[
Tips and tricks using SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence 4.0 on
top of SAP Netweaver Business Warehouse data. (#512)
Gregory Botticchio / Patrice Le Bihan
[ Agenda
Selecting the Right SAP BusinessObjects BI Client
Why SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence ?
Implementation Best Practices for Web Intelligence on SAP NetWeaver BW
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[
Selecting the Right SAP
BusinessObjects BI Client
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[ Selecting the Right SAP BusinessObjects BI Client
SAP BusinessObjects BI Client Portfolio

SAP BusinessObjects BI solutions provide business users with access to unified information
through a broad suite of BI tools for confident decision making and alignment across people and
teams on a single, scalable BI platform
Reporting
How do I access
and transform
corporate data into
highly formatted
reports for greater
insight?
Crystal Reports
Dashboards and
Visualization
How do I visualize
data for better
decision making?
Dashboards
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
Interactive
Reporting
Analysis
Data Exploration
BI Application
Design
How do I answer
ad hoc questions
and interact with
information?
How do I determine
trends from
complex historical
data and possibly
make better
forecasts?
How do I find
immediate answers
to business
questions?
How can IT create
centrally from
simple to complex
BI applications for a
larger audience ?
Web
Intelligence
Analysis, Edition
for Office & OLAP
Explorer
Analysis, Edition
for Application
Design
[ Selecting the Right SAP BusinessObjects BI Client
Different Needs Require Different Experience
Middle Management
Placeholder Executive
text
Placeholder
text
Information
Business Analyst
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
Placeholder
text
Individual Contributor
[ Selecting the Right SAP BusinessObjects BI Client
Different Needs Require Different Experience
SAP BusinessObjects
Dashboards
Executive
Middle
Management
Analysis, edition for
Microsoft Office
Analysis, edition
for OLAP
SAP BusinessObjects Explorer
SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards
Crystal Reports
Analysis, edition
for OLAP
Individual
Contributor
Business
Analyst
Web Intelligence
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
Analysis, edition for
Microsoft Office
Web Intelligence
Analysis, edition for
Microsoft Office
[ Selecting the Right SAP BusinessObjects BI Client
Different Needs Require Different Experience
Your consumer is driving the business requirements
 We will focus on the consumer of reports and analytics in this presentation
 IT will always play a role as part of your BI deployment to build the foundation
• Setting up BEx Queries
• Setting up connections
Web
Intelligence
Crystal
Reports
• Report Design
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
Analysis
IT
• Setting up BEx Queries
• Creating pre-defined workbooks
• Building BI & Planning Applications
Dashboards
• Dashboard Design
[
Why SAP BusinessObjects
Web Intelligence ?
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[ The Solution: Business Intelligence (BI)
Interact with formatted reports to explore
and answer new questions
Other users access/personalize
to their contexts
inside/outside their work
environment, Push and pull
information
Format, layout
add context
Placeholder
Access
text
Ask questions on existing analytic
content or based on corporate
and personal data sources
Business User
Information
usage
Life Cycle
Communicate content to a
small or broad audience.
Share,
distribute
Analyze
Understand aggregates, details and
relationships & interdependencies
with other content
Users can start at any point in the cycle, interacting even with highly
formatted content created & shared by others
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[ Why Web Intelligence ?
Report Design
Report Consumption
Share and re-use
Web Intelligence 4.0 and SAP NetWeaver BW
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[ Self-Service Access to Data
Empowers End Users to Do Their Own Reports and Analyses
User-defined
Queries
Business Metadata
Access heterogeneous
data sources
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[ Streamlined access to all corporate data sources
Unique options for bringing BW and 3rd-party data together



Best access method for each specific data source: SAP, RDBMS, OLAP
Multi-source universes with built-in data federation for SAP and RDBMS
Dimensional universes for 3rd-party OLAP data sources
Reporting, dashboards, ad-hoc, data
exploration
Multi-Source Universes (Unx)
Universes (Unv)
MDX
SQL
BAPI
Analysis
BICS
MDX
SQL
BEx Query
3rd-party
OLAP
Server
3rd-party
Data
Warehouse
InfoProviders
SAP NetWeaver BW
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
3rd-party
OLAP
Server
[ Access to heterogeneous data sources
Combine multiple data sources within a report

Synchronize different BEx queries with a
common dimension.

Merge BEx queries with other data
provider such other RDBMS or Excel file
Merged
dimensions for
data
synchronization
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[ Common User Experience Across All Data Sources

Unified experience across all data
sources with new semantic layer

For OLAP sources:
 Query Stripping: Improved
performance by
automatically removing
unused objects
 Integration of hierarchical
concepts into query panel
user experience
Selection in
value-based
hierarchies
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[ Analysis Your Way
Interactive Analysis Combined with Free-Form Reporting
Analysis Your Way
Organized tool bar
Interactive Analysis Combined with Free-form Reporting
Analyze with few clicks
Rich feature set
Drag and drop
Context related
right click menu
Analyze with few clicks
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[ Adaptability, Stunning Visualization
New look
Heat maps, tree maps
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
Tag Clouds
Bubble charts
[ Navigate and Report Hierarchical Data
Navigate directly into
the report hierarchies to
find root causes
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
Dimensional concepts
integrated into rich
reporting model
Dimensional
charting
[ Why Web Intelligence ?
Report Design
Report Consumption
Share and re-use
Web Intelligence 4.0 and SAP NetWeaver BW
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[ Why Web Intelligence ?
Gain Business Insight with Interactive Reports and Analysis
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[ Why Web intelligence ?
Online and Offline Analysis from New or Existing Reports
Mobilize Web Intelligence Content

Make informed decisions with instant access
to personalized information

Leverage existing BI investments & skills to
quickly reach mobile users

Ensure secure access to information across a
range of devices

Receive alerts on critical events

Investigate problems and opportunities

Take immediate action
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[ Why Web Intelligence ?
Report Design
Report Consumption
Share and re-use
Web Intelligence 4.0 and SAP NetWeaver BW
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[ Why Web Intelligence ?
Share and Re-Use Web Intelligence reports across the suite
Export
(PDF, XLS)
via Scheduling or
Report Bursting
Analysis, Edition for OLAP
BI Workspaces
Web Intelligence
BI Mobile
Analysis, Edition for Office
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[ Why Web Intelligence ?
Report Design
Report Consumption
Share and re-use
Web Intelligence 4.0 and SAP NetWeaver BW
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[ Why Web Intelligence ?
Web Intelligence 4.0 and SAP NetWeaver BW / Direct Access via BICS



Direct dimensional access to your BEx Queries
 No need to create a Universe
 Support of hierarchies and dimensional
metadata
Hierarchical query panel
 Member selector
 Hierarchical navigation
 Member functions
Hierarchical report output
 Hierarchical columns
 Fold unfold
 Level totals
 Hierarchical graphics
 Multi-data provider synchronization
 Hierarchical formulas on report
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[ Why Web Intelligence ?
Web Intelligence 4.0 and SAP NetWeaver BW / Multi-Source Universe (Relational)


Authored with the information design tool
 Create a data foundation and a
business layer based on multiple
SQL connections
 Create multi source joins and
derived tables
 Source independence through SQL
92 and Data Federator functions,
while keeping the ability to use
native SQL when necessary
Benefits
 Federate different databases: OLTP
and DWH, SAP BW, SAS, flat files
 Lower TCO for integration projects
(no complex ETL to put in place)
 May in some cases, remove the need
for a consolidated DWH
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
Orange tables are from Microsoft SQL server
Blue tables are from SAP BW
[ Why Web Intelligence ?
Web Intelligence 4.0 and SAP NetWeaver BW / What it is not
The Direct BEx Access does not derail Web Intelligence from its original value
proposition.
 Web Intelligence is not an OLAP analysis tool.
 Prefer using Analysis, Editions for Office or OLAP for pure OLAP capabilities
BEx query + Web Intelligence = Interactive Analysis off BW


Interactive Analysis is focused on low-end analysis capabilities for the non-specialist on all data sources
Ability to combine and merge BW and non BW data in the same report
BEx query + Analysis = OLAP Analysis off BW



Both editions of SBO Analysis are the OLAP analysis offerings in BI 4.0
Focused on high-end analysis workflow for OLAP sources as opposed to interactive analysis
Comparable to BEx Analyzer in the BEx Suite for BW
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[
Implementation Best Practices
for Web Intelligence on SAP
NetWeaver BW
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[ Implementation Best Practices for Web Intelligence on SAP NetWeaver BW
BEx Query Design
Consumption of BEx Queries
Restrictions and Additional Information
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[ Implementation Best Practices for Web Intelligence on SAP NetWeaver BW
Best Practices on BEx Query Design

Overall recommendation
 BEx Queries are recommended as data sources for all the SAP BusinessObjects BI
products
 BEx Queries offer significant functionality to create customized data sources that meet
end-user requirements, such as Calculated Key figures, Restricted Key figures and SAP
Variables.

You do NOT want one BEx Query per report
(…. and not one BEx Query for all reports either)
 Focus the implementation strategy on limiting the number of BEx Queries by sharing
common elements
 The BI Client tool and report definition is the primary influence factor on how much data
is being retrieved from SAP NetWeaver BW
 Ensure the right audience has access to the right level of details; ad hoc reporting on very
open BEx queries may lead to poor performance
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[ Implementation Best Practices for Web Intelligence on SAP NetWeaver BW
Best Practices on BEx Query Design

“Allow External Access” option has to be set in the properties of the BEx query

Placement of Characteristics / Key Figures have no direct impact on BI tools

For large sets of key figures, use the option - “Use Selection of Structure Members” in
transaction RSRT (Query Monitor) as part of the Query Properties

Leverage the capabilities of the Restricted Key and Calculated Key Figures

Leverage SAP Variables as part of the BEx Query
 Can be shared across queries, minimizing development downstream
 List of Values are being generated automatically
 Limits the amount of cells a user will retrieve at one time
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[ Implementation Best Practices for Web Intelligence on SAP NetWeaver BW
Best Practices on BEx Query Design

Time based structures / calculations
 Leverage EXIT Variables as part of the BEx query

Data Level Security & SAP NetWeaver BW
 Use BI authorizations for data level security

Remember… there is no Universe on top of your BEx Query
 All changes to descriptions need to be part of your BEx Query
 All variables / prompts need to be part of your BEx Query
 Report based filters can not be shared across
 All necessary calculations should become part of your BEx Query
 Performance Consideration
 Allows sharing across multiple BEx Queries and reports
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[ Implementation Best Practices for Web Intelligence on SAP NetWeaver BW
Best Practices on BEx Query Design

OLAP Connections in SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.0
 You can define an OLAP Connection that points to
… your SAP NetWeaver BW system
… your InfoProvider
… your BEx Query

Consider how you are securing your BEx Queries today
 If already using BI Authorizations to restrict access BEx Queries and InfoProviders, a
single connection to SAP NetWeaver BW is an option

… also consider your report designers
 A single connection will mean to navigate the InfoArea > InfoProvider levels for each
report design
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[ Implementation Best Practices for Web Intelligence on SAP NetWeaver BW
BEx Query Design
Consumption of BEx Queries
Restrictions and Additional Information
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[ Implementation Best Practices for Web Intelligence on SAP NetWeaver BW
Best Practices on BEx Query Consumption

A number of restrictions can prevent the reusability of some BEx query features

It is recommended to properly assess the BEx queries to be reused with Web
Intelligence.

Be ready to build queries optimized for Web Intelligence

Those which fit Analysis may not fit Web Intelligence.
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[ Implementation Best Practices for Web Intelligence on SAP NetWeaver BW
Best Practices on BEx Query Consumption
Hierarchical Reporting
Support for hierarchical member selection

Support for hierarchical parameters

Support for hierarchies in charts and
crosstab

Support for “delegated measures”

Support for hierarchical report design

Switching between hierarchies on the fly

Level based member selection

Showing Leaves only / Lowest Level of the
hierarchy

“Expand to Level” as a configuration
option

Skipping Levels of a hierarchy

Ranking data along hierarchies

Support of hierarchical chart

Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[ Implementation Best Practices for Web Intelligence on SAP NetWeaver BW
Best Practices on BEx Query Consumption
Variables
Single Value Variable

Multi Single Value Variable

Internal Variable

Selection Option Variable

Hierarchy Version Variable

Text Variable

Exit Variable

Single Key Date Variable

Multiple Key Date Variable

Formula Variable

Mandatory Values for Variables

Default Values for Variables

Variable Dependency

Hierarchy Variable

Hierarchy Node Variable

Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[ Implementation Best Practices for Web Intelligence on SAP NetWeaver BW
Best Practices on BEx Query Consumption
Member selector
Member Selection

Multi Member Selection

Prompts on member selection

Level based member selection

Showing Leaves only / Lowest Level of the
hierarchy

“Expand to Level” as a configuration option

Skipping Levels of a hierarchy

Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[ Implementation Best Practices for Web Intelligence on SAP NetWeaver BW
BEx Query Design
Consumption of BEx Queries
Restrictions and Additional Information
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[ Implementation Best Practices for Web Intelligence on SAP NetWeaver BW
Restrictions you need to know
Features
Description
Recommendation
Saved Variant
Some organizations have popularized the
use of saved variant. The consequence is
that queries are highly parametized (lots of
variables)
Build specific queries and make reports highly interactive
to reduce the need for saved variant.
Query Condition
Top N/Bottom N, KeyFigures > #, etc …
Removed the condition from the query. Result is
different. Alternative is to put the condition in the WebI
query if possible.
Local Calculation
Result Row/Column & Sub-Total are
computed differently in Web Intelligence
No need to rebuild the BEx query. Webi will ignore the
calculation. Alternative is to calculate locally in WebI.
%GT, %RT, %CT, SUMGT,
SUMRT, SUMCT, LEAF
Calculation will be different in webi. Can
lead to mis-interpretation of the data
Avoid such function, do not publish a query when such
function is found. Alternative is to calculate in WebI.

Refer to the Web Intelligence documentation for all the details:
http://help.sap.com/businessobject/product_guides/boexir4/en/xi4_ia_en.pdf (section “Building reports on Bex
queries”)
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[ Implementation Best Practices for Web Intelligence on SAP NetWeaver BW
Restrictions you need to know when using hierarchies in blocks
Features
Description
Sorting & hierarchy
Sorting a hierarchy is based on the order of the member in the underlying system. Sorting on a
measure does not preserve the order of member within a hierarchy in the same table. For this reason
the system is showing the hierarchy flattened in a table where the sort is applied on a measure.
Filter on Hierarchy
A report/table filter where there is a hierarchy may remove rows without respecting the hierarchy
structure. For this reason, a filter can remove a parent node currently expanded and keep leaves or
nodes collapsed. To avoid returning an empty table in this case the system automatically expands the
hierarchy in the block to shows the resulting members.
Ranking & hierarchy
A ranking on a table where there is hierarchy is not taking in account the hierarchy structure of the
data. For this reason, any hierarchy in a table where the user defines a ranking becomes flat.
Break on measures or
details
A break is always associated with sort on the object where it is applied. For this reason in that case,
any hierarchy in the table the break applies the hierarchy becomes flat. The user can remove the break
on the underlying object to restore the hierarchy.
#TOREFRESH for the
measure
Delegated measure returns #TOREFRESH when the required agregation is not available in the query.
User has to refresh to get the new level of agregation.
#UNAVAILABLE for the
measure
Delegated measure returns #UNAVAILABLE if it is asked in a context of formula on a dimension, not
in the context of the agregation of the measure. It is recommanded to create a variable on top of this
formula, as a detail of the original dimensionand include (but hidden) the original dimension in the
block.
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[ Implementation Best Practices for Web Intelligence on SAP NetWeaver BW
Additional BW Integration







Bex scalling factor support
“Merge dimension” by details
Delegated measures which aggregates with sum function, will aggregate locally in sum in WebI
Zero suppression (not specific to BEx queries)
Disable member selection when Hierarchy Node variable exists to prevent data inconsistency
Prefix Key and Name attributes with parent name
Hierarchy variable exists: remove hierarchies from query panel other than default hierarchy

Enhance change source from a OLAP BW universe (UNV) to BICS
 Enable free mapping between source universe (UNV) objects and target BEx objects
 Some mapping constraints are maintained: filters from source can only map to filters in the
target source
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[
]
 Thank you for participating.
Please remember to complete and return your
evaluation form following this session.
For ongoing education on this area of focus, visit the
Year-Round Community page at www.asug.com/yrc
SESSION CODE: 512
[
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
Gregory Botticchio
gregory.botticchio@sap.com
Patrice Le Bihan:
patrice.le.bihan@sap.com
@PatriceAtSAP
42
[ Appendix

For additional information :
 Session #4412: “Strategies for Selecting the Right BI Client Product Based on Your Own
Requirements”
 SAP BusinessObjects BI Solution Architecture :
 www.sdn.sap.com/irj/boc/bi-solution-architecture
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
43
[ SAP BusinessObjects 4.x Connectivity for SAP NetWeaver BW
Meta-Data Support for BEx Queries
BEx Query Element
Web
Intelligence
(BICS)
Analysis,
edition for
MS Office &
OLAP
Universe
(Relational)
InfoProvider Dimension



Characteristic



Hierarchies



Custom Structures



Navigational Attribute






Key Figure



Unit / Currency



Calculated Key Figure



Restricted Key Figure



Compounded Characteristics



Defaults in the BEx Query



Constant Selection



Display Attribute
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[ SAP BusinessObjects 4.x Connectivity for SAP NetWeaver BW
Meta-Data Support for BEx Queries
BEx Query Element
Web
Intelligence
(BICS)
Analysis,
edition for
MS Office
& OLAP
Universe
(Relational)
Single Value Variable



Multi Single Value Variable



Interval Variable



Selection Option Variable



Hierarchy Variable



Hierarchy Node Variable



Hierarchy Version Variable



Text Variable



EXIT Variable



Single Key Date Variable



Multiple Key Data Variable



Formula Variable



Default Values for Variables



Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[ SAP BusinessObjects 4.x Connectivity for SAP NetWeaver BW
Meta-Data Support for BEx Queries
BEx Query Element
Web
Intelligence
(BICS)
Analysis,
edition for
MS Office &
OLAP
Universe
(Relational)
Scaling Factor



Number of Decimals



Display Result Rows (top / bottom)
-


Suppress Result Rows
-


Calculate Result as… (local calculation)



Display as hierarchy



Sorting



Hide / Unhide



Reverse +/- signage



Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[ SAP BusinessObjects 4.x Connectivity for SAP NetWeaver BW
Meta-Data Support for BEx Queries
BEx Query Element
Web
Intelligence
(BICS)
Analysis,
edition for MS
Office & OLAP
Conditions in rows


Conditions in columns


Conditions on selected characteristic


Exceptions


Empty / non empty


Real Experience. Real Advantage.
[ SAP BusinessObjects 4.x Connectivity for SAP NetWeaver BW
Multi-Source Universe - Possible workarounds
BEx Query Elements
Relational Universe
Calculated / Restricted Keyfigures
Define calculated measures as part of the Universe
Variables
Define prompts as part of the Universes or Web Intelligence Query Panel.
Not possible for EXIT variables or variables filled through authorizations
Currency and Unit Conversion
Possible with manual modeling of tables with conversion rates in the SAP
BusinessObjects Universe Designer and joins in Data Federator.
Display Attributes
Possible with joins from InfoProvider to the master data tables in the Universe.
External BW Hierarchies
No Workaround
Conditions
Use filters on measures.
Real Experience. Real Advantage.