Pentaho is an open-source business analytics platform used to create data-driven solutions. It is a complete suite of business intelligence (BI) tools, which includes data integration (ETL), analytics, reporting, and visualization.
Audience
This tutorial is designed for software developers and business analysts who are interested in learning how to use the Pentaho platform. It will cover topics such as the platform’s architecture, how to create reports, dashboards and visualizations, and how to deploy applications. It will also provide information on the data integration and ETL capabilities of Pentaho and how to use it to build custom solutions.
Prerequisites
This Pentaho Tutorial is designed for beginners and professionals. Before proceeding with this tutorial, you should have a basic understanding of Data Warehouse, Business Intelligence, OLAP, and Database concepts.
Basic knowledge of SQL queries is also required to work with Pentaho.
Pentaho – Overview
Pentaho is an open source business intelligence platform that helps organizations create data-driven insights and business decisions. It provides a comprehensive suite of analytics and data integration tools for data mining, reporting, data visualization, predictive analytics, and more. Pentaho is designed to help organizations gain insights into their data, enabling better decision making and faster time to value. It is available in both a cloud and on-premise version, and can be integrated with other open source and proprietary systems. Pentaho’s core features include data integration, data mining, reporting, analytics, data visualization, predictive analytics, and more.
What is Pentaho Reporting?
Pentaho Reporting is a powerful and flexible reporting solution that enables organizations to deliver accurate, timely, and actionable information to their business users. It helps businesses create and deliver interactive reports from a wide range of data sources, including relational databases, OLAP cubes, and big data sources. Pentaho Reporting also enables users to design, create, and deliver reports in a variety of formats, including HTML, PDF, and Excel.
Pentaho – Installation
Pentaho is an open-source business intelligence (BI) suite that provides data integration, visualization, reporting, and analytics capabilities. It is a complete end-to-end platform for organizations of all sizes.
Installing Pentaho is a straightforward process and can be done in three simple steps:
1. Download the Pentaho software: The first step is to download the Pentaho software from its official website. You can choose from the Community edition or the Enterprise edition, depending on your requirements.
2. Install the software: After downloading the software, the next step is to install it. Depending on the version you have chosen, you may need to install the Enterprise Server and the Pentaho Data Integration (PDI) server.
3. Configure the system: The final step is to configure the system. This includes setting up the database and other data sources, configuring the security settings, and setting up the user accounts.
Once the installation is complete, you’ll be ready to start using Pentaho to create powerful business intelligence solutions.
Features of Pentaho
1. Data Integration and ETL: Pentaho Data Integration (PDI) enables users to discover, model, integrate and migrate data from any source to any destination.
2. Business Analytics: Pentaho Business Analytics offers powerful reporting and analytics tools that help users to make informed decisions quickly.
3. Embedded Analytics: Pentaho allows developers to easily embed analytics into their applications, leveraging the power of the Pentaho platform without having to build everything from the ground up.
4. Data Mining: Pentaho’s advanced analytics engine supports predictive analytics, data mining and machine learning.
5. Visualizations: With Pentaho’s intuitive drag-and-drop visualizations, users can easily create interactive dashboards and visualizations to quickly explore and analyze data.
6. Big Data: Pentaho supports a wide range of big data technologies, enabling users to easily access, integrate and analyze data from Hadoop, NoSQL, Spark and other big data sources.
Install Database Driver
The first step in installing a database driver is to determine which type of driver is needed. This will depend on the specific database platform being used. Depending on the platform, the driver may need to be downloaded from the vendor’s website or installed from a third-party provider. Once the driver has been identified, it should be downloaded and installed according to the instructions provided. After the driver has been installed, it will need to be configured to work with the database and the application that will be using it.
Install Additional Fonts
1. Download the font file.
2. Open the folder containing the font file.
3. Right-click the font file and select Install.
4. Follow the instructions to install the font.
5. The font will now be available for use in programs such as Microsoft Word and Adobe Photoshop.
Pentaho – Navigation
Pentaho provides several methods for navigating the software. The main navigation methods are as follows:
1. Menu Bar: The menu bar is located at the top of the Pentaho application window. It provides access to the functionality of the application.
2. Toolbar: The toolbar is located below the menu bar. It provides shortcuts to commonly used functions and tools.
3. Side Bar: The side bar is located to the left of the application window. It provides access to the various services available in Pentaho such as data sources, reports, and more.
4. View: The view is located to the right of the application window. It provides access to the various visualizations, such as charts, tables, and more.
5. Dashboards: The dashboard is located in the center of the application window. It provides access to all the dashboards created in Pentaho.
6. Search: The search bar is located at the top right of the application window. It provides access to quickly search for data or report elements within the application.
The Main Toolbar
The main toolbar in Pentaho includes:
* File: Create new projects, open existing projects, save projects, export data, print, and many other options.
* Edit: Cut, copy, paste, undo, redo, find and replace.
* View: Change the look and feel of the user interface, control the display of data, and change the language.
* Insert: Add components to a project, such as tables, charts, data sources, and more.
* Format: Change the appearance of components, such as fonts, colors, and sizes.
* Data: Access and manipulate data sources and data sets.
* Tools: Access various tools for data analysis and manipulation, such as a query builder, transformation designer, and data integration.
* Help: Access the user manual and other help resources.
The Structure Pane
The Structure Pane in Pentaho Data Integration is a graphical user interface (GUI) element that allows users to view, create, and manage data flows, transformations, and jobs. It displays a hierarchical overview of the objects in a project and their relationships to one another. The objects that can be viewed in the Structure Pane include data sources, transformations, jobs, and steps. It also provides access to the logging, preview, and error handling features. The Structure Pane is a useful tool for quickly understanding the underlying structure of a project and making changes to it.
The Report Workspace
The Report Workspace in Pentaho is a web-based tool that enables users to create, analyze, and share reports. It allows users to create, modify, and publish interactive reports with ease. It also provides a comprehensive set of features for creating, sharing, and customizing reports. The Report Workspace provides an intuitive interface with drag-and-drop features, a powerful report editing and formatting tool, and an extensive library of report elements. It is designed to meet the needs of business users, analysts, and other stakeholders.
The Structure Pane
The Structure Pane in Pentaho is a feature that displays a hierarchical view of the elements that make up a Pentaho solution. It is designed to help users quickly and easily navigate and view the structure of a Pentaho solution. The Structure Pane displays a hierarchical view of all the elements that make up a Pentaho solution, including transformations, jobs, databases, and variables. It also includes a search feature, allowing users to quickly locate and access the elements they need. Additionally, users can drag and drop elements from the Structure Pane into the workspace.
The Data Pane
The Data Pane in Pentaho is a powerful feature that allows users to explore, analyze and visualize data. It provides a simple way to explore data and identify patterns and trends. It can also be used to prepare data for further analysis, such as creating charts and graphs. With the Data Pane, users can explore data from multiple sources, including databases, files, and web services. The Data Pane also allows users to build complex data queries and perform advanced analytics.
The Style Pane
The Style pane in Pentaho is a graphical interface that allows users to quickly customize the look and feel of their Pentaho data visualization. This pane displays a list of available visualizations, along with their styling options. Users can customize the size, shape, color, title, and other properties of their charts and graphs. Additionally, the Style pane also provides access to a wide range of formatting options, including font selection, background color, and border color. Through the Style pane, users can quickly create an aesthetically pleasing and informative data visualization that accurately conveys the data.
The Attribute Pane
The Attribute Pane in Pentaho is a graphical tool used to manage and configure the data sources used in Pentaho Data Integration (PDI). This graphical tool allows users to quickly and easily change the settings of data sources, such as columns, data types, joins, and even data sources themselves. It can also be used to create and modify transformations, which are the instructions used to move data from one source to another. The Attribute Pane is a powerful and versatile tool that makes the process of data integration much easier and faster.
The Palette
The Palette in Pentaho is a graphical user interface that provides access to the tools and components that are used to create data transformations and analytics. It contains a list of activities and components that can be used to build data pipelines, perform data cleansing and transformation, apply machine learning models, and more. The Palette also provides access to the Pentaho Data Integration (PDI) engine, which is used to execute the data pipelines. It also provides access to other Pentaho products, such as the Pentaho Analyzer, Pentaho Dashboards, and Pentaho Reporting.
Pentaho – Data Sources & Queries
Pentaho Data Sources
1. Relational Databases: Pentaho supports a wide range of relational databases including MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL, etc.
2. Hadoop: Pentaho provides native support for Hadoop clusters and can be used to process and analyze data stored in HDFS or Hive.
3. NoSQL Databases: Pentaho supports NoSQL databases such as MongoDB and Cassandra.
4. Flat Files: Pentaho can read data from flat files such as CSV and Excel.
5. Web Services: Pentaho can also access data from popular web services such as Salesforce and Twitter.
Pentaho Queries
1. SQL Queries: Pentaho provides a powerful SQL query engine that can be used to query data from relational databases.
2. MDX Queries: Pentaho supports MDX queries for extracting data from multidimensional databases such as Analysis Services and Mondrian.
3. MongoDB Queries: Pentaho can also query data from MongoDB using the MongoDB query language.
4. HiveQL Queries: Pentaho supports HiveQL queries for extracting data from Hive tables.
5. SPARQL Queries: Pentaho also supports SPARQL queries for extracting data from RDF graphs.
Steps to Generate a Report
1. Launch the Pentaho Report Designer.
2. Select the appropriate data source.
3. Create a report layout.
4. Design the report by adding data fields, labels, images and other elements.
5. Preview and save the report.
6. Generate the report by running the report with the applicable parameters.
7. Export the report in the desired format.
Pentaho – Reporting Elements
Pentaho Reporting elements are tools and components used to create and design reports. Pentaho Reporting is a powerful, open-source reporting engine used to create highly customizable and formatted reports. It provides an easy-to-use reporting interface with a variety of components, including charts, tables, images, and maps, that can be used to create visually appealing and informative reports. Pentaho Reporting includes a variety of features and options, allowing users to customize the look, feel, and functionality of their reports. It can be used to generate reports from virtually any type of data source, including relational databases, OLAP cubes, flat files, and more. Pentaho Reporting also provides users with the ability to export reports to various formats, such as HTML, PDF, Excel, and XML.
Adding Reporting Elements
1. Pentaho Report Designer: Pentaho Report Designer is a powerful and easy-to-use reporting tool that enables users to create interactive, visually appealing reports from a variety of data sources. The report designer allows users to quickly create reports from databases, web services, and more. It also offers advanced features such as data filtering, sorting, and custom formatting.
2. Pentaho Data Integration: Pentaho Data Integration (PDI) is a comprehensive ETL (extract, transform, and load) tool that helps users extract data from multiple sources, transform it, and then load it into a target data warehouse. PDI also provides a graphical drag-and-drop interface that simplifies the design of data transformation processes.
3. Pentaho Dashboards: Pentaho Dashboards provide an intuitive, visually appealing way to monitor key business metrics and performance indicators. It includes features such as drag-and-drop data visualization, data filtering, and custom reporting.
4. Pentaho Metadata Editor: Pentaho Metadata Editor is a tool that helps users create, edit, and manage metadata. It allows users to define, update, and access data sources, define and customize data elements, and manage user access rights.
5. Pentaho Data Mining: Pentaho Data Mining is a comprehensive data mining solution that enables users to build predictive models from data. It provides a visual drag-and-drop interface for creating models and provides advanced features such as automated data pre-processing, model validation, and data visualization.
Pentaho – Page Footer Fields
1. Copyright Notice
2. Disclaimer
3. Links to Social Media
4. Links to Terms of Use
5. Links to Privacy Policy
6. Business Contact Information
7. Site Map links
8. Search Bar
9. Contact Us link
10. Feedback Form
11. Site Logo
12. Links to other pages
13. Links to affiliates/partners
14. Links to support/help pages
15. Links to FAQs
16. Links to news/blog
17. Links to advisories
18. Links to accessibility information
19. Link to careers page
20. Signup/Subscription form
Adding Page Footer Fields in Pentaho Report
Pentaho Report Designer provides an easy way to add page footer fields in a report. A page footer is a section of the report that appears at the bottom of each page. It typically contains elements such as page numbers, report titles, and logos.
To add a page footer field to a Pentaho Report, first open the report in the Report Designer. In the Report Designer, go to the Layout tab and click on the Page Footer option. The Page Footer Properties window will appear. Here, you can add the fields that you want to include in the page footer. You can add static text, images, and other report elements as well.
Once you have added the elements, click on the OK button to save the changes. Your page footer fields have now been added to the report.
Pentaho – Groups
Pentaho Groups are user-created groups that join together like-minded individuals and organizations to collaborate, share ideas and resources, and network with each other. Through Pentaho Groups, members can create and join communities, create forums and topics, and host events. They can also share ideas and best practices, access resources, and connect with other users in their industry. Pentaho Groups help users to quickly access a wide variety of resources and help to foster collaboration and innovation among the members.
Adding Groups in Pentaho
1. Log in to the Pentaho User Console.
2. Select the Security link from the left side of the screen.
3. Select the Manage Groups option from the drop down menu.
4. Click the Add Group button.
5. Fill out the information for the new group, including the name, description and any roles you wish to assign to the group.
6. Click the Save button to save the new group.
7. Repeat steps 4-6 for each group you wish to add.
Pentaho – Chart Report
Pentaho Chart Report is an interactive reporting tool that allows users to create visually appealing reports. It provides users with a variety of chart types, such as pie, bar, line, scatter, and combination charts. It also allows users to customize their reports with advanced features, such as trend lines, data labels, and color palettes. Pentaho Chart Report lets users analyze data quickly, uncover patterns and trends, and make informed decisions. It also allows users to interactively explore data with drill-down and dynamic filters.
Steps to Create a Chart in Pentaho
1. Download and install Pentaho Business Analytics.
2. Open the Pentaho User Console and select “Create New” from the left sidebar.
3. Select “Chart” from the list of options.
4. Select the type of chart you would like to create.
5. Select the data source you would like to use to create your chart.
6. Select the data fields you would like to use in your chart.
7. Configure the formatting of your chart, such as colors and labels.
8. Click the “Create” button to generate your chart.
9. Save or export your chart for future use.’
Pentaho – Formatting Report Elements
Pentaho is an open source business intelligence suite that helps users to create and format reports. It offers a wide range of features and tools to help users create visually appealing and high-quality reports.
One of the most important elements in creating a report is formatting the elements. Pentaho offers a variety of tools to help users format report elements such as text, images, and tables.
Text: Pentaho allows users to format text elements within a report using font settings, size, color, alignment, and more.
Images: Pentaho provides users with the ability to add images to a report. Users can adjust the size, position, and formatting of the image within the report.
Tables: Pentaho provides users with a powerful table editor that allows them to create tables with a variety of settings. They can adjust the size, color, alignment, and other properties of the table elements.
Overall, Pentaho offers a variety of tools to help users format report elements in an efficient and visually appealing way. With the wide range of features, users can easily create high-quality reports that will help them display and analyze data effectively.
Pentaho – Functions
1. Data integration: Pentaho Data Integration (PDI) provides a comprehensive set of Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) capabilities that allow users to access, transform, and integrate data from any data source.
2. Reporting & Analysis: Pentaho Reporting is a suite of reporting tools that allow users to create and deliver interactive reports and dashboards. Pentaho Analysis (Mondrian) is an online analytical processing (OLAP) engine used for reporting and analysis.
3. Business intelligence: Pentaho Business Analytics (BA) is a suite of business intelligence (BI) tools that provide powerful data visualization and analysis capabilities. With BA, users can quickly gain insights into their business data.
4. Data visualization: Pentaho Data Visualization (DV) is a tool that provides powerful visualizations to help users explore and discover patterns and insights from their data.
5. Predictive analytics: Pentaho Predictive Analytics (PA) is a suite of predictive analytics tools that helps users to develop predictive models and use those models to forecast future trends and behaviors.
Pentaho – Additional Functions
1. Dashboard Designer: Dashboard Designer is a tool that allows users to create visually appealing, interactive dashboards that can be used to monitor performance metrics and other data.
2. Data Integration: Data Integration is a tool that enables users to connect and combine data from multiple sources, transform it into usable information, and store it in a single repository.
3. Data Mining: Data Mining is a tool that uses algorithms to discover patterns and relationships in data sets.
4. Pentaho Report Designer: Pentaho Report Designer is a tool that enables users to create visually appealing, professional-looking reports from data.
5. Data Profiling: Data Profiling is a tool that enables users to quickly and accurately assess the quality and structure of data sets.
6. User Console: User Console is a tool that provides an interactive environment for creating, managing, and running data integration jobs and reports.
7. Business Analytics: Business Analytics is a tool that enables users to analyze data, uncover trends, and explore relationships between business metrics.
8. ETL: ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) is a tool that enables users to extract data from disparate sources, transform it into usable information, and load it into a data warehouse.