It has been a long time since SAP BusinessObjects has a major upgrade. Since 2011, Desktop Intelligence was transformed into Web Intelligence 4.0 that introduced us to new and improved reporting experience. With BusinessObjects 4.3, the tool has been transformed into a modern look, based on the Fiori design which improves not only in development but also in presenting reports.
Design
Unlike BOBJ 4.2, which functions and features similarly patterned with Microsoft Office 2003 buttons, BOBJ 4.3 looks modern and the design is fluid that looks lighter and more modern, which end users and developers will love to work on.
Compatibility
Unlike BOBJ 4.2, 3 types of the view exist: Rich Client, Java Applet, and HTML. Rich Client and Java Applet both offer the full features and capabilities and HTML serves as a viewing tool for the users with limited functionalities.
Unfortunately, if you need to use certain functionalities that are not available in HTML, you need to switch from either Rich Client or Java Applet and your momentum is abrupted because of this change. Furthermore, the browsers that support Java become scarce. With the end-of-life support to Internet Explorer (not to be confused with Microsoft Edge), which is the last known browser that supports Java, companies, and developers resort to outdated browsers that support Java.
With BOBJ 4.3, only two exist: Rich Client and HTML, with both tools equal in functionalities. And you can now use any browser of your choosing, as long asit supports HTML5.
There is only one caveat: BOBJ4.3 does not support Data view, which allows users to display the row data from the source. However, this should not be an issue as data can be viewed directly by dragging all objects to the report view to display data.
Properties Panels
Unlike BOBJ 4.2, in which you need to interact into popup window to change a specific feature in the report.
With BOBJ4.3, all options, except for Filters and Conditional formatting, can be interacted with Properties Panel.
Properties panel are subdivided into two tabs: Data Panel and Format Panel.
Data Panel allows users to modify which regard to anything that relates to Data behaviors (like Breaks, Filters, Sorts, and more.), which change according to the object that is currently selected.
Format Panel allows users to modify which regard to anything that formatting the block, which changes according to the object that is currently selected.
These are now hosted in one area that appears when you are modifying an object.
Chart Categories
Unlike BOBJ 4.2, BOBJ4.3 is now categorizing the charts into different groups based on its use. You can now select a chart base on how it will be presented in the report and not based on the family where it came from.
An example of this is the Column and Bar charts. Standard Column and Bar Charts in BOBJ4.3 belong to Comparison categories. Whereas, 100% Stacked Column and Bar charts are grouped under Proportion since these 100% Stacked Column and Bar charts works differently as it is best to show the share of its members based on the total value.
Revamped Filters
Unlike BOBJ4.2, wherein we can filter using filter bar and input controls: Filter bars only allow one value; whereas Input controls can be flexible from one value to multiple values.
With BOBJ4.3, Filter Bar and Input controls are now merged into one. Filter bar capabilities are now equipped with different selection options (Single value or multiple value), which can be incorporated with Grouped Filters for users to drill down data according to their selections.
Fold and Unfold
With the BOBJ 4.3, Showing and hiding of data sections has been revamped. From the use of plus buttons, which similarly works with grouping cells from Microsoft Excel, we can now hide areas using the down arrow placed on the either the headers of the table or the section headers.
