platform. A quick reference sheet is always helpful. Check out the Analytics Cheat Sheet.

Topical Videos

Need information on a specific feature or function or a quick overview? These short videos may be just what you are looking for. Check out our Infor Analytics playlist on YouTube.

Written Guides

Product documentation is the go-to reference for how specific parts of the product work. For online, searchable, easy to understand docs see Infor Birst documentation.

Community

Collaborating with others in your industry is a great way to learn and help others. Start participating in the Infor Birst Community today!

Courses

Infor U Campus offers Learning Paths that combine video-based and instructor-led training. If you are an Infor customer, then check out courses on Infor U Campus. We recommend the following courses specifically for this component:

• Birst: Foundation for Analysts
• Birst: Foundation for Administrators

Overview

The Birst Cloud Agent is a lightweight cloud-managed Java application that enables you to make connections to on-premise sources behind your organization's firewall for extracting to Birst or for Live Access.

The Birst Cloud Agent is an account level agent that you can use for multiple spaces.

This tutorial walks you through the installation of the Birst Cloud Agent.

Components

• Analytics

Requirements

• Access to Birst Enterprise

• The right to create spaces to be able to download Birst Cloud Agent

  • If you are using an** Infor Cloudsuite**, you can find the corresponding IFS roles in the CloudSuite Analytics documentation. For example, in M3 Analytics you need the ‘M3A Administration ‘ role for Admin access.

• Java 8 JDK or JRE

Tutorial

Difficulty: EasyEstimated Completion Time: 15 minutes

https://youtu.be/vVfHnbrzNIM?si=jgTNXMcs8GTzVKdR

A video walkthrough of the below tutorial.

1. Log into Birst and create a new space.

To do so, click the 'Create New Space' hyperlink located in the middle of the Infor Birst welcome page.

From the 'Create New Space' menu, we can choose to create an Enterprise , Professional , or **Usage Tracking **space. Make sure to name your space appropriately and save when finished.

• Enterprise : the most advanced and comprehensive edition, which offers support for complex data transformations, advanced scheduling, and robust governance and security controls. This is most suitable for large organizations with complex data integration requirements and a demand for a high level of governance and security.

• Professional : the mid-tier edition, which offers a balanced set of features for data integration but has limitations to its capabilities compared to the Enterprise edition. This is most suitable for medium-sized organizations with moderate data integration.

• **Usage Tracking : **a specialized edition that focuses on tracking and monitoring data usage and access patterns. This edition provides analytics and reporting capabilities to gain insights into how the data is being used within Birst. You are able to monitor user activity, track report usage, and analyze data consumption patterns. This is most suitable for organizations that want to understand user engagement and optimize their data analytic processes.

2. Create a connection to a data source

When the space is created, go to the 'Modeler Connect' page to create a connection to a data source. In the top left of the welcome page is the 'Global Navigation Menu' button, symbolized by 3 horizontal lines. Click the button to expand the menu, expand the 'Modeler' section, and then select the 'Connect' tab.

Depending on your on-premise data source, you can select between the SQL Databases option or the Files option. In this tutorial, we will be selecting the SQL Databases option.

• SQL Databases : well-suited for large volumes of structured and relational data with predefined schemas.

• Files : a more flexible option for CSV or Excel files and works best for a smaller volume of unstructured or semi-structured data.

3. Select and assign an agent

Assigning an agent means telling Birst which agent is used to access a particular on-premise data source (or files). Your agent needs access to the data source you are connecting to. It is likely an organization would have more than one agent running in a Birst environment.

4. Download the Birst Agent installation file

If there are no suitable, existing Birst Agents available, simply select the 'Click here' hyperlink (located below the grayed out 'Select agent' button) to download the 'BirstCloudAgent.zip' installation file.

If your Birst environment already has agents installed, the download link will be at the bottom of the available agents page.

5. Extract the agent installation file

After the zip file has downloaded, extract its contents and make note of their location.

• Batch mode: the agent is executing tasks in a batch-like manner, either periodically or at scheduled intervals. This is most suitable for scenarios where data changes occur at regular intervals.

• Service: the agent remains active and ready to handle any data integration at any time, unlike batch mode. The agent is operating as a continuous background service on a server or machine and constantly monitors for changes without waiting for a trigger or schedule. This is most suitable for immediate or near-real-time data integration.

6. Run the agent.bat file

In the contents of the unzipped download -- Locate the 'Agent.bat' file in the 'bin' folder. There are three options to run the agent:

• You can double click the bat-file

• You can right-click the bat-file and chose Run as Administrator (some security setups on computers require this to run bat-files).

• Start the command prompt, navigate to the file, and run the file. This is recommended for the first time use, so you can see what is going on with the agent. After you see it run, you can use the above options.

7. Assign the newly installed agent

Go back to the Infor Birst portal and click the 'Select agent' button. In the agent selection menu, click the 'Refresh' button because we have installed a new agent. We only want to choose from the active agents only, so click the 'Show online agents only' button, which is located directly below the 'Refresh' button.

The newly installed agent should be located at the top of the list. Select the check box next to the agent name to activate the agent.

Overview

Interactivity allows users to explore data dynamically, uncover insights, and make informed decisions more effectively. Interactive elements enable users to customize their view, focus on specific data points, and discover trends or anomalies that might not be evident in static reports.

This tutorial walks you through how to make a visualization interactive by allowing users to choose the type of visualization they want to see.

Components

Requirements

• Edit Dashboard right (for dashboard filter editing) * If Disable Filter Edit Access permission is enabled, the user can only create and edit Local Filters. * If you are usingan Infor Cloudsuite, you can find the corresponding IFS roles in the CloudSuite Analytics documentation. For example, in M3 Analytics you need the 'M3A Administration ' role for Edit Dashboard access.

Tutorial

Difficulty: Easy Estimated Completion Time: 15 minutes

The Birst View Selector allows a user to switch between the original chart and a table view in a dashlet. Dashboard creator enables or disables the View Selector for each dashlet. Depending on how many measures and attributes your original chart uses, the View Selector will have a different number of chart options available.

However if you want to include a map view, or to switch between reports and charts that hold a different data set, you need a different approach.

By setting up a filter that controls which reports are visible you can give the user a way to easily switch between reports right on the dashboard.

You can use 'Data Driven Dashboards' to overlay different dashlets on top of each other and show/hide them using a dashboard filter.

Showing and hiding dashlets (reports, KPIs, images) enables the user to change the way they analyze data while staying on a single dashboard. Based on selections made on in the filters the reports can be shown or hidden, changing the design of the whole dashboard.

1. Create a Mandatory Filter

Create one or more mandatory filters as parameters that will deliver specific values to the condition.

In the video below we create a filter called 'Report Selector' that will display three options: Map, Table, and Column.

Each option is mapped to it's own value Map → Map, Table → Tab, Columns → Col. These values are the output of the filter.

We change the filter from 'Multiple' to 'Single' selection so that it produces only one result, and we set it to 'Mandatory' so that one of the options is always selected, even when the page loads.

2. Create the Condition

Create conditions that use the values from the parameter filters**.**

'Data Driven Dashboards' allow us to show and hide any dashlet on the dashboard based on a condition.

In the video below we create a condition called 'Show Table', and we connect it to the filter we created earlier called 'Report Selector'.

The condition uses the output from the filter, and when that output is equal to 'Tab' then the condition is true.

Add reports, KPIs or any dashlet to the dashboard, and associate the conditions to the dashlet by first clicking the condition, and then the dashlet. You will see a 'hammer' icon on the bottom right corner of the dashlet associated with the condition.

As long as the condition is true the associated dashlet will be shown. Once the parameter filter is changed the condition will become false and the dashlet will hide.

3. How the Filter works

The user will make a selection on the embedded filter.

Based on the users selection the filter will generate the corresponding parameter.

And the condition will be either True or False.

If the condition is true, the associated dashlets will be visible, otherwise they will remain hidden.

Resources

How to set up Dashboard Filters

How to setup Data Driven Dashboards

Basic Dashboard Filtering in the Birst How-to series on YouTube

Advanced Dashboard Filtering in the Birst How-to series on YouTube

Overview

Birst automatically provides time series analysis with the built-in Time dimension.

Your organization may have your own specific time attributes and time period shifts. In this case you may need to define a custom set of time attributes. You can add your own custom time hierarchy definition to a Birst data warehouse.

This tutorial walks you through how to create custom time categories, how to add them to your reports and how to include them in dashboard filters.

Components

Analytics

Requirements

• The right to Edit Dashboards, use Visualizer, Saved Expressions. * A properly modeled dataset, specifically that the Measure comes from a fact table with a date, and that the date is connected to the Time dimensions, in other words, that the 'Analyze By Date' is toggled on. * If you are using anInfor Cloudsuite , you can find the corresponding IFS roles in the CloudSuite Analytics documentation. For example, in M3 Analytics you need the 'M3A Administration ' role for Admin and Visualizer access.

Tutorial

Difficulty: Easy Estimated Completion Time: 10 minutes

Infor Birst has a great ability to quickly compare data between different periods. All that's needed is a measure, a date, and you can choose one of the following Time Series Types:

When building reports, there is no way to create additional custom time categories, like Trailing Half Year, Trailing Four Months, or any Weekly Time Series.

Also there could be customers that need to analyze data weekly, and while access to extra time categories can be enabled through support there is a way to develop these and more time categories in Visualizer.

In situations like this we can use the power of the function RSUM and build a report that will show data based on a Time Series we define.

In addition to time categories RSUM can calculate the trailing sum across any dimension, including text such as for example roman numerals I, II, III, IV.

1. Using RSUM to calculate the time category

For the Trailing N Months, we can simply use Running Sum or RSUM.

Birst has a built in Trailing 3 Months which we can replicate with a function: RSUM(window size,[ Measure]) where window size is the number of periods to consider, be it weeks, days or in this case, three months.

Using the BQL Editor, we can create expressions.

SavedExpression('Custom T3M') = RSUM(3,[OrderDate: # Distinct OrderID]). We can easily change this to be Trailing 4, 5, 6 or any number of periods by changing the window size.

2. Display Filtering and making sure all the data you need is included in the report

You can see in the above image, that 01/2021 column only includes the data for that month.

This is controlled by the Filter/more options and can be changed.

When 'Use as a display filter' is toggled off only the displayed data is used in the calculation.

When 'Use as a display filter' is toggled on all data is used in the calculation, and then only the relevant data is displayed.

Below is an image of the same report with 'Use as a display filter' toggled on.

Note that the same RSUM(3,[Measure]) will show three months data if the Date Dimension is monthly, it will show three days data if the Date Dimension is daily, and it will show three years data if the Date Dimension is yearly.

Furthermore, RSUM has no sense of time. So depending on the sorting used in the report, for January it can add Nov, Dec, and Jan when the months are sorted in descending order, but it will add Mar, Feb, Jan, if the order is ascending.

3. Non-standard time categories

While Infor Birst already offers Month Ago, with RSUM we can achieve 2 months ago or 5 months ago.

The measurement for Month Ago is RSUM(2,[Measure]) - [Measure].

The measurement for 2 Months Ago is RSUM(3,[Measure]) - RSUM(2,[Measure]).

The measurement for Quarter Ago is RSUM(4,[Measure]) - RSUM(3,[Measure]).

The measurement for Year Ago is RSUM(13,[Measure]) - RSUM(12,[Measure]).

Overview

Map visualizations help identify patterns, trends, and outliers based on location, making it easier to understand how data varies across different regions. Visualizing data on maps allows for quicker and more intuitive interpretation compared to tables or charts.

This tutorial walks you through how to use the Geomap chart within Visualizer.

Components

Analytics

Requirements

To accomplish this task, we need to have:

• The right to create a Professional space * Birst Visualizer access (for creating a report) * Edit Dashboard right (for adding the report to the dashboard) * If you are using anInfor Cloudsuite , you can find the corresponding IFS roles in the CloudSuite Analytics documentation. For example, in M3 Analytics you need the 'M3A Administration ' role for Visualizer and Edit Dashboard access * Data containing a Geo Attribute, i.e. Country, City, State (for USA), Geo Coordinates (Latitude and Longitude), etc.

Tutorial

Difficulty: Easy Estimated Completion Time: 15 minutes

Let's assume we have a table from an Excel file where one column represents the Country, and the other two columns represent the Actual Sales and Budget Sales as shown below:

1. Importing the Data

After we have logged in, we go to our Birst Space (or create a new Professional space) and then import the Excel file into Birst in the 'Connect' phase. Instructions for uploading the Excel file are included in this video on the official Infor channel.

https://youtu.be/MG_GJ5xavuA?si=RTN0KMB1zQMyULl9

Simply put, the steps are:

• Connect to the Excel file & upload it * Ensure the data is correct * Import the data

GeomapConnect Geomap Import

2. Preparing the Data

Then, we move to the _Prepare _phase. This is where we clean up the data, or add calculations and scripts. For the sample data there is no need to do any Prepare actions.

https://youtu.be/ZUy7mGHeLf4?si=OnxkjKVFAnTkeTIj

3. Relate

In Relate , we create connections, or joins, between data sources, if necessary.

You can see how Relate works in the following video:

https://youtu.be/144Qb2iGWGM?si=0vbfeFyP5jyKaURg

The next step is to publish the data from the Staging Tables into the Data Model using the 'Publish' icon.

4. Creating the Geomap Report

Once the data is published, we go to the Visualizer and create a Geomap Report.

We choose a measure, which in our case is 'Sales_Actuals' and a Geo attribute which in our case is 'Country'. For the Geo Attribute, Birst prompts the user to select the most suitable option.

Geomap Attribute

5. Conditional Formatting

We then configure the Conditional Formatting specifying the criteria and the color coding. In this example, we specify a condition where the location is colored green if Sales Amount is greater than the Budgeted Sales. Otherwise, it is red.

Geomap Viz conditional format

The resulting visual highlights the regions accordingly enabling the user to quickly focus on the regions needing attention.

The tutorial is for a Professional space, but you can of course do the same with data in an Enterprise space.

Resources

Infor Birst How-To Series – Connecting to Files

Infor Birst How-To Series – Prepare in a Professional Space

Infor Birst How-To Series – Relate in a Professional Space

Creating Geomaps in Birst Help

Overview

Most of the data organizations are using is stored in databases. This tutorial will show how to connect to on-premise databases using Birst Cloud Agent.

The steps listed here are applicable to Live Access connections too.

Components

• Analytics

Requirements

• Access to Birst Enterprise * Right to create spaces to connect to data * If you are using an** Infor Cloudsuite**, you can find the corresponding IFS roles in the CloudSuite Analytics documentation. For example, in M3 Analytics you need the ‘M3A Administration ‘ role for Admin access. * Active Birst Cloud Agent * Refer to this tutorial for installing an agent: How to Install Birst Cloud Agent in Infor Birst * For the database connection: * The database type, database name and login credentials * Database driver for your database type

Tutorial

Difficulty: Easy Estimated Completion Time: 10 mins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6KKIFG-K44

A video walkthrough of the below tutorial.

1. Create a new space

Once you are successfully logged into your Birst account, create a new space, if none have been created already. To do so, click the 'Create New Space' hyperlink located in the middle of the Infor Birst welcome page. Otherwise, you can select an existing space.

From the 'Create New Space' menu, choose to create an Enterprise , Professional , or **Usage Tracking **space. Make sure to name your space appropriately and save by clicking the green check button when finished.

• Enterprise : The most advanced and comprehensive edition, which offers support for complex data transformations, advanced scheduling, and robust governance and security controls. This is most suitable for large organizations with complex data integration requirements and a demand for a high level of governance and security. * Professional : The mid-tier edition, which offers a balanced set of features for data integration but has limitations to its capabilities compared to the Enterprise edition. This is most suitable for medium-sized organizations with moderate data integration. * **Usage Tracking : **A specialized edition that focuses on tracking and monitoring data usage and access patterns. This edition provides analytics and reporting capabilities to gain insights into how the data is being used within Birst. You are able to monitor user activity, track report usage, and analyze data consumption patterns. This is most suitable for organizations that want to understand user engagement and optimize their data analytic processes.

To open an existing space, go to the 'Global Navigation Menu' and your current space is displayed at the top of the menu. Click on the 'Switch Space' button next to the name of your space and select your desired space.

2. Create a connection to a data source

Before you create the connection, make sure you have placed the driver for your database in the Birst Cloud Agent Drivers directory. Only Microsoft SQL Server driver is included with the platform.

Go to the 'Modeler Connect' page to create a connection to a data source. In the top left of the welcome page is the 'Global Navigation Menu' button, which is symbolized by 3 horizontal lines. Click the button to expand the menu, expand the 'Modeler' section, and the select 'Connect' tab.

Click on the plus sign to 'Create a new connection to a data source'.

Then click on the 'Select the Connector' dropdown menu. In this tutorial, we will be using SQL Databases.

3. Fill in the connection details

In the 'Create Connection' side panel, provide the following information to create a connection to the SQL database:

• Connection Name: Decide on a meaningful and descriptive name that helps you identify this particular connection from others in your Birst environment. In this example, we will be naming this connection, SQL. * Connection Type: Choose between 'Import to Birst ' or 'Live Access '. This tutorial will be sticking with the 'Import to Birst ' option. * Import to Birst : The data will be extracted, transformed, and loaded into the Birst platform. Data can be updated/refreshed periodically and incrementally, according to your requirements. This is the standard way of using data in Birst. * Live Access : Live Access provides a real-time connection to data in local data marts and data warehouses without requiring that data to first be uploaded into the Birst data store (warehouse). With Live Access, a Birst logical model maps directly onto a local physical relational database. Suitable for real-time access. * Agent Selection: Choose and assign a specific Birst Cloud Agent to perform tasks within the platform. * Cloud databases: You can skip the agent by clicking on the toggle switch.

• Non-cloud databases: Assuming you already have an agent installed, you can select the 'Select agent' option and choose an active agent from the agent selection menu by clicking on the 'Show online agents only' button. If you do not already have an agent installed, refer to the How to Install Birst Cloud Agent in Infor Birst (youtube.com) video and tutorial.

• Database type: The specific category of your database system. Keep in mind that you will also need a driver, which serves as a communication bridge between Birst and the database. In this example, MSSQL will be used as the MS SQL Server JDBC driver comes with the Birst platform. However, if you are using a different type of database, you will need to download the driver yourself. * MSSQL (Microsoft SQL Server): A relational database developed by Microsoft and has features for data storage, management, and retrieval. * MySQL : A widely used open-source relational database that is used for web applications and is known for its speed, reliability, and ease of use. * Oracle 11g: A relational database developed by Oracle and has features for data management, high availability, scalability, and security. This is most widely used in enterprise-level applications. * PostgreSQL : An open-source object-relational database and has features for supporting JSON data, spatial data, and full-text search. * Redshift : A cloud-based data warehouse developed by Amazon Web Services (AWS) and is optimized for quick querying and analyzing large datasets. * SAP Hana : An in-memory relational database developed by SAP and is designed to efficiently store and process large quantities of data in real-time. * Snowflake : A cloud-based data warehousing platform known for its scalability, performance, and easy to use. This has features that support structured and semi-structured data, data integration, analytics, and sharing data across organizations.

• Server Name: The hostname or the IP address of the server, where the database that you are connecting to is located. * Database Name: An identifier assigned to the database. This helps Birst identify and connect to the correct database. * Security Credentials: The username and password that is associated to an authorized user, who has permissions to access the database.

Optional: Below the 'Security Credentials ' login box is a '**More Options* ' button. You can click this button if you want to specify fetch size, port, source prefix, and transaction isolation level.

• Fetch size: The number of rows that are retrieved from the database during a query. * Port: A numeric value that represents the network port where the database server is communicating with the Birst platform. * Source prefix: A string of text or an identifier that is added to the beginning of the names of imported data tables within Birst. If you want to add a source prefix, be sure to click on the slide to allow for providing the desired text. In this example, the prefix, 'sql ', will be used so that the database being used is identified and duplicate tables from different sources are distinguished. * Transaction isolation level: Determines the visibility of changes made by a single transaction to other concurrent transactions. * **Read committed : **Transactions can only see changes committed by other transactions and provides better data consistency. * Read uncommitted : Transactions can see changes made by other transactions, even if they are not committed yet and allows for high concurrency. But you are at risk of receiving inconsistent and potentially, incorrect data. * Repeatable read : Regardless of any changes made, the data seen within a transaction remains the same. * Serializable : Transactions are isolated from each other, and each transaction can only see the database as if it were the only one accessing it.

When finished with providing the necessary information, click the green 'Save ' button at the bottom of the menu.

4. Choose the schema

After the connection has been created, choose a schema. From the 'schemas in SQL ' menu, check the boxes next to the desired schema name that you are going to work with. This tutorial will be selecting 'dbo '. Click the blue 'Apply ' at the bottom of the menu when finished.

5. Choose the tables to be imported

Similar to the previous step, import specific tables from the selected schema. Again, check the boxes next to the desired table names that you want to import. When you check the box, you will be allowed to preview the data. In this case, the 'Accounts ' table will be imported. When you are done, click the blue 'Done ' at the bottom of the menu.

• Note: You can choose to not import certain columns by unchecking the box next to the column name. By default, all the columns will be imported. The 'NetSuiteCustomerID** ' column is unselected for this tutorial.

• Note: You can also filter through the lines of each column by providing an expression indicating what rows are to be included or what rows are to be excluded. In this case, the 'Segment** ' column is filtered by selecting the '≠ Not Equals ' operator and providing the value, 'SMB '. Thus, the column will only contain the rows that are not labeled 'SMB '.

6. Import a query-based object

Another way to import data is using a query-based object. In the SQL import data menu, click the '...' button to display the drop-down list for more options. Select the 'Add query-based object ' option and provide the following information. When finished with providing the necessary information, click the green 'Save ' button at the bottom of the menu.

• Source Name: The identifier assigned to the data table that you are retrieving data with a query. The name 'SMB Accounts ' is used to represent the lines of data retrieved that contain 'SMB '. * Query: The request or command that is sent to the database to retrieve, manipulate, or modify the stored data. In this example, a query is written to bring in all the columns from the 'Accounts ' table and the rows of the 'Segment ' column contain 'SMB '. * SELECT * FROM Accounts WHERE Segment = 'SMB'

7. Preview and import the data

Preview the data tables that you want to import by selecting it from the list on the left. Click the green 'Import SQL Data ' button when ready.

8. Go to Modeler to see the imported data

Once the import is complete, go to the 'Prepare' page to view them. In the Modeler toolbar, select 'Connect', which will display a drop-down menu. From there, select the 'Prepare ' option.

In the 'Prepare' page, you can see that the imported data sources are grayed out, which means that they are in an 'ignored state '. The 'ignored state ' means that the data sources are not currently being used. However, you can still preview each data source by clicking on them from the 'Sources' menu.

Overview

Data is often found in local files in various computer systems. When the need arises to analyze this data with Birst, it must be imported first. Data can be imported from a file into Birst using 2 methods.

This tutorial goes through both methods.

Components

• Analytics

Requirements

• Access to Birst Enterprise * Right to create spaces to connect to data * If you are using an** Infor Cloudsuite**, you can find the corresponding IFS roles in the CloudSuite Analytics documentation. For example, in M3 Analytics you need the ‘M3A Administration ‘ role for Admin access. * Active Birst Cloud Agent * Refer to this tutorial for installing an agent: How to Install Birst Cloud Agent in Infor Birst * Needed only if files are larger than 20MB

Tutorial

Difficulty: Easy Estimated Completion Time: 10 minutes

https://youtu.be/MG_GJ5xavuA

A video walkthrough of the below tutorial

1. Create a new space

Once you are successfully logged into your Birst account, create a new space, if none have been created already. To do so, click the 'Create New Space' hyperlink located in the middle of the Infor Birst welcome page. Otherwise, you can select an existing space.

From the ‘Create New Space’ menu, go to the 'Create New Space' menu and choose to create an Enterprise , Professional , or **Usage Tracking **space. Make sure to name your space appropriately and save by clicking the green check button when finished. In this tutorial, a Professional space will be utilized for the Infor Birst Essentials Guide and the associated data files are most compatible with this space. Of course, using files as a data source is compatible with the other spaces as well.

• Enterprise : The most advanced and comprehensive edition, which offers support for complex data transformations, advanced scheduling, and robust governance and security controls. This is most suitable for large organizations with complex data integration requirements and a demand for a high level of governance and security. * Professional : The mid-tier edition offers a balanced set of features for data integration but has limitations to its capabilities compared to the Enterprise edition. This is most suitable for medium-sized organizations with moderate data integration. * **Usage Tracking : **A specialized edition that focuses on tracking and monitoring data usage and access patterns. This edition provides analytics and reporting capabilities to gain insights into how the data is being used within Birst. You are able to monitor user activity, track report usage, and analyze data consumption patterns. This is most suitable for organizations that want to understand user engagement and optimize their data analytic processes.

To open an existing space, go to the 'Global Navigation Menu' and your current space is displayed at the top of the menu. Click on the 'Switch Space' button next to the name of your space and select your desired space.

2. Create a connection to a data source

When the space is created, go to the 'Modeler Connect' page to create a connection to a data source. In the top left of the welcome page is the 'Global Navigation Menu' button, symbolized by 3 horizontal lines. Click the button to expand the menu, expand the 'Modeler' section, and then select 'Connect' tab.

3. Choose how to connect to your file

There are two ways to connect to a file:

• With the Quick Upload (does not need an Agent and can only upload up to 20MB) * Using the Agent * It's the Files option on the Modeler Connect page * Files to be uploaded need to be in the Files folder * Files can be bigger than 20MB * Needs an agent

4. Quick Upload method

At the top of the 'Modeler Connect' page is the 'Quick upload ' feature that allows you to upload your files to Birst. Click on the 'Browse Files' button and select the files you want to upload from your computer. In this tutorial, the 'Movie Titles.xlsx ' file will be uploaded. This feature supports the following file extensions: '.xls ', '.xlsx ', '.csv ', '.txt ', and '.zip '. The maximum file size that can be uploaded is 20 MB.

Once the files have been successfully uploaded, you can preview the contents of the file. In the preview window, you can choose not to import certain columns of the file's data tables by unchecking the box next to the column name. When the column is unselected, the entire column will be unhighlighted. Otherwise, the entire data table is highlighted in blue by default.

At the bottom of the window are shortcuts (only available for files and not databases) to the different steps in the Birst data preparation process that you can skip to. The available shortcuts include: 'Connect ', 'Prepare ', 'Relate ', 'Visualizer ', and 'Dashboards '. The 'Prepare ' shortcut will be selected for this tutorial, but feel free to explore the other shortcuts.

• Connect : Establish a connection to your data sources within the Birst platform and configure the appropriate parameters to connect Birst with the correct data sources. * Prepare : Transform the extracted data for analysis and report by cleaning, calculating, integrating, validating, modeling, enhancing with additional information, and safeguarding the data. * Relate : Establish relationships between the different data sources by identifying and mapping key fields, defining relationships and hierarchies, and verifying the relationships to ensure accuracy. * Visualizer : Once you have created your model and processed the data once, you can update your data by uploading a new file and have Birst process it, and then take you directly to Visualizer to continue working on visualizations and reports. * Dashboards : Once you have created your model and processed the data once, you can update your data by uploading a new file and have Birst process it, and then take you directly to Dashboards to continue your work.

After being taken to the 'Modeler Prepare' page, imported files are shown in the 'Sources' menu.

5. Using Birst Cloud Agent ie the Files Connector option

The Files Connector enables you to:

• Connect and upload local files larger than 20 MB. The File Connector currently supports .xls, .xlsx, .txt, .csv, and .zip files. * Schedule data refreshes from Modeler Prepare to keep data in Birst in sync with the changes happening in your files.

You can choose the Files Connector either by going to the Connections on the left side of the screen:

Or by click the Files icon on the Connect page:

6. Move the files to the right location

Additionally, make sure the data is in the correct place, so that the agent can access them. In order to do so, move your file(s) into the 'files ' folder inside the Birst Cloud Agent installation folder.

7. Fill in the connection information (for Files Connector)

Fill in the following information and click the green 'Save' button when finished:

• Connection Name: Decide on a meaningful and descriptive name that helps you identify this particular connection from others in your Birst environment. In this case, name this connection, 'My Files '. * Assign Agent: Choose and assign a specific Birst Cloud Agent to perform tasks within the platform. Click the 'Select agent' button and choose an active agent from the agent selection menu by clicking on the 'Show online agents only' button. Select the desired agent by checking the box next to that agent's name. When finished, select the 'Back' option. * If you do not have an agent installed, refer to this video: How to Install Birst Cloud Agent in Infor Birst and tutorial. * File path: This field serves as a reminder for you to place any files that you want to import in the 'files ' folder of the Birst Cloud Agent installation folder.

8. Choose the files to import (for Files Connector)

From the 'Select files for (Connection Name)' menu, a list of imported files is displayed and you can select the files that you want uploaded by checking the box next to the file's name. Click on the blue 'Upload' button when finished.

8. Preview the data

When the selected files have been successfully uploaded, we can preview the data. You can choose not to import certain columns of the file's data tables by unchecking the box next to the column name. When the column is unselected, the entire column will be unhighlighted. Otherwise, the entire data table is highlighted in blue by default. Click on the blue 'Done' button when finished.

As you import and upload these files, you are actually copying the data from the data source, so that it can be stored within the Birst platform. This allows for faster and more efficient data access and analysis.

9. Review the imported data

Go to the 'Modeler Prepare' page by going to the 'Modeler' toolbar, selecting the 'Connect' tab, and then select the 'Prepare' option. Now, you can see all of the files that were imported and uploaded to the Birst platform.

Overview

Analytics dashboards and reports are only useful when the data in them is updated and current.

This tutorial walks you through the process of automating data import and processing in Birst.

Components

Analytics

Requirements

• Birst Admin access (for Orchestration) * If you are using anInfor Cloudsuite , you can find the corresponding IFS roles in the CloudSuite Analytics documentation. For example, in M3 Analytics you need the 'M3A Administration ' role for Admin access.

Tutorial

Difficulty: Easy Expected Completion Time: 15 minutes

Keeping data fresh can be achieved by scheduling periodic updates. Let's assume that we are extracting data tables from the Infor data lake to be used in Birst reports and dashboards. We have completed creating the dashboards and we want to update the data in Birst, automatically on a scheduled basis.

For this purpose, we make use of the 'Orchestration Workflow', a simple process with a few clicks.

We make use of 'Extract Groups' and 'Publishing Groups' to process batches of data

1. Creating ‘Extract Groups’

Extract Groups can be created in order to group the tables that are part of the Orchestration Workflow. Hence, if we want to include only 5 tables in our process, out of the 20 tables included in our connection to the data lake, we use Extract Groups.

Extract Groups are created in 'Modeler Connect' as shown below: we create an 'Extraction Group', name it, select the Data 'Connections' and then the individual tables within them.

2. Creating ‘Publishing Groups’

A similar concept is used for Publishing Groups. It helps us to select only those tables which we want to publish as part of 'Orchestration Workflow'.

Publishing Groups are created in 'Modeler Prepare' as shown below: we create a 'Publishing Group', name it and then select the Staging Tables to be put in.

3. Creating ‘Orchestration Workflow’

We create an 'Orchestration Workflow', which can be run manually or automatically. For our business problem, we will run the workflow automatically by scheduling it.

While configuring 'Orchestration Workflow', we imagine the steps that we usually do when updating the data. First we create a Workflow and name it.

We add steps for extracting the data from the data lake using 'Extract Groups', and then publishing the data using 'Publishing Groups' or all the data tables.

4. Scheduling ‘Orchestration Workflow’

Finally, we schedule the workflow as per requirements. An important factor to consider is to allow sufficient time window for the workflow to complete before the user checks the new data. The example below shows that the workflow will run on 2nd day of every month at 12:00 AM EST.

Several schedules can be added as per requirements.

Resources

Orchestration

Extracting Groups

Publishing Groups

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