This document outlines best practices for building universes in Business Objects. It defines what a universe is, as a semantic layer that translates database structures into business terms. The agenda covers defining objects, advanced object creation tips like using case statements and custom lists of values, resolving loops in joins, and concludes by emphasizing taking time to build the universe correctly to simplify the user experience.

1. UNIVERSE BEST PRACTICES
Rob Rohloff, OEM Sales Consultant

2. COPYRIGHT © 2007 BUSINESS OBJECTS S.A. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.SLIDE 2
Universe Defined
Tips for Building the Universe
Advanced Object Creation Tips
Resolving Loops
Conclusion
AGENDA

3. COPYRIGHT © 2007 BUSINESS OBJECTS S.A. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.SLIDE 3
Copyright © 2007 Business Objects S.A. All rights reserved.
WHAT IS A UNIVERSE?
The Universe is a semantic layer
that contains metadata (data
about data)
Translates the complexities of the
database into business-friendly
terms for end-users.
Allows for correct SQL generation
Allows manipulation of data
based on the metadata and on
the additional business logic in
the Universe

4. COPYRIGHT © 2007 BUSINESS OBJECTS S.A. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.SLIDE 4
Copyright © 2007 Business Objects S.A. All rights reserved.
UNIVERSE:
WHAT DOES IT LET YOU DO?
Simple, intuitive data analysis
Report creation using business terms instead of
SQL
Reuse of business logic
Automatic report drilling (by defining hierarchies)
Multiple data provider synchronization

5. COPYRIGHT © 2007 BUSINESS OBJECTS S.A. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.SLIDE 5
Copyright © 2007 Business Objects S.A. All rights reserved.
UNIVERSE:
WHERE CAN YOU USE IT?
Crystal
Reports
Desktop
Intelligence
Web Intelligence
LiveOffice
EPM
Query as a
Web Service
Data
Federator
Universe
Xcelsius
Databases

6. COPYRIGHT © 2007 BUSINESS OBJECTS S.A. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.SLIDE 6
Universe Defined
Tips for Building the Universe
Advanced Object Creation Tips
Resolving Loops
Conclusion
AGENDA

7. COPYRIGHT © 2007 BUSINESS OBJECTS S.A. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.SLIDE 7
ADDING TABLES & JOINS
Build your universe piece-by-piece
Insert tables one at a time, that way it can be understood.
Do not use the automatic universe creation tool. Using
this wizard will build a universe that you do not
understand.
Take each table, join, cardinality etc one at a time.

8. COPYRIGHT © 2007 BUSINESS OBJECTS S.A. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.SLIDE 8
DEFINING OBJECTS
Object and class naming
Name in business terms
Remember: you are trying to enable non-technical
people to build their own reports
Use object formatting
When there is a need to format an object in the same
way every time it is used.

9. COPYRIGHT © 2007 BUSINESS OBJECTS S.A. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.SLIDE 9
DEFINING OBJECTS
Use complex objects
Concatenate descriptions
Translate codes
Build common calculations into the universe
whenever possible
Build logic into your objects
Use condition objects
Users don’t like to build conditions in the query
Define measure objects correctly
Not every number is a measure!

10. COPYRIGHT © 2007 BUSINESS OBJECTS S.A. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.SLIDE 10
Universe Defined
Tips for Building the Universe
Advanced Object Creation Tips
Resolving Loops
Conclusion
AGENDA

11. COPYRIGHT © 2007 BUSINESS OBJECTS S.A. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.SLIDE 11
TIP 1: AVOID WHERE CLAUSES
Problem: How to separate credit invoices from regular invoices into 2
separate objects?

12. COPYRIGHT © 2007 BUSINESS OBJECTS S.A. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.SLIDE 12
AVOID ‘WHERE’ CLAUSES
2 Objects: USA Sales and Germany Sales
What happens if a user pulls both objects into a query?
WHERE sales.country = ‘USA’ AND sales.country = ‘Germany’

13. COPYRIGHT © 2007 BUSINESS OBJECTS S.A. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.SLIDE 13
USE CASE STATEMENT INSTEAD
WRONG!
WHERE clauses
are rarely the right
answer!

14. COPYRIGHT © 2007 BUSINESS OBJECTS S.A. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.SLIDE 14
CASE STATEMENT
CORRECT!
CASE statements
can “bucket” data

15. COPYRIGHT © 2007 BUSINESS OBJECTS S.A. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.SLIDE 15
CASE STATEMENT DEMO
Demonstration

16. COPYRIGHT © 2007 BUSINESS OBJECTS S.A. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.SLIDE 16
TIP 2: CUSTOM LISTS OF VALUES
Which is better?
OR

17. COPYRIGHT © 2007 BUSINESS OBJECTS S.A. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.SLIDE 17
CUSTOM LISTS OF VALUES DEMO
Demonstration

18. COPYRIGHT © 2007 BUSINESS OBJECTS S.A. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.SLIDE 18
TIP 3: USE AGGREGATION IN ALL
MEASURE OBJECTS
Always perform aggregation in a measure. Why?
Measures, by definition, are aggregated
Although WebIntelligence will aggregate measure objects
locally, the database is far more powerful.
If the object does not contain a SQL aggregate function
such as SUM stated in its SELECT clause, no GROUP
BY clause will be generated
SELECT invoices.amount vs. SELECT sum(invoices.amount)

19. COPYRIGHT © 2007 BUSINESS OBJECTS S.A. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.SLIDE 19
TIP 4: USE RELATIVE DATES
Users don’t like to fill in
date prompts every
time they refresh a
report
Scheduling can be
difficult

20. COPYRIGHT © 2007 BUSINESS OBJECTS S.A. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.SLIDE 20
RELATIVE DATES
Which is more user friendly?

21. COPYRIGHT © 2007 BUSINESS OBJECTS S.A. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.SLIDE 21
RELATIVE DATES
SELECT 'Last 7 Days' AS Date_Range,
CONVERT(smalldatetime, { fn curDATE() }) - 6 AS Begin_Date,
CONVERT(smalldatetime, { fn curDATE() }) AS End_Date
FROM dbo.syscolumns

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TIP 6: USE DYNAMIC HTML IN OBJECTS

23. COPYRIGHT © 2007 BUSINESS OBJECTS S.A. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.SLIDE 23
DYNAMIC HTML DEMO
Demonstration

24. COPYRIGHT © 2007 BUSINESS OBJECTS S.A. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.SLIDE 24
Universe Defined
Tips for Building the Universe
Advanced Object Creation Tips
Resolving Loops
Conclusion
AGENDA

25. COPYRIGHT © 2007 BUSINESS OBJECTS S.A. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.SLIDE 25
LOOPS
Definition:
More than one “path”
through the SQL
Problem:
Business Objects will not
know what “path” to
choose
countries
customers
orders
order_lines products
f
a
b
c
d
suppliers
e

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RESOLVING LOOPS
Three possible resolutions:
Remove a join
countries
customers
orders
order_lines products
f
a
b
c
d
suppliers
e
countries
customers
orders
order_lines products
a
b
c
d
suppliers
e

27. COPYRIGHT © 2007 BUSINESS OBJECTS S.A. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.SLIDE 27
RESOLVING LOOPS
Three possible resolutions:
Remove a join
Add an alias
customers
orders
order_lines products
a
b
c
d
suppliers
countriescountries
ALIAS
customer
countries

28. COPYRIGHT © 2007 BUSINESS OBJECTS S.A. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.SLIDE 28
RESOLVING LOOPS
Three possible resolutions:
Remove a join
Add an alias
Add contexts
countries
customers
orders
order_lines products
f
a
b
c
d
suppliers
e
CONTEXT 1: Suppliers

29. COPYRIGHT © 2007 BUSINESS OBJECTS S.A. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.SLIDE 29
RESOLVING LOOPS
Three possible resolutions:
Remove a join
Add an alias
Add contexts
countries
customers
orders
order_lines products
f
a
b
c
d
suppliers
e
CONTEXT 2: Customers

30. COPYRIGHT © 2007 BUSINESS OBJECTS S.A. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.SLIDE 30
Universe Defined
Tips for Building the Universe
Advanced Object Creation Tips
Resolving Loops
Conclusion
AGENDA

31. COPYRIGHT © 2007 BUSINESS OBJECTS S.A. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.SLIDE 31
Copyright © 2007 Business Objects S.A. All rights reserved.
CONCLUSION
The Universe is a powerful
semantic layer that translates the
database into business-friendly
terms
It is core to all Business Objects
Information & Delivery tools
Time should be taken to build it
correctly using best practices
Leverage the power of the Universe
to build complex objects that further
simplify the user experience

32. UNIVERSE BEST PRACTICES
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