The long awaited Fixpack for Xcelsius 2008 SP1 is now available via SAP Support Portal.

SAP Support Portal - Service Packs, Hot Fixes, Samples, and Utilities

So first of all let's take a look at the fixed issues list (critical issues in my opinion are marked red):

• Tab Set component produces ActionScript Error #1034 and then crashes when user groups Tab Set's canvases in Object Browser. -> resolved
• Filter component loses art and is disabled in Preview, when both Radio Button and Play Selector are also on canvas. -> resolved
• LiveCycle Data Services connection: Querying for Data Destinations clears spreadsheet bindings for all existing data elements and resets them to null-> resolved
• Using QAAWS, Xcelsius report does not show changed data.-> resolved
• When a model contains a large number of Live Office connections, Preview produces an Action Script error.-> resolved
• Placing an existing group of components into a Container component, and then un-grouping the components renders them unselectable.-> resolved
• A SWF file stored on a local machine with a QaaWS connection, will consume a second license when the connection is refreshed.-> resolved
• List Box, Label Based Menu, List Builder and Ticker components: In Design Mode, alert icons persist after deleting previously set Alert Values.-> resolved
• After session times out, QaaWS connection does NOT pop up BOE login dialog and cannot retrieve data.-> resolved
• Components are unable to bind to cells in spreadsheets with an exclamation point in the name of the spreadsheet, for example "Xcelsius!".-> resolved
• Alerts: When using the Enable Auto Colors option, in conjunction with enabling alerts using the By Value selection, the color gradient chosen by Xcelsius will vary each time the XLF is opened.-> resolved
• After opening an XLF file that uses a Global Font (selected from File>Document Properties) other than the default Verdana font, will selected font will be displayed correctly in Preview mode, but not in Design mode.-> resolved
• Performance issues of Flash files produced by Xcelsius 2008.-> various performance improvements (for detail information check Fixed Issues document)
• Problem: When retrieving data using QaaWS or Web Service data connections, some selector Labels display "Undefined", "Null" or produce ActionScript error message #1009.-> resolved (for detail information check Fixed Issues document)
• Label Based Menu: When component is displayed using Dynamic Visibility, the first Label is missing. -> resolved (for detail information check Fixed Issues document)
• Excel 'IF' Function: If the IF function's Logical_test parameter references a blank cell, Xcelsius will calculate the formula incorrectly in Preview mode or at runtime.-> resolved
• Map components - Alerts: When the alert threshold values are bound to a range, and the values are dynamically changed, the alerts are not updated.-> resolved
• When an MXML component, for example MXML Horizontal Slider sample component provided with the SDK, is added to the canvas, all other components will not update when changes are made to their Properties panel.-> resolved
• Selectors - Unable to take square brackets as labels.-> resolved
• Label components are editable during runtime, and Labels are selectable using Tab key navigation.-> resolved
• Tab Set component: When dragging a component into the Tab Set from the Object Browser, it is possible to place the component inline with the Tab Set's Canvas components, rather than within the Canvas. This causes an ActionScript error.-> resolved

In my humble opinion there are some really important and critical fixes and you should install the fixpack as soon as possible. Please notice: As it is a fixpack you need to have Xcelsius 2008 SP1 already installed in your environment. After installing the Fixpack your Xcelsius version is Xcelsius 2008 Fixpack 1.1 (Build Version 12.1.1.344)

As i recently was reading some stuff in the SDN i've found a short summary about the Xcelsius Q&A from the SAP TechEd Clubhouse. As i am not really satisfied with the data connectivity options of Xcelsius 2008 i was really interested in the question "What is the future for data connectivity in Xcelsius?".

The Answer to this question was really disenchanting to me.

1.) Yes there will be major improvements in data connectivity (as i suppose especially for SAP BW/BI)
2.) These improvements should be seen in the next release in 2010.

This is quite disappointing to me, as the SAP / BO Roadmap of August 2008 told us, that there will be a major Xcelsius+ release in 2009. Extending The Value of SAP NetWeaver BI with
Business Objects Business Intelligence Platform

Read the full post regarding Xcelsius Q&A here.

If you are working with LiveOffice objects, which corrently contain no data, the Dataset in Xcelsius will be set to just one Row. This fact causes the Dashboard to retreive no data, unless the Web Intelligence report contains data at a later time.

To know about this fact is very important, if you are wondering about your Dashboard not showing any data, although it should do.

Imagine you receive your Dashboard data from a Web Intelligence report, that contains no data at the time you are building the Dashboard and connect the Dashboard via LiveOffice with Web Intelligence.

After importing the LiveOffice enabled Excel-Model to Xcelsius, you can see the defined Dataset in Xcelsius Data Manager. (see below)

You can see, that the Dataset of this Crosstab report object is set to one row. (Row 14)
If your WebIntelligence report will provide data later on, it won't be displayed in Dashboard.

So you have got to resize the LiveOffice Datasets on your own after importing the Excel-Model. (see below)

As you can see in the screenshots i have resized the Datasets to row 240, as i though it will be enough for the data like to retrieve. As we are working with a Crosstab report object, we have to resize the Datasets for Vertical Headers and for Data Grid.

Think about the right size for you Datasets. If should be large enough to cover the largest amount of Rows, that will be provided by your WebI. But even don't set it to large, because if will affect Dashboard performance and has to to correspond you you maxrows setting in Xcelsius options.

If you encounter trouble resizing the Datasets, because Xcelsius hangs, i would recommend to install Flash Player - Debugger Version.

Expanding large Datasets in Xcelsius Data Manager might cause an ActionScript Timeout error. (see below)

You need some patience during resizing LiveOffice Datasets (lots of columns and rows), because Xcelsius does a lot of ActionScript calculations and transformation in Background. Don't wonder about the Application when it seems to freeze. Give it some time.

When the Timeout message of the Flash Debug Player appears, just click "Continue" and work is finished.

Best practice when working with LiveOffice report objects is to build a report with the largest dummy Dataset that will be retrieven on runtime. Insert the report object via LiveOffice and clear the data (just the data, not the LO-Connector cell!!!) in Xcelsius' Excel instance. If you do so, you don't have to think about Datasets because LiveOffice just gave Xcelsius the most biggest Dataset definition during Excel import.