BW Questions & Answers

143
201 Interview Questions

Transcript of BW Questions & Answers

Page 1: BW Questions & Answers

201 Interview Questions

Page 2: BW Questions & Answers

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWORD ........................................................................ 1 0

KEY QUESTIONS ................................................................. 13 Basic ............................................................................................ 14

Intermediate ................................................................................. 16

Expert ......................................................................................... 2l

...................... CHAPTER 1: BW Administratio11 and Design 25

Basic Concepts ............................................................................. 2 6

BW Settings in SPRO ..................................................................... 44

Non Cumulative Key Figures ............................................................ 47

A~~thorizations .............................................................................. 5 0

BW Archival and retrieve ................................................................ 55

Process Chai~is .............................................................................. 57

Open Hub ..................................................................................... 6 2

Tuning ......................................................................................... 6 4

RSRV ............................................................................................ 67

ODs ............................................................................................ 69

BW Statistics ................................................................................ 72

Aggregates ................................................................................... 7 4

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Table o f c o n t e n t s

........ CHAPTER 2: BW Reporting (BEx and Web Reporting) 79

......................................................................... Business Explorer 80

................................................................... Calculated key figures 82

........................................................................ Boolean Operators 84

...................................................................... Structures and cells 85

.......................................................... Before and after aggregation 86

..................................................................... Key figure properties 88

................................................................... Hierarchies in Reports 90

........................................................... User Exits for Bex Reporting 92

Variables ..................................................................................... 95

.......................................................................... Query properties 100

.......................................................................... Document utility 'I03

.................................................................... Query Administration 104

Conditions and Exceptions ..................................................... 105

.......................................................................... Reporting Agent 108

............................................................... Web Application Designer 112

.................................................... CHAPTER 3: Extraction 121

............................................................................ Basic Concepts 122

.............................................................................. Class System 129

..................................................................... Generic Data source 130

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T a b l e o f c o n t e n t s

LIS Extraction ............................................................................... 131

LO Extraction .............................................................................. 134

CO-PA Extraction .......................................................................... 137

CO-PA Retraction ......................................................................... 140

Enhancing data extraction ............................................................. 142

DB Connect ................................................................................. 145

Currency Translation in BW ........................................................... 147

CHAPTER 4: BW Fu~~ctional ............................................. 149

ASAP methodology ....................................................................... 150

............................................................ Business Content and roles l5l

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INTRODUCTION How to use this book:

As a consultant / analyst:

J Start by reading this book from cover to cover. J Repeat that until you think you know all the details. J Now practice what you have learnt in the system.

If you are an employer looking to hirelcontract a BW professional:

*, The first part of the book highlights key questions that you should be able to ask a candidate and therefore gauge their competency based on their answers.

J By randomly adding in a few questions from the rest of the book you can focus on a specific area and ensure that the candidate really knows the relevant information.

J Before interviewing a candidate, always make sure that you fully understand the question and the answer. Although every effort has been made to make the questions and answers simple in their explanation, some questions may still not make sense to an untrained user.

J We suggest highlighting those questions that you wish to ask, familiarizing yourself with the answers and then conducting the interview.

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Note that the chapter / topic that: the question covcrs is always listed on the top of each page. This is because it is always

important to know in what context the question w;ls asked, to ensure that the candidate can respond to it as correctly as possible e.g. If you are asking a reporting question then explain to the candidate that the following question pertains to reporting.

Key :

Each question has a rating which is illustrated by the tollowing symbols:

0 Basic

0 0 Intermediate

000 Expert

As an added benefit we've included several worksheets and bonus material on Geniepress.com, including candidate worksheets which have all the questions marked out for yoi~, provide space for the candidates name, the date of interview and their overall scores.

There are also links to other BW data provided by the author, such as SAP'S standard cubes. Links to SAPGcnic's BW material are also available from this bonus arca.

To access this information: go to http://www.rrenicr,ress.com/

201 bw and enter the username 201 bw and password lsd2lk

Good luck and enjoy!

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K e y [ l u e s t i o n s

Basic 1. What are the advantages of an Extended star schema of

BW vs. 'The star schema? 9 Uses generated numeric keys and aggregates in its

own tables for faster access. 9 Uses an external hierarchy. 9 Supports multiple languages. 9 Contains master data common to ;dl cubcs. 9 Supports slowly changing dimensions.

2. How maliy tliniensio~is are there ill a cube? There are a total of 16 dimensions in a culx. Of these 16, 3 are predefined by SAP and thcsc arc timc, unit and request. This leaves the customer uri th 1 3 dimensions.

3. What is the transaction for the Adrr~inistrator work bench?

Transaction RSA 1

4. Wliat is tlie "myself data mart"?

A BW system feeding data to itself is called the myself data mart. It is created automatically and ilscs ALE for data transfer.

5. What is an aggregate?

Aggregates are mini cubes. They arc uscd to improvc performance when executing queries. l'ou can cquate them to indexes on a table. Aggregates klrc transparent to the user.

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B a s i c

6 . Wliat is a calculated key figure?

A calculated key figure is ilsed to do complicated calculations on key figures such as mathematical functions, percentage filnctions and total filnctions. For example, you can have a calculated key figure to calci~late sales tax based on your sale price.

7. What is the enl ia~icement user exit for BEx reportilig?

8. What is a characteristics variable?

You can have dynamic input for characteristics using a characteristic variable. For example, if you are developing a sales rcport for a given product, you will define a variable for OMATERIAL.

9. What i s a condition?

If yo11 want to filter on key figures or do a ranked analysis then you use a condition. For example, you can use a condition to report on the top 10 customers, or customers with more than a million dollars in annual salcs.

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K e v O u e s t i o n s

Intermediate '10. What are the data types s1.1pported by characteristics?

4 NUMC Numeric

4 CHAR (up to 60) IJp to 60 characters

4 DATS Date

4 TIMS Time

11. What are the types of attributes?

Display only - These attributes are only for display and no analysis can be done.

Navigational attributes - These attributes behave like regular characteristics.

For example, assume that we have customer characteristics with country as a navigational attribute, you will then be able to analyze the data using customer and country. In the BEx query you can create filters or variables for country and you can also use the drill down feature.

12. What is meant by compo~.lnding?

Compounding defines the s~lperior Infoobject, which must be combined to define an object. For example, when you define a cost center, the controlling area is the compounding (superior) object.

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I n t e r m e d i a t e

13. What are tlie 10 decision p o i ~ i t s of data warehousi~ig?

c/ Identify a fact table.

c/ Identify the dimension tables.

c/ Define the attributes of the entities.

c/ Define the granularity of the fact table (how detailed do you want the data to be).

c/ Define pre-calculated key figures.

c/ Identify slowly changing dimensions.

c/ Identify aggregates.

c/ How long will the data be kept.

c/ How often is the data extracted.

c, From which system is the data to be extracted.

14. What options are available in the transfer rule?

c/ Assign an Infoobject - direct transfer, no transformation

c/ Assign a constant eg. If you are loading data from a specified country from a flat file, you can make the country (17s) as a constant and assign the value explicitly

c/ ABAP routine eg. If you want to do some complex string manipulation, assume that you are getting a flat file from legacy data and the cost center is in a field and you have to "massage" the data to get it in. In this case the use of an ABAP routine is most appropriate

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K e y C l u e s t i o n s

J Formula - for simple calculations usc formula eg. If you want to convert all lower casc cl~uractcrs to upper case, use the TOUPPER formula. You can use formilla builder to help put your formulas together.

15. What is compression or collapse?

This is the process by which we delete the recluest ID'S which leads to space savings. All the rcgular rcqucsts are stored in the F table. When you compress, the request ID is deleted and data is moved from the F table to the E table. This saves space and improves performance but the disadvantage is that you cannot delete the compressed requests individually. You can, however, still use selective deletion.

If you are using noncumulative key figures in a cube, the cube should be compressed as often possible to improve performance.

16. What i s an InfoSet?

An InfoSet is an info provider giving data by joining data from different sources like O D s and master data. You can also do an outer join in an InfoSet. InfoSets can also be used to combine transactional data with master data. For example, if you have cli~antity in the transaction data and you have price as an attribute of the material. Then you can have an InfoSet with transaction data and material where yo11 will l)e able to do calculations based on material pricc in BEx.

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I n t e r m e d i a t e

Another usage is, if you have O D s you can disable BEx reporting (in the setting) and use the O D s in the InfoSet for reporting, which leads to improved performance

17. What are lion cu~i iulat ive key figures?

These are key figures that are not summarized (unlike sales, etc.). Examples are head count and inventory amount. They are always shown in relation to a point in time. For example, we will ask how many employees we had as of last quarter. We don't add up the head count.

18. What perfornialice improvemelit call we do for reporting?

4 Aggregates

4 OLAP cache

4 Pre-calculated web templates

4 Use small amount or result data as starting point of any queries and do the drill down.

4 Avoid reporting on O D s and use InfoSet containing O D s for reporting.

4 If you use exclusion in reporting (< >), the indices are not used. So avoid using the exclusion but use inclusion.

4 Use the read mode "H" read when navigating and expanding hierarchies".

4 Use compression on Infocubes since the E table is optimized for queries.

4 Create additional indexes.

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K e y R u e s t i o n s

v Run DB statistics often.

9 Use secondary indexes on ODS active table.

v Use RSRT transaction to look at the "Explain Plan" statement.

9 If you are running a query on an info provider with non cumulative key figure then suppress summary line items (totals).

19. Wliat are tl ie options when defining aggregates? * Groups according to characteris tics Values

H Hierarchy

F Fixed value; for example if you have a

OCOUNTRY characteristic and only US is reported on, then you can create an aggregate only for the country IJS

Blank None

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E x o e r t

Expert 20. What are the BEx options for characteristics like F4 help

for query definition and execution?

This defines how the data is displayed in the query definition screen or when the query is executed. Options are from the data displayed, from master data table (all data) and from dimension data. For example let us assume that you have 100 products in total in your material master, 10 products available in a cube and in BEx you display a query for 2 products; the following options for the product will display different data:

4 Selective data only will display 2 products

4 Dimension data will display 10 products

4 From master data will display all 100 products

21. What i s tl ie 1:lifference between am~u~ i t , l qua~ i t i t y alid number type key figures?

Amount /quantity is always combined with units. For example, sales will be linked to currency and inventory will be linked to quantity in units. In your design if you don't need units then you should use number or integer to improve performance.

22. Wlieli coding the ABAP transfer rule, what are the important variables yo11 make use of?

4 RESULT This gets the result of the ABAP code.

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K e y Q u e s t i o n s

J RETURNCODE You set this to 0 if everything is O K ; else this record is skippcd.

J ABORT Set this to a value not 0, to abort thc cntirc package.

23. What i s the use of t ime distribution option in the update rule?

This option is uscd to distribute data according to time. For examplc, if the source contains calendar week and the target contains calendar day, tlie data is split for each calendar day. Here you can select either the normal calendar or the factory calendar.

24. In update rules for key figures, what are t l ie return table options for?

lJsually thc ilpdatc rulc scnds one record to the data target; using this option you can send multiple records to the data target cg. If you gct 1 record from thc communication structure using this option you can create multiple records into thc data target. For example if we are getting total tclcphone expenses for the cost center, you can use this to return tclcphone cxpcnses for cach employee (by dividing the total cxpenses by the number of employccs in tlle cost center) and creating cost record for c;~i l i cmployec using ABAP code.

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E x p e r t

25. How would you optimize dime~isions?

IJse as many dimensions as possible for performance improvement eg. Assume that you have 100 products and 200 customers;

Option 1) Make one dimension for both, the size of the dimension will be 20,000; ( 100 * 200).

Option 2) Make individual dimensions one for product (100 rows) and one for customers (200) rows. The total number of rows in both dimensions will be 300.

c/ Obviously Option 2 is better.

Even if you have more than one characteristic per dimension, you should do the math considering the worst case scenario and decide which characteristics may be combined in which dimensions.

26. What is a line i tem (or degenerate) dimelision?

If the size of a dimension of a cube is almost the same as the size of the fact table, you define that dimension as a line item dimension. For example, if you store the sales document number in one dimension in a sales cube, usually the dimension size and the fact table size will be the same. When you add the overhead of look ups for DIMIDISIDs, the performance will be very slow. By flagging it as a line item dimension, the

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K e v O u e s t i o n s

system puts the SID in the fact table instead of DIMID for the sales document number. This avoids one look up into dimension table (the dimension table is not created in this case).

Only one characteristic is allowed per line item dimension and for F4 help, the complete master data is displayed (which takes more time to display).

27. What is a "Marker" in Non Cumulative cubes?

Noncumulatives are stored using a "Marker" for the current period. A marker is nothing b ~ l t a pointer referring to a time period. For example an inventory cube marker may refer to the inventory levels as of yesterday.

28. What is the use of a colon ':' as an authorization value?

J It enables queries that do not contain an

authorization relevant object that have been checked into the Infocube.

J It allows summary data to be displayeci if the user does not have access to detailed data. For example, if you create 2 authorizations for one user: one with Sales Org * and customers : and second with sales org 1000 and customers *, the user sees all customers for sales org 1000 and only summarized report for other sales org.

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CHAPTER 1

BW Admin is t ra t ion

and

Design

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Chapte r 1: B W Admin is t ra t ion and Design

Basic Concepts 29 . What are the differences between OLAP and OLTP

applicatiolis? O

OLAP OLTP J Summarized data Detailed J Read only Read write J Not Optimized Optimized for data

applications J Lot of historical data Less historical data

30. What is a star schema? O

A fact table at the center and surrounded (linked) by dimension tables

31. What is a slowly changing dimension? O

A dimension containing characteristics \\,hose value changes over a time period. For example, take an employee's job title, this changes over a pcriod of time as the employee moves through an organization. This is called a slowly changing dimension.

32 . What are the advalitages of an Extelided star schenia of BW vs. The star schema? O

J Use of generated keys (numeric) for faster access

J External hierarchy J Support for multiple languages

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B a s i c C o n c e p t s

J Master data is common to all cubes

J Supports slowly changing dimensions J Aggregates in its own tables which allows for

tastcr access

33. What is the namespace for BW? 0 0

All SAP objects start with 0. The customer namespace is A - 2. All tables begin with /BIO for SAP and /BIC for customers; All generated objects start with 1-8 (like export data source). The prefix 9A is used in APO.

34. What is an Infoobject? 0

Infoobjects are business objects eg. Customer, product. They are divided into characteristics and key figures. Characteristics are evaluation objects such as customer and key figures are measurable objects such as sales quantity. Characteristics also include special objects like unit and time.

35. What are time dependent text / attribute of cliaracteristics? O

If text (for example a name of a product or person) or if an attribute changes over time then these must be marked as time dependent.

36. Can you create your own time characteristics? O

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C h a o t e r 1: B W A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d D e s i n n

37. Wliat is mealit by Alplia conversio~i? 0 0

Alpha conversion is used to store data consistently. I t does this by storing numeric values prefixed with 0s eg. If you have defined a material as length 6 (of type Numc) then material number 1 is stored as 000001 but displayed as 1; this removes inconslstenc~es between 0 1 vs. 001.

38. What is tl ie alpha clieck executioli progra~ii? 00

This is used to check consistency for BW 2.x before upgrading the system to 3.x. I t is RSMDCNVEXIT

39. What is the attributes only flag? 0

If this flag is set, no master data is stored. This is only used as an attribute for other characteristics, for example comments on an Accounts Receivable document.

40. Wliat are tl ie data types allowed for key figures? 0

4 Amount,

4 Quantity

4 Number

4 Integer

4 Date

4 Time

41. What are the aggregation options for key figures? 00

If you are defining prices then you may want to set "no aggregation" or you can define max, min, sum. You

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can also define exception aggregation like first, last etc. This is helpfill in getting a headcount eg. If you define a monthly inventory count key figure you want the count as of the last day of the previous month.

42. What is ,the niaximuni number of key figures you call Iiave in an Infocube? O

43. What is the maximum number of characteristics you can have per dimension? O

44. What is a SID table a ~ i d what are i ts advantages? 00

The SID table (Surrogate I D table) is the interface betwccn master data and the dimension tables.

Advantages include: 4 Using 8 byte integer values as indexes for faster

access

4 Master data is independent of Infocubes

4 Supports multiple languages

4 Supports slowly changing dimensions

45. Which tables are generated for master data? 00

P table Time independent master data attributes

Q table Time dependent master data attributes

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C h a p t e r 1: B W A d m i n i s t r a t i o n and Design

S Table for the SID Ids

M view Com bines P and Q

X table Interface between master data SIDs and time independent navip;ltional attributes SIDs ( P is linked to the X table)

Y table Interface between master data SIDs and time dependent navigational attributes SIDs ( Q is linked to the Y table)

46. What is the transfer routine of t l ie I~ i foDbject? O

It is like a start routine; this is independent of the data source and valid for all transfer routines; you can use this to define global data and global checks.

47. Wliat is the DIM ID? O

These are Dimensional IDS. Dim ID'S link dimensions to the fact table. I t is an 8 byte integer like SID.

48. What is a table partition? 00

By partitioning we split the table into smaller tables which is transparent to the application. This improves performance (when reading as well as deleting data).

SAP uses fact table partitioning to improve performance. Note that you can only partition on OCALMONTH or OFISCPER.

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B a s i c C o n c e p t s

Remember that the partition is created only in the E fact table; the F fact table is partitioned by Request Number as a default.

Advantages of a partition:

4 Makes use of parallel process

4 Allows a smaller set of data to be read

4 Allows fast deletion

49. How many extra partit ions are created and why? Can you partition a cube wi,th data ? 00

IJsually 2 extra partitions are created to accommodate data before the beginning period and one after the end of partitioning period.

No, you cannot partition a cube with data. A cube must be empty to partition it. One work around is to make a copy of the cube A to cube B and then to export data from A to B using export data source. Then empty cube A, create partition on A, re-import data from B and delete cube B. Note that this is going to change in Netweaver 2004s (Or BW 7)

50. What is a source system? O

Any system that is sending data to BW like R/3, flat file, oracle database or a non-SAP systems.

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51. What is a data source and wha,t is an InfoSource? O

Data source: The source that is sending data to a

particular InfoSource on BW For example, wc have a OCUSTOMER - ATTR data source to supply attributes to OCUSTOMER from R/3.

InfoSource : Group of logically related objects. For example, the OCUSTOMER InfoSourcc will contain data related to customer and attributes like customer number, address, phone no, etc.

52. Wliat are tlie 4 types of InfoSources? O

J Transactional J Attributes

J Text

J Hierarchy

53. Wliat is a commur~ication structure? O

Is an independent structure created from an InfoSource. I t is independent of the sourcc system / data source.

54. What are transfer rules and what is global tralisfer rule? O

Transfer rules: The transformation rules for data from the source system to the InfoSource / communication structure. These are used to clean up thc data from source system.

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B a s i c C o n c e p t s

For example when you load customer data from flat file, you can convert the name to upper case using a transfer rule.

Global Transfer Rule: This is a transfer routine (ABAP) defined at the Infoobject level. This is common for all soilrce systems.

55. Name some important formulas available in BW? O

c/ Concatenate ./ substring c/ condense c/ leftlright (n characters) c/ 1 - trim c/ r trim - c/ replace c/ date routines:

DATECONV date week - add - to - date date - diff

c/ logical functions like: if and

56. What is tlie process of replication and what menu path would you use to perform it? O

This copies data source structures from R/3 to BW For example, assume that you added a new data source in R/3. This will not be visible in the BW system until you replicate it.

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C h a n t e r 1: B W A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d D e s i n n

You replicate using the transaction RSAl +Source System + k g h t click on the system +Replicate. You can also replicate at an info area level.

57. Wliat is tlie update rule? O The update rule defines the transformation of data from the communication structure to the data targets. This is independent of the source systems / data sources. For example, you can use update rule to globally change data independent of the source system.

58. What are the options in update r~.lles? O J One to one move for Infoobject value

J Constant

J Lookup for master data attribute value

J Formula

J Routine (ABAP) J Initial value

59. What are the special conversions for time in update rules? O

Time dimensions are automatically converted. For example, if the cube contains calendar month and your transfer structure contains date, the date to c;ilendar month is converted automatically.

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B a s i c C o n c e p t s

60. What is the start routine? 00

The first step in the update process is to call start routine. Use this to fill global variables to be used in update routines. For example, you can define global values to be used by the update routines. It is also the first step in the Transformation process before the Transfer rules.

81. What is the co~ivers io~i rou t i~ ie for u ~ i i t s and currencies in the update rule? 00

IJsing this option you can write ABAP code for unit / currency conversion. If you enable this flag then unit of measure of the key figure appears in the ABAP code as an additional parameter. For example, you can use this to convert quantity in pounds to quantity in kilograms.

62. How do you add an entry in the monitor log from the update rules? 000

This is added in the internal table MONITOR; the following fields describe the MONITOR structure

4 MONITOR-MSGID gives an ID 4 MONITOR-MSGTY message type 4 MONITOR-MSGNO message number 4 MONITOR-MSGV1 monitor message1 4 MONITOR-MSGV2 monitor message 2 4 Append it to the MONITOR table, this will show

up in the monitor

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C h a p t e r 1: B W A d m i n i s t r a t i o n and Design

Here is a sample code to do this. Assumc that you are checking for product 'XYZ' which should not bc loaded to the cube and you want to display a message in the monitor.

The code in the update routine will be :-

If comm-st ructure -product = L X Y Z ' . R e t u r n c o d e = 1. M o n i t o r - m s g i d = ' X Y Z ' . M o n i t o r - m s g t y = L E ' . Monitor-msgno = ' 1 2 3 ' . M o n i t o r - m s g v l = ' I n v P r o d ' . Moni tor -msgv2 = c o m m - s t r u c t u r e - p r o d u c t . Append m o n i t o r . E x i t . End i f .

63. How do you create the "myself data mart"? O

The BW system feeding data to itself is called the myself data mart. It is created automatically and uses ALE for data transfer

d Right click and create the export data source for the ODSIcube or PSA.

J In the target system replicate the data source

J Create transfer rules and update rules

d Create info package to load

64. Can you make MultiProviders alid liiaster data as data marts? O

Yes

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B a s i c C o n c e p t s

65. Wliat are tlie benefits of data marts? 0

4 Simple to use

4 Hub and spoke usage

4 Distributed data

4 In some cases they can provide performance improvements

66. What are events and how do you use them? 00

Events are background signals to tell the system that a certain status has been reached; you can use events in batch jobs. For example, after you load data to the cube you can trigger an event which will start another job to run the reporting agent. Use SM62 to create and maintain events.

67. Wliat is all event chain and Iiow do you create one? 00

This is a group of events that are completed independently of one another. Used to execute processes based on success or failure of events. For example, you can trigger a chain event if all loads are successfill.

AWB Tools Event collector

68. What is meant by PSA? 0

Persistent staging area - is based on the transfer structure and is source system dependent. The data in the PSA is in the same format as the data received from the source system.

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69. What are different options available for update process to data target? O

cl PSA and data targets in parallel - improvcs performance

cl PSA and data target in sequencc

r/ PSA only - you have to manually load clata to data targets

cl Data targets only - N o PSA

For performance reasons you should do PSA ;1nd Data targets in parallel.

70. Wliy, if one request fails, do all the subsequent requests turn to "red" in an Infoprovider? 00

This is to avoid inconsistency and ensures that only data from subsequent requests is not available for reporting which otherwise would lead to inconsistency between report and underlying data.

71. What are the two fact tables? O

There are two fact tables for each In foC~~bc namely the E table and the F table. The E table is ol7timized for Read.

72. What is recons,tructitln? O

This is the process by which you reload data from PSA (or O D s ) into the cube/ODS.

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B a s i c C o n c e p t s

73. What is a remote cube? 0

Remote cube is a logical cube where the data is extracted from an external source. It is usually used to report on real time data from an r/3 system instead of drilling down from BW to R3.

74. What is a virtual I~i foCube with services? 00

In this case, a user defined function module is used as the data source. Using this, for example, you can access a table from a logical cilbe. For example, the delivered cube OBWTC-C08 (BW Metadata) is an InfoCube with Services and it Llses a function module to get data.

75. What are the restrictio~is/recomme~idations for u s i ~ i g remote cube? 0 0

These are used for reporting on small volumes of data with few users; no master data allowed. Performance is poor while using remote cube.

76. Give examples of data sources that support remote cubes. 00

OF1 - AP - 3 - vendor line items, OF1 - AR - 3 - customer line items

77. What is a MultiProvider? 0

lJsing MultiProvider you can access data from different data sources like cubes, ODS, Infosets, master data. MultiProvidcr does a Union at the database level.

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C h a p t e r 1: B W A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d D e s i g n

78. What are the added features in 3.x for MultiProvider? 00

Prior to 3.x only multi cubes were available; J 'OLL can not combine a O D s and cube, for example.

79. What is ,the difference between MultiProvider and InfoSet? O

MultiProvider is a Union whereas InfoSct is a 'Join" (intersection). So from a MultiProvider JJOLI may get as many rows as the number of underlying InfoProviders.

Example:

InfoProviderl (with Sales Order and order q ty )

Sales Doc Ord qty S 10 1 10

InfoProvider2 (with Delivery doc no, salcs doc no, qty delivered)

Del Doc No Sales Doc no Qty delivered D l 0 1 SlOl 8

If we use a MultiProvider to rcport, the f;)llowing data will be displayed :-

SalesDoc DelDoc Ord Qty 1)clQtv

S 10 1 # 10

SlOl D l 0 1 S

If we use an InfoSct the following result ~ v i l l be displayed (join on sales doc no):

SalesDoc DelDoc OrdOty DclQty

SlOl D 10 1 10 S

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B a s i c C o n c e o t s

Please note: Thc InfoSet cannot be created on an Infocube but only on transparent tables like O D s and Master data (BW version 7.0 this limitation is not applicable).

80. What is a transactional Infocube? How will you report on this? O

These cubes arc used for both read and write, standard cubes arc optimized for reading. The transactional cubes are uscd in SEM.

Since transactional cubes are not loaded by InfoPackagc thc reporting flag is not set until it rcachcs a certain limit. To view the data from queries with latest data, you should use the system variable OS - RQMRC (Most Current Data) as a filter for Request ID in your BEx queries.

BAPI's are needed to load data and also for reporting on Transactional InfoCubes.

Plcasc note : You need BAPI to load data and also for reporting on Transactional Infocube.

81. Wliat is the Transaction code for moni tor i~ ig Cache? O

Transaction code RSRCACHE

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C h a p t e r 1: BW A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d D e s i g n

82. What is meant by Iiigli cardi~ial i ty dinielisio~i? 00

If the dimension exceeds 10% of the size of the fact table then you can make it as a high cardinality dimension. Basically SAP converts from a bitmap index to a B tree index.

83. When do you recommend high cardi~ial i ty vs line item dimension? O 0

If your dimension is more than 10% but less than 20% of the size of h c t table then use high cardinality dimension; if it exceeds 20% then use line item dimension.

84. What are the profile parameters for cache? 00

J rdsb/esm/buffersize-kb maximum size of cache

J rsdb/esm/max-objects maximum number of entries in cache

85. Can you disable the cache? 00

Yes, either globally or by using query d c l ~ l g tool using transaction code RSRT.

86. What is persistelice mode ill caclie? 00

Instead of swapping data from menlor): you can store the data in a cluster table or file. This option ;~llows you to store more data in cache than the avai1;~ble size of main memory.

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B a s i c C o n c e p t s

87. What does tlie progralli RSMDCNVEXIT check? 000

All characteristics with conversion exit ALPHA, NUMC and GJAHR

88. When should you do the alpha conversion? 000

If you are upgrading you must do it before the PREPARE phase of upgrade

89. Can you make an Infoobject as an InfoProvider and why? O

Yes, when you want to report on attribute values of characteristics (master data), to make an Infoobject as InfoProvider, right click on the info area in the administration workbench and make them as an InfoProvider.

For example, you can make OCUSTOMER as an InfoProvider and do BEx reporting on OCUSTOMER. Right click on the info area and select "Insert characteristic as data target"

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Chanter 1: B W Admin is t ra t ion and Design

BW Settings in SPRO 90. What are the control parameters for data transfer? O

They define the maximum size of the p ~ ~ c k e t , the maximum number of records per packet, the number of parallel processes, etc.

91. Which transaction code is used to set up tlie permitted characters? 000

Transaction code RSKC.

92. What i s meant by aggregate realignment run maintenance? 0 0

This defines the level of percentage change where a realignment run will cause a reconstruction of aggregates. Remember that if you have exception key figures like Min or Max, then the aggregate will be rebuilt every time you run the change.

93. What is meant by update mode for master data? O

It defines whether the master data (auto sid) is added automatically, for non existing master data, nll~en you load the transaction data.

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B W S e t t i n e s i n SPRO

94. What are the ODs object settings? O

They are: c/ The number of parallel processors in activation, c/ Minimum number of data records c/ Wait time

95. What are the settings for flat files? O They are: c/ The thousand separator c/ Decimal pointer c/ Field separator (default is ;) c/ Field delimiter (default '7

96. What are the settings for data transfer? O

They are: c/ Maximum number of data packages c/ Frecluency c/ Size of PSA partition

97. What are tlie nio~iitor set'ti~igs? O

c/ Define the wait time before the status turns to red. Usually it is 7 hours, which means if the data is not transferred within 7 hours for the request, the status is set to red.

c/ Status colors. Here you can specify what status should be displayed in case of 0 records transferred or warnings.

c/ Schedule monitor assistant in the background to analyze requests.

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C h a p t e r 1: BW A d m i n i s t r a t i o n and Design

98. Which t ra~ isac t i t~n code defines the background user in the source system? 0 0

Transaction code RSCUSTV3

99. What are the settings for Reporti~ig? O

4 Defines what should be displayed for conditions like: divide by zero, no data, overflow, mixed values and authorization errors

4 Infoprovider properties for cache

4 Activate personalization in BEx

100. What are the settings for web ? O

4 Define default web template and style sheet

4 RRI Setting

4 Drag and relate settings

4 IGS settings

4 Maintain web protocol of http or https

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N o n Cumulat ive Key Figures

Nan Cumulative Key Figures '101. What is standard and exception aggregation? 000

Standard aggregation -) specifies how values for a key figure arc aggregated using all characteristics except time.

Exception aggregation -) specifies how values for a key figure are aggregated using time characteristics.

102. What is a time reference characteristic? 000

It is a time characteristic which determines all other time characteristic eg. OCALDAY, OCALMONTH, OCALWEEK, OFISCPER

103. Give example of data sources supporting non cumulative key fig1.1t-es. 0 0

4 2L1S - 40 - S278 transfer BW stock

2LIS 03 BF - - Material Movements 4 2LIS - 03-UM Revaluations

104. Can you create aggregate for a cube having cumulative key figure? 0 0

Yes, but you must include all time characteristics.

105. What is the opening balance? 0 0 0

When you start loading inventory data from R/3 you start with inventory quantity at a certain point in time, this is what is called the opening balance.

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C h a o t e r 1: B W A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d D e s i a n

106 . Wliat is "No Marker Update"? 000

If you choose this option when compressing a non cumulative cube, the reference point is not updated but the requests are moved to Request O (usu;ll compression). You must do this for compressing historical data.

107. When you compress multiple requests, how would you know which request had "Marker l lpdate" enabled or not? 000

Check the log file for each compression. If you see a message like N O REFPOINT UPDATE rhen rhc marker was not updated in this comprcssion.

108. What are the steps to load a non c~.lmulative cube? 000

r/ Initialize the opening balance in R/3 6 2 7 8 )

r/ Activate the extract structure MCO3BFO for data source 2LIS - 03 - BF

c/ Set up the historical material documenrs in R/3

c/ Load the opening balance using data source 2LIS - 40 - S278

r/ Load the historical movements and comprcss them without marker update.

r/ Set up the V3 update

r/ Load the deltas using 2LIS - 03 - BF

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N o n C u m u l a t i v e K e y F i g u r e s

109 . How is the result for a query based on an Infocube, having noncumulative key figure, calculated? 0 0 0

Quantity = Reference point in time quantity + Non compressed delta quantities - Deltas for backward quantity

Example :-

Ref p i n t in time : 12/30/2003 qty 100

Delta for one day 1213 1/2003 qty 10 (not compressed)

Total qty = 110.

110. Wliat is a validity deterliiiliing characteristic? 000

This determines the validity period of a noncumulative cube eg. Plants opening and closing time periods.

111. Wliat are ,the dos and dolifts of no~icumulative key figures? 000

9 1Jse few validity objects.

9 Compress the cube as regularly as possible so that the marker stays current.

9 IJsc a smaller time period using variable when reporting.

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C h a p t e r 1: B W A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d D e s i g n

112. Wliat is tlie t ra~isact io~i code for mai~itaini~ig autlioriza'tion object and role maintenance? 00

Transaction code PFCG

113. What is a role? O

The role defines the responsibility of a user wit11 proper menu and transaction authorizations.

114. Give some examples of the roles delivered with SAP BW. 0

All B W roles start with S - RS.

For example: 4 S - RS - ROPAD- Production system administrator

4 S - RS - RREPU - BEx user

115. What are the different authorization approaches available ill BW? O0

4 InfoCube based approach - use this in conjunction with Info area to limit access

4 Query name based approach - many customers use this to limit access eg. Z queries are read only, Y queries are readlwrite and FI* query names arc for FI use.

4 Dataset approach - limitation of characteristics and key figures. You can use reporting authorization for this.

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A u t h o r i z a t i o n s

116. What are the two object classes of BW authorization? 00

4 BW Warehouse authorization - SAP standard

4 BW Reporting (not delivered by SAP) - user defined eg. Restricting data using an authorization variable

117. How niany fields can you assign to all aut l ior izat io~i object and what are the values for ACTVT? 00

10

The possible values for ACTVT are create, change and display.

118. Give some examples of stalidard authorization objects delivered for BW. 00

S - RS - IOMAD

S - RS - ADMWB S RS ODSO - - S RS TOOLS - - S - RS - ICUBE .

S - RS - HIER

S - RS - COME S - RS - COMPl

S RS FOLD - - S RS IOBJ - - S - RS - ISOUR S - RS - ISRCM S - GUI - GUI

S - BDS - DS

Master data

AWB objects O D s objects

BEx tools InfoCube Hierarchy

Reporting authorization

Folders Info0 bject InfoSource (transaction data) Infosource (master data) Activities (workbooks)

Document set (for workbooks)

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C h a p t e r 1: B W A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d Design

4 S - USER - AGR Role check for saving workbook in a role

c, S - USER - TCD Transaction in rolcs for skiving workbook in a rolc

119. What i s a reporting object? 00

The authorization object, that is used I)!. OLAP processor in BW for checking reporting authorization. For example, use an authorization variable to control the data as an Infoprovider.

120. Give a step hy step approach to create an authorization object. Assume that we are restricting the report by cost center. 00

4 Make the Infoobject as Authorization relevant (flag) and activate it. In this example OCOSTCENTER

4 Create an authorization object ilsing Transaction code RSSM and include OCOSTCENTER in this object.

4 Assign the object to one or more InfoProviders. 4 Create role(s) with different values for cost centers

eg. You can create a role called "IT Manager" and assign it to all IT cost centers.

c, Assign the role to users.

4 Create a query. Create a variable Lvitliin the query for OCOSTCENTER of type "Autlic>riz;ltion" and include it in the query. If the IT ni;ln;lger runs the query it shows only the cost centers assigned to himlher.

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A u t h o r i z a t i o n s

121. How to inipleme~it structural autliorization in BW? 00

c, Create a profile using transaction OOSP c, Assign the user to the profile using transaction

OOSB c, IJpdate the T77UU table c, Run the progrnm RHBAUSOO c, Activate the data source and related components

OHR PA 2 in B W - - c, Load ODS from R/3 c, Activate the target InfoObjects as "Authorization

relevant" c, Rim the filnction module RSSB to generate B W

authorization.

122. What are the new BW 3.x authorizations? 0 0

c, S - RS - COMPl checks for authorization depending on the owner

c, S - RS - FOLD info area view of BEx elements (to si~ppress)

c, S - RS - ISET f or InfoSets

4 S - GUI new activity code 6 0 loaded for upload

123. What is the use of c o l ~ n ':' as an au.thoriza'ti~11 value? 00

c, I t enables queries that do not contain an authorization relevant object and have been checked in the InfoCube

c, It allows summary data to be displayed if the user does not have access to detailed data.

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C h a n t e r 1: B W A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d D e s i n n

For example, if you create 2 authorizat~ons for one user, one with Sales Org * and customers : and a second with sales org 1000 and custon~ers *, the Llscr sees all customers for sales org 1000 and only summarized report for other sales org.

124. What is $ as an a~~ thor i za t ion value and what is OTCTAU'TH H? O O

You use $ followed by a variable name (thcsc variable values are populated in a BEx user exit). This avoids having too many roles

OTCTAUTHH is used in hierarchy authorization.

125. How would you debug security issues? 00

By using transactions ST0 1 and RSSMTRACE. An 'X' mark in the log shows a fiiiled authorization check.

126. Which Transaction code shows templates for au,thorizatinns? O O

Transaction code SU24.

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B W Archival and re t r i eve

BW Archival and retrieve 127. What are the adva~itages of archiving a ~ i d what is tl ie

transaction code for archiving? 0 0

J To minimize space

J Improve query performance

i J Improve load performance

Archive uses ADK (Archive Development Kit).

Tnns&ct"on code S A m .

128. What are tl ie size parameters for archiving? 00

J Maximum file size in Megabyte

J Maximum number of data objects

129. What is the preca~l l ion yuu should take w l i e~ i archiving? 0 0

When you archive an InfoCube or O D s , it is locked for any loads until the delete is finished. You should make sure that you archive and delete before you load any new data.

130. Wliat is tl ie difference between the restoring of Cube vs i [IDS from archive files? 00

You can restore into O D s directly from the SARA transaction. For the cube you should schedule an info package.

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C h a n t e r 1: B W A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d D e s i e n

131. Cali you archive Master data or PSA? 00

No, it is not currently supported (as of 3.1).

132. Give the step by step approach to archivi~ig a Cube. 00

J Double click on the cube (or right click and select change)

J Extras I) select archival

J Choose fields for selection eg. OCALDAY, OCUSTOMER

J Define the file structilre (maximum file size and maximum number of data objects)

J Select the folder (logical file namc)

J Select the delete options (not scheduled, start automatically or after event)

J Activate the cube

J The cube is ready for archiving

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P r o c e s s C h a i n s

Process Chains 133. Wliat is a process c l i a i~ i and what is the t r a ~ i s a c t i o ~ i code

for going to process chain? 0 0

The process chain is a utility to schedule batch jobs on BW similar to SM37. It offers good monitoring features and error handling.

Transaction code RSPC

134. Wliat are tl ie general services supported in process chain? O0

c, Start process specifies a variant for the start time and date. It can be set to be recursive.

c, AND you can use this to check for successful completion of two or more processes eg. You can load 2 ODSs in parallel and put an AND condition (if successful) to load a cube.

c, OR

c, EXOR (first) you usually use this to determine if any of the predecessor processors failed. If you have multiple tasks in parallel you can use this to detect any process failures.

c, ABAP you use this to run an ABAP program with variants.

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C h a p t e r 1: B W A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d D e s i g n

J OS Command as an example, it is usef~ll to do an ftp copy before loading.

J Local process chain

call another process chain. ~Jsually there will be a master process chain calling different child process chains. For example, you can have a process chain (master) called "Daily load of master data" and within that it may call 2 or more process chains to load attributes, texts, hierarchies and do a change run.

J Remote process chain

J Workflow

135. List some of tl ie data target admi~iistration tasks. 00

Delete index

Generate index

Construct database statistics

Initial fill of new aggregates

Roll up of filled aggregates

Compression of the InfoCube

Activate O D s

Complete deletion of data target

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P r o c e s s Chains

136. List the reporting agent tasks. 0 0

4 Exception reporting

4 Print in the background

4 Pre calculation of web templates

4 Pre calculation of value sets

137. List sollie of the BW process types for building process chain. 00

4 Attribute change run

4 Adjustment of time dependent aggregates

4 Deletion of requests from PSA

4 Reorganize attributes and texts for master data. This is a useful tool to compress master data and text.

138. What are the scheduling options for start process? 00

4 Direct scheduling or

4 Start from meta chain (parent chain)

4 API

Use the second option for your child process chains.

139. List some of the parallel processes that could have locking problems. 0 0 0

4 Hierarchy attribute change run

4 Loading master data for the same Infoobject eg. Avoid loading master data from different source systems at the same time

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C h a p t e r 1: B W A d m i n i s t r a t i o n and Design

c, Rolling up for the same InfoCubc

c, Selecting deletion of an InfoCube I ODS ~lnd parallel loading

c, Activation or deletion of an ODS ohjcct when loading in parallel

140. What is tlie benefit of t l ie opt io~i "default chai~is"? 000

When this option is enabled (by default) and when you insert a process, any corresponding process types are inserted automatically. For example, if you drag and drop an info package load for ODS, then the process types (such as "Update from PSA", "Activate ODS", "Further processing") are automatically inserted. To disable this option use Transaction Code RSPC + Settings + default chains + check mark "Do not suggest processes".

14.1. By default, all newly created process chains are assigned to tl ie "unassig~ied" ~ iode. How would you reassign i t to a proper component? 00

Process Chain + Attributes + Display components

142. What are the four views available for a process chain? 00

9 Planning view 9 Checking view 9 Log view

c, Job overview

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P r o c e s s C h a i n s

143. How would you send an email when a process ends in a process chain? 00

%ght click on the process you want to monitor (eg. Load info package) * select create message * select when you want to send a message (success, fail or always) + create a variant for the mail.

144. How would you convert an info package grol.lp into a process chain? 0 0

Double click on the info package group * click on the "Process Chain Maint." button * type in the name and description + the individual info packages are inserted automatically.

145. What i s t l ie differelice between EXOR and OR ill a process chain? 0 O

The target for an OR process will be executed for each successfi~l occurrence. EXOR will be executed only once. Usilally you use EXOR to detect failed processes.

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C h a p t e r 1: B W A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d D e s i g n

Open Hub 146. What i s Ope11 Hub (OH) and what data targets does it

support? Does it s ~ ~ p p o r t delta? 00

O H is a tool by which you can send data from BW to different targets. I t is a controlled distribution of consolidated and cleansed daca.

Targets could be another BW system, external systems, relational table, flat file and O D B O interface.

Yes it supports Delta.

147. How do you get into Ope11 Hub and what are the supported data sources? 0 0

Use the following menu path:

Transaction Code RSBO or AWB * Tools * Open H u b Service

Datasources for an Open H u b are cube. ODs and Infoobject (attributes and texts).

148. What are the des t i~ ia t io~ i target optiolis for Open Hub in BW? 0O

J CSV file

J Database table

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Open H u b

149. What i s the "delete table before extraction" option in Open Hub in BW? 00

If you choose this option, the table contents are deleted before any new record is written. Disable this if you want to keep historical data.

150. How do yo11 change tl ie default des t i~ ia t io~ i of Ope11 Hub fi les in BW? 00

Menu path for changing the default destination of Open H ~ t b is as follows:

LJse Transaction Code SE 11 3 choose table RSBFILE 3 modify entry for XIDEST.

151. What i s the licensing requirement that you should be aware of for using Open Hub in BW? 00

Extracting data from SAP B W by any means requires additional licensing.

152. How do you transform Ope11 Hub data? 00

IJsing a BAD1 you can transform Open H u b data according to the destination requirement.

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C h a p t e r 1: BW A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d D e s i g n

Tuning 153. What s h o ~ ~ l d yo11 consider when tuning your Oracle

database? 0 0 0

4 Apply OSS note 180605 to set tlic riglit oracle DB parameters. This does improve performance.

c, 1Jse database statistics.

4 Use database partitioning.

4 Run statistics on all tables as often ;IS possible.

154. What should you consider when tuning your server? O 0 0

The right combination of server resources like CPU, memory and disk space.

Load balancing across several application servers.

4 Check for unnecessary traces and 10s files.

4 If you have process chains, make sure that you run

cleanup jobs to clean the table TPRI-PAR.

155. What should you consider when tuning your web? 0 0 0

4 Use HTTP compression to reduce nctlvsrk traffic Refer to note 550669.

4 Use client browser caching.

4 Use the iemon.exc program's log file option to time the query.

c, Use analyze - iemon.exe to extract a csl. filc that

can be used for further analysis.

4 Use precalculated web templates fi)r newspaper like reporting together with a reporting agent.

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Tuning

156. List major tuning tasks you would undertake to improve the performance of the data load. 000

4 If you are loading lot of transactional data try deleting the indexes before the load and recreating the indexes after the load.

4 Watch for ABAP code in transfer and update rules. This [night slow performance.

4 IJse load balancing across servers.

4 Build indexes on source tables.

4 ITse fixed length files if you load data from flat files. Put the file on the application server.

4 Use standard content (SAP delivered) extractor as much as possible.

4 IJsc PSA and data target in parallel option in the info package.

4 Start several info packages parallel with different selection options.

4 Buffer the SID number ranges if you load lot of data at once.

4 Load master data before loading transaction data.

4 Rim the attribute change job in parallel.

157. List stlme of t l ie ge~ieral tuning guidelines. 000

4 Archive and delete old data.

4 Use line item dimensions instead of a large dimension.

4 Use MultiProviders. Parallel query is started on basic cubes.

4 Use the B W Statistics cube to monitor performance.

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C h a o t e r 1: B W A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d D e s i n n

J Reporting authorization checks impact tlie performance negatively.

J Reporting on browser is faster than reporting on Excel using BEx Analyzer.

J Use the aggregate hierarchies to minimize the roll up time.

J Use parallel upload and activation for ODS objects using transaction SPRO or RSCIJSTA?.

J If you are not going to use an O D s for reporting, disable the BEx Reporting flag.

158. Wliat are t l ie syste~ i i tools you can use to nionitor performance? 000

The following are the Transaction codes that are used for system monitoring:

J RSRT, RSRTRACE to debug and get explain plan statements on queries

J ST05 for SQL traces

J RSRV to repair objects

J ST03 to monitor current query performance

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R S R V

RSRV 159. Explain the purpose of the tra~isaction code RSRV . 000

RSRV is a powerful transaction code to test consistency of following BW objects and repair them if required. For example, if there are any inconsistencies between the Q and Y tables for a master data object you can fm using them this transaction.

J Master data

J Transaction data

J Hierarchies

J Database

J Aggregates

J PSA tables

160. What are the RSRV combined tests? 000

J Master data

1/ Transaction data

J Hierarchies

J Database

J Aggregation

181. Cali you scliedule RSRV i n the background? 000

Yes, but if you want to fix errors found in the background use the program RSDMD - CHECKPRG - ALL.

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C h a n t e r 1: B W A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d D e s i e n

162.Typically, when do you use RSRV? 000

When loading data sometimes you get SID error inconsistencies on some master data objects. You would then do a combined test on the InfoOhject, fix the problem and reload the data.

163. How do you scliedule the RSRVjob ill tlie background? 000

The menu path for scheduling the RSRV job in the background is, use the Edit menu and select "Test Package" + create a package for current selections + schedule it.

164. How would you a~ ia lyze the size of the fact table vs tlie dimension table, using RSRV? 0 0 0

Menu path for analyzing the size of the fact t;thle vs the dimension table is, use the transaction code RSRV + All Elementary tests + database + data1)ase information about the Infoprovider tables. This gives you the count as a percentage of the hict t;ll,le.

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'165. What is ODs alid what table structures are used? O

Operational Data Source is used for detailed storage of data. You can overwrite existing data in the ODS (in a cube you can not), You can also drill down from a cube to the O D s . This is used for data harmonizing, cleansing and synchronizing. ODS adds a delta capability when used in the staging process before the cube. The data is stored in a flat table (unlike the extended star schema of the cube). So using SE 11 / SE 16 you can query the ODS data directly.

Table structures : J Active data

J New data

J Change log table

166. What i s ,the purpose of a clialige log in ODs a ~ i d how do you delete it? O

A change log is used for delta updates to the data target after the ODS. It stores all changes for a record in Active Table. The records in a Change log are stored based on the generated request during each activation of requests in the new data table.

To delete a change log use the following menu path:

lJse Transaction code RSAl right click on ODS + Manage j Environment Delete change log

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Chapter I : B W Administrat ion and Design

167. Wliat are t h e advantages of u s i ~ i g all ODs in an I~ i foSet for reporting? O

4 Access via OLAP engine.

InfoSets can join flat BW objects such as master data attributes.

168. What are additional features available for ODs from BW version 3.x? O

4 You can load and activate O D s in parallel. c/ M table is replaced with new data which is similar

to PSA. J It is possible to create secondary indexes for an

O D s object. 4 Selective deletion of data is now possihle.

169. What is a t r a ~ i s a c t i o ~ i a l ODs object? O

An O D s object: 4 Has only the active table.

4 Is filled using APIs. c/ Is only reported on using an InfoSct.

4 Is usually used for applications like SEbl (Strategic Enterprise Management).

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170. What are the flags used for in ODs and specifically what is the unique data record f lag used for? O

If you enable the unique data record then an error is issued when a duplicate record, to that in the Active table is inserted. 1Jse this feature to load a cube filtering any duplicates (Cubes will simply add up duplicates)

c/ BEx Reporting whether this O D s is enabled for reporting.

c/ Unique data records.

c/ Set quality status to O K automatically.

c/ Activate O D s automatically.

c/ IJpdate data targets automatically.

Please note: The Unique data record is used to improve performance and it is to be used only when you are sure that the data source will note send a duplicate record.

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C h a p t e r 1: B W A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d Design

BW Statistics 171. What is the purpose of BW statistics cubes? O

The standard sets of cubes delivered by SAP are used to measure performance for queries, data lo,lds, etc. It also shows aggregate usage and the cost associated with them. It provides data on aggregates, OLAP and Warehouse management.

172. How do you enable monitoring of an Infocube-cube using BW statistics? O

Individual data targets and InfoProvidcrs call 1)c

included for monitoring in B W statistics using the following menu path: AWB -) Tools I) BUf statistics

173. How do you install BW statistics? O

You use tlle business content available In AW7B to install J Using the Business Content section of AWB

select info area "BW Statistics" I) right click and select insert objects for collections .) select before and after data flow for grouping and install.

J Similarly install the Technical Content SAP - B W - TCONT role.

# Install the info package groups for Master data / text and transaction data.

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B W S t a t i s t i c s

174. Give some examples of queries delivered with BW statistics. O

4 Mean time per query

4 R~lntime query

4 T Jsing Infocubes

4 I Jtilizing OLAP

175. Give some examples of usage of BW statistics reports. O

4 Who is using the query, how often i t is used and when it was last used.

4 How the query was executed? How much time was spent on the Database.

4 How many rows were read from the database vs how many were displayed / processed.

4 You can create custom exceptions to proactively tune queries eg. You can create exceptions if the clilery spends more than 50% accessing the database - in this case tuning is needed.

176. Give a reason why BW statistics can not provide inforniation ill real t i~ i i e and name the transaction code used to monitor BW system statns in real time. O

The BW statistics data is loaded periodically. If you want to display the data in real time from the statistics tables (not cubes), use transaction ST03. Select Expert Mode and select BW System load.

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C h a o t e r 1: B W A d m i n i s t r a t i o n and Design

177. Cali you create aggregate 011 all ODs or MultiProvider? 0

178. What i s "fill ing" of aggregate and whicli table has tl ie aggregate status? 00

The data from an InfoCube is summarized into the aggregates.

RSDDAGGRDIR

179. What i s the change run process and how do you start i t? 00

Whenever there is a change in master d ; l t ;~ like navigational attributes, hierarchy, time dcpendenr attributes that are used in aggregates, you nced to execute the change run process to realign thc aggregates.

To start the change run process use a proccss chain or AWB I) Tools I) Apply Hierarchy attri1,ure change.

180. Which report can you use to monitor the change run process? 000

RSDDS - CHANGERUN - M O N I T O R

181. Wliich program is used t o maintail1 aggregates? 000

RSDDS - AGGREGATES - MAINTAIN

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Aggregates

182. In terms of aggregates, what is "Roll Up"? 00

Roll up is the process by which new requests loaded into the InfoCube are "rolled up" into the aggregates. The data loaded from a new request is available for reporting only after a successfill roll ilp into the aggregates.

183. Wliat is the optimal size of the aggregates? 00

It should have around 10-20% of the size of the fact table. For example, if your fact table contains 1000,000 rows, the aggregate should have less than 200,000 rows.

184. Wliat is meant by "propose from statistics" for aggregates? 0 0

Based on B W statistical data (such as query run time), you can request the system to suggest the optimal characteristics for aggregation.

185. Can you define aggregates 011 tinie depelidelit liavigational attributes? 00

Yes, as of version 3.x.

186. What "proposal options" are available for aggregates? 00

J Propose from B W statistics cube: history of B W statistics.

J Propose from B W statistics (tables): based on database tables RSDDSTAT and RSDDSTATAGGRDEF

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C h a n t e r 1: B W A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d D e s i e n

J Propose from the last navigation: suggcstion based on the last entry of the abovc mentioned tables for the current user.

J Propose from a query.

187. What is the naming convention for aggregates created from statistics? 0 0

STAT 1 through STAT n

188. What is the naming convention used for aggregates created from a query? 00

MIN 1 through MIN n and MAX 1 through MAX n.

189. List major usage indicators for aggregates. 00

J Number of records

J Summarization (compression)

J Last used date - remember if you don't see any recent activity then this aggregate is not used

J Valuation - with signs of + + + for good aggregate

and --- for not so good aggregate.

190. What is an aggregate hierarchy? 0 0

Aggregates hierarchies are where aggreg;ltcs arc built on top of other aggregates. This hierarchy is done automatically. It is recommended that you create a fcw large base hierarchies and small aggregates can bc built from these.

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Aggregates

191. How does change ruli af fect the aggregate? 0 0

The change run (also called hierarchy attribute realignment run) adjusts the data in the aggregates and turns the modified version of the navigation attributes and hierarchies into an active version.

192.111 the real world when would you recommend aggregates? 0 0

By looking at the B W statistics and noticing if a query spends more than 50% of the time in the database accessing data and the ratio of records read to records processed is more than 10, then you recommend aggregates.

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CHAPTER 2

BW Reporting

(BEx a n d Web Reporting)

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C h a p t e r 2: BW R e p o r t i n g (BEx a n d Web R e p o r t i n g )

Business Explorer 193. What i s the effect of using characteristics in free area vs

f i l ter area in Query designer? 0

Free Characteristics : The characteristics in this area are not displayed in the initial view of the query but you can drill down and filter once you execute the query.

Filter Area: The characteristics in this area are restricted and can not be filtered or drillcd down any further.

194. What i s lROWCOUNT key figure? 0 0

For InfoProviders based on transparent tal)les like ODs / Master data, this system generated key figure is available. This can be used to count the num1)er of records.

195. What i s a restricted key figure? Give an example. O

These are key figures "restricted" by values of one or more characteristics. For example, nrhcn you want to compare the sales of product "A" betwccn different fiscal year periods, you will create a restricted key figure with "Sales qty" as a key figure and restricted by OMATEFUAL of value "A".

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Business Exolorer

196. Wliat i s a constant selection? 00

This feature allows you to mark a selection of specific value or all values of characteristics in the query designer as a "Constant". Navigation and filtering has no effect on this selection during run time. For example, if you want to report a product's sale in reference to a product group rather than all the products, you makc the product group as the constant selection; any drill down, navigation, filtering will not have any change in the sales quantity for that.

197. How wil l yalr debug errors wi,thin SAP GUI (like all Active X error)? 0 0

Run BEx analyzer -) Business Explorer menu item -) Installation check. This shows an excel sheet with a start button -) click on it -) this verifies the GUI installation -) if you find any errors either reinstall it or fix it.

198. How do you activate personalization for BEx? 00

IMG -) Activate personalization for BEx.

199.1 have a variable for characteristic val~res of Infoobject ZLOCATION. How wil l I use this variable to select values of ZLOCATION where 'ZA' are the alphabets in 2nd and 3rd place for the values? 0 0

In the BEx variable input window, type in '+ZA*' The '+' character is used as a single character wild card.

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C h a n t e r 2: BW R e o o r t i n e ( B E x a n d Web R e n o r t i n e )

Calculated Key Figures 200.Wl1at differelit percentage calculat io~is can we use in

BEx? O

Percentage variance : This is defined as parameter 1 % parameter2 eg. Actual expenses exceeds thc % budgeted expenses.

Percentage share: It is defined as parameter 1 %A parameter2; gives the percentage share of parameter 1 of parameter2.

Percentage share of result: Defined as %CT parameterl; gives the result in percentage with respect to result.

Percentage share of overall result: Defined as %GT parameterl; similar to previous but the percentage is a share of overall results.

Percentage share of result total: Defined as %RT.

201. Besides percentage functions, what other use f l~ l f l~nct ions are there in BEx? O

J COUNT Count(parameter) returns value 1 if parameter is not zero else zero.

J NDIVO ndivO(parameter) returns 0 if the parameter returns division by 0.

J SUMCT sumct(parameter) result of parameter in all rows and columns.

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C a l c u l a t e d K e y F i g u r e s

9 SlJMGT sumgt (parameter) result of the parameter for the overall result.

c/ SlJMRT sumrt (parameter) result of the parameter for the report result.

202.List some of the mathematical f~nnctions available in Query designer. O

c/ Max

c/ Min

c/ Absolute

c/ Smallest

c/ Division

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C h a p t e r 2: B W R e p o r t i n g ( B E x a n d W e b R e p o r t i n g )

Boolean Operators 203.What does a Boolean operator return? O

1 or 0 (True or False)

204.What are the Boolean expressions allowed? O

J < less than

J <> not equal to

J > greater than

J <= less than or equal to

J >= greater than or equal co

J = equal

J logical N O T

A N D

J O R

J X O R exclusive O R

205.Give an example of boolean expression. O

Assume you are calculating tax rate on a sal;u-y; if salary is < I000 it is 10% and if more than 1000 then it is 15% is defined as ((salary < 1000) :k salary * 0.10 )+ ((salary > 1000) * salary * 0.15).

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B o o l e a n O p e r a t o r s / S t r u c t u r e s a n d C e l l s

Structures and Cells 206.What is a structure? O

The structure helps in calculation between its elements. For example, a structilre containing 3 months with specific values eg. JAN, FEB and MAR and 4 th element, could be FIRST QUARTER which is a formula representing sum of the earlier elements. A globally defined structure can be reused in any of the query on the InfoProvider.

207. What i s a reusable structure and how do you create it from a local struct~.lre? O

These are InfoProvider level structures which can be used in any queries on that InfoProvider.

k g h t click on the local structure + select save as + enter technical name and description.

208.What i s a cell editor? O

Gives the definition of a specific cell in a query (intersection of two structures one characteristics structure and one key figure structure). Using this you can override the default cell values.

209.What is an exceptiun cell? O

I t is a cell specific definition that allows you to define explicit formulas to overriding those implicitly created cell vali~es. This allows you to design much more detailed queries. tJse the icon to create exception cells.

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Chapter 2: BW Repor t ing (BEx and Web Repor t ing)

Before and after aggregation 210. Illustrate, with example, effect of 'before and after

aggregation' property of a key figure. 0 0

In many queries you may come across the following situation.

Assume that you have a cube with product qty, ilnit price; you have a BEx report showing clty, unit price and value (unit price * qty); the report looks like this by default

\4lI uc Q~J Unit Price

10 2 2 0

20 3 60

Result 30 5 150

You can see that the value is calculatecl using a

calculated key figure as "After aggregation" by defidult; basically it multiplies 30 by 5 which is 150; but the correct amount is 80;

Now right click on the calculated key figure, select properties, enhanced and change to Before aggregation. Now the result is calculated correctly :-

Q~J Unit Price Value

10 2 20

20 3 60

Result 3 0 5 80

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Before and After Aggregation

Note: If you use before aggregation, the cubes aggregates are not used; so this will have negative effect on performance.

You set the before or after aggregation on a global calcillated key figure.

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C h a p t e r 2 : B W R e p o r t i n g ( B E x a n d W e b R e p o r t i n g )

Key figure properties 211. List some of the properties of key figure. O

9 Scaling factor: Valid range is 1 to 1 l)illion; if you

set a scaling factor of 1000, then the value 3000 is displayed as 3

9 Number of decimal places. For example, 2.48 or 2.5 or just 2 is displayed in the report.

212. What are tl ie options for "calculate s i~ ig le value as"? O

For each item:

Normalization + data is displayed as:

9 a percentage of the result normalization of result normalization of overall result

9 normalization of query result

Ranked list size of the characteristic value wit11 the largest being 1. Ranked list (Olympic) silllilar to the previous point except the next smallest v~llue, when a value appears more than once, is not given rank increased by value 1:

9 maximum 9 minimum 9 count all values 9 count all values < > (not equal to) 0

9 average of all values 9 average of all values < > (note equal ro) 0

9 suppress single values

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Key Figure P r o p e r t i e s

213. Wliat is an exception aggregation? Give an example. O

This defines how the key figure is aggregated in relation to exception characteristics, usually a time characteristics. For example, when you report number of employees by cost center, you would create an exception aggregation on "Last Value".

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Chanter 2: BW Renort ine (BEx and Web Renort ine)

Hierarchies in Reports 214. Wliat i s a reporting hierarchy. M e ~ i t i o ~ i a few properties of

a hierarchy? O

A hierarchy is a structure of characteristics values allowing you to view data in different ways.

Nodes are like branches in trees with thc uppermost

node referred to as the root node. A l~ierarchy can have multiple nodes.

4 Intervals:

4 Hierarchy levels: Node of a hierarchy are structurally placed in different levels eg. Parent - child nodes.

Intervals automatically group leaves together. When a new value is added to a characteristic it is automatically added to the proper node.

4 Link Node: This node allows a sub tree to be included in a hierarchy on more than one occasion.

215. Wliat are tl ie report-relevant s e t t i ~ i g s ill hierarchy maintenance? O

4 Level maintenance + this setting allows the naming of different levels of hierarchies. K1u can navigate during execution of the query 1)). using a right click.

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Hierarchies in Reports

4 D o not display inner nodes in a query +does not display the leaves level of the hierarchy report.

4 Changeable display for leaves of inner nodes + specifies whether a user can change the display.

4 Suppress unassigned node + suppress nodes with no values appearing.

4 Root / totals item + indicates whether the totals are displayed at the beginning or end of the hierarchy.

4 Start drill down level -) the default level of the query that is displayed when opening.

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Chanter 2: BW Renort ine (BEx and Web Renort ine)

User Exits for BEx Reporting 216. Nanie the BEx reporting user exit e~ i l iancenie~ i t . 00

There are three user exits:

RSROOOOl - For User Exit Variable

RSR00002 - For Virtual Key Figures

RSR00003 - For Moving Characteristics M~lucs

217. Name the BEx reporting user exit component and i t s include program for variable. 0 0

J The component is EXIT - SAPLRRSO - 00 1.

J The include program is ZXRSRUO 1.

218. Wliat variables would you typically use when ~ i i a k i ~ i g use of the user exit RSR00001 in BEx reporting? 00

J I - STEP is used in ABAP code as a conditional check. The following values are checkcd:

1 Before processing of the variable pop-ups and gets called for every customer var~ablc .

2 Is called after variable popup for variables not marked as "Ready for input" and are set to required entry.

3 Is called after all variables are processed (only once and not for each variable).

J I - VNAM: I t is the variable containing the variable name within ABAP Typically you lvould do a

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U s e r E x i t s f o r BEx R e p o r t i n g

CASE statement on this variable to get the variable working.

E - T - RANGE: This is the internal table populated with variable values in a customer exit.

J L S RANGE: This is the structure to populate E-f - - RANGE

L O W low end value

H I G H high end value

SIGN 'I' to include, etc.

O P T gives the options like 'BT' for between, 'EQ' for equal, ecc.

c/ I - VARTYP- variable type

1 Characteristic

2 Hierarchy node

3 Text

4 Formula

5 Hierarchy

c/ I - IOBJNM: name of the Infoobject.

c/ I PERIV: fiscal year variant. -

c/ I - T - VAR - RANGE: table with all variables and their values.

219. What is the call sequence for the user exit RSROOOl in BEx Reporting? O O

J First call of the user exit. c/ Popup and enter values (if ready for input is

enabled). c/ Second call for the user exit.

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C h a p t e r 2: B W R e p o r t i n g ( B E x a n d W e b R e p o r t i n g )

BEx User Exit Example DATA: L-S-RANGE TYPE RSR-S-RANGESID. D A T A : E-BUPER L I K E TOOSB-POPER,

E-GJAHR L I K E TOOSB-BDATJ . D A T A : T A B I X L I K E S Y - T A B I X - CASE I -VNAM.

WHEN ' Z P E R Q U A R ' . C A L L F U N C T I O N LDATE-TO-PERIOD-CONVERT'

E X P O R T I N G I - D A T E = SY-DATUM I - P E R I V = ' F L '

I M P O R T I N G E-BLIPER = E-BUPER E-GJAHR = E-GJAHR.

I F SY-SUBRC = 0 -

CLEAR L-S-RANGE. L-S-RANGE-SIGN = '1'. L-S-RANGE-OPT = ' B T ' . L -S -RANGE-HIGH(4 ) = E-GJAHR. L - S - R A N G E - H I G H + 4 ( 3 ) = E-BUPER. L-S-RANGE-LOW = L-S-RANGE-HIGH.

CASE E-BUPER-

WHEN 'OOL ' OR ' 0 0 2 ' OR ' 0 0 3 ' . L-S-RANGE-LOW+4(3) = ' 0 0 1 ' .

WHEN ' 0 0 4 ' OR ' 0 0 5 ' OR 'OOL ' . L-S-RANGE-LOW+4(3) = ' 0 0 4 ' .

WHEN ' 0 0 7 ' OR ' 0 0 B ' OR ' 0 0 9 ' . L-S-RANGE-LOW+4(3) = L 0 0 7 ' -

WHEN 'OLO ' OR ' 0 1 1 ' OR ' 0 1 2 ' . L-S-RANGE-LOW+4(3) = ' 0 0 9 ' .

ENDCASE. APPEND L-S-RANGE TO E-T-RANGE.

E N D I F . ENDCASE -

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V a r i a b l e s

Variables Variables are very impor tan t i n BEx. You shou ld pay pa r t i cu la r a t t e n t i o n t o t h i s sec t i on i f you are i n te res ted i n BEx repor t development.

220.Wha.t i s a variable? List t l ie objects that are supported by variables. O

Variables are used to parameterize the query at the runtime and the following reporting objects are supported by variables:

c/ Characteristics

Hierarchies c/ Hierarchy nodes c/ Texts

c/ Formula elements

221. What i s the scope for a characteristics variable? O

Variables are defined on Infoobjects and are thus globally available across InfoProviders.

222.Give the 4 variable types for BEx queries. O

c/ Characteristics c/ Hierarchy node c/ Text c/ Hierarchy variables

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C h a p t e r 2: B W R e p o r t i n g ( B E x a n d W e b R e p o r t i n g )

223.W11at is a cllaracteristics variable? 0

Characteristic variables allow you to have dynamic input selection for values of characteristics eg. If you are developing a sales report for a given product, you will define a variable for OMATERIAL to report sales of specific products.

224.What are text variables? 0

Text variables are used to display texts dynamically for a given characteristic. For example, take the sales report for a given product for the last 3 nionths. The inputs prompted are product and fiscal year period, on the column level you have drilled down l>v fiscal year period; since the fiscal year period is dvnamic (depending on the user input), you want to display the correct title for the key figure so in this case create a text variable for the fiscal year period and use it in the text of properties. These are defined :LS

&text - variable - name&.

225.What are formula variables? 0 0

Formula variables are variables used in calculations of the query. For example, take a customer disco~lnt report where each customer is given a different percentage discount; yo11 create a formula variable for the discount percentage and use it in the calculated key figure.

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V a r i a b l e s

226.What are the options for hierarchy node variables? O

J Fixed hierarchy and variable hierarchy node where only the node is selected at run time

J Variable hierarchy and variable node where both hierarchy and nodes are selected at run time.

227. What are the different processing types for variables? O

J lJser entry

J Replacement path

J Authorization

J Customer exit

J SAP exit

228.What is a user entry processing type? O

This is entered by the user at run time of the query. You can specifjl a default value for this, for example, in a product sales report you would enter a product at run time.

229.What i s replacement path processi~ig type? O

In this processing type for the variable, system replaces the value of a characteristic in a calculation / expression at run time. For example, where the query displays dynamic heading for the fiscal year period; the variable type is text and processing type is replacement path.

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C h a p t e r 2: BW R e p o r t i n g ( B E x a n d W e b R e p o r t i n g )

230.What is an authorization processing type? O

In this case the system looks for authorized values for the characteristics for the user and replaces the variables with these values. For example, let us look at a cost center reporting, each manager is 'lssigncd one or more cost centers and each are restricted from seeing the others' cost centers. In this case we would create a characteristics variable for OCOSTCENTER with processing type authorization. O n the bdck end you should create reporting authorization objects and assign fixed cost centers to each manager.

231. What is a customer exit processing type? O

In this case, you write an ABAP program on the back end and fill up the variable values. For example, take the case of cost center reports mentioned above, instead of defining it as an authorization type assume that you get managerlcost center data trom a Z table in Rl3.

In this case you would write ABAP code to:

4 read the user who has run the query

4 read the Z table to get the cost centers and fill up the variables.

232.Name the SAP enhancement used to manipulate the customer exit processing type variables. 0 0

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V a r i a b l e s

233. What i s the function module used to manipulate the c l~stomer exit processing type varial:~les? 0 00

EXIT - SAPLRRSO-00 1

234. What is a SAP exit processing type? 0 0

The SAP Exit processing type is used for variables delivered by SAP eg. The SAP exit variable OCMONTH returns the current calendar month.

235.How do you replace a result from a ~ i iaster query to a child query (not a drill down)? 00

If you select characteristic value with Replacement path then it uses the results from previous query. For example, let us assume that you have query Q 1 which displays the top 10 customers. We have query 4 2 which gets the top 10 customers for Infoobject OCUSTOMER as a variable with replacement path. This displays a detailed report on the customers passed from Q 1.

236.Explaili variable offsets. 0 0

Variable offsets are a powerfill feature in BEx where a characteristics value is calculated with an offset. (You can have negative or positive offsets). For example, let us assume that our query displays all sales data for the 3 months prior to a user entered value for the month. You would create 3 restricted key figures for sales quantity with OCALMONTH, first with offset value 0, then with -1 and then with -2.

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C h a p t e r 2: BW R e p o r t i n g ( B E x a n d W e b R e p o r t i n g )

Query properties 237. List a ~ i d explain properties of a query. 00

J Adjust format after reporting - you can use this option to disable the ability to change the format of the reporting results. You would use this option if you use your own templates and wish co enforce the use of these template. (By default chis property is enabled i.e. The user is allowed to adjust the format of the query results).

J Suppress repeated key values - the def;lult is enabled. If you want repeated key values to be displayed (some users demand this) then disable this option.

J Display scaling factor (default is disal)lcd).

J Display document links - use this to display any available document links.

J Display drag and relate links - this is usefill if you have portals and BW For example, yo11 can drag a sold-to-party and put it on an R/3 transc\. , ctlon ' to execute.

J Results position - bottomiright (default) or topi left or bottomileft or toplright.

J Display of +/- signs.

J Display or suppression of zero rows and columns

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l luery P r o p e r t i e s

238.What is the purpose of option "Pause Automatic Refresh"? O O

When you enable this option, you can stop the query from being refreshed automatically after either selecting a filter value or changing a query or its' properties. This is ilsef~ll for big queries where you do not want to wait for the system to refresh but just one time after you make all the changes.

239.Wliat is a query te~i iplate? O

You can create excel templates to display the BEx queries. For example, you can create a corporate excel template containing your company logo and title. You can then use this as a standard in your BEx reports.

240.What are the options for using template BEx Analyzer? O

J Empty (nothing).

J Select from list - this shows a list of workbooks

and you select one.

J From a permanent template - use a permanent

template.

24.1. Give an example of using VBA in a template. O

You can use VBA to customize the report. For example, assume that you want to hide / delete some header / filter are after each refresh of the query, use the SAPBEx on Refresh macro to do this. By default this macro is empty, add excel code to customize the f~lnctionality of BEx queries in workbooks.

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C h a n t e r 2: BW R e o o r t i n ~ ( B E x a n d W e b Reoor t in !? )

Remember that the macro f~~nctions are ;n,;lil;tble only on BEx and not when you do web reporting using the same query.

242.What are the read modes for a query? O

H Query to be read when you navigate or expand hierarchy. This mode is recommended by SAP

X Query to Read Data during navigation. OLAP processor requests data for each navigational status of the query.

A Read all at once - read all data at once. This will take a long time if i t is a large query. Use this if the InfoProvider does not support selection or a user exit is active in a query.

243.How do you set tl ie read mode for a query? O

You can set the read mode for the query using the transaction code RSRT +Property.

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D o c u m e n t U t i l i t v

Document utility Many users have s t a r t e d using t h i s new feature t o create / a t t a c h documents for queries or resul ts .

244.What are the objects that support docume~i ta t io~ i and Iiow do you use the documents feature? O

J Infoobject J Infocube J InfoSet J O D s J Query

You ciin use the document feature either: J After executing the query (right click and select

documents for BEx, left click and select document from web reports) or,

J IJsing the admin work bench + documents + metadata path.

245.Give all exarnple of niaster data docume~i ta t io~ i . O

Assume that we want to add product images for each product. To do this create a master data document utility for the creation of a document for each OM ATERIAL value.

246.What is Infoprovider documentation? O This is used to create one or more documents for the transaction data of an Infoprovider. For example, you can define a document for the following combination of key figures and characteristics - sales quantity, material and fiscal year period.

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C h a p t e r 2: BW R e p o r t i n g (BEx a n d Web R e p o r t i n g )

Query Administration 247. What is the menu path for deleting multiple query objects

(like Workbook) in a single transaction? O

Logon to your BW sap client, select Business explorer Query * Delete objects.

248.Can yo11 copy queries between two InfoProviders? O

Yes, you can copy queries between one InfoProvider to another as long as their key figures and characteristics match.

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( luery A d m i n i s t r a t i o n / C o n d i t i o n s a n d E x c e p t i o n s

Conditions and Exceptions Condi t ions a n d except ions a r e ex tens ive ly u s e d i n BEx repor t ing .

249.What is a condition? What options are available for us i~ ig conditio~is? O

If you want to filter on key figures or do ranked analysis then you would use a condition. For example, you can use a condition to report top 10 customers or customers with more than a million dollars in sales yearly.

Option available : You can either select a single characteristic, or a combination of characteristics, or all characteristics in the drill down. Note that a condition is only effective when the report is drilled down for all characteristics defined in the condition.

250.What are the options for creating condition on a key figure? OO

J =

J <> J < J > J <= J >= J Between

Not between

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C h a p t e r 2: B W R e p o r t i n g (BEx a n d W e b R e p o r t i n g )

9 Top N 9 Bottom N 9 Top % (eg. Top 20% of customers)

9 Bottom % 9 Top Sum 9 Bottom Sum

251. Why do the totals someti~i ies not ~ i i a tch , when we use conditions ? 0 O

By default the report shows overall resulrs total and not the results total taking the filter into accounr. ?i> display the correct totals you should use "Si~rnrnation" in the key figure properties instead of "Norhing defined".

252.What are different status' for conditions, when you have multiple active condit io~is in a query? 00

9 Conditions work (all valid).

9 Status is displayed as "Variant" because the characteristics combination is not included in the drill down.

9 Status is displayed as "Not Used" because of colliding conditions where one condirion deactivates the other.

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C o n d i t i o n s a n d E x c e p t i o n s

253.Wliat is an exception? O

An exception is not a filter (like condition) but is used to highlight reports in different colors when key figures exceed predefined values.

For example, you may want to show red for all accounts receivables that are older than 90 days and yellow for older than 60 days.

254.What is cell restriction and what are i ts ' options? 00

You can define restrictions on characteristics as to how the exception reporting will be done. For each characteristics in the report you can define the following:

J Everything

J Totals only - exception on totals only (not

individual rows)

J Everything except totals

J Fixed value - where you can specify fixed values or

select a variable. For example, you may want to do an exception for sales where the customer is in OCOlJNTRY = USA

J Level - exception is applicable only for a specific level of the hierarchy.

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C h a p t e r 2: BW R e p o r t i n g (BEx and Web Report ing)

Reporting agent You can use ,the repo r t i ng agent t o schedu le except ion repo r t i ng and a le r t t l i e users f o r any unusual data. For example, you can c rea te a n except ion f o r ac tua l sales quan t i t y and an except ion t o repo r t any sa les t h a t do 11ot nieet t h e ta rget . You can t h e n send per iod ic a le r t s t o i n te res ted pa r t i es based on these except ions.

255.What types of reports can yo11 use in the reporting agent? O O

c, Exceptions

c, Print

c, Web templates (precalculated)

c, Value sets

c, Bookmarks

4 Crystal reports

256.How do you use reporting agent for exception ge~ierating alert? 0 0

Use the reporting agent for this from the Administrator Work Bench (AWB):

*r Click on the exceptions icon on the left, give it a technical name and text description.

4 Select the exception based on a specific query for generating alert using drag and drop.

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Reporting Agent

257. What are the follow-up actions available in the reporting agent? 000

c/ Send mail - alerts user by email. For example, you can send an email alerting managers that the sales quantity target was missed.

c/ Alert monitor entry - view results in the alert monitor. You can also give a URL to the alert monitor.

c/ Export - send the data to a work flow for follow-

up action.

c/ RRI interface - if an exception happens you can jump to another query for a more detailed data display using the Go To option.

258.What are the options available to check exception occurrence using tlie alert monitor? 0 0

If an exception is handled by the alert monitor then you can use the following menu path: AWB + Reporting agent + select Exception on the left window + Alert icon. Alternatively, in the BEx Analyzer you can select open + exceptions.

259.How do you use print settings? 00

You use print settings to print report in the background using the reporting agent. From the reporting agent, use the create icon, specifying:

c/ title c/ zcros suppression

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C h a p t e r 2: BW R e p o r t i n g ( B E x a n d W e b R e p o r t i n g )

9 colors, position 9 margins

9 how the Infoobjects will be displayed in the report etc.

260.What are value sets? 00

Using the reporting agent you can fill values for a

variable on a particular characteristic in the background eg. Assume that everyday poi1 gencrate a detailed report on the top 10 products. To gct the top 10 products you run another query with a condition. The parent query can then be defined as a value set returning values for OMATERIAL.

261. What is the menu path for creating value set? 00

Use the AWB -) Reporting agent and sclcct the value set icon on the left

262.What is the menu path to find correct 1lRL of the pre- calculated web template whether 'STORED' or 'STATIC' mode? 00 0

Even if you have pre-calculated templates, ilnlcss you have the right URL with variable \~alues, it lvill show an error.

To find the correct URL ilse the following mcuu path:-

9 Use the transaction code RSRAPS (Document

Repository).

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R e o o r t i n n A n e n t

9 Navigate to the Reporting agent job. 9 Open the 1ndex.hcm document by double clicking.

Gght click on thc documcnc on the right and select Vicw Source.

9 Search for string THIS IS A URL T O THE DOCIJMENT. Use this LTRL to get the stacic reporting from docitn~cnc score

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C h a p t e r 2: BW R e p o r t i n g (BEx a n d Web R e p o r t i n g )

Web Application Designer 263.Wl1at i s a Web Item? 00

A web item gives the HTML output from the data provider. It has a logical name and comm,lnci processing capabilities. These are reprcscntcd by the OBJECT tag in the web template.

Web items have attributes like HIDDEN, GENERATE - CAPTION, CAPTION, ctc.

Attributes that are specific to Web itcrms arc MODIFY - TABLE, SHOW - PAGING - AREA - TOP for tables;

264.List some of t l ie standard delivered web i tems. 0 0

J Chart

J Tdble

J Dropdown box

J Radio button group

J Check boxes

J Generic navigation block

J Hierarchical context menu

J Filter

J Label

J Text elements

J List of exceptions

J Alert monitor

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Web A o o l i c a t i o n D e s i e n e r

J Menu

J Ticker

J Map

J Single document

J List of documents

265.What are the flags for general reporting? 00

J Open dialog for web applications in new windows. J 1Jse the read mode for data flag to use pre-

calculated or HTML pages.

J Flag for output optimization.

J Force variables entry.

266.What is the web items library? 00

The web items library is a library of customized web items which can be used across web applications. For example, you can customize the table web item (like setting flags and display options) and save it in the library for other web templates to use. Note that the data provider assigned to the web item library object is not copied.

267. Give all overview of some of the web items. 0 0

J Table - to display table data like product sales report.

J Chart - different charts like pie chart and bar charts; remember that you should have the IGS setup properly to use charts.

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C h a o t e r 2: BW R e o o r t i n n ( B E x a n d W e b R e o o r t i n n )

4 Drop down box - used for filtering the report.

4 Radio button group - used for data filtering.

4 Check box - filter values.

4 Generic navigation block - used for filter, drill

down etc.

4 Hierarchical context menu - to filter llicrarchy nodes.

4 Filter - filter values by navigation.

4 Label - for cockpit design - creates navigational blocks by using labels for charactcristics and structural components.

4 Text element - query information.

4 List of exceptions - list of cxccptions defined.

4 List of conditions.

4 Alert monitor - to view alerts.

4 Role menu - displays favorites and roles of the user.

4 Ticket - similar display as a stock ticker.

4 Map - image map.

4 Single document - individual documents for master data.

4 List of documents.

4 ABC classification - to classify data.

4 What if condition.

268.Where do you store custom style sheets? 000

In the MIME repository and store it under SAP + Public + SAP BW + Customer + Style Sheets.

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Web A p p l i c a t i o n Designer

269.Where do you store yol.lr custuln iniages (like logos)? 000

They are stored in the MIME repository. Use the following menu path for accessing the MIME rcpository : SAP I) Public I) SAP I) BW I) Customcr I) Images.

270. What is the effect of various DATA - MODE options in the command line URL? 0 0 0

STORED use prc-calculated data exclusively.

HYBRID uses pre calculated if available else new data.

STATIC uses pre calculated data.

271. Give all example for this llRL command. 000

# HYPERLINK " h t t p : / / m y a p p l i c a t i o n s e r v e r / S A P / BW/ ex?CMD=LDOC8TEMPLATE=yourtemplate8DATA~MODE=STORED1'

o l l r a t l o n s e r v e r / S A P / B W / m-TFnpI ATE=vour-ATA MODF=STORFQ

272.What is a pre-calculated web template? 00

This is like a precalculated value set. The report is generated as an HTML document by the Report Agent but bear in mind that in this case no navigation / drill down is possible.

273. Wliat is a co~i t ro l query? 000

A control query is used to filter query results for different precalculated web templates.

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Chanter 2: BW Renor t ine ( B E x and Web Renort ine)

For example, if you have scheduled different reports for the top 10 selling products with different characteristics using a pre-calculated web template, the top 10 products are available from this control query, which is used as a filter in the pre-calculated web template.

274. Wliat i s the default web template used ill a report? 00

OQUERY - TEMPLATE.

275. How would you cl ia~ige tl ie default teniplate? 000

You should not change OQUERY - TEMPLATE; but you should make a copy using program RS - TEMPLATE - MAINTAIN and make the changes to the copy. Give this new template a name from the customer namespace eg. ZTEMPLATE. Then go to transaction SPRO to define the new Z template as the default web template.

276. How do you handle language dependent texts? 0 00

Use the tag SAP - BW - TEXT and specify the program name and key.

277. What does setting the VARIABLE - SCREEN l lRL parameter to 'X'do? 000

An X will force the web report to display rlie variablcs entry screen.

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W e b A p p l i c a t i o n Designer

278. I f you are asked to change the way tables are displayed in web reporting, how would you do this? 000

IJsing the SAP delivered class CL - RSR - W W W - MODIFY-TABLE as a template, copy it to a Z class where you make your desired changes. In the object tag of the table in the template put <param name='MODIFY - CLASS' value= 'NEW Z - CLASS'>.

The following methods are used in this class START called before any cell creation

NEW-RO W called after a new row is completed

FINISHED after the table is rendered

CAPTION - CELL, STRUCTURE - CELL

cell methods

DATA - CELL, CHARACTERISTIC - CELL

table body methods

279. How will you add buttc~ns to a template? 000

Create a button and add a URL that can call web reporting eg. Create a standard HTML button with label 'USA' to call URL with FILTER - IOBJNM=OD-COUNTRY FILTER - VALUE = 'US'.

280.How wo1.11d you debug Web reports? 000

Using the transaction code RSRT2.

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C h a p t e r 2: BW R e p o r t i n g (BEx and Web R e p o r t i n g )

281. What are processing commands? 00 0

Processing commands are used to bring a change in status (like hiding or drill down) or to perform an action (for example, display the variablc screen) eg. You can define a html command to creatc ;L 1)ookmark <a href=" <SAP BW UFU cmd ='BOOKhiARK'> " > BookMark b his </a>.

Sample commands are Expand (drill down), SET - NAV - STATE and EXPORT

You can also embed a command in Javascript; cxample is SAPBWOpenURL(SAP - BW - IJFU - GctO + "&CMD= BOOKMARK").

282.What is the use of download scheduler? 00

This is the tool that enables the users to schedule the off-line downloading of reports from reporting agents.

283. What are the advantages of BW 3.x web server (WAS)? 0O

c, Enhanced scalability, use of IGS for charts, background processing

c, Full SAP application server with ABAP run time

c, HTTP server and client functionality

c, Native support for open protocols like HTTPS, SSL, SSO, etc.

c, No proprietary products (no RFC)

4 XMLIXSLT engine and integrated J2EE engine

c, MIME objects are cached

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W e b A o o l i c a t i o n Oesiener

284.What are the built in javascript functions available to customize web templates? 000

c/ SAP - - - BW Get Language Gives the logon language.

c/ SAP - BW - URL Get Returns the uE.

c/ SAPBWOpenURL Executes URL in current window.

c/ SAPBWOpenWindow Opens URL in a new window.

c, SAPBWGetItemProp(itemName) Returns properties of items in an array.

c, SAPBWGetDataProviderDimensions(provider name) Gives an array of characteristics and structures.

c/ SAPBWAddToMenu(labe1, javascript handler, parameter, cell - type, filter, visibility, position, dataqrovider, item). lJsed to enhance context menu eg. You can add new entries to the context menu.

285.Give a broad step by step process to convert web objects from 2.x to 3.x. 0 00

Step 1: Do a consistency check of web objects using transaction RSRV. (This check is available from BW 2.0b SP 13).

Step 2: Fix any errors.

The following steps occur after you upgrade to 3.x. WAD Web Application Designer lJsing SE38.

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120 C h a p t e r 2: B W R e p o r t i n g ( B E x a n d W e b R e p o r t i n g )

Step 3: Execute program RSZW - WEBOBJECTS - 30 - UPGRADE. If there are any errors then fur thcm and re- convert. Once the conversion is complete.

Step 4: Delete the old templates using program RSZW - OLD - BDS - ENTRIES-DELETE .

Step 5 : You can also use program RSZW - REPLACE - TEMPLATE - STRINGS to replace strings. For example, you can use this program to replace links to logos on the old JGS server path to new MIME repository path.

Step 6: You can also use program RS - TEMPLATE - MAINTAIN to edit templates on the server.

286.What are the parameters available for Web Reporting? 000

J Filter - Example to filter for a specific customer:

FILTER-IOBJNM = 'OCUSTOMER' FILTER - VALIJE ='1234'

v Use a variable as filter:

FILTER-IOBJNM = 'OCUSTOMER' FILTER VALUE - TYPE = 'VARIABLE-EXIT' FILTER-VALUE - = 'ZCIJSTEX1T'

J Sort data (customer ascending):

CMD='SORT' IOBJNM ='OCI JSTOMER' SORT - TYPE='T' SORT - DIRECTION='A'

J Export data as excel file:

CMD ='EXPORT' FORMAT = 'XLS'

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CHAPTER 3

Extract ion

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C h a p t e r 3 : E x t r a c t i o n

Basic Concepts 287. What are different types of extractors? 000

c, Application Specific extractors (BW Content extractors like FI, LO Cockpit and Generic extractor for LIS, FI-SAL).

J Cross application Generic extractor (for Custom extracts from database tablelviews ancl Sap Query).

288.Wllat i s the transaction code for creating or changing the generic extraction tool Data Sources? 00

Transaction code RS02

289.What i s the ini t ia l transaction code for mallaging extraction tasks? 0 0

Transaction code SBIW

290.What are the broad steps followed to extract data from R/3? 0 0

c, Replicate the data sources. J Assign them to an Infosource.

c, Maintain the communication structure and transfer rules.

J Create an info package.

c, Extract data.

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B a s i c C o n c e p t s

291. Wliat are business content extractors? Give an example. O 0

Extractors supplied by SAP for a specific business module eg. OFI-AP-03.

292.What i s direct update for an I~ifoObject? 00

An Infoobject is updated without the use of update rules. Only transfer rules are used.

293.What i s flexible updating? 00

Flexible updating makes use of update rules, making it possible to ~lpdate a harmonized master data from different source systems before updation to master data tables.

294.Give some examples of third party ETL tools that are supported by SAP. 0 0

c/ Ascential

c/ Informatica

c/ Mercator

295.Wliat is the transaction code for accessing monitor? 00

Transaction code RSMON

296.List broad steps followed t o co~if igure and use tlalird party (BAPI) tools. 00

J Define the RFC connection using SM59

c/ Define the third party source system

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C h a p t e r 3 : E x t r a c t i o n

J Assign to InfoSources

J Map and define transformation rulcs

J Create info package and load data

297. Wliich fi le formats are supported for ,third party E'TL tools? 00

J csv J ASCII

298.Define the record modes for delta (assume, for exa~iiple, the sales quantity changed from 2 0 to '10). 000

J Before Image: the record before it got changed, in this case it is 20.

J After image: the record after it got clx~ngcd, in this example it is 10.

J Additive image: in this case only thc difference i.e.. 10.

J Reverse image: used for deletion, rcvcrse with the quantity to zero out.

J Delete image: only the O D s keys are givcn for deletion, not supported for cubes.

299.Wliat update modes are available? 00

J Full J Init of delta J Delta

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B a s i c C o n c e p t s

300.Explain what a repair request is. 000

Assurne that you have done "init of delta" and "deltas" for an ODS and you find that there is a problem with certain loaded data. If you wish to do a full load without destroying the delta inits, you would perform ;I selective deletion of the data from ODS first and then schedule a fill1 load with this selection, making it a repair request (Scheduler Repair f~lll request).

301. What s e t t i ~ i g s are available for delta option for loadirig data from f la t file? (You set the delta mode in the transfer structure - Update niode 'field). 0 0 0

J New status only: this sends records of changed records. This is only available for ODS. A cube can not be used.

J Additive delta: just the change in key figures is sent. This can be used in both the ODS and in a cube.

302.Wl ia t i s a delta update? 00

Instead of updating the entire data, SAP uses a change log (for business content extractor and Time stamp (CO-PA)) to do delta update.

303.When you create a datasource some flags are attached to each field, what are they? 00

J Selection flag: if this flag is set for a field then we can select the field.value for extraction fro111 the InfoPackage.

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C h a o t e r 3 : E x t r a c t i o n

For example, if you set the flag for OCI JSTOMER, then in the Infopackage you can select customer numbers in extraction.

4 Hide flag: if this flag is set, then the field is not populated in extraction.

4 Cancellation fields: this is field is inverted when a transaction is cancelled.

304.Wliat tra~isaction code is used to tlie clieck extractt~r? 0 0

Transaction code RSA3

305.Which transaction code i s used to check delta Q for a data source? 0 0

Transaction code RSA7

306.Wliat i s t l ie source tables for t l ie FI AP ex,tractor from SAP R/3? 0 0

4 BSIK: Open invoices 4 BSAK: Cleared invoices

307. Wliat i s t l ie source tables for ,the FI AR extractor froni SAP R/3? 0 0

4 BSID: Open invoices 4 BSAD: Cleared invoices

308.Wliat op t io~ is are generally availal~le when f i l l ing in the values for selection? 0 0

4 Manual input

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B a s i c C o n c e o t s

*/ Fill up from OLAP variables - use variables created in BEx

*/ ABAP routine

309.What table is f i l led when you select ABAP routine for se lect io~ i ill info pack? 000

Similar to variable exits, the 1 - t - range table is filled.

310. How do you send XML data to BW? 000

*/ Install the XML 3.0 parser

*/ Create an Infosource

*/ Assign PC file as the data source

9 Create a transfer and communication structure + activate

*/ From the transfer structure screen select Extras + create B W datasource with SOAP application

9 After successful generation, the data source is connected to the myself datamart. The name of the data source is 6A*

Create an info package

*/ Load data from an xml file

311. What delta modes are available? 000

"F" Flat file provides delta.

"A" IJses ALE (Application Link Enabling).

"D" Application determines the delta queue eg. LO.

"E" Extractor determines the delta eg. CO-PA, LIS.

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C h a p t e r 3 : E x t r a c t i o n

312. Name the table in SAP R/3 to get detailed information on data source and i t 's delta capability. 00

IJse table ROOSOURCE. The delta column shows the delta method (A - ALE, E- Extractor, ctc.). The AIM value describes type of delta such as F 1 for function module, V - view, Q - InfoSet query.

313. Name the table ill SAP R/3 to get detailed information on delta methods. 0 0 0

From table RODELTAM.

314. How do you configure BW to load data from a data stage system? 000

c, Create the RFC connection (SM59) and tcst i t with the datastage system

c, Define the job in the data stage systcn~

c, Create a source system (type third p;lrty)

J Load transfer structure from BW

c, Map columns to BW structlire

c, Define and load info package.

315. What i s the benefit of 'early delta i~i i t ia l izat ion' trption? 000

This is the process in which you run thc initialization of delta and load the delta queue in parallel. The LO extraction supports this method which allows for minimum downtime on the SAP R/3 side.

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C l a s s S v s t e m

Class System 316. What are tlie steps taken to create class? 000

c, Define the properties.

c/ Create a class type. This controls the classes that can be assigned to them. For example, class type can be material.

c, Create a class and assign it to the class type. For example, class could be digital cameras.

c, Assign objects to the class.

c, Searches can now be done on the classes. For example, get all the cameras with 3.0 mega pixels.

c, These values are transferred to BW as Omaterial attributes.

317. Which tralisactinn code do you use to do classif ica~t io~i on SAP R/3 for BW? 00 0

Transaction code SBIW and select maintain data source for classification data.

318. What are the steps within SBIW to create classes for BW? 000

c, Select the data source for assigning classes eg. Select OMATERIAL - ATTR.

c, Select the class.

J Generate the data source, a prefix 1CL is added to the data sources generated.

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C h a n t e r 3 : E x t r a c t i o n

Generic Data source 319. What are the steps followed to create a generic data

source? 00 0

c/ Execute transaction code R S 0 2 .

c/ Enter the data source name and description.

c/ Select a table, view or a ABAP query 1 InfoSct for the source of the data.

c/ Flag the fields that are required for sclection.

c/ Flag the fields that are required to be hidden.

c/ Activate the data source.

c/ Replicate, assign Infosource, define communication structure and transfer rulcs; create info package and load the data.

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G e n e r i c D a t a S o u r c e / L I S E x t r a c t i o n

LIS Extraction 320.What does LIS stand for? 0 0

Logistics Information System. Used in R/3 for reporting for snapshot in time reporting with drilldown and analysis capabilities. It allows for on- line reporting that does not affect the performance of your on-line transactions.

321. Wliat i s the transactio~i code for s e t t i ~ i g up extractors based on I-IS? 0 0

Transaction code RMCSBIWC

322.Explain the data flow for 1.1s updation in SAP R/3. 00

4 OLTP (On-line Transaction Processing) data is stored in application data tables.

4 When data is updated in LIS, it is stored as a

comn~unication structure.

4 The communication structure is then written to the corresponding information structures using update rules.

4 This data is then stored in S tables (tables beginning with S) eg. S301.

4 Customer defined info structures are tables from S500 onwards. Standard LIS tables are up to S499.

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C h a n t e r 3 : E x t r a c t i o n

323. How many structures are generated when LIS extractor is created? 00

Even though 2 tables are crated for LIS cxtracrion only one structure is created in the form SxxxBIWS where xxx is the LIS table name eg. S30 1BIWS.

324. How does the data flow from the LIS tables to BW? 00

For example, if we are extracting S30 1 then 2 tables are created internally, S301BIW 1 and S301BIW2. The information is written to each table alternatively (depending on the last delta).

325.How do we know which table has the current data (BIW1 or BIWZ)? 00

I t is in table T M C B I W

326.What is the naming convention of the 1.1s data source? 00

2 LIS 01 Sxxx where xxx is the LIS table name cg. Z - - - LIS 01 S301.

327. What happens when you do an initialization of delta for an LIS data source? 00

The entire data from the S table exaniplc S30 1 is extracted to B W

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L I S E x t r a c t i o n

328 .What steps are followed to set up extraction from LIS in SAP R/3? 00

c/ Run transaction code RMCSBIWC.

c/ Set up initialization of delta.

c/ Generate the data source + select the fields for selection -) mark necessary fields as hidden or cancellation fields.

c/ Generate the update program for Delta.

c/ Replicate the data source + assign Infosource + maintain communication structure and transfer rules + create info package.

c/ D o the initialization of delta.

c/ Activate the delta.

c/ Start loading the delta.

329.Where is the data extracted from rlurilig i ~ i i t i a l i z a t i o ~ i of delta and delta updates? 00

During initialization of delta, the data is extracted directly from the S tables. The delta update programs once activated, start collecting delta data and populate one of the SBIW tables (1 or 2). During delta update on B W either one of these tables is read for extraction.

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C h a p t e r 3 : E x t r a c t i o n

LO Extraction 330.What are the advantages of the new LO Extraction ? 00

4 Improved performance and reduced volume.

4 No LIS functionality meaning you don't need to

setup LIS on RJ3. 4 Single solution for all logistics applications.

4 No 2 table use like in LIS.

4 Detailed extraction.

4 Only data that was changed from a BW perspective is added in the delta queue.

4 Updated with a batch process (V3 update).

331. Which t ransacl io~ i code on R/3 shows the tra~isact ions with pending processes for update? 0 0

Transaction code SM 13

332. What are vl, v2 and v3 updates? 0 0

v l + postings are carried out synchronously; directly tied to document posting.

v2 + postings are carried out asynchrononsly; the processing is treated as a secondary step to the document saving.

v3 + postings are left in Initial status. It waits until a unique trigger is issued. Data is passed to a centralized delta n1;Lnagement.

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L O E x t r a c t i o n

333. What i s the naming convention used for LO data so~.~rces? 0 0

2LIS - nn - xxxxx where nn is the number that represents an application and xxxx is the source of data eg. 2LIS - 11 - VAHDR for sales document header, where 1 1 is for application sales.

334. What transaction codes are useful in LO extractions? 00

J LBWE Customizing cockpit

I, LBWF B W log

J LBWG Delete setup tables

J OLI*BW Initialization / Setup

335. Which R/3 version supports LO extraction? 0 0

From R/3 4.0b with SP 4 0 with P12002.1.

336.How do you convert from LIS to LO Extraction? 0 0

J Make sure no R/3 data is updated for the data

sources in question.

I, Switch off LIS extraction, switch on update for LO

extraction.

I, Load the last delta queue for the old LIS

extraction.

J D o not refresh statistics for new data sources.

I, Simulate an initialization of delta with new LO

data source. This does not write any data but sets the pointer.

J Now you can start a delta.

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C h a p t e r 3 : E x t r a c t i o n

337. What is the differelice betweer~ LIS and LO in ini.tialization of delta and delta? 00

v For initialization of delta LO i~scs setup tables vs. LIS use of the S tables.

9 For delta update LO uses the comn~unication structure with V3 update vs. LIS using BIX'1 or BI\.'2 tables.

338. What are the liew update methods since PI 2002? 000

v Direct delta: data is transferred to the BW delta queue for each document posting. This is ilsefiil for low volume extraction.

v Queued delta: extraction data is collcct-ed for the affected application instead of being collected in an extraction queue which ensures serialization. This is useful for large volume extraction.

v Non serialized V3 update: data in the update run is read without regard to sequence in the update tables.

339.How do you improve tlie perforniance w h e ~ i creating a setup table in LO extraction? 000

You create multiple batch jobs with different- selection criteria. For example, when you do a setup table for SD, use different document number ranges and do the setup in parallel.

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C O - P A E x t r a c t i o n

CO-PA Extraction Contro l l i~ ig a ~ i d Profi tabi l i ty Analysis

340.What is meant by characteristics derivation? 00

This is where characteristics are derived from another given characteristic. For example, if we have product we can derive product group.

341. Why is CO-PA a generic extraction and not a business coritent extraction? 0 0

CO-PA is highly customizable where value fields and characteristics are defined differently between customers. SAP has released CO-PA as a generic extraction which can be customized.

342.What is a characteristic in CO-PA? 00

Characteristics are defined at levels where information is maintained eg. Customer groups and divisions.

343. What are "predefined characteristics"? 0 0

Some characteristics like company code, material and customer are set LIP with predefined set values.

344.How many customer defined characteristics are you allowed to create? 00

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C h a p t e r 3 : E x t r a c t i o n

345.Define the database structure in CO-PA. 00

4 There are 4 tables CENXXXX (n is 1 - 'I and XXXX is the operating concern)

4 CE1 is the Actual Line items table containing data at the line item level.

4 CE2 is the Plan line item similar to CE 1

4 CE3 - Segment level table - contains the value fields (key figures), contains values of the period for each profitability segment nun~ber.

4 CE4 - Segment Table - this defines thc link between profitability segments and the linc items using segment number. Each record in this tablc defines the profitability segment numl~cr for a

given combination of characteristics' values. You can exclude some characteris tics ( l i kc order numbers) to reduce the volume (similar tc) linc item dimensions in the Infocube).

346.How would you k ~ i o w if a segment/segment level entry has been summarized? 00

Using the time stamp of the last summarization run.

347. What is the safety delta for CO-PA? 000

BW only updates records that arc at least 30 minutes old.

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C O - P A E x t r a c t i o n

348 . How would you compare the CO-PA to an Infocube? 00

CO-PA BW I/ Operating Concern Infocube 4 CE 1/CE2 Line item details O D s 4 CE4 - Segment table Dimension table 4 Excl~lding characteristics in

Segment tablc CE4 Line item dimension 4 CE3 - Segmcnt level table Fact table 4 S~lmmarization Level Aggregate

349.What is the standard naming convention of the CO-PA data source? 00

1 - - - CO PA <SYS>-<CLIENT> - <OPCON> -

where sys - system ID, client - client number and olxon - operating concern name

350.Define the steps necessary to set up CO-PA for BW. 00

4 CO-PA datasource must be defined at Operating Concern / Clicnt Level.

4 Define data source for f~111 updates (summarization level, segment level and line item).

I/ Select SBIW transaction to get into CO-PA setup.

I/ Select the characteristics.

4 Select the value fields.

4 Generate the data source.

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C h a p t e r 3 : E x t r a c t i o n

CO-PA Retraction 351. What is CO-PA retraction? 000

This is the process by which BW data is loaded into

N3.

352. How is the query from BW used for CO-PA retraction? 000

The query on BW is the source for the retraction. Data is retracted after drilling down using all free characteristics. This drill down is performed internally.

353. What are thegeneral restrictions of CO-PA retraction? a00 J Allowed only for cost based CO-PA.

J No delta functionality although runs can be cancelled.

J Retractor uses RSCRM - BAPI to run the query.

J Actual data is always updated ilsing rccord type H where planning data, record type and version can be specified.

354.Give a step by step approach for doing CO-PA retraction. 0 0 0

J Define the query.

J Enable for OLE DB. J create the RFC connection in R/3 if not already

there.

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C O - PA R e t r a c t i o n

*/ Define field assignments (between InfoObjects and CO-PA fields):

1. You can find this under SPRO + controlling + controlling profitability analysis. Search for "data transfer from SAP BW".

2. There are two options: assignment at system level or query level. If both are defined then the query level takes precedence.

3. Key figures can ONLY be assigned at the query level.

4. Currencies and units are assigned automatically.

5 . Choose the query.

6. Assign the InfoObjects; you can also assign fixed values.

*/ Execute the extraction.

*/ IJse SPRO and search for "Execute data transfer".

*/ You may do retraction in the background and use variant.

Please note : If you want to cancel the retraction run you can perform a reverse by displaying all runs (log), selecting a run and clicking on "Cancel Run".

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C h a p t e r 3 : E x t r a c t i o n

Enhancing data extraction You enhance the extraction of data sources when you find that you have to add Z f ields to the SAP delivered data sources ( text , master and transaction).

355 . What are the typical steps taken to enhance data source? O 0

c/ Append the standard data structure.

c/ Add the custom fields.

c/ Edit the right user exit to populatc the custom fields.

c/ Activate the user exit.

c/ Create InfoObjects corresponding t o thc new custom fields.

c/ Replicate the datasources.

c/ Map the new fields to the InfoObjects

c/ Activate the communication structure and transfer rules.

c/ Create info package and load the data.

356.What restriction is placed on the naming of custom fields in appended structures? 0 0 0

All new fields in the appended structure should start with ZZ

357. What is the SAP enliancenient for data sources? 000

RSAPOOOO 1

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E n h a n c i n e D a t a E x t r a c t i o n

358.What are the user exits within the SAP enhancement for data sources? 00 0

EXIT - SAPLRSAP - 001 + transaction data

EXIT - SAPLRSAP-002 + master data

EXIT - SAPLRSAP-003 + text

EXIT - SAPLRSAP-004 + hierarchy

359.1s the user exit for data st~urces commtln for all data sources? 00 0

Yes, which is why you should use a case statement checking the data source name in your code.

360.How do you debug a background user exit? 000

J Create an infinite loop on a value eg. x = 3. do while x > 1.

J Start the extraction on BW J The process on R/3 now goes into an infinite loop.

J Look for the applicable process in SM5O. J Debug the process. J Within debugger change value of x to 1, thus

exiting the while loop. J Now you can see and debug your code.

361. Can you add data records in the user exit for data sources? 0 0 0

No. The user exit is only used to append data to the record.

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C h a p t e r 3 : E x t r a c t i o n

362.What parameters are available in the user exit, for data sources, for enhancing master data? 00 0

I - T - FIELDS list of transfer structure fields.

I T DATA - - internal table containing data for the master attri1)utes. Remember that this contains all data.

I - UPDMODE update mode.

I - CHABASNM basic characteristics

I - SOURCE name of the InfoSourcc.

363.What are the hierarchy relevant parameters? 000

C - T-HIENODE table which contains hierarchy.

C - T - HIETEXT internal table containing text of hierarchies.

C - T - FOLDERT contains descriptions of nodes.

C-T - HIEINTV containing hierarchy leaves with intervals.

364.What enhancements are available for LIS? 00 0

MCS10001 Sales documents

MCS5 000 1 Deliveries

LEINSOO 1 Purchase orders

365.What enhancements are available to enhance HR data? 0 0

HRPTDWO1 for H R time related data

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O B C o n n e c t

DB Connect 366.What is DB connect? 00

D B connect is a utility to load data directly from external databases such as Oracle.

367. What are the restrictions of DB connect? 00

4 No synonyms are allowed . 4 If you are using Oracle, the date format is different

in SAP Oracle has both date and time in the date column; so to map date only to SAC use the to - char(date - column, 'YYYYMMDD') function. You can create a view with this fi~nction and use d b connect with the view.

368.What are 'the pre-requisites for DB con~iect? 00

4 DBSL must be installed on the SAP server. 4 The database specific D B Client must be installed. 4 Tdbk and field names must be in capital letters.

4 Table name is limited to number of characters. A view is used to circumvent this limitation.

369.What are the steps to create DB connect? 00

4 First verify that the DB connection works from the server.

4 AWB + Source systems + create

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C h a p t e r 3: E x t r a c t i o n

c, Select Database source system. c, Enter the database user name, pass\vord and

connect string. c/ Using transaction RSDBC generate the data

source.

c, Assign data source to info source.

c, Maintain and activate the communication structure and transfer rules.

c, Create info package and load data.

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Currency Translat ion i n B W

Currency Translation in BW 369.What are the options available in BW for currency

conversion? 0 0

I t can be done in either the update rule or in Bex. If you do it in the update rule then you lose the information on the original currency.

370. What i s the translation key? 00

Defines how the exchange rate is calculated. For example, the target currency can be fixed or can be determined at the time of translation.

371. Which table contains the exchange rate? 00

372. What i s the function module to convert currency? 00

RSW - CURRENCY - TRANSLATION

373. How do you load exclialige iliformatioli ,from R/3 to BW? 00

AWB + Source systems + right click on the SAP R/ 3 source system + select transfer exchange rates

374. How do you do Euro coliversioli at t l ie database level? 00

1Jse the program RSEURO

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Chapter 3: Extract ion

375. How do you upload currency exchange from a f lat file? 00

c/ The file must have the same structure as TCIJRR table including exchange range type, from

currency, to currency, valid from date, exchange rate, Ratio

c/ Once the file is ready g o to AWB + flat file

source system, select the file system + right click and select Transfer exchange rate.

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CHAPTER 4

BW Funct ional

Page 142: BW Questions & Answers

C h a p t e r 4: B W F u n c t i o n a l

ASAP methodology 376. What does ASAP stand for? 00

Accelerated SAP implementation nietlioclology.

377. What are the project phases within ASAP? 00

4 Project preparation: perform a concel,tual review following this phase.

J Business blue print: filnctional spccs arc written in this phase. Perform a design review following this.

4 Realization: configure and develop. Pcrform a configuration review following this p1i;lsc.

4 Final preparation: QA, go-live plan. Final work prior to moving to production. Conduct a

performance review following this phasc.

4 Go live and support: move to production and provide support.

378. What is a typical set up of a BW team? 00

J Project manager J One or more functional consultants 1 cxpcrts J One or more developers J One or more QA testers J Basis team support

379. Wliat is t l ie 90 day rule? 00

It is a thumb rule that SAP-B\V can bc ~mplenienced in 90 days because most of the generic reclilirenients are already delivered in its business contcnc.

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A S A P M e t h o d o l o g y / B u s i n e s s C o n t e n t and Ro les

Business content and roles 380.What i s business content? 00

The pre configured objects delivered by SAP are called 1)usiness content. I t includes roles, queries, info providers, info sources, data sources, info objects, info packages, ctc. For cxamplc, OMATERIAL is a busincss content delivered by sap.

381. What are the gro i~p ing options available when install ing busi~iess co~i tent? 00

9 Only necessary objects - This will collect only the csscntial objects.

9 Data flow before - If you are installing a cube with this option it will install all the required objects like info objects, update rules, etc with the cube.

9 Data flow aftcr. - If you install a cube with this option it will also install anything after the cube such as qucries, work books, roles etc.

9 Data flow before and after. - This will install all thc objects beforc and aftcr almost from info- objccts to Role.

382. What are the versioris ill objects? 00

9 D SAP delivered

9 M Modificd version 9 A Active vcrsion