Sap NetWeaver BW Data Access for Analytics-BICS vs. OLAP BAPI

Sap NetWeaver BW Data Access for Analytics A Comparison Between BICS and OLAP BAPI Blair Wheadon Director of Solution Management [email protected]

SAP NETWEAVER BW DATA ACCESS FOR ANALYTICS

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

SIMPLIFIED ARCHITECTURE ..........................................................................................................................4

OLAP BUSINESS APPLICATION PROGRAMMING INTERFACE (BAPI) ......................................................4

BICS ...................................................................................................................................................................5

CLIENT CONSUMPTION ...................................................................................................................................5

FUNCTIONALITY COMPARISON .....................................................................................................................6

BW ON HANA ....................................................................................................................................................9

CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................................................9


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With the introduction of SAP BusinessObjects BI4, SAP has broadened use of the BI Consumer Services (BICS) interface to include the SAP BusinessObjects BI solutions. BICS was introduced with SAP NetWeaver BW 7.0 as SAPs strategic and forward-looking technology for delivering reporting and analysis functionality for SAP NetWeaver BW. Both the Business Explorer (BEx) clients and the SAP BusinessObjects BI4 solutions connects to SAP NetWeaver BW via BICS since BW 7.0. BICS enables more functionality and better performance than MDX queries via the OLAP Business Application Programming Interface (BAPI). The purpose of this document is to educate customers and partners on BICS, and ensures customers and partners have the information they need to choose the appropriate data access method based on their requirements. IMPORTANT: BICS is just one part of the overall BI stack. Using the BICS interface alone will not guarantee a successful BI project if the wrong client tool is selected for your user requirements. For example, Web Intelligence is an excellent adhoc reporting tool, and it uses BICS when accessing SAP NetWeaver BW. However if your users need to do hierarchical analysis of data, then this is not the appropriate tool. BICS is just a data access interface and cannot make client tools do things they are not designed to do.


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SIMPLIFIED ARCHITECTURE

This diagram shows a simplified version of the various software layers used to access data. The SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.X clients access SAP NetWeaver BW data directly through BICS, while the SAP BusinessObjects XI 3.X and third party clients go through additional layers for BAPI support, which requires parsing the MDX that is passed through the BAPIs.

OLAP BUSINESS APPLICATION PROGRAMMING INTERFACE (BAPI)

Introduced in 2000 with SAP NetWeaver BW 2.0, OLAP BAPIs provide third party vendors and developers an industry standard method of accessing BW data. The BAPIs use a modified version of the standard MDX query language. These modifications allow the developer to specify SAP variables in the MDX statement. However, even with this modification, there remain many SAP NetWeaver BW metadata elements that are not exposed through the OLAP BAPI interface. Also, parsing the MDX takes time. Additional steps are required to parse the MDX, convert it to internal BW calls, and convert the results back to MDX. The big advantage of the OLAP BAPI interface is it is a public, documented interface. Any software vendor can write applications to use this interface, along with the MDX query language, to access data in SAP NetWeaver BW. When accessing SAP NetWeaver BW data using the OLAP BAPI interface from SAP BusinessObjects, an OLAP Universe needs to be created first. This data access method was introduced in SAP BusinessObjects XI 3.x, and is still supported in the BI Platform 4.0 however we are encouraging customers to adopt the new BICS based data access due to the advantages described below.


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BICS

BICS is an internal, optimized protocol that SAP uses for data access. As its designed by SAP, weve built it to be a lossless protocol, meaning that all the data, hierarchical structure, and metadata in your SAP NetWeaver BW system is retained when accessing data through BICS. In addition, as both BICS clients (like the SAP BusinessObjects BI Suite) and BICS servers (like SAP NetWeaver BW) are speaking the same protocol, there is no need for an additional translation layer thus optimizing overall performance. As an internal protocol, it is not documented and supported for use by third parties. This is a protocol that is intended for use by SAP tools. In SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.0, we support accessing data in SAP NetWeaver BW and SAP HANA using the BICS interface without having to create a Universe first. This reduces cost of ownership and allows for direct access to the hierarchical structures in these data sources. CLIENT CONSUMPTION

In addition to a specific BW metadata feature being supported in either BICS or OLAP BAPI, it also needs to be consumed by the Business Intelligence client. A given interface features is useless if it cannot be presented to an end user. The comparison table in this paper shows not just the BICS features, but also which of clients in the SAP BusinessObjects BI Suite consume those features. Generally speaking, there are 2 types of clients in the SAP BusinessObjects BI Suite:

1. Clients that access data through a Universe (either authored or transient) first, then BICS. This includes SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence, SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards (Xcelsius), and SAP Crystal Reports.

2. Native multidimensional clients that use the BICS interface directly. This image shows the high level architectural differences between the two types of clients. This includes SAP BusinessObjects Analysis for Office, SAP BusinessObjects Analysis for OLAP, and SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio.

As you will see in the comparison table in the next section of the document, the native multi-dimensional clients provide the most comprehensive support for SAP NetWeaver BW metadata. SAP BusinessObjects Explorer is a hybrid product that does not use BICS directly. For the purposes of this document weve put it in the same category as the native multi-dimensional clients.


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FUNCTIONALITY COMPARISON

This table shows the SAP NetWeaver BW metadata that is exposed through both the BICS and OLAP BAPI interface. Note that in this table we are showing SAP BusinessObjects Explorer with BW Accelerator in the native multi-dimensional client column because it uses the BICS interface directly. Strictly speaking it is not a multidimensional client in the way that Analysis Office is. Data is current as of SAP BusinessObjects BI4 SP5, SAP BusinessObjects Analysis edition for Office 1.3, and SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio 1.0.

Value Meaning

Yes

Within the BI Consumer Services columns, all specified clients support the stated feature. Within the OLAP BAPI column, the stated feature is supported in the OLAP BAPI interface.

Partial The specified feature is supported with the stated restrictions or limitations.

No The specified feature is not supported.

SAP NetWeaver BW Metadata Feature

BICS via Universe Clients

Web Intelligence Crystal Reports

Dashboards

Native Multi-dimensional

Clients

Analysis Office Analysis OLAP Design Studio

Explorer with BW Accelerator

OLAP BAPI

Check with your vendor to see if

their product supports the

metadata features supported here.

Access SAP ECC Yes; When using ECC6 Ehp 5 or later via transient provider

Yes; When using ECC6 Ehp 5 or later via transient provider

Yes; When using ECC6 Ehp 5 or later via transient provider

Characteristic Yes Yes Yes

Key Figure Yes Yes Yes

Restricted Key Figure Yes Yes Yes

Calculated Key Figure Yes Yes Partial1

Display Attributes Yes Partial2 Yes

Navigational Attribute Yes Yes Yes

Defaults in BEx Query3 No Partial

2 No

InfoProvider Dimension No No Yes

1 Some calculated key figures not supported. See note 1375826.

2 Not supported by SAP BusinessObjects Explorer with BW Accelerator

3 Refers to the defaults area in the BEx Query Designer and not to default values for SAP variables in a BEx

Query.


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Dashboards


Clients



OLAP BAPI




Custom Characteristic Structure Yes Partial4 Yes

Hierarchical Custom Characteristic Structure

No Partial4 Partial

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Compounded Characteristics Partial6 Yes Partial

7

Formula Variable Yes Yes Yes

Hierarchy Variable Yes Yes Yes

Hierarchy Node Variable Yes Yes Yes

Hierarchy Version Variable No Partial4 Yes

Text Variable Yes Partial4 Yes

Variables with replacement from query result

No Yes No

Variables used in Defaults Area of BEx Query

No Yes No

EXIT Variable Yes Yes Partial

Single Value Variable Yes Yes8 Yes

Multi Single Value Variable Yes Yes8 Yes

Interval Variable Partial9 Yes

8 Yes

Selection Option Variable Partial10

Yes8 Yes

Single Key Date Variable Yes Yes Yes

Variable Default Values Yes Yes Partial

4 Not supported by SAP BusinessObjects Explorer with BW Accelerator

5 Default presentation hierarchy not exposed

6 Some restrictions on support of presentation of partially compounded characterstics

7 No support for presentation of partially compounded characteristics

8 SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio 1.0 does not support end user prompting. Variable values can be set

with scripting. 9 Not supported by SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards

10 These clients create range variables for a selection option variable from a BEx Query. The option to

include or exclude values and to select an operator is not supported.


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Dashboards


Clients



OLAP BAPI




Currency / Unit Conversion defined in BEx Query

Yes Yes Yes

Conditions in rows from BEx Query No Yes No

Conditions in columns from BEx Query

No Yes No

Conditions on selected characteristics from BEx Query

No Yes No

Exceptions from BEx Query No Partial11

No

Constant Selection Yes Yes Yes

Local calculations defined in BEx Query (Calculate result as)

No Yes No

Scaling Factor Yes Yes12

Yes

Reverse +/- signage Yes Yes12

No

Number of Decimals No Partial12, 13

Yes

Hide / Show Element Yes Yes12

No

Sort Characteristics No Yes12

Partial14

Show/Hide Result Rows No Partial12, 13

No

Time Dependent Hierarchies Yes Yes No15

Display as hierarchy (compact axis in rows and/or columns)

No Partial13

No

Total Yes = support for metadata in the specified client Yes: 23 Partial: 3 No: 15

Yes = support for metadata in the specified client Yes: 30 Partial: 10 No: 1

Yes = metadata exists in the interface only. Client support depends on the client. Yes: 22 Partial: 6 No: 13

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Not supported in SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, edition for OLAP 12

Supported at design time in SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio 1.0 13

Not supported in SAP BusinessObjects Explorer with BW Accelerator 14

No sorting from query 15

See Note 834196


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BW ON HANA

All the information presented here is applicable to BW on HANA when using BW-managed schemas. However, BW on HANA also presents some additional options for data access that go beyond the scope of this article, especially for SAP BusinessObjects Explorer and SAP Visual Intelligence when using HANA managed schemas. For more information, see the following documents: SAP VI and Exlorer on BW powered by SAP HANA Aspects of the HANA-optimized InfoCube

CONCLUSION

SAP NetWeaver BW customers that want the fastest possible performance and the most comprehensive access to metadata should look to leverage BICS based solutions like the SAP BusinessObjects BI Suite. The most comprehensive support for SAP NetWeaver BW metadata is found with the native multi-dimensional clients especially SAP BusinessObjects Analysis edition for Office, SAP BusinessObjects Analysis edition for OLAP, and SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio.

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Sap NetWeaver BW Data Access for Analytics-BICS vs. OLAP BAPI

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