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.

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

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

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

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

• Enterprise mode
• Workgroup mode

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

• Slice & Dice
• Drill down

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

In the case of SQL parameters in universe, the option generates numerous queries for each and every
measure that needs to be chosen. This helps in generating SQL statement for every measure and gives the
correct results.

Another approach is to include two joints in different contexts, where the problem will get solved by
generating two synchronized queries.

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

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

The @functions are:

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

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

There are three Domains in Business Objects and they are:

• Security
• Document
• Universe

Using @Derived_table function, we can access one derived table from another. The syntax is as ,
@derived_table(the derived table name)

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

Slice: It renames, reset and delete the blocks. It works with the master/detail report.

Dice: It displays the data and removes the data. It turns the crosstabs and tables into c harts and vice
versa.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

@aggregate_aware(highest_level.lower level)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The tasks consists of,

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

The main components it consists of are:

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

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

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

Decision Support Systems.

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

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

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

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

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

Aggregate awareness is a feature of DESIGNER that makes use of aggregate tables in a database. These
are tables that contain pre-calculated data. The purpose of these tables is to enhance the performance of
SQL transactions; they are thus used to speed up the execution of queries.

Metadata is defined as the data about data. Metadata describes the entity and attributes description.

Batches provide a way to group sessions for either serial or parallel execution by the Informatica Server.

A cube consists of a set of ordered dimensions and measures. A cube may have one or several
dimensions.

MOLAP - Multidimensional Online Analytical Processing.

The database connection is categorized into three types :

• Personal
• Shared
• secured

Migrating from BO 3.x to 4.2 is majorly a two step process

1) Install and configure the new BI 4.x system.

2) Moving the objects from older version system to the latest version.

Prerequisites: Upgrading from BI 3.x to 4.2

1) Network connectivity and access to both versions

2) UMT access is required to make sure that UMT Designated system can connect to the Source and
Target System without any issues

3) Administrator privilege

There are two options to upgrade objects from BI 3.x to 4.2

1) Complete Upgrade : By Using this option We Can move all the objects from source to Target .
Generally it is suitable for small scale BO Deployments.

2) Incremental Upgrade : By Using this option we can move the objects in batches as iterations. It is
recommended for medium and large scale BO Deployments.

The Upgrade Management Tool guides the process of exporting business intelligence content (user
accounts, groups, folders, reports, universes, security, and other objects) and upgrading it to the most recent
version. We need to configure it for better performance.

To run UMT with java Heap memory , java heap memory should be increased , generally 8GB when
launching UMT.

And in Target field we need to increase the Timeout.

Before starting the migration process first we have to decide the Model(either Complete Upgrade or
Incremental Upgrade),if we selected Incremental Upgrade,

we will perform the number of iterations to migrate from source BO 3.x to BI 4.2

• In iterations the objects will migrate with their dependencies(Users, Groups, Applications, Folders,
Repository Objects, Universes, Calendars ect..).

• Select the “Incremental Upgrade "mode

• There are three different scenarios for upgrading the system to BI 4.2.

1) Live to Live : Source running older version and Target running latest version

2) BIAR to Live : Exports BI content to from the CMS to the BIAR file

3) Live to BIAR : Only a BIAR file created with Import Wizard in an older BO version can be imported
through the upgrade management tool into BI 4.2 system

Enter the credentials for the source and target system.

If the credentials are correct, will be logged in to the Source and Destination CMS. If the credentials or
system information is not correct, an error message would pop up asking to provide appropriate details.

The select Filters Option allows to select specific types and object.

Select Objects and files to copy to the destination system and upgrade them on the destination system

There we have an option to select the instances to be upgrade or not

Once to select the objects which are required to upgrade and click on start

Then we will get the summary of Upgrade

And then we will get the Upgrade Completed Message and click on OK.

1) If delay in fetching the dependencies of the objects from the system, we may get
RESPONSE-TIMEOUT error.

Solution :

Ø We should take back up of UMT properties before making changes.

Ø In UMT properties we need to increase the Timeout.

JOBSMATE.COM

2) If timeout while reading from the reading from the repository,UMT fails with an error “CE SDK
EXCEPTION OCCURED”.

Solution :

Navigate to UMT properties

And then in the Target field increase the Timeoutinsec

3) If the windows drive which hosts the temp location of the user running UMT is completely full. So,
that time under the “General info "tab we may get exceptions like,

• Can not flush the log file to dist

• Failed to create data base

• No current connection

Solution :

Ø Click cancel on UMT interface

Ø Delete the temporary files created by the UMT,these are located in %TEMP% and are called start with
BIAR file store.

Ø Now either free up more distspace on the drive which hosts the users TEMP folder (or)

Repoint to temp variable to a location which has enough free disk space

To update the TEMP/TMP variables

Ø Select the windows start menu

Ø Right click on ‘Computer’

Ø Select ‘Properties’

Ø Select ‘Advanced System Settings’

Ø Click the ‘Environment variables’button,Under the user variables for the user running UMT edit both
TEMP and TMP to point to the location which has more free disk space

Ø Click Ok

Ø Log out of the UMT machine

Ø Log back into the UMT machine

Ø Restart the UMT and start the Migration again.

4) If the BIAR file created in the older version is corrupted we may get “runtime exception in the object
manager”[java.lang.string can not be cast to com.crystal decisions sdk.properties]

Solution :

Ø Create new BIAR file using import wizard in SAP BO 3.x

Ø Import this BIAR file to SAP BI 4.x using UMT.

5) If we are trying to migrate Desktop intelligence documents in SAP BI 4.x,but Deskl feature has been
deleted in BI 4.x,in this situations we can get an error like [java.util.concurrent Modification exception]

Possible Solution :

Ø Convert Deskl documents into Webintelligence documents by using Report conversion tool and then
migrate these Webi documents into BI 4.x.

6) The user accounts we have used to log on to the source and destination central management services are
not members of the Administrators group.

Action :

Ø Log off and then log on with Administrator accounts.

7) If we used a BIAR file from the current version of the deployment as an upgrade source, or we tried to
connect to an older version of the deployment as an upgrade destination. we will get [“version check
failed”].

Action :

Ø Use a BIAR file from a previous version as an upgrade source and connect to a current version of
deployment as the upgrade destination.

Crystal Reports are upgraded to SAP crystal reports 2011 by the Upgrade Management Tool and they will
work fine in BI 4.0

• If we want to upgrade from SAP crystal Reports 2011 to SAP Crystal Reports for enterprise we will have

to open each report in SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise and map the report columns with UNX objects
on the field mapping window.

• Webi Reports are upgraded by Upgrade Management Tool from 3.x to 4.2 version.
• If we want to upgrade from SAP Webi Reports 3.x to SAP Webi Reports 4.2,we have to open each and

every report in 4.2 system and map the report columns with UNX objects on the field mapping window.

• When we run the Upgrade Management Tool universes (UNV) created in the Universe Designed are

migrated to BI 4.0 as UNV and they will continue to work as they are in BI 4.o,there is no need to do any
modifications.

• If we decide to Upgrade UNV to UNX, after running the Upgrade Management Tool we have to open

them in the Information Design Tool to upgrade them.

Adaptive processing server has approximately 23 common servers, running all servers together keeps
more simple, but it does not have better system performance. To get better system performance we split the
APS in to multiple instances.so,system resources can be utilized more, particularly RAM for better system
performance. Server side process threads execution will be more efficient. System can support many
concurrent users with less downtime.

When migrating reports from 3.x to 4.x certain rights have been renamed and some rights are not supported
in 4.x and will require unsetting before saving and migrating those reports. Some rights no longer exist in
4.x due to the redesign of the interface. for example, the toolbar could be disabled in 3.x.In 4.x the toolbar
is replaced by toolboxes that are always visible. Certain rights in the CMC are not located in the same
place. Enable Drill mode and extend scope of analysis rights are no londer managed. Enter toolboxes can
not be deactivated. All menu items are always visible. Enable available objects, tables and charts all
always available to interact with UI.Enable data summary is always available.

We can configure the Audit settings in the Audit Dashboard. The Audit dashboard is used for all audit
configuration activities.BO Enterprise monitor provides a way to monitor and recard important factors
about deployment. Auditor we will use like a better administer to recard individual user
accounts,reports,what actions users are taking and which reports they are accessing. this information is
recorded in a database called the Auditing Data Store(ADS).Once the data is in the ADS, we can report off
it for the operations performed in the system.

Auditing allows you to keep track of and record important events that happens in BOE servers. It answers
the key questions which an Internal/External auditor asks like what, why and who etc. This information is
recorded in the database called “Auditing Data Store”. This data can be reported.

The deeper the level of auditing , the more overhead on the servers which slows the performance. We need
to be careful about the level of auditing to perform and have the option of even excluding the auditing
database from being installed.

Audit settings can be configured at “Audit Dashboard”.

1. Webi tool for Adhoc analysis and interactive reporting. These are used by the Middle Management

2. SAP Business Objects Analysis edition for Microsoft office(navigating thousands of rows and data in
IE)

3. Crystal reports for showing the summarized. These are generally mailed as PDF for the Executives. The
users can navigate to webi from crystal report to view detail level data. Multi-page, multi-query,
pixel-perfect and secure reports. This is the most popular reporting tool.

4. Dashboards: Xcelsius Enterprise is used for creating a flash based dashboard. Used by users who want
”what-if” analysis sliders, skins, maps, gauges and several interactive information. Example stock
exchange, cricket live scores etc.

5. Advanced Analysis : This is used when multiple OLAP cubes in the same work space.

We have to use JDBC. If it’s Oracle, then ODBC and OLAP if it’s BW(Business Warehouse)

Adaptive Processing Server(APS) has nearly 23 services. By running all of them, deployment will be
simple but scalability i.e. performance reduces. Hence, it is better to split APS into multiple instances for
higher performance. APS splitting is opted if reporting is over BW. System can support many concurrent
users and server side process threads execution is efficient.

The rights missing in 4.x

• Import from BI and Export to BI On Demand are missing. Here, everything is migrated except for

security which should be done manually.

• If in the previous release, the user has access to Rich Internet Application, then rights remain enabled

post migration.

Auditing allows us to keep track of and record important events that happens in BOE servers. It answers
the key questions which an Internal/External auditor asks like what, why and who etc. This information is
recorded in the database called “Auditing Data Store”. This data can be reported.

The deeper the level of auditing , the more overhead on the servers which slows the performance. We need
to be careful about the level of auditing to perform and have the option of even excluding the auditing
database from being installed.

Data that we collect as part of the BusinessObjects audit process can be used to access the following
information:

Data about all users accessing the system and the documents with which they are interacting, Instances of
successful logins, logoffs, and invalid attempts, All changes to objects in reports by customers, Usage
analysis on objects in universes, Successful and unsuccessful jobs, Event information, Access privileges.

Audit information will be collected from the servers which are enabled for their auditable actions. The
collected information will be stored in the form of audit log files in the BusinessObjects server locally. As
per the polling interval configured, the CMS would be collecting this log details and adds them in to audit
database to make it ready for reporting. Thus audit information will be always historical. If we want to
extract the real-time information of the repository CMS database will be the only source of truth.

If the customer requires a highly formatted and legally predefined layout we can suggest to select crystal
reports. Because it can build business, financial legal and regulatory reports. and it can create multi-page,
multi-query, Templates and wizards to speed up report creation.

If the customer requires fully flexibility in changing the report we can suggest Web intelligence. which is
to be used to create adhoc & canned reports, to create function based reports, and web based reports. This
tool empowers business users with the powerful and yet easy to use analysis. This tool will help in
Interactivity with filtering, ranking, sorting, calculations, etc, multi source access is available.

If the customer requires dashboarding functionality and strong data visualization we can suggest Xcelsius. It
is used to create what if analysis dash boards.

If the customer requires a highly formatted and legally predefined layout we can suggest to select crystal
reports. Because it can build business, financial legal and regulatory reports. and it can create multi-page,
multi-query, Templates and wizards to speed up report creation.

If the customer requires fully flexibility in changing the report we can suggest Web intelligence. which is
to be used to create adhoc & canned reports, to create function based reports, and web based reports. This
tool empowers business users with the powerful and yet easy to use analysis. This tool will help in
Interactivity with filtering, ranking, sorting, calculations, etc, multi source access is available.

If the customer requires dashboarding functionality and strong data visualization we can suggest Xcelsius.
It is used to create what if analysis dash boards.

Adaptive Processing Server has approx. 23 common services, running all services together keeps
deployment more simple but it does not have better system scalability. To get better system scalability we
split the APS into multiple instances. We should split services in each server and setting heap size by
changing value on command line.

In Control Management Console, right click on Properties option then should go to command line change
–xmx1g to –xmx4g and then we should mark check on automatically start servers option. Or select all and
then copy and paste to notepad edit and then copy and paste to command line.

Certain rights have been renamed, others are unaffected, and some rights will not support in 4.x, and will
require unsetting before migrating.

Some rights no longer exist in 4.x due to the redesign of the interface.

Certain rights in the CMC are not located in the same place.

If we migrate web intelligence documents from 3.x to 4.x, some rights will be renamed like

Create document -Documents - enable creation

Data Tracking: Enable for users -Data - enable data tracking

Some security rights will be removed, for example:

Queries: Enable Drill Mode and Extend scope of analysis - These rights are no longer managed.

Interface: Ability to hide / show toolbars - The toolbar is replaced by toolboxes which are always visible.

Some security rights keep the same behaviour, they have not been renamed. For example edit 'My
Preferences', enable right-click menu create and edit conditional formatting rules, breaks, predefined
calculations, sorts, - insert and remove reports, tables, charts and cells.

If in the previous release the user had access to the Rich Internet Application, then the migration results in
all rights “Enabled” in 4.x Else if the specific right in the previous release was Enabled then it is Enabled
in 4.x for all clients. If in the previous release the user did not have access to the Rich Internet Application,
this right is disabled after migration.

If the administrator has set the user‘s security with (Import/Export to/fromBIOD) security settings in 3.x
version, we must not migrate the security settings. we should remove these settings first and then migrate
the users and test it in 4.x

In XI3 SP4 the Import/Export to/from BIOD security properties were introduced. These rights are
incompatible with 4.x. In this case, migrate everything and check security, and manually reassign security.