How to Track Data Lineage in SAP BW/4HANA

How to Track Data Lineage in SAP BW/4HANA

How to Track Data Lineage in SAP BW/4HANA

Data lineage is the process of tracing the origin, transformation and usage of data in a data warehouse. Data lineage helps to ensure data quality, compliance and governance by providing visibility into the data flow and dependencies. Data lineage also enables data analysis, impact assessment and root cause analysis.

In this blog post, we will show you how to track data lineage in SAP BW/4HANA, the data warehouse solution that is highly optimized for the SAP HANA platform. We will also provide some examples of data lineage scenarios using the built-in tools and features of SAP BW/4HANA.

What is SAP BW/4HANA?

SAP BW/4HANA is a data warehouse solution that offers a managed approach to data warehousing. This means that prefabricated templates (building blocks) are offered for building a data warehouse in a standardized way. SAP BW/4HANA leverages the power and speed of SAP HANA to provide real-time insights and analytics on large volumes of data from various sources.

SAP BW/4HANA consists of four key areas: data modeling, data acquisition, analysis and agile access to information via BW Workspaces. Data modeling is the process of defining the structure, relationships and semantics of the data in the data warehouse. Data acquisition is the process of extracting, transforming and loading (ETL) data from various sources into the data warehouse. Analysis is the process of querying, reporting and visualizing the data in the data warehouse. Agile access to information is the process of creating ad-hoc views and queries on the data in the data warehouse without affecting the underlying data model.

Why is Data Lineage Important in SAP BW/4HANA?

Data lineage is important in SAP BW/4HANA for several reasons:

  • Data lineage helps to ensure data quality by identifying the source, transformation and usage of data in the data warehouse. This helps to verify the accuracy, completeness and consistency of the data.
  • Data lineage helps to ensure compliance and governance by documenting the origin, transformation and usage of data in the data warehouse. This helps to comply with regulatory requirements, audit trails and data policies.
  • Data lineage helps to enable data analysis by providing visibility into the data flow and dependencies in the data warehouse. This helps to understand the context, meaning and relevance of the data.
  • Data lineage helps to enable impact assessment by showing how changes in one part of the data warehouse affect other parts. This helps to evaluate the risks and benefits of making changes to the data model, ETL processes or source systems.
  • Data lineage helps to enable root cause analysis by showing how errors or issues in one part of the data warehouse propagate to other parts. This helps to identify and resolve problems in the data quality, ETL processes or source systems.

How to Track Data Lineage in SAP BW/4HANA?

SAP BW/4HANA provides various tools and features to track data lineage in different levels and perspectives. Some of these tools and features are:

  • Data Flow Modeler: The Data Flow Modeler is a graphical tool that allows you to design, document and visualize the ETL processes in SAP BW/4HANA. You can use the Data Flow Modeler to create, edit and display data flows that consist of InfoProviders, transformations, DTPs (data transfer processes), InfoSources, DataSources and source systems. You can also use the Data Flow Modeler to display the dependencies between objects in a data flow, such as where-used lists, impact analysis and root cause analysis.
  • Where-Used List: The Where-Used List is a feature that allows you to display all the objects that use or are used by a selected object in SAP BW/4HANA. You can use the Where-Used List to track the usage of InfoObjects, InfoProviders, transformations, DTPs, InfoSources, DataSources and source systems. You can also use the Where-Used List to navigate to the corresponding objects or display their properties.
  • Impact Analysis: The Impact Analysis is a feature that allows you to display all the objects that are affected by a change in a selected object in SAP BW/4HANA. You can use the Impact Analysis to track the impact of changes in InfoObjects, InfoProviders, transformations, DTPs, InfoSources, DataSources and source systems. You can also use the Impact Analysis to simulate or execute the changes or display their properties.
  • Root Cause Analysis: The Root Cause Analysis is a feature that allows you to display all the objects that cause an error or issue in a selected object in SAP BW/4HANA. You can use the Root Cause Analysis to track the root cause of errors or issues in InfoObjects, InfoProviders, transformations, DTPs, InfoSources, DataSources and source systems. You can also use the Root Cause Analysis to display the error messages or display their properties.
  • Data Lineage View: The Data Lineage View is a feature that allows you to display the data lineage of a selected field or column in SAP BW/4HANA. You can use the Data Lineage View to track the origin, transformation and usage of a field or column in an InfoProvider, CompositeProvider, Open ODS view or query. You can also use the Data Lineage View to navigate to the corresponding objects or display their properties.

Examples of Data Lineage Scenarios in SAP BW/4HANA

To illustrate how to track data lineage in SAP BW/4HANA, we will provide some examples of data lineage scenarios using the tools and features mentioned above.

Example 1: Data Flow Modeler

Suppose you want to track the data lineage of the sales revenue in a data warehouse that consists of the following objects:

  • A DataSource ZDS_SALES that extracts sales data from a source system ZSYS_SALES
  • An InfoSource ZIS_SALES that receives the sales data from the DataSource ZDS_SALES
  • A transformation ZTR_SALES that applies business rules and calculations to the sales data
  • A DTP ZDTP_SALES that loads the sales data from the InfoSource ZIS_SALES to the InfoProvider ZCUBE_SALES
  • An InfoProvider ZCUBE_SALES that stores the sales data in a SAP HANA optimized cube
  • A query ZQUERY_SALES that displays the sales revenue by product category and region

To track the data lineage of the sales revenue using the Data Flow Modeler, you can follow these steps:

  1. Open the Data Flow Modeler in SAP BW/4HANA.
  2. Enter ZQUERY_SALES as the object name and select Query as the object type.
  3. Click on Display Data Flow.
  4. The Data Flow Modeler will display the data flow of ZQUERY_SALES, which consists of ZCUBE_SALES, ZDTP_SALES, ZTR_SALES, ZIS_SALES, ZDS_SALES and ZSYS_SALES.
  5. You can see that the sales revenue is derived from the key figure NETWR in ZCUBE_SALES, which is calculated from NETWR and KURRF in ZTR_SALES, which are mapped from NETWR and KURRF in ZIS_SALES, which are extracted from NETWR and KURRF in ZDS_SALES, which are sourced from NETWR and KURRF in ZSYS_SALES.
  6. You can also see the dependencies between the objects in the data flow, such as where-used lists, impact analysis and root cause analysis.

Example 2: Where-Used List

Suppose you want to track the usage of the DataSource ZDS_SALES in the data warehouse. To track the usage of ZDS_SALES using the Where-Used List, you can follow these steps:

  1. Open the Where-Used List in SAP BW/4HANA.
  2. Enter ZDS_SALES as the object name and select DataSource as the object type.
  3. Click on Execute.
  4. The Where-Used List will display all the objects that use or are used by ZDS_SALES, which are ZIS_SALES, ZTR_SALES, ZDTP_SALES, ZCUBE_SALES and ZQUERY_SALES.
  5. You can see that ZDS_SALES is used by ZIS_SALES as a source of data, and is used by ZTR_SALES, ZDTP_SALES, ZCUBE_SALES and ZQUERY_SALES as a dependency.
  6. You can also navigate to the corresponding objects or display their properties.

Example 3: Impact Analysis

Suppose you want to track the impact of changing the currency conversion rate in the transformation ZTR_SALES in the data warehouse. To track the impact of changing the currency conversion rate using the Impact Analysis, you can follow these steps:

  1. Open the Impact Analysis in SAP BW/4HANA.
  2. Enter ZTR_SALES as the object name and select Transformation as the object type.
  3. Click on Display Impact Analysis.
  4. The Impact Analysis will display all the objects that are affected by a change in ZTR_SALES, which are ZDTP_SALES, ZCUBE_SALES and ZQUERY_SALES.
  5. You can see that changing the currency conversion rate will affect the calculation of the key figure NETWR in ZCUBE_SALES, which will affect the display of the sales revenue in ZQUERY_SALES. 6. You can also simulate or execute the changes or display their properties.

Example 4: Root Cause Analysis

Suppose you want to track the root cause of an error in the DTP ZDTP_SALES in the data warehouse. To track the root cause of an error using the Root Cause Analysis, you can follow these steps:

  1. Open the Root Cause Analysis in SAP BW/4HANA.
  2. Enter ZDTP_SALES as the object name and select Data Transfer Process as the object type.
  3. Click on Display Root Cause Analysis.
  4. The Root Cause Analysis will display all the objects that cause an error in ZDTP_SALES, which are ZTR_SALES and ZDS_SALES.
  5. You can see that the error is caused by a mismatch in the data types of the fields NETWR and KURRF in ZTR_SALES and ZDS_SALES, which are mapped from ZIS_SALES.
  6. You can also display the error messages or display their properties.

Example 5: Data Lineage View

Suppose you want to track the data lineage of the field NETWR in the query ZQUERY_SALES in the data warehouse. To track the data lineage of the field NETWR using the Data Lineage View, you can follow these steps:

  1. Open the Data Lineage View in SAP BW/4HANA.
  2. Enter ZQUERY_SALES as the object name and select Query as the object type.
  3. Click on Display Data Lineage View.
  4. The Data Lineage View will display the data lineage of the field NETWR in ZQUERY_SALES, which consists of ZCUBE_SALES, ZTR_SALES, ZIS_SALES, ZDS_SALES and ZSYS_SALES.
  5. You can see that the field NETWR is derived from the key figure NETWR in ZCUBE_SALES, which is calculated from NETWR and KURRF in ZTR_SALES, which are mapped from NETWR and KURRF in ZIS_SALES, which are extracted from NETWR and KURRF in ZDS_SALES, which are sourced from NETWR and KURRF in ZSYS_SALES.
  6. You can also navigate to the corresponding objects or display their properties.

Conclusion

In this blog post, we have shown you how to track data lineage in SAP BW/4HANA with examples. We have also explained why data lineage is important and what tools and features are available in SAP BW/4HANA to track data lineage. We hope that this blog post has helped you to understand how to track data lineage in SAP BW/4HANA and how to use it for data quality, compliance, governance, analysis, impact assessment and root cause analysis.

Disclaimer: This content is generated by AI.

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