What is a fantrap in Business Objects?

Actually FAN TRAP is a problem that occurs in Universe Level. Loop occurs while we design the universe. Two Types of Loop Problem: 1) FANTRAP PROBLEM solved by ALIAS METHOD: Definition: Two One-to-many table link eachother is in turn linked another one-to-many table. 2) CHASM TRAP PROBLEM solved by CONTEXT METHOD: Definition: Two Many-to-one table converges on one single lookup table. Loop can be detected while INTEGRITY CHECK is done. An option is there as "Check for LOOPS" available. By "Detect Loop" we can choose what to be applied for solving the loop. Alias to be used when a loop with a single look up table can be resolved by alias lookup table-it can be identified by its cardinality ,it has one end of joins attached to it. otherwise Fantrap can be defined as fanning out of one to many leads to one to many relationships chasmtrap-Converging 2 fact tables in to single lookup table it can be resolved by context

TRAPS: traps is nothing but a one type of loops, traps find out manually, we have two different traps is there in business objects 1) Fan trap, 2)chasam trap. Fan trap:fan trap relation is one-many relation ship between fact-dimension tables,we have two types of resolving methods is there 1)by using the alias 2)enable multipull sql statements for each measure chasam trap:its relation is many -one between fact and dimension we have two types of resolving methods 1)contexts 2)disable multipull sql statements for each measure

1. How would you improve the performance of the reports. Performance of the reports starts with analyzing the problem. The problem could be with database, Universe or the report itself Analyzing the database -Run the SQL from the report on an oracle client like SQL Navigator or toad after passing in all the parameters.

-Identify if the SQL takes considerable less time than the report. If yes then the problem is with the Universe or with the report if no then -Run an explain plan on the SQL -Look to see if all the statistics are computed, indexes are built and the indexes are used -Check to see if aggregate tables can be used ( Aggregate tables are useful if the data can be concised to 1/10th of fact data) -Check to see if data has increased and usage of materialized views could help. oCreating materialized views enable to pre -run the complex joins and store the data. oMost of the DW environment has a day old data hence they dont have lot of overhead. oRunning a report against a single materialized table is always faster then running against multiple tables with complex joins. oIndexes can be created on this materialized view to further increase the performance. -Check to see if the performance of the SQL can be increased by using hints ,if yes then add a hint to the report SQL and freeze the SQL, this might have an additional overhead of maintaining the report Analyzing the Universe - Check is all the outer joins are properly created and remove unnecessary outer join - Business Objects as such do not use Multi Pass SQL , Multi pass SQL is a technique a software use to break down a complex SQL into multiple smaller SQLs. Hence a query using one fact table and three dimension tables can be broken down into two, one between the dimension tables and the second between the first result and the fact table. This can be achieved in BO by creating Derived Tables. The derived table would be based on three dimension tables and the reports hence can use one derived table and one fact table instead of four tables. - The Keys tab allows you to define index awareness for an object. Index awareness is the ability to take advantage of the indexes on key columns to speed data retrieval. o In a typical data warehousing environment surrogate keys are used as primary keys instead of natural keys , this primary key may not be meaningful to the end user but Designer can take advantage of the indexes on key columns to speed data retrieval. o The only disadvantage is it would not return duplicate data unless the duplicate data has separate keys - Check to see if the size of the universe has increased recently oTry to create a different universe for new requirements oUnder extreme conditions the AUTOPARSE parameter in the param file can be turned off, this could be too risky if not handled properly. Analyzing the Report -Check to see if there are any conditions which could be pushed into universe as Filters

-Check to see if a formula has multiple usage ,turn this to a variable -Check if there are any variables which are not used, remove them. -Remove any additional filters or alerters on the report. Read more: http://www.placementpapers.us/business_objects/309business_objects_interview_questions_answers.html#ixzz1ZzM5mGfB Under Creative Commons License: Attribution

2. Complex Reports
TV BOM is a complex report with lots of alerters, filters where the user wants to see both filtered and unfiltered grand totals

4. Difference between filters and Condition and which is better

Filters are conditions designed at Universe level and Conditions are defined at Report level. Filters are better since it filters the data at database level making the report to run fast.

5. Difference between Formula and a variable and their advantages

When a formula is assigned a name it becomes a variable. Formulas should always be converted to variables if they are used more than once in a report

6. Can u use multiple database in a universe

No We cannot use multiple data providers in a universe .

7. What are shortcut joins

A shortcut join is a join that provides an alternative path between two tables. Shortcut joins improve the performance of a query by not taking into account intermediate tables, and so shortening a normally longer join path.

8. How do u migrate/promote universe and reports from dev to test environments

Business Objects as such does not have any tool for version controlling, hence a detailed document is maintained about the changes done in each release. QMF is a tool used for version controlled promotions. It has its own repository, before promoting the new universe/report it backs up the old one in the repository

9. Problems from migrating from 5x to 6x 10. How do you restrict data based on user profiles
Row Level security in Supervisor can be used to restrict data.

11. What are fan traps and Chasm traps

Many to one joins from two fact tables converge on a single lookup table. This type of join convergence can lead to a join path problem called a chasm trap. A one to many join links a table which is in turn linked by a one to many join. This type of fanning out of one to many joins can lead to a join path problem called a fan trap.

12. Ways to solve these traps

These traps can be solved by applying contexts and using aliases. Aliases are better than contexts because contexts lays open the database structure to the end user.

Business Objects interview question

By admin | November 19, 2006 1. Explain detail objects? Sol: Detail objects are attached to dimensions, one cannot drill on details nor link on details when linking multiple data providers. While Customer ID would be a dimension, customer name, address, phone and soon should be details. 2. What is BOMain.Key? BoMain.Key file contains the information about the repository site i.e it contains the address of the repository security domain. 3. What is Business objects Repository? it is nothing but metadata. 4. What is domain? How many are there in a basic setup? What are they? - Domain is nothing but logical grouping of system tables, There are three domains usually in a basic setup, They are Secure, Universe, Document. Business objects are sometimes called domain objects (where the word domain means the business), and a domain model represents the set of domain objects and the relationships between them. 5. When is the Repository created? - In 5i/6i versions after installing the software, whereas in Xi version a repository is created at the time of installation. 6. Can we have multiple domains? - Yes. (Security domain can not be multiple). 7. How do you restrict access to rows of a database? In XI version it can be done by using row-level security in designer module whereas in 5i/6i it is done by supervisor. 8. What is a category? It is nothing but grouping of certain entities. 9. What is a Universe? It is a semantic layer between Database and the designer used to create objects and classes. (It maps to data in Database). 10. What is an Object? It is an instance of class, its nothing but an entity.

11. What do you mean by Object qualification? Object qualification represents what kind of object is that, usually we have three types of object qualifiers they are measure, dimension, detailed. 12. What is the size of data base? In general it will be anything between 4-8 Terabytes. 13. What is a loop? How can we overcome? Loop is nothing but a closed circular flow; it can be overcome by making use of Alias and Context. 14. What is a join? Explain different types of joins? Join is used to link to tables depending upon the data requested by the user, Usually we have Inner Join, Outer Join, Left Join, Right Join, Full Outer join. 15. What are Linked Universes? If the data provided is from two different data providers then we can link those two universes, such type of universe is called Linked Universe. 16. What are Alerter, Filters, Breaks and Conditions? Alters are nothing but they are used to draw attention to a block of data by highlighting. Breaks are nothing but grouping the data without any change in the format. Condition is used to retrieve data which meets certain criteria. Filters are used to get necessary data. 17. What is the difference between master-detail and Breaks? In break common fields are deleted (here in this case the table format is not changed) whereas in master-detail , we declare certain entity as a master to get the detailed information or report in this case the table format is changed. 18. What is metrics? Metrics are a system of parameters or ways of quantitative and periodic assessment of a process that is to be measured; these are used to track trends, productivity. 19. What is a Set? Its nothing but grouping of users. 20. What is the use of AFD? Where it can be stored? used to create dashboards. It can be stored in repository, corporate or personal. 21. what is the source for metrics? measure objects. 22. Why do we need metrics and sets? Metrics are used for analysis and Sets are used for grouping. 23. Is there any bug in 6.x? In earlier version of 6.0 they had, but 6.5 is the best version with out any bugs. 24. What are the general issues in migration process? Alignment, performance.

25. What is the use of BO SDK? Bo SDK main use is to suppress no data to fetch using Macros. 26. How can we improve performance? By making use of Aggregate tables. 27. Analysis in BO? Slice-Dice and Drill analysis. 28. How can you check the integrity? By making use of Check integrity button. 29. What are Universe parameters? Name of the universe, description and RDBMS connection, size and rights. 30. Types of Universes? Simple and Complex. 31. What is the use of BCA? BCA is used to refresh and schedule and export and save as.html,.rtf,.xls ,.pdf. 1. How can use the entities from two different objects to perform a single query? You can create two separate queries using the WebiClient and then use the option to merge these queries. Performing the set functions like UNION, MINUS or INTERSECTION between results of the different queries can also give useful data. 2. What are details objects related to dimensions? The detail objects are the information that are added onto a dimension. Assume the company name to be a dimension, then the detail objects may include the company address, contact details, status of order etc. 3. Can we have many security domains? No. All the other types of domains can be multiple, but security domain is always maintained as a single entity. 4. What are the different domains involved in the basic step? What identifies the relationship between these different domains? There are three types of domains in basic step namely Secure, universe and document domains. The relationship between the various domains is indicated by the domain model. 5. What is a Broad Cast Agent? The BCA is the one that is used to publish and update the documents at specified intervals of time. The scheduled update and publishing can optionally include the exporting of the document in specific formats and sending to the users involved. 6. What is a universe? What are they used for? The universe refers to a subset of the relational database. The Universe offers the view of classes and objects over the database, thus simplifying the logics of data access. It offers the metadata information regarding the entire database, thus acting as an intermediate layer of business logic.

7. What is the information contained in the universe file? The universe file contains the following information regarding the database: The connection configuration and other parameters for all the databases involved. Information regarding the class->objects relationships as seen in the higher level.

The data extraction information (for example, the various combinations and joins that are applied to tables before getting the final object as seen by the user). The file system is used for the storage of the Universe details. This makes it easier for the universe shifting, replacements and report generations. 8. What are the ways in which you can check the integrity and reports? There are buttons available for the check of the integrity and consistency of the joins, data manipulations etc. This is at the business object level. The check can also be performed at the SQL level and the reports can also be tested by testing the underlying universe it uses.

9. What is analysis in the BO? How is it done? The Analysis of the data in the object helps us to manage our documents and reports. We can do it in the following ways: Drill mode: This is where we can perceive the data at the different dimensions and levels. This is helpful when dealing with a database that is based on few aspects interlinking against the various dimensions. The Slice and dice: This is where we analyse the data in the documents and reports and add ways to organize them. We can sort or rank the various documents. We can also create a master report that will have a detailed information on the generation of other reports. 10. How does the use of Aggregate tables improve performance? The Aggregate tables help us maintain the frequently calculates data readily available in the database in the form of an interlinked column. This table depends on the values and their updates in the various other tables. During report generation of general data access, the calculation and computation time is reduced as it already rendered during updates. 11. What is the use of BO SDK? The BO SDK allows us to customize the various aspects and interactions between the business objects. This can come in handy when we need additional uses and optimization to be done on the business Objects. The programming languages like .NET/VB/Java can be used and the APIs that are made available in SDK give us more features than what is readily available. 12. How are metrics useful to a process? The metrics are usually the quantitative results and numbers that we use to determine the operational statistics of a business. By have the parameters rightly measured, the calculation of metrics can lead to analytical data which can give insight into how the specific business process has performed over the specific duration of time. This is essential for the understanding the trend and coming up with adaptable solutions and alterations. 13. Is there any way to limit access to specific rows of a table in Oracle DB? The Oracle 9 and above has the option for the row-level security. The other versions can also be implemented with row level access permissions by configuring the supervisor accordingly.

14. What are the different types of object qualifiers? There are 3 different types of object qualifiers: Detailed: Which are the objects that give additional information regarding the dimension. Measure: These are the quantitative numbers or related information for inferring about the performance and metrics. Dimension qualifier: This is the main identifier that gives the reference to certain data set. 15. What are aliases and contexts used for? The Aliases and contexts are the references to the different tables that we are dealing with the databases. These help us to avoid the circular loops and also in better logical picturing of the data when queries are implemented. 16. What are the various ways by which you get the necessary data out from the entire data? Obtaining the necessary data from the database can be done by use of the following markers and classification mechanism: Alerters: This will give the scope of view to the specific set of data that can have the necessary data. Breaks: These are used to group and classify data according to certain parameters. Condition and filters: These are the ones that will separate out the data from the entire set. The condition provides the exact requirement and the filters may be a range of different aspects that we expect the data to qualify for. 17. How can you define Linked universes? The data when is obtained by the combination of accesses from different data providers will have inter-related objects and such universes are called as Linked universes. 18. What are the different joins that are used over the database tables? How are they useful? The joins refers to the combinatorial values that are obtained by combing the rows and columns from different tables according to specified condition. According to the condition that we specify the joins can be classified as inner join, outer join, right join, left join or full join. These are used when we want the data from multiple tables. For eg, if we are having a customer table with customer information and sales table with sales per customer information, we can join both to get the information regarding sales per area. 19. What is the difference between master-detail and break? The Breaks just group the different rows in the table according to certain value of data. It does not change the format of the table involved. The Master-detail is the metadata information regarding the data in various tables. The attribute that is defined as the master is the center of operation. In this case the outcome or report is involving the changed format to the table that is involved. 20. What is the difference between the class and an object? The class is more like a definition of what is grouped for access at the logical level. The object is the run time entity that is created as an instance of the specified class. The class is more abstract specification which is used for just the logical structuring of data and it acts as the template to be used by the application through object instances. 21. What is a category? The grouping of the entities which can be objects or data sets, according to a specific characteristic or aspect is called a category.

22. What is repository? The repository is the accumulated information of all the databases and other configurations that are used for each of them. It represents the underlying framework over which the entire database is built over. It is usually installed during the database software installation. Whenever you add or delete a table, the repository information changes accordingly. 23. What is RDBMS? RDBMS refers to Relational Database Management System. It is the concept of storing the data as tables with each of the different data having a realtionship between them stored in turn as a table. This comes in handy in storing huge chunks of information in a logically interpretable form. Most of the database systems use this relational model based database management techniques for logical and storage simplicity.

1. What is domain??
Domain is called as a logical grouping of system tables.

2. How many types of Domain are there in a basic setup??

There are normally 3 types of domain in a basic setup. They are 1. Secure 2. Universe 3. Document

3. What are business Objects??

Business Objects are basically called domain objects. A domain model shows a set of domain objects and explains how they related to each other. Hence a business model also will show a set of domain objects and will show the relationship between them

4. What is called a Category??

Category is called as the grouping of various entities

5. What is a Universe??
Universe is called as the semantic layer between the Database and the one who designs inorder to create the objects and the classes. Universe hence will map to the data in the Database.

6. What is an Object??
Objects are just an entity. The objects is called as the instance of a class.

7. What is a BOMain.Key??
BOMain.Key is a file which is containing the all information about the repository site .Therefore it will contain the whole address of the repository security domain.

8. What is Business objects Repository??

The term Business objects Repository is the metadata only. Repository will be like a database.Bussiness Object Repository will store business objects like user, data, access styles, access permissions. Business objects Repository is a centralized concept and a set of data structures can be stored

9. Can we have multiple domains?

Yes. We can have multiple domains

9. Which is the domain cant be have multiple?

The domain which cannot be having multiple is the security Domain.

10. When is the Repository Created?

Repository Creation will depend on the Version. Repository Creation will happen after installing the software in 5i/6i versions after installing the software, whereas in the Xi version the repository will be created at the time of installation.

11. How the access to the rows of database is restricted?

The restrictions also will depend on the Version. In XI version we can be done this by using the row-level security in the designer module. In 5i/6i version the restriction of the access to the database is done by the supervisor.

12. What is the term Object qualification referring to?

Object qualification is just representing what kind of object is that. The three types of object qualifiers are 1. Measure 2. Dimension 3. Detailed

13. Which will the size of a database?

The size of a database will be between 4 and 8 Tera Bytes.

13. Which is a Loop?

Loop is circular flow.

14. How can we overcome Loop?

Loop can be overcome by Alias and Context.

15. How is called as a Join?

Join is normally used for linking tables depending upon how the data is requested by the user.

16. Explain the different types of joins?

Joins are of different types. They are 1. Inner Join 2. Outer Join 3. Left Join 4. Right Join 5. Full Outer Join

17. What are called Linked Universes?

Sometimes the data provided may be from two different universes and the data in these two universes can be linked someway. These types of universes are called Linked Universes.

18. What is called Alerter?

Alerter is used to give alert or attention to a block of data by highlighting it.

19. What is called Filters?

Filters are used to get necessary data from a group of data

20. What is called Breaks?

Breaks are used to group the data without changing anything in the format.

21. What is called Conditions?

Conditions are used to get some data based on certain criterias or conditions.

22. What is the difference between master-detail and Breaks?

In Breaks common entities will be deleted. In master-detail we will declare a certain entity as a master to get the detailed information or it will report in this case that the table format is changed.

23. What are Metrics?

Metrics are a system of parameters .Metrics is a way of quantitative and periodic assessment of a process that is to be measured. Metrics are normally used to track trends, productivity.

24. What is a Set?

Set is called as the grouping of a number of users.

25. What is the advantage of AFD?

AFD is used to Create Dash Boards.

26. Where normally AFDs are stored?

AFDs are normally stored in Repository, Corporate or Personal.

27. What is the source of Metrics?

The source of Metrics is by measure objects

28. How many analysis are used in Business Objects?

2 types of analysis are used in Business Objects. They are 1. Slice-Dice Analysis 2. Drill Analysis

29. What are the general issues in migration process?

The general issues in migration process are 1. Alignment 2. Performance

30. What is solution for improving performance?

The main solution for improving performance is to make use of the Aggregate tables

31. What are the different types of Universe?

The different types of Universe are simplex and Complex

32. What is the main use of BCA?

The main use of BCA is that BCA can be used for refreshing and scheduling and exporting and saving in different format like .html, .rtf, .xls and .pdf

33. What are called Universal Parameters?

RDBMS connection, size, rights, Name of the universe, and description are called as the universal Parameters.

34. What is the difference between user and versatile?

The main difference between a user and a versatile is User is the man who is having the access of business objects which will report to view, query, analyze and access. Versatile is the man only having the access to each of view, query, analyze and access if supervisor granted it.

35. What are the user requirements in this universe?

The users requirements in this universe are the Database connections, key column, join and check for loop if you need measures, metrics. The steps to be followed should be 1. The connection should be defined. 2. Create the classes and objects 3. Give the joins and then resolve the loops. 4. Generate the universe.

Business Objects Interview Questions Universe Designer

by BIDW TEAM on MARCH 4, 2010

1.What is business objects?

BUSINESSOBJECTS is an integrated query, reporting and analysis solution for business professionals that allow them to access the data in their corporate databases directly from their desktop and present and analyze this information in a BUSINESSOBJECTS document. It is an OLAP tool that high-level management can use as a part of a Decision Support Systems (DSS). BUSINESSOBJECTS makes it easy to access the data, because you work with it in business terms that are familiar to you, not technical database terms like SQL.

2.What are the various Business Objects products?

User Module, Designer, Supervisor, Auditor, Set Analyzer, Info View (Web Intelligence), Business Objects Software Development Kit (SDK), Broadcast Agent etc.

3.What are the advantages of Business Objects over other DSS?

User Friendly. Familiar Business Terms. Graphical Interface Drag and Drop. Powerful reports in less time. Enterprise wide Deployment of documents using WebI Customized dashboards using Application foundation and Business Objects SDK.

4.How many modes are there in BO & Designer

There are 2 types: Enterprise Mode, Workgroup

5.What are Enterprise and Workgroup modes?

Designer lets you save universes in either enterprise or workgroup mode. Enterprise mode means that you are working in an environment with a repository. Workgroupmode means that you are working without a repository. The mode in which you save your universe determines whether other designers are able to access them. By default, a universe is saved in the mode in which you are already working. For example, if you launched a session in enterprise mode, any universe you save is automatically in that mode.

6.How do you save a Business Objects document which can be accessed by all users in workgroup mode?
If we want to make a universe accessible to another designer working without a repository, then click the Save For All Users check box in the Save as universe dialog box.

7.What is online and offline mode?

If you want a universe to be accessible in offline mode, you must firstly ensure that the universe has been opened at least once in online mode, and that it has been saved with the Save for All Users check box selected in the Save Universe As box. To make Offline mode available:

Mode Description Online Default mode of operation for Designer when you are working in an environment with a repository. Offline Mode of operation for Designer when you are not connected to a repository. Only available if you have previously connected in online mode. In offline mode you can open universes that are stored on your local computer only if

those universes have been opened previously in online mode. You can access databases where the connection and security information are stored on your local machine (personnel and shared connections.) You can use offline mode when you do not have access to the repository, for example when working with a laptop off site, or when the network is not available.

8.What is a universe?
Universe provides a semantic layer between you and the database. It consists of classes and objects named in business terms. It is basically a mapping of table and the columns in the database to classes and objects respectively in the query panel. Alternatively, It is logical mapping of data in business terms. In the Business Objects User module, universes enable end users to build queries from which they can generate and perform analysis. Universes isolate end users from the complexities of the database structure as well as the intricacies of SQL syntax.

9.Can a Universe connect to multiple databases?

NO

10.How do you define universe parameters?

The first step in creating a universe is to specify its parameters. These parameters include the definition of a universe, which is comprised of: the universe name, a description of the universe, a connection to an RDBMS. You enter universe parameters from the Universe Parameters dialog box. This dialog box also lets you set up database options, external strategies, graphic options, and print settings.

11.What is a database connection?

A connection is a set of parameters that provides access to an RDBMS. These parameters include system information such as the data account, user identification, and the path to the database. Designer provides three types of connections: secured, shared, and personal.

12.What are the types of connections we use when connecting to the database?
There are three types of connections namely: Secured, Shared and Personal.

A secured connection is used to centralize and control access to sensitive or critical data. It is the safest type of connection for protecting access to data.

A shared connection is used to access common resources such as universes or documents. Several users can thus use it.

A personal connection is specific to one user and can be used only from the computeron which it was created.

13.What are different types of joins available in Universe design? Explain each Equi or Inner or Natural or Simple join: is based on the equality between the values
in the column of one table and the values in the column of another. Because the same column is present in both tables, the join synchronizes the two tables.

Self-Join: join a table to itself i.e create a self-join to find rows in a table that have
values in common with other rows in the same table.

Theta or Non-Equi join: links tables based on a relationship other than equality
between two columns. A join is a relational operation that causes two or more tables with a common domain to be combined into a single table. The purpose of joins is to restrict the result set of a query run against multiple tables.

Outer join: links two tables, one of which has rows that do not match those in the
common column of the other table.

Left Outer Join: All records from first table with matching rows from second. Right Outer Join: All records from second-named table with matching rows from left. Full outer join: All rows in all joined tables are included, whether they are matched or
not.

Shortcut join: can be used in schemas containing redundant join paths leading to the
same result, regardless of direction. Improves SQL performance.

14.How do you design a universe?

The design method consists of two major phases. During the first phase, you create the underlying database structure of your universe. This structure includes the tables and columns of a database and the joins by which they are linked. You may need to resolve loops which occur in the joins using aliases or contexts. You can conclude this phase by testing the integrity of the overall structure. During the second phase, you can proceed to enhance the components of your universe. You can also prepare certain objects for multidimensional analysis. As with the first phase, you should test the integrity of your universe structure. Finally, you can distribute your universes to users by exporting them to the repository or via your file system. 15.What are the components of the Designer interface? In Designer, you create a universe using three areas: the Universe pane, the Structure pane, the Table Browser. The Universe pane displays the components of the universefrom the point of view of BusinessObjects; that is the classes, objects, and conditions. The Structure pane reflects the underlying database structure of the universeincluding the tables, columns, and joins. The Table Browser is the component that lets you create the classes and objects of the universe from the tables and columns of a database.

16.What are classes/objects?

An object maps to data or a derivation of data in the database. For the purposes of multidimensional analysis, an object can be qualified as one of three types: a dimension, detail, or measure. A class is a collection of objects based on business categories.

A universe is a set of classes and objects intended for a specific application or group of users.

17.What are classes?

A class is a logical grouping of objects within a universe. In general, the name of a class reflects a business concept that conveys the category or type of objects. For example, in a universe pertaining to human resources, one class might be Employees. A class can be further divided into subclasses. In the human resources universe, a subclass of the Employees class could be Personal Information. As designer, you are free to define hierarchies of classes and subclasses in a model that best reflects the business concepts of your organization.

18.What are objects?

An object is the most refined component in a universe. It maps to data or a derivation of data in the database. Using objects, end users can build queries to generate reports. The name of an object suggests a concept drawn from the terminology of a business or discipline. For a human resources manager, objects might be Employee Name, Address, Salary, or Bonus, while for a financial analyst, objects might be Profit Margin, Return on Investment, etc. For the purposes of multidimensional analysis, objects are qualified as one of three types: dimension, detail, or measure.

19.What are Dimension-Measure-Detail Objects?

When creating universes, universe designers define and qualify objects. The qualification of an object reveals how it can be used in analysis in reports. An object can be qualified as a dimension, a detail, or a measure.

A dimension object is the object being tracked; in other words, it can be considered the focus of the analysis. A dimension can be an object such as Service, Price, or Customer. Dimension objects retrieve the data that will provide the basis for analysis in a report. Dimension objects typically retrieve character-type data (customer names, resort names, etc.), or dates (years, quarters, reservation dates, etc.) A detail object provides descriptive data about a dimension object (or attribute of a dimension). It is always associated with a specific dimension object. However, a detail object cannot be used in drill down analysis. E.g. Address & phone number can be attributes about the customer dimension.

A measure object is derived from one of the following aggregate functions: Count, Sum, Minimum, Maximum or average or is a numeric data item on which you can apply, at least locally, one of those functions. This type of object provides statistical information. Examples of measure objects include the following: Revenue, unit price etc

20.What us hierarchy
Groups of related dimension objects are referred to as dimension hierarchies. An example of a dimension hierarchy is Geography, which can consist of City, Region, and Country.(Hierarchy is an ordered series of related dimensions, which can be used, in multidimensional analysis) Good examples of hierarchy are geography and time

21.How to create hierarchies in BO?

A hierarchy, which the designer sets up when creating the universe, consists of dimension objects ranked from less detailed to more detailed. The objects that belong to hierarchies are the ones you can use to define scope of analysis.

22.Can a Universe have more than 1 fact Table?

Yes. Typically a universe can have more than 1 fact table and numerous aggregated tables.

23.What are Contexts?

A context is a rule that determines which of two paths can be chosen when more than one path is possible in the database from one table to another. It helps in resolving the loops created by various joins in the universe tables.

With certain database structures, you may need to use contexts rather than aliases to resolve loops. A situation where this commonly occurs is a transactional database with multiple fact tables (multiple stars) that share lookup tables.

24.What are aggregated tables and how would you use it in BO Universe
Aggregate table Aggregate tables are table which contains summarized data at different level depending on the need of reports. Imagine a fact table which contains granular data up to minutes transaction. Now if you are developing a reports which has hour, day, week, month, quarter, year level summaries. Queries to get these summary values will scan millions of records which would in turn result in poor performance of reports. One can address this issue by creating aggregate summary table. Possible problems of using Aggregate table Aggregate table are good to achieve performance for high level summery queries. However if there are multiple aggregate tables which contains summary values then using aggregate table might be an issue. Consider following example

e.g. you have two aggregate table

Table 1 AggregateID Table 2 AggregateID Year Quarter Month ServiceType Sales Revenue Year Quarter Month Sales Revenue

Now if you have a requirement wherein one of your report is displays year wise sales revenue whereas other report is displays Year wise ServiceType sales revenue. How would you tell report to use table1 for year wise sales revenue and use table 2 for another report. Using Aggregate Table in Business Objects Business Objects provides a wonderful function to use aggregated tables. Aggregate_aware(). This function determines which aggregate table to use based on the attributes used in the query. Syntax:

Aggregate_aware(<expression1>, <expression2>, -) Expression = field or valid SQL expression or calculation

e.g. so formula for sales revenue might be.

Aggregate_aware (table1.salesrevenue, table2.salesrevenue, sum(sometable.column) ) Notice the arrangement of column used in function. It is highest summarized to least summarized.

Now if while creating report if you use only year attribute and sales revenue. Aggregate_aware will use table1 to get the sales revenue, if used service type in report It will use table2, in all other cases it will use sum(sometable.column) which could be a fact table.

Rules to use aggregate_aware

1.If the object is at the same level of aggregation or higher, it is OMPATIBLE with the summary table.

e.g. In above example none of the table contains aggregated value for Article so article object will be incompatible. You can not use aggregate_aware with Article object 2.If the object is at a lower level of aggregation, it is INCOMPATIBLE.

3.If the object has nothing to do with the summary table, it is INCOMPATIBLE.

25.What is Incompatibility?
The set of incompatible objects you specify determines which aggregate tables are disregarded during the generation of SQL. With respect to an aggregate table, an object is either compatible or incompatible. The rules for compatibility are as follows:

When an object is at the same or higher level of aggregation as the table, it is compatible with the table.

When an object is at a lower level of aggregation than the table (or if it is not at all related to the table), it is incompatible with the table.

26.What is the typical strategy employed in developing/maintaining/distributing Universes?

Phase 1: Break down the informational system into functional areas. Phase 2: Analyze the information needs of users. Phase 3: Design a conceptual schema Design the specification of the user. Phase 4: Create a Universe with designer. Test the Universe with the Business Objects module. Distribute the Universe. Repeat the other steps for other Universes. Phase 5: Update and maintain the Universe. Notify end users of changes.

27.I have Customer dimension table and a fact table with cust_to_ship_key and cust_to_bill_key. How do I get the corresponding customer names?
Create an Alias table for Customer dimension table. Join the cust_to_ship_key with a customer key of Actual customer table and join the cust_to_bill_key with customer key of the Alias.

28.What are strategies?

A strategy is a script that automatically extracts structural information from a database or flat file.

29.What are the different types of Strategies?

In Designer we can specify two types of strategies: 1) 2) Built-in strategies and External strategies

Built-in Strategies: Designer provides a number of default strategies which we can use. These are strategies for extracting joins, detecting cardinalities, and creating default classes and objects. Options for indicating default strategies are located in the Database tab of the Options dialog box.

External Strategies: We can also create our own strategies. Such strategies are referred to as external strategies. With an external strategy, we can specify the exact way that objects and joins are to be extracted from the database structure. The strategy we use, for example, can be a script generated from a CASE Access tool. An external strategy is specific to one RDBMS.

30.How do you specify external strategies?

With an external strategy, you can specify the exact way that objects and joins are to be extracted from the database structure. All external strategies are contained within the same text file. The name of this text file is indicated in the .prm file specific to your RDBMS. In the .prm file, the strategy file is declared as follows: STG=[StrategyFileName] where StrategyFileName is the name of the strategy file. An external strategy, whether for objects or for joins, is made up of the following sections: a name and description (These are visible in the Strategies tab of the Universe Parameters dialog box.) a type parameter: object or join an SQL parameter or file parameter an optional parameter that points to a connection other than the universe connection. An external strategy can be based on SQL or a file.

31.What are the visualization options available?

Designer contains a variety of features for organizing and viewing the tables and columns in the Structure pane. Among these features are: List Mode, which adds three panes to the Structure pane. These panes are for viewing the names of tables, joins, and contexts. When you click a component in a pane, its corresponding graphical representation in the schema is highlighted. Graphic options, which let you customize the shape or appearance of the tables, columns, joins, and cardinalities in the Structure pane.

Arrange tables, a feature that reorganizes the tables in the Structure pane so as to produce an orderly display. Gridlines, a command that displays a grid, which you can use to align tables in the Structure pane. Table (Column) Values, commands that display the data values associated with a particular table or column.

32.What is Join Path Problem?

A one to many join links a table, which is in turn linked by a one to many join. This type of fanning out of one to many joins can lead to a join path problem called a fan trap. The fanning out effect of one to many joins can cause incorrect results to be returned when a query includes objects based on both tables.

33.How to add aggregate table in universe in real life scenario?

Decide the reports which are using high aggregates Create Aggregate table in DB Insert them in Universe Join them with dimension table

34.If we have a user group and we want to give the access to the report from 1990 to 2000. and from that group we want one user to restrict to see the report from 1990 to 1995. Then what to do in BO designer, so that this can be possible( Not in report level). This can be done using row level security in universe parameter. 35.What is shortcut join. What is its use explain with an example
A shortcut join is a join which links two table by bypassing intervening tables that exists in the universe. This is used when it is possible in certain circumstances to make SQL more efficient.

e.g. in Above example if you want get the client list and there countries you can simple join country ID from client table to country id from country table. However this would introduce a loop. So instead of using normal join you make it as shortcut join. So if query contains object from client table and country table it would you shortcut join. This would result in efficient query avoiding extra join of region.

36.What is isolated join, explain with an example.

Isolated joins means the joins which are not included in any context. suppose you have 15 joins in ur universe. in context A you included 7 joins and in context B 7 joins. The rest means one join is ur isolated join.

37.What is cardinality and its significance in BO universe

Cardinality expresses the minimum and maximum number of instances of an entity B that can be associated with an instance of an entity A. The minimum and the maximum number of instances can be equal to 0, 1, or N.

Because a join represents a bi-directional relationship, it must always have two cardinalities. There are two main methods for detecting or editing cardinalities: Detect Cardinalities command Edit Join dialog box If you selected the Detect cardinalities in joins options in the Database tab of the Options dialog box, Designer detects and retrieves the cardinalities of the joins. If you do not use this option, you can still retrieve the cardinalities for one or all joins in the universe.

38.How will you know the version of BO designer you are using
Go to Help-> About You can watch some questions below: Here they are: Business Objects

5. What is an Universe? 6. How many Universes did you create? 7. Tell me how many classes where there, and objects in each class? 8. What is Object qualification? 9. Tell me about a complicated object you have created? 10. What was the size of the database? which server? 11. How many user were there? 12. What problems you have faced while creating an universe? tell me an incident and how you went about solving it?

13. Were any experts called from BO while you were on the project? 14. What was the Database. Was it a data warehouse? 15. How many Tables was the universe built? 16. What is a loop, how do you resolve them? 17. What do prefer an Alias or an context? why? 18. What is join? Explain different types of joins? 19. What are linked universes? have you worked with them, problems faced and solutions? 20. How many reports have you created? Explain a few? 21. What are alerters, filters, breaks, master-detail? 22. What's the difference between master-detail and Breaks? 23. What's the difference between filters and conditions? 24. what are pre-defined conditions? compare with report conditions? Justify? 25. What are the differences between a formula, variable and user objects? 26. Did you face any problems while creating reports? Name? Solutions? 27. How do you schedule the reports? 28. How were the reports scheduled and how to resolve unexecuted documents? 29. What is a microcube? how many can a document have? 30. Have you worked with multiple data sources? If yes. How do you link them? 31. What are templates? Explain what you have created?