Exactprep Archer-Expert Questions

In the Archer platform, the Recalculation Schedule (found within the application's General Tab) is a powerful tool, but it can become a performance bottleneck if not configured efficiently. When a recalculation job is triggered, the Archer services must evaluate every record in the application to determine if calculations need to be updated. According to the Archer Administration II curriculum, the most effective way to optimize this process is by using Calculation Filters .

By selecting option A, you are instructing the system to ignore records that are irrelevant to the specific business logic (e.g., records that are already "Expired," "Rejected," or "Draft"). By filtering the schedule to run only for "Approved" requests, the job engine processes a significantly smaller subset of data, which reduces the load on the Async Service and speeds up the completion time. Option B would likely slow the system down further by adding logical complexity to the calculation itself. Option C (Data-Driven Events) is not suitable for date-based triggers because DDEs only fire upon a record "Save" event; they cannot proactively "watch" a date to trigger a change without user intervention or a scheduled recalculation.

In the Archer Security Parameters configuration (found in the Archer Control Panel or the Administration workspace), administrators define the "Maximum login attempts." According to the Archer Administration II curriculum, when a user exceeds this threshold (e.g., five failed attempts), the system automatically updates their account status to Locked .

It is important to distinguish "Locked" from "Inactive" or "Disabled." An Inactive or Disabled account usually implies an administrative action or a termination of the user's employment. A Locked status is a temporary security measure triggered by the system to prevent "brute force" attacks. Depending on the Security Parameter settings, a locked account may automatically unlock after a specified duration (e.g., 30 minutes), or it may require an administrator to manually click the "Unlock" button within the user's profile. This distinction allows administrators to run reports specifically on "Locked" users to identify potential security threats or users who simply need assistance with their credentials.

Dynamic Filtering is a sophisticated feature that allows Archer to filter data based on the context of the current record or the current user. In Archer Administration II , this is highlighted as a tool for improving the user experience by reducing "data noise."

Record Lookup (A): Allows you to filter the available records in a lookup based on a value in the current record (e.g., only show "Users" that belong to the "Department" selected on the form).

Calculated Cross Reference (B): Uses dynamic logic to automatically link records based on matching field values.

Report Object (C): When a report is placed on a record as a "Record-Level Report," Dynamic Filtering ensures the report only shows data related to that specific record (e.g., showing only "Findings" related to "Asset A" when viewing Asset A).

Advanced Search (D) does NOT support Dynamic Filtering in the same "contextual" sense; Advanced Searches use static filters or "Current User" filters, but they do not dynamically react to field values in a specific source record during the search build process like the other three objects.

This is a core concept of the Archer Data Gateway (ADG) feature. While traditional Data Feeds (Option A) and Data Imports (Option C) work by pulling a copy of external data and saving it into the Archer SQL database, Data Gateway functions differently. It provides a "window" into an external data source.

As taught in the Archer Administration II integration module, ADG allows users to view and interact with data stored in external SQL databases or other systems as if the data were inside Archer, but the information remains in the source system. This is crucial for high-volume data or sensitive information where "duplication" is prohibited by policy or storage constraints. APIs (Option D) are used to programmatically move data but still generally involve moving a copy of that data. Data Gateway is the only listed feature specifically designed for "non-duplicating" interaction.