The drill function lets you explore data through navigation paths. When you drill down, you move from a broad view of data to a more detailed view.
For example, if you analyze sales data by country, you can drill down to see sales by region within that country. You can drill down again to see sales by city.
This function is useful for data analysis. It helps you spot trends, find issues, and understand business performance without making new reports.
Create the Query and Define the Scope of the Analysis
You can view the navigation paths set by the universe designer in the Query panel. To do this, select the icon next to the universe name and choose Display by Navigation Paths.
In the Query panel:
- Move the objects you want to use to create the report element (table or chart) to the Result Objects panel.
- Move the objects you want to use to set the depth of the analysis to the Scope of Analysis panel. You can also set the number of levels to drill up or down in the Scope Level drop-down list.
Set the scope of analysis before drilling to control how much information the application retrieves.
An object in the scope of analysis is also included in the query. When you drill up or down to that object, the application does not need to run a new query to get the data. If the object is not in the scope, it is not in the query. The application then runs a new query to get the missing information.
Explore the Data using Navigation Paths
You must activate the Drill mode to be able to drill down the data within the hierarchy of a drillable report.
For more information about this topic, please read SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence User's Guide
Let's Summarize What You've Learned
- Use the drill function to explore data from summary to detailed levels within reports.
- Set the scope of analysis in the query panel to control the depth and efficiency of data retrieval.
- Activate Drill mode to navigate through hierarchical data and gain deeper business insights.