Dear all,
I’m very new to BO 4.0 and got an question, I didn’t find an adequate answer yet. I’ve a lot of reports and universes in my BO 3.1 evironment. As it is possible to import the reports as well as the universes and all tested reports are running fine - why should I use the .unx universes?
What’s the advantage of using the new .unx format?
In addition - We’re working with a MS SQL database as datawarehouse.
Thank you for your help.
stefan 
(BOB member since 2008-05-30)
To know that you can go through the XI4_whats_new document from here
.
haider 
(BOB member since 2005-07-18)
Thank you haider, I know this document - the only thing there about the .unx universes is
I can’t see any neccessary or advantage to switch to .unx - do I miss something?
stefan (BOB member since 2008-05-30)
Hi Stefan,
To utilize the new features it is suggested to use the .UNX universes instead of .UNV.
Though you can use the existing Universes and reports, You cant enjoy the benefits of new features on top of .UNV universes.
Manikandan Elumalai 
(BOB member since 2009-10-23)
Could you give an example, what new features you consider?
stefan (BOB member since 2008-05-30)
Is that all you found!!
But there are around 4 pages of Information for “The information design tool” under “New applications introduced in SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Suite 4.0”
.
haider (BOB member since 2005-07-18)
The only thing that looks interesting to me is, to use the .unx univeres for dashboad tool.
The other features like multiple data-sources or security we have no need at the moment for. So I think, won’t miss anythin except the dashboard function if I do not convert my universes.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m just looking to find a suitable reason to switch to .unx or find out what benefits I risk to miss, if I don’t.
stefan (BOB member since 2008-05-30)
Thats ok, I just wanted you know what are the differences and new features in IDT. If it suits your requirement then go ahead with it else retain the same universes as suggested by Manikandan
.
haider (BOB member since 2005-07-18)
I suspect SAP will remove Designer from the Business Objects suite at some future point. Why have two universe creation tools?
It may be a robust, fully functional application with lots of customer applications built using it. That didn’t prevent Deski from going bye-bye 
Tom Thompson (BOB member since 2003-06-04)
You can use query stripping on unx-universes
RikDeclercq 
(BOB member since 2006-09-28)
And create universe filters with true optional prompts in unX.
Andreas (BOB member since 2002-06-20)
For the moment we see no reason to use the unx-format for existing universes simply because of the effect on the existing reports. Unless we find a method to update our reports in bulk.
RikDeclercq (BOB member since 2006-09-28)
Apos makes a fairly inexpensive tool for doing just that. It can convert the universes for you, and migrate the reports to the new universes as well. I haven’t used the tool myself, but I’ve heard good things about it.
MichaelWelter 
(BOB member since 2002-08-08)
Thanks Michael, I’ll check it out !
RikDeclercq (BOB member since 2006-09-28)
The main difference between UDT and IDT is in IDT for single universe there can be more than one datasource. But in UDT it is not possible. By using IDT we can’t merge or link two universes as it is saved in unx format. But using UDT it is possible. So SAP has kept UDT and IDT in 4.0 and 4.1
surya_sudheer 
(BOB member since 2006-11-01)
I guess there are two reasons I can see right now (maybe more in the future):
IDT is more close associated with SAP, especially for SAP HANA, that’s the way SAP will merger BOBI with SAP.
IDT can link to more than two databases, and those database maybe are different types.
Regards
BOBIBear (BOB member since 2015-02-08)
May be a nice feature, but totally unworkable for me in practice. I tried a very simple muti-source universe as an experiment, and it was so slow to perform I could have gone out and counted the widgets myself and got the results faster… 
Debbie
Debbie 
(BOB member since 2005-03-01)
For me it is optional universe filters, only available with IDT.
Andreas (BOB member since 2002-06-20)
creation of aggregate and index awareness are difficult and creation of contexts is also difficult in IDT when compared to UDT. So many people are preferring UDT in 4.0 and 4.1
surya_sudheer (BOB member since 2006-11-01)
I agree about the contexts. They were supposed to be simpler to create in IDT, but turned out to be quite the opposite. Contexts in in IDT can be quite a nightmare, especially in complex universes.
MichaelWelter (BOB member since 2002-08-08)