BusinessObjects™ XI Release 2 for Dummies®

Chapter 10. Building Queries

In This Chapter

• Using the Query Panel

• Creating a new query

• Using multiple data providers

In the previous chapter, you find out how to define a business object in Universe Designer. In the business intelligence world, a business object is an entity that has a meaning for you or your organization. It’s much easier for you to work with entities, such as country, product, or sales rather than using the technical SQL definition. In this chapter, you discover how to use the business objects to build your documents.

For example, say you own a clothing store and need to order inventory from the warehouse. You need 20 large red shirts and 15 Hawaiian shirts (size XL), and 30 pairs of black pants (36-inch waist). As the store manager, you don’t care about the details, you just want the merchandise quickly so that you can package it nicely and present it to customers.

BusinessObjects works in a similar fashion. You want to package your data nicely in a document, through blocks and charts. Before you can display the data, you must request them from your universe, perhaps even using multiple data providers.

This leads to the word query, which has to be one of the most versatile words in the business intelligence language, especially when you’re working with BusinessObjects. Just think about it. It can mean many things and take several forms, as a noun or a verb. In earlier chapters, you created a universe; now it’s time to use the objects that make up that universe ...