Starting With A Basic Story

When creating a story and adding widgets to it, users have the option to use the toolbar at the top of the screen or optionally the Left Side Panel. This panel can be opened and closed from the Left Side Panel button in the View section of the toolbar. However, at the Left Side Panel, users can select different options.

• Assets: All elements available in the toolbar can also be added to the story from the Left Side Panel.
• Outline: Access story settings, pages, and scripting.
• Filters : View and apply story filters.

When elements are added from the toolbar menu, SAP Analytics Cloud positions them on the screen. When using the Left Side Panel, users can position the widgets or other elements in the exact position. A detailed examination of the various widgets is provided in the next lesson Classifying Widgets.

Next, you will start to build the story by adding a widget. You may need to open the Right Side Panel button in the View section of the ribbon to access the Builder panel. In the Builder panel, you can now adjust the model of the widget and consequently the displayed SAP Sports One data. These customization options and widget settings will be explained in more detail during this course, for example, creating and handling measures and dimensions in your story.

The Builder panel, however, is only half of the entire panel. The other half is the Styling panel, which provides you with many formatting and design adjustment options for every component of the story, including the page itself, for example, regarding size and background color. An overview of all adjustments is provided on the SAP Analytics Cloud Help page. Format and Style Elements on Story Pages

When you begin analyzing SAP Sports One data in your widget, you will be prompted to select a data source. These live data models are already available in your SAP Analytics Cloud system if the standard content has already been imported. They can be under Public → Models. There you can select the model you want to use in the analysis. Selecting a model looks like the following:

As already mentioned in the beginning of this unit, an overview of all available models and their measures and dimensions can be found on the SAP Help page. Introduction and Model Overview

In SAP Analytics Cloud, data sources for charts or tables may prompt you to add variables before data can be displayed. If the selected data source requires variables to be set, a prompt will appear. After the variables are set, the data you provide in your story will be used by all tables and charts that use the same data source.

You can also manage the variables of a model by selecting Edit Prompts at Tools in the toolbar. Please select the model to adjust.

By using data prompt variables, the data volume can be significantly narrowed down. Additionally, this data refinement enables an improvement in performance of the story.

In the previous figure, as shown with the variables of the model SAP_S1_Match Statistics, you can restrict the data prompt by dates, federation, or competitions. These variables depend on the model.

The following illustration depicts how charts and tables may appear after adjusting the data prompts of the model and adding data sources and default measures to the widgets. Here, SAP_S1_Match_Statistics model is used as an example during this course. Not very informative so far, isn’t it?

To create a calculation in a chart, select Add Measure in the Builder panel, and select Add Calculation. Existing measures and dimensions can be removed from the chart by selecting the x icon or by selecting them in the Measures section.

If you want to create a calculation for a table, select the three dots in the Measures section, and select Add Calculation. By selecting Edit Calculation, you can review all your calculations and edit them. Existing measures and dimensions can be added and removed from the table by selecting the filter icon.

Regardless of the selected widget type (chart or table), there are many different calculation types to choose from when creating calculations.

The calculation types which are most used in Sports Analytics are Calculated Measure, Restricted Measure, and Aggregation. The creation of calculations of these types will be explained in the following simulation.

Furthermore, under Currently Selected Chart, you have the option to choose a chart type from a drop-down menu and adjust its orientation. Currently, the following chart types are available.

The dimensions (for example, the players) can be added directly via Add Dimension. Under Color, you can assign a color and pattern for specific calculations. You can also assign a color for the dimensions, such as, for example, a unique color for each team.

Furthermore, you can use an existing measure as the basis for coloring. For example, you can use the calculation "Minutes Played > 60" from the above simulation as a coloring rule in your chart. This might look something like this.

There are many more customization options for a chart; please note that some advanced features will also be covered in the next unit. In case certain functionalities were not covered in this course, you can find an overview of all customization options on the SAP Help Portal. Use Charts to Visualize Data

After creating tables, you can enhance those tables in many ways. You have already seen during the creation of the calculation that you can specify whether the measures or dimensions should be displayed in a row or a column of a table. Additionally, under Table Structure, you can make further settings. This includes:

• Adaptive: Column Width: Automatically resizes the columns when you resize the table. On a Responsive page, the columns can be aligned with columns of other tables in the same lane.
• Arrange Totals / Parent Nodes Below: Moves totals to the bottom of the table. If you use a hierarchical model, when this option is selected, all child nodes will appear above the totals.

By selecting the table properties (three dots when hovering over table), you choose whether you want to enable Zero and/or Null Suppression. If you enable a suppression, you can hide zero and/or null values in your selected chart.

In the table properties, you can also show or hide elements of a table such as headers, titles, references, and more. You'll find these options at Show/Hide.

There are many more customization options for tables. Please note that additional advanced features will be covered during this course. In case certain functionalities were not covered in this course, you can find an overview of all customization options on the SAP Help Portal. Use Tables to Visualize Data

Story Filters allows you to apply filters for all existing widgets (charts and tables) on all pages in a story that are based on the same model.

To add a Story Filter for a specific model, choose Filters in the Left Side Panel, and select Add New Filter. You have the option to select the model under Data Source that you want to apply a filter to. Next, choose whether you want to filter by a dimension, measure, or variable. For example, if you filter by a specific dimension – which is often the case – you can choose whether to filter by a Member, such as a specific team, or by a Range, such as the match dates to display data, for example, the last 30 days.

Story Filters can also be Pinned to Top (see bottom) to easier navigate and apply more filters quickly.

ThePage Filter is the same as a Story Filter but applies to just one page in your story. In the toolbar, you have the option to add an Input Control at the Insert section. This Input Control will be applied directly to the current page and only affects this page. With the Page Filter, you can filter by dimensions and measures. The selection of Members and Ranges for dimensions is identical to the Story Filterselection.

Lastly, filters can be applied to widgets, such as charts or tables, and will only affect this specific element in your story. Select the widget, and navigate to the Filters in the Builder. Select Add Filter to set the filter for this widget.

Regardless of the filter type chosen, after selecting a dimension filter, for example, for a team, you are taken directly to the corresponding filter overview. In this overview, you can search for the various available members of the dimension using the search bar and select them for the filter.

On the right side of the filter overview, you can see all the selected members that you have chosen for the filter. These members will be active once confirmed. Additionally, you have the option to select All Members to filter all members. If you only want to exclude specific members, choose All Members, and exclude those who should not be included in the filter. It might look something like this:

In the Settings area, there's the possibility to make further filter adjustments, such as whether the filter allows for a Single Selection or Multiple Selections.

But does it make sense to have to add so many filters, such as a team filter for every model used in a story? Of course not! Therefore, there's the possibility of model linking, which will be explained in the next lesson.