EIB

 

Workday EIB Interview Questions

Here is the list of Interview Questions related to EIB - Enterprise Interface Builder Integrations.

What is EIB and what are the types of EIB?

EIB - Enterprise interface builder tool which is used to build simple inbound and outbound Integrations to connect workday with external endpoints.

Types:
      Inbound
     Outbound 

How many steps are involved in creation of an EIB?

3 Steps / Phases

Get Data, Transform, Deliver

What are outbound EIB?

Outbound EIBs are used to export data from workday. We can also send this exported data to any external vendors or legacy systems through different endpoints such as SFTP/FTP etc.

E.g. Send Dependents data to Benefits vendor from workday.

 

What are Inbound EIB?

Inbound EIB Integration are used to upload data into Workday from external endpoints or from spreadsheets.

E.g. Inserting One Time Payments, Inserting Bonus Data, Update Emergency Contacts 

We can upload data to workday using spreadsheet attachment or external file from SFTP/FTP/EMAIL locations.

 

What are the main types of Workday Integrations?
          Workday Studio Integration, 
          Enterprise Information Builder (EIB) Integration, 
          Cloud Connect Integration.

How do you choose which tool is best out of three integrations available?

Few things needs to be considered while choosing the integration tool. Here is what you need to identify first in place.

Is the solution already pre-built? Am I connecting to a third-party vendor with a solution already in place? – If yes, most likely you will choose a Core Connector (Packaged Connector).

 

Does this integration just need to export or import some data into Workday? – If yes, then most likely you need to go with EIBs.

 

Do I need to execute several rules, and reports to get the data and calculate the results I need? For example: Determining payroll between Exempt and Non-Exempt employees, calculate deductions, etc. – If yes, then most likely you need a Workday Studio Integration.

Can we create an EIB with the help of matrix report?

No, the reason being reports need to be Web Service enabled for creating EIB and Matrix reports can’t be Web Service enabled.

 

Can we use all advance reports as a data source in EIB?

 No, we cannot use all advance reports in EIB. We can use only those reports which are web service enabled.

Can we use simple reports as a data source in EIB?

No

What are the types of transformation allowed with EIB?
We can use 3 types of transformation with EIB:

Custom report Transformation -This type is inbuilt transformation of EIB and have limited functionality.
Custom transformation - In this we have to attach XSLT with EIB and supports XSLT functionality. So, this has more features than Custom report Transformation. Learn here w3schools
Document Transformation -This is type of connector that we can connect with EIB and will supports all functionality of Document transformation such as XTT and ETV.

What are the limitations of EIB?
Only one data source can be used. And only one destination point can be configured for one tenant. Can’t define output tag in EIB.

 

What data sources can we choose while creating the EIB outbound?
EIB outbound is to export the data from Workday.
Data Source - Custom report or Web Services or REST URL

What data sources can we choose while creating the EIB Inbound?
EIB Inbound is to Import the data into Workday.
Data Source - Attachment or External file or REST Endpoint

 

Name some Web services that you have used for inbound EIB Load?

Request One-Time Payment (OTP)

Change Emergency Contacts

Request Compensation Change

Terminations

 

While performing EIB Inbound load what should we do to avoid get pending actions / Tasks in inbox?
This represents, when you do a load through EIB the underlying BP/task should get complete without going for any approvals. Because your load may be huge , say 10,000 EE bonus data you are loading at that time, there shouldn't be any workflow triggering for approvals. So, while filling the Inbound Spreadsheet template, we need to select “Automatic processing” on first tab. This will skip the BP's

Where can you view Error messages for an EIB?

You can view the EIB run through Integration Events , Process Monitor

 

Name some input and output types for EIBs?

Input:   SFTP/FTP, REST, or attachment 

Output: SFTP/FTP, HTTP, Email, CSV, JSON, XML, etc

 

EIB Integration issues with Scenarios and Resolutions

 

Scenario 1: The EIB does not display in the integration prompt of the Launch/Schedule Integration task.
Resolution: Verify EIB security Configuration. Edit the EIB and resolve any critical errors.

Scenario 2: Non-legible character appears in Microsoft Excel when you open a CSV output file.
Resolution: Before opening the CSV file in Excel, open the CSV in notepad , Then select File>>save as, UTF-8 encoding.

Scenario 3: File name does not include generated date and time variables when the sequence Generator is configured correctly.
Resolution: When launching or scheduling the EIB, Use these settings with the file name launch parameter.
Value type: Determine value at run time
Value: Next sequence for integration File Utility.

Scenario 4: Workday returns the following error message: Root Cause: BadRequestException: Error code: unknown Response: 500: Processing error occurred. No value provided for required [Prompt Name].
Resolution:  Ensure that all required prompts are being populated when the EIB is launched. You may have to edit the scheduler if the EIB was launched from there.

Scenario 5: Workday returns the following error: Transform failed at component: HandleTransform.request.0.XsltTransform. Reason: Output character not available in this encoding

Resolution: 

Open the XSLT transformation file in a text editor.

Find the element <xsl: output>.

Within that element, search for the setting for encoding=.

Often this is set to ISO-8859-1 Change this value to UTF-8.

If the recipient of the EIB cannot accept UTF-8-encoded files, then you must change the source data in Workday.

 

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The big advantage with Core Connectors is the Change Detection. Which helps in generating the outbound files with the change data / delta data.

Most of the times, the requirement will be to generate the full file for the first time run and later on the change file.

Example: 

Worker demographics data - on Jan 1st 2020. - Send Full File as it is the first time for the vendor. Then here on 1st of every month send the change file. i.e. difference in data from Jan 1st to Feb 1st. It could include new hires, terminations and any other requested data changes for the said duration. It goes on every month. - Best accomplished with Core Connectors.

Through EIB also you could achieve the change detection, however it is not as simple as selecting the parameters during the launch.

Lets say, if the requirement is to send full file as output every time, we use EIB as the integration system.

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How to Run EIB Inbound in Validation mode:

When you want to load some data into Workday, you typically use the EIB Inbound. You know you will use the three phases involved in EIB - Get Data, Transform Data, Deliver Data.

Its always a good approach to run your EIB Inbound integration load with Validation Only Load.

 

This helps you in identifying the issues so that you can fix it and proceed with the actual load.

 

Below shown is the screen when you click on Launch/Schedule integration. Here is where you set the Validation Only Load. When you are comfortable with the load validation, in the next launch just make sure that you don't select so that your run will not be a Validation only but an actual load.

Workday EIB Inbound - Validation Mode Setup

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EIB - Inbound Template Processing Instructions

Processing Instructions

 

While loading your file for EIB - Inbound, you will see the Processing Instructions Options to choose on your Overview Tab in the excel template.

 

Sample Hire Employee Template:

 

 

Here is the detailing on these BP related processing selection. Most widely used is Automatic Processing which avoids the approval workflow.