Business Objects : Basic Question and Answers

1) What is ‘Business Objects’?

            Business Objects is a Dynamic Business intelligence reporting solution from Business Objects.

BUSINESS OBJECTS 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 BUSINESS OBJECTS document.

It is an OLAP tool that high-level management can use as a part of a Decision Support Systems (DSS).

BUSINESS OBJECTS 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 is Business intelligence?

            Business Intelligence is a technology used for preparing the reports for multidimensional analyses.

3) What is Business Intelligence 80 / 20 concept?

            In a business Intelligence environment 80% of development time is allocated to OLAP interface designing, 20% of time allocated to Report development.

4) 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.

5) What are the roles of BO Administrator?

            The following are the responsibility assigned to administrator.

1.      Installations and configurations in a distributed environment.

2.      Creating the BO Enterprise Repository.

3.      Performing back up and recovery of Metadata

4.      Tuning the servers.

5.      Deployment of reports.

6) What are the roles of BO designer or Architect?

            An Architect is responsible for designing the OLAP interface by fulfilling the requirements.

            Once the Interface has designed it should be regressively tested before giving to the end user population.

7) What is OLAP interface?

A good OLAP interface writes an efficient SQL and reads an aqua rate data from database. To design the interface and architect having good knowledge on database under standing the report requirements.

8) What is an Application Developer or Report developer?

            Design the Reports according to the report requirement templates.

            Testing the each report with following types of tests

a.       Unit Testing

b.      System Testing

c.       Performance Testing

d.      User Acceptance Test (UAT)

9) What are the products installed along with BOXI R2 software

            When install the XI R2 following products get installed :

a.       Business View Manager

b.      Business Objects enterprise

c.       .Net administration launch pad

d.      Business objects Enterprise

.Net Info view

e.       Designer desktop intelligence

f.        Central management console

g.       Universe builder

10) What is Designer?

Designer is a Business Objects IS module used by universe designers to create and maintain universes. Universes are the semantic layer that isolates end users from the technical issues of the database structure.

Universe designers can distribute universes to end-users by moving them as files through the file system, or by exporting them to the repository.

11) 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.

12) How to create a universe?

            Universe will be created using designer. That universe is  known as classic universe.

            Using this classic universe we can create web intelligence reports, desktop intelligence reports, crystal repots.

13) Process of Universe creation?

           

Universe Parameters

¯

               Import Tables

                        ¯

                Import Joins

                        ¯

                      Loop

                        ¯

            Create Classes

                        ¯

            Create Objects

                        ¯

            Define hierarchies

                       

14) How do you define universe parameters?

A universe parameter defines the name of the universe and connection to the target database.

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.

15) How do you test the integrity of a universe?

With the Check Integrity command, you can test the structure of your active universe. This means testing to determine whether its components are accurate and up-to-date.

Check Integrity serves the following purposes:

It detects any inconsistencies in the objects, joins, conditions, and cardinalities of your universe.

It detects whether there are any loops in the joins.

It determines whether changes were made to the database to which the universe is connected.

16) How can you check the universe?

Using check Integrity, u can check the universe. Go to Designer, Tools -> check Integrity

17) 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.

18) What is multidimensional analyses?

            A multi dimensional analyses is a technique to modify the data so that the data can be view from different prospective and at the different levels of details.

19) What are the futures of multidimensional analyses?

            The following are the features of multidimensional analyses:

                        Drill Down (For more details)

                        Drill Up  (For summery details)

                        Drill Across (Like from year to different cities)

20) What are the formats supported for Business Objects documents?

            You can view Business Objects documents in the following formats:

1.      HTML

2.      PDF

3.      Enhanced Document Format

4.      Business Objects Format

21) What are the advantages of Business Objects over other DSS?

Ø  User Friendly.

Ø  Familiar Business Terms.

Ø  Graphical Interface

Ø  Drag and Drop.

Ø  Powerful reports in less time.

Ø  Enterprise wide Deployment of documents using Web.

Customized dashboards using Application foundation and Business Objects SDK.

22) How many modes are there in Business Objects & Designer?

There are 2 types: Enterprise Mode, Workgroup Mode.

23) 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. Workgroup mode 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.

24) 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 as Workgroup check box in the Save as universe dialog box.

25) What are the types of connections or types of universe?

Designer provides three types of connections: secured, shared, and personal.

1.                           Personal:- Universe can be accessed by a single user or A single user can query the data from database

2.                           Sharing :- multiple user can send queries to database.

3.                           Secure :- This is the default connection type. A universe can be accessed by multiple users and can send multiple queries to the database.

26) What is Joins?

            A Join is a relationship that explains how the data in one table relates to data in another table.

27) What are the types of Joins?

The following are the types of Joins :

1.      Inner Joins

2.      Left outer Joins

3.      Right outer Joins

4.      Full outer Joins

5.      Theta Join

6.      Short cut Join

28) What is theta join?

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.

A Theta join links tables based on a relationship other than equality between two columns.

29) What is a macro?

A macro is a series of commands and functions that are stored in a Visual Basic for Applications module and can be run whenever you need to perform the task. If you perform a task repeatedly, you can automate the task with a macro. You create macros using the Visual Basic Editor.

30) What are loops?

Loop is a situation that occurs when more than one path exists from one table to another. Loops result in ambiguity in the design of a universe

31) How do you detect loops?

Designer enables you to identify loops in one of two ways: You can run the Check Integrity function, which indicates the existence of any loops. You can select the Detect Loops command from the Tools menu. If there are loops, the Loop Detection viewer appears; it indicates the joins causing a loop.

32) What are aliases?

An alias is a logical pointer to an alternate table name. The purpose of an alias is to resolve loops in the paths of joins. In some cases, more than one alias may be necessary for a given table. As you create aliases, Designer may prompt you to create other aliases. This occurs when the new aliases result in the need for additional aliases; in other words, creating such aliases entails the propagation of other aliases. In such a situation, two options are available to you:

·         You can cause only the first table proposed to be aliased

·         You can alias all the tables listed (i.e. propagate the aliases)

Designer displays an alias in the Structure pane as a table. It links an aliased table to existing tables, re-arranging joins, as necessary.

33) How do you resolve the loop?

You can resolve loops in two ways:

• Using aliases

• Using contexts

DESIGNER provides three features, which guide you in the loop resolution process:

• Detect Cardinalities

• Detect Aliases

• Detect Contexts

The first step in resolving loops is to detect the cardinalities of the tables.

34) Can Contexts and Aliases Be Used Together?

Yes, you can use contexts and aliases in the same universe. In fact, in many cases you should use them together.

35) Where are the types are relationship between tables?

            3 types relationship :

1.      One to Many

2.      One to One

3.      Many to Many

36) What is an add-in?

Add-ins are programs that add optional commands and features to BUSINESS OBJECTS. Add-ins are usually created by those responsible in your company for adding customized features to BUSINESSOBJECTS. All you probably need to do is install and uninstall add-ins that are sent to you.

37) What functions are supported?

Designer provides four types of functions: Number, Character, Date and @Functions. Functions beginning with the @ character are BusinessObject functions that render the definition of objects dynamic and database-independent.

38) Define types of functions and there purposes:

@Function	Purpose
@Aggregate_Aware	is used to enhance the performance of SQL transactions; i.e. it determines which tables to use in SQL generation: either aggregate tables or detailed tables.
@Prompt	is used to create an interactive object. In the Query Panel, this type of object causes a message to appear that prompts the end user to enter a specific value.
@Script	is used to recover the results of an executed macro created with the Visual Basic Editor in the BusinessObjects User module
@Select	lets you re-use the Select statement of an existing object
@Variable	is used to reference the value assigned to a name or variable.
@Where	lets you re-use the Where clause of an existing object.

39) What is meant by object qualification?

The qualification of an object reveals how it can be used in multidimensional analysis. An object can be qualified as a dimension, a detail, or a measure. In the Universe pane, the symbol beside each object indicates its qualification.

40) 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.

41) What are cardinalities?

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:

·         the Detect Cardinalities command

·         the 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.

42) 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.

43) 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 computer on which it was created.

44) 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 universe from the point of view of Business Objects; that is the classes, objects, and conditions. The Structure pane reflects the underlying database structure of the universe including 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.

45) 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.

46) Which are the different types of data providers?

• Queries on Universes

·         Stored Procedures

• Free-hand SQL
• Personal Data files
• VBA Procedures
• OLAP Servers
• SAP

47) 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.

48) 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.

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.

49) 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 the purposes of multidimensional analysis, objects are qualified as one of three types: dimension, detail, or measure.

We can’t create object without class.

50) What are the types of Objects?

            The following types of objects can be created in the universe.

1.      Dimension

2.      Measure

3.      Detail

51) What is Dimension Object?

            Dimensions are basic parameters used in analyzing the business measures.

            A Dimension object is represented as CUBE.

52) What is Detailed Object?

            It provides a detailed description to the dimension object.

53) What is Measure Objects?

            A Measure object returning numeric information.

            A measure object is created with following aggregate functions Sum(), Avg(), Max(), Min(), Count().

            The default aggregate function using creating measure object is Sum().

54) What is a hierarchy?

A hierarchy is an ordered series of related dimensions grouped together to perform multidimensional hierarchy.

            The relationship between object in the hierarchy is one – to – many.

55) What are the types of hierarchy?

            There are two types of hierarchies.

1.      Default hierarchy :- It contains the dimension objects in the order in which they are presented in the class.

2.      Custom hierarchy :- A custom hierarchy is created from default hierarchy

56) 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.

57) What is List of Values (LOV)?

A list of values contains the data values associated with an object. These data values can originate from a corporate database, or a flat file such as a text file or Excel file.

In Designer you create a list of values by running a query from the Query Panel. You can then view, edit, purge, refresh, and even export this file. A list of values is stored as an .lov file in a subfolder of the UserDocs folder.

58) What is Restriction?

A restriction is a condition which reduces the number of records displayed in the record.

59) What is a Filter?

A filter enables you to hide the data you do not want to view behind the scenes and display only the data you need.

60) What are the types of Filters?

In the crystal reports the data can be filtered in two different ways

1.      Select Expert : It allows you to define the simple conditions.

2.      Selection Formula : The data can be filtered by defining the expressions in formula editor.

61) What are the types of Query Filter that you use in Web intelligence?

            There are four types of Query Filter you use in Web intelligence:

1.      Predefined Filters

2.      Single and Multi – value Filters

3.      Prompted Filters

4.      Complex Filters

62) What is conditional Formatting?

            The data in the report can be formatted based on given condition this allows you to quickly identify the data for faster analyses.

63) What is alert message?

An alert is a message which is displayed before viewing the data records.

64) What are the types of Filters which affects the report?

There are two types of filter.

A global filter affects the whole report.

A blockspecific filter only filters data for the specified chart, table or crosstab.

65) What is a Prompt?

            A Prompt is an end users object, which allows the users to enter the value or select the values to restrict the data in the report.

66) What are the parameters a prompt function takes?

            This function takes 5 parameters as arguments, each parameter is separated with comma ( , ).

1.      Prompt Text:- It is a text message displayed on the top of a list box or text box.

This parameter is enclosed in single cote.

                        Ex:- ‘Select the State’

2.      Data Type:- It specifies the data type of an object on which prompt is created.

This parameter is enclosed in single cote.

A ® Alpha

N ® Numeric

D ® Date

3.      List Of Values:- This parameter can be represented in two different ways.

a.       Hard Code List {‘New York’, ‘Taxes’}

b.      A Pointer of LOV of an object

Syntax :- ‘Class / Object’

Ex :- ‘Store / State’

4.      MONO or MULTI :-

a.       MONO :- IT lets the user to select the single value from the list.

b.      Multi :- It lets the user to select the multiple values from the list.

5.      Free or Constrained :-

a.       Free:- It lets the user either to enter the value or select the value from the list.

b.      Constrains:- It lets the user to select only the value from the list.

67) Where will you find the address of repository in BO?

BO Main.key, File that contains the address of the repository’s security domain.

68) Explain the Repository of the Business Objects?

A Business Objects repository is a set of data structures stored on a database. A repository makes it possible to share the resources necessary for client/server architecture. To ensure security and manage user resources, a repository comprises three types of domains:

1.      Universe Domain – Consists of 24 database tables used to store universes.

It stores the universe which you create.

2.      Document Domain – consists of database table used to store files including Business Objects documents (.rep), List of Value files (.lov),etc.

It stores the documents which can be accessed by multiple users.

3.      Security Domain – consists of 25 database tables used to store Business Objects users and their permissions.

It stores the information about users, user groups and profiles assigned to the users.

 

69) Can we have multiple domains?

Yes. (Security domain can not be multiple).

70) What is a template?

A template is a special kind of BUSINESSOBJECTS document that contains pre-defined styles and structure that you use as a foundation to create reports. BUSINESSOBJECTS comes with several templates for you to use and you can also create your own.

71) How do you create a universe, step-by-step approach.

Designing, Creating and maintaining a universe

The phased in this include:

Planning

Break down the information system into functional areas

Analysis

Analyze the information needs of users

Design

Design a conceptual schema

Design the specification of a universe

Implementation

Create a universe with DESIGNER

Test the universe with BUSINESSOBJECTS/WEBINTELLIGENCE

Distribute the universe

Repeat the above steps for other universes

Maintenance

Update and maintain the universe

Notify end users of changes

72) How many modes are there in BO & Designer?

There are 2 types: Enterprise Mode, Workgroup Mode.

73) 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.

Workgroup mode 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.

74) 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.

75) 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.

76) 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 as Workgroup check box in the Save as universe dialog box.