Version 2.0 Authors Klaus Freyburger Peter Lehmann 2010 All Rights Reserved. SAP UA Abstract: This chapter covers the basic aspects and concepts of data modeling with SAP Business Information Warehouse (SAP BW). Product SAP Netweaver BI 7.0 Level Undergraduate Beginner SAP BI Curriculum BI1-V1-04 SAP BI Modeling SAP UA Overview InfoObjects Key Figures Characteristics InfoProviders DataStore Objects Agenda Page 2 2010 SAP AG DataStore Objects InfoCubes SAP BI Curriculum BI1-V1-04 SAP BI Modeling SAP UA SAP BW Architecture Overview Page 3 2010 SAP AG SAP BI Curriculum BI1-V1-04 SAP BI Modeling SAP UA SAP BW Data Modeling Architecture Objects and Data Structures Page 4 2010 SAP AG SAP BI Curriculum BI1-V1-04 SAP BI Modeling SAP UA What is an InfoObject? InfoObjects are used to focus on business requirements. Note: The original product name was SAP Business Information Warehouse. The abbrevation BIW conflicted with another product name, so BW was chosen. Page 5 2010 SAP AG InfoObjects are the bricks to build data structures inside SAP BW. InfoObjects represent business objects from an end users view. The most important InfoObject types used for business analysis are Characteristics and Key Figures. SAP BI Curriculum BI1-V1-04 SAP BI Modeling SAP UA InfoObject: Characteristics A Characteristic represents a business object (or concept, business term, business entity). A Characteristic may have attributes which describes the business object in more detail. Example: InfoObject Customer is a characteristic with attributes such as Customer Number, ZIP Code, Region, Page 6 2010 SAP AG attributes such as Customer Number, ZIP Code, Region, etc. The attributes Customer Number, ZIP Code, Region, etc. are also managed as Characteristics and may have their own attributes. Note: What SAP calls a Characteristic is often referred to in the data warehouse community as a Dimension. SAP BI Curriculum BI1-V1-04 SAP BI Modeling SAP UA InfoObject: Key Figures A Key Figure (or variable, measure) is oftenly used to document the performance of a business process over time. It can be found in document records such as invoice, delivery note, purchase order, or goods receipt. Example: InfoObject Revenue or Sales Amount, etc. Page 7 2010 SAP AG Note: InfoObjects are unique inside SAP BW, and they are used to build the data structures for analysis requirements. Conceptually unique: the semantics (meaning) of an InfoObject is uniquely defined system-wide inside SAP BW. Logically unique: the data type, value range or field length is uniquely defined system-wide inside SAP BW. From the technical point of view, an InfoObject can viewed as a database field. SAP BI Curriculum BI1-V1-04 SAP BI Modeling SAP UA Evolution from a SAP ERP Database Object to an SAP BW InfoObject R/3 Table Costcenter BW Extraktor SAP ERP SAP BW InfoObjects SAP BW DataSource Page 8 2010 SAP AG InfoObject "0COSTCENTER" SAP Business Information Warehouse!! CO Accounting CO Accounting HR Human Ressources HR Human Ressources COSTC ... Table Costcenter Table Employee EMPLO COST_CENTER ... DataSource CostCenter Definition & Mapping SAP BI Curriculum BI1-V1-04 SAP BI Modeling SAP UA InfoObjects Are Bricks for Data Structures Page 9 2010 SAP AG SAP BI Curriculum BI1-V1-04 SAP BI Modeling SAP UA InfoProviders Provide Access to Data Records InfoProviders: Are data storage inside SAP BW May store data records physically (persistent) May also be used to access data stored outside SAP BW virtually (transparent views) May be accessed with front end tools such as SAP Page 10 2010 SAP AG May be accessed with front end tools such as SAP BusinessExplorer Note: A query is a view to data within an InfoProvider and does not contain physical data. SAP BI Curriculum BI1-V1-04 SAP BI Modeling SAP UA InfoProviders InfoProviders with physical data: InfoCubes Contain data optimized for fast multi-dimensional analysis. DataStore Objects Contain detailed data. Used for high data volumes stored in normal database tables. Often used as data source for InfoCubes. Page 11 2010 SAP AG Often used as data source for InfoCubes. InfoProviders with virtual data: MultiProviders Often used to create views above two or more InfoCubes with the same Characteristics but different Key Figures. Data resides in the InfoCubes involved and data redundancy is avoided. VirtualProviders Data stored somewhere outside SAP BW. Some ERP systems provide data storage which may be accessed directly by SAP BW without changing the end user s view to the data. SAP BI Curriculum BI1-V1-04 SAP BI Modeling SAP UA InfoCubes Provide data storage used for reporting and online analysis. Consist of Key Figures and Characteristics. Contain data stored multi-dimensionally and often aggregated (week, month). Use star database schema, consisting of a fact table surrounded Page 12 2010 SAP AG Use star database schema, consisting of a fact table surrounded by dimension tables. Use a maximum of 3 + 13 dimension tables. 3 dimension tables are pre-defined by SAP. Time, Unit and DataPackage (for technical information) 13 dimensions may be used by InfoCube developers. Note: In practice, good InfoCube design should not exceed 6-8 dimensions (+ the 3 above) so 13 dimensions are plenty. SAP BI Curriculum BI1-V1-04 SAP BI Modeling SAP UA DataStore Objects Contain single data records such as invoices, purchase orders or customer order items. Consist of key fields (such as order number, order position number) and data fields (Key Figures and Characteristics such as sales amount, net value, customer id, material number). Store data records in relational database tables. Page 13 2010 SAP AG Store data records in relational database tables. Often contain massive volumes of data. SAP BI Curriculum BI1-V1-04 SAP BI Modeling SAP UA InfoCube versus DataStore Object Data Warehouse, Operational Data Store and Data Marts are general layers in a Data Warehouse Architecture. Data Warehouse and Page 14 2010 SAP AG Data Warehouse and Operational Data Store may be implemented with DataStoreObjects. Data Marts will be implemented with InfoCubes. SAP BI Curriculum BI1-V1-04 SAP BI Modeling SAP UA Overview InfoObjects Key Figures Characteristics InfoProviders DataStore Objects Agenda Page 15 2010 SAP AG DataStore Objects InfoCubes SAP BI Curriculum BI1-V1-04 SAP BI Modeling SAP UA InfoObjects InfoObjects Key Figures Revenue, Sales Amount, Net Value, . Characteristics Customer, Region, Zip Code, Units Page 16 2010 SAP AG Units Unit of Measurement, Currency, Time Calender Year, Fiscal Year, Month, Day, Quarter, . Some Technical Stuff DataPackageID, RequestID, SAP BI Curriculum BI1-V1-04 SAP BI Modeling SAP UA Key Figure Definition: Revenue Amount, Quantity, .. Data Type: integer, Page 17 2010 SAP AG EUR, USD, (fix) Pieces, inch, %, (fix) Unit / Currency (fix) / Currency reference Data Type: integer, float, char(10), SAP BI Curriculum BI1-V1-04 SAP BI Modeling SAP UA Key Figure Definition: Revenue (cont.) Aggregation: Last Value, Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun 500 520 515 520 520 Last value No Employee per Month 521 Last value Page 18 2010 SAP AG Aggregation: Summation, Minimum, Maximum Aggregation: Last Value, Maximum, Average Reference Characteristic, e.g. Quarter The reference characteristic allows the use of a function to aggregate data instead of summation. Example: Number of Employees at the end of the quarter. Sum does not make sense! SAP BI Curriculum BI1-V1-04 SAP BI Modeling SAP UA Key Figure Definition: Revenue (cont.) If the Key Figure is non- cumulative (e.g., warehouse stock), this field defines an InfoObject representing non- cumulative change. This InfoObject is either positive Page 19 2010 SAP AG InfoObject is either positive or negative. So, the stock amount can be calculated from it. Two fields are used to calculate the non- cumulative amounts. Inflow is the InfoObject which represents the stock inflow amount. Outflow is vice versa. SAP BI Curriculum BI1-V1-04 SAP BI Modeling SAP UA Key Figure Definition: Revenue (cont.) Page 20 2010 SAP AG SAP BI Curriculum BI1-V1-04 SAP BI Modeling SAP UA Characteristic Definition: Sales Organisation Page 21 2010 SAP AG Data Types: Num, Char, Date, SAP BI Curriculum BI1-V1-04 SAP BI Modeling SAP UA Conversion Routine Database values Are stored in internal format appropriate to the database Date as YYYYMMDD Are presented to a user in external format according to his local settings, e.g., in Page 22 2010 SAP AG e.g., in Europe Date: DD.MM.YYYY Numbers: 1.234,56 US Date: MM/DD/YYYY Numbers: 1,234.56 Transformation external internal format is performed by a conversion routine SAP BI Curriculum BI1-V1-04 SAP BI Modeling SAP UA ALPHA Conversion Routine Alphanumeric database fields Datatype CHAR in SAP Can store character and number values Have conversion exit ALPHA as default Eliminates leading blanks after user input User input of RB0010 and RB0010 refers to same object Page 23 2010 SAP AG User input of RB0010 and RB0010 refers to same object Stores numbers with leading 0s in database Numeric values are stored in natural order in database, e.g. 0002 first, then 0010 Material Group in SAP Business Content has numerical values with trailing blanks Conversion exit ALPHA must not be used SAP BI Curriculum BI1-V1-04 SAP BI Modeling SAP UA MATN1 Conversion Routine Database field Material often requires special treatment. Datatype CHAR in SAP Conversion exit MATN1 is used Edit format can be defined in transaction OMSL E.g. _ _-_ _ _ _ User Input RB-0010 is stored as RB0010 Page 24 2010 SAP AG Since the OMSL format setting is system-wide, we do not use it in the Bike Company Curriculum. SAP BI Curriculum BI1-V1-04 SAP BI Modeling SAP UA Characteristic Definition: Sales Organisation (cont.) An InfoObject may have attributes! Page 25 2010 SAP AG Texts: Descriptive texts Multi-language texts Time dependent texts SAP BI Curriculum BI1-V1-04 SAP BI Modeling SAP UA Characteristic Definition: Sales Organisation (cont.) Page 26 2010 SAP AG Attributes Usable for OLAP operations or display only SAP BI Curriculum BI1-V1-04 SAP BI Modeling SAP UA Time Characteristics Time characteristics are always necessary and define the time- related reference point for data analysis purposes. Time characteristics are predefined by SAP and cannot Page 27 2010 SAP AG be changed. SAP BI Curriculum BI1-V1-04 SAP BI Modeling SAP UA Units/Currencies Units and Currencies are used to define Key Figures in more detail. A Unit may be an InfoObject which defines the Unit of a Key Figure. A Currency may be an InfoObject which defines the Currency of a Key Figure Examples: 0CURRENCY Page 28 2010 SAP AG 0CURRENCY 0BASE_UOM SAP BI Curriculum BI1-V1-04 SAP BI Modeling SAP UA Overview InfoObjects Key Figures Characteristics InfoProviders DataStore Objects Agenda Page 29 2010 SAP AG DataStore Objects InfoCubes SAP BI Curriculum BI1-V1-04 SAP BI Modeling SAP UA 5 Steps to Define a DataStore Object 5 steps to Define an DataStore Object 1) Define a name for a DataStoreObject 2) Choose the key fields 3) Choose the data fields 4) Define attributes used for data analysis Page 30 2010 SAP AG analysis 5) Activate the DataStoreObject SAP BI Curriculum BI1-V1-04 SAP BI Modeling SAP UA Choosing InfoObjects to Build a DataStore Object Select the relevant InfoObjects Direct InfoObject name input (1) or Choose InfoObjects by InfoObjectCatalog and drag & drop the InfoObjects (2) Page 31 2010 SAP AG SAP BI Curriculum BI1-V1-04 SAP BI Modeling SAP UA 7 Steps to Define an InfoCube 7 Steps to Define an InfoCube 1) Choose a name for an InfoCube 2) Create Dimensions as needed 3) Assign Characteristics to Dimensions 4) Choose Time Characteristics 5) Choose Key Figures Page 32 2010 SAP AG 5) Choose Key Figures 6) Define Navigational Attributes 7) Activate InfoCube SAP BI Curriculum BI1-V1-04 SAP BI Modeling SAP UA Create New Dimensions If Needed Page 33 2010 SAP AG SAP BI Curriculum BI1-V1-04 SAP BI Modeling SAP UA What is a Dimension Inside SAP BW? A dimension is a group of characteristics which belong to the same business object (semantically). Each characteristic may contain additional attributes which are relevant for data analysis or not!!! Navigational attributes are InfoObjects which are used to perform data analysis. Page 34 2010 SAP AG Display attributes are InfoObjects for which data analysis does not make sense (e.g. a house number or a family name) This has an impact to cube design! Note: In data warehouse community, the term Dimension is used for what SAP calls Characteristic . SAP BI Curriculum BI1-V1-04 SAP BI Modeling SAP UA Basic Characteristic and Its Navigation Attributes 1. Dimension Page 35 2010 SAP AG 2. Characteristic 1. Dimension 3. Navigation Attributes are ready to be used in analysis. SAP BI Curriculum BI1-V1-04 SAP BI Modeling SAP UA Steps to Create an InfoCube Define the InfoObjects needed. Key Figures Characteristices Define which Characteristics may be chosen to create a semantic cluster for semantic dimensions. Examples are: Sales, Production, Material Management, Finance, etc. Page 36 2010 SAP AG Examples are: Sales, Production, Material Management, Finance, etc. Define which attributes are appropriate to perform data analysis OLAP attributes define them as navigational attributes Non-OLAP attributes define them as display attributes Done! Deploy the InfoCube inside SAP BW! SAP BI Curriculum BI1-V1-04 SAP BI Modeling SAP UA Summary Key Figures and Characteristics are defined as InfoObjects. InfoObjects are the smallest bricks to define InfoProviders within SAP BW. InfoProviders are used to store data within SAP BW or allow SAP BW to access data stored somewhere else. The most important InfoProviders are InfoCubes Page 37 2010 SAP AG The most important InfoProviders are InfoCubes and DataStore Objects. The definition of an SAP BW InfoCube is no Witchery!