We can use two types of functions to create a complex business object. The first type is specific functions of the database SQL. This type will be available only in Universes based on single-source Data Foundation. We will be able to access database functions based on the used database driver in the data connection. For example, we can use TO_CHAR() to cast a date into a string based on the used format, while in Teradata, we can use the CAST function to do the same.
The second type is specific functions of business objects. This type can be used with multisource Universes. There are some common functions that we can access regardless of the database type, and this is our target in this section. The Functions window is shown in the following screenshot:
As we can see in the preceding screenshot, we have four main folders under Functions of SQL Expression Editor:
Operators: This folder contains common database operators such as
+,-,*, and so on....