What is new with SAP Integration BusinessObjects BI4.1 and BW? Part 2
Patrice Le Bihan presented this ASUG webcast this past week. Patrice Le Bihan is part of the SAP Analytics Solution Management team and currently responsible for the SBO Analysis products as well as the SAP NetWeaver BW and SAP ERP integration topics. BI4.1 is in ramp-up. Note that the usual disclaimer applies that things are subject to change.
The previous blog covered how connect directly to BI ERP What is new with SAP Integration BI4.1 and SAP ERP?
This blog discusses how to connect directly to BW and will be in two parts.
Figure 1: Source: SAP
Over a year ago SAP published a statement of direction regarding Dashboarding where SAP will make Dashboards and Design Studio converge.
When it comes to BW, Design Studio is the favored tool.
New functionality for Dashboard 4.1 in BW is direct access to BEx Queries using variable values.
Figure 2: source: SAP
This is not part of the BI4.1 ramp-up but in SP1. You have the option to bind variable values to cells.
Figure 3: Source: SAP
Web Intelligence improvements include better performance when working with BEx variables, member selection from a hierarchy based on relative depth, and reduction of #TOREFRESH and #UNAVAILABLE errors.
Significant performance improvements include report creation or edit an existing report with Web Intelligence or Crystal Reports for Enterprise on BEx queries, and refresh report with Web Intelligence or Crystal Reports for Enterprise on BEx queries with variables, said Patrice.
Figure 4: Source: SAP
BI4.0 starts with selecting the BEx query, then you see the query panel and this is where the response time can be longer than expected. The select your objects, build query, click next/run, then it would display the variable screen, set the values, and then get to the report.
Figure 4 shows the changed BI4.1 sequence. Select the BEx query, next you will see screen with mandatory variables, then see the query panel. It allows SAP to retrieve the variables differently and less RFC calls to BW.
Figure 4 shows improved response time in BI4.1 but it depends on BW patch level, type of BEx queries, number of objects, hierarchies.
Figure 5: Source: SAP
Figure 5 shows the run-time improvements for Crystal Reports.
Users using reports with variables – when open the report, you are prompted for variables to run the report.
Patrice said they have seen performance improvements.
Figure 6: Source: SAP
In BI4 Web Intelligence, you open the query panel, then the variable screen is shown.
This has changed in BI4.1 with the variable screen shown first.
Figure 6 shows faster improvements on a BW 7.30 system.
Figure 7: Source: SAP
Similar to Crystal Reports, Figure 7 shows Web Intelligence leverages the run-time improvements with BEx Variables in BI4.1
Figure 8: Source: SAP
Another area for improvement is selection of members from a hierarchy.
SAP has added member selection based on relative depth – when you drag a hierarchy on the report – you can choose to select all descendants or only select 1, 2, 3 levels down.
Figure 9: Source: SAP
Figure 9 shows an example of relative depth
Figure 10: Source: SAP
Figure 10 shows the same is true for hierarchy variables; you define how many levels in the hierarchy and at run-time the user decides to run a different hierarchy, the report leverages the same depth
Figure 11: Source: SAP
Figure 11 shows an example of how 3 levels are kept even if a user sets a different hierarchy.
Relative depth to the member selection has been added to BI4.1
To be continued…more in another blog.
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Hi Tammy,
Thanks for this overview. About the performance improvements in Webi 4.1, did they shown any real figures/proof of this? For example the loading time for 1 million records in 4.0 vs the time in 4.1 over the BICS connection?
Cheers,
Xavier
Only what was discussed in Figure 6 re: Web Intelligence performance. He said alot of it depends too on the number of hierarchies, variables, etc. in the design.
Thank you for reading and commenting.
Great Document
Hi Tammy,
Figure6 - is it possible to give details on (*) see appendix for details on BW pre-requisites?
I am interested in knowing specifically the BW 7.31 pre-requisites?
Thanks,
Rahul
Hello Rahul,
Thank you for reading in detail
The appendix refers to SAP Note 1870192
Best regards,
Tammy
Thanks for your response. But the note doesnt seem to have any details regarding the BW version pre-requisites in it.
Is it just this note or is there like a bunch of other notes that explains about other improvements in BW7.3 as a pre-requisite for BI4.1?
Regards,
Rahul
Rahul - for some reason the reply is not letting me paste a picture.
This is the only other page in the Appendix, source: SAP:
BW Pre-Requisites for “Design Time” improvement
To fully benefit from the optimizations, you need SAP NetWeaver BW 7.30 SP08 or BW 7.31
SP05, and the following SAP Notes:
1771995 – Wrong hierarchy level
1750788 – Meta data extension (contains a collection of extensions and fixes)
1767351 – Missing meta data of characteristics in the fix filter - only relevant for characteristics that do not support drill down
(i.e. are only in the fix filter of the query).
1776999 – Sorting type of hierarchies is always "HIERARCHY" although it was changed in the query designer
1777544 – Missing meta data of hierarchy node type attributes
1778347 – Hierarchy node type attributes are not read
1770434 – Correction for selection state of compound characteristics
1762156 – Correction for nodes in selection space
1776688 – Optimization for reading hierarchy nodes, too many hierarchy levels are read
1798297 – Correction for issue found on Samsung queries
1806813 – Correction for missing text for members used as default variable values
1809517 – Correction for invalid variable order when retrieving the list of variables through the design time services
1811124 – This note fixes the sorting of the of drill down characteristics returned by the design-time API so that it matches the
runtime sorting
1812142 – This note fixes the sorting of the hierarchies returned by the design-time API so that it matches the runtime sorting
1817482 – This note adds the feature for the Design Time API to choose whether members should be read initially or not. By
default, there are not read; this provides a performance enhancement for SL.
Thank you so much. I was looking for this exact information.
Best Regards,
Rahul