1.

What is

business objects ?

BUSINESSOBJECTS is an integrated query, reporting and analysis solution for busi

ness professionals that allow them to access the data in their corporate databas
es directly from their desktop and present and analyze this information in a BUS
INESSOBJECTS document.
It is an OLAP tool that high-level management can use as a part of a Decision Su
pport Systems (DSS).
BUSINESSOBJECTS makes it easy to access the data, because you work with it in bu
siness 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 Intelli
gence), 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. Enterpr
ise mode means that you are working in an environment with a repository. Workgro
up mode means that you are working without a repository. The mode in which you s
ave 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 r
epository, then click the Save For All Users check box in the Save as universe dia
log 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 save
d 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 repositor

y.
Only available if you have previously connected in online mode.
In offline mode you can open universes that are stored on your local computer on
ly if those universes have been opened previously in online mode.
You can access databases where the connection and security information are store
d on your local machine (personnel and shared connections.)
You can use offline mode when you do not have access to the repository, for exam
ple 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 BusinessObjects User module, universes enable end users to build queries
from which they can generate and perform analysis. Universes isolate end users f
rom 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 parame
ters include the definition of a universe, which is comprised of: the universe n
ame, 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 y
ou set up database options, external strategies, graphic options, and print sett
ings.
11.What is a database connection?
A connection is a set of parameters that provides access to an RDBMS. These para
meters include system information such as the data account, user identification,
and the path to the database. Designer provides three types of connections: sec
ured, 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 cr

itical 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 docu
ments. Several users can thus use it.
A personal connection is specific to one user and can be used only from the comp
uter on 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 va
lues 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 tabl
e 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 t
ables with a common domain to be combined into a single table. The purpose of jo
ins 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 t
he 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 le
ft.
Full outer join: All rows in all joined tables are included, whether they are ma
tched 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 uni
verse. This structure includes the tables and columns of a database and the join
s by which they are linked. You may need to resolve loops which occur in the joi
ns using aliases or contexts. You can conclude this phase by testing the integri
ty of the overall structure.
During the second phase, you can proceed to enhance the components of your unive
rse. You can also prepare certain objects for multidimensional analysis. As with
the first phase, you should test the integrity of your universe structure. Fina
lly, you can distribute your universes to users by exporting them to the reposit
ory 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 Str
ucture pane, the Table Browser. The Universe pane displays the components of th
e universe from the point of view of BusinessObjects; that is the classes, objec
ts, and conditions. The Structure pane reflects the underlying database structur
e 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.
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 o
r 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 obj
ects. 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 resou
rces 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 m
odel 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 deri
vation of data in the database. Using objects, end users can build queries to ge
nerate reports. The name of an object suggests a concept drawn from the terminol
ogy of a business or discipline. For a human resources manager, objects might be
Employee Name, Address, Salary, or Bonus, while for a financial analyst, object
s might be Profit Margin, Return on Investment, etc. For the purposes of multidi
mensional analysis, objects are qualified as one of three types: dimension, deta
il, or measure.
19.What are Dimension-Measure-Detail Objects?
When creating universes, universe designers define and qualify objects. The qual
ification of an object reveals how it can be used in analysis in reports. An obj
ect 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 consid
ered the focus of the analysis. A dimension can be an object such as Service, Pr
ice, 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 nam
es, 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. Howe
ver, 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 c
an 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, Regio
n, 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 belon
g 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 aggregate
d tables.
23.What are Contexts?
A context is a rule that determines which of two paths can be chosen when more t
han 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 alias
es to resolve loops. A situation where this commonly occurs is a transactional d
atabase 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 dep
ending on the need of reports. Imagine a fact table which contains granular data
up to minute s transaction. Now if you are developing a reports which has hour, d
ay, week, month, quarter, year level summaries. Queries to get these summary val
ues 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 the
n using aggregate table might be an issue.
Consider following example
e.g. you have two aggregate table
Table 1
AggregateID

Year

Quarter

Table 2
AggregateID

Year

Quarter

Month
Month

Sales Revenue
ServiceType

Sales Revenue

Now if you have a requirement wherein one of your report is displays year wise s
ales 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 o
n 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 l
east summarized.
Now if while creating report if you use only year attribute and sales revenue. A
ggregate_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 w
ith the summary table.
e.g. In above example none of the table contains aggregated value for
rticle object will be incompatible.
You can not use aggregate_aware with Article object

Article

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 ar
e 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 no
t 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 cu
st_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 wi
th a customer key of Actual customer table and join the cust_to_bill_key with cu
stomer key of the Alias.
28.What are strategies?
A strategy is a script that automatically extracts structural information from a

so a

database or flat file.

29.What are the different types of Strategies?
In Designer we can specify two types of strategies:
1)
Built-in strategies and
2)
External strategies
Built-in Strategies: Designer provides a number of default strategies which we c
an 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 th
e exact way that objects and joins are to be extracted from the database structu
re. The strategy we use, for example, can be a script generated from a CASE Acce
ss 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 con
tained 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 declar
ed 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 follow
ing 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 connec
tion.
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 an
d 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 tab
les, joins, and contexts. When you click a component in a pane, its correspondin
g graphical representation in the schema is highlighted. Graphic options, which
let you customize the shape or appearance of the tables, columns, joins, and car
dinalities in the Structure pane.
Arrange tables, a feature that reorganizes the tables in the Structure pane so a
s to produce an orderly display. Gridlines, a command that displays a grid, whic
h you can use to align tables in the Structure pane.
Table (Column) Values, commands that display the data values associated with a p
articular 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 c
alled a fan trap.
The fanning out effect of one to many joins can cause incorrect results to be retu
rned 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 199
0 to 2000. and from that group we want one user to restrict to see the report fr
om 1990 to 1995. Then what to do in BO designer, so that this can be possible( N
ot 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 circums
tances to make SQL more efficient.
e.g. in Above example if you want get the client list and there countries you ca
n simple join country ID from client table to country id from country table. How
ever 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 max
imum 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
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