What is Yellowfin?
Yellowfin is an easy-to-use report writer for non-technical users, delivering drag-and-drop simplicity for formatting and data selection. With Yellowfin, you can access information from multiple data bases without special coding knowledge. This is easy because you work with data in business terms that are familiar to you without the need to understand complex technology principles.
Seehttp://www.yellowfinbi.com/for more information.
What is a BI Platform?
Business intelligence (BI) platforms allow organizations to build BI applications through analysis, information delivery (such as reports and dashboards) and platform integration (such as metadata management).
Here are some commonly used words that you will need to familiarizeyourself with:
Data Source
This is the databaseYellowfinretrieves results from. Administrators create aSource Connectionin order to access the data.SeeData Sourcesfor more information.
Views
This is ametadatalayer created by an administrator that sits between thesource connectionandReport Builderthat defines thefieldsavailable to report writers and thejoinlogic required to generateSQLqueries.
SeePreparing Data using Viewsfor more information.
Dashboards
This is a space to display multiplereportsandchartsin one place, allowing for interactive features to be used across them all at once.
See ourDashboardsection for more information.
Reports
This is the result of anSQLquerydisplayed inYellowfin. The display can take the form of a table and/orchart.
See ourReportssection for more information
Charts
A visual representation of data. Yellowfin has a wide range of chart types available.
SeeChartsfor more information
Instance
This is a single installation ofYellowfinrunning. Some systems may have multiple instances of Yellowfin running. In this case there is often a development instance, testing instance, and production instance. There may also be multiple instances for different production purposes, depending on requirements.
Integration
This is the process of combining Yellowfin with an existing OEM system to create a system that feels seamless to the end user.
SeeIntegrationfor more information.
KPI
Key Performance Indicator. This is a figure used to monitor business performance, such as sales in dollars or units. Performance is tracked against a target and makes use ofConditional Formattingalerts.
SeeKPI Reportsfor more information.
Collaboration
This is when users work together to share insights into their data and the decision making process. Yellowfin provides features to assist the collaborative process including Comments, Discussions, andAnnotations.
SeeCollaborationfor more information.
Drill
Drill refers to the action performed by a user by clicking on a hyperlink in a report that either steps into more detail in the same report, or opens a separate detail report related to the row that was selected.
There are three forms ofDrillavailable inYellowfin;Drill Down,Drill Anywhere, andDrill Through.
SeeDashboard Drill Analysisfor more information.
Navigation
This is the way in whichusersmove around theYellowfininterface. There are various menus and buttons designed to move the user between pages and components of the system.
SeeNavigationfor more information
Multi-tenacy
This is when a single instance of software runs to serve multiple clients or tenants.Yellowfin'smulti-tenancy functionality is calledClient Organisations.
SeeClient Organisationsfor more information.
Client Organizations
Yellowfinhas functionality called Client Organisations which allows multiple virtual instances of Yellowfin to reside in the same server instance. This provides a way to create content isolated within one organisation, hidden from other organisation users logging into the same server. This is Yellowfin'sMulti-Tenancysolution.
SeeClient Organisationsfor more information.
JavaScript API
This is what allowsYellowfincontent to beembeddedin external web pages. There isbasicandadvancedusage options.
End users can access the basic functionality through the Yellowfininterfaceby copying the generated embed javascript and pasting it in their external page.
Advanced users and administrators can access the advanced functionality by following the examples outlinedhere.
SeeJavaScript API - oldfor more information.
Fields
This is a column in the database that will be used to build reports. Fields can be used as Columns/Rows,Sections, andFilters. They are defined either asMetricsorDimensions. Calculations can also be created to use as fields, these are calledCalculated Fields.
SeePrepare Viewsfor more information
Metric
A standard field inYellowfincan either be classified as aMetricorDimension. Numeric and Date fields are classified as Metrics by default, but can be changed to Dimension if required. Metric fields have the full range of aggregations available to them. They also have different functionality available to them when used as filters. Metrics do not allow for prompts, as there are generally too many possible values available, so they have slider options available in order to allow users to easily define ranges. Metric filter values cannot be cached.
SeeView Builder - Field Typesfor more information.
Dimensions
A standard field inYellowfincan either be classified as aMetricorDimension. All text fields are automatically classified as Dimensions. The View Builder allows you to define numeric and date fields as Dimensions in order to be used in Drill Hierarchies, and limit the aggregations available toCountandCount Distinct.
Dimension fields retrieve the data that will provide the basis for analysis in a report. Dimensions typically retrieve character-type data (employee names, company names, etc.), or dates (years, quarters, etc.)
SeeView Builder - Field Typesfor more information.
Filter
These arefieldsthat are being used to restrict the results returned in yourreportordashboard. There are several types of filter in Yellowfin:
- User Prompt- these filters allow theuserto define the value used
- Hard Coded- these filters have the value set at the report writing stage and cannot be changed by the report reader.
- Source- these filters are created by an administrator and use the report reader's user details to restrict results to what's relevant to them.
SeeFiltersfor more information
Conditional Formatting
This is formatting that is triggered when a condition is met. A rule is applied to afieldin thereportand special formatting, such as highlighting, is applied if the data matches the rule.
Basic rules can also be applied tocharts.
SeeConditional Formattingfor more information.
Visit the glossary to learn about more Yellowfin terminologies.
