Many of the chapters in my new book Building Business Intelligence Using SAS: Content Development Examples were straightforward to write but one in particular was the beast. Neither Tricia nor I wanted to tackle the SAS BI Dashboard chapter. Just chalk it up to no major work experience with this product to draw from. After picking the short straw, I had the privilege of trying to figure it out. Well, this product has since turned into one of my favorite tools of the SAS Business Intelligence solution (and I think maybe Tricia's too).

• Just a week or so after creating the initial draft, a customer called me to ask about the indicator titles. Did you know these are edited from the dashboard view rather than on the indicator itself? That's on page 305, in section 9.4.1 Font Styles and Sizes.
• Then a couple days later (I'm not kidding), a co-worker asked how to get a custom graph into the dashboard because there wasn't an indicator to meet their client's need. Section 9.4.4 shows how to use a Stored Process as an indicator.
• And the coolest thing that SAS BI Dashboard can do is generate (without any code) a fancy interface with prompts and output results on the same page. Something requested of SAS Stored Process developers often but html/javascript/etc code is required to fulfill the requirements. Refer to Sections 9.5.2 Cascading Prompts and 9.5.4 Brush Interactions between Indicators. Included is a screenshot of the sample we create in the chapter.

Building Business Intelligence Using SAS: Content Development Examples is now available for purchase. Tricia also created a Peek Inside on her blog if you are looking for information on what else is contained in the book.

Once it arrives, let Tricia & I know what chapter is your favorite!