Null-valued records MISSING

[karkia]

Does BO Webi XI r.1 have any means of returning rows containing only Nulls. My queries are returning measures for only those rows where there is at least one Not Null value. I know we can use NVL() function in the database to replace nulls with 0's, which would eliminate the problem altogether, but can we do it in BO? Please say YES, I am tired of hearing "NO, this version cannot do it, but if you get that version, you can.

 

[blom0344]

karkia,

I imagine you are aware that BO simply uses SQL statements to fetch data. Ultimately WHAT is fetched is based on the SQL targeted at the database. (ORACLE as I understand)
This is not a version issue, but a matter of how the backend is organized (Universe design, join strategy)

The NVL function will indeed replace a null with zero, but it will not have any effect on the dataset returned.
From your description I digest you expect an outer join resultset?

Ties Blom
Information analyst

 

[skrandel]

Good answer Ties. BO is an excellent tool, but you have to tell the universe what you want it to do.

You want Nulls, then you need outer joins.

Steve Krandel
Symantec