Enterprise Blocks 4.0 is a software framework for developing business intelligence (BI) applications in ASP.NET against Microsoft SQL Server UDM UDM (Unified Dimensional Model) data stores.

Below is an overview of what's new in version 4.0 due out spring 2008.

Enterprise Blocks Analyst

The new Enterprise Blocks Analyst application allows interactive data analyses to be developed directly against UDM cubes from a web browser. These analyses can be exported to a number of environments or saved into a secure server side repository for later retrieval.

The Enterprise Blocks Analyst application provides the power of traditional OLAP desktop applications from a web browser. It is a great toolset for business analysts and power users who want to explore data at a deeper level than they can in Microsoft Excel or a performance dashboard.

The Enterprise Blocks Analyst is a counterpart to the existing Enterprise Blocks Dashboard application. Both applications are included with an Enterprise Blocks license and include source code.

Google Gadgets

Business Intelligence dashboards are a hot subject but many users still view them as just another place they have to go to get information. The new Enterprise Blocks Google Gadgets let users view scorecards, charts, reports, and report folders right on their iGoogle pages. This lets users view information from a data warehouse on the same dashboard page as news about business, sports, politics, stocks, or any other information that can be viewed on a user's personal Google page.

RSS KPI Broadcasts

Enterprise Blocks 4.0 introduces a new RSS service that will broadcast KPIs as scorecards using the RSS 2.0 standard. Users can subscribe to this feed using any desktop or web RSS reader. Readers can alert users when new data has been loaded into the database for these key metrics showing them each KPI and its status against goals/budgets. Alerts are usually displayed as pops in the Windows taskbar tray or sent as emails.

Dimension Attributes and Hierarchies

The new treeview layout for editing a workbook provides a graphical representation of all the elements that make up each data analysis in the workbook. Clicking on an element allows that individual part of the analysis to be edited in the workspace on the right. In the picture above, an analysis Dimensions element is selected to browse the attributes and hierarchies of a UDM cube to add them to the data analysis.

Notice also the new Microsoft Excel 2007 style toolbar which allows easy access to content sensitive features.

Advanced Queries

Filter UDM attribute/hierarchy members using simple hyperlink and language based templates to create advanced queries.

Reports and Charts

Powerful reports and charts can easily be created against a UDM data source.

New UDM Cube Browser Web Control

The new Enterprise Blocks ASP.NET Cube Browser web control binds to a data source and displays a list of UDM cubes inside the data source. Once a cube is selected, users can navigate through the groupings of attributes and hierarchies in the UDM cube.

Updated Expression Builder Web Control

The updated Enterprise Blocks ASP.NET Expression Builder web control provides simple hyperlink and language based templates for creating advanced queries.

Faster Queries

Enterprise Blocks was tuned for faster results of database queries. Larger datasets return much faster in Enterprise Blocks 4.0.

XCOPY Installation

Enterprise Blocks 4.0 installs using HTTP remoting instead of TCP remoting. Enterprise Blocks no longer uses Window services to host Enterprise Blocks services out of the box. This new default architecture simplifies the install of Enterprise Blocks and allows the software to be installed using a simple XCOPY or unzip instead of having to run an .msi installer. Windows Service hosting is still supported, however it is no longer the default install host. XML web service access to Enterprise Blocks services is also still supported.

Search Properties

Custom Property Setup

Custom Property Search

The Enterprise Block SQL Server catalog provider now supports custom properties to be associated with objects inside a catalog. When saving workbooks or uploading files, values of these custom properties can be set on the objects. These property values can later be used to search for these objects inside the catalog repository.

Security

The Enterprise Blocks SQL catalog provider now supports grouping users by domains. This allows analyses and other content to be both administered and accessed within a user domain. This feature allows multiple virtual applications with separate user groups and administrators to be hosted in a single installation of Enterprise Blocks.

Blogs

This feature allows users to post discussions on and attach files to an individual analysis or other object stored in a SQL catalog repository.

Guided Analysis

Using the new guided analysis feature of Enterprise Blocks 4.0, data selections can be carried over from one data analysis to another as users move through the different reports and charts of an Enterprise Blocks application.