Business Objects Interview Questions and Answers

Business object is a integrated analysis, reporting and query for the purpose of finding solution to some business professionals that can be helpful for them to retrieve data from the corporate databases in a direct manner from the desktop. This retrieved information can be presented and analyzed within a document that of business objects. Business objects can be helpful as an OLAP tool by the high level management as a major part of Decision Support Systems

There are many advantages in making use of business objects and they are

• User friendliness
• Business terms that are familiar
• Graphical interface
• Deployment of documents on an enterprise basis by making use of WebI
• Dragging and dropping
• Powerful reports for a lesser amount of time.

There are various kinds of products related with business objects and they are

• User module
• Designer
• Supervisor
• Auditor
• Set Analyzer
• Info View
• Business Objects – Software Development – Kit
• Broadcast Agent

• Data_Transfer
• Date_Generation
• Effective_Date
• Hierarchy_Flattening
• History_Preserving
• Key_Generation
• Map_CDC_Operation
• Pivot Reverse Pivot
• Table_Comparison
• XML_Pipeline

These are packages that enhance the ability of Data Cleanse to accurately process various forms of global data by including language-specific reference data and parsing rules.

The Data Cleanse transform identifies and isolates specific parts of mixed data, and standardizes your data based on information stored in the parsing dictionary, business rules defined in the rule file, and expressions defined in the pattern file.

Designer is a module related with Business Objects IS used by the designers for creating and maintaining universes. Universes can be considered as semantic layer that can isolate the end users from the various issues that are technical and related with the structure of database. Universe designers has the possibility for distributing the universes to the end users after moving these as file through the system of files or can be done by exporting the files to the repository.

There are especially two different kinds of modes associated with these platforms, they are

• Enterprise mode
• Workgroup mode

There are two different methods related with multidimensional analysis available inside BO and these methods are

• Slice & Dice
• Drill down

There are various different kinds of users associated with business object, they are

• General supervisor
• Supervisor
• Graphical Interface
• Designer
• Supervisor Designer
• End User
• Versatile User

Business objects help you in accessing the data from variety of sources. You have the possibility of accessing data from RDBMS like oracle, MS SQL server and IBM DB2.

There are various kinds of data providers available for the business objects and they are

• Stored procedures
• Queries over universe
• Free hand – SQL
• VBA procedures
• SAP
• OLAP servers
• Personal data files

Using SQL queries from the database level, Derived tables are created in the universe. The columns of the derived table will be the columns selected in the query. Derived table can be used in the complex calculations which are difficult to be achieved in the report levels. Using a dblink, tables can be accessed from a different schema, is another use of derived tables.

User objects is a universe of classes and objects which is created by the universe designer. Once the objects consisted in the universe does not matches your necessities, then the user can create his own objects called User objects.

The @functions are:

• @Aggregate Aware
• @Script
• @Select
• @Variable
• @where
• @Prompt

Specifies the transaction size in number of rows. If set to 1000, Data Integrator sends a commit to the underlying database every 1000 rows.

The @prompt function asks the end user to enter any specific values. The Visual Basics for applications macro’s results will be recovered by using @Script function. An existing statements SELECT statement can be re-used by using @Select function. For a name or variable, the value assigned to it will be referenced using @Variable. An existing object’s where clause can be re-used by @Where functions.

There are three Domains in Business Objects and they are:

• Security
• Document
• Universe

The following sections describe ways you can adjust Data Integrator performance

• Source-based performance options
• Using array fetch size
• Caching data
• Join ordering
• Minimizing extracted data
• Target-based performance options
• Loading method and rows per commit
• Staging tables to speed up auto-correct loads
• Job design performance options
• Improving throughput
• Maximizing the number of pushed-down operations
• Minimizing data type conversion
• Minimizing local conversion
• Improving Informix repository performance

Using @Derived_table function, we can access one derived table from another. The syntax is as ,

@derived_table(the derived table name)

This is a kind of analysis mode associated with business objects and helps in breaking down data as well as in viewing data from all the possible angles and the levels of detail for discovering the factor that has caused good – bad result.

Personal connection can be created only by a single user and it can’t be made used by others. The details regarding such a connection can be usually stored inside PDAC.LSI file.

This is a kind of connection that is usually made used by other user via a server which is shared one. The details regarding the connection can be stored within the SDAC>LSI file which can be found within the installation folder of the business objects.

Secured connection is a kind of connection that can be helpful in overcoming the various limitations associated with the former connections. The rights related with this kind of connection can be set over documents as well as objects. Universes can be brought inside central repository only by making use of secured connection. The parameters regarding these connection care usually saved inside CMS.

The custom hierarchies can be used for defining the universe for facilitating drill down that is customized and can happen between objects from different or same classes considering the user requirements.

The custom hierarchies can be created by following the path tools ->hierarchies in BO designer.

Constructs a complete hierarchy from parent/child relationships, and then produces a description of the hierarchy in vertically or horizontally flattened format.

Parent Column, Child Column

Parent Attributes, Child Attributes.

Context can be defined as the particular path of join between a specific group of joins or the tables for the purpose of a particular query. A particular object that can be found inside the column of a table, belonging to particular context is supposed to be compatible to all the various kinds of objects belonging to the same context. In the case of objects that are from the various kinds of context, different kinds of SQL can be generated, and the results can be merged inside micro cube. This is for making sure that there is no incorrect result associated with a loop or any other kind of issue related with join path.

• Row-by-row select – look up the target table using SQL every time it receives an input row. This option is best if the target table is large.
• Cached comparison table: To load the comparison table into memory. This option is best when the table fits into memory and you are comparing the entire target table
• Sorted input: To read the comparison table in the order of the primary key column(s) using sequential read. This option improves performance because Data Integrator reads the comparison table only once. Add a query between the source and the Table_Comparison transform. Then, from the query’s input schema, drag the primary key columns into the Order By box of the query.

Context can be created by making use of feature associated with context or by manual procedures. The context are usually created by making use of logical calculation or based on the business requirements. The detect context may not be much useful in this case and so it should be done by making use of manual procedure.

Chasm trap is a condition that arises when the values inside the fact table get inflated at the time of measuring the values from two different fact tables by considering the dimensions inside dimension table.

Chasm trap should be solved by making use of two different methods.

• In the case of SQL parameters in universe, the option generates numerous queries for each and every measure that needs to be chosen. This helps in generating SQL statement for every measure and gives the correct results.
• Another approach is to include two joints in different contexts, where the problem will get solved by generating two synchronized queries.

Slice works with the master or detail reports and it is used to rename, reset and delete the blocks.

Strategies is used for extracting automatically structural data from database or  from a flat file.

Universe is a group of objects and classes. These objects and classes will be projected for an application or a set of users.

• Slice: It renames, reset and delete the blocks. It works with the master/detail report.
• Dice: It displays the data and removes the data. It turns the crosstabs and tables into c harts and vice versa.

Large blocks of data can be split into sections by using master/detail report. Repeating values can be avoided by using this and also the subtotals can be displayed.

The class can be defined as a collection of objects in a universe. Subclasses can be derived from classes and using these classes and the subclasses, we can create a hierarchy.

There are three approaches available for linking the universes and they are:

• The Kernal approach.
• The Master approach.
• The Component approach.

Data mining is the process through which you can extract the required details from the database, which can be made used for making conclusions.

Drill modes helps to analyze data from different angles and different state of details. The available Drill modes are;

• Drill up.
• Drill down.
• Drill by.
• Drill through.

when we have a same fact tables in different grains,we use aggregate_awarness function to define one object for measures in fact tables.the syntax is as,

@aggregate_aware(highest_level.lower level)

A one to many join links to a table which respond with another one to many join links is called fan trap.

The query or the data source is called as the data provider.

Context is created when the dimension objects are present in one or both fact tables.

It is used to reset, rename and omit the blocks. It works with the master or detailed reports.

Channel is a website with ‘push’ technology. It is to make the users know up-to-date information. Each and every Business Objects channel will be associated with a broadcast agent, who can have several channels.

User objects are not shared with other end users. It is stored in a specific user object definition file. So if any end-user tries to refresh or edit the query contains another user’s user object, it will be automatically cleaned and removed.

Only the users within the group can be accessed in this mode.

There are five different schemas supported by Business Objects designer and they are:

• star schema.
• Snowflake schema
• Multistar schema
• Normalized production schema.
• Data warehouse with aggregates.

There are various kinds of data providers are:

• OLAP servers
• Queries over universe
• Personal data files
• SAP
• VBA procedures
• Stored procedures
• Free hand-SQL