Administration Guide

Administrating SAP BusinessObjects Accelerator Index Designer

Target Audience
System Administrators Technology Consultants SAP Hardware Partner

Document Version 2.0 June 15, 2010

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Copyright
Copyright 2010 SAP AG. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or for any purpose without the express permission of SAP AG. The information contained herein may be changed without prior notice. Some software products marketed by SAP AG and its distributors contain proprietary software components of other software vendors. Microsoft, Windows, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. IBM, DB2, DB2 Universal Database, System i, System i5, System p, System p5, System x, System z, System z10, System z9, z10, z9, iSeries, pSeries, xSeries, zSeries, eServer, z/VM, z/OS, i5/OS, S/390, OS/390, OS/400, AS/400, S/390 Parallel Enterprise Server, PowerVM, Power Architecture, POWER6+, POWER6, POWER5+, POWER5, POWER, OpenPower, PowerPC, BatchPipes, BladeCenter, System Storage, GPFS, HACMP, RETAIN, DB2 Connect, RACF, Redbooks, OS/2, Parallel Sysplex, MVS/ESA, AIX, Intelligent Miner, WebSphere, Netfinity, Tivoli and Informix are trademarks or registered trademarks of IBM Corporation. Linux is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other countries. Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat, PostScript, and Reader are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation. UNIX, X/Open, OSF/1, and Motif are registered trademarks of the Open Group. Citrix, ICA, Program Neighborhood, MetaFrame, WinFrame, VideoFrame, and MultiWin are trademarks or registered trademarks of Citrix Systems, Inc. HTML, XML, XHTML and W3C are trademarks or registered trademarks of W3C, World Wide Web Consortium, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Java is a registered trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc. JavaScript is a registered trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc., used under license for technology invented and implemented by Netscape. SAP, R/3, SAP NetWeaver, Duet, PartnerEdge, ByDesign, Clear Enterprise, SAP BusinessObjects Explorer and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and other countries. Business Objects and the Business Objects logo, BusinessObjects, Crystal Reports, Crystal Decisions, Web Intelligence, Xcelsius, and other Business Objects products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP France in the United States and in other countries. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. Data contained in this document serves informational purposes only. National product specifications may vary. These materials are subject to change without notice. These materials are provided by SAP AG and its affiliated companies ("SAP Group") for informational purposes only, without representation or warranty of any kind, and SAP Group shall not be liable for errors or

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omissions with respect to the materials. The only warranties for SAP Group products and services are those that are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services, if any. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty

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Icons in Body Text

Icon Meaning Caution Example Note Recommendation Syntax

Additional icons are used in SAP Library documentation to help you identify different types of information at a glance. For more information, see Help on Help General Information Classes and Information Classes for Business Information Warehouse on the first page of any version of SAP Library.

Typographic Conventions
Type Style Example text Description Words or characters quoted from the screen. These include field names, screen titles, pushbuttons labels, menu names, menu paths, and menu options. Cross-references to other documentation. Example text EXAMPLE TEXT Emphasized words or phrases in body text, graphic titles, and table titles. Technical names of system objects. These include report names, program names, transaction codes, table names, and key concepts of a programming language when they are surrounded by body text, for example, SELECT and INCLUDE. Output on the screen. This includes file and directory names and their paths, messages, names of variables and parameters, source text, and names of installation, upgrade and database tools. Exact user entry. These are words or characters that you enter in the system exactly as they appear in the documentation. Variable user entry. Angle brackets indicate that you replace these words and characters with appropriate entries to make entries in the system. Keys on the keyboard, for example, F2 or ENTER.

Example text

Example text <Example text>

EXAMPLE TEXT

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SAP BusinessObjects Accelerator Index Designer................................................................. 6 Landscape and Deployment............................................................................................... 7 Features and Functions ................................................................................................... 12 Installing the Index Designer ............................................................................................ 13 Starting the Index Designer .............................................................................................. 14 Creating BWA Indexes..................................................................................................... 14 Connecting Data Services and BW Accelerator ................................................................ 15 Editing and Modifying BWA indexes ................................................................................. 16 Data Modeling Workflow .................................................................................................. 16 Data Modeling Tutorial ..................................................................................................... 20 Preparing Data in the SAP BusinessObjects Data Services Designer ........................... 22 Creating and Modeling Accelerator Indexes .................................................................. 25 Executing Data Services Jobs ...................................................................................... 32 Exploring Data in SAP BusinessObjects Explorer ......................................................... 34 Advanced Modeling ......................................................................................................... 37 Configuring the Representation of Dimensions ............................................................. 37 Configuring Unit Conversion ......................................................................................... 39 Configuring Hierarchies ................................................................................................ 42 Configuring Autohierarchies.......................................................................................... 46

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SAP BusinessObjects Accelerator Index Designer

Purpose
SAP BusinessObjects Accelerator index designer (index designer) uses SAP BusinessObjects Data Services (Data Services) to extract data from sources, and then transform, cleanse, and load it into SAP BusinessObjects Accelerator (Accelerator) indexes. The index designer is an add-on to the Data Services Designer. The index designer enables modeling of Accelerator indexes on top of any source data. A target schema is calculated and stored as an SAP NetWeaver BWA datastore in the SAP BusinessObjects Data Services repository. The index designer generates Data Services jobs, which are needed to create, load, and delete the Accelerator index. The Data Services jobs are manually executed before the Accelerator indexes can be used.

The index designer creates a Data Services project containing several types of jobs: Data Services Jobs Created by Index Designer Job Name
Create Load Delete Rollback

Action
Creates or updates indexes in SAP NetWeaver BWA. Loads the data from the source system into the SAP NetWeaver BWA/Accelerator indexes Deletes the schema (Accelerator indexes) and all related data from SAP NetWeaver BWA. Rolls back an outstanding transaction after a load job has been

interrupted during execution.

For more information about the SAP BusinessObjects Data Services Designer, SAP BusinessObjects see SAP Help Portal http://help.sap.com/ All Data Services SAP BusinessObjects XI 3.2 Service Pack 1 Products Data Services Designer Guide

Data loaded into SAP NetWeaver BWA via Data Services can be deleted from the SAP NetWeaver BW system. In the SAP NetWeaver BW systems with SAP NetWeaver BWA, there is a Delete all data from BWA functionality. This not only deletes data loaded from SAP NetWeaver BW, but also data loaded via Data Services.

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Landscape and Deployment

SAP BusinessObjects Explorer, Accelerated Version
SAP BusinessObjects Explorer, accelerated version brings together the search and navigation capabilities of SAP BusinessObjects Explorer with SAP BusinessObjects Accelerator to provide an efficient way for you to navigate your business data and gain a clear view across your organization. The SAP BusinessObjects Explorer, accelerated version solution consists of the following components and subcomponents: SAP BusinessObjects Explorer (blade) SAP BusinessObjects Explorer SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise SAP BusinessObjects Client Tools SAP BusinessObjects SAP Integration for SAP Solutions SAP BusinessObjects Accelerator (blade) SAP BusinessObjects Data Services SAP BusinessObjects Accelerator index designer SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator [Optional] SAP NetWeaver 7.0 Enhancement Package 1 SPS (Support Package Stack) 5 (including SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse)

For more information, see the Knowledge Center at https://service.sap.com/bosap-explorer Master Guide SAP BusinessObjects Explorer, Accelerated Version.

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Landscape
The following diagram depicts SAP BusinessObjects Accelerator index designer as part of the overall landscape for SAP BusinessObjects Explorer, accelerated version:

SAP BusinessObjects Explorer (blade)

Integr. for SAP Solutions Integr. for SAP Solutions

Explorer, BOE, Explorer, BOE,

BW BW Accelerator Accelerator
Accelerator Accelerator Index Designer Index Designer

Business Business Warehouse Warehouse

SAP BusinessObjects Accelerator (blade)

Data Data Services Services

Deployment Diagram with Data Flows

The index designer runs on Microsoft Windows and is installed together with SAP BusinessObjects Data Services Designer. The front-end part of Data Services runs under Microsoft Windows and the server part runs on Linux.

For more information about installing the index designer as part of Data Services, see the SAP BusinessObjects Explorer, Accelerated Version Master Guide on SAP Service Marketplace at https://service.sap.com/bosap-explorer. The diagram below describes the data flows for SAP BusinessObjects Explorer, accelerated version, including SAP NetWeaver BW deployment.

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1. CONTROL Data Flow for Controlling the Data The Data Services user accesses the Data Services clients (including the index designer), which is installed and running on a Microsoft Windows host inside the blade landscape, via

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the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). The control data flow goes through the firewall. This guarantees that the blade landscape cannot be accessed without authorization. Using the client tools on a Microsoft Windows instance via Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) and Terminal Service Client is the most secure method and therefore strongly recommended by SAP.

Currently only one user at a time is allowed to access the client tools on each Microsoft Windows instance for technical reasons. To bypass this restriction, you can enable parallel usage of the client tools for several users by running several virtual Microsoft Windows instances on VMware. Another solution could be to install the client tools outside of the blade landscape and network, for example, locally on a Microsoft Windows machine. In that case, the customer has to open the firewall for the IP of the external client machine and has to ensure the security of this client machine. 2. LOAD Data Flow for Loading the Data The source data is extracted and loaded from the source database and loaded through the firewall via the Data Services server into SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator for processing. The necessary modeling and transformation processes are done using the Data Services Designer and the index designer. 3. EXPLORE Data Flow for Exploring the Data The processed data is then transferred back via the SAP BusinessObjects Explorer and SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise server through the firewall so that the end users can explore it using the SAP BusinessObjects Explorer UI. The workload of multiple users is distributed to several Web-tier servers using a load balancer.

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Workflow between Data Services Designer and Index Designer

The following diagram illustrates the workflow between the client and server components of SAP BusinessObjects Data Services and SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator:

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Features and Functions

Features
The index designer user interface comprises the following screen areas:

Project Area

Menu Area

Source Schema Area

Target Schema Area

Properties Area

Result Area

Dynamic Help Area

Screen Areas and Functions

The user interface for the index designer comprises the following screen areas and functions:

Screen Areas

Project The Project area contains an overview of objects that are related to your project, such as source tables, target tables, source joins, target joins, measures, and dimensions.

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Menu Project New Load Save Save As Advanced Exit Action Generate Target Update Target Repository Reconcile Source Datastore View Options Help Source Schema Properties Result Dynamic Help Choose F1 to display dynamic help texts. Dynamic help is typically available for entry fields.

Installing the Index Designer

Use
The index designer runs on Microsoft Windows only and must be installed on the same host on which the Data Services Windows client has been installed.

Prerequisites
You download the index designer software (file IndexDesigner.msi) from SAP Service Marketplace https://service.sap.com/swdc as part of SAP BusinessObjects Explorer, accelerated version.

For more information about installing the index designer as part of SAP BusinessObjects Data Services, see the SAP BusinessObjects Explorer, accelerated version Master Guide on SAP Service Marketplace at https://service.sap.com/bosap-explorer.

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Procedure
The installation for the index designer is shipped as a Microsoft Windows Installer *.msi file.
...

1. Start the Index Designer installation by double-clicking the IndexDesigner.msi file on the Microsoft Windows machine on which SAP BusinessObjects Data Services Designer is installed. 2. Follow the instructions on the installation screens. The installation also makes changes to the Microsoft Windows registry so that SAP BusinessObjects Data Services knows about the index designer. As a consequence of these Microsoft Windows system registry entries, the index designer can be started directly from the Data Designer UI. There is no program icon for starting the index designer.

Starting the Index Designer

Procedure
You start the index designer as follows:
...

1. Start SAP BusinessObjects Data Services Designer: Choose Start Data Services Programs SAP BusinessObjects XI 3.2 Data Services Designer. SAP BusinessObjects

For more information about SAP BusinessObjects Data Services Designer, see SAP BusinessObjects Data Services Designer Guide on SAP Help Portal. 2. From SAP BusinessObjects Data Services Designer, launch the index designer in one of the following ways: Creating BWA indexes [Page 14] Right-click the datastore that you want to use as the source and select Create Accelerator Index. Select columns within a datastore, then right-click your selection and select Create Accelerator index. Only the selected columns are used as the source for the index. Edit and modify BWA indexes [Page 16] In the Object Library area of SAP BusinessObjects Data Services Designer, navigate to Edit Accelerator Index. The index designer opens in a new window. From the Tools menu, choose Accelerator Index Designer. The index designer opens in a new window. You must load an existing project or create a project.

Creating BWA Indexes

Use
When initially starting the SAP BusinessObjects Accelerator index designer from SAP BusinessObjects Data Services Designer (see Starting the Index Designer [Page 14]), the

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index designer asks for specific parameters that are needed to create a project, to create BWA indexes, and to connect Data Services and SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator:

Parameters Requested for New Project Screen Parameters Source: Data Store: Target: Project/Datastore/Job/: Data Store Connection URL: Specify the project name Specify the URL of the SAP NetWeaver BWA server that the Data Services Designer will be connected to. URL syntax: trex://<BWA_hostname>:3<instance>16/ds Example: trex://ld4711.wdf.sap.corp:34716/ds You can test the connection between SAP NetWeaver BWA and SAP BusinessObjects Data Services Designer by choosing the Test button. If the connection has been established successfully, a successfully connected message appears. If the connection could not be established, a warning message with a short description appears. Specify the name of the source data store. Description

Result
SAP BusinessObjects Data Services and SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator are connected.

Connecting Data Services and BW Accelerator

Use
When initially starting the SAP BusinessObjects Accelerator index designer from SAP BusinessObjects Data Services Designer (see Starting the Index Designer [Page 14]), the index designer asks for specific parameters that are needed to create a project, to create BWA indexes and to connect Data Services and SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator. The connection between Data Services and SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator is established during the creation of BWA indexes by specifying the Datastore Connection URL. For more information, see Creating BWA Indexes [Page 14] Connection URL Parameters Data Store

Result
SAP BusinessObjects Data Services and SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator are connected.

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Editing and Modifying BWA indexes

Use
You can use SAP BusinessObjects Data Services Designer and the index designer to modify indexes and update the data in SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse Accelerator. To modify existing BWA indexes:
...

1. From SAP BusinessObjects Data Services Designer, right-click the BWA data store that you want to update and select Edit Accelerator Index. The index designer appears. 2. Use the index designer to make the desired changes to the indexes and then update the data flows and jobs. 3. To update the indexes and data in SAP NetWeaver BWA, do the following from SAP BusinessObjects Data Services Designer: a. From the Object Library, open the project containing the jobs and data flows updated by the index designer. b. Do one of the following: If your changes did not affect the number of tables or columns in the target schema, execute the Create job to physically update the index in SAP NetWeaver BWA. No Delete or Load jobs are necessary. If the Create job is unsuccessful with error ???, the changes were to complex and you have to perform the following procedure. If you changed the number of tables or columns in the target schema, execute the Delete, the Create, and the Load job. The original schema and data are deleted from SAP NetWeaver BWA. The Load job updates the indexes with the data from the source system.

Data Modeling Workflow

Purpose
The index designer allows you to define the table joins, measures, and dimensions based on detailed knowledge of the table structure of the loaded data. You define indexes by using the index designer to create the table structure and generate the corresponding Data Services jobs and objects.

For more information about modeling a data example, see the Data Modeling Tutorial [Page 19].

Use Cases and Prerequisites

The following prerequisites have to be met in order to successfully model data with SAP BusinessObjects Data Services Designer and the index designer. Data in source system structured in a star schema Ensure that your source data is structured in a star schema or simple relational schema. This means that all measures (key figures) are stored in one table (fact table) whereas the dimensions (characteristics) are stored in separate tables. The fact table and the corresponding dimension tables are referenced by keys. In addition the star schema needs to have referential integrity, that is, the relationship between primary key and foreign key needs to be consistent.

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Data in source system NOT structured in a star schema If the source data is not structured as a star schema (for example, if the data is from different source systems with different tables), you have to use SAP BusinessObjects Data Services Designer first to transform the data and load it into a star schema.

For more information, see SAP Note 1398651 Loading data via Data Service and Index Designer

Preparing Data in SAP BusinessObjects Data Services Designer

... ...

1.

If necessary, define a new datastore for the source database: a. From the Datastores tab of the object library, right-click in the blank area and choose New. b. Complete the required information in the Create New Datastore dialog and choose OK. The datastore name labels the connection to the database you will use as a source.

2. Import the metadata for the source tables: a. From the Datastores tab of the object library, right-click your datastore and choose Open. The items available to import through the datastore appear in the workspace. b. Select the items for which you want to import metadata. c. Right-click and choose Import. 3. Provide the transformations necessary to ensure consistent data. Typically, transformations are necessary to make sure that the business logic of the back-end applications is taken into account. This step is highly dependent on the backend application. 4. [Optional] Load the data in an intermediate database. If transformations are necessary, the transformed data is typically stored in an intermediate database.

Result: In SAP BusinessObjects Data Services Designer, the data is available in a Data Services datastore.

Creating and Modeling Accelerator Indexes

...

1. From SAP BusinessObjects Data Services Designer, you launch the index designer in one of the following ways: Right-click the datastore that you want to use as the source and choose Create Accelerator Index. Select tables within a datastore, then right-click your selection and choose Create Accelerator Index. Only the selected tables are used as the source for the index. 2. The index designer opens and asks for the project name and the BWA to be used. Specify the URL of the BWA server that the SAP BusinessObjects Data Services Designer is to be connected to. URL syntax: trex://<BWA_hostname>:3<instance>16/ds

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3. Start the modeling process based on detailed knowledge of the table structure. From the index designer, you define joins, measures, and dimensions in order to generate the target schema. Once you are satisfied with the target schema, generate the BWA datastore as well as the Data Services project containing the data flows and jobs necessary to create the indexes and load the data into SAP NetWeaver BWA. a. Define joins. b. Define measures (key figures). c. Define dimensions. After modeling, the Accelerator index with its joins, measures, and dimensions is in place: Joins connect tables using keys of the cardinalities 1:1, 1:n, n:1, n:m. Measures represent key figures or facts of interest. Dimensions represent the facets for subsequently analyzing the data in SAP Business Objects Explorer. 4. Initially create and validate the target schema by navigating to the index designer menu Action Generate Target (F6)

Generate Target creates the BWA index and corresponding metadata, but without creating BWA indexes physically. 5. Validate the target schema after changes have been done. If you have SAP NetWeaverBWA installed and accessible, you can use it for full validation. Without an installed SAP NetWeaver BWA, the target schema is only partially validated. The index designer target area is grey if the validation was unsuccessful. Double-click the error line to jump to the invalid item. Result: After creating and modeling Accelerator indexes, you can execute the Data Services jobs for creating and loading the corresponding BWA objects.

Execute Data Services Jobs

...

1. Generate the Data Services jobs by navigating to the index designer menu Update Target in Repository (F8).

Action

Update Target in Repository generates the corresponding objects in Data Services including the jobs for creating, deleting, and loading the SAP NetWeaver BWA indexes. The jobs generated by the index designer do not need any manual configuration. 2. From the SAP BusinessObjects Data Services Designer, create the indexes and load the data into SAP NetWeaver BWA as follows: From the Object Library, open the project containing the jobs and data flows created by the index designer. Execute the Create job to physically create the indexes in BWA. Execute the Load job to load the indexes with the data from the source system. Result: After execution of the Data Services jobs, the data is ready to be explored using SAP BusinessObjects Explorer.

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Exploring Data in SAP BusinessObjects Explorer

You configure SAP BusinessObjects Explorer to visualize and to explore the corresponding SAP NetWeaver BWA objects. You manage the information spaces from which SAP BusinessObjects Explorer reads SAP NetWeaver BWA data.

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Data Modeling Tutorial

Use
Use this modeling tutorial to familiarize yourself with the modeling and extraction tools and to understand the basic workflow for extracting and loading any source data by means of SAP BusinessObjects Data Services Designer and the index designer. This modeling example is based on the efashion database as shipped with the SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise installation.

Note that the modeling example provided here shows only basic data structures. In a customer landscape, you can find more complex data and data structures. The figure below describes the dataflow and workflow between the SAP BusinessObjects Data Services server and client components, the index designer and SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator:

During this modeling tutorial you do the following: Preparing Data in the SAP BusinessObjects Data Services Designer [Page 21] Creating and Modeling Accelerator Indexes [Page 25] Identify the source database structure, for example, the fact table and the corresponding keys

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Create an Accelerator index Define and create joins Define and create dimensions Define and create measures Generate the SAP NetWeaver BWA target structure Update target in repository Executing Data Services Jobs [Page 32] Create jobs Load jobs Exploring Data in SAP BusinessObjects Explorer [Page 34]

Prerequisites
You must have access to the efashion database example as shipped with the SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise installation. For more information about the efashion database example, see the guide Getting Started with BusinessObjects.

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Preparing Data in the SAP BusinessObjects Data Services Designer

Use
Before you can create and model Accelerator indexes, you prepare the data you want to operate on in SAP BusinessObjects Data Services Designer and make the data available in that way for modeling in the index designer.

Procedure
...

1. Start the SAP BusinessObjects Data Services Designer: Navigate to Start Programs BusinessObjects DataServices SAP BusinessObjects XI 3.2 Data Services Designer SAP

The SAP BusinessObjects Data Service Designer starts. 2. Create a datastore based on the efashion example:
...

a. Choose the Datastore tab in the Local Object Library. b. Right click and choose New.

Local Object Library

Tab Datastore

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The Create New Datastore dialog box appears:

3. In the Create New Datastore dialog, enter the user name and password for the user that has access rights to the efashion data provided. You must have already configured the connection to the efashion datastore using ODBC Administration. 4. In the Workspace area, open the tables of the efashion datastore example:

External Metadata

Workspace area

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5. In the Workspace area, select the tables that you want to import into your datastore and choose Import in the context menu. For this modeling example, we are using the following tables: ARTICLE_LOOKUP (dbo.Article.lookup) CALENDER_YEAR (dbo.Calender_year_lookup OUTLET_LOOKUP (dbo.Outlet_Lookup) SHOP_FACTS (dbo.Shop_facts)

After the import, the tables are available under the Datastore tab in the Local Object Library:

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Result
The data is available for use in the index designer.

Creating and Modeling Accelerator Indexes

Use
You use the data prepared for the SAP BusinessObjects Data Services Designer and use the index designer to create and model Accelerator indexes based on that data.

Procedure
...

1. Start the Accelerator Index Designer by right-clicking the efashion datastore in the Local Object Library and selecting Create Accelerator Index.

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2. The index designer starts with a New Project screen. Enter a name in the Project/Datastore/Job field:

eFashion_BWA

In the Source Schema area of the index designer, the tables are shown as Source Tables:

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Source Tables

When you click the source tables in the Source Schema area, the details of the table properties are shown in the Properties Area. In the Project area, you can see an overview of the available source tables as well:

Source Tables Project Area Source Schema Area

Properties Area

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The source tables of the efashion example comprise the following table fields and data types: Table article_lookup Table Field article_id article lable category familiy_code family_name sale_price Target Data Type 123 int abc string abc string abc string abc string 1.2 decFloat

Explanation: int: integer; decFloat: decimal floating For more information about target data types, select this column and choose F1 to display dynamic help. Table calender_year_lookup Table Field fiscal_period holiday_flag month_name mth qtr week_id week_in_year year_week yr Table shop_facts Table Field amount_sold article_id color_code margin quantity_sold shop_facts_id shop_id week_id Data Type 1.2 decFloat 123 int 123 int 123 int 1.2 decFloat 123 int 123 int 123 int Data Type abc string abc string abc string 123 int abc string 123 int 123 int abc string abc string

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SAP BusinessObjects Accelerator Index Designer Table outlet_lookup Table Field address_1 city date_open floor_space long_opening_hrs_flag manager owned_outright_flag shop_id shop_name state zip_code Data Type abc string abc string abc string 123 int abc string abc string abc string 123int abc string abc string 123 int

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3. Arrange the tables in such a way that the shop_facts table is in the middle and all other tables are grouped around it. 4. Define primary keys: One table field of each table needs to be defined as the primary key to uniquely identify it. If the database schema contains primary keys, they are normally extracted and predefined. In some cases (for example, if you are using an ODBC connection) the key information is lost and you have to define it again. You define the primary keys in the Properties area of the index designer:

When you have defined the primary keys, each primary key field is signified by a small key icon in front of the data type:

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SAP BusinessObjects Accelerator Index Designer 5. Define the following table fields as key fields: Table article_lookup calender_year_lookup shop_facts outlet_lookup Table Field article_id week_id shop_facts_id shop_id Data Type int int int int Icon

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6. Create joins: To relate the different tables to each other, you create joins between the tables. a. You create joins by choosing the table and the table field you want to create a join for and then open the context menu (right-click):

A dialog appears displaying the name of the table field you have chosen. b. When you choose OK, the index designer selects the field as a starting point for the join relationship. Navigate to the related join field of the other tables and click it using drag and drop. This establishes the relationship. c. Create joins between the following tables and table fields: Table 1 shop_facts shop_facts shop_facts Table 2 article_lookup calender_year_lookup outlet_lookup Table Field article_id week_id shop_id

In the Project area, you can see an overview of the created joins. 7. Create dimensions. a. You create dimensions by choosing the table and the table field you want to create dimensions for and then open the context menu (right-click):

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A dialog appears displaying the name of the table field you have chosen. You can differentiate between a Name and Display Name for the new dimension. You can also choose between the dimension types basic, hierarchy, and autoHierarchy. b. Create dimensions for the following tables and table fields Table article_lookup Table Field article_label category family_name calender_year_lookup month_name qtr (quarter) yr (year) outlet_lookup shop_name Data Type abc string abc string abc string abc string abc string abc string abc string Icon

In the Project area, you can see an overview of the defined dimensions.

8. Create measures. a. You create measures by choosing the table and the table field you want to create measures for and then open the context menu (right-click):

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A dialog appears displaying the name of the table field you have chosen: You can differentiate between a Name and Display Name for the new measure. You can also choose between the measure types basic and calculated. b. Create measures for the following table fields of the central fact table shop_facts: Table Field amount_sold margin quantity_sold Data Type 1.2 decFloat 123 int 123 int Icon

In the Project area, you can see an overview of the defined measures.

Result
You have created and modeled Accelerator indexes. You can now execute the Data Services jobs for creating (deleting) and loading the corresponding BWA objects.

Executing Data Services Jobs

Execute the jobs for SAP BusinessObjects Data Services Designer by navigating to the index designer menu and generating a target schema of the source schema you have modelled so far:
...

1. Choose Menu

Action

Generate Target (F6):

Source Schema

Menu

Generate Target (F6)

Project Area

Target Schema

Properties Area

Result Area

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In the Result area, you will see if the target schema has been created successfully. Error messages appear if the modeling of the source schema contained inconsistencies (for example Dimension not connected with Fact Table). In the Properties area, you can edit the table properties to correct the inconsistencies. In the Project area, you can see an overview of the defined source and target table measures. 2. Update the target schema in the repository: a. Choose Menu Action Update Target in Repository (F8).

The Update Target in Repository function generates the corresponding objects in the Data Services, such as jobs for creating, deleting, and loading Accelerator indexes. In the output area of the Update Data Services Repository dialog, all Data Services objects should be generated (target datastore and create, load, delete, and roll-back jobs):

b. Choose OK. 3. Switch to SAP BusinessObjects Data Services Designer, navigate to the Local Object Library area and open your projects on the Projects tab. 4. Open your project in the context menu (right-click) or double-click it. The Data Services jobs appear in the Project Area. 5. Execute the Data Services Create and Load jobs: a. Choose Execute from the context menu (right-click) for the Create job. b. Choose Execute from the context menu (right-click) for the Load job.

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2. execute jobs

Project Area

1. double-click to open

Local Object Library

Projects tab

6. Confirm all dialogs that appear and check whether or not the jobs have been executed without errors.

Result
You have successfully executed the Data Services jobs. The data is ready now to be explored via SAP BusinessObjects Explorer.

Exploring Data in SAP BusinessObjects Explorer

Use
You can explore the prepared data in SAP BusinessObjects Explorer.

Procedure
...

1. Enter the URL of SAP BusinessObjects Explorer. 2. Log on with administrative user permissions. 3. Navigate to Manage Spaces. 4. Open the Business Warehouse Accelerator tree in the Sources area. 5. Choose your Accelerator index and choose Information Spaces: New to create an information space for the selected index.

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The Create Information Space on: <Accelerator_index_name> dialog box appears.

6. On the Properties tab, enter a name for the information space you want create.

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7. On the Objects tab, choose the measures and dimensions (facets). You can choose Shift/Ctrl to select multiple objects.

8. Choose OK. 9. In the Manage Spaces area, index the information space you have created. During the indexing only the metadata of the information space is indexed for later use in the SAP BusinessObjects Explorer search. The indexing process for the Acclerator indexes on SAP NetWeaver BWA side is done during the execution of the Data Services Load job. 10. Navigate to the Home tab. 11. Choose Refresh list. 12. Choose the information space you have created. Typically, it is one of the last entries in the list of available information spaces. 13. Explore your information space.

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Advanced Modeling

Configuring the Representation of Dimensions

Use
If a table contains a key field with a corresponding text field, you can configure dimensions in the index designer in such a way that the text field is displayed whereas the key field is used to sort the entries. For example, if a table contains a month and a month_text field, it might be preferable to list the month text but sort them according to the month number:

Procedure
...

1. Define a dimension. Define a dimension by selecting a column in a joined table by choosing New Dimension from the context menu. Enter a meaningful display name. Now, choose the column that contains the text data as the source column. Check the Key Presentation and select the column of the key field. In this example, the key field is the month number and the text representation is the column month_name. Typically, you do not want to show the key (in this example, the number of the month) but instead a more meaningful text.

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2. Configure the information space. In Manage Spaces, create an information space for the specific Accelerator index and select the property. Make sure that you select the hierarchy checkbox. 3. Display the dimension in SAP BusinessObjects Explorer.

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Configuring Unit Conversion

Use
The unit conversion functionality of index designer cannot be compared with the exhaustive conversion functions of SAP NetWeaver BW (see Quantity Conversion). Currently, it offers simple conversion because this is useful for currency conversion without time dependency. To convert currency measures to several currencies, one approach could be to define one conversion and then to define several additional calculated measures that multiply the converted measure by a corresponding factor. Another approach could be to define several conversion tables and to create multiple joins. Based on the example described below, this would mean using several tables, for example 00_currency_to_eur, 00_currency_to_usd, 00_currency_to_sfr, all with the same layout currency_id/conversion. Then several joins are defined between sales_orders_fact/currency_id sales_orders_fact/currency_id 00_currency_to_eur/currency_id, 00_currency_to_usd and

sales_orders_fact/currency_id 00_currency_to_sfr. Now, several measures can be defined that use the different unit conversions.

Procedure
...

1. Create a conversion table. The unit conversion table typically has to be created beforehand if it is not already provided by the back-end application. The table structure in this example just contains two columns, one for the unit ID and one for the conversion factor. In this example, a currency conversion is explained. As mentioned above, the current function might not be sufficient because currency conversions typically depend on time and different conversion factors. The conversion table is only one-way, that means that there is only one target unit. In this example, all currencies are converted to EUR. The table layout could look as follows:

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The content for the table could look as follows:

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Select the data store, double-click and choose the new table here 00_CURRENCY_TO_EUR. Select the table in the right content area, right-click and import it. 3. Add it to your Accelerator Index. Edit the accelerator index project in the index designer. Choose Actions Source DataStore and import the new table. 4. Join the conversion table to your fact table. Create a join between the conversion table and your fact table using a unique ID. Reconcile

5. Define the unit conversion for all currency measures. Select the measure to be converted and select the Unit Conversion flag. Choose the unit conversion table and select the column that contains the conversion factor. The Destination Unit entry is used to describe the conversion, you enter the destination unit here.

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Configuring Hierarchies
Use
Hierarchies can be used to structure the data in a specific way, for example based on time criteria such as year, quarter, or month. Hierarchies are displayed in SAP BusinessObjects Explorer in a specific way that allows the user to explore the data hierarchically. To configure hierarchies, you need to work through several steps: Use a unique ID for the base dimension. Add further source dimensions to be used as the hierarchical nodes. Arrange the hierarchy from coarse to fine, for example Year Quarter Month.

All source dimensions need to be in the same table as the base dimension.

Procedure
...

1. Define a base dimension. The base dimension needs to contain strictly unique elements. Therefore you typically must choose a key column. The base dimension needs to be visible, otherwise the corresponding hierarchy is not displayed in SAP BusinessObjects Explorer. The base dimension is of type hierarchy.

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2. Define further dimensions. Select the base dimension and choose Append Dimension from the context menu.

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In the Source Dimension dropdown field, choose the column to be used for the specific dimension. Configure the dimensions from coarse to fine. Enter a meaningful Display Name. 3. Configure the information space. In Manage Spaces, create an information space for the specific Accelerator index and select the property. Make sure that you select the hierarchy checkbox.

4. Display the hierarchy in SAP BusinessObjects Explorer. In SAP BusinessObjects Explorer, select the Hierarchy icon to change the facet view.

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Choose the configured hierarchy.

In the facet, all elements of the hierarchy are now shown, sorted by the right-hand column. To navigate through the hierarchy, select Explore more . Select an entry and check the graphic.

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The hierarchical structure is visualized. To navigate, select the root or leaf node, for example the (Q)1 box. The result is shown in the screenshot below.

Configuring Autohierarchies
Use
Autohierarchies are similar to hierarchies with regard to their configuration except that autohierarchies are based on a calculated hierarchy. Therefore, the base dimension needs to be a positive integer, otherwise errors are reported. In our example, a hierarchy should be set up based on ZIP codes. The first level covers all states, that is all ZIP codes from 099999, 100000199999, 200000299999, and so on. Then, the next level groups the ZIP codes from 09999, 1000019999, 2000029999. The next levels are following this schema.

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Procedure
...

1. Define the base dimension. The base dimension represents an identifier of the table and is therefore typically the key column of the table. 2. Define the source dimension. The autohierarchy is calculated, therefore the source dimension needs to be a positive integer value. In the example here, the ZIP code is defined as data type Int. 3. Define the granularities. As described above for hierarchies, the autohierarchies are defined from the lower to the finer granularity. To determine the granularity, which is an integer value as well, find out which is the largest number of your source dimension, for example 923400. To group the values, you could, for example, take 100000, which would result in a maximum of 10 groups at the first level. Of course, you can define any other grouping by choosing suitable numbers for the granularity. For example, 200000 would group all the numbers in just 5 groups.

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4. Use the hierarchy in SAP BusinessObjects Explorer. The configuration of the autohierarchy is identical to the hierarchy that is described above. There are no differences. The result of the autohierarchy is shown in the screenshot below. The sorting of the groups is based on the selected measures from left (biggest) to right (smallest).

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