This article was originally published on BusinessObjects Expert

An SAP BusinessObjects universe contains parameters, which are the specific definitions and settings that identify the following:

• The universe and its database connections
• Specifications of the type of queries that can run using the universe
• A set of controls on the use of system resources by the universe

BusinessObjects universe parameters provide detailed information about the universe as well as settings to change universe behavior (e.g., connection to the source of data, how long a query can run, the complexity of the SQL generated). In this article, I provide an overview of how to use the BusinessObjects Universe Designer tool to set and manage BusinessObjects universe parameters to effectively control the functionality and performance of the universe.

Types of Parameters Within a Universe

You can create and modify universe parameters from the Universe Parameters dialog box within the Universe Designer tool (Figure 1) by following menu path File > Parameters (Figure 1). Once you open the Universe Parameters dialog box, there are seven categories or types of parameters contained within a universe, each with a separate tab on the dialog box.

Figure 1

The menu option to open the Universe Parameters dialog box

The universe uses the categories to control the settings, functions, and limits of the selected universe. Table 1 describes the category tabs.

Table 1

Universe category tabs

Let’s look at these tabs in more detail.

Universe Parameters Definition Page

The Definition tab on the Universe Parameters dialog box contains the name, description, and database connection settings for the universe (Figure 2). All universes require at least two items to exist: a name and connection. The name helps uniquely identify the universe, and the connection identifies the specific database that is the source of data for reports and queries that use the universe. In addition, you can enter a description of the universe with summary information, but it is not required.

Figure 2

Add a name and connection for the universe

Defining and Modifying Connections

A connection is a named set of parameters that defines the source of data for a universe and how a BusinessObjects application accesses data. A selection of a connection is required when you first create a universe, but you can change the selection, and you can modify the connection details at a later time. 

Create or modify a new connection from the Definition page of the Universe Parameters dialog box within the Universe Designer by following menu path File > Parameters > Definition. Additionally, all connections available to a universe can be viewed, created, edited, and deleted from the connections list within the Universe Designer by following menu path Tools > Connections. 

When a BusinessObjects system is brand new, connections to a database from within BusinessObjects are not defined. However, there may be ODBC, JDBC, or other types of database connections that already exist on the server machine. BusinessObjects cannot use these connections until a BusinessObjects connection is defined. To create a new connection from the Universe Designer, click the New button under the Definition tab in the Universe Parameters dialog box (Figure 3). This displays the Define a new connection dialog box (Figure 4).

Figure 3

Click the New button to create a new connection

Figure 4

The dialog box for defining a new connection

Click the Next button to go to the second page of the Define a new connection dialog box, which is the Database Middleware Selection shown in Figure 5. On this screen, enter or select three parameters: Connection Type, Connection Name, and Data Access driver (i.e., the list in the lower part of the screen).

Figure 5

Define a new database connection

The Connection Type field determines the type of users who can use the universe to access data. Table 2 shows the three types of connections; secured connections are used most of the time. Additionally, a secured connection is required when the universe is exported to the BusinessObjects Central Management Server (CMS) for use within the BusinessObjects system by queries and reports.

Table 2

Types of connections

You can populate the Connection Name field with any name that uniquely identifies the connection. However, the BusinessObjects system does not allow for duplicate connection names.

The list of data access drivers provides the database drivers and definition of how BusinessObjects communicates to the selected data source. There are many different types of database middleware available within BusinessObjects, subsequently providing BusinessObjects with the ability to use many different types of data sources.  

After you select a data access driver, click the Next button. The third page of the Define a new connection dialog box appears (Figure 6). It contains log-in parameters for the data source, which define settings for accessing the chosen data source. The log-in parameters differ depending on the type of data access driver chosen on the previous screen.

Figure 6

Enter the log-in parameters for the database connection

To fully configure the data access driver, you need to specify the connection and log-in parameters in Table 3.

Table 3

Connection and log-in parameters

Figure 7

Open the Connections List dialog box

Figure 8

The list of available connections

Universe Parameters Summary Screen

The Summary tab on the Universe Parameters dialog box contains and displays information designed to conduct basic universe administration (Figure 9). The information on this page helps describe the universe and keep track of changes to the universe. This information does not change the functionality of the universe.

Figure 9

Universe parameters Summary page

Table 4 describes the information displayed on the Summary screen.

Table 4

Summary screen detail

Universe Parameters Strategies Page

The Strategies tab on the Universe Parameters dialog box assists in setting the routines for automatically extracting structural information from the data source of a universe (Figure 10). A strategy is a script that reads database information and automatically creates universe structures including classes, objects, tables, joins, and cardinalities into the selected universe. For the most part, the Strategies page controls design automation of the universe and the default settings are primarily used but can be overwritten.

Figure 10

Create universe structures

Automated strategies are not an essential part of universe design and creation, but can be useful when rapidly creating a universe. The automated strategies allow information about database structures and layout that may already exist within a database to be rapidly included into a universe.

On the Strategies page of the Universe Parameters dialog box, you can select two different types of strategies:

• Built-in strategies: Default strategies shipped with the Universe Designer that universe developers cannot customize. 
• External strategies: User-defined options that contain the same type of information as a built-in strategy, but can be customized to optimize information retrieval from a database.

Table 5 shows three types of selections that you can make from the Strategies screen.

Table 5

Selections on the Strategies screen

Universe Parameters Controls Page

The Controls tab on the Universe Parameters dialog box contains settings that define limits on universe query execution and result sets (Figure 11). The settings offer a number of options that help control the use of system resources when using the universe for executing reports and queries.

Figure 11

Define limits on query execution and result sets

Table 6 shows four query limits that you can designate on the Controls page with respective query limits values.

Table 6

Four query limit settings

Universe Parameters SQL Page

The SQL tab on the Universe Parameters contains options that set controls on the types of queries that end users can create from the Query Panel in Web Intelligence, Desktop Intelligence, or rich client applications (Figure 12). These parameters are useful for providing SQL generation capabilities to end users that are consistent with their level of knowledge, experience, and capability to generate queries and reports. 

Figure 12

Types of queries available to end users

The three check boxes under the Query section control functions that are available within the Query Panel of Web Intelligence, Desktop Intelligence, and rich client applications:

• Allow use of subqueries
• Allow use of union, intersect and minus operators
• Allow complex operands in the Query Panel

These parameters either enable or disable the use of certain features that can be used by report and query developers. 

Marking the Allow use of subqueries check box provides access to the subquery feature in the Query Panel in Web Intelligence, Desktop Intelligence, and Web Intelligence Rich Client applications. Subsequently, you can enable or disable the subquery icon  in the Query Panel by selecting the universe parameter (Figure 13).

Figure 13

The subquery icon in the Query Panel

Marking the Allow use of union, intersect and minus operators check box provides access to the union, intersect, and minus feature in the Query Panel. Subsequently, you can enable or disable the union icon  by selecting the universe parameter.

Marking the Allow complex operands in Query Panel check box provides access to the Both and Except query filter operators in the Query Panel (Figure 14). Subsequently, the Both and Except query filters can either be enabled or disabled as a result of the selection of the universe parameter.

Figure 14

Both and Except query filter operators are enabled

The three check boxes on the SQL page under the Multiple Paths section (Figure 12) control SQL statements that may have multiple paths within the universe or multiple SQL statements that could be generated (Table 7).

Table 7

Controls for SQL statements with multiple paths

The final two options on the SQL page under the Cartesian Products section (Figure 12) control Cartesian Products in an end-user query or report (Table 8). A Cartesian Product is a result set of a query that contains all the possible combinations of each row in each table included in a query. A Cartesian Product almost always returns an incorrect query and report result set, and execution of queries or reports with Cartesian Products can create performance degradation in a BusinessObjects system. It is considered best practice to prevent Cartesian Products from occurring as much as possible.

Table 8

Two options to control Cartesian Products

Universe Parameters Links Page

The Links tab on the Universe Parameters dialog box contains settings that allow a specified universe to be linked to other universes (Figure 15). Subsequently, linked universes share common components (e.g., objects, classes, joins) with other universe. When two universes are linked by clicking the Add Link button, one universe has the role of a core universe; the other has a role of a derived universe. The core universe contains the components that are reused within other universes, and the components physically remain in the core universe. The derived universe contains a set of the components contained in the core universe as well as its own components. Multiple derived universes can be linked to a core universe, and when changes are made to components in the core universe, the changes are automatically propagated to the linked derived universes.

In addition to linking universes, it is possible to copy components from another universe to another by clicking the Include button. The include components feature is slightly different than the linking components feature as the components are physically moved from one universe to another. Thus, subsequent changes to components in the core universe are not reflected in the connected derived universes)

Figure 15

Settings to link universes

Table 9 shows the four options on the Links screen.

Table 9

Options for linking universes

Universe Parameters Parameter Page

The Parameters tab on the Universe Parameters dialog box contains settings common to most relational database management systems (RDBMS) (Figure 16). Subsequently, the SQL generated in reports and queries can be optimized for a particular type of database.

Figure 16

Parameter settings relating to RDBMS

Table 10 contains alphabetical references to the SQL generation parameters available under the Parameter tab. Click here to download a copy of Table 10.

Figure 10

SQL generation parameters