Ok, I tried searching about the Rich Client but didn’t see this answered anywhere… so forgive me if it seems a bit ‘basic’.
I’m coming from an XIR2 environment, about to install XIR3.x Edge.
I remember from 2008’s Dallas conference they showed us the new WebI client for XIR3 which appears to be named the “Web Intelligence Rich Client”. At the time I thought this was replacing the existing WEBI client but I now understand that it sits alongside it in the BOBJ package and we have in fact two distinct WebI environments now, Rich Client and Thin Client (aka old Webi).
I understand that one is a client application which has to be installed etc… and the other a typical web based application… so far so good.
What I’m a little fuzzy on is whether these are two seperate and distinct reporting applications (like WebI and DeskI), or are they simply two different tools which can be used to create/view the same documents?
I loved the ability of offline editing etc… that the Rich client offers , however due to our end user base we cannot install any applications on thier machines, so they will have to use the standard WEBI Thin client for viewing documents. Will they have issues, or even be able to open, documents that are created with the Rich Client?
I’m hoping these are actually two developement tools for the same end product, or at the worst case, that the Rich Client has some sort of “Save As” type feature where I can specifiy Thin Client mode.
Please tell me I’m not going to have to use thin client for developing!
From everything I have read (and I read a lot, based on the same concerns you have), they seem to be 99% compatible. That is, if you are trying really complex things, you might run into compatibility bugs. (What?!? Bugs in BOXI?!? ) But, for most reports in most circumstances, it shouldn’t be a problem at all.
It may also help you to know that users can choose to install the Rich Client themselves from the Preferences screen in InfoView (if you give them the rights to do so). So, if your issue with the client is that you don’t have the infrastructure/rights to push an installation, they can pull it. If the issue is that the users are on locked-down workstations, then obviously that doesn’t help you.
As for the end users using the Rich Client… we’re actually going to disable that. Mostly because we aren’t staffed to be able to support the users on client/desktop installations. Our users are across over several hundred companies who all have different equipment and setups, there’s no way we could troubleshoot any incompatibilities, upgrade patches etc… as it is I’m dreading the calls that I expect to receive when CompanyX upgrades thier browser version or java version before we’re ready.
I’m sure you can find that in the installation guide.
It’s not very big. it requires Java to be installed. RAM usage is not huge, but the installation of any BO desktop stuff uses a ridiculous amount of space.
I would say 100 mb disk and at least 512 mb ram is required.
) But, for most reports in most circumstances, it shouldn’t be a problem at all.
(BOB member since 2002-06-25)
(BOB member since 2005-01-06)