Business object can be considered as integrated analysis, reporting and query for the purpose of finding a 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 to high-level management as a significant part of Decision Support Systems.

Explain the pros of using business objects.

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

User friendliness
Familiar business terms
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.

List out the kinds of users associated with business objects.

Different kinds of users associated with the business object are

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

What are the various data sources available?

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

What is a personal connection?

A 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.

What is Shared connection?

This is a kind of connection that is usually used by another user via a server which is a 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.

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 to this kind of connection can be set over documents as well as objects. Universes can be brought inside the central repository only by making use of the secured connection. The parameters regarding these connection care usually saved inside CMS.

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 the universe, the option generates numerous queries for each and every measure that needs to be chosen. This helps in generating a 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.

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.

Define User Objects.

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

Define a class.

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.

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.

What is data mining?

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

List out the available Drill modes.

Drill mode 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 use a context?

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

What is the standard mode?

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

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
Multistar Schema
Normalized production schema.
Data warehouse with aggregates.

Define WEBI.

Web intelligence is a solution that is specialized in supporting decisions related to queries, reports, and analysis.

Abbreviation of DSS is?

Decision Support Systems.

Define strategies.

To automatically extract structural information from a database or from a flat file we use a script known as strategy.

Define the universe.

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

Define secured mode.

Secured mode restricts the access of specific users over specific commands.

Throw some light on your experience in SAP BO with respect to your project work.

I worked for a US-based health-care distributor who delivers pharmaceuticals to various retails and institutional providers across North America. Depending on the sales made, the company offers different kinds of rebates to its customers.

Broadly speaking, the aim of our project was to build a rebate calculation application for the company through which we can calculate rebates accurately and present real-time state of the system to the business so that losses incurred on inaccurate rebate calculation are minimized and decision making can be improved by viewing more realistic reports.

This was an agile project & I was involved in the development team of the scrum.

My tasks were bringing data into the SAP HANA system from various sources and develop data models over this data. Then, over the calculation views created in SAP HANA, I used to build universes in IDT depicting different scenarios needed for reporting.

And finally, I used to build reports in SAP Business Objects utilizing these universes. These reports were the end product of our project. The top management used to consume these reports for better decision-making.

For building these reports, I used Webi rich client – SAP Business Objects 4.0.

What are the bunch of tools available under the Business Objects 4.0 platform?

We have the following type of tools under SAP BO BI 4.0:

Administrator tools
Business User tools – Business user tools are the ones intended for a business user (Example –HR manager or a financial manager of any organization) which helps them to view and manage business reports to aid them in a decision-making process.
Data manager tools – They are used to design a semantic layer between the designer tool and its source of data.
Designer tools – It provides the facility to design a query based on your reporting requirement.

The below image shows a glimpse of the above categorization:

Important Note: Webi is both a business user tool as well as a design tool.

How do you access Webi?

We open Webi through BI launch pad as shown in the image below:

Under ‘My applications’, we have several applications enlisted. You can click on the red & blue webi icon as shown in the above figure and start using the app.

Explain the categorization of SAP Business object client tools.

SAP BO client tools are divided into two parts:

Business object desktop tools: These are also called as window-based tools. They can be launched from the windows environment. Let’s say, we have an IDT (Information Design Tool), UDT (Universe Design Tool), live office, etc. We cannot launch them from the web/ BI launch pad. For Example, if you need to launch UDT, you will open it through windows like this:

Business object web client tools: These are the tools that can be launched from the BI launch pad. They are browser-based tools. For Example, Business objects explorer, analysis edition for OLAP, etc.

Important Note: Webi is a web-based as well as a window-based tool.

One of the major stakeholder’s need is to visualize data for better decision making. Which SAP BO tool would you choose in this case?

We would choose SAP BO Dashboards in this scenario.

The business user’s need is to get ad-hoc questions answered and interact with information. Which SAP BO tool would you choose in this case?

We can go with webi in this scenario.

Which of the connection did you use in your project and why?

In my project, we were using the secured connection as we were working in a team and also the reports had to be shared between the cross-functional team.

We had to create BO reports over the IDT universe and publish these reports. When it comes to a live project, the secured connection is the best kind of connection to use because here we can limit access to different users. Also, a secured connection can be accessed from different servers.

The main reason for using a secured connection is that since it is saved in a repository, so if your requirement is to publish the reports over repository, you will have to use a secured connection.

Explain your idea of a Universe in BO and its relevance with the assignments you have worked upon.

A universe is a logical layer between the backend and the front end of the reporting. It is a metadata layer that isolates the technical complexities of the source system from the business user/report developer.

In the universe, the required attributes and measures are picked up from the backend and arranged in a way we want to use them further for reporting. In my project, we used to create the IDT universe on top of calculation views developed in HANA. These IDT universes were further utilized to create BO reports.

Have you ever encountered the scenario of a chasm trap? If yes, what is the way to resolve it as per your suggestion?

Yes, I did encounter the scenario of a chasm trap in one of my assignments.

In a universe based upon a dimensional schema, we could have a dimension table joined with 2 fact tables so that both of them are one-to-many joins (F >- D -< F).

In such a situation, if we have a tendency to drag a measure from each of the fact tables in conjunction with attributes from the dimension table, the value of the measures within the fact tables is inflated.

This condition is understood as a chasm trap. The chasm trap shows you misleading figures in the report which can impact management decision making. Thus, the condition of a chasm trap should be avoided/resolved.

To resolve chasm trap: Go to Universe Parameters -> SQL -> Multiple paths -> check the options – ‘multiple SQL statements for each context’ and ‘multiple SQL statements for each measure’. And uncheck the option – ‘allow selection of multiple contexts’.

In BO 3.1, we had a ‘dashboard builder’. What is the nomenclature for the same in BO BI 4.0?

It is called ‘BI workspaces’ in BO BI 4.0 platform.

Do you have any idea about the Live Office?

There are many users who are comfortable using only Microsoft office products. They need business reports in Microsoft office products like Microsoft Excel and all. For those users, we have SAP BO Live office tools.

We have a lot of tools available under the business objects platform. Will, a company has to purchase the entire suite or does the SAP provides a way for organizations to buy only the tools which are needed?

No, it is not necessary for a company to buy all the tools that come under the SAP BO platform. The SAP provides the customization packages under which the company can buy only the tools which are needed.

Name different products that are related with Business Objects.

A wide range of products are related with the Business Objects. These are as follows:

Designer
2. User Module
3. Supervisor
4. Set Analyzer
5. Auditor
6. Info View
7. Broadcast Agent
8. Software Development Kit related to Business Objects

List out the kinds of modes related with Business Objects and Designer.

There are two kinds of modes linked with the Business Objects and Designer platforms:

Workgroup Mode
Enterprise Mode

List out the various kinds of data providers for Business Objects.

For Business Objects, there are different kinds of data providers available. They are as follows:

1.SAP
2. OLAP servers
3. Stored Procedures
4. VBA procedures
5. Personal data files
6. Free hand –SQL
7. Queries over universe

What are custom hierarchies?

The custom hierarchies are used to define the universe for assisting drill down that is not only customized but can also occur between objects from same or different classes taking into consideration the user requirements.

What is the process of creating custom hierarchies?

One can create custom hierarchies with the help of path tools such as hierarchies in BO designer.

Name different @functions.

There are different @functions. They are as follows:

@Select
@Script
@Aggregate_Aware
@Variable
@Where
@Prompt

Explain the various uses of @functions.

By using @Script function, an applications visual basics macro results can be recovered. The @prompt function asks over to enter any specific value to the end user. By using @Select function, an existing SELECT statement for the available ones can be re used. With the @Variable function, the value assigned for a name or variable can be referenced. Using @Where function, an existing object can be re used.

What is SAP Business Objects?

What are the bunch of tools available under the Business Objects 4.0 platform?

We have the following type of tools under SAP BO BI 4.0:

Administrator tools
Business User tools –Business user tools are the ones intended for a business user (Example –HR manager or a financial manager of any organization) which helps them to view and manage business reports to aid them in a decision-making process.
Data manager tools –They are used to design a semantic layer between the designer tool and its source of data.
Designer tools –It provides the facility to design a query based on your reporting requirement.

List out the different products related to Business Objects.

There are various kinds of products related to business objects, and they are

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

Define a Chasm Trap.

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 the dimension table.

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

There are three Domains in Business Objects and they are:

Security
Document
Universe

Why webi is called as a business user tool as well as a designer tool at the same time?

The reason behind this is that a business user can log into web intelligence and view reports and if they want to create simple reports on an ad-hoc basis then that is also possible.

Webi is a very simple tool to use. A business user can open a report from the BO repository and can also generate the report by just selecting the universe, run a query on top of it and get their final report as a result.

What is the difference between UDT and IDT?

The universes which are designed in UDT are UNV universes whereas the universes which are designed in IDT are UNX universes. In UDT we don’t have multi-resource universes enabled whereas in IDT we have this option. IDT is enhanced and more organized as compared to UDT.

What are the different versions of Business Objects that you have worked on?

BO XI R1
BO XI R2
BO XI R3
BO XI R3.1
BO XI R3.2

In year 2011, BO XI 4.0 was introduced and latest version of the tool is SAP BO 4.2.

What are the key differences between BOXI R3 and SAP BO 4.x?

Deski is not available in BO 4.x

IDT is introduced to support multiple data sources

Import Wizard is no longer available in BO 4.x

Bo 4.x is 6 layered architecture as compared to BOXI R3 5 layer architecture.

Name various schemas that are supported by Business Objects designer.

There are 5 different schemas that are supported by Business Objects designer. These are as follows:

Star Schema
2. Multistar Schema
3. Snowflake Schema
4. Data warehouse with aggregates
5. Normalised production schema

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.

What data sources are available?

BUSINESS OBJECTS let you access data from a wide range of sources. You can access data from Relational databases (RDBMS), such as ORACLE, Microsoft SQL Server, Informix and IBM DB2. Multidimensional (OLAP) databases, such as Microsoft OLAP Services, Hyperion Essbase, and ORACLE Express.
Virtually any data source using Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) procedures.

Did you do metadata reporting in BO?

Metadata reporting of BO is possible. BO provides a separate universe which actually contains repository tables, objects etc. Using this Universe one can do metadata reporting in BO.

What are Symbolic Objects?

Objects whose values are text are referred to as Symbolic objects.

What are calculation contexts?

By default, BUSINESSOBJECTS determines the result of a measure based on the dimension or dimensions in the part of the report in which the measure is inserted. These sets of dimensions are called calculation contexts. Calculation contexts are dynamic in BUSINESSOBJECTS.

What is Combined Query?

Business Objects lets you combine the data returned by up to Eight Queries as one set of results. These combined queries enable you to :

Obtain a single column name from a multiple objects (Union)
Obtain data common to two sets of results (Intersect)
Exclude the results of one query from the results of another (Minus)

What is the repository?

The repository is the database in which the information about the users and data is present. It is created and maintained by the general supervisor. It is used to share resources of business objects. It comprises of three domains.

Universe domain – It holds all the exported universes and there may be more than one universe domain in the repository.

Document domain – It holds all exported documents, templates, scripts, and lists of values.

Security domain – secured connections are stored in this.

Write the advantages of using business objects.

There are many advantages of business objects
Easy to use
Dragging and dropping
Graphical interface
Business terms that are familiar
Powerful reports for a lesser amount of time.

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

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

What is the result of a query?

The result of the query is the final report. A report is a business representation of the data.

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

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.

Which of the connection did you use in your project and why?

In my project, we were using secured connection as we were working in a team and also the reports had to be shared between the cross-functional team.

We had to create BO reports over the IDT universe and publish these reports. When it comes to a live project, the secured connection is the best kind of connection to use because here we can limit the access to different users. Also, secured connection can be accessed from different servers.

The last and main reason of using secured connection is that since it is saved in a repository, so if your requirement is to publish the reports over repository, you will have to use a secured connection.

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 these connection care usually saved inside CMS.

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.

How the universes created in IDT are made available in BO?

Once universe is created, we publish the universe using a secured connection and then import the universe in BO to make a report on top of it.

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.

What are the methods available in SAP BO to do the multidimensional analysis?

We have two such methods in BO:

Slice and Dice method
Drill down method

What are the utilities of Derived tables?

Define User Objects.

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.

List out the @functions.

The @functions are:

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

Define Slice in Business Objects.

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

Differentiate Dice and Slice.

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.

If you want to find immediate answers to business questions, which tool you would go with?

We will go with business objects explorer in this case. It acts like a business objects search engine. We can search anything through a keyword search box in the explorer and all the information spaces appear in the result where that particular keyword exists.

Define the term fan trap?

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

Define Data provider.

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

When we use a context?

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

What is a standard mode?

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

Define WEBI.

Web intelligence is a solution that is specialized in supporting the decisions related with queries, reports and analysis.

Abbreviation of DSS is?

Decision Support Systems.

Define strategies.

To automatically extract structural information from database or from a flat file we use a script known as strategy.

Give a definition for universe.

It is a set of objects and classes.these objects and clss es will be intended for an application or a group of users.

Define secured mode.

Secured mode restricts the access of specific users over specific commands.

What is Drill by?

Using drill by we can move to other hierarchy and analyze the other data, which belongs to another hierarchy.

What is the difference between UDT and IDT?

Does crystal reports can be built on top of UDT?

No, the tools like crystal report for Enterprises, Dashboards, BO explorer does not support UNV universe (designed by UDT). It supports only UNX universe (designed by IDT). Web Intelligence is the only tool which supports both the universes – UNV and UNX.

Define Data Services components.

Data Services includes the following standard components:
Designer
Repository
Job Server
Engines
Access Server
Adapters
Real-time Services
Address Server
Cleansing Packages, Dictionaries, and Directories
Management Console

SAP Business Object (BO) Analysis

List out the different products related to Business Objects.

There are various kinds of products related to business objects, and they are

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

Define Designer.

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

What are the kinds of modes associated with designer and business objects?

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

Enterprise mode
Workgroup mode

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

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

Slice & Dice
Drill down

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
Freehand – SQL
VBA procedures
SAP
OLAP servers
Personal data files

Define the drill mode.

Drill 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 a good or a bad result.

Define custom hierarchies?

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.

How can custom Hierarchies be created?

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

Define a context in the universe.

Context can be defined as the particular path of the 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 with 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 the 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.

How can Contexts be created?

Context can be created by making use of feature associated with context or by manual procedures. The context is 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 the manual procedure.

Define a Chasm Trap.

List out the @functions.

The @functions are:

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

What is the use 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.

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

There are three Domains in Business Objects and they are:

Security
Document
Universe

How to access one derived table from another?

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

@derived_table(the derived table name)

Define Slice in Business Objects.

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

Differentiate Dice and Slice.

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 charts and vice versa.

What is a master/detail report?

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.

Define aggregate_awarness.

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

@aggregate_aware(highest_level.lower level)

Define the term fan trap?

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

Define Data provider.

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

What is a 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.

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.

List out the tasks of universe designer.

The tasks consist of,

Designing the universe.
Creating the universe.
Maintaining the universe.
Distributing the universe

List out the main components of the designer interface.

The main components it consists of are:

The table browser.
The structure pane.
The universe pane.

What do you mean by report bursting?

To maintain the version documents according to the user profiles, we use report bursting.

What is Drill by?

Using drill by we can move to other hierarchy and analyze the other data, which belongs to another hierarchy.

What is a list of values?

It is a file which contains the data values associated with an object.

What is SAP Business Objects?

SAP Business Objects is a business intelligence tool that provides the combination of analysis, reporting and querying intended to find instant answers to the business-related questions and help management improve their decision-making process.

How the tools under SAP Business objects are categorized?

We have the SAP BO platform on the top. We have different tools under the SAP BO platform.

Below is the categorization:

SAP BO BI 4.0 – This is for business objects reporting.
SAP BO DS 4.0 – It is an EIM tool for SAP. Under this, we have:

Data migration projects
ETL (for data warehousing projects)

SAP BO PB: This is for business planning and legal consolidation. It is an EPM tool for SAP.

What is the BI launchpad?

Alternative Question: A business user wants to view a Webi report. How will he achieve this?

This can be achieved through the BI launch pad.

BI launch pad is an SAP BO BI 4.0 business user tool used for broadcasting the reports. It provides an interface to the SAP BO business intelligence platform repository that enables us to navigate to view & manage our business intelligence documents. It is a web-based application/portal from where we can access the reports and organize the reports as per our needs.

The images below show exactly how the BI launch pad looks like:

What URL do you use for opening the BI launchpad?

Below URL is used:

HTTP://localhost:8080/BOE/BI

What is a client tool? / Why webi is referred to as a client tool?

Webi is referred to as a client tool because it can connect to the business object’s main server (CMS). When we launch the tool, we have the option to connect to a business object server. It asks for the ‘system name’ which is nothing but the BO server.

Every tool under SAP BO is capable of connecting to the business object repository. That is why these tools are referred to as client tools.

Why webi is called as a business user tool as well as a designer tool at the same time?

The reason behind this is that a business user can log into web intelligence and view reports and if they want to create simple reports on an ad-hoc basis then that is also possible.

From where do we design the queries needed for reports?

We design the queries from the query panel. We don’t need to write complex queries here. We just have to drag & drop the column and functions and the queries are generated accordingly in the background. Below is an image showing how a query panel looks like:

What is the result of a query?

The result of the query is the final report. A report is a business representation of the data.

If a business needs highly formatted reports, which tool would you choose?

We would go with ‘SAP crystal reports for enterprise’ in this case as it gives very powerful formatting options.

What are the different types of connections available?

There are three different kinds of connections available:

Personal connection
Shared connection
Secured connection

Personal connection is the one that can be used by you only i.e. this connection is available to only the user who creates it. No other user has access to use this connection. We have a PDAC.LSI file where the connection details are kept in case of a personal connection.

Next, comes is the shared connection where all the users can access the connection. We have a shared server in this case and the connection details are kept in SDAC.LSI file.

The limitation of the shared connection is that we can’t establish rights & permissions over the objects. Also, we cannot export the universe to a central repository in case we are using a shared connection.

The last type of connection available is secured connection which can be shared between the users and we can also set rights & permissions in CMS (Central Management Server). in this case.

Additionally, we can export the universe to a central repository in case we are using a secured connection. Secure connections are saved in the repository.

With what extension the universes get created in IDT?

In IDT, the universes get created with the “.unx” extension. It is stored in the form of a file.

How the universes created in IDT are made available in BO?

Once the universe is created, we publish the universe using a secured connection and then import the universe in BO to make a report on top of it.

What made you choose webi over other reporting tools?

The reason for opting webi was its user-friendly interface, the better way of presentations, ad-hoc analysis and advanced reporting capabilities. These features lack in other reporting tools like crystal reports, BeX analyzers, and WAD.

What do you mean by a fan trap and how would it be resolved?

In a universe structure, we might have three tables joined in such a manner that the first table contains a one to many join with the second table which successively contains a one to many join with the third table (A -< B -< C). ]

In such a state of affairs, if a measure is contained within the second table and it’s dragged in conjunction with any dimension from the third table, the value of the measure is going to be inflated. Such a condition is thought of as a fan trap.

A fan trap is resolved by making an alias of the second table and shaping contexts so that, the conventional table is joined solely with the first table, whereas the alias is joined with both the first and the third table. We’d take the second table’s measured solely from the conventional table and alternative dimensions of the second table from the alias table.

What are the methods available in SAP BO to do the multidimensional analysis?

The methods are:

Slice and Dice method
Drill down method

If you want to find immediate answers to business questions, which tool you would go with?

We will go with business objects explorer in this case. It acts like a business object’s search engine. We can search for anything through a keyword search box in the explorer and all the information spaces appear in the result where that particular keyword exists.

What can be different data sources for BO reports?

The different data sources are SAP BW, OLAP, application database, customer database, Text file, XML file and Web service.

What is the difference between UDT and IDT?

Does crystal reports can be built on top of UDT?

No, the tools like crystal report for Enterprises, Dashboards, BO explorer does not support the UNV universe (designed by UDT). It supports only the UNX universe (designed by

What the term Business Objects means?

Considered as integrated analysis, Business Objects help in reporting and query to find solutions for some business professionals that can prove helpful for them for recovering data from the corporate databases from the desktop in a direct manner. Furthermore, this recovered info can be analysed and presented in a document that of business objects. Apart from this, it can prove beneficial as an OLAP tool by the management at the high level as the most important part of the decision support systems.

What are the advantages of using Business Objects?

Arrays of advantages are there in making use of Business Objects. These are as follows:

Graphical Interface
2. Dragging and Dropping
3. Terms those are familiar in business
4. User friendliness
5. Powerful reports for short span of time
6. Use of documents on basis of an enterprise using Webl

Explain Designer.

Related with Business Objects IS, it is module that is employed by designers to create and maintain universes. To brief, Universes is known as semantic layer isolating the end users from an array of issues that are not only technical but are also related with the database structure. Universe designers have the opportunity to distribute various universes to the end users as file all the way through the files system or by exporting such files to the storehouse.

Name various kinds of users related with Business Objects.

There are many kinds of users that are associated with Business Objects. These are as follows:

Graphical Interface
2. Designer
3. General Supervisor
4. End user
5. Supervisor
6. Supervisor Designer
7. Versatile User

List out the various available data resources.

You can access the data from a wide range of sources using Business Objects. These are:

Oracle
MS SQL Server
IBM DB2

What is a Drill Mode?

Drill Mode is a kind of analysis mode that is related with business objects and is prove helpful in breaking down the data and also in viewing data from almost all the levels of detail and from the angles to discover the factor that is responsible for causing good or bad result.

Name different types of Drill Modes available.

Helping you in analysing data from different state of details and angles, there are various available Drill Modes like:

Drill Up
2. Drill Down
3. Drill Through
4. Drill By

Define a personal connection.
A personal connection is formed by one user as well as can’t be employed by other users. The details of the connection are usually stored in PADC.LSI file.

Define a Shared connection.

Through a shred server, a shared connection can be used by other users. All the details of the connection are accumulated in SDAC.LSI file that can be found in the Business Objects installation folder.

Define a secured connection.

Through a secured connection rights can be set on documents and objects. With the help of a secured connection, universes can be easily exported to the central repository. It can prove helpful in overcoming various limitations that are related with the other connections. The parameters associated with this connection saved usually within CMS.

What is a Chasm Trap?

It is a condition that occurs when the values within the fact table get overblown at the values measurement time from different fact tables by taking into consideration the dimensions that are available in the dimension table.

What is the procedure of solving Chasm Trap?

By using two different methods, Chasm trap can be solved. They are as follows:
1. In the SQL parameters case in universe, the option creates a wide range of queries for each and every measure that requires to be selected. This assists in forming SQL statement for all measures and provides the accurate results.
2. To solve the Chasm trap, another approach that can be followed is the inclusion of two joints in different contexts. With this, the problem can be solved with the help of generating two queries in synchronized forms.

Name different Domains used in Business Objects.

Three different types of domains are there in Business Objects. They are as follows:

Universe
Document
Security

Define the process of accessing one derived table from another.

One derived table can be accessed from another with the help of @Derived_table function. The syntax is as follows:
@derived_table (used as the derived table name)

Explain the role of Slice in Business Objects.

Slice works with the detail or master reports. Also, it is used for renaming, resetting and deleting the blocks.

Explain the difference between Slice and Dice.

Slice helps in renaming, resetting and deleting the blocks, Dice helps in displaying and removing the data. In other sense, Slice works with the detail/master report, while Dice helps in turning the tables and crosstabs into charts and charts in crosstabs/tables.

What is a class?

It is the compilation of objects in a universe. A hierarchy can be formed with the help of these classes as subclasses can be derived from classes.

What do you mean by data mining?

It is a process by which one can extract the needed details out from the database, which can be made available to make conclusions.

Define fan trap.

The term fan trap helps in one to many joining links which further take action with another one to many joining links.

Explain the term data provider.

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

When a context can be used?

Context is formed when the dimension objects are available in one or both fact tables.

Name various schemas that are supported by Business Objects designer.

There are 5 different schemas that are supported by Business Objects designer. These are as follows:

Star Schema
2. Multistar Schema
3. Snowflake Schema
4. Data warehouse with aggregates
5. Normalised production schema

What is a standard mode?

Standard mode offers access to only the users those are within the group.

Why webi is called as a business user tool as well as a designer tool at the same time?

The reason behind this is that a business user can log into web intelligence and view reports and if they want to create simple reports on an ad-hoc basis then that is also possible.

What are the kinds of modes associated with designer and business objects?

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

Enterprise mode
Workgroup mode

What is a secured connection?

How the universes created in IDT are made available in BO?

Once the universe is created, we publish the universe using a secured connection and then import the universe in BO to make a report on top of it.

Explain your idea of a Universe in BO and its relevance with the assignments you have worked upon.

What are the advantages of using Business Objects?

Arrays of advantages are there in making use of Business Objects. These are as follows:

Graphical Interface
2. Dragging and Dropping
3. Terms those are familiar in business
4. User friendliness
5. Powerful reports for short span of time
6. Use of documents on basis of an enterprise using Webl

List out the various available data resources.

You can access the data from a wide range of sources using Business Objects. These are:

Oracle
2. MS SQL Server
3. IBM DB2

Explain the role of Slice in Business Objects.

Slice works with the detail or master reports. Also, it is used for renaming, resetting and deleting the blocks.

What are new in BO 5.1?

Save business objects documents in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF)
Add hyperlinks to reports such as mail addresses and web site addresses.
These hyperlinks are maintained when you save the report in HTML or PDF
Zero Administration – Only the business objects client software installed on the windows pc; all middleware is stored and administered on the web intelligence web server and the server side processing is handled by the web intelligence system

How do you publish BO report?

There are two ways of publishing BO reports on website

User who has publishing rights for a document can publish that document for other users.
Documents can be published via a scheduler for Business Object known as BCA or Broadcast Agent.

What is User Objects? What are the restrictions?

User objects are end-user personal objects that are not shared with other end-users. This is because the user objects are stored locally in a specific user object definition file. If an end-user tries to refresh or edit query that contains another user’s user object, the user object is automatically removed from the query and report. A user object is stored inside the Universe folder.

What is a repository?

It is a relational data account created on a database like Oracle, MS–Access, Informix, DB2 etc when the BO is installed. It will have all the BO system tables, metadata about designer, Information about universes, the actual universes, user documents and most importantly security information.

Can all BusinessObjects users build data providers?

You can build data providers only if you have purchased the REPORTER module of BUSINESSOBJECTS.

What are the user profiles in Supervisor?

SUPERVISOR offers several standard profiles for the various types of users of Business Objects products.

General Supervisor
Supervisor
Designer
Supervisor-Designer
User
Versatile

What is Business Object?

Business object detect the solutions for business professionals which could be beneficial to gain data from the corporate database directly from the desktop.

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.

BusinessObjects Data Services provides a graphical interface that allows you to easily create jobs that extract data from heterogeneous sources, transform that data to meet the business requirements of your organization, and load the data into a single location

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.

What are the bunch of tools available under business objects 4.0 platform?

We have the following type of tools under SAP BO BI 4.0:

Administrator tools

Business User tools –Business user tools are the ones intended for a business user (example –HR manager or a financial manager of any organization) which help them to view and manage business reports to aid them in a decision-making process.
Data manager tools –They are used to design a sematic layer between the designer tool and its source of data.
Designer tools –It provides the facility to design a query based on your reporting requirement.

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.

What is BI launch pad? Alternative question: A business user wants to view a webi report. How will he achieve this?

This can be achieved through BI launch pad.

BI launch pad is a SAP BO BI 4.0 business user tool used for broadcasting the reports. It provides an interface to the SAP BO business intelligence platform repository that enables us to navigate to view & manage our business intelligence documents. It is a web based application/portal from where we can access the reports and organize the reports as per our need.

What are the kinds of modes associated with designer and business objects?

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

Enterprise mode
Workgroup mode

What URL do you use for opening BI launch pad?

Below is the URL we use for BI launch pad:

HTTP://localhost:8080/BOE/BI

One of the major stakeholder’s need is to visualize data for better decision making. Which SAP BO tool would you choose in this case?

We would choose SAP BO Dashboards in this scenario.

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

The business user’s need is to get ad-hoc questions answered and interact with information. Which SAP BO tool would you choose in this case?

We can go with webi in this scenario.

Define drill mode.

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.

If a business needs highly formatted reports, which tool would you choose?

We would go with ‘SAP crystal reports for enterprise’ in this case as it gives very powerful formatting options.

What is a personal connection?

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.

. What is the different type of connections available?

There are three different kinds of connections available:

Personal connection
Shared connection
Secured connection

Personal connection is the one which can be used by you only i.e. this connection is available to only the user who creates it. No other user has access to use this connection. We have a PDAC.LSI file where the connection details are kept in case of a personal connection.

Next, comes is the shared connection where all the users can access the connection. We have a shared server in this case and the connection details are kept in SDAC.LSI file.

The limitation of shared connection is that we can’t establish rights & permissions over the objects. Also, we cannot export the universe to a central repository in case we are using a shared connection.

The last type of connection available is secured connection which can be shared between the users and we can also set rights & permissions in CMS (central management server). in this case.

Additionally, we can export the universe to a central repository in case we are using a secured connection. Secure connections are saved in the repository.

Explain your idea of a Universe in BO and its relevance with the assignments you have worked upon.

A universe is a logical layer between backend and a front end of the reporting. It is a metadata layer which isolates the technical complexities of the source system from business user/report developer.

In the universe, the required attributes and measures are picked up from the backend and arranged in a way we want to use them further for reporting. In my project, we used to create IDT universe on top of calculation views developed in HANA. These IDT universes were further utilized to create BO reports.

Define custom hierarchies?

With what extension the universes get created in IDT?

In IDT, the universes get created with “.unx” extension. It is stored in the form of a file.

How can custom Hierarchies be created?

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

What made you choose webi over other reporting tools?

The reason for opting webi was its user-friendly interface, the better way of presentations, ad-hoc analysis and advanced reporting capabilities. These features are lacking in other reporting tools like crystal reports, BeX analyzer, and WAD.

Define a Chasm Trap.

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.

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 statement 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.

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

There are three Domains in Business Objects and they are:

Security
Document
Universe

How to access one derived table from another?

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

@derived_table(the derived table name)

What is a master/detail report?

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.

Define a class.

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.

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.

Define data mining.

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

List out the available Drill modes.

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.

Define aggregate_awarness.

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)

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
Multistar schema
Normalized production schema.
Data warehouse with aggregates.

Define Channel.

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.

List out the tasks of universe designer.

The tasks consist of,

Designing the universe.
Creating the universe.
Maintaining the universe.
Distributing the universe

List out the main components of designer interface.

The main components it consists of are:

The table browser.
The structure pane.
The universe pane.

What you meant by report bursting?

To maintain the version documents according to the user profiles, we use report bursting.

What is a list of values?

It is file which contains the data values associated with an object.

In BO 3.1, we had ‘dashboard builder’. What is the nomenclature for the same in BO BI 4.0?

It is called as ‘BI workspaces’ in BO BI 4.0 platform.

You have any idea about Live Office?

There are many users who are comfortable in using only Microsoft office products. They need business reports in Microsoft office products like Microsoft excel and all. For those users, we have SAP BO Live office tool.

We have a lot of tools available under business objects platform. Will a company have to purchase the entire suite or does the SAP provides a way for organizations to buy only the tools which are needed?

No, it is not necessary for a company to buy all the tools that come under SAP BO platform. SAP provides the customization packages under which the company can buy only the tools which are needed.

What can be different data sources for BO reports?

The different data source scan is SAP BW, OLAP, application database, customer database, Text file, XML file and Web service.

So, this brings us to the end of the SAP Business Objects Interview Questions blog. This Tecklearn ‘Top SAP Business Objects Interview Questions and Answers’ helps you with commonly asked questions if you are looking out for a job in SAP Business Objects or SAP Domain. If you wish to learn SAP Business Objects and build a career in SAP domain, then check out our interactive, SAP Business Objects Training, that comes with 24*7 support to guide you throughout your learning period.

https://www.tecklearn.com/course/sap-business-objects-certification-training/

SAP Business Objects Certification Training

About the Course

Business intelligence tools and features are used by multiple companies and firm for the effective results their large flow of data. The completion of this SAP Business Objects training will be helpful in landing yourself a good paying job. With this Business Objects online training, you will gain considerable proficiency in SAP BO architecture, data warehousing, use of Information design tool, create multiple reports and the implementation of Web intelligence and Efficiency in solving the issues of data sources and Crystal dashboard design.

Why Should you take SAP Business Objects Training?

The Average salary of SAP Business Objects Business Intelligence Analyst is $94,000 per annum – PayScale.com
Business Objects is an enterprise reporting tool and Scalability is one of the primary reasons large corporations choose Business Objects for their BI needs.
Worldwide Business Intelligence and Analytics Market to grow to $22.8 billion in next 2 years – Gartner.

What you will Learn in this Course?

Introduction to Business Objects

History and Version of Business Object
How Business Objects works in SAP family
SAP BO-Business Intelligence package and tool list
Data warehousing concept from SAP perspective

SAP Business Object Architecture

SAP BO Architecture
Various tiers in architecture: Client, Processing, Intelligence

SAP Web Intelligence

Web Intelligence Overview
Variable in Web Intelligence environment

Using Universe Designer Tools (UDT)

Overview of the Universe Designer Tool
Working with shared, secured and personal connections
Understanding of the Semantic layer

SAP BO Reports

SAP BO Reports
Chart Reports, Table Reports, Sorting and aggregating of Reports
Various elements of Reports, graphs, text elements
Reports and Filters
Section Report
Break Report
Alerts Report
Scope of Analysis Panel
Conditional Reporting
Ranked Report
Drill Report

Advanced Formatting

Advanced methods of formatting in SAP BO
Identifying Chasm trap and resolving Chasm traps with various methodologies
Detection and resolving of loop

Information Design Tool (IDT) Integration

Introduction to SAP BO information design tool
Extracting data from various sources using OLAP methodologies
Creating of Universe with IDT
IDT Vs UDT
Working with IDT as an Integration tool

Getting started with Crystal Dashboard

Data visualization tool for creating interactive dashboards
Point-and-click Features
Various dashboard features and interface

Live Office

Live office
Detailed design of Crystal Dashboard

SAP BO 4.2 Features

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