One thing that might be confusing about using the Web Intelligence Rich Client
With the arrival of BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 3.0 the ability to view documents via a so-called Rich Client has been added to the suite. While the Rich Client might appear to be nothing more than a full client version (it requires a separate installation) of the Java version of Web Intelligence in InfoView, it does in fact have certain features that are not available in thin client version.
Some of the features might be appealing to a business user, whereas from an IT point of view installing the Rich Client is probably not a preference, but that’s an entirely different story and perhaps merits its own blog post in due time.
There are several modes in which you can start the Rich Client. The obvious one is the Online Mode (the only one available previous to XI 3.0), where different types of authentication can be used (Enterprise, LDAP, Windows AD or Windows NT), but I’m referring to both the Standalone Mode as well as the Offline Mode.
Standalone mode
In standalone mode the Rich Client is not connected to a CMS and no security is enforced (hence you need not log in). You can only work with local, unsecured documents and universes. I believe there were once plans to start selling the Standalone Rich Client in combination with a Standalone Designer as a lightweight query and analysis tool. Whether this can actually be bought now I don’t know.
Offline mode
In offline mode the Rich Client is also not connected to the CMS repository, however, CMS security is applied, meaning you can work with local documents and universes that are secured by the CMS that you select at login or with unsecured local documents and resources. You obviously cannot import documents to the CMS repository in Offline mode and you need to have the relevant connections set locally as well.