Bens Blog

After several months of development SQL Power released a new version of the Power Architect which is now available in 2 different version, the "old" Community Edition  (CE, also available on Google Code) and the brand new Enterprise Edition  (EE). Today I want to give you an overview of the most exciting new functions in SQL Power Architect EE. Central project repository & Security  In the Enterprise Edition all projects are stored on the server and you can create users and groups and give them different access rights to the projects depending on their role. Data Types and Domains This is one of the most important features in the new version. Prior to version 1.0 EE you could only work with a set of standard column types that all (most databases would understand). With Data Types and Domains you are finally able to define your own type and specify how this type should be forward engineered in the different database management systems. For example the type " Nu...

In the last days SQL Power released Wabit 1.3.1, you can download it here:  SQL Power Download Website . The most important change that came with Wabit 1.3 is the ability to parametrize reports. Below is a screenshot on how it looks like: Report with parameters in SQL Power Wabit You can choose a text entry field, date picker and a select box as parameter entry field. The values from a select box can be based on a query. How to add parameters to your report: Add parameters to your SQL query. You can add parameters either by using the parameter dialog (Ctrl + Space) or just by using the right syntax in the query, for example "continent =${Continent->Europe}". ${Continent} defines the parameters "Continent" ${Continent->Europe} defines the parameter "Continent" and sets the default value to "Europe" Parameter in a query Create a new Report Drag the query into the report Add a parameter in the parameter panel (Go to View-...

Last weekend SQL Power released an improved version of SQL Power DQguru (formerly known as SQL Power MatchMaker), one of the few open source tools for data cleansing and master data management (MDM) available. Version 0.96 brings a new feature that allows you to run SQL Power DQguru from command line. This allows you to integrate it into batch scripts and your ETL jobs. As a BI consultant for SQL Power I have used SQL Power DQguru in different projects and it has made my job a lot easier. Some of the features I like the most are: Easy connection to any database with JDBC drivers, incl. SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, Postgres Lets you create complex merge rules so your dependent data will always be updated when you merge records. You can combine over 25 steps to find possible duplicate data with a match rule, for example: Word Count Regular Expressions Substrings Retain certain characters Translate Words, you can create your own translation rules. You can preview how your data ...

Recently I had to prepare a installation for the Pentaho BI Server (CE) and I decided to try the Community Build Framework (CBF) from Pedro Alves. I had to install the server on a test and a production environment so it seemed to fit perfectly for my requirements. It is working fine now and helps a lot in applying changes to the installation having a clean structure but it took me quiet a few hours till I had it working (probably because I'm not an expert when it comes to using ant & Co.) Here are some issues you should be aware of: You'll need Java 1.6. Make sure your path to ant, java but especially the project folder doesn't contain any spaces. Spaces will only cause problems. Tomcat 6 is not supported yet. I recommend setting the solution paths to the folder "C:/...../project-client/solution" until you figured out how CBF works in detail. You will have your CBF ready to run a lot faster than I did if you keep these issues in mind. I'm sure I...

Last week I had some time to create a short screencast to show some features of SQL Power's Wabit open source version. The video could be more professional (My headset didn't like me too much) but I was to busy with other projects to  have more revisions. You are very welcome to share your ideas, critics and comments. Here you go: (Watch on Youtube: SQL Power's Wabit - Feature overview )

Recently I got a change to download Palo Worksheet Server 3 , I was planning to build a small test case and impress some people at work with what Palo can do. But I'm not sure if I should really show too much of the Worksheet Server during my presentation after I started playing with it a bit more. Here is why: Pros: The frontend of Worksheet Server looks nice. The Charts and Micro Charts look nice. Many people won't think of Palo as a full BI tool if it doesn't provide it's own frontend Cons: Why did Jedox release a software that is so unstable? I'm always worried to do too much in a worksheet because I don't know whats gonna happen next. Will i get lots of "value?" Will my session end and I loose my data? (Just happened) If you are used to Excel & Google Docs you get impatient, some of the context menus are too slow. After working with it for half a day I wouldn't let a client create his own reports, the frustration level would proba...

This morning the September issue of the Open Source Business Resource (OSBR) - a monthly publication of the Talent First Network got released. It is all on Open Source Business Intelligence. Have a look:  OSBR September 2009 - Business Intelligence What is the OSBR? The Open Source Business Resource (OSBR) is a free monthly publication of the Talent First Network. The OSBR is for Canadian business owners, company executives and employees, directors of open source foundations, leaders of open source projects, open source groups, individuals and organizations that contribute to open source projects, academics and students interested in open source, technology transfer professionals, and government employees who promote wealth creation through innovation. [Quote from the OSBR website ]

SQL Power Group, based in Toronto, Canada, released version 0.98 of it's open source business intelligence reporting tool Wabit . Here is a overview of the newest (and improved) features: General Improved UI Most item are drag able Multiple workspaces can be open at the same time Search in workspaces Reports Report templates available Extended grouping options Chart New more intuitive UI to create charts Pie chart support added OLAP queries Filter added Improved UI More OLAP navigation features added (Drill replace etc.) One of the features I like the most is the new grouping and sections setting in reports as you can see in the screenshot: There are still many improvements possible but 0.98 brought Wabit a lot closer to all the other open source reporting tools available. What feature do you think should be added next?

The open source business intelligence reporting tool Wabit added support for Mondrian in it's newest release 0.97. Users can now either connect to the integrated Mondrian server or to any available XMLA datasource. In the OLAP query, measures and dimensions can easily dragged into the query which automatically updates the results. It is the first version including the OLAP functionality so there are still some features missing, including filters, calculated members, saving of manually created MDX queries but Wabit already shows some nice results. With it's upcoming release 0.98 - scheduled for September 09 - most missing OLAP features will be added and Wabit should be a nice AND feature rich reporting application for Mondrian and all other OLAP engines supporting XMLA.

Morgen werden es nun schon vier Wochen, die ich in Kanada bin. Wenn man weiss, dass man nun für immer hier ist, sieht man Kanada schon kritischer als es die meisten Touristen sehen. Zum Beispiel Niagara Falls: Im Urlaub sieht man die schönen Wasserfälle, Casinos und Hotels. Es lohnt sich aber auch mal ein Blick hinter die Kulissen, die vielen Gebäude die herunterkommen sind, die Verarmung in manchen Vierteln und man sollte bedenken, dass viele der (saisonalen) Angstellten für CAD 9,50 die Stunde arbeiten, ohne Lohnfortzahlung im Krankheitsfall, ohne Krankenversicherung (abgesehen von der staatlichen Mindestversicherung), ohne bezahlten Urlaub, fast täglich kündbar. Ein anderes Beispiel: In Deutschland jammern Studenten für die ca. 1200 Euro die sie im Jahr fürs Studium zahlen müssen, hier kostet das Jahr gerne mal CAD 5.000 und mehr. Schüler fangen hier häufig mit 14 Jahren an, neben der Schule zu arbeiten, um sich später College und Uni leisten zu können, bzw. um am Ende nicht allzuti...

UPDATE : Nach neusten Infos scheint das Release der neuesten Version des Palo OLAP Servers auf Januar 2009 verschoben. Am Donnerstag & Freitag durfte ich dank einer Einladung der Jedox AG auf der Palo User Conference und dem Partner Tag sein, wo die neue Version des Palo OLAP Servers und der neue Palo Worksheet Server vorgestellt wurde. Während es beim OLAP Server hauptsächlich Verbesserungen in der Perfomance (unter anderen dank Multiprozessorunterstützung) gibt, hat sich beim Worksheetserver enorm viel getan. Der Server wurde komplett neu entwickelt (die Core in C++) und das Look & Feel lässt einen fast vergessen, dass es sich um eine Webanwendung handelt und nicht um Excel handelt. In der neuen Version kann man sowohl die Modellierung der Palo OLAP Datenbank als auch die Reporterstellung durchgängig im Server durchführen, sodass Excel gar nicht mehr benötigt wird. Auch ansonsten wurde sich bemüht, alle relevanten Funktion von Excel zu übernehmen, von der Zellenformatierung ...