Glossary Of Business Objects Terms

Glossary Of Business Objects Terms

Aggregate
A calculation that returns totals, percentages, etc. in which any of the following functions are used:
Average, Count, Max, Min, StdDev, StdDevP, Sum, Var, VarP.

Alerter
Used to highlight data based on conditions set for a particular column by the user. Similar to Conditional Formatting used in Excel.

Block
Generic term used to describe tables, crosstabs and charts containing data from the Data Provider in Business Objects.

Business Answer
An operational result that confirms a report’s accuracy in answering the business question.

Business Objects Report
A document produced by Business Objects that contains both data and formatting.

Business Question
The operational, defined question that guides the building of a query or report.

Case Universe
A view or construct of the ODS organized with respect to information found in and associated with the Case folder in CWS/CMS.

Cell
A rectangular formatting object found in or outside of a block. A Cell contains the value of a variable.

Chart
A visual representation of data from the report’s Data Provider.

Class
A collection of related objects contained in the same folder in a Business Objects universe.

Column
A vertical collection of cells, a column usually provides the values for a particular variable.

Condition
A definition designed to exclude undesirable values from a report, leaving only desired values, e.g., Case End Date Is null excludes closed cases.
Constant
An unchanging value against which a variable is compared, e.g., the constant “3” is used in the condition: Focus Age (Years) Greater than 3.

Count
The number of distinct occurrences in a set of values, e.g., a count of 1, 1,1,2,2,5 returns 3.

Count All
Count of all rows (values) in data, e.g., 1,1,1,2,2,5 returns 6.

Crosstab
A two-dimensional representation of data. Variables are displayed in columns, rows, and (usually a count) in the body.

Cube
Another term for the Data Provider where the data from a query is contained.

Custom Sort
Ordering data in sorts other than ascending (A-Z) and descending (Z-A).

Data Provider
A structure in which the retrieved data is stored in the Business Objects document. The embedded data in a Data Provider is displayed in charts, tables, and crosstabs. A report may have more than one Data Provider.

Data tab
The Data tab is used to manage the variables in your report. You can view this list in two different ways. In alphabetical order, all the variables in the document are listed in alphabetical order with the variables in the Variables folder and the formulas in the Formulas folder. By query, variables are grouped into the queries from which they were returned.

Detail
Provides additional information on an associated object. For example, the object Referral Received Date contains the details: Fed Quarter and State Quarter, among others, to assist in determining the number of referrals received during each of those periods.

Dimension
Key objects you are most likely to base your queries on as either Result Objects or in Conditions. Dimensions are typically character-type data (client names, 19-digit numbers, etc.), or dates (DOB’s, start dates, etc.).

Document
A Business Objects file with the extension “rep.” A document contains both data and formatting.

Drill
A method for exploring or displaying data in progressively greater detail. A very powerful function in Business Objects used for “data mining.”

Edit Data Provider
Also known as the Query Panel, where Result Objects and Conditions can be defined.

Extract Date
The day the data was copied from the production CWS/CMS database to the ODS. It is a useful object to include in a report as it shows readers how current the data is.

Filter
Reduces the amount of data displayed to specific values, e.g., a filter on Case Active Service Component may show only Permanent Placement cases.

Footer
The space at the bottom of the page below the report area used to identify your report and add page information to your report.

Formula
The definition of the contents of a cell, e.g., =. Can contain text, functions (e.g., calculating a date 30 days after a start date), operators, and variables.

Function
Functions are used to create formulas and variables. They are predefined routines to return information in a different form. For example, you have a start date of 04/19/00; use the function Year () to return 2000.

Grid
A matrix of lines placed in the background to aid report layouts.

Header
The space at the top of the page above the report area used to identify your report and add page information to your report.

Map tab
The Map tab is used to manage the structure of your document. It has two views: a navigation view which displays a list of all the reports in the Business Objects document, or a structure view which displays a list of all the components in the selected report.


Measure
Numeric data that is the result of calculations performed on a dimension object in the database, e.g., Case Count is a measure of the number of cases in a given cube.

Null
The absence of data in an attribute, where no value is entered. This is different from an attribute that contains a zero, as a zero is a placeholder created by the system. For example, a case end date that has no value is said to be null (an open case).

Object
A unit that represents a variable in a database. Objects have been created to equal fields in the CWS/CMS database.

ODSxx Universe
A view or construct of the ODS organized using the CWS/CMS database physical names for entities and attributes. Classes are organized by entity (table) and contain the objects that match the attributes (columns) for that entity.

Operand
The object value to be searched for. In the condition Focus Age (Years) Equal to 18, the operand is 18.

Operands (Defined)
· You can create a condition that will compare the object with a Calculation. Some of the functions available include sum, min, max, average, and count.
· Create a subquery (All) and Create a subquery (ANY) allow you to create a query within a query; the subquery returns either all or any values, which are then used in the main query’s conditions.
· Business Objects can compare the values of two different objects using Select an object, such as “Case Plan Approval Date Less than or equal to COHP Start Date.”
· Show a list of prompts allows you to reuse an existing prompt. The user has to enter the value only once in order to complete more than one condition using the same prompt.
· Use Show a list of values to display values associated with the selected variable. Case Active Service Component will display Emergency Response, Family Maintenance, Family Reunification, and Permanent Placement. “Show a list of values” queries the database for values; Case Focus Child DOB will find all the birth dates in your county data.

· Type a new constant will allow entry of a specific value. For example, using “Focus Child Age (Years) Equal to,” you can enter a constant of ‘10’ to show children 10 years old.
· Type a new prompt gives you the ability to create a dialog box in which the user enters values for the conditions (dates, unit names, etc.). “Focus Age (years) Equal to Prompt (‘Enter age of child’)” will display a dialog with the title indicated in parentheses.

Operator
The specification of the relationship between the object and the operand. In the condition “Case Start Date Greater than 01/01/01” the operator is ‘Greater than’.

Operators (Defined)
· Between returns values between two operands. “Referral Received Date Between ‘01/01/00 12:00:00 AM’ and ‘06/30/00 12:00:00 AM’” will retrieve only referrals where the received date falls between the two constants (i.e. first half of 2000).
· Not between is the opposite of “Between,” e.g., “Referral Received Time Not between ‘08:00:00 AM’ and ‘05:00:00 PM’” will find referrals received after hours.
· Both is similar to a combined intersect query. The values returned will be equal to both values specified in the operand. For example, if the condition “Case Service Component Both ‘Emergency Response, Family Maintenance’” is employed, result objects will be returned for cases that have had both ER and FM as service components.
· Different from is the opposite of Equal to. It can be used to exclude variables (e.g., Case Intervention Reason Different from ‘Adoption Services’).
· Use Equal to when the desired object must be a certain value. “Equal to” can be used, for example, to indicate a preferred program (Case Active Service Component Equal to ‘Family Maintenance’), or a particular age (Focus Age (Years) Equal to ‘17’).
· Except is equivalent to a combined minus query. Except will return values that are different from the values specified in the operand, e.g., “Focus Gender Code Except ‘U’” will show focus children identified as either male or female, and not ‘unknowns.’
· Greater than, and Greater than or equal to can be used to establish the lower limit of a variable. For example, “Referral Duration Greater than or equal to ‘30’” will find referrals open thirty days or more.
· In list is the expanded form of “Equal to.” Use it when you want a variable that is included in a set of choices. “Placement Facility Type In list ‘Foster Family Home; FFA-Certified Home; Relative Home’” will find any of those Facility Types.
· The opposite of “In list” is Not in list. The variable is excluded from a list of results, e.g., “Placement Facility Not in list ‘County Shelter/Recv Home; Medical Facility.’
· Is null will return only objects that contain empty rows in the database. For example, “COHP End Date Is null” will only show the Result Objects for cases that have an open placement in the database.
· Is not null is the opposite of “Is null.” The object in the condition must have a value in it. “CP Effective Date Is not null” will show results only for cases with an approved case plan on file.
· Less than and Less than or equal to are used to create the upper limits of a variable. “Victim Age (Years) Less than or equal to ‘3’” can be used to find children with referral allegations who are three years of age and younger.
· Matches pattern will find variables that include the same character string. The condition “Focus Last Name Matches pattern ‘Smith%’ will return result objects such as Smith, Smithsonian, and Smithy. You can use the wildcards “%” (more than one unknown character) and “_” (a single character placeholder).
· You can also employ wildcards in Different from pattern. This operator is the antithesis of “Matches pattern,” excluding values that contain the specified character string.

Personal Data Files
Text, Excel, or Dbase files that can be imported into or exported from Business Objects. A Data Provider may be created from a Personal Data File rather than from a query in a Business Objects universe.

Pivot
A method for changing the axis of a displayed table, in which objects in rows are exchanged with objects in columns.

Predefined Conditions
Conditions built by the universe author; these are usually common conditions and included for convenience. For example, the Case universe contains a predefined condition “Open FM Cases Over 1 Year.” You can apply one or more predefined conditions when you build a query.

Prompt
A dialogue box defined by the report writer in a query’s conditions that requires an entry when the report is refreshed or run. Prompts are handy for reports that are run often, but with changing timeframes.

Purge
Empties data from the cube of a report; does not affect report formatting. Purge your data if you want to share a report with another county, but do not wish to include your county’s data in the report.

Query
A process by which data is retrieved from the database. A set of variables to be returned with associated conditions.

Query Panel
A window in Business Objects where report writers can specify the variables to be returned from a database, and the conditions applied to those variables. Also known as Edit Data Provider.

Referral Universe
A view or construct of the ODS organized with respect to information found in and associated with the Referral folder in CWS/CMS.

Refresh/Run
Updates the data in your report to the latest extract from the database. You can refresh all the data in your report or you can refresh individual cubes from the Data Manager.

Report
The focal point of your work with in Business Objects: where you view, analyze, and format data. A report is equal to a page tab in a Business Objects document, and there can be more than one in a document.

Report Manager
A key part of the Business Objects workspace that enables you to manage many different aspects of your work in Business Objects quickly and easily. It has two tabs: the Data tab is used to manage all the variables in your report, and the Map tab is used to work on the structure and formatting of report components.

Result Objects
The area of the Query Panel where objects are placed for the purposes of retrieving values.

Row
A record of a table. A row is created for each record added to the database, e.g., a new case on the case table.

Save And Close
An option available in the Query Panel, which allows the query to be saved without retrieving data. This is very helpful when creating large and/or multiple queries, and you need to save the Query Panel but do not want to wait for Business Objects to retrieve all records.
Scope Of Analysis
A subset of data returned by a query that you would use for analysis in your report. The data for your scope of analysis does not appear in the report until you use it in analysis.
The scope of analysis you can define depends on hierarchies in the universe. A hierarchy, which the designer sets up when creating the universe consists of dimension objects ranked from less detailed to more detailed. For example, the Service Component hierarchy in the Case universe consists of the following dimension objects: Case Active Service Component, Focus Primary Ethnicity, Focus Primary Language, Focus Gender Code, Focus Age (Years), Pri Staff Name Formatted, Case Name, & Case ID Number. You select dimension objects that belong to hierarchies to define the scope of analysis.

Slice and Dice
A user-friendly, graphical way of analyzing data. It displays the contents of the current report, and enables you to:
· Add, move and remove data.
· Switch between block types, e.g., turning tables into crosstabs.
· Build and edit master/detail reports.
· Apply, edit, and remove breaks, filters, sorts, ranking and calculations.

Snap to grid
Activates a grid for positioning blocks and/or master cells with precision. Snap to Grid is a toggle command, which either activates or deactivates the grid. When you activate the grid and move a block or master cell in the report, it is automatically aligned to the closest grid intersection.

Subquery
As part of a larger query, subqueries retrieve data with their own set of conditions, and then apply that data to the primary query in one of three ways. Subqueries can be union, intersection, or minus.

Table
A collection of associated information in a database stored in rows. Tables are also called entities in the CWS/CMS database.

Time encapsulation
A report-writing method by which data is retrieved only for variables during a given period of time. Using prompts in your conditions, as well as taking into account start and end dates, help you define a time encapsulation.

Universe
In Business Objects, a logical construct of classes and objects, and the links connecting them, that defines a view of CWS/CMS data.
Variable
A named formula. Business Objects includes predefined variables (objects) in its universes, or you may create your own variables.