Frequently Asked Interview in SAP BO BI

 1. Define Business objects.

Business object can be considered as 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.

2. Explain the pros of using business objects.

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

3. List out the different products related with Business Objects.

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

4. Define Designer.

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.

5. List out the various kinds of methods related with multidimensional analysis that is inside business objects.

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

• Slice & Dice
• Drill down

6. List out the kinds of users associated with business objects.

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

9. Define the kinds of data providers?

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

10. What is Shared connection?

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.

11. What is a secured connection?

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 this connection care usually saved inside CMS.

12. Define a context in the universe.

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.

13. How can Contexts be created?

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.

14. How can Chasm Trap be solved?

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.

17. What are the utilities of Derived tables?

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.

15. List out the @functions.

The @functions are:

• @Aggregate_Aware
• @Script
• @Select
• @Variable
• @where
• @Prompt

16. Describe the uses of @functions.

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.

17. How many Domains are there in Business Objects? What are they?

There are three Domains in Business Objects and they are:

• Security
• Document
• Universe

18. How many approaches are there for linking universes?

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

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

19. List out the available Drill modes.

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

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

20. List out the schemas supported by Business Objects Designer.

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

• Star schema
• Snowflake schema
• Multi-star schema
• Normalized production schema
• Data Warehouse with aggregates

21. Define Channel.

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.

22. What are the restrictions over user objects?

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.

23. List out the tasks of universe designer.

The tasks consist of:

• Designing the universe
• Creating the universe
• Maintaining the universe
• Distributing the universe

24. 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 from the complexities of the database structure as well as the intricacies of SQL syntax

25. 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.

26. 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.

27. 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.

28. 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.

29. 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 BusinessObjects; 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.

30. 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.

34. 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.

35. 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

36. 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

37. 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.

38. 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.