BW 3.0b New core features and functions

BW 3.0b New core features and functions BW 3.0b New core features and functions

Presentation Outline New reporting capabilities Open data movement Data cleansing and error handling New ODS features ("near-time DW") Data archiving in BW Summary of observations

Stronger report integration with Microsoft When using NT as the application server and MicroSoft‘s SQL-Server as the database server, InfoCubes can now be stored as MOLAP cubes (same technology as Oracle Express, Cognos PowerPlay and others..) Data can also be cached on the application server and thereby increase the performance through the near-linear scalability through the deployment of multiple application servers Cache Cache Application Servers Database Server MOLAP cubes ODS ROLAP cubes

Country Region City Turnover Result Result Result Result Result Country Turnover Overall Result Flexible hierarchy display & interactive web charts Automatic menu to select drill down Automatic filter by clicking BW reports have become more user friendly! Source: SAP

New flexibility in reporting The InfoProvider is a generic term for all objects you can report from (i.e. ODS, InfoCubes). In 3.0b you can now use a MultiProvider to report from any combination of these objects. 3.0b have “stateless web reporting”. This means that after each click on the web report the session to the server is closed and you can email the reports directly (it automatically remembers the steps done by building the URL). You can also attach documents stored in Web Content Management to the reports and make them context sensitive (i.e. help screens and explanations). For Techies Only: calculated key figures (CKF) can now include restricted key figures in the calculation

More flexibility in report navigation The last 10 executed queries are displayed in the BEx open dialog. This makes it easier to find frequently used workbooks and queries. Bookmarks in 3.0b remembers all filter values, conditions and exceptions and can be used to always open a query at the preferred level. The user can enter a value in the variable popups and have all queries filtered by their region, organization or profit center in the future (they don’t have to re-enter again and again).. Users can also define their exception and conditions on the web, and show them in web reports. In 3.0b more of the user navigation is kept at the personalized level, which makes BW more user-friendly

Web Reports in BW 3.0b Any Internet authoring tool Web Browser Bex Analyzer Publish views and execute queries Save as templates (HTML) Developers do not need to know the internet publishing process. After saving a query view in the Analyzer, the view can be immediately published. OLAP Processor BW Charting Engine BW Data Base BW Web Service AppServer Templates Source: SAP

More mobile reporting features BW can generate the reports based on the front-end device requesting them such as WAP or Windows-CE Personal Digital Assistant (can also be made to include other browsers such as Palm). The queries can be used on-line, or in an off-line mode for lookup of important information. Alerts through SMS and queries can be used, as well as charts through (WBMP). BW can now be used more flexible over the web through the most used mobile protocols Source: SAP

Presentation Outline New reporting capabilities Open data movement Data cleansing and error handling New ODS features Data archiving in BW Summary of observations

I.e. Oracle Database Customer Table Connecting to BW using DB Link BW 3.0b InfoCube DB Link DDIC structure BW Cust table Generic Extractor Staging BW Cust table (Deleted afterwards) Scheduling How to: Adjust Transfer Rules Choose SourceSystem Type DB Transfer Rules InfoObject - Field Mapping SourceSystem Create DB SourceSystem1 Generate Assign DataSource/SS Create InfoPackage InfoSources Choose Table & Fields Loading Scheduling Save DataSource & Extr.Str. Monitoring “DB Link” adds flexibility to loading data from other database systems Source: SAP

What is XML? • Extensible Markup Language (XML) is the standard • format for structured documents and data on the internet.

Common Warehouse Metadata (CWM) • The Common Warehouse Metadata Interchange is the Semantic Layer for XML Metadata and the standard created by the Object Management Group (OMG). It is based on variety of standards for metadata including: • Unified Modeling Language (UML). • Extended Markup Language (XML), • XML Metadata Interchange (XMI), • Meta Object Facility (MOF) • CWMI is supported by most of the large software vendors including Dimension EDI, Hewlett-Packard, Hyperion, IBM, Informix, Informtica, Microsoft, NCR, Oracle, SAP, Sybase, Sun, Unisys, and many others. • CWMI allows you to work with other applications through sharing the data definitions in a standardized format

Reading from BW using the Metadata exchange Semantics: CWM, XMI Transport layer: HTTP Format: XML Request all BW InfoCubes via a HTTP internet request sent to BW via the URL BW:1080://bw/xml/cwm... The result is a web page in XML with InfoCubes. I.e. request the metadata for InfoCube 0CCA_C01: First send a HTTP request to BW, the result is a page in XML with the metadata of 0CCA_C01 in the CWM format SAP BW 3.0b Metadata Repository External Applications Data warehouses and data marts Applications The structures of SAP BW 3.0b can be read by other applications and load tools Other Metadata Repositories

BAPI InfoCube Create CWM XML parser Queue Writing to BW using the Metadata exchange Semantics: CWM, XMI Transport layer: HTTP Format: XML Sending metadata to BW is a 3-step process. First, the metadata is stored in a queue inside BW. The XML parser will read the queue and then call the BAPI to load it to BW You can now pass fire walls and send metadata through e-mails. SAP BW 3.0b External Applications Data warehouses and data marts Applications SAP BW 3.0b can receive metadata from other applications and load tools Other Metadata Repositories

Getting transaction data into BW using XML ODS, InfoCubes,Master Data You can also “push” XML data packages from a provider as a DataSource (with request handling); or “push“ document data into the Delta queue (without request handling) PSA Generic Staging Country: US City: Charlotte XML Parsing BW XML Transformation (XSL) <Country>US</Country> <City>Charlotte</City> Comm. layer, xCBL Internet Marketplaces SAP BW 3.0b can receive transaction data from sources that supports XML

Increased data cleansing and error handling • The BW logs provides more details on the errors and why they occurred. You In version 3.0b you can also monitor the errors that occur in the transfer and updates rules as well we in the database updates. • When loading BW, you can now skip duplicate records in the master data and define rules (if the last or the first record is the valid one). • Based on your error routines you may cleanse the data through you own routines and see the errors in the PSA (problem records are marked). The errors found in the PSA can be corrected there and you can then load the data though the monitoring menu. • You can also provide load information to the users over the web through mini-apps in a portal. BW 3.0b increases the ability to cleanse and handle error in the load processing

New ODS features There are many new features of the ODS that radically changes the performance of the data warehouse from a system perspective: You can now create Reporting ODS objects with no other data targets. You do not need a separate table for new records (as in BW 2.0b and 2.1c) and you don’t need a change log. The data can also be loaded in parallel to an ODS object which can dramatically increase the load performance You can also use Application Programming Interfaces (API) to access the ODS for external application, including add and overwrite APIs. The new features of the ODS provides a system that comes very close to “real time data warehousing.”

More new ODS features In 3.0b you can use master data ODS(s) for cleansing and staging You can rollback any request that has already been updated and even delete selected records in the change log and the ODS. Data downloads from the ODS objects are supported and you can test your load logic through simulated updates from the ODS to other data targets (i.e. Infocubes). The new ODS has become much more flexible than the ODS in version 2.0b and 2.1c

Performance and volume management • The PSA often becomes large in 2.0b and 2.1c. The previous solution was partitioning of the PSA. In the older releases this was restricted to Oracle only. This is no longer the case. • Also, the creation of aggregates for query performance could be very time consuming. The new 3.0b has increased the performance of the create and update of the aggregates (SAP claim). The new release also supports request identifiers which allows you to better manage the creation process. • BW 3.0b have a Formula editor for creation of routines (in addition to the previous ABAP screen in earlier versions). • You can also preview the load files and create transfer structure proposals. Loading and managing data volumes in BW has become more flexible

The Archiving Development Kit (ADK) in 3.0b “The Archive Development Kit (ADK), a service of mySAP Technology, is the software layer that encapsulates the technical aspects of data archiving programs. ADK provides an application programming interface, also used by SAP, that customers and partners can use to develop their own archiving solutions.” SAP-Mike Eacrett, SAP Portals (see: OSS note 71930) • ADK capabilities and Limitations • ADK provides features such as indexing (incl. SAP-AS), compression and data stats and is open to other partner solutions for storage and archiving. It handles structural changes, is platform independent and have logging features. The solution is managed through on-line transactions (Sara) which is standard for mySap products Access to archive data from BW queries is not possible (yet); nor is archiving for Master data or PSA archiving. Protection of archived data ranges against further changes has to be ensured organizationally and the only scheduling currently available is through the standard archiving administration (SARA). Also, any indexing of archive files is also not available (yet). SAP has future plans to support ‘relational’ archiving and access to archived data through DB connect which will greatly improve the access to archived data.

Summary • BW 3.0b has significantly closed the gap between custom data warehouses and have now many of the features and functions needed to service high-volume and complex reporting environments. • The use of DB-Link, XML and APIs also allows developers to more easily integrate their applications and other non-R/3 systems directly into BW. • The new ODS features increases both the flexibility and the capabilities of the reporting system. The influence of Bill Immon on the “real-time data warehousing” approach is very noteworthy….. • The web front-end is becoming “best-of-breed” and the influence of the acquired “Top-Tier” company is making tangible results on the reporting and mobile capabilities of BW beyond the portal product itself. • Crystal are now shipped with SAP BW (see other presentation) • Last note: “Generic delta extraction”…..

Contact Information For more information please contact: Dr. Bjarne Berg Lenoir-Rhyne College bergb@lrc.edu

BW 3.0b New core features and functions