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SAP BW: A Step by Step Guide
SAP BW has recently come to the fore as a valuable tool for developing data warehouses that accurately and effectively support critical business decision making. It facilitates easy-to-use and high-performance extraction, transfer, transformation, and loading of data from a variety of data sources, including such comprehensive business management systems
as SAP R/3.
This practitioner's guide uses step-by-step instructions complete with a plethora of screen captures to illustrate key SAP BW functionalities. It demonstrates how SAP BW implements the fundamental star schema and solves the major challenges inherent in the creation of data warehouses: performance, reliability, and error-handling. Using a real-world business scenario as a running example, SAP BW presents a comprehensive view of the technology, from underlying concepts and basic techniques through its most sophisticated capabilities.
Specific topics covered include:
Creating an InfoCube and loading the data
Checking the accuracy of data with BW Monitor and the Persistent Staging Area (PSA)
Creating queries to generate reports using Business Explorer (BEx)
Managing user authorization with the Profile Generator
Advanced InfoCube design techniques
Aggregates and multicubes
Working with the Operational Data Store (ODS)
Installing business content and creating an R/3 source system in BW
Loading data from SAP R/3 into SAP BW
Data maintenance
Performance tuning, including parallel query option and data packet sizing
Object transport
Although the focus is on ththis book also discusses other relevant technologies, including Basis, ABAP (Advanced Business Application Programming), ALE (Application Link Enabling), and ASAP (Accelerated SAP) for BW.
With the clear explanations and practical techniques presented in SAP BW information systems professionals will gain both the general understanding and specific skills necessary to create high quality data warehouses that support effective decision making.
Table of Contents:
1. Business Scenario and SAP BW.
Sales Analysis: A Business Scenario.
Basic Concept of Data Warehousing.
Summary.
2. Creating an InfoCube.
Creating an InfoArea.
Creating InfoObject Catalogs.
Creating InfoObjects: Characteristics.
Creating InfoObjects: Key Figures.
Creating an InfoCube.
Summary.
3. Loading Data into the InfoCube.
Creating a Source System.
Creating an Application Component.
Creating an InfoSource for Characteristic Data.
Creating InfoPackages to Load Characteristic Data.
Checking Loaded Characteristic Data.
Entering Master Data, Text, and Hierarchy Manually.
Creating an InfoSource for Transaction Data.
Creating an Update Rule for the InfoCube.
Creating an InfoPackage to Load Transaction Data.
Summary.
4. Checking Data Quality.
Checking InfoCube Contents.
Using BW Monitor.
Using Persistent Staging Area (PSA).
Summary.
5. Creating Queries and Workbooks.
Creating a Query Using BEx Analyzer.
Organizing Workbooks Using BEx Browser.
Using a Variable to Access a Hierarchy Node Directly.
Summary.
6. Managing User Authorization.
Creating an Authorization Profile Using Profile Generator.
Creating an Authorization Object to Control User Access to the InfoCube Data.
Integrating Profile Generator and BEx Browser.
Summary.
II. ADVANCED TOPICS.
7. InfoCube Design.
BW Star Schema.
InfoCube Design Alternative I: Time-Dependent Navigational Attributes.
InfoCube Design Alternative II: Dimension Characteristics.
InfoCube Design Alternative III: Time-Dependent Entire Hierarchies.
Other InfoCube Design Techniques.
Summary.
8. Aggregates and Multi-Cubes.
Aggregates.
Multi-Cubes.
Summary.
9. Operational Data Store (ODS).
Creating an ODS Object.
Preparing to Load Data to the ODS Object, then to an InfoCube.
Loading Data into the ODS Object.
Loading Data into the InfoCube.
Using 0RECORDMODE for Delta Load.
Summary.
10. Business Content.
Creating an R/3 Source System.
Transferring R/3 Global Settings.
Replicating R/3 DataSources.
Installing Business Content Object and Loading R/3 Data.
Summary.
11. Generic R/3 Data Extraction.
Creating Views in R/3.
Creating DataSources in R/3 and Replicating Them to BW.
Creating a Characteristic in BW.
Loading Data from R/3 into BW.
Summary.
12. Data Maintenance.
Maintaining Characteristic Data.
Maintaining InfoCube Data.
Summary.
13. Performance Tuning.
BW Statistics.
System Administration Assistant.
Tuning Query Performance.
Tuning Load Performance.
Summary.
14. Object Transport.
System Landscape.
Development Class.
Object Transport.
Summary.
Appendix A. BW Implementation Methodology.
ASAP for BW.
A Simplified BW Project Plan.
For Further Information.
Appendix B. SAP Basis Overview.
SAP Basis 3-Tier Architecture.
Dispatcher, Work Processes, and Services.
Memory Management.
For Further Information.
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