SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) is a versatile tool for data visualization and business intelligence, offering various page types to help users create compelling and informative stories. In this blog post, we will compare and contrast four distinct SAC story page types: Responsive, Canvas, Grid, and From Smart Discovery pages. Understanding their unique features and use cases will help you choose the right page type for your data presentation needs.
Out of the Gate
Right out of the gate, we can eliminate ‘From a Smart Discovery’ as a page type because it is not. Smart Discovery is a feature in SAC and a great tool if you are unsure where to start building your story pages. With Smart Discovery, you can ask natural language questions about your data. SAC will visualize that data for you and allow you to try different things before adding them to your story pages.
Also, it’s worth noting that if you choose From a Smart Discovery as your starting point, you will not be able to use SAC’s Optimized Design Experience and will be stuck with the Classic Design Experience (This will be covered in more detail in an upcoming blog post). The results from a Smart Discovery will be placed on a responsive page.
One other thing to note is that you can have a mix of all the page types within one story. So, in a single story you can have a Canvas page designed to be printed or at a specific pixel width for screens, a Responsive page for mobile users, and a Grid page to view the data in a traditional table structure.
Page Types and When to Use Them
| SAC Page Types | Key Characteristics | When to Use |
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Responsive Page |
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Canvas Page |
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Grid Page |
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From Smart Discovery |
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Comparison and Contrast
| Layout & Flexibility | Customization | Use Cases |
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Wrap Up
SAP Analytics Cloud provides a diverse set of story page types, each catering to different use cases and user requirements. Responsive Pages ensure mobile-friendliness, Canvas Pages offer fixed page sizes, Grid Pages provide traditional table structure, and From Smart Discovery Pages simplify data exploration. Selecting the right page type depends on your specific goals and the audience you want to engage with, ensuring that your SAC story effectively communicates your data-driven insights.
