Using Search to Insight

Access quick insights about your data by querying the Search to Insight tool.

Context

Search to Insight works with indexed (local) acquired and live SAP HANA, SAP S/4HANA, SAP Universe, and SAP BW data models. By default, data models that do not have Model Privacy enabled, or any dimensions that do not have Data Access control activated are indexed. You can choose to index or unindex a model in Set Up Model Preferences. For information on working with Search to Insight on the mobile app see Using Search to Insight on the Mobile App.

You can launch Search to Insight by selecting the corresponding icon from the main toolbar;

it can also be launched from your Home screen if the corresponding tile has been activated.
Restriction
Model Privacy must not be enabled for the target models.
Before working with live data models, ensure the following options are true:
  • You have the required rights to access the model.
  • You have enabled Search to Insight indexing under Model Preferences for the target model. For more information, see Set Up Model Preferences.
Search to Insight only supports search questions in U.S.English.

Procedure

  1. Launch Search to Insight.

    The Search to Insight dialog is displayed.

  2. Query your data by using any of the following:
    • If you know what you want to query, enter your question directly in the Ask a question search field.

      As you type, auto-complete suggestions will display, select the most appropriate suggestion. If you select the "n top matches" link for a suggestion, you can then set the search scope to a particular model.You can use synonyms for measure and dimension names if they are defined in your system.

      For more information see Defining and Working with Synonyms.
      Note
      For a summary of how and what you can format as a Search to Insight question, see Search to Insight. To clear the search field, use the provided (delete) icon.
      When ready, select the icon in the search field.
    • If you know what model you want to search select Choose a model to specify your model. The selected model will be the search scope. Use Show details to explore the model's measures and dimensions. Type your question in the search field, or select the listed measures and dimensions to generate a question.
      Note
      Newer model types will list accounts, measures, and dimensions to help you generate a query question. For more information on the newer model types see Get Started with the New Model Type.
      When ready, select the icon in the search field.
    • Select any of the search recommendations displayed above other actions.
      Note
      When you select a search recommendation, a search is automatically launched. The search scope will be the model on which the recommendation is based.

    The search result is displayed above the search field. When you run subsequent searches, previous results will continue to display, with the most recent result appearing at the bottom. To clear all displayed results, select (Delete all results) from the Search to Insight toolbar.

    Note
    A data source for a result may prompt you to add variables before any data can be displayed. A prompt will appear when you get the first result that uses the data source. After you've set the variables, that information will be used by all results that use the same data source. To change story variables:
    • In the Search to Insight toolbar, select (Edit Prompts) and choose the data source with the prompts you want to edit.
    • To override Search to Insight variables for individual results, under the chart name select (Edit Chart Prompts) and then select Set Chart Variables.
    • To switch to using Search to Insight variables, open the Edit Chart Prompts dialog again, and select Use Search To Insight Variables.
  3. You can perform any of the following actions on a search result:
    • Use Recommended follow ups under the chart to display the data using different chart types.
      Note
      Recommended follow ups will not be available for every search result.
    • Copy options
      • Reuse Question: use this option to populate the search field with the question that generated the result.
      • Copy: use this option to copy the displayed data for use in a story.
      • Additional Copy to options are available when working within a story:
        • Copy To New Canvas Page: creates a new canvas page.
        • Copy To New Responsive Page: creates a new responsive page.
        • Copy to a specific existing page in the story.
    • Export as CSV: exports the result data as a CSV file.
    • You can interact with the displayed charts using the right-click menu, or by clicking on data points to take actions such as filtering or drill down.
Related Information