BO Universe_v1.0

8/2/2019 BO Universe_v1.0

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SAP Business Objects

Universe


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PrepareMe

In this section, we will cover 3 topics

Purpose

Use

Challenges


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Use As the universe designer, you use Designer to create objects

that represent database structures, for example columns anddatabase functions, that users need to access and query, to get

the information necessary to meet their business requirements.

The role of a universe is to provide an easy to use andunderstand interface for non technical Web Intelligence users to

run queries against a database to create reports and performdata analysis.


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Challenges

Universes are created to meet a user need for data. The universedesigner must have the skills to conduct user needs analyses to

create classes and objects that are relevant to the uservocabulary, and to develop universes that meet the needs of theuser community. These needs include report creation and queryresults that are suitable for analysis.

Universe designer needs to have a good working knowledge ofthe company's database management system (DBMS), how thedatabases are deployed, the logical database structure, and the

type of data stored in company databases.

A working knowledge of SQL is necessary.


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SAP Business Object - Universe

1 PrepareMe

2 TellMe

3 ShowMe

4 LetMe

5

HelpMe


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Agenda BO Introduction

- Types of Schemas

Creating a universe with Quick wizard

- Five Steps Creating Universe

Hands on Exercise

Classes and Objects

Joins Loops

@functions

Derived Tables Chasm Trap

Fan Trap

SAP OLAP Universe


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Business Objects Enterprise is a business intelligence (BI)platform that powers the management and secure deployment ofspecialized end-user tools for reporting, query and analysis,

performance management, and analytic applications on aproven and scalable.

Components of Business Object.

CMS (Central Management Server)

CMC (Central Management Console)

Designer (Universe creation)

Web Intelligence Voyager

Crystal Reports

Live Office

Xcelsius

Business Objects


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Where we can use Universe


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Five Steps Creating Universe


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Step 1

Click on New it w illopen Connect ion

Wizard

Step 2

Step 3Step 4Step 5

Creating a Universe in 5 Steps


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Here we can find allthe selected tablesand derived valuesas classes, objects

and measures.

Example-

Classes- Scott Dept,Scott Emp.

Objects- deptno,dname, loc, empno,

ename, etc..

Measures- Sum ofSal.

Designer Window

Note- In the designer we can also create our ownclasses and objects.


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A class is a container of objects.

A class is the equivalent of a folder in the Windowsenvironment or you can consider a table as the class.

You create classes to house objects that have a commonpurpose in the universe.

Classes is the logical grouping objects within a universe. In general, the name of the class reflects a business concepts

that conveys the category or type of objects.

Ex( Customer, Finance, Sales, Marketing, etc.,)

Definitions - Classes


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Three modes of connections: Shared connections

Allows access to data for all Business Objects users.

Shared connections can be useful in a universe testing environment

Personal connections

Restricts access to data to the universe creator and the computer on

which it was created. You do not use personal connections to distribute universes.

You could use personal connections in the following situations:

To access personal data on a local machine To access specific database accounts to test an SQL sample

through the Free-hand SQL option in Business Objects

Connections


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Secured connections

Centralizes and controls access to data. It is the safest type ofconnection, and should used be to protect access to sensitive data.

You can create secured connections with Designer or Supervisor .

Connections are stored in the security domain of the repository.These can be shared with designers and supervisors with theappropriate privileges.

You must use secured connections if you want to distributeuniverses through the Business Objects repository

If we want to distribute reports over the net using repository etc thenthe connection should be secured connection

Connections


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Connections


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Inserting Classes and Objects

Inserting Classes

To insert classes in designer, clickclasses in the insert menu.

Name the classes and click ok.

The classes are like creating anotherfolder in a universe according to thebusiness requirement if required

Inserting Objects

To insert object, click objects in theinsert menu.

Name the object, specify the data typeand in the Select column click the arrowand select the column from the tables.

The object can be any columns orderived columns.


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Details - Provides descriptive data about a dimension. A detail isalways attached to a dimension. It maps to one or more columnsor functions in the database that provide detailed information

related to a dimension.

Ex- Age, Phone number, address

Dimension, Measure and Detail...


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Lets Start Doing Hands on Exercise in BO using Universe

Hands on..


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The advance option will give the securityoption to the object.

- Security level access. Defines the security access level of the

object. You can select a security levelwhich restricts use of the object to endusers with the appropriate securitylevel. Security access levels areassigned to end user profiles inBusiness Objects Supervisor by anadministrator.- You can assign the following securityaccess levels:- Public- Confidential

- Private If you assign Public then all users can see

and use the object. If you assign Restricted,then only users with the user profile ofRestricted or higher can see and use theobject.

Security at Object Level


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Used to create thepre defined filterswhich we can use toget the data required

Its use full for endusers to get databased on certain

criteria like get allreturned customers,grade A, grade B,

grade C customersetc

Conditions


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To create a object, theuser need to select thedata type of the object.

In the select box, click thearrow then you will get the

list of tables and columns,classes and objects,operators and functions.

In the where box, specify

the condition

Obj ect keys allow Designer t o generatemore eff icient SQL by fil t ering on prim arykey values and elim inat ing unnecessary

joins.

Defining your own objects (derived)


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The Keys tab allows you to define index awareness for anobject. Index awareness is the ability to take advantage of theindexes on key columns to speed data retrieval.

The objects that you create in Designer are based on database

columns that are meaningful to an end user. For example, aCustomer object retrieves the field that contains the customername. In this situation the customer table typically has a primarykey (for example an integer) that is not meaningful to the end

user, but which is very important for database performance.When you set up index awareness in Designer you tell Designerwhich database columns are primary and foreign keys. This canhave a dramatic effect on query performance in the followingways:

Designer can take advantage of the indexes on key columns tospeed data retrieval.

Keys in BO (Additional Info..)


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What is Joins in BO?

Joins ?

Once you have inserted more than one table in the schema, you need tocreate joins between related tables.

A join is a condition that links the data in separate but related tables. Thetables usually have a parent-child relationship. If a query does notcontain a join, the database returns a result set that contains all possiblecombinations of the rows in the query tables. Such a result set is knownas a Cartesian product and is rarely useful.

Why use joins in a schema?

You use joins to ensure that queries returning data from multiple tablesdo not return incorrect results. A join between two tables defines howdata is returned when both tables are included in a query.


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We have following three tables (Customer, age_group and sales).Write a query which gives us age_group_wise amount and Quantitysold.

Customer

Cust_id Cust_name Age

Age_group Age_group_id Age_group_desc Min_age Max_age

Sales Sales_id Cust_id Sales_date

Qty Amount

Exercise


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Each table in a schema contains data in one or more columnsthat correspond to user requirements. Linking all tables in theschema with joins ensures that you restrict the number of ways

that data from columns in different tables can be combined in aquery.

Joins limit column combinations between tables to matching or

common columns. This prevents result data being returnedthat contains information from columns that have no sensebeing matched.

Manual join defined in the Where clause for an object, arecreated at run time, so are not considered by Designer forintegrity checks and context detection.

Joins in BO


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EQUI-Joins Link tables based on the equality between the values in the column of one

table and the values in the column of another. Because the same columnis present in both tables, the join synchronizes the two tables.

You can also create complex equi-joins, where one join links multiplecolumns between two tables.

Ex- Table1.column_a = Table2.column_a

Theta Joins Link tables based on a relationship other than equality between two

columns.

A theta join could use any operator other than the "equal operator.

Ex- to find the customers age between the minimum and the maximum(customer.age betweeen age_group.age_min and age_group.age_max )

Types of Joins


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Types of Joins

Outer Joins- Link two tables, one of which has rows

that donot match those in the common column of

theother table.

- You define an outer join by specifyingwhich

table is the outer table in the original equi-join.

The outer table contains the column forwhich

you want to return all values, even if theyareunmatched.

Shortcut Joins

- Join providing an alternative path betweentwo

tables, bypassing intermediate tables,


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To insert join, click join in the insert menu.

In the join editor, we haveto select the respective tablefrom the list boxes.

-The combo box in between thetable1 and table2 is to specify thejoin condition either it is innerjoin, outer join, etc.,

- The cardinality use to detect the

relationship between the twotables.

- In the expression, we can view

the joined key columns.

Working with Joins


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Write a query against the following set of tables.

- Statewise, citywise, customerwise sales amount

- Satewise, Citywise, sales amount

- Citywise sales amount

City---------

City_idCity_nmState_id

state---------State_id

State_nmcountry

Customer-----------

Cust_idCust_nm

cust_phoneCity_id

Sales

---------Sales_idCust_id

QtyAmount

City_id

Exercise


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Join Problems


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Loop (Example1)


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Loops

It also happens in the following model.

Say we have country table which referred by suppliers and

customers table Here when we design our schema, there will be one to many

relationship between country and supplier and there will be one tomany relationship between the country and customer.

In this case when we join supplier, customer and country we mayloose some records if we dont have the supplier and customer inthe same country.

In this case we loose records. So when we you are not getting theexpected number of rows, then you can check on the loops.

More than one path through the SQL

Problem:

Business Objects will not know what path to choose

Remove a j oin

One w ay of resolving t he Loop

Loops


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Country(Region)

resort serviceline

service

Invoice_line

salescustomer

cityregion

Country_resort

Remove a j oin

Add an al ias

Loop / solve it using alias

L l i b


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country

resort serviceline

service

Invoice_line

salescustomercityregion

Loop solving by context


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Aliasing and Contexts for join

problems Alias

Aliases are references to existing tables in a schema. An Alias is atable that is an exact duplicate of the original table (base table), witha different name. The data in the table is exactly the same as theoriginal table, but the different name "tricks" the SQL of a query toaccept that you are using two different tables.

Context

Contexts are a collection of joins which provide a valid query pathfor BusinessObjects and WebIntelligence to generate SQL.


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These functions are used in BO to generate SQL. This providesflexibility to change the select / where clause in the SQL.

@aggregate_aware- This is nothing but Query rewrite mechanism of Oracle database.

@Prompt

- Syntax: @Prompt(message,type,[lov],[MONO|MULTI],[FREE|CONSTRAINED])In the where clause you type the following functioncountry = @Prompt('Enter Country','A','Customers\Country','MONO','FREE')

@Where

- Usually we use this in the condition. You can restrict the result based on Geo

@ Functions


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@Select

We use @select in the formula or derived dimension / detail objects.When we have cost and price as measures, then we create margin

measure using @Select function.

@Variable

You can use the variable in the where clause.

Usage - @variable(country_name)

@Script

- This is involving the VBA script. If you are dealing with generation ofcomplex where clause you use the SCRIPT variable. If I find any code I willpass it on to you. VBA macros can run only in Windows environment.

@ Functions


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Hierarchies Are used to perform multidimensional analysis.

By default the class objects become the default hierarchy for theanalysis.

If you want to create customized hierarchies from differentclasses then create the custom hierarchy.

While we use the drill or slice and dice in BO or Webi you cansee these hierarchies so that you can use it for analysis.


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Aggregate Awareness

@Aggregate_awareness

This is equivalent to Query re write option in Oracle database.

Three steps

Identify the summary tables

Higher aggregate tables (YYYY wise)

Medium aggregate table (QQ wise)

Low level aggregate table ( Month wise)

Detail table (Day wise)

Use Aggregate awareness functions in all the objects.

Set the properties in Aggregate Navigation.

O


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A derived table is defined by an SQL query at the universe level

that can be used as a logical table in Designer.

Derived tables have the following advantages:

You can include complex calculations and functions in a derivedtable. These operations are performed before the result set isreturned to a document, which saves time and reduces the need forcomplex analysis of large amounts of data at the report level.

Derived tables can, in some cases, replace statistical tables that holdresults for complex calculations that are incorporated into theuniverse using aggregate awareness. These aggregate tables are

costly to maintain and refresh frequently. Derived tables can returnthe same data and provide real time data analysis.

Derived tables are similar to database views, with the advantage thatthe SQL for a derived table can include Business Objects prompts.

Derived Tables in BO


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Derived tables are SQLqueries that Designertreats as tables. You can

use the columns returnedby these queries to buildobjects just as you usethe columns of normal

database tables.

To user can either typethe query or use the

tables and columns,operators and functions.

Creating Derived tables

The derived tables appears in the schema with the physicaldatabase tables.

S i h ill


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Think you have customer table (cust_id, name, city) andsupplier table (supp_id, name, city).

End user wants to do analysis of customer and supplier basedon the city.

In this case you cannot join the supplier and customer table to

get the information. If you join the customer and supplier table with the city column

then it becomes many to many which inflates the results

So, in this case you can create a derived table with the followingselect

Select city from customer union select city from supplier

Now you do join the derived table with customer and suppliertables based on the city and do the analysis.

Scenario where you will use

Derived table

F T


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Its a less common problemwhen we compared to Loops

and Chasm traps. Consecutive two One tomany relations at a stretchmay cause this problem.

(especially if you havemeasure in the middle table)

What is a Fan Trap?A fan trap occurs when joins fan out over multiple one -< manyrelationships in a row.

For example:

A -< B -< C

This is one of the reasons why it is important to set cardinalities in youruniverse design. If you dont set the cardinalities it becomes more difficult to

identify fan traps (and other design issues).

Fan Traps

S l F T D t


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Sample Fan Trap Data

Sample Fan Trap Data- Its a subtle issue, so let me demonstrate with a simple example. Iwill use two hypothetical tables for this example. First is a tableused to store order information, and the second is used to store

details about the items for the order.- create table orders (order_id number(8) not null ,order_date date notnull ,order_budget decimal(11,2) not null);

- create table order_lines (order_line_id number(11) not null ,order_idnumber(8) not null ,item_id number(11) not null ,order_qtynumber(5) not null);

- There will be an order number object built from the orders.order_id

column. I will build a Total Order Budget measure object from theorders.order_budget column. And I will also create a measure objectcalled Total Order Quantity using the formula sum(order_lines.qty).This gives me one dimension object and two basic measure objects.


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S l F T D t C t


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If I include all three of the objects from my imaginary universe Iwould get this sql code, and the following results:

select orders.order_id

, sum(orders.order_budget), sum(order_lines.order_qty)from orders, order_lineswhere orders.order_id = order_lines.order_id

group by orders.order_id

The issue is that the line item total (sum) is correct, but the headertotal budget (also a sum) is way too high. If you look back at the raw

data shown earlier, you might notice that the budget amount hasbeen multiplied by the number of line items in the second table. Thisis a fan trap in action. The number of lines in the detail table has animpact on the measures from the header table.

Sample Fan Trap Data Cont

S l F T D t C t


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In this case where I only have measure objects from the detailtable there is a very simple solution. I would open my universe andmark the Multiple SQL Statements for each Measure checkbox.And here is where the cardinality settings become important.

What this means it when the SQL generator sees the measuresand notes that they are spread across a one-many join, it will split

the query into two passes and then merge the results backtogether. So instead of the inflated results shown above I will getthese two sets of data:


S l F T D t C t


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There were only two rows processed by the first query, and sevenrows processed by the second query. There are two rows in eachresult set because of the group by clause. And when the queryresults are merged back together (in a process that is completely

transparent to the user, by the way) they will be correct.

So Far, So Good

The problem is this is not a complete solution. As long as I only

have measure objects from the lower (more detailed) table then thisshortcut will work. And as long as I never ever add a new table tothe universe, or add a new dimension or detail object, it will continue

to work. But its a fragile solution, because nothing has really beenfixed.

To solve this issue in the most robust and correct way possiblerequires setting up a couple of contexts and an alias.


F T / U f d i d t bl


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Cust

Cust_idCust_name

phone

Sales

Sales_idCust_id

Sales_amt

Call_records

Call_idSales_id

Sales_repCall_timing

Cust_name, sales_amount, total_time

Sales_cust

Sales_idCust_id

Fan Trap / Usage of derived table

Ch T


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It happens in the D/W environment where we have multiple starschemas

When you have a confirmed dimension where we share the

same dimension key to more than one fact, we get more recordsthan we expected.

Consider we have product_dim, sales_fact (sales_perspective)and order_fact (supplier perspective), we get this chasm trap.

We create contexts in order to solve the issue. Context beingproduct sales in terms of customer, product orders in terms ofSupplier.

Chasm Trap

Chasm trap and Loop


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location emp

project date

Timesheet payroll

dept

Location.loc_id = timesheet.loc_idProject.proj_id = timesheet.proj_idEmp.emp_id = timesheet.emp_idDate.date_id = timesheet.date_idEmp.emp_id = payroll.emp_idDate.date_id = payroll.date_idDept.detp_id = payroll.dept_idtimesheet payroll

Chasm trap and Loop -

Example2

Ch k I i


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What does Check Integrityverify?

- Before examining the elements of the

universe against those of thedatabase, the function checks whetherthe connection to the database isvalid. If the connection is not valid, thefunction stops and returns an errormessage.

-Check Integrity can detect the

following types of errors: Invalid

syntax in the SQL definition of anobject, condition, or join.

Loops, Isolated tables, Isolated joins,

Loops within contexts, Missing or

incorrect cardinalities.

Check Integrity

Ch k I i


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Note: The option Check Cardinalities can be slow to run with largeamounts of data. If there is ambiguous or missing data, results canalso be inaccurate. If your database is large, and may have

incomplete data entries, then you should not select the optionCheck Cardinalities.

Check Integrity

U i E


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A universe must have a secured connection before it can beexported. If you created a universe with a personal or sharedconnection, you must create a new connection with a securedtype and assign it to the universe.

To export a universe to the repository.

- Select File > Export. The Export Universe dialog box appears.

- Select a universe folder from the Domain drop down list box. If theuniverse is in another folder on the file system, Browse to the folder.

If you want to lock the universe, double-click the universe name.

- A locked universe appears with a padlock symbol. To unlock a

universe, double-click it again.

- Click a group in the Groups list box. This is the user group that uses the

exported universe.

Universe Export


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Universe Export

- Click a universe in the Universes list box. The Universes list box shows

the names of the active universes.

- If you want to export other universes that are not open, click the AddUniverse button, and then use the browser to select the other universes.

- Click OK. At the end of the export, DESIGNER displays a message. Click OK.


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Thank you

Documents

BO Universe_v1.0