and processes
in a modern enterprise. This architecture integrates
people,
information and processes within a framework that
provides for incremental
implentation of its
capabilities.
Business Intelligence is a primary
component of the Information Integration
layer of SAP
Netweaver. The sap Netweaver Portal is a component of the
People
Integration layer.
Business Information Management is
about managing all types of information
i.e., Structured and
Unstructured from integration to delivery - with a
focus on
achieving transparency and broad reach within and outside of
the
organization. In the Business Information Management IT
practice,
there are three IT scenarios.
1.
Enterprise Reporting, Query and Analysis
2. Business Planning
and Analytical Services
3. Enterprise Data
Warehousing
Enterprise Reporting, Query and Analysis -
Extemd the reach
High Focus on User
Productivity
Formatted Reporting
Intuitive Ad-hoc
Analysis
Advanced Excel Integration
Model-driven BI
Applications
Business Planning and Analytical Services
- Integrate Planning
Business Planning Integrated in
BI Platform and Suite
Enterprise Datawarehousing -
Strategic data warehouse platform.
High Performance
with BI Accelerator
Flexibility by enhanced data modeling
capabilities
Data Transfer Process
Real-Time Data
Acquisition
Web-based Administration cockpit.
Some
Issues might arise when using a data warehouse in the Retail
Sector:
Checking ranges of goods in order to identify
slow moving items and big sellers.
Analyzing regional
locations to investigate the profitability of difference
branches.
Investigating the effectiveness of market
analyses.
Evaluating Customer surveys and complaints
Analyze
warehouse stocklevels.
Analyzing shoping carts using cash
register receipts.
A concrete query might
be:
What were the sales volumes for the Cosmetics,
Electrical Goods, and Household
Goods departments in the years
2005 and 2006 in New York and Washington, DC?
In a
brief, a data warehouse can:
Pool data from different,
mostly heterogeneous sources
Overcome this heterogenity on
different levels( system,schema, and data)
Stage data in the
form required by the user
Decison-makers urgently need
reliabile information from Production, Purchasing,
Sales and
Distribution, Finance, and Human Resources departments.
Some
demands are made on a datawarehouse:
Standardized
structuring and presentation of all company information.
An
easy-to-use, single point of access to all company
information
Sophisticated business reporting methods for
self-service analysis at all levels
Fast and cost-effective
installation
A high performance environment
Data
staging from heterogeneous environment
Release of source
systems and IT organization
Data access independent of the
source system
Analysis of data over a specific period of time,
and the storage of historical
information(time-dependent
master data)
If a characteristic( for example,
zip code) is assigned to another
characteristic(for example,
sold-to-party), the first characterstic becomes
an attribute
of the second.
Business analysis- objects( customers,
sales volumes, and so on) are
called InfoObjects in SAP BI.
These InfoObjects can be divided into
characteristics and
keyfigures.
The central data containers that form the
basis for reports and analyses
in SAP BI are called Infocubes.
They contain key figures( Sales volumes,
incoming orders,
actual costs, and so on) and a link to the characteristic
(master
data of the SAP BI system such as cost centers, customers,
materials,
and so on). Key figures and characteristics are
infoobjects.
An Infocube consists of several
database tables that are linked according
to the star schema.
They include a fact table that contains the Infocube
key
figures, as well as several surrounding dimension tables that
store
the links to to the characteristics.
Each
infocube has one fact table and a maximum of 16 dimensiont
tables.
Each fact table can contain a maximum of 233 key
figures.
A dimension can contain up to 248 freely available
characteristics.
Infoprovider is the super-ordinate
term for an object that you can use
to create reports in
Business Explorer(BEx). Infoproviders are objects or
views
that are relevant to reporting.
They ae two types of
data stores.
Physical stores and Logical views of physical
data stores
Physical stores include:
Infocubes
Data
store objects
Infoobjects
Logical views of
physical data stores include:
Infosets
Remotecubes
Virtual
Infocubes
Multiproviders
DataStore Object:
A
datastore object stores data at the basic level(document level). It
is
normally used to resolve and consolidate datasets. These
datasets ae often
from various data sources and/ or source
systems.
The Data Warehousing Workbench is a workplace
for SAP BI administrators,
Data Warehousing Workbench
functions are used to configure, control, and
administrate SAP
BI.
Question and Answers:
What type of
source systems can be connected to SAP BI?
Data sources based
on XML
SAP Systems
Databases
Fax
machines cannot be directly connected to SAP BI as a source
system.
A facsimile image could be stored in SAP BI as a
document through document
integration.
Navigation:
When
you begin an analysis in the Web Analyzer or the Bex Analyzer,
you
begin with the Open dialog. In this dialog, you are able
to choose:
The system from which you will retrive
data
The object type( query, query view or infoprovier) you
will access
The grouping objects of the chosen type( History,
Favourites or Infoareas)
to be displayed
Any filtering
value to limit which objects are displayed.
Navigating
Options:
Basic Navigation:
Back
Back
to start
* Select filter value
*keep filter
value
*remove filter value
filter and drilldown
*drill
down
*drill across
*remove drill down
change
drill down
Other Options
* Exchange with
Swap
axes
sort
goto
convert to formula
add
local formula
explain
properties
query
properties
save view
broadcast and
export
documents
Note: The star indicates that
can be done via drag and drop.
The list of the first
level navigation options you can access from both\
the Bex
Analyzer and the Web analyzer. Bear in mind that not all options
are
available in all context menus, and that many of the first level
choices have additional options available.
Bex
Analyser Navigation Buttons:
1. Chart
2.
Filter
3. Information
In the Bex analyzer,
three buttons are provided to the user for
frequently-used
navigations. The Filter button, when selected, opens a
Navigation
Area within the analysis. This navigation area allows the user to
change the drilldown, select filter values and swap the
location of
characteristics and key figures in the
analysis.
The chart button, if selected, changes the
analysis table into a chart.
Once the chart is displayed, the
title on the button changes to Table in
order to toggle the
display back to a tabular view.
The info button, when
selected, displays a variety of text elements which
serve to
give the user a better context for the analysis
results.
Exchange..... with....
Any
time you want to swap the location of one object in the analysis
with
another object, you may simply drag one item on top of
the other and the
change will be made automatically. The user
swaps Distribution Channel for
Sales Group. The user could
have also brought up the context menu for
either
characteristics and selected Exchange--- with... to effect the
swap.
Drill down:
One of the most common
navigation function is the Drill Down (or Drill Across).
In
the graphic above, the user drags division from the navigation area
and
drops it on top of the values for Distribution channel.
This has the
effect of adding an additional level of detail
for Division to the analysis.
Keep filter
value:
You can select as filter value directly from
the results area of an executed
report. To do this, you could
position the cursor on the filter value required,
and choose
Keep Filter Value from the context menu. The filter value is
then
displayed in the report and the report results are restricted to
the
filter value in question. Or you could, as the graphic shows,
simply
drag the characteristic value you want to use as a
filter to the right side
of the navigation area and drop it.
The value will automatically be used
as a filter for the
analysis.
Remove Filter value:
With the
Remove Filter Value option, you can exclude certain values
from
appearing in the analysis. Often, this is easier than
trying to include
many values as filter values.
simply
drag the characteristic value outside of the analysis area and it
will exclude any data for the characteristic
value.
QUERY DESIGNER:
In the
query designer open dialog box, choose of the three button on
the
left side of the dialog box:
Find(use search options to locate
an infoprovider)
History(Your most recently used infoproviders
are listed)
Infoareas( A list of all infoproviders organized
by infoareas is shown)
Some properties for Query
designer:
New query
save query
open
query
publish query on web
check query
query
properties
cut
paste
insert
infoprovider(pane
open)
Filter(pane open)
table view
rows/collumns(pane
open)
cells
conditions
exceptions
properties
tasks
Messages(open
pane)
where used
documents
technical
names
Table View: we can create a query for tabular
reporting( each query
element in a separate column), as well
as for online analytical processing
(olap) reporting, by
activating or deactivating the table view mode in
the query
definition when defining a query. this function is only
available
for queries with one structure. You can only have
queries with two structures
in the multi-dimensional display.
They are not suitable for olap reporting.
Cells:
This
function is only available for queries with two structures. You
can
define formulas and selection conditions for cells
explicitly. In this
way, you control the valus of cells that
appear at the intersections of
structural components. This
function enables you to access individual
cells in queries or
to assign special values to these.
Conditions: we use
this function to define conditions for a query. For
each
characteristic, you can give limit conditions to the key figure
values
in order to determine, for example, all sales revenues
above or below
a specified threshold value. The chosen
characteristics are displayed
int he query with restricted
key figures.
Exceptions:we use this function to define
exceptions for a query. Exceptions
are deviations from normal
key figure values, as defined by you, and are
highlighted in
color in the query view.
Query properties: Choose this
function if you want to change the
descriptions of the query
or define the settings for the result position,
display
options, numeric display, zero display and key date of the
quey.
QUERY DESIGNER MENUS
QUERY EDIT VIEW
TOOLS HELP
NEW
OPEN
CHECK
SAVE
SAVE
AS
DELETE
PROPERTIES
EXECUTE
PUBLISH
END
AND THROW OUT CHANGES
Query designer layout (filter
view)
1. Directory tree of the selected
infoprovider
2. Characteristic Restrictions
3. Default
values
4. Properties
5. Messages
Query
designer layout(rows/columns view)
6. Free
characteristics
7. Columns
8. Rows
9.
Preview
10.Tasks
11.Where used
Some
example defined query(filter view)
1. The characterist
Cal Year/Month(0CALMONTH) was chosen as a global
filter and
restricted to the range of months January to April
2005 in the
Characteristic Restrictions pane.
2. The characteristic
Material was restricted to a small number of the
single values
that will appear as the default filters when the
query is
executed.
Examples defined query(rows/column
view)
1. The characteristic Sold to countery was
selected as a free characteristic.
2. The keyfigures Incoming
Orders(CV) and Incoming orders were placed
in the columns.
3.
The sold-to party characteristic, with attributes for address
and
account group, was included in the rows. The material was
also
included in the rows. This was restricted to a range of
materials
in the default fitler pane.
4. The preview
area shows how the report is structured.
Once we have
saved the query,we have the following options;
1. we
can execute the query in the Bex Analyzer and include it in a
workbook. To do this, choose Quit and Use Query However you
must first
have launched the query designer from the Bex
Analyzer in order to see
the required function(right
mark)
2.we can display the query on the web via the Netweaver
portal. To do this,
choose execute function.
3. we can
use the query in the WAD as a data provider for web items.
4.
we can use the query in the report designer as a dataprovider.
5.
we can use the query in the tabular display in crystal reports as
a
data source for formatted reports.
Filtering Data in
the Query Definition:
The filters are defined under
the tab filter. Be sure to select this tab
before attempting
to define any filters. Once you are displaying the \
filterstab
you can define the filters in either the Characteristic
Restrictions pane or the Default values pane.
1.
Filters set in the characteristic restrictions pane are always
applied
to the query result and cannot be modified by the user
in the result.
These are often regarded as a global or static
filters.
2. Filters set in the Default values pane are
applied immediately once
the query is executed. However, the
user is able to navigate freely within
these filters. The user
cannot add additional filters to the default values
i.e. the
filters in the query definition set out the maximum range of
the
result data a user can display, this may produce more data
than the user
requires so the user simply navigates to a
reduced result set by modifying
the filters in the
report.
There are two basic ways to restrict a
characteristic in the query definition:
1. By selecting a
characteristic value from the Infoprovider tree(on the
left
side of the query designer). Simply open the tree to display
the
required characteristic within the appropriate dimension
and the open the
characteristic node to reveal the sub
folders, one will be called
characterstic values. Open this
folder to display the values and then drag
and drop these to
the required pane. You don't need to have previously
dragged
the characteristic into the pane beforehand, the act of dragging
the
first characteristic value will also drag the characteristc into
the pane.
2. We can also restrict a characateristic
you have already included in
the query definition by calling
the context menu for the characteristic
and choosing
Restrict. We could also highlight the characteristic and
then
display the Tasks tab to show the suitable tasks, one of
them will be
restrict. And finally a double-click on the
characteric would also open
the default task which for a
characteristic in the filter view would be
restict.
QUERY
PROPERTIES:
General:
Description,Technical
Name,Infoprovider,Keydate
It time dependant master
data is used in the query(attributes,hierchies,
text) this
date(which can be fixed or supplied by a variable) is used to
select
the correct master date. The check box Use Standard date is used
to
tell the query to use the current date at query run-time.
Variable
Sequence Tab:
Variable Sequence
We can
change the sequence of the variables to ensure they are presented
to
the user in a logical order
Display Tab:
Adjust
Formating after Refreshing
Hide Repeated key values
Display
scaling factors for keyfigures
Document Links
ROWS/Columns
Tab
Result Position(Rows and Columns)
Supress
Zeros
Value Display Tab:
Display of the
+/- sign
Decide how you would like to present the negative
values.
Zero value Display
Planning
Tab
Startup view
This setting determines whether the
query is started in display or change
(planning) mode.
Planning mode allows the results cells to be changed.
Extended
Tab:
Release for OLE DB for OLAP
If you want to
expose the data from this query to a third-party BI tool
then
this check box must be marked so the Microsoft ODBO interface is
filled.
Infoproviders In SAP BI
Reporting:
Infoproviders are objects for which you can
create and execute queries
in SAP BI. These include objects
that physically store data - the data
targets, such as
infocubes, datastore objects, and Infoobjects(characteristics
with
attributes or texts). They also include objects that do not
contain
any physical data, such as Infosets, Virtualproviders
and Multiproviders.
Infoprovider is the generic term used to
describe any objects or views
relevant to reporting.
Data
Targets:
Data targets are SAP BI objects that have their own
data store(which means
they physically contain data). These
objects include infocubes, Datastore
objects and
Infoobjects(characteritstics with attributes or texts). The
system
supplies data targets with data from the source system using a
load
proces (or by writing directly into the tables for real-time
object
types). Data targets become infoprovidrs if they are
used in Bex reporting.
Infocubes that have a datastore
in the SAP BI system are called Standard
Infocubes(type of
infocube that distinguishes them from virtual
types)
Characteristic infoobjects have to be included
in the infoprovider tree
in the data warehousing workbench to
make them available as data targets
for flexible updates and
as infoproviders for reporting.
Data store objects
store consolidated and cleansed data on a detailed
(atomic)
level. In reporting, you use datastore objects for
detailed
reporting in SAPBI, for example, for reporting on
individual business
documents(orders, invoices etc).
In
contrast to multi-dimensional data stores for infocubes, data in
Datastore Objects is stored in flat database tables. A
datastore object
contains a key (for example, document number,
item number), as well as
data fields, which can contain key
figures or characteristics (for example,
customer, invoice
quantity). You can transfer data store object data into
connected
Infocubes or into additional datastore objects in the same
system
or even in a different system.
A virtual Provier is an
infocube whose transaction data is not physically
managed in
SAP BI, but stored externally in the source system.
Only
the multi-dimensional structure of the virtual provider is
defined
in the SAP BI System. The data for reporting is read
onlilne from another
system. In reporting, you define queries
on virtual proviers in the same
way as you define queries on
Standard Infocubes.
However, since the data is read
online from the source system, the performance
differs when
you execute reports for Virtual provider and, therefore,
we
recommend that you only use virtual prover in specific, well
planned,
scenarios(with small quantities of data, relatively
infrequent data
requests with a restricted number of
users).
BI Infosets do not have a data store of their
own, but instead connect
flat tables using joins and,
therefore, provide an additional semantic
layer(reporting-relevant
view) for BEx reporting.
We can create BI Infosets
from Infocubes(only standard type), Datastore
objects and
characteristic infoobjects with master data.
BI
Infosets enable temporal joins with which you can create
reports
depicting changes over time. For example, a link from
document data in an
Datastore object to time-dependent master
data (for example, link a sales
transaction to the master data
of the person who was head of the department
at the time of
the transaction).
Multiproviers are based on a union
connection (union), unlike joins
in BI
Infosets(intersection).
An infocube can contain global
elements, such as, calculated key figures
(as can all other
info proviers) that are available for all query
definitions
for this infoprovier. These elements are defined on a global
level
for the infoprovider and you can use them in many different
reports.
Infosets in the Query Designer
The
system also automatically generates the key figure Number of
Records
(1ROWCOUNT) for infosets
Two dimensions
are provided for each Infoprover inthe infoset. Attribute
and
Keypart. Therefore, for an Infoset composed of an Datastore Object
connected to a characteristic, four dimensions display. The
respective
charcteristics are then assigned to the
dimensions.
In the Key figure folder of Multiprovider,
you can find the generated
key figure Number of
Records(1ROWCOUNT), if one of the infoproviders
included
already contains this keyfigure, for example, in datastore
objects.
Restricted keyfigures are(basic) keyfigures
of the infoprovider that
are restricted(filtered) by one or
more characteristic selections. The
key figure that is
restricted by one or more characteristic selections
can be a
basic keyfigure, a calculated key figure, or a key figure that
is
already restricted.
We can create restricted key
figures at the infoprovider level, or locally
in the query
definition. Restricted keyfigures that are defined at
the
Infoprovider level are available in every query definition
of the
infoprovider in question.
Variables:
Instead
of selecting absolute filter values we can choose to use a
variable
which will be filled at run time, perhaps from a user input.
In
the query designer, we can use a formula to calculate key
figures
that are not in the infoprovier by using basic key
figures, restricted
keyfigures and existing calculated key
figures int he formula definition.
The new restricted
key figure will appear in the key figure structure
and
therefore will be part of the result(as well as the new formula).
If
you don't want to see the restricted key figure in your result
simply
use the hide feature under the
properties.
Keyfigures always have the same units when
a query is executed. This
means that the formula is
semantically incorrect if we add a currency
unit( for example,
EUR) to a unit of weight (for example, kg). If you want
to
calculate values without using units, you should use the value
without
dimension function.
Currency
Translation:
A currency translation in the Business
Information Warehouse can take
place at two points:
@update
rules and In reporting.
Local currency
company
currency
transaction currency
Exception
Aggregation:
Use exception aggregation to derive additional
information out of a limited
numbr of key figures provided in
the infocube we want to analyze. Using the
new functions of
exceptiion aggregation, we can create calculated key
figures
using a formula that uses exception aggregation itself(this is
nested exception aggregation). We can also use calculated key
figures
created on cell level(using the cell editor) with the
new functions of
exception aggregation.
Defining
Nested Exceptions:
As a sales manager, we want to analyze the
number of products sold and
the average number of different
products sold to different customers for
each sales year. In
our infocube only a key figure of the net weight for
the
different sold products is provide. Using the new functions for
exception aggregation, you can derive the additionally
required two
keyfigures just from the net weight for sold
products.
STRUCTURES IN QUERIES AND REUSE OF
STRUCTURES
Structures are combinations of characteristics and
key figures(of basic
keyfigures, calculated key figures, or
restricted key figures) of the
infoprovier. A structure can be
used in a planned/actual comparision or
in a contribution
margin scheme.
Structures can also be used in several queries
for the same infoprovider.
In order for this to be possible,
we need to save them as reusable structure.
In order to make a
distinction, we calls structures that are not stored
as
reusable structure local structures. Local structures are only
used
in one query.
A query can have a maximum
of two structures, there is no restriction as
to where these
structures appear in the layout, i.e. we could put
both
structures in the columns. We can create some very flexible layouts
using two structures.
Changes made later to
global structures affect all queries in which they
were used.
If you only want to make local changes in a particular query,
we
can choose Remove Reference in the context menu for the
structure,
and thereby, change the reusable structure in to a
local structure.
changes made later do not affect the
definition of the reusable structure.
nor the queries that you
made with this reusable structure.
Formula
Collision:
A formula collision occurs when the query uses two
structures and there
are formula in both structures. The point
at which the formula intersects
is called a formula collision.
We need to tell the system how to resolve
the collision(only
one formula can be carried out for the cell) by making
the
appropriate setting in the properties dialog.
The
formula collision function only displays in the properties
dialog
box if two structures are used in the query definition
and both
contain formulas.
In places where the
two formulas collide, it is not clear how the system
should
calculate. We can therefore choose the formula we want to use
to
calcualte the value.
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