We are bringing here a compilation from Must Read Top 100 Hyperion Essbase Interview Questions.
We have divided this series into four-part.
Here is part 1
1) What is Essbase?
Answer
Essbase stands for Extended Spreadsheet Database. Essbase is the multidimensional database Management System(MDBMS) that provides a multidimensional database platform upon which to build Analytical Applications. Essbase products provide companies with the ability to deliver critical business information to the right people when they need it. Essbase products can be deployed on the web with minimum infrastructure requirements. The Essbase Server client needs only to retrieve and view data that resides on a server.
Essbase maintains the Hierarchical data structure. The server acts as a shared resource, handling all data storage, caching, calculations, and data security.
2) What is Dimension?
Answer A dimension represents the highest consolidation level in the database outline. The database outline presents dimensions and members in a tree structure to indicate a consolidation relationship
3) What are Members?
Answer Members are the individual components of a dimension.
Each member has a unique name. Essbase can store the data associates with a member.
4) what are standard dimensions?
Answer
They represent the core components of a business plan and often relate to departmental functions. Typical standard dimensions are Time, Accounts, Market, Division. Storage space is allocated to standard dimensions and Essbase maximizes performance by dividing the standard dimensions of an application into two Types: dense and sparse dimensions.
5) What are dense dimensions?
Answer
It is a dimension with a high probability that data in one or more cells are occupied in every combination of dimensions. Like Period and Account.
6) What are Sparse dimensions?
Answer It is a dimension with a low probability that data in one or more cells are occupied in some combination of dimensions. Like product because
All the products may not be sold in all areas of the country
7) What are Attribute dimensions?
Answer
They are a special type of dimension that is associated with the standard dimension. The standard dimension is the base dimension for that attribute dimension.
Attributes describe characteristics of data such as the size and color of products. Through attributes, you can group and analyze members of dimensions based on their characteristics.
8) What are the types of Partitions available in Essbase?
Answer
Three types of partitions are there.
| Transparent partition | A form of shared partition that provides the ability to access and manipulate remote data transparently as though it is part of your local database. The remote data is retrieved from the data source each time you request it. Any updates made to the data are written back to the data source and become immediately accessible to both local data-target users and transparent data source users |
| Replicated Partition: | A form of the partition where data is copied from remote source to local database |
| Linked Partition: |
9) What is the difference between standard and attribute dimensions?
Answer
| Standard Dimension | Attribute dimensions |
| Essbase Allocate storage for Standard dimensions’ members. | Essbase does not Allocate Storage for Attribute dimensions’ members. Instead, it dynamically calculates the members when the user requests data associated with them. |
| UDA members are allowed | Not allowed |
| Shared members are allowed | Not allowed |
| It must be associated with Base dimensions |
9) What are the two storage options available in Essbase and what are the differences?
Answer
10) How is data stored in the Essbase database?
Answer
Essbase is a file-based database where the data is stored in PAG files of 2 GB each and grows sequentially.
11) How does UDA’s impact database size?
Answer
Absolutely no impact as UDA’s does not require additional storage space.
12) What is the difference between UDA’s and Attribute dimensions?
Answer
Attribute dimensions provide more flexibility than UDA’s. Attribute calculations dimensions which include five members with the default names sum, count, min, max, and avg are automatically created for the attribute dimensions and are calculated dynamically.
13) What are rules files?
Answer
It defines operations that Essbase performs on data values or on dimensions and members when it processes a data source. We use rules to map data values to an Essbase database or to map dimensions and members to an Essbase outline.
14) Is it possible to have multiple databases in one single application?
Answer
Yes. But only one database per application is recommended.
15) Is it possible to have one ASO database and one BSO database in one single application. If yes, how and If No, why.
Answer
No. Because we define ASO or BSO option while creating the application and not the database. Hence if the application is ASO, the databases it contains will be that type only.
16) What are the file extensions for an outline, rule file, and calculation script.
Answer
17) What is the role of analytics provider services.
Answer
Analytics Provider Services is used to communicate between Essbase and Microsoft office tools (Smart View)
18) How do Attribute dimensions and UDA’s impact batch calculation performance?
Answer
UDA’s- No Impact as they do not perform any inherent calculations.
Attribute dim- No Impact as they perform only dynamic calculations.
19) How can we display UDA’s in reports? How do they impact report performance?
Answer
UDA’s values are never displayed in the reports and hence do not impact report performance.
20) How does Attribute dim impact report performance?
Answer
They highly impact the report performance as the attributes are calculated dynamically when referenced in the report. For a very large number of att dim displayed in the report, the performance could drastically reduce.
21) What are the three primary build methods for building dimensions?
Answer
- Generation references
2. level references
3. Parent-Child references.
22) Can we build dimensions directly from data sources without using rule files.
Answer
No.
23) What is a block locking system?
Answer
Analytic services (or Essbase Services) locks the block and all other blocks which contain the Childs of that block while calculating this block is the block locking system.
24) What is a data file cache?
Answer
A buffer in memory that holds compressed data (.PAG) files.
25) What is a custom-defined function?
Answer Essbase calculation functions that you develop in the Java programming language and then add to the standard Essbase calculation scripting language by means of MaxL.
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