General
Information
Documentation
Limitations
Configuration Support
For information on configurations currently supported in Business Objects 5.1.9 / WebIntelligence 2.7.5, refer to the Business Objects Product Availability Report Web Site (PAR).
The Product Availability Report (PAR) contains detailed up-to-date information on supported:
products and languages
operating systems
web and application servers
connectivities
browsers
printers
New IBM Product
Nomenclature
IBM
recently renamed their products. The readme now reflects these
nomenclature changes. Server names are now:
AS/400 is now the iSeries
AIX servers are now the pSeries
Mainframes are now the zSeries
NT servers are now the xSeries
Restrictive Connections
This connection type is using the BusinessObjects @Variable function BOUSERPROMPT to ensure that the user are prompted to enter the database login parameters when trying to access the data and refresh the report. Refer to the section "Defining restrictive connections" in the Designer's Guide for more information.
All database access guides are available in pdf format on the CD; however, only IBM DB2, Oracle, Informix, Microsoft SQL Server, Sybase, Oracle Rdb, Shadow Direct, Star SQL, Red Brick, and Teradata are provided as printed guides.
Overview
IBM DB2 UDB
IBM DB2/390 (zSeries)
IBM DB2/400 (iSeries)
Informix
MS Access
MS OLE-DB
MS SQL Server
Neon Systems Shadow Direct
ODBC
Oracle
Oracle Rdb
Red Brick
StarSQL
Sybase ASE
Sybase ASIQ 12
Teradata
BusinessObjects does not restrict RDBMS (Relational DataBase Management System) data types. Thus, you can generate a query in which you have, for example, an Oracle Long type in the ORDER BY. This may cause an RDBMS (Relational DataBase Management System) error on execution.
If a Long Binary object is included in a query, BusinessObjects will automatically fetch data row by row.
If the date format of your Windows Setting is set to mm/dd/yy, then all year values will be displayed in the current century (e.g.: 03/12/01 will be equal to 03/12/2001 even if the real value is 03/12/3001).
If you apply a condition on money data types, you cannot fetch data when you use a list of values. To select these types, you must use the operand "Type a new constant" and enter the exact value. Both money and smallmoney data types are accurate to one ten-thousandth of a monetary unit, but BusinessObjects rounds values up to two decimal places for display purposes. Therefore, a value equal to 2.894 becomes 2.89 in the list of values.
You should avoid selecting the Use asynchronous mode option when you create a connection for a universe that is accessed from WebIntelligence or BusinessObjects 5.i. The Cancel Query feature would not work.
When exporting a BusinessObjects document to an Excel file, you should not specify an SQL reserved word as the name of the Excel file, for example date.xls or select.xls. If you do, the export fails.
If you export a query to Excel, open the Excel file in Excel 97 and save it in Excel97&5.0/95WorkBook format, then modify the query and re-export it to the Excel file, an "Export Done!" message is displayed but the Excel file is not updated.
When you have a Shared installation, if you remove a
BusinessObjects driver and do not delete the chkmidw.ini file from
C:\Program Files\Business Objects\Data Access 5.1, the Check Middleware dialog
box will be displayed when you install another driver even if the
"Middleware Check" check box is not selected in the Setup
Wizard.
Note: Check middleware results are shown only in
English.
Unicode database (such as UTF8) is not supported with Business Objects V5.x/WebIntelligence 2.x.
In Zero Admin BusinessObjects, data from a BLOB type field is returned line by line during the fetch phase.
The repository database constraints (NOT NULL) are only created during the creation, update, or upgrade of the BusinessObjects repository. These are the only operations that can change the number of constraints over time. Except from these operations, the number of database constraints of the repository tables will remain unchanged.
The use of the BOUNDARY_WEIGHT_TABLE parameter in the PRM file is only supported for DB2 and Teradata platforms.
The description and the possible values for the Max_InList_Values parameter in each database guide are incorrect. The corrected version is the following: Description: Allows you to increase the number of values you may enter in a condition when you use the IN LIST operator. This limit is either set by how many values a database can accept in a IN LIST condition or simply by the size of the SQL generated. The possible values are: No parameter Specifies that you may enter up to 99 values when you create a condition using the IN LIST operator. X Specifies that you may enter up to X values when you create a condition using the IN LIST operator.
Currently the Cost Estimate option does not work with IBM DB2 UDB.
If you use databases that have commas as decimal separators, you must enter the following parameter into the (GENERAL) subsection of the [RDBMS] section of all DB2 .prm files: DECIMAL_COMMA=YES
If you want to access data via the Free-hand SQL editor, you must uncheck the Enable deferred prepare option in the Compatibility tab of the CLI/ODBC Settings - Advanced Settings dialog box.
If you select the Export to RDBMS (Relational DataBase Management System) command option, you may get an error message. If you do get an error message, the application tried to create the table in a database to which you do not have the appropriate rights.
If you create a condition in the Query Panel with a Date type object, the Structured Query Language (SQL) syntax may generate an error if its SQL definition just contains a date. To avoid generating an error message, you should create an object whose SQL syntax includes both date and time.
Currently the Cost Estimate option does not work with IBM DB2/390 (zSeries).
If you use databases that have commas as decimal separators, you must enter the following parameter into the (GENERAL) subsection of the [RDBMS] (Relational DataBase Management System) section of all DB2 .prm files: DECIMAL_COMMA=YES
To create a repository you have to use the Custom repository create mode in order to not have the security domain on the same Tablespace as the universe and document domains.
Objects using the count(distinct) function cannot be displayed in list of the value panel in Designer.
Repository creation relies on the DB2MVS.SQL file for DB2/390. You are welcome to edit this file and allocate specific size for large table such as OBJ_X_DOCUMENTS. Recommended table space type is "segmented".
If you use databases that have commas as decimal separators, you must enter the following parameter into the (GENERAL) subsection of the [RDBMS] section of all DB2.prm files: DECIMAL_COMMA=YES
You should avoid creating a Business Objects repository with Supervisor on an ANSI Informix IDS or XPS database. You should create the repository on a non ANSI database. This only applies to the repository. There is no problem with data account access.
You can access stored procedures with Informix Connect as long as they do not include input parameters.
You should not enter a value greater than 32000 in the RecommendedLenTransfert parameter (i.e. informix.sbo file). If you do, you may encounter problems while exporting your document.
When creating the database for the repository, you must select the Buffered (safer) option from the Logging mode list in the New Database dialog box.
When you create a universe, table alias names cannot contain more than 18 characters.
The recommended option for creating a WebIntelligence
connection to Informix is to select the Disconnect after each transaction
option on the Advanced tab of the Informix-Connect dialog box.
If you
do not and you create a report that contains an InList operator with a prompt,
and you select the Refresh when opened
option when you save the report, you will get an error message when you
open the report.
The asynchronism feature is not supported with the current driver.
When you parse a join between tables that contain 50 or more columns, the following error message is displayed: The number of DESCRIBED columns is greater than the allocated space. However, the query will work.
When you create a connection in Supervisor, if you select Use BusinessObjects user name and
password on the Login tab of the connectivity dialog box, the OK button
may be grayed out.
To avoid this problem you should select Use BusinessObjects user name and
password before you enter any other connection parameters.
The Datetime datatype is supported only in a SELECT
statement. Datetime is not normally supported in a WHERE clause. If you use a
DATETIME column in a WHERE clause, an error message appears.
In Designer,
you can prevent the use of DATETIME in a condition for an object as
follows:
Double-click an object in the Object Browser.
The Edit Properties of Object dialog box appears.Click the Advanced tab.
The Advanced page appears.Clear the Condition checkbox in the Can be Used In groupbox.
Click OK
In Designer, you can use the following workaround to use the Informix Datetime datatype in a WHERE clause for each object using a DATETIME column:
Double-click an object in the Object Browser
The Edit Properties of Object dialog box appears.Click the Advanced tab.
The Advanced page appears.Type 'YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS.000' in the Database Format textbox.
Click OK.
If you encounter problems using the Open DataBase Connectivity (ODBC) Driver Manager 3.0 with the MS Access driver, install the ODBC Driver Manager Update located in the Microsoft folder on the CD-ROM.
After upgrading
your MS ODBC driver from 3.51.171300 to 4.00.xxxx, some objects measures or
queries based on MS Access queries no longer work. This is a Microsoft
issue.
Workaround : Change the double quotes to single quotes around the string
characters in the Access query.
When you run a Business Objects query with MS Access, you may receive an Out of Memory error. This can be overcome by upgrading the Microsoft Jet Driver. Refer to the Microsoft article Q239114 at www.microsoft.com for more details.
Note: starting with Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) version 2.6, MDAC no longer contains the following Jet components:
- Microsoft Jet
- Microsoft Jet OLE DB Provider
- ODBC Desktop Database Drivers.
If you want to view currency, date and time values in the columns of the Designer Table Browser, you need to ensure that on the Create a New Data Source to SQL Server wizard, the "Use regional settings when outputting currency, numbers, dates and times" check box is not checked.
With ODBC (Open DataBase Connectivity) Driver Manager 3.x, we do not support File DSN.
The data source name should not be more than 33 characters. If the name is longer than 33 characters it will not be listed in the drop-down list box when you go to create a connection in Designer or Supervisor.
Browser:
- Is Windows Internet Explorer or Netscape.
- Uses Codepage 1252 that supports the Euro character (the encoding setting should be 'Western' or 'Western European').
Middleware (UNIX or Windows):
- NLS_LANG must contain language_territory.WE8MSWIN1252; (WE8MSWIN1252 representing the Oracle codepage that works with Codepage 1252 in the Windows browser)
Database (UNIX or Windows):
- Must be created with the Codepage that supports the Euro character. The SQL syntax should be: create database ... charset codepage; Examples: WE8ISO8859P15, WE8MSWIN1252. A complete list is available at the following link: http://download-west.oracle.com/otndoc/oracle9i/901_doc/server.901/a90236/appa.htm#956722
The following synonyms are not retrieved when you use the standard Designer strategies: Public synonyms, Recursive synonyms (synonyms pointing to other synonyms) and Synonyms granted using roles. To avoid this problem, use an external strategy.
Ensure that your client middleware NLS configuration corresponds to the National language Support (NLS) database, as well as your Windows Regional Settings. These parameters define your charset (supported characters) date, and number formats. If you do not have the same parameters on the database client middleware, or Windows Settings, BusinessObjects does not retrieve correct results. Possible problems: numbers rounded off or dates and local characters badly retrieved.
In the oracle.sbo file if you set the RunInit parameter to 0, the InitDateFormat is ignored and the date format of your current session is equal to the database parameter value. If formats are different, queries on dates may fail and return no data.
The Data Access driver does not allow you to access Java stored procedures or relational-objects on Oracle.
BusinessObjects 5.1 supports Oracle CLOB (Character Large
Object) datatypes. The Quick Design Wizard in Designer does not automatically
create an object from a column that contains Oracle CLOB datatypes. To query an Oracle CLOB
datatype,
you must manually create a Character object in Designer based on the column
that contains the CLOB datatype. The Select statement
must contain the following function: dbms_lob.substr(name of column,number of
characters returned,position of first character). This works on SQL*Net 2.3
and Net8.
In Designer, you cannot display the column values for columns
that contain CLOB datatypes using the View Column
Values command.
Oracle Binary Large Object (BLOB) datatypes are not supported.
Installing the version Oracle 8.x or higher Application Development Kit installs an Object Request Broker (ORB) file that conflicts with the Business Objects ORB file. If you want to install the Application Development Kit, you should delete the environment variable CLASSPATH.
[Oracle ODBC Driver for Rdb]
DriverLevel=1
ArrayFetch=1
Driver Name=Oracle [OR][Dd][Bb][C]*
SQL External File=Rdb
SQL Parameter File=rdb
InputDateFormat={\d 'yyyy-mm-dd'}
An invalid date format can be returned when using StarSQL. The workaround is to change array fetch to "1" and use function SQLFetch() instead of SQLExtendedFetch().
Sybase
ASE
If you create a query whose definition contains NUMERIC or DECIMAL columns with NULL values and IMAGE or TEXT columns, the database returns random values instead of NULL. This problem applies to Sybase Open Client 11.1 or higher. To fix this problem, select the CONVERT function in the object definition to replace all NUMERIC or DECIMAL datatypes to INTEGER.
If you want to create an object whose object name is the Euro symbol, install the Euro Converter module provided by Sybase.
On Sybase Adaptive Server 11.5 and 11.9.2, the stored procedure sp_proc_columns (which lists the parameters of a stored procedure) returns results which are missing the column_type column. This causes a discrepancy in the results returned when you run the SQLProcedureColumns function. To avoid this problem, you should install the server EBF8517 patch which you can get from Sybase.
When you create a connection in Supervisor, if you select Use BusinessObjects user name and
password on the Login tab of the connectivity dialog box, the OK button
may be grayed out.
To avoid this problem you should select Use BusinessObjects user name and
password before you enter any other connection parameters.
create table object1(obj_N TIMESTAMP WITH TIMEZONE)
insert into object1 values(TIMESTAMP 'yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss')If your date columns are stored as TIMESTAMP datatypes then you must change the InputDateFormat value in the default section of the Teradata.sbo file to:
TI\ME\STA\MP 'yyyy-mm-dd HH:mm:ss'
If your date columns are stored as DATE datatypes, but few columns are TIMESTAMP datatypes, then leave the InputDateFormat as \d 'yyyy-mm-dd', and apply TI\ME\STA\MP 'yyyy-mm-dd HH:mm:ss' database object format to these specific objects in Designer (i.e. Advanced tab of the Edit Properties of Object dialog box).
You can find the Teradata.sbo file at: C:\Program Files\Business Objects\Data Access 5.0\Teradata\Teradata.sbo.
If you use this object in BusinessObjects, you must create the following date format:
yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss
and apply it on the cell that displays this object.