Wouldn’t it be nice if you could run an integrity check on your universe and click a box that says to only check objects changed since last export?
I tried to see if there was a way to write this in VBA, but there doesn’t appear to be a “last changed date” attribute on objects. I have been working on a Change Log script, and I could integrate the two, but that seems like overkill. I would have to maintain an unchanged copy of the universe in order to do the compare, then run the compare and capture the differences, and finally run an integrity check on that subset of objects.
It’s probably easier just to start the check on the entire universe and go to lunch…
Changing Data Providers in Complex Reports
We have some fairly complex reports at my current client. Of course the word “complex” is not very clear; what is simple to me might be complex to someone else. So let me quantify what I mean by “complex” in this case. The report in question has multiple data provders. Each data provider generates multi-pass SQL because of contexts. Altogether there are 29 data providers with an overall total of over 100 SQL passes. 😯 That’s what I mean by a “complex” report, and I think most folks would agree with that assessment.
The challenge is that for this (and other) complex reports we have been encountering severe issues. In some cases we are unable to edit the queries without restarting our browser session. We also have encountered a number of problems during the process of repointing the document from one universe (development) to another (user acceptance testing) within the same environment. Continue reading “Java Memory Errors During Data Provider Updates in Web Intelligence”
The deadline for submitting an abstract for the 2009 GBN conference has recently been extended. The deadline was supposed to be today but is now April 24. That’s good news for me, as I have not been able to get my thoughts together yet about what to submit.
If you have never submitted an abstract before, the process is quite painless. All you have to do is come up with an idea and summarize it in several hundred words. That’s it. 🙂 Once you have that there is a simple web form to fill out and your submission goes into the process. This year for the first time the user community will be involved in the selection process (part of the value of being a member of GBN) and I thoroughly support that concept. In the past Business Objects would manage the selection process with little or no direct input from users.
One of two things will happen. Either you get selected at which point you have to create the presentation and deliver it to an audience of your peers and you get a free pass to the conference. Or you don’t get selected and don’t have to do the extra work. 😉
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Isn’t it a bit disconcerting that the Web Intelligence programmers felt like they had to include “hours” on the “please wait” dialog box?
This post might not seem like it’s related to Business Intelligence at first, but stay with me to the end and I promise I will tie it all together. 🙂
Have you ever purchased a product that came with a coupon that you had to mail in? The idea is that rather than drop the price on a product a company will offer a rebate or other incentive to encourage you to spend your money. There is cost (overhead) involved in processing the rebate, so why don’t they just discount the product to begin with? A few months ago I got a new Blackberry phone (love love LOVE it, by the way). It was $200 but came with a $100 rebate. Nice deal, right? Not so fast. It seems that the rebate wasn’t quite cash in my pocket. It was a $100 “credit” card that I could only use at certain stores. Best Buy couldn’t figure out how to use it, but Walmart could. I eventually got to spend the entire $100 but it took extra effort. And that’s the issue here, the fact that consumers need to make extra effort on rebates.
Several years ago I worked for a company (as a client) that processes rebate requests. (This is one of the reasons I enjoy my job; I get to see all sorts of companies in different industries and learn how they work.) What I learned at this job was that all of those different companies that offer rebates for purchases don’t process the money themselves. Instead they hire one of the few companies that specializes in this area. Here is how that process works, at a very high level.
First, the product company determines the product(s) involved. Then they will talk to the rebate processor to get input on how much the rebate should be. Based on that meeting they will set up the rebate program, which the rebate company then gets paid to manage. Why would they do that? Why would company “A” ask company “B” how to price their product? That’s where the BI comes in. Continue reading “When Is a Rebate Not a Rebate? Part I”
I admit it… I am a data geek. I love playing with data. (That might amaze my statistics professor from college as I wasn’t very interested back then.) Being interested in data does help in my current career… but what about having some fun with it too?
Continue reading “Looking for Love, Truth, and Honesty”
It might not be obvious, but when you are looking at the “list mode” screen in the Universe Designer product there is a method to the madness that is the order of the joins displayed. The joins are – believe it or not – displayed in chronological order based on when they were created. This can help when you have to include a new join in a context as it will always be at the end of the list. I have become used to that feature.
But I have yet to figure out how the contexts are ordered on the same screen. Has anyone ever noticed a pattern as to how the order of contexts is determined? If so, I would love to hear it. 😎
No more blog posts from me for the rest of the year, as I will be taking some time off. See y’all next year! Happy holidays, and wishes of happiness and success to you and yours in the new year. 😎
A few weeks ago I got a very interesting email. Without going into too many details (since nothing is finalized yet) it seems that I might have an opportunity to go to a Business Objects conference in Australia next year! The conference dates are May 25-26 and it takes place in Sydney. I’ve never been there but certainly would like to have the chance to go.
I will keep posting updates as I get more information. It would be great to meet some of the Australian BOB members. 
Related Links
Today is the Thanksgiving Holiday in the United States. It is typically a holiday where families get together… the travel days around this holiday are often the busiest days from the entire year in airports and other travel hubs. As I am typing this my family is either in the kitchen preparing the afternoon meal (mmm, turkey) or outside running around (kids). I found myself – as I often do – migrating into my home office to check in online. While browing a few posts on BOB something occurred to me. I have come full circle in my “Adventures in Business Objects”. Continue reading “Full Circle: Memories of the Beginning”
