DATA Modeling - InfoObjects in BW/4HANA

Data Modeling

We have less number of modeling objects in SAP BW4/HANA compared to SAP Netweaver based BW application. Modeling objects are less in number but they are more versatile and exploring new features.

Data Modeling is totally different from what was happening in NW based BW. so it's very important to mention the differences between traditional BW and BW/4HANA.

RSA1 is the main transaction code in traditional BW, which is used for Data Modeling, Data loading, monitoring, Transport Management.. etc.

While accessing RSA1 from BW/4HANA system, there’s a striking difference. The modeling option of the left-side panel is absent.

Modeling activities in BW/4HANA is performed within SAP HANA studio. Data load control,

monitoring, authorization definition, and data source maintenance are still performed via the classic SAP BW Administrator Workbench.

In the future, the SAP BW Administrator Workbench may eventually be made obsolete for SAP BW/4HANA.

The central SAP BW/4HANA modeling UI is the BW modeling perspective available in SAP HANA Studio. To access this perspective, choosing the SAP HANA studio > Window > Perspective >Open Perspective >Other… menu path and select BW Modeling from the list of available perspectives.

Right-click an InfoArea of the BW repository to open a context menu. Select New…
from the context menu to create the following elements:
* DataStore Objects (Advanced)
* InfoSource
* InfoObject
* Open ODS View
* InfoArea
* Semantic Group
* CompositeProvider
* Open Hub Destination
* Data Flow

The elements of interest for data modeling in SAP BW/4HANA are InfoObjects, Open
ODS views, Advanced DSOs, and CompositeProviders.

Modeling Objects

let's compare Modeling Objects in both traditional BW and BW/4HANA

A simple way of demonstrating the simplification represented by SAP BW/4HANA is
to align the modeling objects from SAP BW with the SAP BW/4HANA objects based on
their modeling purposes

InfoObjects

SAP BW/4HANA InfoObjects are very similar in concept to the SAP BW versions.
There are four types of InfoObjects in SAP BW/4HANA: characteristic, key figure, unit,
and XXL.

Characteristics:- Characteristics in SAP BW/4HANA can be defined based on five ABAP dictionary data types:

1. Character string (CHAR) - AlphaNumeric characters
2. Numerical text (NUMC) - Only Numbers
3. Signed numerical characteristics (SNUMC) - signed numbers, accept negative values
4. Date in format YYYYMMDD (DATS) - Date
5. Time in format HHMMSS (TIMS) - Time

General properties of characteristic InfoObjects

In the case of language dependency, the language is added as a compounding key to the characteristic’s values, allowing multiple descriptions to be stored. For time dependency, setting the flag means compounding the characteristic’s values with Valid From and To fields as keys for the text tables.

Attributes tab:

Depending on the settings chosen, the attributes can be of a navigation or display nature. If an attribute is set as navigational, then it can be used for slicing and dicing at the query level. Display attributes won’t have the same behavior and will only serve as an extension to the characteristic value on reports. They can be displayed side by side with the main characteristic. No slicing or filtering is possible with display attributes in queries.

It’s also possible to logically assign XXL attributes to a characteristic. Based on the MIME type selected, the system can interpret the XXL attribute as an audio file, a video file, text, or an image. XXL attributes first must be defined as an XXL InfoObject type before being available as XXL
attributes for other characteristics.

XXL:- XXL InfoObjects are available in SAP BW/4HANA to assist in storing large contents in
different formats in the SAP HANA database. Subsequent modeling activities can then associate the contents stored as XXL InfoObjects with other characteristics.

2 types of XXL infoObjects.

If an XXL InfoObject is created using the CLOB data type, then no further parameters
are needed beyond the technical name and description of such an InfoObject. This is
because the system recognizes CLOB as a text file by default.

If an XXL InfoObject type is created using the BLOB data type, then it’s necessary to assign its MIME type. The MIME type specifies the file format and contents, assisting the system in determining how to store and interpret the file in question. MIME types available in SAP BW/4HANA include image types (PNG, IMG, BITF, PFX, etc.), video types (MPG, AVI, QT, VDO, etc.), Microsoft types (DOC, PPT, XLS, RTF, etc.), Adobe PDF, AutoCAD (DWG), and many others.

Key Figure:- can represent amount, quantity, integer, number, date, or time.

The Non-Cumulative property enables snapshots of stock position by period. Stock Coverage determines the number of periods of supply against planned or expected demand. High Precision is used to force the analytical engine to perform calculations using extra decimal places instead of rounding. The Attribute Only option can be set when a key figure is only to be used as an attribute of characteristics instead of for report calculation.

Unit:- Unit InfoObjects are used in conjunction with key figures, setting the measuring standards between values and thus enabling proper comparisons and conversions.