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Use Case 2: Accessing SAP BW/4HANA Data from SAP HANA Native Models
Another use case of mixed strategies is to access data from SAP BW/4HANA-managed schema from any other schema in the SAP HANA database. This can be useful when you have existing or custom applications or solutions that are based on SAP HANA native models, such as calculation views or CDS views, and you want to integrate them with your SAP BW/4HANA data models. For example, you may want to:
- Enhance your SAP HANA native models with additional attributes or measures from SAP BW/4HANA models
- Perform cross-system reporting and analytics on data from both SAP BW/4HANA and SAP HANA native models
- Develop innovative solutions using advanced analytics and AI on data from both SAP BW/4HANA and SAP HANA native models
There are two main ways to access data from SAP BW/4HANA-managed schema from any other schema in the SAP HANA database: virtual access and replication.
Virtual Access
Virtual access means that you can access the data from SAP BW/4HANA-managed schema without physically copying or storing it in any other schema. This has the advantage of saving storage space and reducing data redundancy. However, it also has some drawbacks, such as:
- The performance may depend on the network bandwidth and the SAP BW/4HANA system availability
- The data quality and security may not be consistent with the SAP HANA native standards
- The data may not be available for further processing or transformation in SAP HANA native models
There are two main options for virtual access: External SAP HANA View and Open SQL Schema.
External SAP HANA View
An External SAP HANA View is a way to create a SAP HANA view on top of a SAP BW/4HANA InfoProvider, such as an Advanced DataStore Object (ADSO), a CompositeProvider, or an Open ODS View. You can use an External SAP HANA View to expose your SAP BW/4HANA data to any other schema in the SAP HANA database, and use it as a source for your SAP HANA native models. An External SAP HANA View is especially recommended when you want to have a simple and fast access to your SAP BW/4HANA data, without applying any transformations or calculations.
To create an External SAP HANA View, follow these steps:
- In the SAP BW Modeling Tools (Eclipse), right-click on your InfoProvider and select Generate External SAP HANA View.
- Enter a technical name and a description for your External SAP HANA View.
- Select the schema where you want to create your External SAP HANA View.
- Save and activate your External SAP HANA View.
Open SQL Schema
An Open SQL Schema is a way to create a virtual schema that maps to the SAP BW/4HANA-managed schema in the SAP HANA database. You can use an Open SQL Schema to access your SAP BW/4HANA data using Open SQL statements, such as SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE. You can also use an Open SQL Schema as a source for your SAP HANA native models. An Open SQL Schema is especially recommended when you want to have more flexibility and control over the access to your SAP BW/4HANA data, and apply custom transformations or calculations.
To create an Open SQL Schema, follow these steps:
- In the SAP Web IDE for SAP HANA (Web Browser), open the Database Explorer and connect to your SAP HANA database.
- Right-click on Schemas and select New Schema.
- Enter a technical name and a description for your Open SQL Schema.
- Select Remote Source as the schema type.
- Select ABAP as the adapter name.
- Enter the connection details for your SAP BW/4HANA system, such as host name, port number, user name, and password.
- Save and deploy your Open SQL Schema.
Replication
Replication means that you can copy or store the data from SAP BW/4HANA-managed schema in any other schema in the SAP HANA database. This has the advantage of improving the performance and availability of the data, as well as ensuring the data quality and security according to the SAP HANA native standards. However, it also has some drawbacks, such as:
- The storage space and data redundancy may increase
- The data may not be up to date with the SAP BW/4HANA system
- The data may require additional processing or transformation in SAP HANA native models
There are two main options for replication: Smart Data Access and Smart Data Integration.
Smart Data Access
Smart Data Access (SDA) is a feature of SAP HANA that allows you to connect to various data sources, such as databases, files, web services, etc., and access data from them using virtual tables or views. You can use SDA to create a virtual table or view that maps to a SAP BW/4HANA InfoProvider in any other schema in the SAP HANA database. You can then use this virtual table or view as a source for your SAP HANA native models. SDA is especially recommended when you want to have a fast and flexible access to your SAP BW/4HANA data, without persisting any data in the target schema.
To create a virtual table or view with SDA, follow these steps:
- In the SAP Web IDE for SAP HANA (Web Browser), open the Database Explorer and connect to your target schema.
- Right-click on Tables or Views and select New Table or New View.
- Enter a technical name and a description for your virtual table or view.
- Select Remote Source as the table or view type.
- Select ABAP as the adapter name.
- Enter the connection details for your SAP BW/4HANA system, such as host name, port number, user name, and password.
- Select the InfoProvider from the list of available objects.
- Save and deploy your virtual table or view.
Smart Data Integration
Smart Data Integration (SDI) is a feature of SAP HANA that allows you to connect to various data sources, such as databases, files, web services, etc., and replicate data to SAP HANA tables or views. You can use SDI to create a physical replication scenario that transfers data from a SAP BW/4HANA InfoProvider to any other schema in the SAP HANA database. You can then use this schema as a source for your SAP HANA native models. SDI is especially recommended when you want to have a fast and flexible replication scenario that supports real-time or batch modes, delta or full loads, and various transformations.
To create a replication scenario with SDI, follow these steps:
- In the SAP Web IDE for SAP HANA (Web Browser), open the Database Explorer and connect to your target schema.
- Right-click on Tables or Views and select New Table or New View.
- Enter a technical name and a description for your target table or view.
- Define the columns and data types for your target table or view.
- Save and deploy your target table or view.
- Right-click on your target schema and select New > Flowgraph.
- Enter a technical name and a description for your flowgraph.
- Drag and drop your source object from the Catalog Browser to the canvas.
- Drag and drop your target table or view from the Catalog Browser to the canvas.
- Connect your source object and your target table or view by using an operator, such as Projection, Join, Union, etc.
- Define the mapping and transformation rules for your operator.
- Save and deploy your flowgraph.
- Optionally, edit your flowgraph by adding filters, calculations, aggregations, etc.
Conclusion
SAP BW/4HANA and SAP HANA native models are two different data modelling approaches that are available in the SAP system. They have different features, capabilities, and use cases that make them suitable for different scenarios. Mixed strategies are the combination of these approaches that allow you to access and merge data from SAP BW/4HANA and SAP HANA native models, using virtual or replication methods. In this blog post, we have explored some use cases of mixed strategies in SAP BW/4HANA modelling, and showed you how to implement them step by step.
We hope this blog post has helped you understand the benefits and challenges of mixed strategies in SAP BW/4HANA modelling, as well as how to choose the best strategy for your scenario. If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to leave a comment below.
Disclaimer: This content is generated by AI.