Data modeling approach in HANA Studio using SLT

Current Situation:

Extracting the data from base ECC tables to HANA (BW on HANA ) requires  data modeling effort  in ECC( R/3) , BW and in HANA Studios. In  first step  in R/3 system we need to create Data sources ( Generic Data sources) based on ECC tables ,  In 2nd step  in BW we need to create BW data sources and data flow in BW . We also need to load the data in BW daily/weekly etc.. At last we need to create HANA views in HANA studio to consume the ECC table data . All these steps require lot of involvement in BW data modeling , data loading efforts. Sometime Complex  ABAP code may also need to be written

Improvement idea: Use the SLT in SAP HANA Studio specifically for these scenario. Here without  BW we can extract data from ECC tables to HANA. Even no data modeling effort is required in R/3( ECC system) . Directly all ECC tables will be accessed from HANA Studio. there are 2 ways to extraction

Case 1)  If Simply all the data from tables  need to extract ( as it is in R/3)  Case  2 ) on different tables  we need to create generic data sources, there may be customized complex business logic need to apply while extracting from multiple tables.

How to implement:

For Case1

1)  ECC tables directly tables  will be replicated along with all data . There is feature in SLT which will be  triggered automatically in HANA and update the tables in case of data changes in ECC tables. Data will be replicated to HANA  instantly.  Once these tables are available in HANA we can consume them easily with HANA views

in case 2 :  when multiple tables are required on complex business logic we need to write Stored Procedure in HANA  and then directly use the table data without depending in  BW  and ABAP

Benefit: 1) Real time reporting is much easier and very faster without BW . Data modeling efforts in ECC , BW is fully bypassed , Everything can be controlled from SLT and HANA Studios which is much easier because Programming and configuration steps are very user friendly in HANA and SLT ( only SQL knowledge is required)

2) In earlier approach BW on HANA projects  used to depend 100 %  BW  for extracting ECC table data but now after SLT in SAP HANA for particularly this scenario we have  no dependency at all in BW

3) Complex ABAP routine not required anymore in R/3 or BW  rather PL/SQL  Stored Procedure knowledge is required. SQL/PLSQL  is more relevant now than ABAP .

4) BW data load is also obsolete . Data loading is no more required in BW . Data replication is done from ECC to HANA which is triggered based if there is any kind of changes in records for the ECC tables.

  5) Resource utilization will be better , as we do not need BW resources here.

Earlier in BW generic extraction from R/3 to BI used to happen using Database View, SAP query and Function Module.

In this document we will see how in HANA we can easily extract data from R/3 tables without creating generic data sources in ECC and BW.

Lets see how in BW we used to extract data:

In R/3 –  tcode: SE11

Only transparent tables or database views can be used to create generic extractors in ‘View/Table’

Select the tab ‘View/Fields’ and click ‘Table Fields’ button to select the fields of the table which we need.

Select the all required fields and click on the ‘Copy’ button. Then the fields will be copied to the view. click on the ‘Activate’ button to activate it.

2) Then create data source in ECC- Tcode : RSO2

3) Check the newly created  DS in ECC- Tcode  RSA3

4) DS will be available in  for  BW Replication.  Tcode – RSA6

In BW :

1. 1) Replicate the newly created DS in ECC

select Application Component. So select ‘Materials Management’ and check whether DataSource is available under it. It won’t be there because it was created in R/3. So right click on Materials Management’ and click on ‘Replicate Metadata’. Then all the DataSource under MM will be regenerated in BI.

Using SLT in HANA Studio:

In SLT we can easily load ECC data ( from R/3 tables ) into HANA and then we can create HANA Views for reporting

The SAP Landscape Transformation (LT) Replication Server is the SAP technology that allows us to load and replicate data in real-time from SAP source systems and non-SAP source to SAP HANA environment. Multiple source system can be connected to one SAP HANA system.

DATA Provisioning through SLT require RFC/DB connection to SAP/Non-SAP Source System and a DB connection for SAP HANA database. On SAP SLT server we define Mapping and Transformation. Below is a roadmap for data provisioning through SLT.

Technique for replicating data in SLT :

Detail Step: Go to  Data Provisioning option  in HANA studio

An initial load is first performed which  loads data from the source to the target system, and then a replication phase begins that only extract the changes that happened  to the source database  and replicated to the target database, thereby facilitating data replication in real-time . This is fully trigger based.

Besides data replication in Real time we can also write filter conditions and simple transformation logic .

Different Replication Steps :

Different replication Steps  are Load, Replicate, Stop, Suspend and Resume.

LOAD: Starts an initial load of replication data from the source system. The procedure is a one-time event. After it is completed, further changes to the source system database will not be replicated.

Replicate: Combines an initial load procedure and the subsequent replication procedure (real time or scheduled).
Before the initial load procedure will start, database trigger and related logging table are created for each table in the source system as well as in SLT replication server

Stop: Stops any current load or replication process of a table.
The stop function will remove the database trigger and related logging tables completely. Only use this function if you do want to continue a selected table otherwise you must initially load the table again to ensure data consistency

After the tables get scheduled initially the tables get loaded with status executed

the tables which is being replicated gets new status as ‘In Process’

Status of tables changes as:

Scheuled-> Executed ->  Inprocess

Now the ECC table will be appearing in HANA Studio,  Please note the Schema where you want to store the tables need to configure in SLT server.

In  SLT system   we need to give  Schema name  and  need to provide HANA database connetion parameters.  Tcode is – LTR

We can create  HANA /SQL views directly on top of these tables that is replicate from ECC