LATEST UPDATE: December, 2020 =========================================
For the latest information, visit our blog post series about SAP HANA certification:
For the SAP Press Certification Success Guide, see
For the blog post, see
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Introduction
Studying for the
SAP Certified Application Associate - SAP HANA 2.0 certification exam?
In this blog, I will provide explanation, insights, and references for the
sample questions that you can find on the SAP Training website for this exam.
For information about the exam, see
For the C_HANATEC_13 sample questions, see
Question 1 - Advanced Data Processing
What is included with the Predictive Analysis Library (PAL)?
Note: There are 2 correct answers to this question.
A. Data preparation functions
B. Text mining functions
C. Predictive algorithms
D. Flowgraphs
Answer A, C
The Advanced Data Processing topic area for the exam covers text processing, geospatial data, predictive and graph. Text mining is part of SAP HANA Text and not part of the PAL. This makes answer B incorrect.
The SAP HANA Application Function Modeler (AFM) in SAP HANA Studio supports functions from PAL in flowgraph models but AFM is not included or part of the PAL. This makes answer D incorrect.
According to the
documentation
The Predictive Analysis Library (PAL) defines functions that can be called from within SQLScript procedures to perform analytic algorithms. This release of PAL includes classic and universal predictive analysis algorithms in ten data-mining categories:
- Clustering
- Classification
- Regression
- Association
- Time Series
- Preprocessing
- Statistics
- Social Network Analysis
- Recommender System
- Miscellaneous
In the training material for HA300, the
Preprocessing category is called
Data Preparation which makes the question a bit tricky but through elimination, you should have come to the right answer.
For more information, see
SAP HANA Academy playlists
SAP HANA Academy - PAL playlist
Question 2 - Information Views
Why do you create a time dimension calculation view?
A. To support temporal joins in a cube calculation view with star schema
B. To enhance a calculation view with a drilldown on a time hierarchy
C. To provide date-based help values for a DIRECT type input parameter
D. To enable time dependency on parent-child hierarchies
Answer B
This should not be too hard. A calculation view with time dimension allows you to drill-down on a time hierarchy.
For information about how to create one, see
With a
temporal join (temp as in time-based, not as in temporary, soon-to-be-discarded) you connect transactional data with the master data, for example, SALES with PRODUCT. For this, you need temporal (time-based) data in the tables, not a calculation view. Calculation views can either be of category type cube, dimension, or <blank>. Only calculation views of type cube can be used in reporting tools. None of this is relevant for creating a time dimension calculation view. This makes this answer incorrect.
You create an
input parameter at design time (while creating your information views), and provide value to the engine at runtime. There are several types of input parameters of which direct is one and column another. For
column type input parameters, you can select the view or table for value help but not for the direct type. This makes this answer incorrect.
You cannot enable time dependencies on parent-child hierarchies with a time dimension calculation view. This makes this answer incorrect.
For more information about temporal joins, input parameters and parent-child hierarchies, see
SAP HANA Academy
SAP HANA Academy - Modeling and Design with SAP HANA playlist
Question 3 - Data Provisioning
Which of the following are characteristics of SAP HANA Smart Data Streaming?
A. It uses databases queries.
B. It is a standalone product for use with any target system.
C. It acts based on combinations of events.
D. It provides reports and analysis on the received data.
Answer C
Streaming analytics adds real-time streaming analytics to the SAP HANA platform, making it easy for developers to incorporate smart stream capture and active event monitoring, alerting and event-driven response to their HANA applications.
SAP HANA Smart Data Streaming has been rebranded to SAP HANA Streaming Analytics.
Streaming Analytics SQL-based event processing language (CCL) that enables you to define stream processing models as continuous queries, using SQL-like statements to easily define event windows, apply filters, aggregate data, and join events to other streams or to SAP HANA tables. However, it does not use database queries. This makes this answer incorrect.
Streaming Analytics is integrated with the SAP HANA platform and the streaming server(s), projects (data models) and adapters are all managed from the SAP HANA Cockpit. It is not a stand-alone product. This makes this answer incorrect.
Streaming Analytics is not a reporting tool although dashboards are included. This makes this answer incorrect.
For more information, see
SAP HANA Academy
SAP HANA Academy - Streaming Analytics playlist
Question 4 - Management and administration of models
Why might you want to reference a user-provided service in a project?
A. To access data from another container
B. To access data from a classic database schema
C. To access data from your project container
Answer B
XS advanced applications can make use of services that are either created by a user or available for general use in the service marketplace "managed". The 'cf marketplace' command lists all managed services. To access databases not managed by the SAP HANA Service Broker, you can create user provided services that include the service credentials for access to the database.
To access data in your own project container or in another container, managed services can be used. This makes answers A and C incorrect.
For more information, see
SAP HANA Academy
SAP HANA Academy - SAP HANA XS Advanced Model playlist
Question 5 - Management and administration of models
You imported the following objects. Which of them always require an activity from you before they can be built?
Note: There are 2 correct answers to this question.
A. Synonyms definition
B. Multi-target application
C. Logical schema definition
D. SAP HANA database module
Answer B, D
After importing an MTA or HDB (HANA database) module, you need to convert it. This makes answers B and D correct.
No additional task is required after importing definitions. This makes answers A and C incorrect.
For more information, see
SAP HANA Academy
Question 6 - Modeling Functions
In a calculation view, what should you consider when you create an input parameter that derives its value from a user-defined function?
Note: There are 2 correct answers to this question.
A. The input parameter must be set to mandatory.
B. The generated value can be overwritten at runtime.
C. The function can return multiple values.
D. The function must be of the type scalar.
Answer B, D
You cannot configure input parameters of type
Derived from Procedure/Scalar Function to mandatorily accept a value or to accept multiple values at runtime. This makes answers A and C incorrect.
Input parameters have an "Input Enabled" attribute, which, when selected allow generated values to be overwritten by the end user when the query is executed. This makes answer B correct.
The input parameters of type
Derived from Procedure/Scalar Function must be of the scalar type. This makes answer D correct.
For more information, see
SAP HANA Academy
SAP HANA Modeling Guide
Question 7 - Modeling Functions
What are the rules for defining a stepparent in a hierarchy?
Note: There are 2 correct answers to this question.
A. A stepparent only applies to parent-child hierarchies.
B. The stepparent node must already exist in the hierarchy at any level.
C. The stepparent node ID must be entered according to the node style you selected for the hierarchy.
D. The stepparent node must already exist in the hierarchy at the root level.
Answer C, D
There are two different types of hierarchies in modeling: Level and Parent-Child. Both types might contain an orphan node, that is, a node without a parent, and for which you can assign a stepparent. This makes answer A incorrect.
The condition is that the stepparent node must exist in the hierarchy at the root level and that the stepparent node ID must be entered according to the node style you selected for the hierarchy. This makes answers C and D correct, and answer B incorrect.
For more information, see
SAP HANA Modeling Guide
Question 8 - Optimization of Models
Which table partitioning types does SAP HANA support?
Note: There are 3 correct answers to this question.
A. Hash
B. Composite
C. Round-robin
D. Cluster
E. Range
Answer A, C, E
From the
CREATE TABLE Statement in the SAP HANA SQL and System Views Reference
<partition_clause> ::=
PARTITION BY <hash_partition> [, <range_partition> | , <hash_partition>]
| PARTITION BY <range_partition> [,<range_partition>]
| PARTITION BY <roundrobin_partition> [,<range_partition>]
This makes answers A, C, and E correct and this makes answers B and D incorrect. There is a concept of single and multi-level partitioning but no cluster or composite.
For more information, see
Question 9 - Architecture, Deployment Scenarios, and Use Cases
Why would you implement the SAP HANA Data Warehousing Foundation?
A. To add OLAP data warehousing capabilities to SAP HANA
B. To implement a SQL-driven approach to data warehousing
C. To improve the loading and reporting performance of SAP Business Warehouse
D. To enable reporting on SAP HANA data using the full suite of SAP BusinessObjects
Answer B
SAP offers two ways of data warehousing using SAP HANA: the data warehouse application approach using SAP BW or SAP BW/4HANA, and the native SQL driven approach with SAP HANA using SAP HANA Data Warehousing Foundation (DWF). This makes answer B correct.
To add OLAP data warehousing capabilities to SAP HANA you would use SAP BW or SAP BW/4HANA, no DWF. This makes answer A incorrect.
DWF does not improve the performance of BW. It is an alternative. This makes answer C incorrect.
You do not need DWF to enable reporting on SAP HANA data using the full suite of SAP BusinessObjects. This makes answer D incorrect.
For more information, see
SAP HANA Academy
SAP HANA Academy - SAP HANA DWF playlist
Question 10 - SQL and SQLScript
Why should you use variables in SQLScript?
Note: There are 2 correct answers to this question.
A. To implement flow control logic
B. To support processing push-down
C. To increase parallelization opportunities
D. To improve code readability
Answer C, D
Tricky question.
Control-flow logic, also known as procedural logic, refers to constructs as IF <this> THEN <that> ELSE <the_other>. You cannot use control-flog logic in SQL, hence the presence of SQLScript in SAP HANA. You do not need variables to implement control-flow logic. This makes answer A incorrect.
SQLScript is a set of SQL extensions for the SAP HANA database, which allows developers to push data-intensive logic to the database.This avoids massive data copies to the application server and leverages sophisticated parallel execution strategies of the database. However, variables as such are not required to support push-down processing. This makes answer B incorrect.
For more information, see
One of the SQLScript best practices to increase parallelization opportunities is to avoid using cursors and to reduce dependencies (including variables).
For more information, see
That you should use variables in SQLScript to increase parallelization opportunities and improve code readability is, in my view, debatable and you might experience this on the real exam as well. If so, always enter this as a comment at the end of the exam. The questions are reviewed regularly and this helps to keep the best ones in and the not-so-good ones out.
References
SAP HANA Academy Playlists
SAP Documentation
SAP Blogs
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