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Question Designer
Question Designer XI R2
Windows
Page 2
Patents
Business Objects owns the following U.S. patents, which may cover products that are offered
and sold by Business Objects: 5,555,403, 6,247,008 B1, 6,578,027 B2, 6,490,593 and
6,289,352.
Trademarks
Copyright
Third-party
contributors
Business Objects, the Business Objects logo, Crystal Reports, and Crystal Enterprise are
trademarks or registered trademarks of Business Objects SA or its affiliated companies in the
United States and other countries. All other names mentioned herein may be trademarks of
their respective owners.
Copyright © 2005 Business Objects. All rights reserved.
Business Objects products in this release may contain redistributions of software licensed
from third-party contributors. Some of these individual components may also be available
under alternative licenses. A partial listing of third-party contributors that have requested or
permitted acknowledgments, as well as required notices, can be found at:
http://www.businessobjects.com/thirdparty
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Question Designer
Introduction
chapter
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Introduction
1
Overview
Overview
Question Designer is the administrative tool for the Intelligent Question
application.
Intelligent Question is a new and easy way to access Business Intelligence. It
lets users focus on questions, not queries. People know the questions they
want to ask, but they may lack the technical skills needed to design reports.
With Intelligent Question, these users can take advantage of BI. They don’t
have to work directly with universes. The application makes the link between
business concepts and universe components.
Question domains
The sets of metadata that provide the choices in Intelligent Question are
called question domains. Question Designer is the tool that you use to
design question domains. Question Designer lets you translate metadata into
textual user choices.
Note: Question domains are not related to the core “domains” (security,
document, and so on) in BusinessObjects Enterprise products.
In the complex reality of business enterprise reporting, subjects are spread
across multiple universes. Each universe is from a different data source. For
example, some customers could be from a point-of-sale system, others from
a marketing database, and still others from a call center system.
Using a question domain, you can bring together subjects—and thus
business concepts—from multiple universes.
For a detailed discussion of question domains, see “Question Domain
Components” on page 17. For more information about the sample question
domain delivered with Question Designer, see “Sample Question Domain” on
page 39.
For more information about universes, see the Designer's Guide.
How is a question asked?
In the Intelligent Question application, the user asks the question by making
selections from a series of drop-down lists that are predesigned by the
administrator. When these lists are arrayed in a sequence, they form the
question.
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For example:
Show me a breakdown of all customers that are the top 10 buyers, based on
quantity, for the last quarter.
About this guide
This guide explains how to install and use Question Designer. The installation
includes the Intelligent Question plug-in for InfoView, so that you can make
the Intelligent Question application available to your users.
Introduction
About this guide
1
Prior knowledge
To use Question Designer, you must have a solid knowledge of:
• universes, including dimensions, measures, and contexts
• the Business Objects system
• business concepts used in your organization
You do not, however, need to be familiar with SQL.
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Introduction
1
Architecture
Architecture
The following diagram shows the basic architecture of Intelligent Question,
and how it fits into the Business Objects system.
The Intelligent Question application runs inside InfoView as a standard
application.
The Question Engine runs within the Enterprise framework as a server. It
interacts with the semantic layer, sending queries to the CMS repository for
universes, question domains, filters, favorite questions, and question history.
Then, if required, additional layers of SQL are added (but with only a single
query to the database).
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Connection Server, running in process with the Web Intelligence server,
issues an SQL query to the database and returns the data set.
Each data source is processed individually when the query is run.
Synchronized multiple data source access is not supported in this release.
Leveraging the metadata in Business Objects universes
Universes provide an easy and simple interface that enables non-technical
Web Intelligence users to run queries against a database to create reports
and perform data analysis. Business Objects Designer is the tool that enables
you to create universes. (For more information, see the Designer's Guide.)
Question domains are built “on top of” Business Objects universes. In other
words, the universes are the building blocks, the raw material, from which the
domains are constructed.
This means that when you design a question domain, you leverage the
metadata in the universe. You preserve all the features of the powerful
Business Objects semantic layer. Nothing is lost.
Security roles and privileges are maintained. You don't have to re-create or
update dimensions, measures, contexts, and so on—everything is transferred
automatically to the question domain.
Think of the question domain simply as a new way to arrange and access
universe elements, in order to provide Intelligent Question capability to end
users.
Introduction
Architecture
1
Question Designer 7
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1
Introduction
Architecture
The following table shows how universe objects are treated in a question
domain.
These universe objects... are treated like this in a question domain...
Dimensions Exposed as subject labels and attributes for
display in results or for filtering.
Details Exposed as subject attributes.
Measures Exposed as measures in the question; for
example, Top 10 Customers based on
Revenue or Quantity
Dates Used to calculate relative dates; for example,
This Year, Current Year to Date.
Filters Available to apply to all questions for a given
behavior; for example, selecting only
purchases from a transaction table that has
purchases and returns.
Security restrictions Automatically inherited and applied when a
user asks a question.
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Question Designer
Installation and Administration
chapter
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Installation and Administration
2
Prerequisites
Prerequisites
This chapter includes:
• prerequisites to the installation of Question Designer and Intelligent
Question
• installing Question Designer and Intelligent Question
• verifying the installation
• setting security
You must have at least one universe in the repository in order to design a
question domain. The universe must have at least one context, one measure,
and one date-time field. (For other universe requirements, see “Universe
requirements” on page 26.)
In the current release, Question Designer and Intelligent Question can run
only:
• on a Windows machine
• in English
• with Java application servers (Tomcat)
• with SQLServer, Oracle, or DB2 as the database
For the final list of supported platforms and applications in the current release,
see the
For the latest information on supported platforms for all BusinessObjects
Enterprise products, see the list of supported platforms at:
http://support.businessobjects.com/supported_platforms_xi_release2/
platform.txt file, located in the installation folder.
Installation
You must have BusinessObjects Enterprise installed before you begin the
procedures below.
In the current version, the Intelligent Question application is provided as an
add-on to InfoView. To use Intelligent Question and make it available to your
users, you must install three components on the server:
• Question Engine
• Intelligent Question InfoView plug-in
• CMS Add-on
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The Question Engine is the server that powers Question Designer and
Intelligent Question.
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Installation and Administration
Installation
You can install all these components using the Intelligent Question installer.
Note: There is no need to install or configure anything on the client
machines. However, make sure after installation that your users have access
rights to Intelligent Question (see “Setting user rights for Intelligent Question”
on page 14).
You can install Question Designer separately, on another machine. Use the
Intelligent Question installer to install Question Designer.
To run the installer:
1. From the CD, open the setup.exe file.
The Welcome page of the installer appears.
2
2. Click Next.
The License Agreement page appears.
3. If you agree with the text, select I accept the license agreement, and
then click Next.
The Destination Folder page appears.
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Installation and Administration
2
Installation
4. Change the location of the destination folder if you want, and then click
Next.
The Select Features page appears.
5. Select the features you want, and then click Next.
6. Enter your information, and then click Next.
7. Click Next.
8. Click Finish.
12 Question Designer
The CMS Logon Information page appears.
The Ready to Install the Application page appears.
The installer installs the features you selected. When the installation is
complete, a message appears.
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Verifying the installation
After installation, make sure the Question Engine is running.
To verify that the Question Engine is running:
1. Open the Central Configuration Manager.
2. Find the Question Engine in the list of servers, and verify in the Status
column that it is running.
3. If it is not running, right-click it, and then point to Start.
4. If you want to configure properties for the Question Engine, right-click it,
and then point to Properties.
For general instructions on how to set properties for servers in the CCM,
see the BusinessObjects Administrator’s Guide.
5. Start InfoView, and then click the Intelligent Question button to make
sure the Intelligent Question application starts correctly.
Installation and Administration
Installation
2
Uninstalling
You can uninstall Question Designer and Intelligent Question via the
Windows control panel (Add/Remove Programs).
If you are also uninstalling BusinessObjects Enterprise, make sure you
uninstall Question Designer and Intelligent Question first.
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Installation and Administration
2
Security
Security
You can set user rights for different elements of Question Designer and
Intelligent Question. For example, you can add or remove users who are
allowed access to the application.
User rights can be set for:
• the Intelligent Question application
• Question Designer
• specific question domains
• universes and universe connections used in your questions
• objects used in your questions
Note: The procedures below are meant only as a general guide. For detailed
information and instructions on user rights and access to applications, see the
BusinessObjects Administrator’s Guide.
Business Objects recommends setting default security so that Web
Intelligence documents are visible only by their creators. Users must then
explicitly choose to share reports with their colleagues.
Setting user rights for Intelligent Question
To set user rights for the Intelligent Question application:
1. Open the Central Management Console.
2. Click BusinessObjects Enterprise Applications.
The BusinessObjects Enterprise Applications page appears.
3. Click Intelligent Question.
The Intelligent Question User Rights page appears.
4. Click the Intelligent Question tab.
5. Set the access you want to the Intelligent Question application.
Setting user rights for Question Designer
To set user rights for Question Designer:
1. Open the Central Management Console.
2. Click BusinessObjects Enterprise Applications.
The BusinessObjects Enterprise Applications page appears.
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3. Click the Intelligent Question icon.
The Intelligent Question User Rights page appears.
4. Click the Question Designer tab.
5. Set the access you want to Question Designer.
Setting user rights for question domains
To set user rights for individual question domains:
1. Open the Central Management Console.
2. Click BusinessObjects Enterprise Applications.
The BusinessObjects Enterprise Applications page appears.
3. Click the Intelligent Question icon.
The Intelligent Question User Rights page appears.
4. Click the Question Domains tab.
5. Select the access you want to give:
• View
• Full control
Installation and Administration
Security
2
Setting user rights for universes and connections
You can set the user rights for both individual universes and universe
connections.
To set user rights for a universe:
1. Open the Central Management Console.
2. Click Universes.
The Universes page appears.
3. Set the rights for the universes you want.
To set user rights for a universe connection:
1. Open the Central Management Console.
2. Click Universe Connections.
The Universe Connections page appears.
3. Set the rights for the universe connections you want.
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Installation and Administration
2
Security
Setting object-level security
You can set security for individual objects in a universe. This can be done in
the Advanced Properties dialog box in Designer.
For more information, see the Designer’s Guide.
You can also set object-level security in the CMC.
To set object-level security in the CMC:
1. Open the Central Management Console.
2. Click Universes.
The Universes page appears.
3. Select the universe for which you want to set object-level security.
4. Click the Object Level Security tab.
5. Add the users for whom you want to apply the security settings.
6. Select the access level you want.
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Question Designer
Question Domain Components
chapter
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Question Domain Components
3
Overview
Overview
Question domains are sets of metadata that provide the choices in the dropdown lists of the Intelligent Question interface. Question Designer is the tool
that you use to design a question domain.
In Intelligent Question, users select a domain from those you have made
available, and then formulate their questions using the options it provides.
Question Designer accesses universes and stores question domains in the
repository.
The following illustration shows the components in a question domain.
The table below shows some typical values for each component.
Component Typical values User-
Subject
Tense
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• Customers
• Employees
• Products
• Competitors
• Suppliers
• Orders
• Stores
• Are
• Are not
defined?
Yes
No
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Question Domain Components
Subjects and behaviors
3
Measure
• Revenue
Yes
• Volume
Comparator
• All
No
• Top/bottom
• Average
• Trend
Behavior
• Buyers
Yes
• Performers
• Returners
• Complainers
Time period
• Current quarter
No
• Last quarter
• Next quarter
• Today
• Tomorrow
• Yesterday
The sections below explain the components in greater detail. At the end of the
chapter is a discussion of factors to take into account when you design a
question domain (see “Design considerations for question domains” on
page 25).
Subjects and behaviors
The main building blocks of question domains are subjects and behaviors.
The core of a question consists of these elements. For example:
In the image above, Customers is the subject and Buyers is the behavior.
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Question Domain Components
3
Subjects and behaviors
Subjects
Here are other examples of a subject followed by its behavior:
• Show me my Authors that were top earners last year
• Show me my Books that were top sellers last week
For instructions on how to create and configure subjects, see “Creating and
configuring subjects” on page 33.
For instructions on how to create and configure behaviors, see “Creating and
configuring behaviors” on page 34.
Subjects are the basic business element we want to ask about. A subject can
be defined for multiple universes.
Subjects must have:
• a unique key, such as CustomerID
This is provided by a universe dimension.
• a unique display name, called the label
This is provided by a universe object.
• dimension attributes associated with each key
In the publishing industry, for example, attributes might be author name,
title, ISBN number, release date, sales rank, and so on.
Behaviors
A behavior is a process or activity that takes place in an organization. It
represents a relationship between two or more subjects and a single fact
table (via a context). It may include constraints on the measures that are
defined for the subjects. Sometimes, only a single measure is involved.
For example, the behavior Buyers could represent a relationship between
Customers and Products, with the constraint that the measure “Quantity Sold”
is positive.
Each behavior:
• is defined from a single universe
• is based on a single context within the universe
• refers to one or more subjects
• has a unique name for each subject the behavior can be used with
• includes at least one measure object, such as revenue
• includes at least one object whose data type is date
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Question Domain Components
Subjects and behaviors
The available behaviors depend on the subject you select. Behaviors are
available only for subjects that have compatible objects. The behaviors
determine which measures you see and which date is used to constrain your
question, by showing only compatible measures for the selected context.
The following table shows the relationship between subjects and behaviors,
as well as a corresponding universe and measures. The Semantic Term is
what the user sees in the Intelligent Question application.
3
Behavior Subjects Semantic
term
Buys
Returns
Complains
• Products
• Customers
• Stores
• Products
• Customers
• Stores
• Customers
• Employees
• Sellers
• Buyers
• Performers
• Returnees
• Returners
• Return
locations
• Complainers
• Call agents
Universe Measure
objects
Sales.unv
(context=
‘sales’)
Sales.unv
(context=
‘returns’)
Callcenter.unv
(context=
‘complaints’)
• Revenue
• Volume
• Lost
revenue
• Volume
• No. of calls
• Length of
call
• Time to
resolution
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Question Domain Components
3
Filters
The image below presents another view of the relationship between subjects
and behaviors. Subjects are in the blue squares, and behaviors are in the
brown callouts. Measure objects (revenue and volume) are in the pink callout
in the center.
Filters
Filters limit the data that is accessed from the database.
Filters are selected by the user, using the attributes (filter objects) you
provide. In Question Designer, you add filter objects to the question domain.
There are two types of filters: those on the subject and those on the behavior.
Filters on the subject
Subjects can be managed, or restricted, by filters. Subject filters work on a
dimension object.
For example, if Customers is the subject, a filter might limit the question to
include only customers who live in a certain city.
When the subject filter is all, it means that there is no filtering.
Defining subject filters is explained in “Creating and configuring subjects” on
page 33.
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Filters on the behavior
Behaviors can also be managed, or restricted, by filters. There are three
types of behavioral filters:
• Mandatory filters
These are classic filter objects that are always applied to a given
behavior. They are transparent to the end user.
• Optional filters
These are classic filter objects that can be selected by the end user. In
the Intelligent Question interface, this is called “defining a filter.”
• Optional runtime filter measures
These are measures or dimensions that act like filters. They are selected
by the end user. In the Intelligent Question interface, this is called
“creating a restriction.”
There are three limitations on optional runtime filter measures:
• You can use only numbers, not dates
• Aggregate expressions (sum, min, max, average, and so on) cannot be
used on the object
• The Aggregate function for the object must = None.
You set the Aggregate function in Designer, in the Property dialog box for
the object.
To find out how to define filters on a behavior, see “Defining filters on the
behavior” on page 35.
Question Domain Components
Linking to other subjects and measures
3
Linking to other subjects and measures
Each question has a main subject. The Intelligent Question user can,
however, link this main subject to secondary subjects and measures. The
answer shows only the results that apply to all the selected components.
For example, suppose the main subject is North American Customers. The
user links it to a secondary subject, My Products. By default, the answer that
is displayed shows customers for all products.
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Question Domain Components
3
Tenses
Tenses
In this example, the question would appear in the Intelligent Question
interface as “North American Customers broken down by My Products.”
All the other subjects (and their attributes) associated with the behavior
appear automatically if their objects are compatible with the main subject.
This cannot be changed.
To limit the set of data that is returned, the user can select a filter for the
secondary subject or set the display of attributes. In the More Columns area
(bottom of image above), the user adds or removes attributes from being
displayed in the answer.
Tenses (also called timeframes) are selected from a fixed list that cannot be
modified. In the current release, the following tenses are available:
• Are
This is the default.
• Are not
Comparators
Comparators are selected from a fixed list that cannot be modified. In the
current release, the available comparators include:
• All
• Top/Bottom
Top or bottom n or n% of the total, based on a selected measure.
• Average
Includes units that are above or below the average by n%.
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• Trend
New, lapsed, increased, decreased, or stable, based on a selected
measure and comparative performance between two time periods.
Many of these comparators require a parameter (such as the n in Top n). If
there is a comparison, then a measure is required.
Time period
Time periods are simple relative terms; for example, current year to date, last
quarter, next week, today, tomorrow, and so on.
Time periods are selected from a fixed list that cannot be modified. Some of
the time periods available in the current release include:
• Next year
• Current year to date
• Current full quarter
• This quarter last year
• Week before last
• Today
• Tomorrow
The time periods allow your users to focus on real-life business questions.
For example, the user could check performance for this quarter, and then
compare it to this quarter last year.
Question Domain Components
Time period
3
Design considerations for question domains
When you design your question domain, it is best to limit the number of
subjects, behaviors, and measures. Otherwise, the domains may be difficult
to navigate and understand.
As a general rule, use:
• no more than 8 subjects
• no more than 5 behaviors per subject
• no more than 10 measures per behavior
In addition, it may be more efficient to limit each question domain to a specific
business purpose. Most users will probably use only a single domain—one
that is geared toward the business needs of the user.
Questions should be designed to reflect the thought process of the user.
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Question Domain Components
3
Design considerations for question domains
Universe requirements
You must have at least one universe in the repository in order to design a
question domain.
There are several requirements for the universes that you use to design
question domains. Each universe must have:
• at least one context, usually one per fact table
Note: If your universe has been designed without contexts, you can add
a single context that includes all joins in the universe.
• one dimension table for each conceptual dimension (that is, not multiple
stars with aliases).
Normally, each dimension is defined once per universe.
• at least one measure
• attributes that are a well-defined value for every instance of the subject
Too many nulls should be avoided.
In addition, each universe must:
• use “full” contexts
This means that if you start with a behavior, anything you add must be in
a context.
• not be linked
• use date/time objects for date information on transactions
Week numbers, for example, cannot be used. Every universe must have
at least one date object. If your universe contains this type of date, create
a new object that converts a week number to a date. Then use this object
in your question domain.
• not be OLAP universes
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Design considerations for question domains
Bringing question domains to your users
The image below shows how the design of question domains in Question
Designer fits into the process of bringing Intelligent Question capability to
your users:
Question Domain Components
3
Sample question domain
“Sample Question Domain” on page 39 presents an example of how to create
a question domain using Question Designer.
The example is based on a sample database and universe that are delivered
as part of the Question Designer installation.
The installation also gives you the Island Resorts Marketing sample question
domain.
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Question Domain Components
3
Design considerations for question domains
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Question Designer
Using Question Designer
chapter
Page 30
Using Question Designer
4
Overview
Overview
This chapter explains how to use Question Designer.
To create a new question domain, see “Creating a question domain” on
page 32.
Starting Question Designer
To start Question Designer:
1. From the Windows Start menu, point to Programs >
BusinessObjects XI R2 > Intelligent Question > Question Designer.
The Logon dialog box appears.
2. Enter the information, and then click OK.
The Start page of Question Designer appears.
A tour of the interface
The interface of Question Designer is divided into the following parts:
• Menus and toolbar
• Design Tasks
This is where you select the type of task you want to perform:
• Start page
• Subjects
• Behaviors
You can also do this from the View menu.
• To Do list
This list reminds you of the tasks you need to perform in order to
complete your question domain.
On the bottom of the To Do List panel, you can toggle between the To Do list
and Difference from Exported. You can also open the Help.
Difference from Exported
Difference from Exported shows you the changes you have made to a
question domain that you previously exported from Question Designer to the
repository.
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This can help you determine whether changes you are making to the domain
will have an impact on questions that users are asking, based on this domain.
A red “x” indicates that the change may make an existing question impossible
to ask. For example, deleting a subject will make it impossible for a user to
access a Favorite question that uses this subject.
A green circle indicates that the change has no risk; all existing questions will
still be possible to ask.
Changing the view
You can personalize your Question Designer by changing the view. This is
done on the View menu.
Using Question Designer
Opening a question domain
4
In the upper section of the menu, you can change the Design task (Start
page, Subject, or Behavior).
In the lower section, you can open and close the following panels:
• Difference from exported
• To Do list
• Design Tasks
To restore the Default view, select Reset Panels.
Opening a question domain
You can open and modify an existing question domain, stored either:
• locally, on your machine
• in the repository
To open a question domain stored locally:
1. From the File menu, select Open.
The Open Question Domain dialog box appears.
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Using Question Designer
4
Creating a question domain
2. Browse for the domain you want to retrieve locally.
3. Click Open.
To open (import) a question domain stored in the repository:
1. From the File menu, select Import.
The Question Domain Import dialog box appears.
2. Select the domains you want to retrieve from the repository.
3. Click OK.
Creating a question domain
To create a question domain:
1. Select New from the File menu.
2. Make sure the Start page is displayed.
3. In the Question Domain Properties area, type the title, author, comments,
and key words for the new domain.
4. To save the domain, select Save from the File menu.
Now you need to:
• select universes
• create and configure subjects
• create and configure behaviors
• export the domain to the repository
Note: Changes you make to a question domain cannot be accessed by your
end users until you export the domain to the repository (see “Exporting a
question domain” on page 37). Saving it means that it will only be saved
locally.
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Tip: The remaining steps for completing the question domain are shown in
the To Do list.
Selecting universes
You select the universes from which you will take objects for the question
domain. You can use any universe for which you have access rights in the
repository.
There can be more than one universe in a question domain.
Make sure the universes you select meet the requirements outlined in
“Universe requirements” on page 26. You must have at least one universe in
the repository in order to design a question domain.
To select a universe:
1. Make sure that you are on the Start page, and that the question domain
you want is open.
2. In the Select Universes area, use the arrow buttons to move the
universes you want into the right-hand pane.
Tip: To refresh the universes, select Refresh Universes from the Edit menu.
Using Question Designer
Creating a question domain
4
Creating and configuring subjects
You now configure subjects and create new ones. To learn about subjects,
see “Subjects” on page 20.
To create or configure subjects:
1. In the Design Tasks panel, click Subjects.
The Subjects page appears.
The available subjects appear in the Subjects pane on the left side of the
page. The universes with which you can work appear on tabs in the
middle of the page.
2. Do either of the following:
• If you want to create a new subject, click the Plus ( + ) button at the
top of the Subjects pane, and type the name and description in the
Subject Properties pane.
• If you want to edit an existing subject, select the one you want in the
Subjects pane.
3. If you want to set the subject as default, click Set Default.
The default subject will be the first to appear to the user within the
Intelligent Question application.
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Using Question Designer
4
Creating a question domain
List of contexts
Deleting a subject
4. In the Subject Properties pane, select the universe whose objects you
want to map to the subject.
5. Use the arrow buttons to assign objects from the universe to the Key, the
Label, and the Attributes.
Note: The attributes you assign to the subject become the options users
see when selecting filters for subjects.
At the bottom of the Subject Properties pane is the list of contexts.
A context is marked with a red “x” when a key, label, or attribute object is not
compatible with that context. This means that the subject cannot be linked to
a behavior based on that context.
When you select a context in the list, the objects that are compatible with it
are highlighted in the list of objects above. This enables you to design the
subject to be linked to a particular behavior.
Note: Contexts link measures to dimensions. Contexts already contain the
measures they need.
To delete a subject:
1. In the Subjects pane, select the subject you want to delete.
2. Click the Minus ( - ) button.
Creating and configuring behaviors
You now configure behaviors and create new ones. To learn about behaviors,
see “Behaviors” on page 20.
To create and configure a behavior:
1. In the Design Tasks panel, click Behaviors.
The Behaviors page appears.
2. Do either of the following:
• If you want to create a new behavior, click the Plus ( + ) button at the
top of the Behaviors pane, and type the name and description on the
Behavior Properties tab.
• If you want to edit an existing behavior, select the one you want in
the Behaviors pane.
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3. In the Universe list, select the universe from which you want to take
subjects to link to this behavior.
4. In the Contexts list, select the Context you want.
5. In the Subject Selection area, select the subjects you want to link to this
behavior.
The behavior will be shown in Intelligent Question only for the subjects
you select here.
Note: If a subject is marked with a red “x”, it is not compatible with this
behavior’s universe and context.
6. For each linked Subject, type a Term.
The Term is a descriptive word that will be shown to the user in Intelligent
Question. (To find out more about subjects, see “Subjects” on page 20.)
Tip: It is better to use a plural term, such as buyers.
Measures and dates
Now you define measures and dates for each behavior.
Dates must already be stored in the database.
To define measures and dates:
1. In the Behaviors pane, select the behavior you want.
2. Click the Measures tab.
3. In the Question Measures pane, select the measures you want, and
move them to the Object/Alias columns using the arrow buttons.
Only measures available in the selected context are displayed.
4. Click the Dates tab.
5. Select the date objects you want, and move them to the Object/Alias
columns using the arrow buttons.
Using Question Designer
Creating a question domain
4
Defining filters on the behavior
There are three types of behavioral filters (see “Filters on the behavior” on
page 23):
• Mandatory filters
• Optional filters
• Optional runtime filter measures
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Using Question Designer
4
Creating a question domain
Mandatory filters
To define mandatory filters:
1. On the Behaviors page, select a behavior for which you want to define a
mandatory filter.
2. Click the Filters tab.
3. Select the filter objects you want, and move them to the Mandatory Filters
pane using the arrow buttons.
4. Repeat the above procedure for other behaviors, if you want.
Optional filters
To define the user choices for optional filters:
1. On the Behaviors page, select a behavior for which you want to define
optional filters.
2. Click the Filters tab.
3. Select the filter objects you want, and move them to the Optional Filters
pane using the arrow buttons.
These objects become the choices presented to users in the Intelligent
Question interface.
4. Repeat the above procedure for other behaviors, if you want.
Optional runtime filter measures
To define the user choices for optional runtime filter measures:
1. On the Behaviors page, select a behavior for which you want to define
optional runtime filter measures.
2. Click the Measures tab.
3. In the Optional Runtime Filter Measures pane, select the measures and
dimensions you want, and move them to the right-hand pane using the
arrow buttons.
These objects become the choices presented to users in the Intelligent
Question interface.
4. Repeat the above procedure for other behaviors, if you want.
Deleting a behavior
To delete a behavior:
1. In the Behaviors pane, select the behavior you want to delete.
2. Click the Minus ( - ) button.
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Exporting a question domain
After creating a question domain, you export it to the repository, so that users
of Intelligent Question can access it.
You cannot export a question domain if there are tasks remaining for that
domain in the To Do list.
There are two ways to export:
• Simple Export
This exports the question domain to the repository using the existing
name. If another domain exists with the same name, it is overwritten.
• Export As
This enables you to select another question domain to overwrite.
To export using a simple export:
1. From the File menu, select Export.
The Review dialog box appears.
2. Read the changes, and then click Export.
If the export is successful, a confirmation message appears.
3. Click OK.
Using Question Designer
Exporting a question domain
4
1. From the File menu, select Export As.
2. Select the domain you want to overwrite.
3. Read the changes, and then click Export.
4. Click OK.
Logging out
To log out from Question Designer, select Log Out from the File menu.
To export using Export As:
The Select Question Domain dialog box appears.
The Review dialog box appears.
If the export is successful, a confirmation message appears.
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Using Question Designer
4
Logging out
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Question Designer
Sample Question Domain
chapter
Page 40
Sample Question Domain
5
Overview
Overview
This chapter presents an example of how to create a question domain using
Question Designer.
Our example is based on the following:
• Club sample database
• Beach sample universe
The database and the universe are delivered as part of the Question
Designer installation.
Note: The Beach sample universe is not the same as the Beach universe
delivered with BusinessObjects Enterprise. Changes were made to make the
universe comptatible with Intelligent Question.
The installation also gives you the Island Resorts Marketing question domain.
This sample domain matches the example given in this chapter. This means
that when you are finished creating the example, you can check your work
against the Island Resorts Marketing question domain.
To begin creating the example by following step-by-step instructions, go to
“Example: How to create a question domain” on page 41.
But if you want to install and use the ready-made Island Resorts Marketing
question domain now, go to “Installing the sample question domain” on
page 40.
About the sample database
The Club database is used by the sales manager of Island Resorts, a fictitious
business specializing in packaged holidays. Based on the information in this
database, the sales manager can perform sales and marketing analysis.
Installing the sample question domain
Follow these instructions if you want to install the sample question domain
now. If you want to create it yourself by following the step-by-step instructions,
go to “Example: How to create a question domain” on page 41.
To install the ready-made question domain:
1. Unzip the IQ_Samples_SqlSrv.zip or IQ_Samples_Oracle.zip file, located
$INSTALLDIR\BusinessObjects Enterprise 11.5\Samples\en,
in
to your hard drive.
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Sample Question Domain
Example: How to create a question domain
The zip contains three files:
• Club.bck (database backup for SQL Server) or Club.sql (schema
creation script for Oracle)
• Island Resorts Marketing.unv (universe)
• Island Resorts Marketing.qd (question domain)
2. Import the Club database:
• SQLServer: import Club.bck using your normal database import
procedure.
• Oracle: create a new schema and run Club.sql on that schema. The
script will create tables and load the data.
3. In Designer, create a secure connection to the database.
4. In Designer, open the universe file (Island Resorts Marketing.unv), and
assign the secured connection. Export it to the BusinessObjects
Enterprise repository.
5. in Question Designer, open the question domain (Island Resorts
Marketing.qd).
6. Export the question domain to the BusinessObjects Enterprise repository.
You can now use the question domain in Question Designer.
5
Example: How to create a question domain
In this example, we use the sample database and sample universe in order to
create a question domain using Question Designer.
The instructions assume that you have read and understood the remainder of
this guide.
Installing the database and universe
Before you begin to create the question domain, you must install the sample
database and universe.
To install the database and universe:
1. Unzip the IQ_Samples_SqlSrv.zip or IQ_Samples_Oracle.zip file, located
in $INSTALLDIR\BusinessObjects Enterprise 11.5\Samples\en,
to your hard drive.
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Sample Question Domain
5
Example: How to create a question domain
The zip contains three files:
• Club.bck (database backup for SQL Server) or Club.sql (schema
creation script for Oracle)
• Island Resorts Marketing.unv (universe)
• Island Resorts Marketing.qd (question domain)
2. Import the Club database:
• SQLServer: import Club.bck using your normal database import
procedure.
• Oracle: create a new schema and run Club.sql on that schema. The
script will create tables and load the data.
3. In Designer, create a secure connection to the database.
4. In Designer, open the universe file (Island Resorts Marketing.unv), and
assign the secured connection. Export it to the BusinessObjects
Enterprise repository.
Starting Question Designer
To start Question Designer:
1. From the Windows Start menu, point to Programs > BusinessObjects
XI R2 > Intelligent Question > Question Designer.
The Logon dialog box appears.
2. Enter the information, and then click OK.
The Start page of Question Designer appears.
Setting the properties
To set the properties of the question domain:
1. Select New from the File menu.
2. Make sure the Start page is displayed.
3. In the Question Domain Properties area, type the title, author, comments,
and key words for the new domain.
Use the following:
• Title: Island Resorts Marketing
• Author: (keep default value, i.e., current user name)
• Comments: Question Domain based on Club sample DB
4. Select Save from the File menu.
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Now you need to:
• select the universe
• create and configure subjects
• create and configure behaviors
• export the domain to the repository
Selecting the universe
To select the universe:
1. Make sure that you are on the Start page, and that the question domain is
open.
2. In the Select Universes area, use the arrow buttons to move the Island
Resorts Marketing universe into the right-hand pane.
Creating and configuring subjects
You now configure subjects and create new ones.
To create and configure the subjects:
1. In the Design Tasks panel, click Subjects.
The Subjects page appears.
The available subjects appear in the Subjects pane on the left-hand side
of the page.
2. Click the Minus ( - ) button at the top of the Subjects pane to remove the
default subjects (Customers, Products, Vendors).
3. Click the Plus ( + ) button at the top of the Subjects pane.
4. Type the name Customers and a description in the Subject Properties
pane.
5. Click Set Default.
6. In the Subject Properties pane, select the Island Resorts Marketing
universe.
Sample Question Domain
Example: How to create a question domain
5
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Sample Question Domain
5
Example: How to create a question domain
7. Use the arrow buttons to assign objects from the universe to the Key, the
Label, and the Attributes.
Object Key Label Attribute
Cust ID
Customer
Age
Phone number
Address
Country of origin
Repeat the above steps for the following subjects:
Salespeople
Object Key Label Attribute
Sales ID
Salesperson
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
44 Question Designer
Resorts
Object Key Label Attribute
Resort ID
Resort
Service Line
Country
Sponsors
Object Key Label Attribute
Sponsor ID
Sponsor
Address
Phone Number
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
Page 45
Creating and configuring behaviors
You now configure behaviors and create new ones.
To create and configure the behaviors:
1. In the Design Tasks panel, click Behaviors.
The Behaviors page appears.
2. Click the Plus ( + ) button at the top of the Behaviors pane.
3. Type the name Sales and a description on the Behavior Properties tab.
4. In the Universe list, select the Island Resorts Marketing universe.
5. In the Contexts list, select the Sales context.
6. In the Subject Selection area, select the subjects to link to this behavior:
• Customers
• Salespeople
• Resorts
The behavior will be shown in Intelligent Question only for the subjects
you select here.
7. For each linked Subject, type a Term.
The Term is a descriptive word that will be shown to the user in Intelligent
Question.
Sample Question Domain
Example: How to create a question domain
5
Subject Term
Customers
Salespeople
Resorts
Repeat the above steps to create the Reservation behavior:
Reservers
Sellers
Visited
• Universe: Island Resorts Marketing
• Context: Reservation
• Subjects and Terms:
Subject Term
Customers
Salespeople
Resorts
Sponsors
Buyers
Bookers
Booked
Sponsored
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Sample Question Domain
5
Example: How to create a question domain
Measures and dates
Now you define measures and dates for each behavior.
To define the measures and dates:
1. In the Behaviors pane, select the Sales behavior.
2. Click the Measures tab.
3. In the Question Measures pane, select the Revenue measure, and move
it to the Object/Alias columns using the arrow buttons.
4. Repeat the previous step with the Number of Guests measure.
5. Click the Dates tab.
6. Select the Invoice Date date object, and move it to the Object/Alias
columns using the arrow buttons.
7. In the Behaviors pane, select the Reservation behavior.
8. Click the Measures tab.
9. In the Question Measures pane, select the Future Guests measure, and
move it to the Object/Alias columns using the arrow buttons.
10. Click the Dates tab.
11. Select the Reservation Date date object, and move it to the Object/Alias
columns using the arrow buttons.
Exporting the question domain
After creating the question domain, you export it to the repository, so that
users of Intelligent Question can access it.
To export the question domain:
1. From the File menu, select Export.
The Review dialog box appears.
2. Read the changes, and then click Export.
If the export is successful, a confirmation message appears.
3. Click OK.
You have now completed your question domain.
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Checking the question domain
Now you can check your work against the Island Resort Marketing question
domain delivered with your Question Designer installation. If you performed
the above procedures correctly, the two question domains should be
identical.
To check your question domain:
1. Open your question domain in Question Designer.
2. Open the Island Resort Marketing question domain in Question Designer.
You saved this file (Island Resort Marketing.qd) on your machine when
you unzipped the .......zip file (see “Installing the database and universe”
on page 41).
3. Compare the two question domains.
Sample Question Domain
Example: How to create a question domain
5
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Sample Question Domain
5
Example: How to create a question domain
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Error Messages
appendix
Page 50
Error Messages
A
Overview
Overview
This appendix provides information on error messages that may appear while
using Question Designer and Intelligent Question.
Error messages
The question domain could not be loaded. (IQ 00001)
Cause Insufficient user permissions, or a universe used by this question domain may
have been modified or deleted.
Action Contact your IT administrator.
The Question Engine server is currently unavailable. (IQ 00002)
Cause You tried to access Intelligent Question when the Question Engine server is
stopped.
Action Contact your IT administrator and ask that the server be started.
The question domain could not be loaded. (IQ 00003)
Cause You tried to access the question domain when you do not have rights to
universes and universe connections used by this Question Domain.
Action Contact your IT administrator, and ask to be given rights to the universes and
universe connections.
The Question Engine server is currently unavailable. (IQ 00004)
Cause You tried to access Intelligent Question in Infoview when you do not have the
rights to access the Question Engine server or server group.
Action Contact your IT administrator, and ask to be given rights.
The Question Engine is not running. (IQ 00005)
Cause You tried to log on to Question Designer when you do not have the rights to
access the Question Engine server.
Action Contact your IT administrator, and ask to be given rights.
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Error Messages
Error messages
The question domain referenced <number> universe objects which could not be found. (IQ 00006)
Cause You tried to import the question domain in Question Designer, when you do
not have any rights to universes and universe connections used by this
question domain. Could also be due to changes in a universe since the last
time this question domain was edited.
Action Contact your IT administrator.
A subject used by this question no longer exists. (IQ 00007)
Cause The subject has been removed from the question domain.
Action Contact your IT administrator.
Attribute <name> no longer exists. (IQ 00008)
Cause The attribute has been deleted from the question domain.
Action Contact your IT administrator.
A runtime error has occured. (IQ 00009)
Cause You used the Top comparator for any subject, selected the number inside the
box, and then deleted it.
Action Reset the comparator.
A
You must specify a label for this filter. (IQ 00010)
Cause You defined a new filter for the subject without giving it a name.
Action Name the filter.
The label All is built-in and cannot be redefined. (IQ 00011)
Cause You tried to define a filter with the name “All.”
Action Choose a different name.
Attribute does not have any values selected. (IQ 00012)
Cause You tried to select an attribute without selecting any values.
Action Select a value.
Favorite question must be given a name. (IQ 00013)
Cause You tried to save a question to Favorites without giving it a name.
Action Name the Favorite question when you save it.
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Error Messages
A
Error messages
IQ license key doesn’t exist. (IQ 00014)
Cause The license key was not properly installed or configured.
Action See your IT administrator. The correct license key must be set in the CMS.
Couldn’t log on to Business Objects Enterprise. (IQ 00015)
Cause You entered an invalid system name, or none at all.
Action Enter a valid system name.
Couldn’t log on to Business Objects Enterprise. (IQ 00016)
Cause You entered an invalid user name, or none at all.
Action Enter a valid user name.
Couldn’t log on to Business Objects Enterprise. (IQ 00017)
Cause You entered an invalid authentication, or none at all.
Action Select a type of authentication.
No universes have changed. (IQ 00018)
Cause You selected Refresh Universes from the Edit menu, but the universes have
not changed.
Action No action; there is no need for refresh.
The question domain cannot be exported because it is not yet complete. (IQ
00019)
Cause There are still some action you need to take before the domain can be
exported.
Action See the To Do list to find out what needs to be done.
The question domain referenced <number> universe objects which could not be found. (IQ 00020)
Cause This could be due to changes in a universe since the last time this question
domain was edited, or you may not have permission to view some universe
objects.
Action Contact your IT administrator.
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Error Messages
Error messages
Filter <name> does not exist. (IQ 00021)
Cause You defined a new filter for any subject, created a question based on the filter,
added it to you Favourite questions, deleted the custom filter, and then tried
to access the question from the Favorites list.
Action Re-create the question.
Filter <name> does not exist. (IQ 00022)
Cause You defined a new filter for any subject, created a question based on the filter,
got your answer, deleted the custom filter, and then tried to access the
question.
Action Redefine the filter.
Filter <name> does not exist. (IQ 00023)
Cause You defined a new filter for any subject, created a question based on the filter,
added it to you Favourite questions, deleted the custom filter, and then tried
to access the question.
Action Re-create the question.
A runtime error has occurred. (IQ 00024)
Cause You created a question, exported it to Web Intelligence, clicked to
Documents, and select Close from the drop-down list.
Action Re-export the question.
A
An error has occurred. The subject with ID <number> does not exist in the CMS or you don’t have the right to access it. (IQ 00025)
Cause A subject with this ID number does not exist in the CMS or you don't have the
right to access it.
Action Contact your IT administrator.
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A
Error Messages
Error messages
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