Query the BusinessObjects repository using REST SDK (RWS)

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This blog describes about Query the BusinessObjects repository using BI Platform REST API.

API Details:

 http://<host>:<port>/biprws/v1/cmsquery

API URL	http://<host>:<port>/biprws/v1/cmsquery
HTTP Methods	GET , POST
Data Formats	Application/JSON, Application/XML
Headers	x-sap-logontoken

This RWS API introduced from SAP BOE 4.2 SP03.

Using cmsquery REST API one can easily query the BusinessObjects repository and get the required information which is similar to Query Builder. (AdminTools URL : http://<host>:<port>/AdminTools ) but using REST API the result will be in XML/JSON format.

To explain more in detail, BusinessObjects repository made up of set of tables to hold the information about the BI content such as Universes, reports, Users, schedules, etc. These tables are encrypted in such a way that the information stored in these tables cannot be readable using conventional SQL query tools. This is the place where cmsquery REST API comes in to picture where in which this is the one and only door step through which we can query the metadata stored in the repository.

Repository:

The repository information is stored in the form of InfoObject and the CMS reads the InfoObjects from the virtual tables. Below are the BusinessObjects metadata virtual tables and their associated objects.

Table	Description	Type of Objects in Table
CI_SYSTEMOBJECTS	InfoObjects that the BI Platform uses	User, User Group, Server, Server Group,Folder, Connection, Calendar,Event
CI_APPOBJECTS	InfoObjects that are used by documents	Universe
CI_INFOOBJECTS	InfoObjects that are consumed by the end user	WebI, Crystal Report, FullClient, PowerPoint, Pdf, Excel, Word, Rtf, Txt,Program, Shortcut

No need of any special rights to use this REST API ( Admin must enable to use Restful Web services application to user in CMC applications).The response of this API contains the data based on user rights.

Note: Using cmsquery REST API user can only query the information stored in the CMS database not from the File repository files.

Basic properties of InfoObject:

InfoObject property	Description
SI_ID	Integer - Unique id generated for the Infobject within the environment
SI_NAME	String - Name of the InfoObject
SI_KIND	String - Type of the Infoobject
SI_CUID	String - Cluster Unique Identifier of the InfoObject
SI_GUID	String - Global Unique Identifier of the InfoObject
SI_RUID	String - Unique id of the Infobject within the Object package
SI_PARENTID	Integer - Parent Objects SI_ID
SI_OWNERID	Integer - SI_ID of the InfoObject’s owner
SI_CREATION_TIME	Date and Time - Creation time of InfoObject
SI_UPDATE_TS	Date and Time - Last updated time of InfoObject

 

API WorkFlows (XML and JSON):

HTTP Method: GET  Data format : JSON



HTTP Method: POST  Data format : JSON



Response in JSON format:



HTTP Method: GET  Data format : XML



 

HTTP Method: POST  Data format : XML



Response in XML format:



 

Get x-sap-logontoken (Authectication):

https://blogs.sap.com/2017/04/21/session-management-in-bi-platform-rest-sdk-rws/

Learn More:

https://help.sap.com/viewer/db6a17c0d1214fd6971de66ea0122378/4.2.3/en-US/45aa70186e041014910aba7db0e...

https://help.sap.com/doc/220244879d104f2e8e8b37e0fa0bdd2d/4.2.3/en-US/sbo42sp3_bip_rest_ws_en.pdf