*********************************************************************** * INITIAL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS: 1. How many build methods are there?

There are 3 methods of builds, Using generation references, level references, parent child reference, adding list of new members. . !re you currently responsible for "roduction #ssbase $ubes? %es & am in production support and maintenance of #ssbase cubes. a. How big is the largest cube? !ns' ()))))*+ ,&f not *+, end interview.e have native #ssbase cubes and / planning cubes ,!!$orp)", !pccd)", !.!)", 0!"1)", #urope)", global)"b. .hat is a databloc2? Uni3ue combination of 4parse standard dimension is a data bloc2, which holds the atleast one value. The data bloc2 represents all the dense dimension members for its combination of sparse dimension members. #ssbase creates an inde5 entry for each data bloc2. c. How do you order the outline? 6rom the highest dense dimension to the lowest sparse dimension. !nd also by operators in outline, outline member formulas. d. How many processors on your server? H"7U8 9 :"(;<< 9 1/ processors 9 portioned into ( pr for <" and ( pr for 1p for performance issues. =!, 4and bo5 9 4uperdome with >; processors 9 added 1/p?added 1@ p U!T 9 0;<<< with ( pr 9 added 1; n <d7:"(;<<7; pr 9tnedd1<n 1d74uperdome7training7tnedd<(n .in <<<7; pr 91/ pieces7 prod planning, H!A, :eports, !nalyBer, etc. .in <<<7 pr7@ pieces 9 sand bo5 planning, reports, analyBer etc. 3. Have you ever upgraded #ssbase? %es &nvolved in upgrade of #ssbase from /.< to /.>.;.< &nvolved in upgrade of reports from .< 9 ./ &nvolved in upgrade of !nalyBer from /.< 9/. .1 ;. 0ame 3 #sscmd commands ,e5cluding Aogin-? 4ome of #44$1Cs' $reate $mds' $reateC+, $reateUser, $reate*roup, $reate!pp, Aoad cmds' Aoad!pp, Aoaddb, Aoaddata, Aist cmds' Aistdb, Aistfiles, list6ilters, Aist!pp, Celete cmds' CeleteUser, CeleteAog, Celete!pp, Celetedb

Cba cmds' #5port, &mport, Update, #5it, !rchive, begin!rchive, #nd!rchive etc e. How many partition types are there' There are 3 types of partitions' 1. :eplicated "artition . Transparent partition 3. Ain2ed "artition >. .hy do you use Cynamic $alc? Cynamic calc 9 to calculate the data value for a member as users re3uests it. !dv' 4hortens regular database calculation times, reduces dis2 usage, reduces database restructure time. Cisad' 1ay increase retrieval time for the dynamically calculated data values. .e have types of dynamic calcs' Cynamic calc, Cynamic calc and 4tore /. .hat members in the outline cannot be Cynamic $alc? Tagging Dense Dimension Members 9 tag upper level members as dynamic calc, tagging level < members with simple formulas as dynamic calcs, do not tag members of dense dimensions as dynamic calc and store. Tagging Sparse Dimension Members upper level members of sparse dimension member, which have si5 or fewer children as dynamic calc or dynamic calc or store, comple5 formulas as dynamic calc or dynamic calc and store, do not tag upper level sparse members that have < or more descendants as dynamic calc. Tagging two pass members !ccounts dimensions ,dense dimension- and Time dimension ,dense dimension- members can be two pass members 7 to reduce amount of time needed to perform batch calculations 9 can tag any dynamic calc or dynamic calc member as two pass even if the member is not on an accounts dimension. @. 6or a member to be Two7"ass, what must e5ist in the outline? &t should be an accounts dimension member in outline. Dr use a calc script to perform calculation twice. (. .hat functions are you familiar with' 0ame them? #ssbase 6unctions' E!$$U1, E!+4, E!A&!4, E!0$#4TD:4, E!F*, E:!0G, E$H&AC:#0, E$DU0T, ECescendants, ECiscount, E&nterest, E&41+:, E&4$H&AC, E1a5, E1in, E"rior, E"TC, E:an2, E:ound, E4um, E4um, ETrend. f. Using the !F* function, if you want to leave out Beros, what parameter can you use? 4G&"H#:D, 4G&"0D0#, 4G&"1&44&0*, 4G&"+DTH

I. .hat has to e5ist in the outline before you can create an attribute dimension? !ttribute can be te5t, +oolean, numeric and date. ! standard dimension is any dimension that is not an attribute dimension. .hen an attribute dimension is associated with the standard dimension then the standard dimension is the base dimension to that attribute. !ttribute dimension and members are dynamic cals 9 !ttribute dimension is not stored in database. !ll members of the base dimension associated with the particular attribute dimension should be at the same level. The level < members of the attribute dimensions are the only members that you can associate with the base dimension members. ! base dimension can have many attributes but only one particular attribute from each attribute dimension.

1<. How do you set up an attribute dimension in #ssbase? Aist the steps? !dd dimension and go through the properties and relate it to the sparse dimension 11. 1isc. ,Just as2 a fewKg. h. i. L. Have you used Hyperion !nalyBer? y Have you used Hyperion :eports? y How many users use your application? 6rom ><71,<<< !re you stronger at optimiBation or design? DptimiBation, well with design too. 2. Co you li2e optimiBation or design better? +oth **********************************************************************

Essbase Inter!iew Q"estions: 1. .hen #ssbase server is crashed? How you are going to run it again? How you are going to chec2 what made it crash? answer' +y using 4tart #ssbase shell script or bat file on 0T we will run it again. nohup #ssbase 9b password. .hich runs the #ssbase in bac2ground. Dn 0t we run this .indows service. !ns' !fter a server crash, #ssbase recovers the database, rolling bac2 all transactions that were active when the interruption occurred. :ecovery time depends upon the siBe of inde5. The larger the inde5, the longer it ta2es to recover the database. #ssbase also recovers and consolidates free fragments ,unused addressable units in data bloc2-.

#ssbase recovers data as soon as the server is started after a server interruption. :ecovery consists of the following phases' o Transa#tion re#o!er$ rolls bac2 all transactions that were active when the interruption occurred. o In%e& 'i(e re#o!er$ truncates files to the previously committed siBes. o Data 'ree spa#e recovery rebuilds the data free table spaces. The siBe of the inde5 determines the duration of this phase. Dnly a media failure ,faulty dis2, dis2 failure etc- re3uires you to restore data from bac2ups. Co not move copy?move?delete ess.ind, ess.pag, dbname.ind, dbname.esm or dbname.tct 9 doing so result in data corruption. Cbname.tct 9 database transaction control file which has entry for all transactions ,!ctive, committed, aborted- carried on the database. &solation Aevels' &solation determines how #ssbase commits data to dis2. .hen data is committed it is ta2en from server memory and written to database on dis2. #ssbase automatically commits the data to dis2. There are isolation levels for transactions' o $ommitted access 9 committed access provides a high level of data consistency because only one transaction at a time can update data bloc2s. Under committed access #ssbase retains redundant data until a transaction completes. !llow the dis2 space for double the siBe of the database to accommodate redundant data. Here dead loc2s may occur. o Uncommitted access 9 .ith uncommitted access ,enabled by default- the #ssbase 2ernel allows transactions to hold read?write loc2s on bloc27by7 bloc2 basis. #ssbase releases a bloc2 after it is updated but will not commit until a level is reached. %ou can ma2e #ssbase to perform e5plicit commit. Cefault 3<<< 9 but we had 1<<<<. $ommit bloc2s? commit rows etc. .ith uncommitted access bloc2s are released more fre3uently than with committed access, when all bloc2s are loc2ed until the end of transaction.

. .hat is the difference between 6&8 and &6 statements? &n what situations they are used and what are its pros and cons? ans' )I* statement is to select the number bloc2s for particular set of calculations. I) is used to select the particular set of data cells with in a bloc2 to perform set of calculations. 3. .hat are different types of memory caches? .hat are their optimal memory settings?

ans' Cata cache, &nde5 cache, Cata file cache, $alc $ache, Cynamic calc cache, :etrieval +uffer cache ;. .hat are different servers used? .hat are its processor speeds, how many processors are there and memory details of each server? ans' H" U0&8 11i 4uperdome, :" (;<< ($"U @ > 1hB H" U0&8 11i 4uperdome 9 3 processors, > processors :" (;<< 9 1/ processors 9 3 *+ memory 0;<<< 9 ( processors >. $gf file settings. .here do you 2eep global variables for each application? .hat are different cfg settings used? JF11DCUA#AD!$T&D0 9 allows you to specify a specific Lava virtual machine library. !uthentication1odule 9 specifies the elements needed for e5ternal authentication 0D)HD4T0!1#)A&4T$D00#$T' T:U# !*#0TTH:#!C4 ' 1> 9 specifies how many threads the agent may spawn7one thread is re3uired for each initial connection to an application and database. 4#:F#:TH:#!C4' 1<< 7 $alc$ache ' T:U# $alc$acheHigh' ><<<<<<< $alc$achedefault' ><<<<<< $alc$acheAow' <<<<<< 0etCelay';<< 0et:etry$ount'1 << 44AD*U0G0D.0' 6!A4# T&1&0*1#44!*#4' T:U# $!A$AD$G+AD!$GH&*H'><< $!A$AD$G+AD$GC#6!UAT'><< $!A$AD$G+AD$GAD.'>< CA4&0*A#TH:#!C"#:4T!*#' 6!A4# CATH:#!C4":#"!:#' CATH:#!C4.:&T#'3 1UAT&"A#+&T1!"1#1$H#$G' T:U# C!T!#::D:A&1&T' ><<< =U&$GAD*&0' D0 1!8AD*&04' 1><<< Catabase settings, application setting details. /. 4ome 1!8A commands, #44$1C $ommands. MA*L +omman%s: +reate gro"p' $reate application, $reate calculation, create database, create filter, create function, create group, $reate macro, create users etc.

A(ter gro"p: alter application, alter database, alter group, alter user, and alter system. Disp(a$ gro"p: display application, display database, display filter, display group, display system, display session, display user etc. Drop: drop application, drop calculation, drop database, drop filter, drop function, drop group, drop user. Ot,er gro"p: e5port data, import data, e5ecute calculation, import dimension etc. #44$1C $ommands' +reate gro"p' $reateapp, createdb, creategroup, createuser, createlocation. De(ete gro"p' deleteapp, deletedb, deletegroup, deletelog, deleteuser, disablelogin, enablelogin. -et gro"p'getappinfo, getappstate, getdbinfo, getdbstate, getmembers,getdbstats etc List gro"p' listapp, listdb, listgroup, listlogins, listusers. E&port. import. s(eep. s,"t%ownser!er. "n(oa%app. "n(oa%%b et#. @. .hen &?D is over whelmed? .hat can be done? .hy it is overwhelmed? ans' Use +uffered &D instead of Cirect &D and increase the data and inde5 cache setting to reduce the &D. (. .hat are different ways of calcscript optimiBation? can you pl answer this I. .hat are different database settings? .hy are their advantages? 1<. .hat are different types of build? .hat are different types of data loads? 11. .hat is the limitation of generation build? can you pl answer this 1 . .hat is a databloc2? &nside the databloc2 how the data cells were arranged? ans' Cata bloc2 is intersection of e5isting sparse member intersection, which is identified by inde5 number. .ith in the each bloc2 the each dense member intersection is stored as cell, which holds actual data numbers. The cells donMt have any inde5 and #ssbase engine searches for these cells with internal search mechanism. 13. .hen a planning server is down? .hat are the se3uences of steps used to bring it to running? i.e., how different servers are started in se3uence? ans' 4tart "lanning web server service, H+: service and 2ill any processes started with Hs5* 1;. .hen users are accessing an application, dba wants to run a batch Lob with out affecting the users? How this can be done. ans' Cepends, +atch can be run on a wor2ing cube and swap it after the process li2e !: or else do the sparse calculations which donMt impact users.

1>. Aength of batch Lob scripts? How big are there may be in no of lines etc. There is no limit on the no of lines in a batch script . 1/. Aength of batch Lob scripts? How big are there may be in no of lines etc. There is no limit on the no of lines in a batch script . 1@. .hat is the ma5 length of filter we can write in #ssbase /.> and lower version? !. >/ characters. 6rom #ssbase @.< onwards there is no limit on the length of the filter. 1(. .hat is 8:#6? !. The /*RE) function is a cross7database function that allows a calculation ta2ing place in one #ssbase database to incorporate values from a different, possibly remote database. +. &f there is no E8:#6, how to we use the same functionality, then we can use partitions 1I. &n cases where a combination of !ggregate 4torage and +loc2 4torage database are used, these databases are partitioned together using transparent partition.