Product Information
What’s New in SAP Analytics Cloud and SAP Digital Boardroom Release 2021.16
This blog post covers some of the latest features and enhancements in SAP Analytics Cloud and SAP Digital Boardroom Release 2021.16, which will be included in the Q4 2021 Quarterly Release Cycle (QRC).
Please note that the SAP Analytics Cloud Help Portal is updated at the same time as the upgrade to this release, so the links here may not yet reflect what is described below until after the upgrade is complete.
Technical Requirements
Be sure to upgrade to the latest SAP Analytics Cloud agent version 1.0.331 to take advantage of all the data acquisition types. Here are the minimum data acquisition requirements:
- Version 1.0.99 for SAP ERP / SQL Database
- Version 1.0.91 for SAP Universe (UNX)
- Version 1.0.233 for SAP Business Warehouse (BW)
- Version 1.0.235 for SAP HANA View
- Version 1.0.248 for File Server
- Version 1.0.75 for all other data source types
For more information, check out the following System Requirements and Technical Prerequisites. Also please note that SAP Analytics Cloud fully supports Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome for all activities and areas of viewing, authoring, and administration.
Release Highlights
- Dashboard and Story Design
- Reporting
Dashboard and Story Design
Data Visualization
Add Images into Table Cells for SAP Business Warehouse Models
Users can now display images in table visualizations based on special attributes of SAP Business Warehouse dimensions. The row height and horizontal alignment of these image attributes can be adjusted through the styling panel.
Link on Matching Parent-Child Hierarchies in SAP Business Warehouse Models
Users can now enable or disable the link on matching hierarchy functionality when blending or using filter across models for non-Optimized View Mode on SAP Business Warehouse data sources. When users change the hierarchy of the blended dimension, the secondary model’s hierarchy will also be updated if it has a matching hierarchy.
When blending multiple data sources and changing hierarchies, linking on matching hierarchy provides more efficient blend data by matching hierarchies. This feature offers more data accuracy as a result of the matching hierarchies that are updated automatically.
Leverage Story Viewer Context Menu for Filters in Optimized View Mode
Once a story is resaved, viewers can now choose to display ID and/or Description for Filter Input Controls from the Context Menu based on their preference. Using a combination of ID and Description also increases the flexibility of the Paste Filter Values feature as viewers can paste in either ID or Description to update the filter values.
For additional information on Optimized View Mode, please visit the following resources from the SAP Analytics Cloud Help Portal:
Reporting
Apply New Reporting Layout Designs to Canvas Stories
Users can now add a header, footer, or margins to their canvas stories. The header and footer are independent widget containers that can be individually customized with different background colours and other styling options.
These reporting layout design features allow for a more professional visual with consistent logo images, margin sizes, and additional details that can be repeated throughout the canvas stories.
This blog post provides a high-level overview of the latest features and enhancements in SAP Analytics Cloud and SAP Digital Boardroom. For further details, please visit the SAP Analytics Cloud Help Portal.
Thanks for the blog Janet,
We are using a Live BW connection to BW/4HANA queries and I have not been able to replicate the functionality to "Link on matching hierarchies". Do you know if there are any other pre-requisites for this? We are no on 2021.Q4 and so it should be available, but I have tried with dimensions which have a BW hierarchy available and the oprtion is still not visible.
Cheers, Ivan.
Hi Ivan,
We have checked with models based off of the BW4/HANA connection and the "Link on matching hierarchy" options is available. This functionality is only available if the dimensions we are linking using the link dimensions dialog both have hierarchies activated and that flat presentation is not the default hierarchy. Please let me know if that is the case.
Thanks,
Kenneth
Thanks Kenneth,
I have tried again using two BW Live models which provide a common dimension. In this case 0PROFIT_CTR. I turned the hierarchy on for both of them as can be seen in the screenshot, then attempted to join on the dimension. The hierarchy option is not presented.
You mention that flat presentation cannot be the default hierarchy. Does this mean that the hierarchy would need to be selected and activated in the BEx Query? It is not sufficient to just enable it within SAC?
We have many objects with multiple hierarchies available including 0PROFIT_CTR, 0COSTELMNT etc. Does this mean that the hierarchy linking functionality would only be possible on a single predefined hierarchy as maintained in the Query?
The other thing I have noted is that in my example, one model is presenting a nav attribute, where the other model is using the native characteristic. I would hope this is not an issue?
Cheers, Ivan.
Hi Ivan,
Yes, the hierarchy would need to be selected and activated in the BEx Query so that the default hierarchy shown is not flat presentation. This is because when implementing this functionality for BW, we decided to closely follow the HANA side which also does not have "Link on matching hierarchy" shown unless the default hierarchy is an actual hierarchy.
As for the functionality itself, when changing hierarchies, if there are matching hierarchies in the secondary model, the request sent to fetch the data will also utilize the matching hierarchy in the secondary model. Prior to this, when changing hierarchies, the secondary model will still utilize their default hierarchy which may lead to incorrect data. As an example in blending, if your dimensions by default use 0PROFIT_CTR, and you switch to 0COSTELMNT, when the secondary model fetches the data, it utilizes the matching 0COSTELMNT hierarchy instead of using 0PROFIT_CTR.
Thanks,
Kenneth
Hi Kenneth,
Got it working now. Both queries had to have the hierarchy selected in the BEx Query, and also had to have the hierarchy activated in BEx.
Now I just need to get my head around what the benefit or improvement is as a result. I have tried playing around in our test Tennant compared to our Prod with the join still just on the ID and I might be missing something but the behaviour I see in the Story does not appear to change in any way.
When comparing the link on ID to the link on Hierarchy for Profit Centre, the behaviour within the Story seems to be the same. Perhaps it is just a technical performance benefit (although it was not noticeable either way).
Cheers, Ivan.