Training - Course Description

Course:
Integrating and Extending Pentaho

Course Number: SLN7000
Audience: Technical users who embed or build custom solutions using Pentaho APIs, service layers, plug-ins, and custom user interfaces, including: BI Application Developers, Java Developers, and BI Solution Architects
Level: Advanced – This course is intended for large enterprise or OEM customers and Pentaho partners with considerable Pentaho experience
Delivery Method: Public classroom, private on-site (please contact us for on-site pricing)
Duration: 4 Days
Public Training Cost: USD $3,900 (6 credits)
Course Placement: This course is the third course in the Custom Solution Developer learning path. Students should complete SLN4000 – Using Pentaho Business Analytics I and SLN6000 – Using Pentaho Business Analytics II or have equivalent Pentaho field experience.

Course Schedule:

In the schedule below, click the course title for detailed information on the class, click the provider link for information on the authorized training provider, or click the Register Now link to enroll.

Note: All courses provided by Pentaho-EMEA are offered in the Central European time zone. All US courses (provided by Pentaho) are offered in the Eastern time zone. Beginning in July, 2013, all US courses will be offered in the Central time zone.

Course Overview:

This course is designed to sufficiently tool a Pentaho solution builder to customize and extend Pentaho solutions and the Pentaho products (heavily focused on the Pentaho BI Server) to meet the needs of customers that are looking for functionality beyond “out of the box” capabilities.

The course is broken into three sections:

Section 1: Building Solutions (2 Days)

Master the "Art of the Possible" with Pentaho solutions. Solution builders learn how to deliver results using powerful Pentaho technology that is flexible enough to model the customer’s own business logic. The course takes an in depth look at action sequences, business intelligence components and how they work together to deliver precise solutions for your real world business intelligence needs.

This part of the course also includes hands on advanced solution building using the latest capabilities in the Pentaho BI Suite of tools. Learn the best-practice way to create solutions that use the appropriate tool for maximum performance, minimum maintenance, and fastest delivery of a solution to your customer’s problem.

At the end of the day, you'll be able to answer common questions around Pentaho solutions, like:

1. How do I build dynamic chart drill linking?
2. How do I build solutions with dynamic, custom-logic driven or cascading filters?
3. How do I achieve report to report linking in Pentaho’s mashups?
4. How do I increase interactivity in my Pentaho reports to include forms, URL linking, email or AJAX functionality?
5. …and many many more!

Section 2: Extending Pentaho (1 Day)

When it comes right down to it, your enterprise business intelligence requirements need concrete, specific solutions that solve every dimension of the business problem. How do you leverage the Pentaho BI Server to create data and solution perspectives based on your customer’s business requirements? Pentaho Architect’s Bootcamp shows you how.

Extending Pentaho is all about discovering the best-practice, recommended extension points in the server and using them to incorporate features based on your more complex needs. Understanding the APIs and knowing where the common entry points are eliminates the migration or upgrade headaches associated with customizing software.

The course covers commonly extended APIs for security features, Metadata, Mondrian (OLAP), SQL querying and much more. Learn the exact entry point to accommodate your requirements every time – whether your customers use Analyzer, Web Adhoc Query and Reporting, Pentaho User Console, or your own custom user interface or dashboard mashup.

Questions answered around extending Pentaho include:

1. How do I plugin additional BI Server functionality leverage-able in action sequences, in custom visualizations, or as new datasources to my BI solutions?
2. How do I customize security while also using my existing system’s users and roles with Pentaho?
3. How do I dynamically control what portions of a Mondrian Analysis schema a user may view after authenticating to the Pentaho BI Server?
4. How can I dynamically filter the data view a user sees when they are accessing the data through Pentaho’s customer facing applications?

Section 3: Integrating Pentaho (1 Day)

At Pentaho, we believe that Business Intelligence is always part of a larger process. Business Intelligence by itself does not solve problems; BI solutions, followed by corrective action, followed by another look at your solution are the path to better business through Business Intelligence.

Pentaho believes so strongly in the integrated nature of Business Intelligence that we built our software that way. The Pentaho BI Suite of products are easily embeddable and easily integrated products. Integration can be achieved as a whole or as razor thin as integrated access to the results of a single report.

The last part of the course will introduce you to the web services that give you complete control over how much – or how little – of the Pentaho application is delivered to your users. Maybe you only want to deliver a single chart that summarizes key details on a dashboard owned by your existing application. Pentaho can accommodate. Maybe you want Pentaho Analyzer to appear embedded in your application, or as a standalone application. Pentaho can do that. Whether it is reports, dashboards, analysis, background execution of solutions, scheduled delivery of content – all of these valuable solutions can be accessed as independent services and displayed in your web application or Pentaho's.

Attend the Pentaho Architect’s Bootcamp to learn the best-practice methods for integrating and embedding the Pentaho BI Suite of products.

Skills Achieved:

At the completion of this course, you should be able to:

• Have a solid understanding of Pentaho action sequences and the power they bring to Pentaho solutions.
• Be able to develop dashboard solutions and content mashups using Community Dashboard Framework, Community Data Access, action sequences, Pentaho Reports, Pentaho Data Integration, and Pentaho Analysis
• Be able to use Pentaho web services to deliver Pentaho solutions and Pentaho web clients within your own web application or mashups
• Be able to develop basic BI Server actions and plugins, incorporating custom functionality into the Pentaho BI Server and your solutions
• Understand the best practice extension points to expand the Pentaho BI Server to cover your customer's complex requirements
• Be able to implement a custom security plan for the Pentaho BI Server

Course Prerequisites:

Students should complete SLN4000 – Using Pentaho Business Analytics I and SLN6000 – Using Pentaho Business Analytics II or have equivalent Pentaho field experience. The course is a fast paced course intended for a technical audience with a firm grasp of business intelligence and the Pentaho BI suite. The student will be a Pentaho solution builder and/or software developer comfortable with XML, Javascript, and Web 2.0 concepts. A basic understanding of Java programming is helpful, but not critical.

Course Requirements:

Students attending classroom courses in the United States are provided with a PC to use during class. Students attending courses outside the US should contact the Authorized Training Provider regarding PC requirements for Pentaho courses.

In general, if your training provider requires you to bring a PC to class, it must meet the following requirements. You can also verify your system against the Compatibility Matrix: List of Supported Products topic in the Pentaho InfoCenter:

• Windows XP, 7 desktop operating system (for Macintosh support, please contact your Customer Success Manager)
• RAM: at least 4GB
• Hard drive space: at least 2GB for the software, and more for solution and content files
• Processor: dual-core AMD64 or Intel EM64T
• DVD drive

Students attending this course on-site should contact their Customer Success Manager for hardware and software requirements. You can also email us at training@pentaho.com for more information regarding on-site training requirements.

Course Agenda: