SAP NetWeaver 2004s
– what is new?
Dr. Bjarne Berg
Lenoir-Rhyne College
bergb@lrc.edu
Time is running out….
BW
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3/31/2010
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Why NW 2004s?
Let us take a look at some of the major new features of version 2004s:
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Web Application Designer
BI Accellerator
BEx Broadcaster
BEx Query Designer
BEx Report Designer
ReModeling Toolbox
Security Changes
New ETL Interface
BPS Integrated Planning
PDF print
Real-time data warehousing
BEx Web Analyzer
We will now take a
quick look at these
features
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Web Application Designer gets better
The Web Application Designer is improved with new chart types (Heat Map, GANTT &
Milestone Trend Analysis), as well as new layout elements such as ‘tab strips’.
WAD also has new stepby-step wizards for maps,
command editing to
create Web API
Commands and charts, as
well as a simplified wizard
for layout elements such
as radio buttons, action
buttons etc.
This reduce the amount
of custom coding
required with the help of
Command wizards, Auto
complete and support for
HTML tags.
WAD is a key tool
for all SAP BI shops
and in NW2004s the
tool is simplified
and more powerful.
New: integration with
NW 2004s BEx Report
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Designer.
BI Accellerator for 2004s
SAP
BW
The SAP BI accelerator
makes query response
time 50-10,000 faster.
You use process
chains to maintain the
HPA engine after each
data load
Any
tool
Analytic
Engine
InfoCubes
HPA Engine/Adaptive Computing
Data
Acquisition
SAP NW 2004s BI
Both HP and IBM have standard solutions
ranging from $32K to $200K+ that can be
installed and tested in as little as 2-4 weeks
1. In-memory processing
2. Dictionary-based, smart
compression using integers
3. High parallel data access /
horizontal partitioning
4. Column-based data storage &
access/vertical table decomposition
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New Broadcaster features of BI 2004s
New Object Types
You can broadcast BEx query views and formatted
reports (“reports”) in addition to Web applications,
queries and workbooks. Reports are a new BEx
object type developed within the new BEx Report
Designer tool.
New Output Formats
New output formats are based on the distribution
type you select. But, you now can broadcast web
documents as PDF files.
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New Broadcaster features of BI 2004s
New Distribution Types
You can broadcast to any printer using Adobe’s
PDF, Printer Common Language (psl) or Post
Script (ps). (hint: Set up the printers under tools
CCMS  print).
You to broadcast user-specific information based
on attributes in the master data attributes using a
distribution list in BI (bursting of emails). The
information can be controlled by the system so
that users only see data related to them.
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New Broadcaster features of BI 2004s
Exception broadcasting is now available in the
Broadcaster. Create the exceptions in the query designer
and select distribution type in the broadcaster. You can
also use additional distributions types (subordinate) and
create rules for when the exception report is
“monitored”/executed. Exceptions can be based on
single events or levels of any performance measure.
NOTE: To manage all alerts and workflow tasks from a single location, an alert
is integrated with the portal’s universal worklist the “central alert framework” of
NW application server.
You can use multiple distribution type to create a setting
that broadcasts many channels (i.e. the printer and the
portal).
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New Broadcaster features of BI 2004s
To increase the performance of key queries, you can fill the
OLAP Cache, or the MDX Cache. This is useful if you have
large numbers of users accessing a query, or you have a
query that accesses a high volume of data.
The Fill Precalculation Store distribution type allows you to
precalculate Web templates, and the Precalculate Value Set
option you to fill pre-calculated value set variables with
values for characteristic values. The pre-calculated value
sets are then available as variable values in BEx queries.
BREAKING NEWS: Reporting agent “goes-away”. The old Reporting Agent you
could pre-calculate the data of a template and access it through the URL . It
could not broadcast queries, workbooks or web templates by email or to KM
folders.
SAP Dec. 2005: Old Reporting Agent scenarios still run in NetWeaver 2004s. However, the Reporting
Agent will not be developed any further and is removed from the 2004s Workbench. You can now
only reach the Reporting Agent using transaction code REPORTING_AGENT
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BEx Query Designer gets a needed ‘facelift’
The 3.5x BEx
Query Designer
This new property pane makes it
easier to format and control displays
than in the past.
The NW2004s BEx
Query Designer
Note:
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BEx Report Designer is here!!
This new tool was
created to simplify the
formatting of reports
and fix many of the
printing issues in
previous versions of
BW.
We now get color
control, header-footer
control and many new
features such as
location control of
cells and integration
of pictures, charts and
fixed text.
Source: SAP AG, 2006
Don't
Forget
For many, this tool may reduce the need for 3rd
party tools to address structured reports.
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New Remodeling Tool Box
In NW2004s you get a new tool to add characteristics and key figures to
your model.
In older BW versions,
if you forgot to
include a field in your
infocube, the rework
was quite substantial
and often involved
reloading the
infocube as well.
Source: SAP AG, Richard
Brown, Aug. 2006
NW 2004s goes a long way to address the complaints that BW is a
hard to maintain environment with ‘forever’ fixed models.
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Better security features
There are many new security features in NW
2004s, and a conversion is needed (all or
nothing).
Role menus are displayed in the portal and
passwords becomes case sensitive.
Authorizations are
fundamental building
blocks of the new
reporting concept and
security contains both
the data value and
hierarchy restrictions.
The new security can be
built using new
“RSECADMIN”
transaction
Source: SAP AG
ASUG Security Upgrade by Eric Dwyer, Nike: http://www.asug.com/client_files/Calendar/Upload/EA1_upgrade_bw_security_2.ppt
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More Authorization Objects
Authorization objects for the Data Warehousing Workbench:
S_RS_DS: For the DataSource or its sub objects (NW2004s)
S_RS_ISNEW: For new InfoSources or their sub objects (NW 2004s)
S_RS_DTP: For the data transfer process and its sub objects
S_RS_TR: For transformation rules and their sub objects
S_RS_CTT: For currency translation types
S_RS_UOM: For quantity conversion types
S_RS_THJT: For key date derivation types
S_RS_PLENQ: Authorizations for maintaining or displaying the lock settings
S_RS_RST: Authorization object for the RS trace tool
S_RS_PC: For process chains
S_RS_OHDEST: Open Hub Destination
You get the ability to
use much lower
Authorization objects for the Business Explorer:
security granularity for
S_RS_DAS: For Data Access Services
developers and users!!
S_RS_BTMP: For BEx Web templates
S_RS_BEXTX: Authorizations for the maintenance of BEx texts
Authorization objects for the Admin of analysis authorizations
S_RSEC: Authorization for assignment and administration of analysis authorizations
S_RS_AUTH: Authorization object to include analysis authorizations in roles
Changed Authorization Objects:
S_RS_ADMWB (Data Warehousing Workbench: Objects):
New sub objects:
CONT_ACT – Installing Business Content; USE_DND - Drag & Drop to InfoAreas and
application components; CNG_RUN - Attribute change run
Source: SAP AG July 2006
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Upgrading to NW2004s Security
SAP has created an ABAP migration tool to help you upgrade security in
NW 2004s. To access it, goto transaction code SA38, and execute
migration program RSEC_MIGRATION.
About 80% of you security setup is expected to make it using this tool.
i.e. customer exit variables for the object 0TCTAUTHH does not migrate,
and you will have to manually reassign all hierarchy nodes.
While you upgrade, the old security is left intact and you can switch
back if absolutely needed (IMG setting). Plan to test…test..and test…
More Great Details about
the Security Upgrade at :
http://csc-studentweb.lrc.edu/
swp/Berg/Articles/
2004S_Authorizations.pdf
(Source: Amelia Lo, SAP)
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Better interface for ETL Design
On a typical DW project, 40-60% of project effort will be spent
on data integration, transformation and loads (used to be
higher when tools were more immature).
SAP NetWeaver
2004s has a new
and better GUI and
formula editors to
write complex
transfer rules,
update rules and
data mapping.
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BPS Integrated Planning
1
InfoProvider
2
3
4
Aggregation Level
Filter
Planning Function
5
Planning Sequence
6
Pattern
You can now create planning templates using the web based planning wizard to create
models using patterns in the data (tool: “Road map Pattern”). Queries based on
aggregation levels can now also write back to the InfoProvider
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Source: SAP AG, 2006
New PDF Print
You can also use the PDF to create
reports based on BEx web
applications, queries and reports
using the Adobe DS (comes with
NW2004s).
The PDF options allows companies to
protect reports from changes by
employees by taking a ‘snapshot’ of the
data regardless of subsequent updates
to the data warehouse.
Risks: no link back to SAP BW is needed
and security is not validated.
The only Gotchas.. Your users now
need to install Acrobat Reader
(free at http://www.adobe.com/
products/acrobat/readstep2.html).
The PDF document can also be
Broadcasted through BEx
Broadcaster
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BEx web Analyzer integrates Excel
The Excel integration in the BEx
analyzer is far better.
Source: SAP AG, 2006
Unlike the old days of dynamic
HTML, you can now use the BEx
analyzer more like a real
application without refreshing the
whole page every time you click
on something (this is due to the
Java component in NW2004s)
News: BEx browser
goes away in NW2004s
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Real-time Data warehousing gets better
NW 2004s has more features for updates that does not follow the
typical asynchronomous (batch) updates. This include:
1. We can use XML to fill the PSA directly
2. Daemon-based update from delta queue (BW API)
3. Daemon-based update of the ODS and minimal logging
Note: XML documents creates
many tags that will slow down
large dataloads due to the size of
each XML record (relatively large)
However, it works great for
smaller streams of data.
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Drag-and Drop in BeX web Analyzer
Unlike the old days of dynamic
HTML, you can now use the web
analyzer more like a real
application without refreshing the
whole page every time you click on
something.
I.e. You can drag a characteristics
into a filter area and automatically
filter on that value, and you can
also drag it into a column header
or a a row.
BEx web analyzer is a better user
tool than in the past. You now get
the best world of Java & the web
instead of the more ‘clunky’ user
experience related to Dynamic HTML
Building conditions and activating
them was often confusing in earlier
versions and exception based
reporting was sometimes not easy
to create for beginning users.
NW2004s has now simplified this
with more wizards that helps users
to build this step-by-step.
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Some hints on the upgrade – client, engines and usage types
We are in a transition period,
when some items of NW2004s
are separate engines, some are
clients, and other are usage
types.
Key question: is you
organization committed to java
and the new NW2004s direction?
-- if so, go java ‘all the way’..
Note: standard system copy and SAP
migration tools have no standard
support for splitting or merging
systems with different usage types
Source: SAP Installable
software units May 2006
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Unicode conversion
G
o
o
d
Unicode has been available since BW version 3.5.1. and is now
highly recommended as part of the upgrade (hint web application
T
h
i
n
g
designer is now also unicode compliant).
Some things to remember and plan for:
Area
Memory
Processing power
Disk space
‫ﻲﻶﻺﻕﻒﻏﻎ‬
Recommended increased capacity
20%
20-25%
20-30%
‫תשרחפא‬
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