Business Intelligence for Asta Powerproject
You can export Business Intelligence data from Asta Powerproject projects to an external spreadsheet or database, in a form that is optimised for convenient reporting using a reporting tool of your choice. Asta Powerproject includes a Business Intelligence export to Microsoft Excel® as standard, which means that you can use Excel's reporting tools to create unique reports on your data. More advanced users can download and install the Business Intelligence Controller, an application that enables you to specify the way in which you want data to be exported to an external database.
When you export Business Intelligence data, the data is exported according to a Business Intelligence export model, which defines the information that is included. You can set up as many Business Intelligence export models as you need, with each one defining a different set of information to be exported. When you export Business Intelligence data, only data that your security group's access rights allow you to view are exported.
You can use the Business Intelligence Controller to export data from one or more standalone projects or from projects that are stored in a data source on an Asta Enterprise server.
Architecture overview
Business Intelligence for Asta Powerproject comprises the following elements:
- The Business Intelligence Controller application. This is an application that enables the export of data from your Asta Powerproject projects into an external database. This application can be installed onto any machine that has access to your project data and to the external database to which you want to export information.
- Developers' Toolkit. This is an application that enables communication between Business Intelligence and your Asta Enterprise server. It must be installed alongside the Business Intelligence Controller application; if you install the Business Intelligence Controller on a machine on which an Asta Powerproject client is installed, the Developers' Toolkit will already be installed.
- The Business Intelligence Model Compiler application. This is an application that enables you to compile Business Intelligence export models so that they can be used to export information to Microsoft Excel or to an external database. This application is installed automatically when alongside the Business Intelligence Controller application.
- The Business Intelligence database. This is a Microsoft SQL Server or SQLite® database. The Business Intelligence database can be located anywhere; you may want to locate it in the same place as your Asta Enterprise data sources.
- A reporting tool of your choice with which to create reports using the data that has been exported to the Business Intelligence database.
The following diagram illustrates the basic structure of the Business Intelligence system, displaying the required hardware and the software that is installed on each item of hardware:
Hardware and software requirements
The Business Intelligence Controller and Business Intelligence Model Compiler - which are installed together - can be installed onto any machine that has access to your Asta Enterprise server and to the external database to which you are going to export Business Intelligence data.
The latest version of the Developers' Toolkit must be installed on the machine on which the Business Intelligence Controller is to be installed. If you install the Business Intelligence Controller onto a machine on which an Asta Powerproject client is installed, the Developers' Toolkit will already be present.
If you are planning to use the Business Intelligence Controller to export Business Intelligence data from an Asta Enterprise server to an external database, a suitable Microsoft SQL Server or SQLite database must be available on a machine to which the Enterprise server can connect; if you are planning to export Business Intelligence data from one or more PP files to an external database, the database must be available on a machine to which the Business Intelligence Controller machine can connect.
Technical briefing
The Business Intelligence Controller can be used with the following types of database:
- Microsoft SQL Server 2014 (32 or 64 bit).
- Microsoft SQL Server 2016 (32 or 64 bit).
- Microsoft SQL Server 2017 (32 or 64 bit).
- Microsoft SQL Server 2019 (32 or 64 bit).
- Microsoft SQL Server 2022 (32 or 64 bit).
- SQLite databases.
The appropriate Microsoft SQL Server client software must be installed on the data source machine(s).