1. What is the use of BusinessObjects Data Services?

Answer:

BusinessObjects Data Services provides a graphical interface that allows

you to easily create jobs that extract data fromheterogeneous sources,
transform that data to meet the business requirements of your
organization, and load the data into a single location.

2. Define Data Services components.

Answer:

Data Services includes the following standard components:

Designer

Repository

Job Server

Engines

Access Server

Adapters

Real-time Services
Address Server

Cleansing Packages, Dictionaries, andDirectories

Management Console

3. What are the steps included in Data integration process?

Answer:

Stage data in an operational datastore, data warehouse, or data mart.

Update staged data in batch or real-time modes.

Create a single environment for developing, testing, and deploying the

entire data integration platform.

Manage a single metadata repository to capture the relationships

between different extraction and access methods and provide integrated
lineage and impact analysis.

4. Define the terms Job, Workflow, and Dataflow

Answer:

A job is the smallest unit of work that you can schedule independently
for execution.
A work flow defines the decision-making process for executing data
flows.

Data flows extract, transform, and load data. Everything having to do

with data, including reading sources, transforming data, and loading
targets, occurs inside a data flow.

5. Arrange these objects in order by their hierarchy: Dataflow, Job,

Project, and Workflow.

Answer

Project, Job, Workflow, Dataflow.

6. What are reusable objects in DataServices?

Answer:

Job, Workflow, Dataflow.

7. What is a transform?

Answer:

A transform enables you to control how datasets change in a dataflow.

8. What is a Script?

Answer:
A script is a single-use object that is used to call functions and assign
values in a workflow.

9. What is a real time Job?

Answer:

Real-time jobs "extract" data from the body of the real time message
received and from any secondary sources used in the job.

10. What is an Embedded Dataflow?

Answer:

An Embedded Dataflow is a dataflow that is called from inside another

dataflow.

11. What is the difference between a data store and a database?

Answer:

A datastore is a connection to a database.

12. How many types of datastores are present in Data services?

Answer:

Three.
Database Datastores: provide a simple way to import metadata directly
froman RDBMS.

Application Datastores: let users easily import metadata from most

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems.

Adapter Datastores: can provide access to an application’s data and

metadata or just metadata.

13. What is the use of Compact repository?

Answer:

Remove redundant and obsolete objects from the repository tables.

14. What are Memory Datastores?

Answer:

Data Services also allows you to create a database datastore using

Memory as the Database type. Memory Datastores are designed to
enhance processing performance of data flows executing in real-time
jobs.

15. What are file formats?

Answer:

A file format is a set of properties describing the structure of a flat file

(ASCII). File formats describe the metadata structure. File format objects
can describe files in:
Delimited format — Characters such as commas or tabs separate each
field.

Fixed width format — The column width is specified by the user.

SAP ERP and R/3 format.

16. Which is NOT a datastore type?

Answer:

File Format

17. What is repository? List the types of repositories.

Answer:

The DataServices repository is a set of tables that holds user-created and

predefined system objects, source and target metadata, and
transformation rules. There are 3 types of repositories.

A local repository

A central repository

A profiler repository

18. What is the difference between a Repository and a Datastore?

Answer:
A Repository is a set of tables that hold system objects, source and target
metadata, and transformation rules. A Datastore is an actual connection
to a database that holds data.

19. What is the difference between a Parameter and a Variable?

Answer:

A Parameter is an expression that passes a piece of information to a

work flow, data flow or custom function when it is called in a job. A
Variable is a symbolic placeholder for values.

20. When would you use a global variable instead of a local variable?

Answer:

When the variable will need to be used multiple times within a job.

When you want to reduce the development time required for passing
values between job components.

When you need to create a dependency between job level global variable
name and job components.

21. What is Substitution Parameter?

Answer:

The Value that is constant in one environment, but may change when a
job is migrated to another environment.
22. List some reasons why a job might fail to execute?

Answer:

Incorrect syntax, Job Server not running, port numbers for Designer and
Job Server not matching.

23. List factors you consider when determining whether to run work
flows or data flows serially or in parallel?

Answer:

Consider the following:

Whether or not the flows are independent of each other

Whether or not the server can handle the processing requirements of

flows running at the same time (in parallel)

24. What does a lookup function do? How do the different variations of
the lookup function differ?

Answer:

All lookup functions return one row for each row in the source. They
differ in how they choose which of several matching rows to return.

'

25. List the three types of input formats accepted by the Address Cleanse
transform.
Answer:

Discrete, multiline, and hybrid.

26. Name the transform that you would use to combine incoming data
sets to produce a single output data set with the same schema as the
input data sets.

Answer:

The Merge transform.

27. What are Adapters?

Answer:

Adapters are additional Java-based programs that can be installed on

the job server to provide connectivity to other systems such as
Salesforce.com or the JavaMessagingQueue. There is also a
SoftwareDevelopment Kit (SDK) to allow customers to create adapters
for custom applications.

28. List the data integrator transforms

Answer:

Data_Transfer

Date_Generation

Effective_Date
Hierarchy_Flattening

History_Preserving

Key_Generation

Map_CDC_Operation

Pivot Reverse Pivot

Table_Comparison

XML_Pipeline

29. List the Data Quality Transforms

Answer:

Global_Address_Cleanse

Data_Cleanse

Match

Associate

Country_id

USA_Regulatory_Address_Cleanse
30. What are Cleansing Packages?

Answer:

These are packages that enhance the ability of Data Cleanse to

accurately process various forms of global data by including language-
specific reference data and parsing rules.

31. What is Data Cleanse?

Answer:

The Data Cleanse transform identifies and isolates specific parts of

mixed data, and standardizes your data based on information stored in
the parsing dictionary, business rules defined in the rule file, and
expressions defined in the pattern file.

32. What is the difference between Dictionary and Directory?

Answer:

Directories provide information on addresses from postal authorities.

Dictionary files are used to identify, parse, and standardize data such as
names, titles, and firm data.

33. Give some examples of how data can be enhanced through the data
cleanse transform, and describe the benefit of those enhancements.

Answer:

Enhancement Benefit
Determine gender distributions and target

Gender Codes marketing campaigns

Provide fields for improving matching

Match Standards results

34. A project requires the parsing of names into given and family,
validating address information, and finding duplicates across several
systems. Name the transforms needed and the task they will perform.

Answer:

Data Cleanse: Parse names into given and family.

Address Cleanse: Validate address information.

Match: Find duplicates.

35. Describe when to use the USA Regulatory and Global Address Cleanse
transforms.

Answer:

Use the USA Regulatory transform if USPS certification and/or additional

options such as DPV and Geocode are required. Global Address Cleanse
should be utilized when processing multi-country data.

36. Give two examples of how the Data Cleanse transform can enhance
(append) data.
Answer:

The Data Cleanse transform can generate name match standards and
greetings. It can also assign gender codes and prenames such as Mr. and
Mrs.

37. What are name match standards and how are they used?

Answer:

Name match standards illustrate the multiple ways a name can be

represented.They are used in the match process to greatly increase
match results.

38. What are the different strategies you can use to avoid duplicate rows
of data when re-loading a job.

Answer:

Using the auto-correct load option in the target table.

Including the Table Comparison transform in the data flow.

Designing the data flow to completely replace the target table during
each execution.

Including a preload SQL statement to execute before the table loads.

39. What is the use of Auto Correct Load?

Answer:
It does not allow duplicated data entering into the target table.It works
like Type 1 Insert else Update the rows based on Non-matching and
matching data respectively.

40. What is the use of Array fetch size?

Answer:

Array fetch size indicates the number of rows retrieved in a single

request to a source database. The default value is 1000. Higher numbers
reduce requests, lowering network traffic, and possibly improve
performance. The maximum value is 5000

41. What are the difference between Row-by-row select and Cached
comparison table and sorted input in Table Comparison Tranform?

Answer:

Row-by-row select —look up the target table using SQL every time it
receives an input row. This option is best if the target table is large.

Cached comparison table — To load the comparison table into memory.

This option is best when the table fits into memory and you are
comparing the entire target table

Sorted input — To read the comparison table in the order of the primary
key column(s) using sequential read.This option improves performance
because Data Integrator reads the comparison table only once.Add a
query between the source and the Table_Comparison transform. Then,
from the query’s input schema, drag the primary key columns into the
Order By box of the query.
42. What is the use of using Number of loaders in Target Table?

Answer:

Number of loaders loading with one loader is known as Single loader

Loading. Loading when the number of loaders is greater than one is
known as Parallel Loading. The default number of loaders is 1. The
maximum number of loaders is 5.

43. What is the use of Rows per commit?

Answer:

Specifies the transaction size in number of rows. If set to 1000, Data

Integrator sends a commit to the underlying database every 1000 rows.

44. What is the difference between lookup (), lookup_ext () and

lookup_seq ()?

Answer:

lookup() : Briefly, It returns single value based on single condition

lookup_ext(): It returns multiple values based on single/multiple

condition(s)

lookup_seq(): It returns multiple values based on sequence number

45. What is the use of History preserving transform?

Answer:
The History_Preserving transform allows you to produce a new row in
your target rather than updating an existing row. You can indicate in
which columns the transform identifies changes to be preserved. If the
value of certain columns change, this transform creates a new row for
each row flagged as UPDATE in the input data set.

46. What is the use of Map-Operation Transfrom?

Answer:

The Map_Operation transform allows you to change operation codes on

data sets to produce the desired output. Operation codes: INSERT
UPDATE, DELETE, NORMAL, or DISCARD.

47. What is Heirarchy Flatenning?

Answer:

Constructs a complete hierarchy from parent/child relationships, and

then produces a description of the hierarchy in vertically or horizontally
flattened format.

Parent Column, Child Column

Parent Attributes, Child Attributes.

48. What is the use of Case Transform?

Answer:
Use the Case transform to simplify branch logic in data flows by
consolidating case or decision-making logic into one transform. The
transformallows you to split a data set into smaller sets based on logical
branches.

49. What must you define in order to audit a data flow?

Answer:

You must define audit points and audit rules when you want to audit a
data flow.

50. List some factors for PERFORMANCE TUNING in data services?

Answer:

The following sections describe ways you can adjust Data Integrator
performance

Source-based performance options

Using array fetch size

Caching data

Join ordering

Minimizing extracted data

Target-based performance options

Loading method and rows per commit

Staging tables to speed up auto-correct loads

Job design performance options

Improving throughput

Maximizing the number of pushed-down operations

Minimizing data type conversion

Minimizing locale conversion

Improving Informix repository performance