Friday, September 4, 2026

PowerBurst Publisher - Templates & Grid Styles

Simplify formatting of raw data in report bursting

There are many scenarios in which analysts query data sources directly, but then need the returned data set formatted appropriately to permit further analysis and allow their information consumers to make best use of the information. APOS PowerBurst Publisher fulfills this requirement.

For example, although SAP has deprecated Business Explorer (BEx) Analyzer, Workbooks and Broadcaster, analysts may have a set of perfectly good queries against their SAP BW data source. The problem for these analysts is that the queries return raw data that is not particularly usable. PowerBurst (aka APOS Publisher) allows them to generate formatted reports in multiple formants and burst the results of their queries to their information consumers.

You can use pre-defined grid styles to format raw data, and these grid styles can be stored in the PowerBurst system to provide a re-usable look and feel for your data.

See our piece on the SAP Community Network for more information on BEx Query Bursting without BEx Broadcaster or Analysis for Office.

Automated Data Formatting

Extensive formatting options are of course a key feature and differentiator of APOS PowerBurst, along with personalized distribution to an extensive array of potential destinations, integration with agentic AI, enterprise scalability and dynamic flexibility to meet growing and changing information orchestration and delivery needs.

PowerBurst takes the raw data from your query and generates a CSV, Excel or PDF file. You can use the bursting definition in PowerBurst to specify an Excel template in which to embed the data. These pre-defined Excel templates can contain visualizations, calculations and macros to present the data as needed.

You can also define grid styles and store them in PowerBurst. These grid styles can describe all the colors and formats needed for the data. PowerBurst lets you style your data with colors, borders, currencies, line totals and more. You can save these grid styles as objects in the PowerBurst system and use them in conjunction with Excel templates so that your corporate styles are readily available to give you control and make your report bursts consistent and professional in look and feel.