This blog covers major features and enhancements in SAP Analytics Cloud Q3.2020. Let us look into some of the highlights of this release.

Key Updates

• You can now create Analytic Applications using datasets from SAP Data Warehouse Cloud. Developers can also create Analytic Application within SAP Data Warehouse Cloud.
• The new ‘Performance Statistics’ feature will help you understand and identify the models that take more time and make necessary improvements.

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• Write back of data is possible for planning models.
• You can pivot your table and filter your data.
• Using formulas, you can add custom calculations.

Analytics Designer

• Multiple widgets can now be selected, and common properties can be set/changed.
• New APIs have been introduced to create, update, and delete dimension members in planning models.
• You can include or exclude components before you export to PDF using APIs like – includeComponent() and ExportToPDF.excludeComponent().
• New APIs for improved hierarchy management. You can set/get hierarchy level and expand /collapse a specific hierarchy node.
• You can now improve the startup performance of the Analytic Application by allowing invisible widgets to load in the background.

• In addition to scheduled publication and notifications, you can also subscribe to Top N data change Insights.

Data Integration

• With this release, new data preparation experience has been introduced for creating datasets. Automatic identification of dimensions, measures, direct consumption of public data sets in Story is possible now.
• Embedding data sets in stories helps the developer make any change to the data in a much easier way than before which results in a simple transition between story and wrangling space.
• New Panel that appears on the right-side during data set modelling has made many actions related to data like changing and deleting objects, creating Hierarchies, and checking errors effortlessly.
• Data Analysts will now be able to write their own custom transformation. New features also include Automatic display of function stub to write an expression, Easy navigation and copy/paste of function expressions have also been launched.

Data Visualization

• The growing table will increase the size of the table automatically on view mode depending on the data.

• Developers can set the display configuration (Description, ID or ID and Description) for individual dimensions on the input control.

• For Calculated Dimensions, new String Functions like CONCAT, REPLACE, LOWERCASE and UPPERCASE, SPLIT, FINDINDEX, ENDSWITH, RIGHT and LEFT are introduced.
• When working with huge BW models, the feature ‘Paste Filter Values’ that helps to add or change dimension filters from clipboard has been launched in this release.

Planning

• Value Driver Tree should now be created inside the story. Transition to new VDT widget from the old one is also possible.

• The new Planning panel covers all planning needs and will make the monotonous huge data entry process simple.
• Planning models can be used in predictive scenarios as Sources so that Predictive models can be created from Planning models.

Smart Assist

• Users can now define synonyms for measures and Dimensions so that Searching in Search to Insight can be done easily.
• Indexing limit to 5000 rows will be taken out so that Users can search through the complete set of data.

Other Updates

In an analytic application, Variable values can be passed through the application URL so that you do not need to wait for the oninitialization event to execute. Microsoft Edge browser support is introduced in this release. The new ‘Save & Leave’ option that helps to save the application if the close button is accidentally pressed is now available in Analytics designer. More intelligible system messages are added in this release that provides better clarity on what has happened. We can now acquire SAP HANA data through an SSL connection that brings more security to the data. With this new update, search through input controls has improved enabling searches like start with (g*) and ends with (*s). With the new commenting widget, multiple users can collaborate seamlessly and add comments for a specific filter value.

If you are interested in learning more about SAP Analytics Cloud, check out our series of blogs here.