Learning from upgrade to BW 7.3 - Part II

[Former Member]

This is part two of my series that covers my experiences during the upgrade to BW 7.3.

BEx Queries -

Along with the upgrade to 7.3, there was also a parallel project to move all 3.x queries and workbooks to 7.x (Yes, there were still many queries in 3.x). There werecomparatively less errors for BEx queries. The majority of the errors were reserved for MDX interface. Couple of errors that we got when we tried to execute the queries -

1. Error in CL_RSR_RRK0_ATTR_C and in CREATE_PARTITION-01 - SAP note 1683164 fixed the issue.
2. System error in program CL_RSR and form GET_INITIAL_CHAVL_OFF-02- SAP note 1646416 fixed the issue.
3. Program error in class SAPMSSY1 method: UNCAUGHT_EXCEPTION - This error was seen in some queries that had hierarchies. SAP notes 1647217 and 1632194 fixed the issue.

MDX -

SAP has redeveloped its MDX interface in 7.3. It also has new functions in MDXTEST. One of the most helpful was the ability to store various MDX statements. This was helpful when we wanted to do regression testing after applying SAP notes.

MDX statements gave us the most heartburn during the upgrade. We came across multiple issues during WEBI report execution. SAP seems to have left this piece out of their pre-release testing schedule. We noticed around 60-70 notes created by SAP in a very short interval for issues related to MDX. Most of these fixes are in SP8.

1. Webi performance is too slow - Long run times were noticed in the class CL_RSDM_READ_MASTER_DATA. We applied various SAP notes - 1660089, 1670128, 1686281 and 1732291. SAP note 1732291 fixed the issue.
2. Error 000ORA-00942: table or view does not exist - When info object 1CUDIM was included in the Bex query, the universe did not generate or the MDX failed with the given error. It was suggested that we add info object 1CUDIM and SID value 2000000910 to table /BI0/SIOBJNM.
3. MDX statements that used to work in 7.1, stopped working in 7.3. The statement was on a multiprovider that had a remote cube. SAP note 1684590 fixed the issue.
4. BRAINOLAPAPI510 - We faced this issue for queries that had excluded hierarchy nodes in the filter. SAP has created a knowledge base article for this issue - 1721908. SAP note 1730306 discusses the same issue.
5. Some of the MDX statements gave the following error, "The function call of RRSV_INITIAL_SIGN_REPLACE failed; a field may have been assigned to the parameter I_CHAVL whose type is not compatible Message no. RS_EXCEPTION000". SAP note 1739872 fixed the issue.
6. Invalid MDX command with GET_ATTRIBUTE_NAME-01- If the MDX statement contained a compounded infoobject value, it gave an error. SAP note 1730758 fixed the issue.
7. When we tried to jump from one Webi report to another (while passing multiple values to various objects), we got an MDX error. SAP note 1664646 fixed this issue.
8. Value &2 for characteristic &1 unknown- This error occurred when we tried to run a MDX statement. SAP note 1654731 fixed the issue.

We also noticed in couple of cases that applying one note fixed one issue while introducing a different issue. It does seem though that SAP has finally got a handle on this one.

Part I - Process chains and transports