SAP NetWeaver BW and SAP BusinessObjects

Loren Heilig is the founder of IBSolution GmbH and has been its managing director since 2003. IBSolution GmbH is an innovative SAP NetWeaver service provider that has made a name for itself as a specialist in complex SAP NetWeaver projects. With predefined packages, IBSolution also proves that SAP projects don't always have to be expensive. Before founding IBSolution GmbH, Loren was a project lead at SAP Systems Integration AG and SAP AG. There he was responsible for setting up a BW consultancy team that focused on HR, and he coordinated the BW/HR projects at Saudi Aramco (in Saudi Arabia). In addition to more than twelve years of experience with the BW system (he implemented his first BW project with BW 1.2a), he has also conducted BW system training at SAP Germany and Switzerland for many years. Before beginning his professional career, Loren Heilig received a degree in industrial engineering from Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences, Germany. At IBSolution, he is responsible for the Sales and Marketing area. He also compiles the overall strategy of IBSolution and develops new business fields, such as master data processes and SAP NetWeaver Identity Management. Torsten Kessler works at SAP Deutschland AG & Co. KG. In 2006, he joined the Business Intelligence/SAP NetWeaver BW area as a consultant. During his first years in the SAP consulting area, he focused on reporting and analysis. He was responsible for the conceptual development and implementation of dashboards and portal-based analysis solutions. He then focused on the BW backend area. Today, Torsten primarily assumes responsibility for the design and development of LSA architectures and EDW concepts. He has many years of experience in the EDI area, which qualifies him in particular for the area of non-SAP system connections. Within EDW projects, he is the expert in data retrieval and data provision. In addition to his position at SAP Deutschland AG & Co. KG, Torsten develops and conducts the SAP course "BW Backend and Programming" for SAP Education. Thilo Knoetzele is the founder of BI eXcellence Software GmbH and has been its managing director since 2008. BI eXcellence Software GmbH creates innovative, user-friendly, and powerful BI applications and frontends. The BI eXcellence Suite provides both useful add-ons for SAP NetWeaver BW and open BI solutions, such as REBOARD--a comprehensive and sophisticated solution for mobile devices. Among other things, the BW add-on portfolio comprises dashboards that can be created with little effort and high integrity in the BEx Web Application Designer and the export of BW reports to Adobe PDF, Microsoft Word, or PowerPoint. Thilo's many years of experience with SAP NetWeaver BW and his knowledge of the requirements and problems involved using BI solutions ensure that all products support all specifications and popular functions of SAP NetWeaver BW. Before founding BI eXcellence Software GmbH, Thilo worked at SAP AG and SAP Deutschland GmbH in the Business Content development area and was a senior consultant for SAP NetWeaver BW for nearly ten years. He was responsible for the analysis of purchasing processes and the vendor evaluation issue. In addition, he participated in international projects, for example, for the Defense Logistics Agency (USA) and for Volvo (Sweden). Thilo holds a degree in information management from the Cooperative State University in Mannheim, Germany. Dr. Peter John studied physics at RWTH Aachen University and was awarded a PhD in theoretical elementary particle physics from the University of Heidelberg. He joined SAP in 2006 and is a software architect in the SAP NetWeaver BW area. There he works in the OLAP, integrated planning, and security field. He designed and developed the new concept of analysis authorizations as the successor to the former reporting authorization concept in BW. In 2007, Karin Thaler-Mieslinger joined IBSolution GmbH as a solution consultant in the reporting area, where she supports numerous renowned customers in design and implementation projects for reporting solutions based on the integration of SAP NetWeaver BW and SAP BusinessObjects. In her studies in industrial engineering with a focus on technology and business at Karlsruhe University, Germany, she examined the issues of reporting and consulting in detail in various projects for multinational enterprises.

... Introduction ... 21

PART I ... Business Intelligence Fundamentals ... 29

1 ... Business Intelligence in the Enterprise ... 31
... 1.1 ... What is Business Intelligence? ... 31
... 1.2 ... Layer Model of the BI Architecture ... 33
... 1.3 ... User Groups in the Enterprise ... 35
... 1.4 ... Data Warehousing ... 36
... 1.5 ... Data Staging ... 39
... 1.6 ... Online Analytical Processing ... 42
... 1.7 ... Business Reporting ... 52

2 ... Overview of SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 and SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.0 ... 59
... 2.1 ... Overview ... 60
... 2.2 ... Main BI Terms ... 61
... 2.3 ... New Features in SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 ... 73
... 2.4 ... New Features in SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.0 ... 78
... 2.5 ... Using SAP NetWeaver BW 7.3 and SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.0 Together ... 80
... 2.6 ... Data Modeling ... 82
... 2.7 ... Data Staging ... 96
... 2.8 ... Extraction ... 99
... 2.9 ... Administration of the BW System ... 103
... 2.10 ... Analyses (Reporting) ... 105
... 2.11 ... Planning with BW Integrated Planning ... 116
... 2.12 ... Outlook ... 120

PART II ... Backend ... 125

3 ... Data Modeling ... 127
... 3.1 ... Data Warehousing Workbench ... 128
... 3.2 ... InfoObjects ... 155
... 3.3 ... DataStore Objects ... 198
... 3.4 ... InfoCubes ... 221
... 3.5 ... Special InfoProviders ... 240
... 3.6 ... Aggregates and BW Accelerator ... 259
... 3.7 ... Data Flow ... 267
... 3.8 ... Load Processes ... 296
... 3.9 ... Report-Report Interface ... 310

4 ... Extraction ... 315
... 4.1 ... DataSource ... 316
... 4.2 ... Extraction from SAP Source Systems ... 317
... 4.3 ... Extraction from Non-SAP Systems ... 327
... 4.4 ... Extraction with SAP BusinessObjects Data Services ... 334
... 4.5 ... Integration of SAP NetWeaver BW and SAP BusinessObjects Data Services ... 339
... 4.6 ... Delta Capability ... 341

5 ... Administration ... 349
... 5.1 ... Data Supply ... 349
... 5.2 ... InfoPackages ... 353
... 5.3 ... Process Chains ... 356
... 5.4 ... System Monitoring ... 364
... 5.5 ... Transport System ... 372

6 ... Authorizations ... 381
... 6.1 ... Transaction Authorizations ... 382
... 6.2 ... Analysis Authorizations ... 384
... 6.3 ... Conclusion ... 407

7 ... SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform ... 409
... 7.1 ... Structure and Architecture ... 410
... 7.2 ... Data Providers--Common Semantic Layer and BICS ... 423
... 7.3 ... Queries in the Clients ... 437

PART III ... Frontend ... 443

8 ... BEx Query Designer ... 445
... 8.1 ... SAP Business Explorer Suite ... 445
... 8.2 ... BW Query ... 447
... 8.3 ... Structure of the BEx Query Designer ... 449
... 8.4 ... Getting Started ... 471
... 8.5 ... Filters ... 478
... 8.6 ... Structure Definition ... 482
... 8.7 ... Structures ... 483
... 8.8 ... Selection ... 486
... 8.9 ... Formulas ... 489
... 8.10 ... Calculated and Restricted Key Figures ... 493
... 8.11 ... Designing Variable BW Queries ... 494
... 8.12 ... Special Functions ... 503

9 ... General Query Navigation ... 521
... 9.1 ... Restricting the Value Range of a Report ... 522
... 9.2 ... Navigation Options ... 527
... 9.3 ... Modifying the Display of a BEx Report ... 531

10 ... BEx Analyzer ... 537
... 10.1 ... Overview ... 537
... 10.2 ... Analysis Mode ... 546
... 10.3 ... Design Mode ... 552

11 ... SAP BusinessObjects Analysis ... 561
... 11.1 ... Overview ... 561
... 11.2 ... Getting Started ... 563
... 11.3 ... Functions ... 568
... 11.4 ... Settings ... 577
... 11.5 ... Presentation in Microsoft PowerPoint ... 580

12 ... BEx Web Analyzer ... 583
... 12.1 ... Overview ... 583
... 12.2 ... Integration with SAP NetWeaver Portal ... 585
... 12.3 ... Functions ... 586

13 ... BEx Web Application Designer ... 597
... 13.1 ... Overview ... 597
... 13.2 ... Structure of the BEx Web Application Designer ... 603
... 13.3 ... Creating Web Templates ... 612
... 13.4 ... Advanced Functions ... 617

14 ... SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence ... 623
... 14.1 ... Structure ... 623
... 14.2 ... Getting Started ... 628
... 14.3 ... Functions ... 630
... 14.4 ... Ad-Hoc Analysis ... 637

15 ... SAP Crystal Reports ... 639
... 15.1 ... Interface Structure ... 640
... 15.2 ... Getting Started ... 643
... 15.3 ... Filters and Parameters ... 644
... 15.4 ... Groupings ... 649
... 15.5 ... Charts ... 653
... 15.6 ... Subreports ... 657
... 15.7 ... Modified Functions ... 660

16 ... SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards ... 665
... 16.1 ... Structure and Functions ... 665
... 16.2 ... Getting Started ... 671
... 16.3 ... Integration with SAP NetWeaver BW ... 679
... 16.4 ... Components and Their Properties ... 682

17 ... SAP BusinessObjects Explorer ... 689
... 17.1 ... Structure ... 689
... 17.2 ... Getting Started ... 691
... 17.3 ... Administration ... 698

PART IV ... Evaluations on BW Basis ... 701

18 ... BW Integrated Planning ... 703
... 18.1 ... Overview of the Planning Process ... 704
... 18.2 ... Modeling of Data Retention ... 706
... 18.3 ... Planning Modeling in ABAP or Java ... 707
... 18.4 ... BW Query: Creating Input Masks with the BEx Query Designer ... 714

19 ... SAP SEM-BCS ... 717
... 19.1 ... Overview of SAP Consolidation Solutions ... 717
... 19.2 ... Fields of Implementation for SAP SEM-BCS ... 719
... 19.3 ... The Concept of SAP SEM-BCS ... 722
... 19.4 ... Process of Creating a Financial Statement ... 727
... 19.5 ... Summary ... 733

... Appendices ... 735
... A ... Abbreviations ... 737
... B ... Glossary ... 741
... C ... Bibliography ... 753
... D ... Tables ... 755
... E ... Transactions ... 759
... F ... SAP Notes ... 765
... G ... The Authors ... 769

... Index ... 773