SAP University Alliances

Version
2.0
Authors
Klaus Freyburger
Peter Lehmann

Product
SAP Netweaver BI 7.0
Level
Undergraduate
Beginner

BI1-V1-04 SAP BW Data Modeling

Abstract:
This chapter covers the basic aspects and concepts of
data modeling with SAP Business Information
Warehouse (SAP BW).

2010 All Rights Reserved. SAP UA

SAP UA

SAP BI Curriculum
BI1-V1-04 SAP BI
Modeling

Agenda

Overview
InfoObjects
Key Figures
Characteristics
InfoProviders
DataStore Objects
InfoCubes

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SAP BI Curriculum
BI1-V1-04 SAP BI
Modeling

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SAP BW Architecture Overview

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SAP BI Curriculum
BI1-V1-04 SAP BI
Modeling

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SAP BW Data Modeling Architecture Objects and

Data Structures

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BI1-V1-04 SAP BI
Modeling

What is an InfoObject?

InfoObjects are used to focus on business requirements.

Note:
The original product name was SAP Business Information
Warehouse.
The abbrevation BIW conflicted with another product name, so
BW was chosen.

InfoObjects are the bricks to build data structures inside SAP

BW.
InfoObjects represent business objects from an end users
view.
The most important InfoObject types used for business analysis
are Characteristics and Key Figures.

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Modeling

InfoObject: Characteristics

A Characteristic represents a business object (or concept,

business term, business entity).
A Characteristic may have attributes which describes the
business object in more detail.
Example: InfoObject Customer is a characteristic with
attributes such as Customer Number, ZIP Code, Region,
etc.
The attributes Customer Number, ZIP Code, Region, etc.
are also managed as Characteristics and may have their own
attributes.
Note: What SAP calls a Characteristic is often referred
to in the data warehouse community as a Dimension.

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Modeling

InfoObject: Key Figures

A Key Figure (or variable, measure) is oftenly used to document

the performance of a business process over time.
It can be found in document records such as invoice, delivery
note, purchase order, or goods receipt.
Example: InfoObject Revenue or Sales Amount, etc.
Note: InfoObjects are unique inside SAP BW, and they are used to
build the data structures for analysis requirements.
Conceptually unique: the semantics (meaning) of an
InfoObject is uniquely defined system-wide inside SAP BW.
Logically unique: the data type, value range or field length is
uniquely defined system-wide inside SAP BW.
From the technical point of view, an InfoObject can viewed as a
database field.
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Modeling

Evolution from a SAP ERP Database Object to an

SAP BW InfoObject

SAP BW InfoObjects

R/3

CO
Accounting

SAP ERP

SAP
BWExtraktor
DataSource
BW

Table Costcenter
COSTC

...

DataSource
CostCenter

InfoObject

"0COSTCENTER"
Definition
&

HR
Human
Ressources

Table Employee

Mapping

EMPLO COST_CENTER ...

SAP Business Information Warehouse!!

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Modeling

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InfoObjects Are Bricks for Data Structures

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InfoProviders Provide Access to Data Records

InfoProviders:
Are data storage inside SAP BW
May store data records physically (persistent)
May also be used to access data stored outside SAP BW virtually
(transparent views)
May be accessed with front end tools such as SAP
BusinessExplorer

Note: A query is a view to data within an InfoProvider

and does not contain physical data.

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Modeling

InfoProviders

InfoProviders with physical data:

InfoCubes
Contain data optimized for fast multi-dimensional analysis.

DataStore Objects
Contain detailed data.
Used for high data volumes stored in normal database tables.
Often used as data source for InfoCubes.

InfoProviders with virtual data:

MultiProviders
Often used to create views above two or more InfoCubes with the same
Characteristics but different Key Figures.
Data resides in the InfoCubes involved and data redundancy is avoided.

VirtualProviders
Data stored somewhere outside SAP BW.
Some ERP systems provide data storage which may be accessed directly
by SAP BW without changing the end user s view to the data.
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Modeling

InfoCubes

Provide data storage used for reporting and online

analysis.
Consist of Key Figures and Characteristics.
Contain data stored multi-dimensionally and often aggregated
(week, month).
Use star database schema, consisting of a fact table surrounded
by dimension tables.
Use a maximum of 3 + 13 dimension tables.
3 dimension tables are pre-defined by SAP.
Time, Unit and DataPackage (for technical information)

13 dimensions may be used by InfoCube developers.

Note: In practice, good InfoCube design should not exceed
6-8 dimensions (+ the 3 above) so 13 dimensions are plenty.
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BI1-V1-04 SAP BI
Modeling

DataStore Objects

Contain single data records such as invoices,

purchase orders or customer order items.
Consist of key fields (such as order number,
order position number) and data fields (Key Figures and
Characteristics such as sales amount, net value, customer id,
material number).
Store data records in relational database tables.
Often contain massive volumes of data.

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Modeling

InfoCube versus DataStore Object

Data Warehouse,
Operational Data Store
and Data Marts are
general layers in a Data
Warehouse Architecture.
Data Warehouse and
Operational Data Store
may be implemented with
DataStoreObjects.
Data Marts will be
implemented with
InfoCubes.

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SAP BI Curriculum
BI1-V1-04 SAP BI
Modeling

Agenda

Overview
InfoObjects
Key Figures
Characteristics
InfoProviders
DataStore Objects
InfoCubes

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BI1-V1-04 SAP BI
Modeling

InfoObjects

InfoObjects
Key Figures
Revenue, Sales Amount, Net Value, .

Characteristics
Customer, Region, Zip Code,

Units
Unit of Measurement, Currency,

Time
Calender Year, Fiscal Year, Month, Day, Quarter, .

Some Technical Stuff

DataPackageID, RequestID,

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Modeling

Key Figure Definition: Revenue

Amount, Quantity, ..

Data Type: integer,

float, char(10),

EUR, USD, (fix)

Pieces, inch, %, (fix)

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Unit / Currency (fix) / Currency

reference
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Key Figure Definition: Revenue (cont.)

No Employee per Month
Last value
520
500
Jan

Feb

515

Mar

Last value

520

520

521

Apr

May

Jun

Aggregation: Last Value,

Maximum, Average
Reference Characteristic, e.g. Quarter
Aggregation:
Summation,
Minimum,
Maximum

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The reference characteristic allows the use

of a function to aggregate data instead of
summation.
Example: Number of Employees at the
end of the quarter. Sum does not make
sense!
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Key Figure Definition: Revenue (cont.)

If the Key Figure is noncumulative (e.g.,

warehouse stock), this field
defines an InfoObject
representing noncumulative change. This
InfoObject is either positive
or negative. So, the stock
amount can be calculated
from it.

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Two fields are used to

calculate the noncumulative amounts.
Inflow is the InfoObject
which represents the stock
inflow amount. Outflow is
vice versa.
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Key Figure Definition: Revenue (cont.)

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Characteristic Definition: Sales Organisation

Data Types: Num,

Char, Date,

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Conversion Routine

Database values
Are stored in internal format
appropriate to the database
Date as YYYYMMDD
Are presented to a user in external
format according to his local settings,
e.g., in
Europe
Date: DD.MM.YYYY
Numbers: 1.234,56
US
Date: MM/DD/YYYY
Numbers: 1,234.56
Transformation external
 internal format is
performed by a conversion routine
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Modeling

ALPHA Conversion Routine

Alphanumeric database fields

Datatype CHAR in SAP
Can store character and number values
Have conversion exit ALPHA as default
Eliminates leading blanks after user input
User input of RB0010 and RB0010 refers to same object
Stores numbers with leading 0s in database
Numeric values are stored in natural order in database, e.g. 0002
first, then 0010
Material Group in SAP Business Content has numerical
values with trailing blanks
 Conversion exit ALPHA must not be used

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MATN1 Conversion Routine

Database field Material often requires special treatment.

Datatype CHAR in SAP
Conversion exit MATN1 is used
Edit format can be defined in transaction OMSL
E.g. _ _-_ _ _ _ User Input RB-0010 is stored as RB0010

Since the OMSL format setting is system-wide, we do

not use it in the Bike Company Curriculum.

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Modeling

Characteristic Definition: Sales Organisation (cont.)

An InfoObject may
have attributes!

Texts:
Descriptive texts
Multi-language texts
Time dependent texts

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Modeling

Characteristic Definition: Sales Organisation (cont.)

Attributes

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Usable for OLAP operations

or display only
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Time Characteristics

Time characteristics are always

necessary and define the timerelated reference point for data
analysis purposes.
Time characteristics are
predefined by SAP and cannot
be changed.

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Units/Currencies

Units and Currencies are used to define Key Figures in more detail.
A Unit may be an InfoObject which defines the Unit of a Key Figure.
A Currency may be an InfoObject which defines the Currency of a
Key Figure
Examples:
0CURRENCY
0BASE_UOM

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SAP UA

SAP BI Curriculum
BI1-V1-04 SAP BI
Modeling

Agenda

Overview
InfoObjects
Key Figures
Characteristics
InfoProviders
DataStore Objects
InfoCubes

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SAP BI Curriculum
BI1-V1-04 SAP BI
Modeling

5 Steps to Define a DataStore Object

5 steps to Define an DataStore Object

1) Define a name for a
DataStoreObject
2) Choose the key fields
3) Choose the data fields
4) Define attributes used for data
analysis
5) Activate the DataStoreObject

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BI1-V1-04 SAP BI
Modeling

Choosing InfoObjects to Build a DataStore Object

Select the relevant InfoObjects

Direct InfoObject name input (1) or
Choose InfoObjects by InfoObjectCatalog and drag & drop the
InfoObjects (2)

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Modeling

7 Steps to Define an InfoCube

7 Steps to Define an InfoCube

1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)

Choose a name for an InfoCube

Create Dimensions as needed
Assign Characteristics to Dimensions
Choose Time Characteristics
Choose Key Figures
Define Navigational Attributes
Activate InfoCube

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Modeling

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Create New Dimensions If Needed

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What is a Dimension Inside SAP BW?

A dimension is a group of characteristics which belong to the

same business object (semantically).
Each characteristic may contain additional attributes which are
relevant for data analysis or not!!!
 Navigational attributes are InfoObjects which are used to
perform data analysis.
 Display attributes are InfoObjects for which data analysis does
not make sense (e.g. a house number or a family name)
 This has an impact to cube design!

Note: In data warehouse community, the term Dimension is

used for what SAP calls Characteristic .

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Basic Characteristic and Its Navigation Attributes

1. Dimension

3. Navigation Attributes are

ready to be used in analysis.

2. Characteristic
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Steps to Create an InfoCube

Define the InfoObjects needed.

Key Figures
Characteristices

Define which Characteristics may be chosen to create a semantic

cluster for semantic dimensions.
Examples are: Sales, Production, Material Management, Finance, etc.

Define which attributes are appropriate to perform data analysis

OLAP attributes  define them as navigational attributes
Non-OLAP attributes  define them as display attributes

Done! Deploy the InfoCube inside SAP BW!

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Modeling

Summary

Key Figures and Characteristics are defined as InfoObjects.

InfoObjects are the smallest bricks to define InfoProviders
within SAP BW.
InfoProviders are used to store data within SAP BW or allow SAP
BW to access data stored somewhere else.
The most important InfoProviders are InfoCubes
and DataStore Objects.
The definition of an SAP BW InfoCube is
no Witchery!

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