'Bogus' interview questions (gurus only)

[jp6212]

These are some of the questions I was asked on the interview. My opinion is that all of them are to trick you into a wrong answer. Try to answer them without looking up in BusinessObjects - if you're not dealing with reports 7x24 but you answered all corectly than you're a real guru ...

1. How can you suppress the 'No data to fetch' messages in Reports?

2. How can you create a graph with horisontal bars?

3. When getting 'No data to fetch' msg, how can you make the report to display at least one record?

4. How can you import a single-tab report into another multi-table report so the single-tab report will keep its formatting?

5. Can you link the 'universe based' query to one based on RDBMS stored procedure?

6. How can you display 5 top records only?

7. What's the Detail object used for?

Good luck!

 

[blom0344]

No kidding....

Apart from the fact whether I would like to acquire guru status, the interviewer must have done a quick screening on several forums to fetch a set of heavies to show off his own insight.

Let me counter with some 'real' (= daily) issues:


1. How would you give users insight into the meaning and use of universes?

2. How do you propose to break through the inevitable Excel culture of copy /pasting ad-hoc query results into spreadsheets where no one can imagine the source it came from after a couple of months.



3. Okay, this key-user has about 400 queries build in Acces,but no one knows how to deal with this during her pregnancy -leave. Can you replace this into usable BO reports?

4. Try explaining with lots of patience that , no it is no spreadsheet, it is a read-only tool,but at least it will tell you were the data came from.........

Do you need more...............?

I scored 3 out of seven from your poll, so I am no technical guru in your perspective, but I have outer issues to deal with then strictly technical ones.
Build some damn nice reports , though........




T. Blom
Information analyst
tbl@shimano-eu.com

 

[jp6212]

blom0344, I could share your humor ...

I was half serious half kidding when I asked those questions. Those interviewers who came up with those damn questions are either trying to use inteviews to collect innovative ideas or to fail everyone on purpose.

While I've been developing reports on a daily basis for at least 3 years now, I actually answered most of them wrong or 'I don't know' on the interview. But when I came back and checked in BO, I understood that they tricked me.

The correct answers are as follows (to my best knowledge):

1. How can you suppress the 'No data to fetch' messages in Reports? Cannot be done in BO. (vba will suppress all msgs)

2. How can you create a graph with horisontal bars?
BO doesn't support this future.

3. When getting 'No data to fetch' msg, how can you make the report to display at least one record? It's already there but empty, it shows up when in 'structure' mode, and you can format it - that is what they wanted.

4. How can you import a single-tab report into another multi-table report so the single-tab report will keep its formatting? Cannot be done.

5. Can you link the 'universe based' query to one based on RDBMS stored procedure? Yes, linked it as you link any type of query - stupid question.

6. How can you display 5 top records only? There can be many answers, depends on what they need.

7. What's the Detail object used for? There could be many uses.

 

[blom0344]

Hello Jp,

Bit more serious now.........

The graph with horizontal bars can be - to some extend - be emulated. Last year I created a sort of tilted graph, specifically because some curious user asked about it. If you want the example , drop a line..............
I suspect you are are mighty glad not to be working for people who come up with such trickery questions.... T. Blom
Information analyst
tbl@shimano-eu.com

 

[CindyClayton]

Hi tbloom! Good to see you.

There is a great set of answers to these questions here...

http://www.forumtopics.com/busobj/viewtopic.php?t=18874

Cindy

 

[blom0344]

Hi Cindy,
thanks for the hint.....

Hey, what is going on here.................?

There is really some some sort of crossreferencing between my two favorite forums............

Here is my solution for the tilted graph (well, it is just an emulation in a table you know....)

Add a column to the right of the table and fill it with the following formulae:

=Fill(&quot;¢&quot; ,(<Measure>/1000))

This character will fill blocks in the lines, you can color. You have to set the constant of 1000 to a value that will keep the blocks in the range you want.

Drop a line if you want an example..............

T. Blom
Information analyst
tbl@shimano-eu.com