Learning the Basics

Question 1

In a data set what does events, event log and attributes show?

Answer 1

events represent the activities that are executed in our process
event log shows individual activities eg. receiving payment
attributes contain additional information eg. customer type, order status, case ID

Question 1

What does a dataset consist of?

Answer 1

events and attributes

Question 2

What is a dataset need for?

Answer 2

analysing the process with the events and attributes

Question 3

What does SIGNAL stand for?

Answer 3

SIGNavio, Analytics, Language

Question 4

What is signal?

Answer 4

a dedicated query language for process analytics

Question 5

What does signal provide?

Answer 5

It provides an editable backend to:

• Create in-depth process queries
• Retrieve data and perform calculations
• Visualize your results in detailed charts

Question 6

where can signal receive data from?

Answer 6

-SAP Signavio Suite (models and dictionary content, hub usage, workflows, etc.)
-External systems
-Machine learning models
-Simulation scenarios

Question 7

What language does SQL use?

Answer 7

SiGNAL is a SQL-oriented language

Question 8

What is SiGNAL Mining Engine?

Answer 8

a cloud-based in-memory query engine that can process large event logs in real-time

Question 9

What are the 4 benefits of SIGNAL?

Answer 9

[PEPSi]
1. Process mining
2. Exploration at scale
3. process-related queries
4. SQL orientated

Question 10

Explain how process mining is a benefit of signal?

Answer 10

Signal is optimised for process mining you can:
- measure process conformance
- reduce cycle types
- reduce the amount of rework

Question 11

Explain how Exploration at scale is a benefit of signal?

Answer 11

signal supports exploration at scale with all kinds of PI users

Question 12

Explain how process-related queries is a benefit of signal?

Answer 12

can run queries for process related behaviour and KPI computation

Question 13

Explain how SQL orientated is a benefit of signal?

Answer 13

being SQL makes it easier to learn and use

Question 14

How does SIGNAL work?

Answer 14

by offering functions

Question 15

List functions offered

Answer 15

-date functions
-dynamic bucketing [useful to find groupings in continuous data e.g select date_trunc(‘year’,’oppCreatedDate’) as ‘create’]
- selective aggregations
- sequence matching
- conditional functions
- math functions
- time functions
- event-log sub queries
- sort

Question 16

What is the main difference between SQL and SIGNAL?

Answer 16

the data model
signal queries data from one table with nested events instead of multiple and provides custom functions to work effectively with this data structure

Question 17

What are other differences between SQL

Answer 17

• signal can’t create inner joins
• not in a data table format so data records can’t be edited, we just retrieve data for analysis

Question 18

What is a query in computer programming terms?

Answer 18

a request for information where the data comes from a database

Question 19

what is query language?

Answer 19

predefined code that the database understands in order to manipulate data

Question 20

[writing queries hints] what are attributes and values written in?

Answer 20

Attributes are written in “ “
Values are written in () and are case sensitive

Question 21

[writing queries hints] as events and attributes are not visually distinguished what can you do to see what’s available?

Answer 21

1. open a new tab with your investigation
2. click on a widget filter to see which events for which level is available

Question 22

[writing queries hints] how to view selection of available data?

Answer 22

Ctrl. + Space

Question 23

which attribute columns are always present?

Answer 23

case_id, event_name, and end_time

Question 24

attributes can have the same value or different values, give example of such.

Answer 24

Case attributes like Customer ID, Status, and City have the same value throughout the case.
An additional event attribute, such as Payment method, can have different values for each event.

Question 25

What are 2 ways to use this (attribute?) data?

Answer 25

• Per case: Each case is treated as one row. The nested events and event attributes are represented as a nested table.
• Per event: Each event is treated as one row. The case ID and case attributes are repeated for each event.

Question 26

What does the data type column define

Answer 26

which value the column can hold

Question 27

Which level can data occur?

Answer 27

both case level and event level (nested)

Question 28

Where can data types appear?

Answer 28

in the source file and in the query result

Question 29

What is ‘Null’

Answer 29

indicates the absence of a value or an unknown value

Question 30

What is the basic syntax of SIGNAL?

Answer 30

SELECT expressions
FROM table or process
WHERE conditions

Question 31

Describe the ‘SELECT’ ‘FROM’ ‘WHERE’

Answer 31

SELECT - select data from a process
FROM - starting point on which all operation in SELECT statement are performed
WHERE - filter the records and to set conditions

Question 32

[signal functions]
-difference between COUNT and COUNT(DISTINCT)
- what does FIRST() and LAST() do
- what BOOL_OR
- what BOOL_AND

Answer 32

– COUNT() returns the number of rows and COUNT(DISTINCT) returns the no. of unique row which doesn’t include duplicates or NULL values
– FIRST() returns first element and LAST() returns last element
–BOOL_OR : returns TRUE if any of the conditions are true
–BOOL_AND : returns TRUE if all conditions are true