SAP BI Interview Questions Answers

201 Interview Questions
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FOREWORD ........................................................................10
KEY QUESTIONS ................................................................. 13
Basic ............................................................................................14
Intermediate ................................................................................. 16
Expert ......................................................................................... 2l
CHAPTER 1: BW Administratio11 and Design ......................25

Basic Concepts ............................................................................. 2 6
BW Settings in SPRO ..................................................................... 44
Non Cumulative Key Figures ............................................................ 47
A~~thorizations
.............................................................................. 5 0
BW Archival and retrieve ................................................................ 55

Process Chai~is.............................................................................. 57
Open Hub ..................................................................................... 6 2
Tuning ......................................................................................... 6 4
RSRV ............................................................................................ 67
ODs ............................................................................................ 69
BW Statistics ................................................................................72
Aggregates ...................................................................................74
Table o f c o n t e n t s
CHAPTER 2: BW Reporting (BEx and Web Reporting) ........79

Business Explorer .........................................................................
80
Calculated key figures ...................................................................82
Boolean Operators ........................................................................
84
Structures and cells ......................................................................
85
Before and after aggregation ..........................................................86
Key figure properties .....................................................................
88
Hierarchies in Reports ...................................................................90
92
User Exits for Bex Reporting ...........................................................
Variables .....................................................................................95
Query properties ..........................................................................
100
Document utility .......................................................................... 'I03
Query Administration ....................................................................104
Conditions and Exceptions .....................................................105
Reporting Agent .......................................................................... 108
Web Application Designer ...............................................................112
CHAPTER 3: Extraction ....................................................121

Basic Concepts ............................................................................
122
Class System ..............................................................................
129
Generic Data source .....................................................................130
Table of contents
LIS Extraction ............................................................................... 131

LO Extraction .............................................................................. 134
CO-PA Extraction .......................................................................... 137
CO-PA Retraction ......................................................................... 140
Enhancing data extraction ............................................................. 142
DB Connect ................................................................................. 145

Currency Translation in BW ........................................................... 147
CHAPTER 4: BW Fu~~ctional
.............................................149
ASAP methodology ....................................................................... 150
Business Content and roles ............................................................ l5l
INTRODUCTION
How to use this book:
As a consultant / analyst:
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Start by reading this book from cover to cover.

Repeat that until you think you know all the details.
Now practice what you have learnt in the system.
If you are an employer looking to hirelcontract a BW

professional:
*,
The first part of the book highlights key questions

that you should be able to ask a candidate and
therefore gauge their competency based on their
answers.
By randomly adding in a few questions from the rest

of the book you can focus on a specific area and
ensure that the candidate really knows the relevant
information.
Before interviewing a candidate, always make sure

that you fully understand the question and the
answer. Although every effort has been made to
make the questions and answers simple in their
explanation, some questions may still not make sense
to an untrained user.
We suggest highlighting those questions that you
wish to ask, familiarizing yourself with the answers
and then conducting the interview.
Note that the chapter / topic that: the question covcrs is always
listed on the top of each page. This is because it is always
important to know in what context the question w;ls asked, to
ensure that the candidate can respond to it as correctly as
possible e.g. If you are asking a reporting question then
explain to the candidate that the following question pertains to
reporting.
Key :
Each question has a rating which is illustrated by the tollowing
symbols:
Basic
00
Intermediate
000 Expert
As an added benefit we've included several worksheets and
bonus material on Geniepress.com, including candidate
worksheets which have all the questions marked out for yoi~,
provide space for the candidates name, the date of interview
and their overall scores.
There are also links to other BW data provided by the author,
such as SAP'S standard cubes. Links to SAPGcnic's BW
material are also available from this bonus arca.
To access this information: go to http://www.rrenicr,ress.com/
201 bw and enter the username 201 bw and password lsd2lk
Good luck and enjoy!
K e y [luestions
Basic
1.
What are the advantages of an Extended star schema of

BW vs. 'The star schema?
9
9
9
9
Uses generated numeric keys and aggregates in its

own tables for faster access.
Uses an external hierarchy.
Supports multiple languages.
Contains master data common to ;dl cubcs.
Supports slowly changing dimensions.
2. How maliy tliniensio~isare there ill a cube?

There are a total of 16 dimensions in a culx. Of these
16, 3 are predefined by SAP and thcsc arc timc, unit
and request. This leaves the customer uri th 13
dimensions.
3. What is the transaction for the Adrr~inistratorwork bench?

Transaction RSA 1
4. Wliat is tlie "myself data mart"?

A BW system feeding data to itself is called the myself
data mart. It is created automatically and ilscs ALE
for data transfer.
5. What is an aggregate?
Aggregates are mini cubes. They arc uscd t o improvc
performance when executing queries. l'ou can cquate
them to indexes on a table. Aggregates klrc
transparent to the user.
Basic
6 . Wliat is a calculated key figure?

A calculated key figure is ilsed to do complicated
calculations on key figures such as mathematical
functions, percentage filnctions and total filnctions.
For example, you can have a calculated key figure to
calci~latesales tax based on your sale price.
7. What is the enlia~icementuser exit for BEx reportilig?
8. What is a characteristics variable?

You can have dynamic input for characteristics using a
characteristic variable. For example, if you are
developing a sales rcport for a given product, you will
define a variable for OMATERIAL.
9. What is a condition?
If yo11 want to filter on key figures or do a ranked
analysis then you use a condition. For example, you
can use a condition to report on the top 10 customers,
or customers with more than a million dollars in
annual salcs.
Kev Ouestions
Intermediate
'10. What are the data types s1.1pported by characteristics?
4
4
4
4
Numeric
IJp to 60 characters
Date
Time
NUMC
CHAR (up to 60)
DATS
TIMS
11. What are the types of attributes?

Display only - These attributes are only for display and
no analysis can be done.
Navigational attributes
regular characteristics.
These attributes behave like
For example, assume that we have customer

characteristics with country as a navigational attribute,
you will then be able to analyze the data using
customer and country. In the BEx query you can create
filters or variables for country and you can also use the
drill down feature.
12. What is meant by compo~.lnding?

Compounding defines the s~lperiorInfoobject, which
must be combined to define an object. For example,
when you define a cost center, the controlling area is
the compounding (superior) object.
Intermediate
13. What are tlie 10 decision poi~itsof data warehousi~ig?

c/
c/
c/
c/
c/
c/
c/
c/
c/
c,
Identify a fact table.

Identify the dimension tables.
Define the attributes of the entities.
Define the granularity of the fact table (how
detailed do you want the data to be).
Define pre-calculated key figures.
Identify slowly changing dimensions.
Identify aggregates.
How long will the data be kept.
How often is the data extracted.
From which system is the data to be extracted.
14. What options are available in the transfer rule?

c/
c/
c/
Assign an Infoobject - direct transfer, no

transformation
Assign a constant eg. If you are loading data from
a specified country from a flat file, you can make
the country (17s)as a constant and assign the value
explicitly
ABAP routine eg. If you want to do some complex
string manipulation, assume that you are getting a
flat file from legacy data and the cost center is in a
field and you have to "massage" the data to get it
in. In this case the use of an ABAP routine is most
appropriate
K e y Cluestions
Formula - for simple calculations usc formula eg. If

you want to convert all lower casc cl~uractcrsto
upper case, use the TOUPPER formula. You can
use formilla builder to help put your formulas
together.
15. What is compression or collapse?

This is the process by which we delete the recluest ID'S
which leads to space savings. All the rcgular rcqucsts
are stored in the F table. When you compress, the
request I D is deleted and data is moved from the F
table to the E table. This saves space and improves
performance but the disadvantage is that you cannot
delete the compressed requests individually. You can,
however, still use selective deletion.
If you are using noncumulative key figures in a cube,
the cube should be compressed as often possible to
improve performance.
16. What is an InfoSet?

An InfoSet is an info provider giving data by joining
data from different sources like O D s and master data.
You can also do an outer join in an InfoSet. InfoSets
can also be used to combine transactional data with
master data. For example, if you have cli~antityin the
transaction data and you have price as an attribute of
the material. Then you can have an InfoSet with
transaction data and material where yo11 will l)e able to
do calculations based on material pricc in BEx.
Intermediate
Another usage is, if you have O D s you can disable

BEx reporting (in the setting) and use the O D s in the
InfoSet for reporting, which leads to improved
performance
17. What are lion cu~iiulativekey figures?

These are key figures that are not summarized (unlike
sales, etc.). Examples are head count and inventory
amount. They are always shown in relation to a point
in time. For example, we will ask how many
employees we had as of last quarter. We don't add up
the head count.
18. What perfornialice improvemelit call we do for reporting?

4
Aggregates
OLAP cache
Pre-calculated web templates

Use small amount or result data as starting point
of any queries and do the drill down.
Avoid reporting on O D s and use InfoSet
containing O D s for reporting.
If you use exclusion in reporting ( < >), the indices
are not used. So avoid using the exclusion but use
inclusion.
Use the read mode "H" read when navigating and
expanding hierarchies".
Use compression on Infocubes since the E table is
optimized for queries.
Create additional indexes.
Key Ruestions
Run DB statistics often.

9 Use secondary indexes on ODS active table.
v Use RSRT transaction to look at the "Explain
Plan" statement.
9 If you are running a query on an info provider with
non cumulative key figure then suppress summary
line items (totals).
v
19. Wliat are tlie options when defining aggregates?
*
H
F
Groups according to characteris tics Values

Hierarchy
Fixed value; for example if you have a
OCOUNTRY characteristic and only US is
reported on, then you can create an aggregate
only for the country IJS
Blank None
Exoert
Expert
20. What are the BEx options for characteristics like F4 help
for query definition and execution?
This defines how the data is displayed in the query
definition screen or when the query is executed.
Options are from the data displayed, from master data
table (all data) and from dimension data. For example
let us assume that you have 100 products in total in
your material master, 10 products available in a cube
and in BEx you display a query for 2 products; the
following options for the product will display different
data:
4
4
4
Selective data only will display 2 products

Dimension data
will display 10 products
From master data will display all 100 products
21. What is tlie 1:lifference between am~u~it,lqua~itity

alid
number type key figures?
Amount /quantity is always combined with units. For
example, sales will be linked to currency and inventory
will be linked to quantity in units. In your design if
you don't need units then you should use number or
integer to improve performance.
22. Wlieli coding the ABAP transfer rule, what are the
important variables yo11 make use of?
4
RESULT
This gets the result of the

ABAP code.
K e y Questions
RETURNCODE
ABORT
You set this to 0 if everything

is O K ; else this record is
skippcd.
Set this to a value not 0, to
abort thc cntirc package.
23. What is the use of time distribution option in the update

rule?
This option is uscd to distribute data according to
time. For examplc, if the source contains calendar
week and the target contains calendar day, tlie data is
split for each calendar day. Here you can select either
the normal calendar or the factory calendar.
24. In update rules for key figures, what are tlie return table
options for?
lJsually thc ilpdatc rulc scnds one record to the data
target; using this option you can send multiple records
to the data target cg. If you gct 1 record from thc
communication structure using this option you can
create multiple records into thc data target. For
example if we are getting total tclcphone expenses for
the cost center, you can use this to return tclcphone
cxpcnses for cach employee (by dividing the total
cxpenses by the number of employccs in tlle cost
center) and creating cost record for c;~ilicmployec
using ABAP code.
Expert
25. How would you optimize dime~isions?

IJse as many dimensions as possible for performance
improvement eg. Assume that you have 100 products
and 200 customers;
Option 1)
Option 2)
c/
Make one dimension for both, the size

of the dimension will be 20,000; ( 100
* 200).
Make individual dimensions one for
product (100 rows) and one for
customers (200) rows. The total
number of rows in both dimensions
will be 300.
Obviously Option 2 is better.
Even if you have more than one characteristic per

dimension, you should do the math considering the
worst case scenario and decide which characteristics
may be combined in which dimensions.
26. What is a line item (or degenerate) dimelision?

If the size of a dimension of a cube is almost the same
as the size of the fact table, you define that dimension
as a line item dimension. For example, if you store the
sales document number in one dimension in a sales
cube, usually the dimension size and the fact table size
will be the same. When you add the overhead of look
ups for DIMIDISIDs, the performance will be very
slow. By flagging it as a line item dimension, the
Kev Ouestions
system puts the SID in the fact table instead of

DIMID for the sales document number. This avoids
one look up into dimension table (the dimension table
is not created in this case).
Only one characteristic is allowed per line item
dimension and for F4 help, the complete master data is
displayed (which takes more time to display).
27. What is a "Marker" in Non Cumulative cubes?

Noncumulatives are stored using a "Marker" for the
current period. A marker is nothing b ~ l at pointer
referring to a time period. For example an inventory
cube marker may refer to the inventory levels as of
yesterday.
28. What is the use of a colon ':' as an authorization value?

J
It enables queries that do not contain an

authorization relevant object that have been
checked into the Infocube.
It allows summary data to be displayeci if the user
does not have access to detailed data. For
example, if you create 2 authorizations for one
user: one with Sales Org * and customers : and
second with sales org 1000 and customers *, the
user sees all customers for sales org 1000 and only
summarized report for other sales org.
CHAPTER 1
BW Administration
and
Design
Chapter 1: B W Administration and Design
Basic Concepts
29. What are the differences between OLAP and OLTP
applicatiolis? O
OLAP
Summarized data
Read only
Not Optimized
Lot of historical data
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30. What is a star schema?
OLTP
Detailed
Read write
Optimized for data
applications
Less historical data
A fact table at the center and surrounded (linked) by

dimension tables
31. What is a slowly changing dimension?
A dimension containing characteristics \\,hose value

changes over a time period. For example, take an
employee's job title, this changes over a pcriod of time
as the employee moves through an organization. This
is called a slowly changing dimension.
32. What are the advalitages of an Extelided star schenia of

BW vs. The star schema? O
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Use of generated keys (numeric) for faster access

External hierarchy
Support for multiple languages
Basic Concepts
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Master data is common to all cubes

Supports slowly changing dimensions
Aggregates in its own tables which allows for
tastcr access
33. What is the namespace for BW? 0 0

All SAP objects start with 0. The customer namespace
is A - 2. All tables begin with /BIO for SAP and /BIC
for customers; All generated objects start with 1-8
(like export data source). The prefix 9A is used in
APO.
34. What is an Infoobject? 0

Infoobjects are business objects eg. Customer,
product. They are divided into characteristics and key
figures. Characteristics are evaluation objects such as
customer and key figures are measurable objects such
as sales quantity. Characteristics also include special
objects like unit and time.
35. What are time dependent text / attribute of

cliaracteristics? O
If text (for example a name of a product or person) or
if an attribute changes over time then these must be
marked as time dependent.
36. Can you create your own time characteristics? O
C h a o t e r 1: BW A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d D e s i n n
37. Wliat is mealit by Alplia conversio~i?00

Alpha conversion is used to store data consistently. It
does this by storing numeric values prefixed with 0s
eg. If you have defined a material as length 6 (of type
Numc) then material number 1 is stored as 000001
but displayed as 1; this removes inconslstenc~es
between 0 1 vs. 001.
38. What is tlie alpha clieck executioli progra~ii?00

This is used to check consistency for BW 2.x before
upgrading the system to 3.x. I t is RSMDCNVEXIT
39. What is the attributes only flag? 0

If this flag is set, no master data is stored. This is only
used as an attribute for other characteristics, for
example comments on an Accounts Receivable
document.
40. Wliat are tlie data types allowed for key figures? 0
4
Amount,
Quantity
4
4
Number
Integer
Date
Time
41. What are the aggregation options for key figures? 00

If you are defining prices then you may want to set "no
aggregation" or you can define max, min, sum. You
can also define exception aggregation like first, last etc.

This is helpfill in getting a headcount eg. If you define
a monthly inventory count key figure you want the
count as of the last day of the previous month.
42. What is ,the niaximuni number of key figures you call Iiave
in an Infocube? O
43. What is the maximum number of characteristics you can

have per dimension? O
44. What is a SID table a ~ i dwhat are its advantages? 00

The SID table (Surrogate I D table) is the interface
betwccn master data and the dimension tables.
Advantages include:
4 Using 8 byte integer values as indexes for faster
access
4 Master data is independent of Infocubes
4 Supports multiple languages
4 Supports slowly changing dimensions
45. Which tables are generated for master data? 00

P table
Q table
Time independent master data

attributes
Time dependent master data attributes
Chapter 1: BW Administration and Design
S Table
M view
X table
Y table
for the SID Ids

Com bines P and Q
Interface between master data SIDs
and time independent navip;ltional
attributes SIDs ( P is linked to the X
table)
Interface between master data SIDs
and time dependent navigational
attributes SIDs ( Q is linked to the Y
table)
46. What is the transfer routine of tlie I~ifoDbject?O

It is like a start routine; this is independent of the data
source and valid for all transfer routines; you can use
this to define global data and global checks.
47. Wliat is the DIM ID? O

These are Dimensional IDS. Dim ID'S link dimensions
to the fact table. I t is an 8 byte integer like SID.
48. What is a table partition? 00

By partitioning we split the table into smaller tables
which is transparent to the application. This improves
performance (when reading as well as deleting data).
SAP uses fact table partitioning to improve
performance. Note that you can only partition on
OCALMONTH or OFISCPER.
Basic Concepts
Remember that the partition is created only in the E

fact table; the F fact table is partitioned by Request
Number as a default.
Advantages of a partition:
4 Makes use of parallel process
4 Allows a smaller set of data to be read
4 Allows fast deletion
49. How many extra partitions are created and why? Can you
partition a cube wi,th data ? 00
IJsually 2 extra partitions are created to accommodate
data before the beginning period and one after the end
of partitioning period.
No, you cannot partition a cube with data. A cube
must be empty to partition it. One work around is to
make a copy of the cube A to cube B and then to
export data from A to B using export data source.
Then empty cube A, create partition on A, re-import
data from B and delete cube B. Note that this is going
to change in Netweaver 2004s (Or BW 7)
50. What is a source system? O

Any system that is sending data to BW like R/3, flat
file, oracle database or a non-SAP systems.
C h a p t e r 1: B W A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d Design
51. What is a data source and wha,t is an InfoSource? O

Data source: The source that is sending data to a
particular InfoSource on BW For example, wc have a
OCUSTOMER-ATTR data source to supply attributes
to OCUSTOMER from R/3.
InfoSource : Group of logically related objects. For
example, the OCUSTOMER InfoSourcc will contain
data related to customer and attributes like customer
number, address, phone no, etc.
52. Wliat are tlie 4 types of InfoSources? O

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Transactional
Attributes
Text
Hierarchy
53. Wliat is a commur~icationstructure? O

Is an independent structure created from an
InfoSource. It is independent of the sourcc system /
data source.
54. What are transfer rules and what is global tralisfer rule? O
Transfer rules: T h e transformation rules for data from
the source system to the InfoSource / communication
structure. These are used to clean up thc data from
source system.
Basic Concepts
For example when you load customer data from flat

file, you can convert the name to upper case using a
transfer rule.
Global Transfer Rule: This is a transfer routine (ABAP)
defined at the Infoobject level. This is common for all
soilrce systems.
55. Name some important formulas available in BW? O

c/
./
c/
c/
c/
c/
c/
c/
c/
Concatenate
substring
condense
leftlright (n characters)
1-trim
r-trim
replace
date routines:
DATECONV
date-week
add-to-date
date-diff
logical functions like:
if
and
56. What is tlie process of replication and what menu path

would you use to perform it? O
This copies data source structures from R/3 to BW For
example, assume that you added a new data source in
R/3. This will not be visible in the BW system until
you replicate it.
C h a n t e r 1: BW A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d Desinn
You replicate using the transaction RSAl +Source

System + k g h t click on the system +Replicate. You
can also replicate at an info area level.
57. Wliat is tlie update rule? O

The update rule defines the transformation of data
from the communication structure to the data targets.
This is independent of the source systems / data
sources. For example, you can use update rule to
globally change data independent of the source
system.
58. What are the options in update r~.lles?O

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J
J
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One to one move for Infoobject value

Constant
Lookup for master data attribute value
Formula
Routine (ABAP)
Initial value
59. What are the special conversions for time in update

rules? O
Time dimensions are automatically converted. For
example, if the cube contains calendar month and your
transfer structure contains date, the date to c;ilendar
month is converted automatically.
Basic C o n c e p t s
60. What is the start routine? 00

The first step in the update process is to call start
routine. Use this to fill global variables to be used in
update routines. For example, you can define global
values to be used by the update routines. It is also the
first step in the Transformation process before the
Transfer rules.
81. What is the co~iversio~i

routi~iefor u ~ i i t sand currencies in
the update rule? 00
IJsing this option you can write ABAP code for unit /
currency conversion. If you enable this flag then unit
of measure of the key figure appears in the ABAP code
as an additional parameter. For example, you can use
this to convert quantity in pounds to quantity in
kilograms.
62. How do you add an entry in the monitor log from the
update rules? 000
This is added in the internal table MONITOR; the
following fields describe the M O N I T O R structure
4
4
4
4
4
4
MONITOR-MSGID
gives an I D
MONITOR-MSGTY
message type
MONITOR-MSGNO
message number
MONITOR-MSGV1
monitor message1
MONITOR-MSGV2
monitor message 2
Append it to the M O N I T O R table, this will show
up in the monitor
Here is a sample code to do this. Assumc that you are

checking for product 'XYZ' which should not bc
loaded to the cube and you want to display a message
in the monitor.
The code in the update routine will be :Ifc o m m - s t r u c t u r e - p r o d u c t
= LXYZ'.
R e t u r n c o d e = 1.
Monitor-msgid = ' X Y Z ' .
Monitor-msgty = L E ' .
Monitor-msgno = ' 1 2 3 ' .
Monitor-msgvl = ' I n v Prod'.
Monitor-msgv2 = comm-structure-product.
Append m o n i t o r .
Exit.
End i f .
63. How do you create the "myself data mart"?
The BW system feeding data to itself is called the

myself data mart. It is created automatically and uses
ALE for data transfer
d
Right click and create the export data source for

the ODSIcube or PSA.
In the target system replicate the data source
Create transfer rules and update rules
Create info package to load
64. Can you make MultiProviders alid liiaster data as data

marts? O
Yes
Basic Concepts
65. Wliat are tlie benefits of data marts? 0

4
4
4
4
Simple to use
H u b and spoke usage
Distributed data
In some cases they can provide performance
improvements
66. What are events and how do you use them? 00

Events are background signals to tell the system that a
certain status has been reached; you can use events in
batch jobs. For example, after you load data to the cube
you can trigger an event which will start another job to
run the reporting agent. Use SM62 to create and
maintain events.
67. Wliat is all event chain and Iiow do you create one? 00
This is a group of events that are completed
independently of one another. Used to execute
processes based on success or failure of events. For
example, you can trigger a chain event if all loads are
successfill.
AWB
Tools
Event collector
68. What is meant by PSA? 0

Persistent staging area - is based on the transfer
structure and is source system dependent. The data in
the PSA is in the same format as the data received from
the source system.
C h a o t e r 1: BW A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d D e s i n n
69. What are different options available for update process to

data target? O
cl
cl
r/
cl
PSA and data targets in parallel - improvcs

performance
PSA and data target in sequencc
PSA only - you have to manually load clata to data
targets
Data targets only - N o PSA
For performance reasons you should do PSA ;1nd Data

targets in parallel.
70. Wliy, if one request fails, do all the subsequent requests

turn to "red" in an Infoprovider? 00
This is to avoid inconsistency and ensures that only
data from subsequent requests is not available for
reporting which otherwise would lead to inconsistency
between report and underlying data.
71. What are the two fact tables?
There are two fact tables for each I n f o C ~ ~ bnamely

c
the
E table and the F table. The E table is ol7timized for
Read.
72. What is recons,tructitln? O

This is the process by which you reload data from PSA
(or O D s ) into the cube/ODS.
Basic Concepts
73. What is a remote cube? 0

Remote cube is a logical cube where the data is
extracted from an external source. It is usually used to
report on real time data from an r/3 system instead of
drilling down from BW to R3.
74. What is a virtual I~ifoCubewith services? 00

In this case, a user defined function module is used as
the data source. Using this, for example, you can access
a table from a logical cilbe. For example, the delivered
cube OBWTC-C08 (BW Metadata) is an InfoCube with
Services and it Llses a function module to get data.
75. What are the restrictio~is/recomme~idationsfor usi~ig

remote cube? 00
These are used for reporting on small volumes of data
with few users; no master data allowed. Performance is
poor while using remote cube.
76. Give examples of data sources that support remote cubes.
00
OF1-AP-3 - vendor line items, OF1-AR-3 - customer
line items
77. What is a MultiProvider? 0

lJsing MultiProvider you can access data from different
data sources like cubes, ODS, Infosets, master data.
MultiProvidcr does a Union at the database level.
C h a p t e r 1: BW A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d D e s i g n
78. What are the added features in 3.x for MultiProvider? 00

Prior to 3.x only multi cubes were available; J'OLL
can
not combine a O D s and cube, for example.
79. What is ,the difference between MultiProvider and

InfoSet? O
MultiProvider is a Union whereas InfoSct is a 'Join"
(intersection). So from a MultiProvider JJOLI may get as
many rows as the number of underlying InfoProviders.
Example:
InfoProviderl (with Sales Order and order q t y )
Sales Doc
Ord qty
S 10 1
10
InfoProvider2 (with Delivery doc no, salcs doc no, qty
delivered)
Del Doc No Sales Doc no Qty delivered
Dl01
SlOl
8
If we use a MultiProvider to rcport, the f;)llowing data
will be displayed :SalesDoc
DelDoc
Ord Qty
S 10 1
SlOl
#
Dl01
10
1)clQtv
If we use an InfoSct the following result ~ v i l lbe

displayed (join on sales doc no):
SalesDoc
DelDoc
OrdOty
SlOl
D 10 1
10
DclQty
S
Basic Conceots
Please note: Thc InfoSet cannot be created on an

Infocube but only on transparent tables like O D s and
Master data (BW version 7.0 this limitation is not
applicable).
80. What is a transactional Infocube? How will you report on

this? O
These cubes arc used for both read and write, standard
cubes arc optimized for reading. The transactional
cubes are uscd in SEM.
Since transactional cubes are not loaded by
InfoPackagc thc reporting flag is not set until it
rcachcs a certain limit. To view the data from queries
with latest data, you should use the system variable
OS-RQMRC (Most Current Data) as a filter for
Request ID in your BEx queries.
BAPI's are needed to load data and also for reporting
on Transactional InfoCubes.
Plcasc note : You need BAPI to load data and also for
reporting on Transactional Infocube.
81. Wliat is the Transaction code for monitori~igCache? O

Transaction code RSRCACHE
C h a p t e r 1: BW A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d Design
82. What is meant by Iiigli cardi~ialitydinielisio~i?00

If the dimension exceeds 10% of the size of the fact
table then you can make it as a high cardinality
dimension. Basically SAP converts from a bitmap
index to a B tree index.
83. When do you recommend high cardi~ialityvs line item

dimension? O 0
If your dimension is more than 10% but less than 20%
of the size of h c t table then use high cardinality
dimension; if it exceeds 20% then use line item
dimension.
84. What are the profile parameters for cache? 00

J
J
rdsb/esm/buffersize-kb
rsdb/esm/max-objects
maximum size of cache

maximum number of
entries in cache
85. Can you disable the cache? 00

Yes, either globally or by using query d c l ~ l gtool using
transaction code RSRT.
86. What is persistelice mode ill caclie? 00

Instead of swapping data from menlor): you can store
the data in a cluster table or file. This option ;~llows
you to store more data in cache than the avai1;~blesize
of main memory.
Basic Concepts
87. What does tlie progralli RSMDCNVEXIT check? 000

All characteristics with conversion exit ALPHA,
NUMC and GJAHR
88. When should you do the alpha conversion? 000

If you are upgrading you must do it before the
PREPARE phase of upgrade
89. Can you make an Infoobject as an InfoProvider and why? O

Yes, when you want to report on attribute values of
characteristics (master data), to make an Infoobject as
InfoProvider, right click on the info area in the
administration workbench and make them as an
InfoProvider.
For example, you can make OCUSTOMER as an
InfoProvider and do BEx reporting on OCUSTOMER.
Right click on the info area and select "Insert
characteristic as data target"
Chanter 1: BW Administration and Design
BW Settings in SPRO
90. What are the control parameters for data transfer?
They define the maximum size of the p ~ ~ c k ethe

t,
maximum number of records per packet, the number
of parallel processes, etc.
91. Which transaction code is used to set up tlie permitted

characters? 000
Transaction code RSKC.
92. What is meant by aggregate realignment run

maintenance? 00
This defines the level of percentage change where a
realignment run will cause a reconstruction of
aggregates. Remember that if you have exception key
figures like Min or Max, then the aggregate will be
rebuilt every time you run the change.
93. What is meant by update mode for master data?
It defines whether the master data (auto sid) is added

automatically, for non existing master data, nll~enyou
load the transaction data.
BW S e t t i n e s i n SPRO
94. What are the ODs object settings? O

They are:
c/
The number of parallel processors in activation,
c/ Minimum number of data records
c/
Wait time
95. What are the settings for flat files?
They are:
c/ The thousand separator
c/
Decimal pointer
c/
Field separator (default is ;)
c/
Field delimiter (default '7
96. What are the settings for data transfer? O

They are:
c/ Maximum number of data packages
c/
Frecluency
c/
Size of PSA partition
97. What are tlie nio~iitorset'ti~igs?O

c/
c/
c/
Define the wait time before the status turns to red.

Usually it is 7 hours, which means if the data is not
transferred within 7 hours for the request, the
status is set to red.
Status colors. Here you can specify what status
should be displayed in case of 0 records transferred
or warnings.
Schedule monitor assistant in the background to
analyze requests.
98. Which tra~isactit~n

code defines the background user in the
source system? 00
Transaction code RSCUSTV3
99. What are the settings for Reporti~ig?O

4
4
4
Defines what should be displayed for conditions

like: divide by zero, no data, overflow, mixed
values and authorization errors
Infoprovider properties for cache
Activate personalization in BEx
100. What are the settings for web ? O

4
4
4
4
4
Define default web template and style sheet

RRI Setting
Drag and relate settings
IGS settings
Maintain web protocol of http or https
N o n Cumulative Key Figures
Nan Cumulative Key Figures

'101. What is standard and exception aggregation? 000
Standard aggregation -) specifies how values for a key
figure arc aggregated using all characteristics except
time.
Exception aggregation -) specifies how values for a
key figure are aggregated using time characteristics.
102. What is a time reference characteristic? 000

It is a time characteristic which determines all other
time characteristic eg. OCALDAY, OCALMONTH,
OCALWEEK, OFISCPER
103. Give example of data sources supporting non cumulative

key fig1.1t-es. 00
4
2L1S-40-S278
2LIS-0 3-BF
2LIS-03-UM
transfer BW stock
Material Movements
Revaluations
104. Can you create aggregate for a cube having cumulative key
figure? 00
Yes, but you must include all time characteristics.
105. What is the opening balance? 000

When you start loading inventory data from R/3 you
start with inventory quantity at a certain point in time,
this is what is called the opening balance.
C h a o t e r 1: BW A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d D e s i a n
106. Wliat is "No Marker Update"? 000

If you choose this option when compressing a non
cumulative cube, the reference point is not updated
but the requests are moved to Request O (usu;ll
compression). You must do this for compressing
historical data.
107. When you compress multiple requests, how would you know
which request had "Marker llpdate" enabled or not? 000
Check the log file for each compression. If you see a
message like N O REFPOINT UPDATE rhen rhc
marker was not updated in this comprcssion.
108. What are the steps to load a non c~.lmulativecube? 000

r/
Initialize the opening balance in R/3 6 2 7 8 )
r/
Activate the extract structure MCO3BFO for data

source 2LIS-03-BF
Set up the historical material documenrs in R/3
c/
c/
r/
Load the opening balance using data source

2LIS-40-S278
Load the historical movements and comprcss them
without marker update.
r/
Set up the V3 update
r/
Load the deltas using 2LIS-03-BF
N o n C u m u l a t i v e Key F i g u r e s
109. How is the result for a query based on an Infocube, having

noncumulative key figure, calculated? 000
Non
Quantity = Reference point in time quantity
compressed delta quantities - Deltas for
backward quantity
Example :Ref p i n t in time : 12/30/2003 qty 100
Delta for one day 1213 1/2003 qty 1 0 (not compressed)
Total qty = 110.
110. Wliat is a validity deterliiiliing characteristic? 000

This determines the validity period of a noncumulative
cube eg. Plants opening and closing time periods.
111. Wliat are ,the dos and dolifts of no~icumulativekey figures?
000
9
9
1Jse few validity objects.

Compress the cube as regularly as possible so that
the marker stays current.
IJsc a smaller time period using variable when
reporting.
112. Wliat is tlie tra~isactio~i

code for mai~itaini~ig
autlioriza'tion
object and role maintenance? 00
Transaction code PFCG
113. What is a role? O

The role defines the responsibility of a user wit11 proper
menu and transaction authorizations.
114. Give some examples of the roles delivered with SAP BW. 0
All B W roles start with S-RS.
For example:
4 S-RS-ROPAD- Production system administrator
4 S-RS-RREPU - BEx user
115. What are the different authorization approaches available

ill BW? O 0
4
InfoCube based approach - use this in conjunction

with Info area to limit access
Query name based approach - many customers use
this to limit access eg. Z queries are read only, Y
queries are readlwrite and FI* query names arc for
FI use.
Dataset approach - limitation of characteristics
and key figures. You can use reporting
authorization for this.
Authorizations
116. What are the two object classes of BW authorization? 00

4
4
BW Warehouse authorization - SAP standard

BW Reporting (not delivered by SAP) - user
defined eg. Restricting data using an authorization
variable
117. How niany fields can you assign to all autliorizatio~iobject

and what are the values for ACTVT? 00
10
The possible values for ACTVT are create, change and

display.
118. Give some examples of stalidard authorization objects

delivered for BW. 00
S-RS-IOMAD
S-RS-ADMWB
S-RS-ODSO
S-RS-TOOLS
S-RS-ICUBE
S-RS-HIER
S-RS-COME
S-RS-COMPl
S-RS-FOLD
S-RS-IOBJ
S-RS-ISOUR
S-RS-ISRCM
S-GUI - GUI
S-BDS-DS
Master data
AWB objects
O D s objects
BEx tools
.
InfoCube
Hierarchy
Reporting authorization
Folders
Info0 bject
InfoSource (transaction data)
Infosource (master data)
Activities (workbooks)
Document set (for workbooks)
S-USER-A G R
c,
S-USER-T C D
Role check for saving workbook

in a role
Transaction in rolcs for skiving
workbook in a rolc
119. What is a reporting object? 00

T h e authorization object, that is used I)!. OLAP
processor in BW for checking reporting authorization.
For example, use an authorization variable to control
the data as an Infoprovider.
120. Give a step hy step approach to create an authorization

object. Assume that we are restricting the report by cost
center. 00
4
4
4
c,
4
Make the Infoobject as Authorization relevant

(flag) and activate it. In this example
OCOSTCENTER
Create an authorization object ilsing Transaction
code RSSM and include OCOSTCENTER in this
object.
Assign the object to one or more InfoProviders.
Create role(s) with different values for cost centers
eg. You can create a role called "IT Manager" and
assign it to all IT cost centers.
Assign the role to users.
Create a query. Create a variable Lvitliin the query
for OCOSTCENTER of type "Autlic>riz;ltion" and
include it in the query. If the I T ni;ln;lger runs the
query it shows only the cost centers assigned to
himlher.
Authorizations
121. How to inipleme~itstructural autliorization in BW? 00

c,
c,
c,
c,
c,
c,
c,
c,
Create a profile using transaction OOSP

Assign the user to the profile using transaction
OOSB
IJpdate the T 7 7 U U table
Run the progrnm RHBAUSOO
Activate the data source and related components
OHR-PA-2 in B W
Load O D S from R/3
Activate the target InfoObjects as "Authorization
relevant"
Rim the filnction module RSSB to generate B W
authorization.
122.What are the new BW 3.x authorizations? 0 0

c,
S-RS-C O M P l
c,
S-RS-FOLD
c,
S-RS-ISET f
S-G U I
checks for authorization

depending on the owner
info area view of BEx elements
(to si~ppress)
or InfoSets
new activity code 6 0 loaded for
upload
123.What is the use of c o l ~ n':' as an au.thoriza'ti~11value? 00

c,
c,
It enables queries that d o not contain an

authorization relevant object and have been
checked in the InfoCube
It allows summary data to be displayed if the user
does not have access to detailed data.
C h a n t e r 1: BW A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d Desinn
For example, if you create 2 authorizat~onsfor one

user, one with Sales Org * and customers : and a
second with sales org 1000 and custon~ers*, the Llscr
sees all customers for sales org 1000 and only
summarized report for other sales org.
124. What is $ as an a~~thorization

value and what is
OTCTAU'TH H? O O
You use $ followed by a variable name (thcsc variable
values are populated in a BEx user exit). This avoids
having too many roles
OTCTAUTHH is used in hierarchy authorization.
125. How would you debug security issues? 00

By using transactions ST0 1 and RSSMTRACE. An 'X'
mark in the log shows a fiiiled authorization check.
126. Which Transaction code shows templates for

au,thorizatinns? O O
Transaction code SU24.
B W Archival and retrieve
BW Archival and retrieve

127. What are the adva~itagesof archiving a ~ i dwhat is tlie
transaction code for archiving? 00
J
J
To minimize space
Improve query performance
Improve load performance
Archive uses A D K (Archive Development Kit).

Tnns&ct"oncode S A m .
128. What are tlie size parameters for archiving? 00

J
J
Maximum file size in Megabyte

Maximum number of data objects
129. What is the preca~llionyuu should take wlie~i

archiving? 00
W h e n you archive an InfoCube or O D s , it is locked
for any loads until the delete is finished. You should
make sure that you archive and delete before you load
any new data.
130. Wliat is tlie difference between the restoring of Cube vs

[IDS from archive files? 00
You can restore into O D s directly from the SARA
transaction. For the cube you should schedule an info
package.
C h a n t e r 1: BW A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d D e s i e n
131. Cali you archive Master data or PSA? 00

No, it is not currently supported (as of 3.1).
132. Give the step by step approach to archivi~iga Cube. 00

J
J
J
J
J
Double click on the cube (or right click and select

change)
Extras I) select archival
Choose fields for selection eg. OCALDAY,
OCUSTOMER
Define the file structilre (maximum file size and
maximum number of data objects)
Select the folder (logical file namc)
Select the delete options (not scheduled, start
automatically or after event)
Activate the cube
The cube is ready for archiving
P r o c e s s Chains
Process Chains
133. Wliat is a process cliai~iand what is the tra~isactio~i
code
for going to process chain? 00
The process chain is a utility to schedule batch jobs on
BW similar to SM37. It offers good monitoring
features and error handling.
Transaction code RSPC
134. Wliat are tlie general services supported in process

chain? O0
c,
Start process
specifies a variant for the start time

and date. It can be set to be
recursive.
c,
AND
you can use this to check for

successful completion of two or
more processes eg. You can load 2
ODSs in parallel and put an AND
condition (if successful) to load a
cube.
c,
c,
OR
EXOR (first)
c,
ABAP
you usually use this to determine if

any of the predecessor processors
failed. If you have multiple tasks
in parallel you can use this to
detect any process failures.
you use this to run an ABAP
program with variants.
C h a p t e r 1: BW A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d Design
J
J
OS Command as an example, it is usef~llto do an

ftp copy before loading.
Local process chain
call another process chain. ~Jsually
there will be a master process chain
calling different child process
chains. For example, you can have
a process chain (master) called
"Daily load of master data" and
within that it may call 2 or more
process chains to load attributes,
texts, hierarchies and do a change
run.
Remote process chain
Workflow
135. List some of tlie data target admi~iistrationtasks. 00

Delete index
Generate index
Construct database statistics
Initial fill of new aggregates
Roll up of filled aggregates
Compression of the InfoCube
Activate O D s
Complete deletion of data target
P r o c e s s Chains
136. List the reporting agent tasks. 00

4
4
4
4
Exception reporting
Print in the background
Pre calculation of web templates
Pre calculation of value sets
137. List sollie of the BW process types for building process

chain. 00
4
4
4
4
Attribute change run

Adjustment of time dependent aggregates
Deletion of requests from PSA
Reorganize attributes and texts for master data.
This is a useful tool to compress master data and
text.
138. What are the scheduling options for start process? 00

4
Direct scheduling or
Start from meta chain (parent chain)
API
Use the second option for your child process chains.
139. List some of the parallel processes that could have locking
problems. 000
4
4
Hierarchy attribute change run

Loading master data for the same Infoobject eg.
Avoid loading master data from different source
systems at the same time
c,
c,
c,
Rolling up for the same InfoCubc

Selecting deletion of an InfoCube I ODS ~lnd
parallel loading
Activation or deletion of an ODS ohjcct when
loading in parallel
140. What is tlie benefit of tlie optio~i"default chai~is"?000

When this option is enabled (by default) and when you
insert a process, any corresponding process types are
inserted automatically.
For example, if you drag and drop an info package
load for ODS, then the process types (such as "Update
from PSA", "Activate ODS", "Further processing") are
automatically inserted.
To disable this option use Transaction Code RSPC
Settings
default chains
check mark "Do not
suggest processes".
14.1. By default, all newly created process chains are assigned

to tlie "unassig~ied"~iode. How would you reassign it to a
proper component? 00
Process Chain
+ Attributes + Display components
142. What are the four views available for a process chain? 00
9
9
9
c,
Planning view
Checking view
Log view
Job overview
Process Chains
143. How would you send an email when a process ends in a

process chain? 00
%ght click on the process you want to monitor (eg.
Load info package)
select create message
select
when you want to send a message (success, fail or
always)
create a variant for the mail.
144. How would you convert an info package grol.lp into a

process chain? 0 0
Double click on the info package group

click on
the "Process Chain Maint." button
type in the
name and description
the individual info packages
are inserted automatically.
145. What is tlie differelice between EXOR and OR ill a process

chain? 0 O
The target for an O R process will be executed for each
successfi~loccurrence. EXOR will be executed only
once. Usilally you use EXOR to detect failed processes.
C h a p t e r 1: B W A d m i n i s t r a t i o n and Design
Open Hub
146. What is Ope11 Hub (OH) and what data targets does it
rt
00
support? Does it s ~ ~ p p odelta?
O H is a tool by which you can send data from BW to
different targets. It is a controlled distribution of
consolidated and cleansed daca.
Targets could be another BW system, external
systems, relational table, flat file and O D B O interface.
Yes it supports Delta.
147. How do you get into Ope11 Hub and what are the supported
data sources? 0 0
Use the following menu path:
Transaction Code RSBO or AWB
H u b Service
Tools
Open
Datasources for an Open H u b are cube. ODs and

Infoobject (attributes and texts).
148. What are the desti~iatio~i

target optiolis for Open Hub in
BW? 0O
J
J
CSV file
Database table
Open H u b
149. What is the "delete table before extraction" option in Open

Hub in BW? 00
If you choose this option, the table contents are
deleted before any new record is written. Disable this if
you want to keep historical data.
150. How do yo11change tlie default desti~iatio~i

of Ope11 Hub
files in BW? 00
Menu path for changing the default destination of
Open H ~ t bis as follows:
LJse Transaction Code SE 11 3 choose table RSBFILE
3 modify entry for XIDEST.
151. What is the licensing requirement that you should be

aware of for using Open Hub in BW? 00
Extracting data from SAP B W by any means requires
additional licensing.
152. How do you transform Ope11Hub data? 00

IJsing a BAD1 you can transform Open H u b data
according to the destination requirement.
Tuning
153. What s h o ~ ~yo11
l d consider when tuning your Oracle
database? 00 0
4
Apply OSS note 180605 to set tlic riglit oracle DB

parameters. This does improve performance.
c,
1Jse database statistics.
Use database partitioning.

Run statistics on all tables as often
;IS
possible.
154. What should you consider when tuning your server? O 00

The right combination of server resources like
CPU, memory and disk space.
4
4
Load balancing across several application servers.

Check for unnecessary traces and 10sfiles.
If you have process chains, make sure that you run
cleanup jobs to clean the table TPRI-PAR.
155. What should you consider when tuning your web? 00 0

4
Use HTTP compression to reduce nctlvsrk traffic

Refer to note 550669.
Use client browser caching.
Use the iemon.exc program's log file option to

time the query.
Use analyze-iemon.exe to extract a csl. filc that
can be used for further analysis.
c,
Use precalculated web templates fi)r newspaper

like reporting together with a reporting agent.
Tuning
156. List major tuning tasks you would undertake to improve

the performance of the data load. 000
4
4
4
If you are loading lot of transactional data try

deleting the indexes before the load and recreating
the indexes after the load.
Watch for ABAP code in transfer and update rules.
This [night slow performance.
IJse load balancing across servers.
Build indexes on source tables.
ITse fixed length files if you load data from flat
files. P u t the file on the application server.
Use standard content (SAP delivered) extractor as
much as possible.
IJsc PSA and data target in parallel option in the
info package.
Start several info packages parallel with different
selection options.
Buffer the SID number ranges if you load lot of
data at once.
Load master data before loading transaction data.
Rim the attribute change job in parallel.
157. List stlme of tlie ge~ieraltuning guidelines. 000

4
4
4
Archive and delete old data.

Use line item dimensions instead of a large dimension.
Use MultiProviders. Parallel query is started on
basic cubes.
Use the B W Statistics cube to monitor performance.
C h a o t e r 1: BW A d m i n i s t r a t i o n and Desinn
Reporting authorization checks impact tlie

performance negatively.
Reporting on browser is faster than reporting on
Excel using BEx Analyzer.
Use the aggregate hierarchies to minimize the roll
up time.
Use parallel upload and activation for ODS objects
using transaction SPRO or RSCIJSTA?.
If you are not going to use an O D s for reporting,
disable the BEx Reporting flag.
158. Wliat are tlie syste~iitools you can use to nionitor

performance? 000
The following are the Transaction codes that are used
for system monitoring:
J
RSRT, RSRTRACE
to debug and get explain

plan statements on queries
ST05
RSRV
for SQL traces

to repair objects
ST03
to monitor current query

performance
RSRV
RSRV
159. Explain the purpose of the tra~isactioncode RSRV . 000
RSRV is a powerful transaction code to test consistency
of following BW objects and repair them if required.

For example, if there are any inconsistencies between
the Q and Y tables for a master data object you can fm
using them this transaction.
J
J
J
J
J
J
Master data
Transaction data
Hierarchies
Database
Aggregates
PSA tables
160. What are the RSRV combined tests? 000

J
1/
J
J
J
Master data
Transaction data
Hierarchies
Database
Aggregation
181. Cali you scliedule RSRV in the background? 000

Yes, but if you want to fix errors found in the
background use the program
RSDMD-CHECKPRG-ALL.
C h a n t e r 1: B W A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d D e s i e n
162.Typically, when do you use RSRV? 000

W h e n loading data sometimes you get SID error
inconsistencies on some master data objects. You
would then d o a combined test on the InfoOhject, fix
the problem and reload the data.
163. How do you scliedule the RSRVjob ill tlie background? 000
The menu path for scheduling the RSRV job in the
background is, use the Edit menu and select "Test
Package"
create a package for current selections
schedule it.
164. How would you a~ialyzethe size of the fact table vs tlie
dimension table, using RSRV? 000
Menu path for analyzing the size of the fact t;thle vs
the dimension table is, use the transaction code RSRV
All Elementary tests
database
data1)ase
information about the Infoprovider tables. This gives
you the count as a percentage of the hict t;ll,le.
'165. What is ODs alid what table structures are used? O

Operational Data Source is used for detailed storage of
data. You can overwrite existing data in the O D S (in a
cube you can not), You can also drill down from a
cube to the O D s . This is used for data harmonizing,
cleansing and synchronizing. ODS adds a delta
capability when used in the staging process before the
cube. The data is stored in a flat table (unlike the
extended star schema of the cube). So using SE 11 /
SE 16 you can query the ODS data directly.
Table structures :
J
Active data
J
New data
J
Change log table
166. What is ,the purpose of a clialige log in ODs a ~ i dhow do you

delete it? O
A change log is used for delta updates to the data
target after the ODS. It stores all changes for a record
in Active Table. The records in a Change log are
stored based on the generated request during each
activation of requests in the new data table.
To delete a change log use the following menu path:
lJse Transaction code RSAl
right click on ODS
Manage j Environment
Delete change log
Chapter I: BW Administration and Design
167. Wliat are the advantages of usi~igall ODs in an I~ifoSetfor

reporting? O
4
Access via OLAP engine.

InfoSets can join flat BW objects such as master
data attributes.
168. What are additional features available for ODs from BW

version 3.x? O
4
c/
You can load and activate O D s in parallel.

M table is replaced with new data which is similar
to PSA.
It is possible to create secondary indexes for an
O D s object.
Selective deletion of data is now possihle.
169. What is a tra~isactio~ialODs object?
An O D s object:
4 Has only the active table.
4 Is filled using APIs.
c/
Is only reported on using an InfoSct.
4 Is usually used for applications like SEbl (Strategic
Enterprise Management).
170. What are the flags used for in ODs and specifically what is
the unique data record flag used for? O
If you enable the unique data record then an error is
issued when a duplicate record, to that in the Active
table is inserted. 1Jse this feature to load a cube
filtering any duplicates (Cubes will simply add up
duplicates)
c/
BEx Reporting
whether this O D s is enabled

for reporting.
c/
Unique data records.

Set quality status to O K automatically.
c/
Activate O D s automatically.
c/
IJpdate data targets automatically.
c/
Please note: The Unique data record is used to

improve performance and it is to be used only when
you are sure that the data source will note send a
duplicate record.
C h a p t e r 1: B W A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d Design
BW Statistics
171. What is the purpose of BW statistics cubes? O
The standard sets of cubes delivered by SAP are used
to measure performance for queries, data lo,lds, etc. It
also shows aggregate usage and the cost associated
with them. It provides data on aggregates, OLAP and
Warehouse management.
172. How do you enable monitoring of an Infocube-cube using

BW statistics? O
Individual data targets and InfoProvidcrs call 1)c
included for monitoring in B W statistics using the
following menu path: AWB -) Tools I) BUf statistics
173. How do you install BW statistics? O

You use tlle business content available In AW7B to
install
J Using the Business Content section of AWB
select info area "BW Statistics" I) right click and
select insert objects for collections .) select before
and after data flow for grouping and install.
J Similarly install the Technical Content
SAP-B W-T C O N T role.
# Install the info package groups for Master data /
text and transaction data.
BW Statistics
174. Give some examples of queries delivered with BW

statistics. O
4
Mean time per query

R~lntimequery
T Jsing Infocubes
I Jtilizing OLAP
175. Give some examples of usage of BW statistics reports. O

4
W h o is using the query, how often i t is used and

when it was last used.
How the query was executed? How much time
was spent on the Database.
How many rows were read from the database vs
how many were displayed / processed.
You can create custom exceptions to proactively
tune queries eg. You can create exceptions if the
clilery spends more than 50% accessing the
database - in this case tuning is needed.
176. Give a reason why BW statistics can not provide

inforniation ill real ti~iieand name the transaction code
used to monitor BW system statns in real time. O
The BW statistics data is loaded periodically. If you
want to display the data in real time from the statistics
tables (not cubes), use transaction ST03. Select Expert
Mode and select BW System load.
Chaoter 1: BW Administration and Design
177. Cali you create aggregate 011all ODs or MultiProvider? 0
178. What is "filling" of aggregate and whicli table has tlie

aggregate status? 00
T h e data from an InfoCube is summarized into the
aggregates.
RSDDAGGRDIR
179. What is the change run process and how do you start it? 00
Whenever there is a change in master d ; l t ; ~like
navigational attributes, hierarchy, time dcpendenr
attributes that are used in aggregates, you nced to
execute the change run process to realign thc
aggregates.
To start the change run process use a proccss chain or
AWB I) Tools I) Apply Hierarchy attri1,ure change.
180. Which report can you use to monitor the change run
process? 000
RSDDS-C H A N G E R U N-M O N I T O R
181. Wliich program is used t o maintail1 aggregates? 000

RSDDS-AGGREGATES-MAINTAIN
Aggregates
182. In terms of aggregates, what is "Roll Up"? 00

Roll up is the process by which new requests loaded
into the InfoCube are "rolled up" into the aggregates.
The data loaded from a new request is available for
reporting only after a successfill roll ilp into the
aggregates.
183. Wliat is the optimal size of the aggregates? 00

It should have around 10-20% of the size of the fact
table. For example, if your fact table contains
1000,000 rows, the aggregate should have less than
200,000 rows.
184. Wliat is meant by "propose from statistics" for

aggregates? 00
Based on B W statistical data (such as query run time),
you can request the system to suggest the optimal
characteristics for aggregation.
185. Can you define aggregates 011 tinie depelidelit liavigational

attributes? 00
Yes, as of version 3.x.
186. What "proposal options" are available for aggregates? 00

J
Propose from B W statistics cube: history of B W

statistics.
Propose from B W statistics (tables): based on
database tables RSDDSTAT and
RSDDSTATAGGRDEF
C h a n t e r 1: B W A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d D e s i e n
Propose from the last navigation: suggcstion

based on the last entry of the abovc mentioned
tables for the current user.
Propose from a query.
187. What is the naming convention for aggregates created

from statistics? 0 0
STAT 1 through STAT n
188. What is the naming convention used for aggregates

created from a query? 00
MIN 1 through MIN n and
MAX 1 through MAX n.
189. List major usage indicators for aggregates. 00

J
Number of records
Summarization (compression)
Last used date - remember if you don't see any
recent activity then this aggregate is not used
Valuation - with signs of + for good aggregate
and --- for not so good aggregate.
+ +
190. What is an aggregate hierarchy? 0 0

Aggregates hierarchies are where aggreg;ltcs arc built
on top of other aggregates. This hierarchy is done
automatically.
It is recommended that you create a fcw large base
hierarchies and small aggregates can bc built from
these.
Aggregates
191. How does change ruli affect the aggregate? 00

The change run (also called hierarchy attribute
realignment run) adjusts the data in the aggregates
and turns the modified version of the navigation
attributes and hierarchies into an active version.
192.111 the real world when would you recommend

aggregates? 00
By looking at the B W statistics and noticing if a query
spends more than 50% of the time in the database
accessing data and the ratio of records read to records
processed is more than 10, then you recommend
aggregates.
CHAPTER 2
BW Reporting
(BEx and Web Reporting)
C h a p t e r 2: BW R e p o r t i n g (BEx a n d Web R e p o r t i n g )
Business Explorer
193. What is the effect of using characteristics in free area vs
filter area in Query designer? 0
Free Characteristics : The characteristics in this area are
not displayed in the initial view of the query but you
can drill down and filter once you execute the query.
Filter Area: T h e characteristics in this area are
restricted and can not be filtered or drillcd down any
further.
194. What is lROWCOUNT key figure? 0 0

For InfoProviders based on transparent tal)les like
ODs / Master data, this system generated key figure is
available. This can be used to count the num1)er of
records.
195. What i s a restricted key figure? Give an example.
These are key figures "restricted" by values of one or

more characteristics. For example, nrhcn you want to
compare the sales of product "A" betwccn different
fiscal year periods, you will create a restricted key
figure with "Sales qty" as a key figure and restricted by
OMATEFUAL of value "A".
Business Exolorer
196. Wliat is a constant selection? 00

This feature allows you to mark a selection of specific
value or all values of characteristics in the query
designer as a "Constant". Navigation and filtering has
no effect on this selection during run time. For
example, if you want to report a product's sale in
reference to a product group rather than all the
products, you makc the product group as the constant
selection; any drill down, navigation, filtering will not
have any change in the sales quantity for that.
197. How will yalr debug errors wi,thin SAP GUI (like all Active X
error)? 0 0
Run BEx analyzer -) Business Explorer menu item -)
Installation check. This shows an excel sheet with a
start button -) click on it -) this verifies the G U I
installation -) if you find any errors either reinstall it
or fix it.
198. How do you activate personalization for BEx? 00

IMG -) Activate personalization for BEx.
199.1 have a variable for characteristic val~resof Infoobject

ZLOCATION. How will I use this variable to select values of
ZLOCATION where 'ZA' are the alphabets in 2nd and 3rd
place for the values? 0 0
In the BEx variable input window, type in '+ZA*'
T h e ' + ' character is used as a single character wild
card.
C h a n t e r 2: BW R e o o r t i n e (BEx a n d Web R e n o r t i n e )
Calculated Key Figures

200.Wl1at differelit percentage calculatio~iscan we use in
BEx? O
Percentage variance : This is defined as parameter 1 %
parameter2 eg. Actual expenses exceeds thc %
budgeted expenses.
Percentage share: It is defined as parameter 1 %A
parameter2; gives the percentage share of parameter 1
of parameter2.
Percentage share of result: Defined as %CT
parameterl; gives the result in percentage with respect
to result.
Percentage share of overall result: Defined as % G T
parameterl; similar to previous but the percentage is a
share of overall results.
Percentage share of result total: Defined as %RT.
201. Besides percentage functions, what other usefl~lfl~nctions

are there in BEx? O
J
COUNT
NDIVO
SUMCT
Count(parameter) returns value 1 if

parameter is not zero else zero.
ndivO(parameter) returns 0 if the
parameter returns division by 0.
sumct(parameter) result of parameter
in all rows and columns.
C a l c u l a t e d Key F i g u r e s
SlJMGT
c/
SlJMRT
sumgt (parameter) result of the

parameter for the overall result.
sumrt (parameter) result of the
parameter for the report result.
202.List some of the mathematical f~nnctionsavailable in Query

designer. O
c/
c/
c/
c/
c/
Max
Min
Absolute
Smallest
Division
C h a p t e r 2: BW R e p o r t i n g (BEx a n d W e b R e p o r t i n g )
Boolean Operators
203.What does a Boolean operator return? O
1 or 0 (True or False)
204.What are the Boolean expressions allowed? O
<
<>
>
<=
>=
logical N O T
J
J
J
J
less than
not equal to
greater than
less than or equal to
greater than or equal co
equal
AND
J
OR
XOR
exclusive O R
205.Give an example of boolean expression. O

Assume you are calculating tax rate on a sal;u-y; if
salary is < I 0 0 0 it is 10% and if more than 1000 then
it is 1 5 % is defined as ((salary < 1000) :k salary * 0.10
)+ ((salary > 1000) * salary * 0.15).
Boolean O p e r a t o r s / S t r u c t u r e s a n d C e l l s
Structures and Cells

206.What is a structure?
The structure helps in calculation between its

elements. For example, a structilre containing 3
months with specific values eg. JAN, FEB and MAR
and 4 t h element, could be FIRST QUARTER which is
a formula representing sum of the earlier elements. A
globally defined structure can be reused in any of the
query on the InfoProvider.
207. What is a reusable structure and how do you create it from

a local struct~.lre?O
These are InfoProvider level structures which can be
used in any queries on that InfoProvider.
k g h t click on the local structure

select save as
enter technical name and description.
208.What is a cell editor? O

Gives the definition of a specific cell in a query
(intersection of two structures one characteristics
structure and one key figure structure). Using this you
can override the default cell values.
209.What is an exceptiun cell? O

I t is a cell specific definition that allows you to define
explicit formulas to overriding those implicitly created
cell vali~es.This allows you to design much more
detailed queries. tJse the icon to create exception cells.
Chapter 2: BW Reporting (BEx and Web Reporting)
Before and after aggregation

210. Illustrate, with example, effect of 'before and after
aggregation' property of a key figure. 00
In many queries you may come across the following
situation.
Assume that you have a cube with product qty, ilnit
price; you have a BEx report showing clty, unit price
and value (unit price * qty); the report looks like this
by default
Q~J
Result
10
20
30
Unit Price
2
3
5
\4lI uc
20
60
150
You can see that the value is calculatecl using a

calculated key figure as "After aggregation" by defidult;
basically it multiplies 3 0 by 5 which is 150; but the
correct amount is 80;
Now right click on the calculated key figure, select
properties, enhanced and change to Before
aggregation. Now the result is calculated correctly :-
10
Unit Price
2
20
30
3
5
Q~J
Result
Value
20
60
80
Before and After Aggregation
Note: If you use before aggregation, the cubes

aggregates are not used; so this will have negative
effect on performance.
You set the before or after aggregation on a global
calcillated key figure.
C h a p t e r 2: B W R e p o r t i n g (BEx a n d Web R e p o r t i n g )
Key figure properties

211. List some of the properties of key figure.
9
Scaling factor: Valid range is 1 to 1 l)illion; if you

set a scaling factor of 1000, then the value 3000 is
displayed as 3
Number of decimal places. For example, 2.48 or
2.5 or just 2 is displayed in the report.
212. What are tlie options for "calculate si~iglevalue as"? O

For each item:
Normalization
9
+ data is displayed as:
a percentage of the result

normalization of result
normalization of overall result
normalization of query result
Ranked list size of the characteristic value wit11 the

largest being 1. Ranked list (Olympic) silllilar to the
previous point except the next smallest v~llue,when a
value appears more than once, is not given rank
increased by value 1:
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
maximum
minimum
count all values
count all values < > (not equal to) 0
average of all values
average of all values < > (note equal ro) 0
suppress single values
Key Figure Properties
213. Wliat is an exception aggregation? Give an example. O

This defines how the key figure is aggregated in
relation to exception characteristics, usually a time
characteristics. For example, when you report number
of employees by cost center, you would create an
exception aggregation on "Last Value".
Chanter 2: BW Renortine (BEx and Web Renortine)
Hierarchies in Reports
214. Wliat is a reporting hierarchy. M e ~ i t i o a~ ifew properties of
a hierarchy? O
A hierarchy is a structure of characteristics values
allowing you to view data in different ways.
Nodes are like branches in trees with thc uppermost
node referred to as the root node. A l~ierarchycan
have multiple nodes.
4
Hierarchy levels:
Node of a hierarchy are

structurally placed in different
levels eg. Parent - child nodes.
Intervals:
Intervals automatically g r o u p
leaves together. W h e n a new
value is added to a characteristic
it is automatically added to the
proper node.
Link Node:
This node allows a s u b tree to

be included in a hierarchy on
more than one occasion.
215. Wliat are tlie report-relevant setti~igsill hierarchy

maintenance? O
4
Level maintenance
this setting allows the
naming of different levels of hierarchies. K1u can
navigate during execution of the query 1)). using a
right click.
Hierarchies in Reports
D o not display inner nodes in a query +does not

display the leaves level of the hierarchy report.
Changeable display for leaves of inner nodes
specifies whether a user can change the display.
Suppress unassigned node
suppress nodes
with no values appearing.
Root / totals item
indicates whether the
totals are displayed at the beginning or end of the
hierarchy.
Start drill down level -) the default level of the
query that is displayed when opening.
User Exits for BEx Reporting

216. Nanie the BEx reporting user exit e~iliancenie~it.00
There are three user exits:
RSROOOOl - For User Exit Variable
RSR00002 - For Virtual Key Figures
RSR00003 - For Moving Characteristics M~lucs
217. Name the BEx reporting user exit component and its
include program for variable. 00
J
The component is EXIT-SAPLRRSO-00 1.

T h e include program is ZXRSRUO 1.
218. Wliat variables would you typically use when ~iiaki~ig

use of
the user exit RSR00001 in BEx reporting? 00
J
I-STEP is used in ABAP code as a conditional

check. T h e following values are checkcd:
1
Before processing of the variable pop-ups and

gets called for every customer var~ablc.
2 Is called after variable popup for variables not
marked as "Ready for input" and are set to
required entry.
Is called after all variables are processed (only
once and not for each variable).
I-VNAM: It is the variable containing the variable
name within ABAP Typically you lvould do a
U s e r E x i t s f o r BEx R e p o r t i n g
CASE statement on this variable to get the

variable working.
E-T-RANGE: This is the internal table populated
with variable values in a customer exit.
L S RANGE: This is the structure to populate
- -RANGE
L O W low end value
H I G H high end value
SIGN 'I' to include, etc.
O P T gives the options like 'BT' for between,
'EQ' for equal, ecc.
E-f
c/
I-VARTYP- variable type

1
3
4
c/
c/
c/
Characteristic
Hierarchy node
Text
Formula
Hierarchy
5
I-IOBJNM: name of the Infoobject.
I-PERIV: fiscal year variant.
I-T -VAR-RANGE: table with all variables and
their values.
219. What is the call sequence for the user exit RSROOOl in BEx
Reporting? OO
J
c/
c/
First call of the user exit.

Popup and enter values (if ready for input is
enabled).
Second call for the user exit.
C h a p t e r 2: B W R e p o r t i n g (BEx a n d W e b R e p o r t i n g )
BEx User Exit Example

DATA:
DATA:
L-S-RANGE
T Y P E RSR-S-RANGESID.
E-BUPER L I K E TOOSB-POPER,
E-GJAHR L I K E T O O S B - B D A T J .
DATA: T A B I X L I K E S Y - T A B I X CASE I-VNAM.
WHEN ' Z P E R Q U A R ' .
C A L L F U N C T I O N LDATE-TO-PERIOD-CONVERT'
EXPORTING
I-DATE
= SY-DATUM
I-PERIV = 'FL'
IMPORTING
E-BLIPER = E-BUPER
E-GJAHR = E-GJAHR.
I F SY-SUBRC
= 0 -
CLEAR L-S-RANGE.
L-S-RANGE-SIGN
= '1'.
L-S-RANGE-OPT
= 'BT'.
L-S-RANGE-HIGH(4)
= E-GJAHR.
L-S-RANGE-HIGH+4(3)
= E-BUPER.
L-S-RANGE-LOW
= L-S-RANGE-HIGH.
CASE E-BUPERWHEN ' O O L ' OR ' 0 0 2 '
L-S-RANGE-LOW+4(3)
OR ' 0 0 3 ' .
= '001'.
WHEN ' 0 0 4 ' OR ' 0 0 5 '

L-S-RANGE-LOW+4(3)
OR ' O O L ' .
= '004'.
WHEN ' 0 0 7 ' OR ' 0 0 B '

L-S-RANGE-LOW+4(3)
OR ' 0 0 9 ' .
= L007'-
WHEN ' O L O ' OR ' 0 1 1 '

L-S-RANGE-LOW+4(3)
OR ' 0 1 2 ' .
= '009'.
ENDCASE.
APPEND L-S-RANGE
ENDIF.
ENDCASE
TO E-T-RANGE.
Variables
Variables
Variables are very important i n BEx. You should pay particular
attention t o t h i s section i f you are interested i n BEx report
development.
220.Wha.t is a variable? List tlie objects that are supported by

variables. O
Variables are used to parameterize the query at the
runtime and the following reporting objects are
supported by variables:
c/
c/
c/
c/
Characteristics
Hierarchies
Hierarchy nodes
Texts
Formula elements
221. What is the scope for a characteristics variable? O

Variables are defined on Infoobjects and are thus
globally available across InfoProviders.
222.Give the 4 variable types for BEx queries. O

c/
c/
c/
c/
Characteristics
Hierarchy node
Text
Hierarchy variables
C h a p t e r 2: B W R e p o r t i n g (BEx a n d Web R e p o r t i n g )
223.W11at is a cllaracteristics variable? 0

Characteristic variables allow you to have dynamic
input selection for values of characteristics eg. If you
are developing a sales report for a given product, you
will define a variable for OMATERIAL to report sales
of specific products.
224.What are text variables? 0

Text variables are used to display texts dynamically for
a given characteristic. For example, take the sales
report for a given product for the last 3 nionths. The
inputs prompted are product and fiscal year period, on
the column level you have drilled down l>v fiscal year
period; since the fiscal year period is dvnamic
(depending on the user input), you want to display the
correct title for the key figure so in this case create a
text variable for the fiscal year period and use it in the
text of properties. These are defined :LS
&text-variable -name&.
225.What are formula variables? 0 0

Formula variables are variables used in calculations of
the query. For example, take a customer disco~lnt
report where each customer is given a different
percentage discount; yo11 create a formula variable for
the discount percentage and use it in the calculated
key figure.
Variables
226.What are the options for hierarchy node variables? O

J
Fixed hierarchy and variable hierarchy node where

only the node is selected at run time
Variable hierarchy and variable node where both
hierarchy and nodes are selected at run time.
227. What are the different processing types for variables? O

J
J
J
J
lJser entry
Replacement path
Authorization
Customer exit
SAP exit
228.What is a user entry processing type? O

This is entered by the user at run time of the query.
You can specifjl a default value for this, for example, in
a product sales report you would enter a product at
run time.
229.What is replacement path processi~igtype? O

In this processing type for the variable, system replaces
the value of a characteristic in a calculation / expression
at run time. For example, where the query displays
dynamic heading for the fiscal year period; the variable
type is text and processing type is replacement path.
C h a p t e r 2: BW R e p o r t i n g ( B E x a n d W e b R e p o r t i n g )
230.What is an authorization processing type?
In this case the system looks for authorized values for

the characteristics for the user and replaces the
variables with these values. For example, let us look at
a cost center reporting, each manager is 'lssigncd one
or more cost centers and each are restricted from
seeing the others' cost centers. In this case we would
create a characteristics variable for OCOSTCENTER
with processing type authorization. O n the bdck end
you should create reporting authorization objects and
assign fixed cost centers to each manager.
231. What is a customer exit processing type?
In this case, you write an ABAP program on the back

end and fill u p the variable values. For example, take
the case of cost center reports mentioned above,
instead of defining it as an authorization type assume
that you get managerlcost center data trom a Z table
in Rl3.
In this case you would write ABAP code to:
4
4
read the user who has run the query

read the Z table to get the cost centers and fill up
the variables.
232.Name the SAP enhancement used to manipulate the

customer exit processing type variables. 00
Variables
233. What is the function module used to manipulate the

cl~stomerexit processing type varial:~les?000
EXIT-SAPLRRSO-00 1
234. What is a SAP exit processing type? 00

The SAP Exit processing type is used for variables
delivered by SAP eg. The SAP exit variable
OCMONTH returns the current calendar month.
235.How do you replace a result from a ~iiasterquery to a child

query (not a drill down)? 00
If you select characteristic value with Replacement
path then it uses the results from previous query. For
example, let us assume that you have query Q 1 which
displays the top 10 customers. We have query 4 2
which gets the top 10 customers for Infoobject
OCUSTOMER as a variable with replacement path.
This displays a detailed report on the customers passed
from Q 1.
236.Explaili variable offsets. 00

Variable offsets are a powerfill feature in BEx where a
characteristics value is calculated with an offset. (You
can have negative or positive offsets). For example, let
us assume that our query displays all sales data for the
3 months prior to a user entered value for the month.
You would create 3 restricted key figures for sales
quantity with OCALMONTH, first with offset value 0,
then with -1 and then with -2.
C h a p t e r 2: BW R e p o r t i n g ( B E x a n d W e b R e p o r t i n g )
Query properties
237. List a ~ i dexplain properties of a query. 00
J
J
J
Adjust format after reporting - you can use this

option to disable the ability to change the format
of the reporting results. You would use this option
if you use your own templates and wish co enforce
the use of these template. (By default chis property
is enabled i.e. The user is allowed to adjust the
format of the query results).
Suppress repeated key values - the def;lult is
enabled. If you want repeated key values to be
displayed (some users demand this) then disable
this option.
Display scaling factor (default is disal)lcd).
Display document links - use this to display any
available document links.
Display drag and relate links - this is usefill if you
have portals and BW For example, yo11 can drag a
sold-to-party and put it on an R/3 transc\.
, ctlon to
execute.
Results position - bottomiright (default) or topi
left or bottomileft or toplright.
'
J
J
Display of +/- signs.

Display or suppression of zero rows and columns
lluery P r o p e r t i e s
238.What is the purpose of option "Pause Automatic

Refresh"? O O
W h e n you enable this option, you can stop the query
from being refreshed automatically after either
selecting a filter value or changing a query or its'
properties. This is ilsef~llfor big queries where you d o
not want to wait for the system to refresh but just one
time after you make all the changes.
239.Wliat is a query te~iiplate?O

You can create excel templates to display the BEx
queries. For example, you can create a corporate excel
template containing your company logo and title. You
can then use this as a standard in your BEx reports.
240.What are the options for using template BEx Analyzer?

J
Empty (nothing).
Select from list - this shows a list of workbooks
and you select one.
From a permanent template - use a permanent
template.
24.1. Give an example of using VBA in a template. O

You can use VBA to customize the report. For
example, assume that you want to hide / delete some
header / filter are after each refresh of the query, use
the SAPBEx on Refresh macro to do this. By default
this macro is empty, add excel code to customize the
f~lnctionalityof BEx queries in workbooks.
C h a n t e r 2: BW R e o o r t i n ~(BEx a n d Web Reoortin!?)
Remember that the macro f~~nctions

are ;n,;lil;tble only
on BEx and not when you do web reporting using the
same query.
242.What are the read modes for a query? O

H
Query to be read when you navigate or

expand hierarchy. This mode is
recommended by SAP
Query to Read Data during navigation.
OLAP processor requests data for each

navigational status of the query.
Read all at once - read all data at once.

This will take a long time if it is a large
query. Use this if the InfoProvider does
not support selection or a user exit is active
in a query.
243.How do you set tlie read mode for a query? O

You can set the read mode for the query using the
transaction code RSRT +Property.
Document Utilitv
Document utility
Many users have started using this new feature to create / attach
documents for queries or results.
244.What are the objects that support docume~itatio~i

and Iiow
do you use the documents feature? O
J
J
J
J
J
Infoobject
Infocube
InfoSet
ODs
Query
You ciin use the document feature either:

J
After executing the query (right click and select
documents for BEx, left click and select document
from web reports) or,
J
IJsing the admin work bench
documents
metadata path.
245.Give all exarnple of niaster data docume~itatio~i.O

Assume that we want to add product images for each
product. To do this create a master data document
utility for the creation of a document for each
OM ATERIAL value.
246.What is Infoprovider documentation? O

This is used to create one or more documents for the
transaction data of an Infoprovider. For example, you
can define a document for the following combination
of key figures and characteristics - sales quantity,
material and fiscal year period.
C h a p t e r 2: BW R e p o r t i n g (BEx a n d Web R e p o r t i n g )
Query Administration
247. What is the menu path for deleting multiple query objects
(like Workbook) in a single transaction? O
Logon to your BW sap client, select Business explorer
Delete objects.
Query
248.Can yo11copy queries between two InfoProviders? O

Yes, you can copy queries between one InfoProvider to
another as long as their key figures and characteristics
match.
(luery A d m i n i s t r a t i o n / Conditions a n d Exceptions
Conditions and Exceptions

Conditions and exceptions a r e extensively used i n BEx reporting.
249.What is a condition? What options are available for usi~ig

conditio~is?O
If you want to filter on key figures or do ranked
analysis then you would use a condition. For example,
you can use a condition to report top 10 customers or
customers with more than a million dollars in sales
yearly.
Option available : You can either select a single
characteristic, or a combination of characteristics, or all
characteristics in the drill down. Note that a condition
is only effective when the report is drilled down for all
characteristics defined in the condition.
250.What are the options for creating condition on a key

figure? OO
J
<>
<
J
J
J
J
>
<=
>=
Between
Not between
9
9
9
9
9
9
Top N
Bottom N
Top % (eg. Top 20% of customers)
Bottom %
Top Sum
Bottom Sum
251. Why do the totals someti~iiesnot ~iiatch,when we use

conditions ? 0 O
By default the report shows overall resulrs total and
not the results total taking the filter into accounr. ?i>
display the correct totals you should use "Si~rnrnation"
in the key figure properties instead of "Norhing
defined".
252.What are different status' for conditions, when you have

multiple active conditio~isin a query? 00
9
9
Conditions work (all valid).

Status is displayed as "Variant" because the
characteristics combination is not included in the
drill down.
Status is displayed as "Not Used" because of
colliding conditions where one condirion
deactivates the other.
Conditions and Exceptions
253.Wliat is an exception?
An exception is not a filter (like condition) but is used

to highlight reports in different colors when key
figures exceed predefined values.
For example, you may want to show red for all
accounts receivables that are older than 9 0 days and
yellow for older than 60 days.
254.What is cell restriction and what are its' options? 00

You can define restrictions on characteristics as to how
the exception reporting will be done. For each
characteristics in the report you can define the
following:
J
Everything
Totals only - exception on totals only (not
individual rows)
Everything except totals
Fixed value - where you can specify fixed values or
select a variable. For example, you may want to do
an exception for sales where the customer is in
OCOlJNTRY = USA
Level - exception is applicable only for a specific
level of the hierarchy.
Reporting agent
You can use ,the reporting agent t o schedule exception reporting and
alert tlie users f o r any unusual data. For example, you can create
an exception f o r actual sales quantity and an exception t o report any
sales t h a t do 11ot nieet t h e target. You can then send periodic alerts
t o interested parties based on these exceptions.
255.What types of reports can yo11use in the reporting

agent? O O
c,
c,
c,
c,
c,
4
Exceptions
Print
Web templates (precalculated)
Value sets
Bookmarks
Crystal reports
256.How do you use reporting agent for exception ge~ierating

alert? 00
Use the reporting agent for this from the
Administrator Work Bench (AWB):
*r
Click on the exceptions icon on the left, give it a

technical name and text description.
Select the exception based on a specific query for
generating alert using drag and drop.
Reporting Agent
257. What are the follow-up actions available in the reporting

agent? 000
c/
c/
c/
c/
Send mail - alerts user by email. For example, you

can send an email alerting managers that the sales
quantity target was missed.
Alert monitor entry - view results in the alert
monitor. You can also give a URL to the alert
monitor.
Export - send the data to a work flow for followup action.
RRI interface - if an exception happens you can
jump to another query for a more detailed data
display using the G o To option.
258.What are the options available to check exception

occurrence using tlie alert monitor? 00
If an exception is handled by the alert monitor then
you can use the following menu path: AWB
Reporting agent
select Exception on the left
window
Alert icon. Alternatively, in the BEx
Analyzer you can select open
exceptions.
259.How do you use print settings? 00

You use print settings to print report in the
background using the reporting agent. From the
reporting agent, use the create icon, specifying:
c/
c/
title
zcros suppression
9
9
9
colors, position
margins
how the Infoobjects will be displayed in the report
etc.
260.What are value sets? 00

Using the reporting agent you can fill values for a
variable on a particular characteristic in the
background eg. Assume that everyday poi1 gencrate a
detailed report on the top 10 products. To gct the top
10 products you run another query with a condition.
The parent query can then be defined as a value set
returning values for OMATERIAL.
261. What is the menu path for creating value set? 00

Use the AWB -) Reporting agent and sclcct the value
set icon on the left
262.What is the menu path to find correct 1lRL of the precalculated web template whether 'STORED' or 'STATIC'
mode? 000
Even if you have pre-calculated templates, ilnlcss you
have the right URL with variable \~alues,it lvill show
an error.
To find the correct URL ilse the following mcuu path:9 Use the transaction code RSRAPS (Document
Repository).
Reoortinn Anent
9
9
Navigate to the Reporting agent job.

Open the 1ndex.hcm document by double clicking.
Gght click on thc documcnc on the right and
select Vicw Source.
Search for string THIS IS A URL T O THE
DOCIJMENT.
Use this LTRL to get the stacic reporting from
docitn~cncscore
Web Application Designer

263.Wl1at is a Web Item? 00
A web item gives the HTML output from the data
provider. It has a logical name and comm,lnci
processing capabilities. These are reprcscntcd by the
OBJECT tag in the web template.
Web items have attributes like HIDDEN,
GENERATE-CAPTION, CAPTION, ctc.
Attributes that are specific to Web itcrms arc
MODIFY-TABLE, S H O W-PAGING -AREA-T O P
for tables;
264.List some of tlie standard delivered web items. 00

J
J
J
J
J
J
J
J
J
J
J
J
Chart
Tdble
Dropdown box
Radio button group
Check boxes
Generic navigation block
Hierarchical context menu
Filter
Label
Text elements
List of exceptions
Alert monitor
Web A o o l i c a t i o n D e s i e n e r
J
J
J
Menu
Ticker
Map
Single document
List of documents
265.What are the flags for general reporting? 00

J
J
Open dialog for web applications in new windows.

1Jse the read mode for data flag to use precalculated or HTML pages.
Flag for output optimization.
Force variables entry.
266.What is the web items library? 00

The web items library is a library of customized web
items which can be used across web applications. For
example, you can customize the table web item (like
setting flags and display options) and save it in the
library for other web templates to use. Note that the
data provider assigned to the web item library object is
not copied.
267. Give all overview of some of the web items. 00

J
Table - to display table data like product sales

report.
Chart - different charts like pie chart and bar
charts; remember that you should have the IGS
setup properly to use charts.
C h a o t e r 2: BW R e o o r t i n n (BEx a n d W e b R e o o r t i n n )
Drop down box - used for filtering the report.
Radio button group - used for data filtering.
Check box - filter values.
Generic navigation block - used for filter, drill

down etc.
Hierarchical context menu - to filter llicrarchy
nodes.
Filter - filter values by navigation.
Label - for cockpit design - creates navigational

blocks by using labels for charactcristics and
structural components.
Text element - query information.
List of exceptions - list of cxccptions defined.
List of conditions.
Alert monitor - to view alerts.
Role menu - displays favorites and roles of the

user.
Ticket - similar display as a stock ticker.
Map - image map.
Single document - individual documents for

master data.
4
4
List of documents.
ABC classification - to classify data.
What if condition.
268.Where do you store custom style sheets? 000
In the MIME repository and store it under SAP

Public
SAP BW
Customer
Style Sheets.
Web Application Designer
269.Where do you store yol.lr custuln iniages (like logos)? 000

They are stored in the MIME repository. Use the
following menu path for accessing the MIME
rcpository : SAP I) Public I) SAP I) BW I)
Customcr I) Images.
270. What is the effect of various DATA-MODE options in the

command line URL? 000
STORED use prc-calculated data exclusively.
HYBRID uses pre calculated if available else new data.
STATIC uses pre calculated data.
271. Give all example for this llRL command. 000

# HYPERLINK " h t t p : / / m y a p p l i c a t i o n s e r v e r / S A P /
BW/
ex?CMD=LDOC8TEMPLATE=yourtemplate8DATA~MODE=STORED1'
m-TFnpI
ollratlonserver/SAP/BW/
ATE=vour-ATA
MODF=STORFQ
272.What is a pre-calculated web template? 00

This is like a precalculated value set. The report is
generated as an HTML document by the Report
Agent but bear in mind that in this case no navigation
/ drill down is possible.
273. Wliat is a co~itrolquery? 000

A control query is used to filter query results for
different precalculated web templates.
For example, if you have scheduled different reports for

the top 10 selling products with different
characteristics using a pre-calculated web template, the
top 10 products are available from this control query,
which is used as a filter in the pre-calculated web
template.
274. Wliat is the default web template used ill a report? 00

OQUERY-TEMPLATE.
275. How would you clia~igetlie default teniplate? 000

You should not change OQUERY-TEMPLATE; but
you should make a copy using program
RS-TEMPLATE-MAINTAIN and make the changes
to the copy. Give this new template a name from the
customer namespace eg. ZTEMPLATE. Then go to
transaction SPRO to define the new Z template as the
default web template.
276. How do you handle language dependent texts? 000

Use the tag SAP-BW -TEXT and specify the program
name and key.
277. What does setting the VARIABLE-SCREEN llRL parameter

to 'X'do? 000
An X will force the web report to display rlie variablcs
entry screen.
W e b A p p l i c a t i o n Designer
278. If you are asked to change the way tables are displayed in
web reporting, how would you do this? 000
IJsing the SAP delivered class
CL-RSR-W W W-MODIFY-TABLE as a template,
copy it to a Z class where you make your desired
changes. In the object tag of the table in the template
put <param name='MODIFY -CLASS' value= 'NEW
Z -CLASS'>.
The following methods are used in this class
START
called before any cell creation
called
after a new row is
NEW-RO W
completed
after the table is rendered
FINISHED
CAPTION-CELL, STRUCTURE-CELL
cell methods
DATA-CELL, CHARACTERISTIC-CELL
table body methods
279. How will you add buttc~nsto a template? 000

Create a button and add a URL that can call web
reporting eg. Create a standard HTML button with
label 'USA' to call URL with
FILTER-IOBJNM=OD-COUNTRY
FILTER-VALUE = 'US'.
280.How wo1.11dyou debug Web reports? 000

Using the transaction code RSRT2.
281. What are processing commands? 000

Processing commands are used to bring a change in
status (like hiding or drill down) or to perform an
action (for example, display the variablc screen) eg.
You can define a html command to creatc ;L 1)ookmark
< a href=" <SAP BW UFU cmd ='BOOKhiARK'>
" > BookMark b his </a>.
Sample commands are Expand (drill down),
SET-NAV -STATE and EXPORT
You can also embed a command in Javascript; cxample
is SAPBWOpenURL(SAP-BW -IJFU-GctO
"&CMD= BOOKMARK").
282.What is the use of download scheduler? 00

This is the tool that enables the users to schedule the
off-line downloading of reports from reporting agents.
283. What are the advantages of BW 3.x web server (WAS)? 0O

c,
c,
c,
c,
c,
4
c,
Enhanced scalability, use of IGS for charts,

background processing
Full SAP application server with ABAP run time
HTTP server and client functionality
Native support for open protocols like HTTPS,
SSL, SSO, etc.
No proprietary products (no RFC)
XMLIXSLT engine and integrated J2EE engine
MIME objects are cached
W e b Aoolication Oesiener
284.What are the built in javascript functions available to

customize web templates? 000
c/
c/
SAP-BW-Get -Language
Gives the logon language.
SAP-BW-URL Get
Returns the
SAPBWOpenURL
Executes URL in current window.
SAPBWOpenWindow
Opens URL in a new window.
SAPBWGetItemProp(itemName)
Returns properties of items in an array.
uE.
c/
c/
c,
c,
c/
SAPBWGetDataProviderDimensions(provider
name)
Gives an array of characteristics and structures.
SAPBWAddToMenu(labe1, javascript handler,
parameter, cell-type, filter, visibility, position,
dataqrovider, item).
lJsed to enhance context menu eg. You can add
new entries to the context menu.
285.Give a broad step by step process to convert web objects

from 2.x to 3.x. 000
Step 1: Do a consistency check of web objects using
transaction RSRV. (This check is available from
BW 2.0b SP 13).
Step 2: Fix any errors.
The following steps occur after you upgrade to 3.x.
WAD Web Application Designer lJsing SE38.
120
Step 3: Execute program

RSZW-WEBOBJECTS -30-UPGRADE. If
there are any errors then fur thcm and reconvert. Once the conversion is complete.
Step 4: Delete the old templates using program
RSZW-OLD-BDS-ENTRIES-DELETE .
Step 5 : You can also use program
RSZW-REPLACE-TEMPLATE-STRINGS to
replace strings. For example, you can use this
program to replace links to logos on the old
JGS server path to new MIME repository path.
Step 6: You can also use program
RS-TEMPLATE-MAINTAIN to edit
templates on the server.
286.What are the parameters available for Web Reporting?
000
J
Filter - Example to filter for a specific customer:
FILTER-IOBJNM = 'OCUSTOMER'
FILTER-VALIJE ='1234'
v Use a variable as filter:
FILTER-IOBJNM = 'OCUSTOMER'
FILTER VALUE-TYPE = 'VARIABLE-EXIT'
FILTER-VALUE
= 'ZCIJSTEX1T'
J
Sort data (customer ascending):
CMD='SORT' IOBJNM ='OCI JSTOMER'
SORT-TYPE='T' SORT-DIRECTION='A'
J
Export data as excel file:
CMD ='EXPORT' FORMAT = 'XLS'
CHAPTER 3
Extraction
Chapter 3
Extraction
Basic Concepts
287. What are different types of extractors? 000
c,
Application Specific extractors (BW Content

extractors like FI, LO Cockpit and Generic
extractor for LIS, FI-SAL).
Cross application Generic extractor (for Custom
extracts from database tablelviews ancl Sap Query).
288.Wllat is the transaction code for creating or changing the

generic extraction tool Data Sources? 00
Transaction code RS02
289.What is the initial transaction code for mallaging

extraction tasks? 0 0
Transaction code SBIW
290.What are the broad steps followed to extract data from

R/3? 00
c,
J
c,
c,
Replicate the data sources.

Assign them to an Infosource.
Maintain the communication structure and
transfer rules.
Create an info package.
Extract data.
Basic Concepts
291. Wliat are business content extractors? Give an example. O 0

Extractors supplied by SAP for a specific business
module eg. OFI-AP-03.
292.What is direct update for an I~ifoObject?00

An Infoobject is updated without the use of update
rules. Only transfer rules are used.
293.What is flexible updating? 00

Flexible updating makes use of update rules, making it
possible to ~lpdatea harmonized master data from
different source systems before updation to master
data tables.
294.Give some examples of third party ETL tools that are

supported by SAP. 0 0
c/
c/
c/
Ascential
Informatica
Mercator
295.Wliat is the transaction code for accessing monitor? 00

Transaction code RSMON
296.List broad steps followed to co~ifigureand use tlalirdparty

(BAPI) tools. 00
J
c/
Define the RFC connection using SM59

Define the third party source system
Chapter 3
Extraction
J
J
Assign to InfoSources
Map and define transformation rulcs
Create info package and load data
297. Wliich file formats are supported for ,third party E'TL tools?
00
J
csv
ASCII
298.Define the record modes for delta (assume, for exa~iiple,

the sales quantity changed from 2 0 to '10). 000
J
Before Image: the record before it got changed, in

this case it is 20.
After image: the record after it got clx~ngcd,in
this example it is 10.
Additive image: in this case only thc difference i.e..
10.
Reverse image: used for deletion, rcvcrse with the
quantity to zero out.
Delete image: only the O D s keys are givcn for
deletion, not supported for cubes.
299.Wliat update modes are available? 00

J
J
J
Full
Init of delta
Delta
Basic C o n c e p t s
300.Explain what a repair request is. 000

Assurne that you have done "init of delta" and "deltas"
for an ODS and you find that there is a problem with
certain loaded data. If you wish to d o a full load
without destroying the delta inits, you would perform
;I selective deletion of the data from ODS first and
then schedule a fill1 load with this selection, making it
a repair request (Scheduler
Repair f~lllrequest).
301. What setti~igsare available for delta option for loadirig

data from flat file? (You set the delta mode in the transfer
structure - Update niode 'field). 000
J
New status only: this sends records of changed

records. This is only available for ODS. A cube
can not be used.
Additive delta: just the change in key figures is
sent. This can be used in both the ODS and in a
cube.
302.Wliat is a delta update? 00

Instead of updating the entire data, SAP uses a change
log (for business content extractor and Time stamp
(CO-PA)) to do delta update.
303.When you create a datasource some flags are attached to

each field, what are they? 00
J
Selection flag: if this flag is set for a field then we

can select the field.value for extraction fro111 the
InfoPackage.
Chaoter 3
Extraction
For example, if you set the flag for OCI JSTOMER,

then in the Infopackage you can select customer
numbers in extraction.
Hide flag: if this flag is set, then the field is not
populated in extraction.
Cancellation fields: this is field is inverted when a
transaction is cancelled.
304.Wliat tra~isactioncode is used to tlie clieck extractt~r?00

Transaction code RSA3
305.Which transaction code is used to check delta Q for a data

source? 00
Transaction code RSA7
306.Wliat is tlie source tables for tlie FI AP ex,tractor from SAP

R/3? 0 0
4
4
BSIK: Open invoices

BSAK: Cleared invoices
307. Wliat is tlie source tables for ,the FI AR extractor froni SAP
R/3? 0 0
4
4
BSID: Open invoices

BSAD: Cleared invoices
308.Wliat optio~isare generally availal~lewhen filling in the

values for selection? 0 0
4
Manual input
Basic Conceots
*/
*/
Fill up from OLAP variables - use variables created

in BEx
ABAP routine
309.What table is filled when you select ABAP routine for

selectio~iill info pack? 000
Similar to variable exits, the 1-t-range table is filled.
310. How do you send XML data to BW? 000

*/
Install the XML 3.0 parser
*/
Create an Infosource
Assign P C file as the data source
Create a transfer and communication structure
activate
From the transfer structure screen select Extras
create B W datasource with SOAP application
After successful generation, the data source is
connected to the myself datamart. The name of
the data source is 6A*
Create an info package
Load data from an xml file
*/
9
*/
*/
+
+
311. What delta modes are available? 000

"F" Flat file provides delta.
"A" IJses ALE (Application Link Enabling).
"D" Application determines the delta queue eg. LO.
"E" Extractor determines the delta eg. CO-PA, LIS.
Chapter 3
Extraction
312. Name the table in SAP R/3 to get detailed information on

data source and it's delta capability. 00
IJse table ROOSOURCE. The delta column shows
the delta method (A - ALE, E- Extractor, ctc.). The
AIM value describes type of delta such as F 1 for
function module, V - view, Q - InfoSet query.
313. Name the table ill SAP R/3 to get detailed information on
delta methods. 0 0 0
From table RODELTAM.
314. How do you configure BW to load data from a data stage

system? 000
c,
c,
c,
J
c,
c,
Create the RFC connection (SM59) and tcst

the datastage system
Define the job in the data stage systcn~
Create a source system (type third p;lrty)
Load transfer structure from BW
Map columns to BW structlire
Define and load info package.
it
with
315. What is the benefit of 'early delta i~iitialization'trption?

000
This is the process in which you run thc initialization
of delta and load the delta queue in parallel. The LO
extraction supports this method which allows for
minimum downtime on the SAP R/3 side.
Class Svstem
Class System
316. What are tlie steps taken to create class? 000
c,
c/
c,
c,
c,
c,
Define the properties.

Create a class type. This controls the classes that
can be assigned to them. For example, class type
can be material.
Create a class and assign it to the class type. For
example, class could be digital cameras.
Assign objects to the class.
Searches can now be done on the classes. For
example, get all the cameras with 3.0 mega pixels.
These values are transferred to BW as Omaterial
attributes.
317. Which tralisactinn code do you use to do classifica~tio~i

on
SAP R/3 for BW? 000
Transaction code SBIW and select maintain data
source for classification data.
318. What are the steps within SBIW to create classes for
BW? 000
c,
c,
J
Select the data source for assigning classes eg.

Select OMATERIAL-ATTR.
Select the class.
Generate the data source, a prefix 1CL is added to
the data sources generated.
Chanter 3
Extraction
Generic Data source

319. What are the steps followed to create a generic data
source? 000
c/
Execute transaction code R S 0 2 .
c/
Enter the data source name and description.
c/
Select a table, view or a ABAP query 1 InfoSct for

the source of the data.
Flag the fields that are required for sclection.
c/
Flag the fields that are required to be hidden.
c/
Activate the data source.
c/
c/
Replicate, assign Infosource, define

communication structure and transfer rulcs; create
info package and load the data.
G e n e r i c D a t a S o u r c e / LIS E x t r a c t i o n
LIS Extraction
320.What does LIS stand for? 00
Logistics Information System. Used in R/3 for
reporting for snapshot in time reporting with
drilldown and analysis capabilities. It allows for online reporting that does not affect the performance of
your on-line transactions.
321. Wliat is the transactio~icode for setti~igup extractors

based on I-IS? 00
Transaction code RMCSBIWC
322.Explain the data flow for

4
1.1s updation in SAP R/3.
00
OLTP (On-line Transaction Processing) data is

stored in application data tables.
W h e n data is updated in LIS, it is stored as a
comn~unicationstructure.
The communication structure is then written to
the corresponding information structures using
update rules.
This data is then stored in S tables (tables
beginning with S) eg. S301.
Customer defined info structures are tables from
S500 onwards. Standard LIS tables are up to
S499.
Chanter 3
Extraction
323. How many structures are generated when LIS extractor is

created? 00
Even though 2 tables are crated for LIS cxtracrion only
one structure is created in the form SxxxBIWS where
xxx is the LIS table name eg. S30 1BIWS.
324. How does the data flow from the LIS tables to BW? 00
For example, if we are extracting S30 1 then 2 tables
are created internally, S 3 0 1 B I W 1 and S301BIW2.
T h e information is written to each table alternatively
(depending on the last delta).
325.How do we know which table has the current data (BIW1 or

BIWZ)? 00
It is in table T M C B I W
326.What is the naming convention of the 1.1s data source? 00

2-LIS-01-Sxxx where xxx is the LIS table name cg. Z
LIS 01 S301.
327. What happens when you do an initialization of delta for an

LIS data source? 00
T h e entire data from the S table exaniplc S30 1 is
extracted to B W
LIS E x t r a c t i o n
328.What steps are followed to set up extraction from LIS in

SAP R/3? 00
c/
c/
c/
c/
c/
Run transaction code RMCSBIWC.

Set up initialization of delta.
Generate the data source
select the fields for
selection -) mark necessary fields as hidden or
cancellation fields.
Generate the update program for Delta.
Replicate the data source
assign Infosource
maintain communication structure and transfer
rules
create info package.
D o the initialization of delta.
Activate the delta.
Start loading the delta.
+
+
c/
c/
c/
329.Where is the data extracted from rlurilig i~iitializatio~i

of
delta and delta updates? 00
During initialization of delta, the data is extracted
directly from the S tables. The delta update programs
once activated, start collecting delta data and populate
one of the SBIW tables (1 or 2). During delta update
on B W either one of these tables is read for extraction.
Chapter 3
Extraction
LO Extraction
330.What are the advantages of the new LO Extraction ? 00
4
Improved performance and reduced volume.
N o LIS functionality meaning you don't need to

setup LIS on RJ3.
Single solution for all logistics applications.
No 2 table use like in LIS.
Detailed extraction.
Only data that was changed from a BW
perspective is added in the delta queue.
Updated with a batch process (V3 update).
331. Which transaclio~icode on R/3 shows the tra~isactions

with pending processes for update? 00
Transaction code SM 13
332. What are vl, v2 and v3 updates? 00

vl
v2
+ postings are carried out asynchrononsly;
postings are carried out synchronously;

directly tied to document posting.
the processing is treated as a secondary
step to the document saving.
v3
postings are left in Initial status. It waits

until a unique trigger is issued. Data is
passed to a centralized delta n1;Lnagement.
LO Extraction
333. What is the naming convention used for LO data

so~.~rces?
00
2LIS-nn-xxxxx where nn is the number that
represents an application and xxxx is the source of data
eg. 2LIS- 11-VAHDR for sales document header,
where 1 1 is for application sales.
334. What transaction codes are useful in LO extractions? 00

J
LBWE
Customizing cockpit
I,
LBWF
B W log
LBWG
Delete setup tables
OLI*BW
Initialization / Setup
335. Which R/3 version supports LO extraction? 00

From R/3 4.0b with SP 4 0 with P12002.1.
336.How do you convert from LIS to LO Extraction? 00

J
I,
I,
J
I,
Make sure no R/3 data is updated for the data

sources in question.
Switch off LIS extraction, switch on update for L O
extraction.
Load the last delta queue for the old LIS
extraction.
D o not refresh statistics for new data sources.
Simulate an initialization of delta with new L O
data source. This does not write any data but sets
the pointer.
Now you can start a delta.
Chapter 3
Extraction
337. What is the differelice betweer~LIS and LO in ini.tialization

of delta and delta? 00
v
For initialization of delta LO i~scssetup tables vs.

LIS use of the S tables.
For delta update LO uses the comn~unication
structure with V3 update vs. LIS using BIX'1 or
BI\.'2 tables.
338. What are the liew update methods since PI 2002? 000
Direct delta: data is transferred t o the BW delta
queue for each document posting. This is ilsefiil
for low volume extraction.
v Queued delta: extraction data is collcct-ed for the
affected application instead of being collected in an
extraction queue which ensures serialization. This
is useful for large volume extraction.
v
Non serialized V3 update: data in the update run

is read without regard to sequence in the update
tables.
339.How do you improve tlie perforniance w h e ~ creating

i
a
setup table in LO extraction? 000
You create multiple batch jobs with different- selection
criteria. For example, when you d o a setup table for
SD, use different document number ranges and do the
setup in parallel.
CO-PA E x t r a c t i o n
CO-PA Extraction
Controlli~iga ~ i dProfitability Analysis
340.What is meant by characteristics derivation? 00

This is where characteristics are derived from another
given characteristic. For example, if we have product
we can derive product group.
341. Why is CO-PA a generic extraction and not a business

coritent extraction? 00
CO-PA is highly customizable where value fields and
characteristics are defined differently between
customers. SAP has released CO-PA as a generic
extraction which can be customized.
342.What is a characteristic in CO-PA? 00

Characteristics are defined at levels where information
is maintained eg. Customer groups and divisions.
343. What are "predefined characteristics"? 00

Some characteristics like company code, material and
customer are set LIPwith predefined set values.
344.How many customer defined characteristics are you

allowed to create? 00
Chapter 3
Extraction
345.Define the database structure in CO-PA. 00

4
4
4
There are 4 tables C E N X X X X (n is 1 - 'I and

X X X X is the operating concern)
CE1 is the Actual Line items table containing data
at the line item level.
CE2 is the Plan line item similar to CE 1
CE3 - Segment level table - contains the value
fields (key figures), contains values of the period
for each profitability segment nun~ber.
CE4 - Segment Table - this defines thc link
between profitability segments and the linc items
using segment number. Each record in this tablc
defines the profitability segment n u m l ~ c rfor a
given combination of characteristics' values. You
can exclude some characteris tics (li kc order
numbers) to reduce the volume (similar tc) linc
item dimensions in the Infocube).
346.How would you k~iowif a segment/segment level entry has

been summarized? 00
Using the time stamp of the last summarization run.
347. What is the safety delta for CO-PA? 000

BW only updates records that arc at least 30 minutes
old.
CO-PA Extraction
348. How would you compare the CO-PA to an Infocube? 00
I/
4
4
4
4
CO-PA
Operating Concern
CE 1/CE2 Line item details
CE4 - Segment table
Excl~ldingcharacteristics in
Segment tablc CE4
CE3 - Segmcnt level table
S~lmmarizationLevel
BW
Infocube
ODs
Dimension table
Line item dimension
Fact table
Aggregate
349.What is the standard naming convention of the CO-PA data

source? 00
1-CO- PA- <SYS>-<CLIENT> -< O P C O N > where sys - system ID, client - client number and
olxon - operating concern name
350.Define the steps necessary to set up CO-PA for BW. 00
I/
CO-PA datasource must be defined at Operating

Concern / Clicnt Level.
Define data source for f~111updates (summarization
level, segment level and line item).
Select SBIW transaction to get into CO-PA setup.
I/
Select the characteristics.
Select the value fields.
Generate the data source.
Chapter 3
Extraction
CO-PA Retraction
351. What is CO-PA retraction? 000
This is the process by which BW data is loaded into
N3.
352. How is the query from BW used for CO-PA retraction? 000
The query on BW is the source for the retraction.
Data is retracted after drilling down using all free
characteristics. This drill down is performed internally.
353. What are thegeneral restrictions of CO-PA retraction? a00

J
J
J
J
Allowed only for cost based CO-PA.

N o delta functionality although runs can be
cancelled.
Retractor uses RSCRM-BAPI to run the query.
Actual data is always updated ilsing rccord type H
where planning data, record type and version can
be specified.
354.Give a step by step approach for doing CO-PA

retraction. 000
J
Define the query.

Enable for OLE DB.
create the RFC connection in R/3 if not already
there.
CO
*/
- PA R e t r a c t i o n
Define field assignments (between InfoObjects and

CO-PA fields):
1. You can find this under SPRO
controlling
controlling profitability analysis. Search
for "data transfer from SAP BW".
2. There are two options: assignment at system

level or query level. If both are defined then
the query level takes precedence.
3. Key figures can ONLY be assigned at the

query level.
4. Currencies and units are assigned
automatically.
5 . Choose the query.
*/
*/
*/
6. Assign the InfoObjects; you can also assign

fixed values.
Execute the extraction.
IJse SPRO and search for "Execute data transfer".
You may d o retraction in the background and use
variant.
Please note : If you want to cancel the retraction run

you can perform a reverse by displaying all runs (log),
selecting a run and clicking on "Cancel Run".
Chapter 3
Extraction
Enhancing data extraction

You enhance the extraction of data sources when you find that you
have to add Z fields to the SAP delivered data sources (text, master
and transaction).
355. What are the typical steps taken to enhance data

source? O 0
c/
c/
c/
c/
c/
c/
c/
c/
c/
Append the standard data structure.

Add the custom fields.
Edit the right user exit to populatc the custom
fields.
Activate the user exit.
Create InfoObjects corresponding t o thc new
custom fields.
Replicate the datasources.
Map the new fields to the InfoObjects
Activate the communication structure and transfer
rules.
Create info package and load the data.
356.What restriction is placed on the naming of custom fields

in appended structures? 000
All new fields in the appended structure should start
with ZZ
357. What is the SAP enliancenient for data sources? 000

RSAPOOOO 1
Enhancine Data Extraction
358.What are the user exits within the SAP enhancement for
data sources? 000
EXIT-SAPLRSAP-001
EXIT-SAPLRSAP-002
EXIT-SAPLRSAP-003
EXIT-SAPLRSAP-004
transaction data
+ master data
+ text
+ hierarchy
359.1s the user exit for data st~urcescommtln for all data
sources? 000
Yes, which is why you should use a case statement
checking the data source name in your code.
360.How do you debug a background user exit? 000

J
J
J
J
J
J
Create an infinite loop on a value eg. x = 3. do

while x > 1.
Start the extraction on BW
The process on R/3 now goes into an infinite loop.
Look for the applicable process in SM5O.
Debug the process.
Within debugger change value of x to 1, thus
exiting the while loop.
Now you can see and debug your code.
361. Can you add data records in the user exit for data
sources? 000
No. The user exit is only used to append data to the
record.
Chapter 3
Extraction
362.What parameters are available in the user exit, for data

sources, for enhancing master data? 000
I-T-FIELDS
I-T-DATA
I-U P D M O D E
list of transfer structure fields.

internal table containing data
for the master attri1)utes.
Remember that this contains
all data.
update mode.
I-CHABASNM
I-SOURCE
basic characteristics
name of the InfoSourcc.
363.What are the hierarchy relevant parameters? 000

C-T-HIENODE
C-T -HIETEXT
table which contains hierarchy.

internal table containing text
of hierarchies.
C-T -FOLDERT
C-T -HIEINTV
contains descriptions of nodes.

containing hierarchy leaves
with intervals.
364.What enhancements are available for LIS? 000

MCS10001
Sales documents
MCS5 000 1
LEINSOO 1
Deliveries
Purchase orders
365.What enhancements are available to enhance HR data? 00

HRPTDWO1
for H R time related data
OB Connect
DB Connect
366.What is DB connect? 00
D B connect is a utility to load data directly from
external databases such as Oracle.
367. What are the restrictions of DB connect? 00

4
4
N o synonyms are allowed .

If you are using Oracle, the date format is different
in SAP Oracle has both date and time in the date
column; so to map date only to SAC use the
to-char(date-column, 'YYYYMMDD') function.
You can create a view with this fi~nctionand use
d b connect with the view.
368.What are 'the pre-requisites for DB con~iect?00

4
4
4
4
DBSL must be installed on the SAP server.

The database specific D B Client must be installed.
Tdbk and field names must be in capital letters.
Table name is limited to number of characters. A
view is used to circumvent this limitation.
369.What are the steps to create DB connect? 00

4
First verify that the D B connection works from the

server.
AWB
Source systems
create
C h a p t e r 3: Extraction
Select Database source system.

c, Enter the database user name, pass\vord and
connect string.
c/
Using transaction RSDBC generate the data
source.
c, Assign data source to info source.
c,
Maintain and activate the communication

structure and transfer rules.
c, Create info package and load data.
c,
Currency Translation i n BW
Currency Translation in BW
369.What are the options available in BW for currency
conversion? 00
It can be done in either the update rule or in Bex. If
you do it in the update rule then you lose the
information on the original currency.
370. What is the translation key? 00

Defines how the exchange rate is calculated. For
example, the target currency can be fixed or can be
determined at the time of translation.
371. Which table contains the exchange rate? 00
372. What i s the function module to convert currency? 00

RSW -CURRENCY-TRANSLATION
373. How do you load exclialige iliformatioli ,from R/3 to BW? 00
AWB
Source systems
right click on the SAP R/
3 source system
select transfer exchange rates
374. How do you do Euro coliversioli at tlie database level? 00

1Jse the program RSEURO
Chapter 3: Extraction
375. How do you upload currency exchange from a flat file?
00
c/
T h e file must have the same structure as TCIJRR

table including exchange range type, from
currency, to currency, valid from date, exchange
rate, Ratio
c/
Once the file is ready g o to AWB

flat file
right click
source system, select the file system
and select Transfer exchange rate.
+
+
CHAPTER 4
BW Functional
C h a p t e r 4: B W F u n c t i o n a l
ASAP methodology
376. What does ASAP stand for? 00
Accelerated SAP implementation nietlioclology.
377. What are the project phases within ASAP? 00

4
Project preparation: perform a concel,tual review

following this phase.
Business blue print: filnctional spccs arc written in
this phase. Perform a design review following this.
Realization: configure and develop. Pcrform a
configuration review following this p1i;lsc.
Final preparation: QA, go-live plan. Final work
prior to moving to production. Conduct a
performance review following this phasc.
Go live and support: move to production and
provide support.
378. What is a typical set up of a BW team? 00

J
J
J
J
J
Project manager
One or more functional consultants 1 cxpcrts
One or more developers
One or more QA testers
Basis team support
379. Wliat is tlie 90 day rule? 00

It is a thumb rule that SAP-B\V can bc ~mplenienced
in 90 days because most of the generic reclilirenients
are already delivered in its business contcnc.
A S A P M e t h o d o l o g y / B u s i n e s s C o n t e n t and Roles
Business content and roles

380.What is business content? 00
T h e pre configured objects delivered by SAP are called
1)usiness content. It includes roles, queries, info
providers, info sources, data sources, info objects, info
packages, ctc. For cxamplc, OMATERIAL is a
busincss content delivered by sap.
381. What are the groi~pingoptions available when installing

busi~iessco~itent?00
9
Only necessary objects - This will collect only the

csscntial objects.
Data flow before - If you are installing a cube with
this option it will install all the required objects
like info objects, update rules, etc with the cube.
Data flow aftcr. - If you install a cube with this
option it will also install anything after the cube
such as qucries, work books, roles etc.
Data flow before and after. - This will install all
thc objects beforc and aftcr almost from infoobjccts to Role.
382. What are the versioris ill objects? 00

9
9
9
D
M
SAP delivered
Modificd version
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201 Interview Questions

CHAPTER 1: BW Administratio11 and Design ......................25

BW Archival and retrieve ................................................................ 55

CHAPTER 2: BW Reporting (BEx and Web Reporting) ........79

CHAPTER 3: Extraction ....................................................121

LIS Extraction ............................................................................... 131

DB Connect ................................................................................. 145

Start by reading this book from cover to cover.

If you are an employer looking to hirelcontract a BW

The first part of the book highlights key questions

By randomly adding in a few questions from the rest

Before interviewing a candidate, always make sure

What are the advantages of an Extended star schema of

Uses generated numeric keys and aggregates in its

2. How maliy tliniensio~isare there ill a cube?

3. What is the transaction for the Adrr~inistratorwork bench?

4. Wliat is tlie "myself data mart"?

6 . Wliat is a calculated key figure?

7. What is the enlia~icementuser exit for BEx reportilig?

8. What is a characteristics variable?

11. What are the types of attributes?

These attributes behave like

For example, assume that we have customer

12. What is meant by compo~.lnding?

13. What are tlie 10 decision poi~itsof data warehousi~ig?

Identify a fact table.

14. What options are available in the transfer rule?

Assign an Infoobject - direct transfer, no

Formula - for simple calculations usc formula eg. If

15. What is compression or collapse?

16. What is an InfoSet?

Another usage is, if you have O D s you can disable

17. What are lion cu~iiulativekey figures?

18. What perfornialice improvemelit call we do for reporting?

Pre-calculated web templates

Run DB statistics often.

19. Wliat are tlie options when defining aggregates?

Groups according to characteris tics Values

Selective data only will display 2 products

21. What is tlie 1:lifference between am~u~it,lqua~itity

This gets the result of the

You set this to 0 if everything

23. What is the use of time distribution option in the update

25. How would you optimize dime~isions?

Make one dimension for both, the size

Obviously Option 2 is better.

Even if you have more than one characteristic per

26. What is a line item (or degenerate) dimelision?

system puts the SID in the fact table instead of

27. What is a "Marker" in Non Cumulative cubes?

28. What is the use of a colon ':' as an authorization value?

It enables queries that do not contain an

Chapter 1: B W Administration and Design

Lot of historical data

30. What is a star schema?

A fact table at the center and surrounded (linked) by

31. What is a slowly changing dimension?

A dimension containing characteristics \\,hose value

32. What are the advalitages of an Extelided star schenia of

Use of generated keys (numeric) for faster access

Master data is common to all cubes

33. What is the namespace for BW? 0 0

34. What is an Infoobject? 0

35. What are time dependent text / attribute of