OBIEE Interview Questions Filed under: OBIEE FAQ harikv @ 5:21 pm Dear folks, These are just something

that I have found to be some of the very general questi ons coming around from many different interviewers for the last 3 quarters. I ha ve divided them by complexity and hope these questions help you in bossting your confidence. Remember that Practice and Experience are the best learning methods for your next job but getting to know what kind of questions that people ask for is also good. We will start with easy questions first and slowly gear towards the complex ques tions that may make your head spin :) To make this more relevant, lets assume you are running 0n OBIEE 10.1.3.4 versio n 1. What is the default location of a repository file? 2. How many repository files can be loaded to a BI Server simultaneously? Assume its a single server with single instance of BI Server running just to keep thin gs easy :) 3. If you have more than 3 repository files mentioned in your NQSConfig.ini file as default, which one gets loaded to the memory when the BI Server is started? Ex: Star = SamplerRepository1.rpd, DEFAULT; Star = SamplerRepository2.rpd, DEFAULT; Star = SamplerRepository3.rpd, DEFAULT; 4. How do you import Essbase Cubes into your repository? 5. Whats XMLA and where is it used for in OBIEE context? 6. Can you change the location of your rpd file in your OBIEE Configuration? If Yes, Where would you mention the new location of this rpd file for Bi Server? 7. What kind of joins would you perform in the physical layer of the repository file when opened with Administration tool? 8. What are the minimum services needed to load a repository file onto memory an d view a dashboard which has reports that have been refreshed on a scheduled bas is? 9. Can you use an OLTP backend database for creating a dashboard? 10. How many tables are needed in minimum to pass through the Consistency Checki ng in Logical Layer (Business Mapping and Modeling Layer) of the repository? 11. Can you create new views in the database using OBIEE Administration tool? Ca n you explain the procedure for doing this? 12. What is a complex join in OBIEE and why, where is it used?

13. Is it mandatory to have hierarchies defined in your repository? If Yes, wher e does it help? If No, what happens in the reports? 14. How do you create outer joins in physical layer? 15. What does Consistency Checking perform; What are the minimum criteria to pas s consistency checking for a given repository? 16. Does OBIEE store physical sql ? How is physical sql generated in OBIEE envir onments? 17. Are there any occasions where physical sql is not generated when running aga inst a backend database like Oracle, SQL Server or any other relational database ? 18. What is the best default logging level for production users? 19. What is the difference between logging level 1 and 2? 20. What are the different places (files) to view the physical sql generated by an Answers report? 21. Where does the BI Server logs its start, stop and restart times in the file system? 22. You have two tables Table 1 and Table 2 joined by a foreign key in the datab ase? They are imported together from the database into your physical layer. Is t his relationship still preserved in the OBIEE physical layer? 23. Same as question 22 but what happens if you import each table seperately? 24. If Table 1 and Table 2 are dragged from physical layer to BMM layer, which t able becomes a Fact Table and which table becomes a Dimension Table? 25. What if the tables (Table 1 and Table 2) are not joined, then what happens i n BMM layer? 26. What is the difference between logical table and logical table source? 27. How many LTS (Logical Table Sources) can a logical table have? Whats the min imum and maximum? 28. How many server instances can coexist in an OBIEE cluster? 29. Whats a dimension only query in OBIEE? 30. Aggregation rules are set on top of or Both) columns (Physical Columns or Logical Columns

Lets get to questions that are little more complex in my opinion :) 31. What is alternative drill path? How do you set alternative drill path in OBI EE? 32. What are the pre-requisites for using aggregate persistence wizard? What doe s aggregate persistence wizard create and what does it help with? 33. Can you import data in multiple sheets from an Excel file? How do you import data from an Excel sheet? (Forget about csv files for now)

34. What are the uses of Execute Direct SQL feature in Answers? Is it a good pract ice to allow this feature for production users? 35. How do you disable Execute Direct SQL feature for all the users of your reposi tory? 36. I want to store the value of the last time the respository was updated and s how it in the dashboard? What type of variable can be used for this purpose? 37. Is there any way to see a list of all the repository variables defined in yo ur repository using Answers tool? 38. What are Chronological Keys in OBIEE? How are they different from Logical Ke ys? 39. You want to use a database built-in function bypassing the functions defined in OBIEE? What OBIEE function helps in achieving this? Whats the syntax for thi s function? 40. What are the different ways to authenticate an user in OBIEE system? Can OBI EE authenticate a user passing through multiple authentication methods? 41. How do you resolve M:M relationship between tables in OBIEE? Explain a scena rio where this would help? 42. Does OBIEE support ragged hierarchies? What is the procedure to import ragge d hierarchies from Essbase? 43. You are trying to open a repository using Admin tool and when you click to s ay Open Online ; a dialogue box pops up saying Your rpd is available in read-only mod e. How can you edit this repository by opening online? 44. How do you set up usage tracking in OBIEE? Is the Usage Tracking mechanism i n OBIEE configurable to capture new identified metrics by your department? 45. What is the default configuration for caching in NQSConfig.ini file? How met hod does the OBIEE use for clearing its cache? 46. Table 1 and Table 2 are joined together in an Answers query. Table 1 is defi ned as cachable and Table 2 is defined as not cachable? What happens to the resu ltset used in the Answers tool? Is the result cached or not cached? 47. What is MUDE/ MUD in OBIEE? On what basis would you create projects? 48. Two people (Developer A and Developer B) are assigned to the same project in side MUD and opened the same project simultaneously. Developer A made some chang es to the project and merged his changes to the original repository. Developer B also made some changes and commited his changes to the original repository? Doe s the MUD environment preserve both Developer A and Developer B changes? 49. In MUDE, Can two resources checkout the same project simultaneously? 50. In MUDE, what happens if the physical tables are shared between projects? 51. What are the different types of utilities provided in OBIEE? Explain any two utilities used in your previous projects and what are they used for? 52. What are the different documentation mechanisms available in Admin tool? How do you create documentation for your Answers users against all objects availabl e in your subject areas?

Please comment if you would like to add any new questions or suggestions to this list. Until next time, Kudos to all OBIEE evangelists :)