An object is a universe component that maps to one or more columns in one or more tables in the universe database schema. An object can also map to a function defined on one or more columns.
Each object infers a Select statement for the column or function to which it maps. When a Web Intelligence user builds a query using one or more objects in the Query pane the content of the Select clause line in the Select statement is inferred using the column(s) or function represented by each object.