Xcelsius 2008 Service Pack 02 and SAP NetWeaver BW

With Xcelsius 2008 Service Pack 02 combined with SAP NetWeaver BW you can now connect Xcelsius directly to SAP NetWeaver BW and I thought I provide some more details on how this connectivity works and what kind of meta-data it offers based on your SAP BW system.

First of all you need to fulfill the following technical pre-requisites:

• SAP NetWeaver BW 7.01 (SAP enhancement package 01), Service Pack 05
• SAP BusinessObjects Xcelsius Enterprise 2008 Service Pack 02
• SAP Frontend 7.x installed on the client with BI Add-Ons

In addition, this new connectivity is based on the BI Consumer Services. Therefore, you need to have the BI ABAP and BI Java stacks deployed. You can find further details  in note 917950 and 937697.

Most of you are familiar with the image shown below outlining all the different options how to connect Xcelsius to your SAP landscape.

 

This image does also include the new connectivity option where you can connect Xcelsius directly to your SAP NetWeaver BW system.

When you leverage this new connectivity you can expect Xcelsius to leverage the existing meta-data from your BW query. The here shown table outlines how Xcelsius will leverage the meta-data:

   

       

           

           

       

       

           

           

       

       

           

           

       

       

           

           

       

       

           

           

       

       

           

           

       

       

           

           

       

       

           

           

       

       

           

           

       

   

SAP NetWeaver BW query element	Xcelsius 2008
Characteristic	Each characteristic in the actual dataset is retrieved based on the settings (such as the key and short, medium, and long texts) in the SAP NetWeaver BW query. In addition, each characteristic is also available with a list of members that you can use for filtering or providing a list of values for variables.
Hierarchies	Each level of the hierarchy is presented as a column in the data set. The depth of the hierarchy depends on the configured number of levels in the BEx Query Designer.
Key figures	Each key figure can be shown as a plain numeric value or as a formatted value based on the user preferences. This choice can be made for each SAP NetWeaver BW connection configured in the Xcelsius Designer Data Manager.
Calculated and  restricted Key figures	Each calculated or restricted key figure is treated like a regular key figure. The user does not have access to the underlying definition in the Xcelsius Designer.
Filter	Filters are applied to the underlying query. The user has access to the configured filter values and can use those values for display purposes. The user can also set additional filter values for characteristics from the underlying SAP NetWeaver BW query during the runtime of the Xcelsius object.
Navigational attributes	Navigational attributes are treated the same as a characteristic.
Display attribute	Display attributes can be used for a list of values and can become part of the overall dataset. In the actual data set, a display attribute can only be shown with the actual characteristic.
Variables	Variables from the SAP NetWeaver BW query are transferred to Xcelsius as part of the connection. They are shown as variables in the Input Values area of the SAP NetWeaver BW connection settings.

In the next couple of steps I will use an example query and explain how the elements are made available to you in the Xcelsius Data Manager. My sample SAP NetWeaver BW query is based on the SAP NetWeaver Demo model InfoProvider 0D_NW_M01.

Our BW query contains three characteristics and two keyfigures and we also included a variable for characteristic Country.

Now to connect Xcelsius to the BW query:

1. In the Xcelsius Designer us the menu Data > Connections
2. Use the Add button and select the option SAP NetWeaver BW
3. Click on the button Browse. You will be asked to logon to the SAP system and can then select the BW query.
4. After you connect to the BW query all the elements are shown in the Input and Output Values.

The Input area includes:

• Filters
• Variables

The Output area includes:

• Variables
• Characteristics
• Information about the BW query
• Static Filter information
• Error Messages

The variables are listed in the Input and Output area. In the Input area you actually can send values to be used by those variables and in the Output area you can receive the list of members (F4 help).

If we start with the Characteristic information in the Output area – here for characteristic Country, we can see that for each characteristic we also have been provided with fields which we can use to create lists of members. This is helpful when we build selectors in Xcelsius so that we can retrieve the list of members and the data from the same connection.

In the Variables area of the Output we also retrieve additional information such as the label or display string and we also retrieve the necessary fields to create a list of members. This might now initially look strange as this seems to provide the same information as the characteristics area, but remember that you might have variables in your BW query without actually including the characteristic into the BW query (example: a restricted keyfigure filtered by Calendar Month without referencing calendar month in the query).

The Static Filter area in the Output Area provides you the information about all the filters which already have been created in the underlying BW query so that you can display this information as part of your dashboard and the user then can identify all configured restrictions.

The Information area provides access to more detailed information about the SAP NetWeaver BW query. You might be familiar with these items from the BEx Analyzer tool, where they are called BEx Textelements.

The Messages are allows you to include upcoming error messages and display this information as part of your dashboard.

After finishing with the Definitions tab, click the Data Preview tab. Here you can preview the data as well as rearrange the elements from the SAP NetWeaver BW query to form the data structure for your Xcelsius dashboard.

The initial view in the Data Preview will be based on the placement of the characteristics in the BW query, but the real power of the Data Preview is that you can re-arrange the elements as you need them. This functionality is really helpful as you can now have a single BW query re-used several times but for each connection in Xcelsius this single BW query might provide a different level of aggregation as you can define the actual to be retrieved data set in the Data Preview tab.

In addition, the Data Preview shows you which elements from the characteristics are available for your query.The new Xcelsius connectivity uses the display settings from the underlying SAP NetWeaver BW query. So the Data Preview tab also shows you how many columns to expect for each characteristic.

All the changes you do will have an impact on the actual data being returned. The data being returned is also in the Output values and named Cross Tab Data. The Cross-Tab Data element represents basically the data set you configure in the Data Preview Tab.

Now it is really important to also understand the actual structure of the returned data.

The image above shows a data set returned to Xcelsius based on two keyfigures and a single characteristic. As you will notice the first row includes labels and the second row includes the Unit information for the keyfigures. In our example the last row includes the overall result. The overall result is something you can configure to be shown or hidden for each characteristic in the Display Settings in the BW query.

 

In addition to the direct connectivity with SAP NetWeaver BW, the integration with Xcelsius offers a translation capability to prepare your dashboards for a global audience. This functionality allows you to push the used strings from your dashboard into the translation system of your SAP landscape. At runtime, the system uses the translated strings.

When you go to the menu SAP > Translation Settings you can add definitions of text strings in your spreadsheet and those text strings will then be transferred to the SAP system and can be translation with transaction SE63.

After you published your Xcelsius dashboard to the SAP NetWeaver BW system (menu SAP > Publish) and also translated all the strings, those strings will then at runtime be made available to the Xcelsius dashboard when you view it (menu SAP > Launch).