How to Combine SAP BW/4HANA InfoProvider with SAP HANA Views for Data Modeling and Analysis

SAP BW/4HANA is a data warehouse solution that runs on the SAP HANA platform and leverages its capabilities for data integration, modeling, and analysis. SAP BW/4HANA provides various types of InfoProviders, such as ADSOs, InfoCubes, or CompositeProviders, to store and organize data in different layers and formats.

SAP HANA is an in-memory database that offers high performance, scalability, and flexibility for data processing and analytics. SAP HANA provides various types of views, such as calculation views, analytical views, or attribute views, to model and expose data in different scenarios and perspectives.

However, sometimes you may need to combine data from SAP BW/4HANA InfoProviders with data from SAP HANA views to create more comprehensive and flexible data models and analytical objects. For example, you may want to:

Enrich your SAP BW/4HANA data with additional attributes or measures from SAP HANA views.
Join your SAP BW/4HANA data with other data sources that are modeled in SAP HANA views.
Leverage the advanced features of SAP HANA views, such as hierarchies, variables, or filters, in your SAP BW/4HANA data models and analytical objects.

How can you achieve this? The answer is: by using CompositeProviders.

CompositeProviders are a type of InfoProviders that allow you to merge data from multiple SAP BW/4HANA InfoProviders with data from SAP HANA views using union and join operations. The CompositeProvider’s join and union operations are performed in SAP HANA, which enables fast and efficient data processing and analysis.

In this blog post, you will learn how to create and use CompositeProviders to combine SAP BW/4HANA InfoProvider with SAP HANA views for data modeling and analysis. You will also learn the benefits and limitations of using CompositeProviders for this purpose.

How to create CompositeProviders?

You can create CompositeProviders using the Data Warehousing Workbench (transaction RSA1) or the BW Modeling Tools in Eclipse. The steps are as follows:

Open the Data Warehousing Workbench or the BW Modeling Tools and choose the BW Modeling perspective.
Create a new CompositeProvider by selecting your InfoArea, right-clicking on it, and choosing New > CompositeProvider.
Enter a name and a description for your CompositeProvider and choose Create.
In the graphical editor for modeling the CompositeProvider, insert the nodes on the canvas using the buttons at the bottom right of the screen. You can insert different types of nodes, such as ADSOs, InfoCubes, or calculation views.
Connect the nodes by drawing lines from the ports of the nodes. You can use union or join operations to connect the nodes. You can also use collection nodes to combine multiple chain threads into one thread.
Double-click on each node to specify its properties, such as name, description, parameters, or variants.
Save and activate your CompositeProvider.

How to use CompositeProviders?

You can use CompositeProviders just like other SAP BW/4HANA InfoProviders for data modeling and analysis. Some of the ways you can use CompositeProviders are:

You can run queries on a CompositeProvider just like on other SAP BW/4HANA InfoProviders. You can use various front-end tools, such as BEx Analyzer, Analysis for Microsoft Office, SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio, or SAP Analytics Cloud to display the query results in different formats.
You can generate a SAP HANA view from a CompositeProvider to enable SQL access to the data. You can use transaction RSO2HANA or the BW Modeling Tools to generate a calculation view from a CompositeProvider. You can then use various tools that support SQL access to SAP HANA views, such as SAP HANA Studio or third-party applications.
You can use a CompositeProvider as a source or target for other data models or analytical objects in SAP BW/4HANA or SAP HANA. For example, you can use a DTP to load data from or to a CompositeProvider, or you can use another CompositeProvider to combine data from a CompositeProvider with other sources.

What are the benefits and limitations of using CompositeProviders?

Using CompositeProviders to combine SAP BW/4HANA InfoProvider with SAP HANA views has several benefits and limitations that you should be aware of before using them. Some of these benefits and limitations are:

Benefits:
- You can create flexible and comprehensive data models that combine data from different sources and formats in one place.
- You can leverage the native capabilities of SAP HANA for fast and efficient data processing and analysis.
- You can reuse your existing SAP BW/4HANA InfoProviders and SAP HANA views without creating redundant or complex data models.
- You can access and visualize the data from CompositeProviders using various front-end tools that support SAP BW/4HANA InfoProviders or SAP HANA views.
Limitations:
- You can only use input parameters, not variables, in CompositeProviders.
- You may face performance issues or errors if you use too many nodes or complex operations in CompositeProviders.
- You may encounter data inconsistencies or conflicts if you use different data sources or update frequencies in CompositeProviders.

Conclusion

CompositeProviders are a powerful feature of SAP BW/4HANA that allow you to combine data from SAP BW/4HANA InfoProviders with data from SAP HANA views using union and join operations. CompositeProviders enable you to create flexible and comprehensive data models and analytical objects that leverage the native capabilities of SAP HANA for data processing and analysis.

You can create and use CompositeProviders using the Data Warehousing Workbench or the BW Modeling Tools in Eclipse. You can also access and visualize the data from CompositeProviders using various front-end tools that support SAP BW/4HANA InfoProviders or SAP HANA views.

However, you should also be aware of the benefits and limitations of using CompositeProviders for this purpose. You should use CompositeProviders wisely and carefully to avoid performance issues, errors, or data inconsistencies.

This content is generated by AI.