Making changes in SAP HANA Calculation

Views – Part 2

• Changes to existing Calculation Views

• Linking New Content
• Minimize work / avoid remodeling
• Save and import

• Autor: Udo Gauer

• Veröffentlicht: December 7, 2021

Changes to existing Calculation Views

Welcome to the second part of my blog, in which we will take a closer look at how to handle
changes to old (already existing) Calculation Views. Here I will continue with my example
from the first part of the blog (see Figure 1).
Figure 1 – Example of a calculation view

In this example we need to extend the model at the position2_14_Join and integrate a new
logic (see Figure 2).
Figure 2 – Extension of the Calculation View with NEW_CONTENT

Linking New Content

To link the join node NEW_CONTENT to the node 2_16_Join , the previously linked node
2_14_Join must be deleted. Here, as we all know, the upward mapping is lost. Of course, we
do get an advance warning of this (see Figure 3), but in practice this warning doesn’t mean
much, since we still have to complete this step anyway.
Figure 3 – Deleting a data provider in a join
Here, as we saw in the first part of the blog, all attributes and key figures of the 2_14_Join
are lost with the mapping (see Figure 4).

Figure 4 – Before / After Mapping

Minimize work / avoid remodeling

To avoid all of this and save yourself the extra work of remodeling, I will now show you a
way to avoid deleting the node and the mappings just described, and make remodeling
obsolete. Here no new nodes are formed and the original structure remains in place.

I do this by making use of the definition of the Calculation View. First, I extend
NEW_CONTENT by adding DUMMY_UNION (see Figure 5). This step is not required and can
be ignored, but as explained in the first part of the blog, it is practical as a way to simplify
things when making extensions and changes later.
Figure 5 – Extension with DUMMY_UNION

Then all you have to do is save the modified Calculation View; no activation is required. Next,
it is exported locally to the computer in XML format in Developer Mode (see Figure 6). The
exported file “NameOFCalcview” with the ending “calculationview” can now be opened and
edited in the text editor of your choice.

In the text editor you search for the (Calculation:JoinView) in which the old data source to be
replaced is located (here: 2_16_Join) and you replace the logic there.
Figure 6 – Export XML Definition

Save and import

After the change, the file must be saved and the updated definition of the Calculation View
must again be imported in the Developer Mode. When this is done, all that remains is to
supply the new attributes (see Figure 7).

Figure 7 – completed extension

And that concludes my short blog entry. I hope that this nice little trick will be of use to you
when modifying or extending old Calculating Views.