Anonymous Performance Point Dashboards (SP2013)

Performance Point (PPS) became part of the Enterprise offering of SharePoint starting with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007.  As a tool it was branded as "Bringing BI to the Masses."  In SharePoint 2010, it was possible to deploy PPS dashboards to BI sites with anonymous access.  SharePoint 15 (2013) broke this, either on purpose or by mistake, and here's how it happened:

Assembly: Microsoft.PerformancePoint.ScoreCard.WebControls.dll
Version: 14.0.0.0
Class: Microsoft.PerformancePoint.ScoreCard.OlapViewCache
Derived Class: System.Web.UI.Page

Assembly: Microsoft.PerformancePoint.ScoreCard.WebControls.dll
Version: 15.0.0.0
Class: Microsoft.PerformancePoint.ScoreCard.OlapViewCache
Derived Class: Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls.LayoutsPageBase

Differences between version 14 & 15: Other than derived class, none.

Result of the change: _layouts/PPSWebParts/OlapViewCache.aspx requires user authentication with SharePoint 2013 (v15), where as SharePoint 2010 (v14) did not.  This means that while the ASPX application page generated by SharePoint designer can be placed in an anonymous access document library, elements referenced on the page via Image (<img src=""/>) tags require authentication.  Failure to provide credentials causes the chart elements to not render, causing a critical failure of the dashboard in anonymous access sites.

Here's the work around we implemented.

1. Create an ASPX page which duplicates the operations of Microsoft.PerformancePoint.ScoreCard.OlapViewCache.
2. Copy the ASPX page from (1) to:
   • 15\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\PPSWebParts
   • 14\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\PPSWebParts

Note: an IISRESET may be required after placing the files in the 14 & 15 hives.

The following content implements the replacement OlapViewCache.aspx which derives from Page instead of LayoutsPageBase.

<%@ Page Language="C#" %>
<%@ Assembly Name="Microsoft.PerformancePoint.ScoreCards.ServerCommon, 
        Version=15.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c" %>
<%@ Import Namespace="Microsoft.PerformancePoint.Scorecards"  %>
<%@ Import Namespace="Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls"  %>
<%@ Import Namespace="System"  %>
<%@ Import Namespace="System.Globalization"  %>
<%@ Import Namespace="System.Web"  %>
<%--
    Name:                   OlapViewCache.aspx
    Deployment Location:    15\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\PPSWebParts
    Description:
        Replaces the SharePoint 2013 OlapViewCache.aspx utility page.  The script
        code in this file was produced to replicate
        Microsoft.PerforamcePoint.Scorecards.WebControls which changed inheritance
        to LayoutsPageBase in SharePoint v15 (2013).  In v14, System.Web.UI.Page
        was the derived class.  The change in v15 caused the page to require 
        authentication meanwhile, other dashboard components could be used 
        anonymously.  This ASPX class derives from Page once more.
--%>
<script runat="server" type="text/C#">
    private void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e) {
        string externalkey = Request.QueryString["cacheID"];
        string s1 = Request.QueryString["height"];
        string s2 = Request.QueryString["width"];
        string tempFcoLocation = Request.QueryString["tempfco"];
        string str1 = Request.QueryString["cs"];
        string str2 = Request.QueryString["cc"];
        int height;
        int width;
        
        try {
            height = int.Parse(s1, (IFormatProvider)CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
            width = int.Parse(s2, (IFormatProvider)CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
        } catch {
            height = 480;
            width = 640;
        }
        
        int colStart = 1;
        int colCount = 100;
        try {
            if (str1.Length > 0)
                colStart = Convert.ToInt32(str1, 
                        (IFormatProvider)CultureInfo.CurrentCulture);
            if (str2.Length > 0)
                colCount = Convert.ToInt32(str2, 
                        (IFormatProvider)CultureInfo.CurrentCulture);
        } catch {
            colStart = 1;
            colCount = 100;
        }
        
        string mimeType;
        string viewHtml;
        byte[] bytesImageData;
        if (!BIMonitoringServiceApplicationProxy.Default
                .GetReportViewImageData(tempFcoLocation, externalkey, 
                    height, width, colStart, colCount, out mimeType, 
                    out viewHtml, out bytesImageData))
            return;
        
        if (mimeType.IndexOf("TEXT", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase) >= 0) {
            Response.ContentType = mimeType;
            Response.Write(viewHtml);
        } else {
            if (bytesImageData.Length <= 0)
                return;
            Response.Clear();
            Response.ContentType = mimeType;
            Response.BinaryWrite(bytesImageData);
            HttpContext.Current.ApplicationInstance.CompleteRequest();
        }
    }
</script>