Procedure for connecting a legacy database system to BW

(DB-Connect)

Contents

1. Relevant SAPNotes....................................................................................................................1
2. Overview....................................................................................................................................1
3. Creation of the future Data Source in the source database (example Oracle)...........................2
4. Database connection (example Oracle).....................................................................................2
5. Creation of the source system (example)...................................................................................2
6. Creation of Data Source.............................................................................................................5
7. Check data source...................................................................................................................10
8. Later changes to the database view.........................................................................................13

The text describes the overall procedure for connecting a relational database system to a BW-
System using the DB-Connect functionality. As an example, the integration of an Oracle database is
shown.

1. Relevant SAPNotes
SAPNote Source system type
520647 SAP-DB
520496 Informix
512739 SQL-Server
518241 Oracle
523552 IBM DB2/390
523381 IBM DB2/400
523622 IBM DB2 UDB

2. Overview
The implementation of a DB-Connect interface involves various steps.

First of all, the BW basis is involved in that a connection on database level (Database/BW to
Database/legacy) has to be created. This is normally done by the BW basis responsibles.

Secondly, within Administrator Workbench the DB-Connect source system has to be created and
the relevant data source(s) are to be created. This is usually done by the BW expert.

Prior to the generation of the data source(s) the relevant tables or views have to exist within the
legacy database system in order to replicate these sources.

Note: SAP strongly recommends to use views instead of tables as this means increased
flexibility (for instance as regards complying with naming conventions) – see below.

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 3. Creation of the future Data Source in the source database
(example Oracle)
The table / view including all relevant fields has to exist in the source system.

The following restrictions as regards naming conventions have to be adhered to:

a) View
- Name of the View: maximum 26 characters
- Permitted characters: capital letters, numbers, underscore (‘_’)
b) Field within the view
- Name of the fields: maximum 16 characters
- Permitted characters: capital letters, numbers, underscore (‘_’)
It is advisable that the Oracle time stamps (format ‚DD-MON-YYYY HH24:MI:SS’) are converted
within the view into the SAP format (‘YYYYMMDD’). This involves less work on BW side.
SQL statement for the view:
‘select to_char(SAMPLE_DATE_ORA,'YYYYMMDD') as SAMPLE_DATE_SAP from dba_tables’

4. Database connection (example Oracle)

In order for the BW system to correctly communicate with a remote Oracle database system the
TNSNAMES.ora file on the BW server has to be updated with the connection credentials. If the
Database System of the BW is not the same as the legacy database (e.g. Legacy: Oracle; BW: IBM
DB2) it is furthermore required
- to install the respective database client on the BW server.
- to install the database specific DBSL

These steps are not required if two databases of the same kind are involved. (Installation of the
database client on the BW server is done when installing the BW server.) The database specific
DBSL can be downloaded from the SAP Service Marketplace. It has to be stored to the SAP kernel.

In order to properly update the TNSNAMES.ora the following information is required:

- HOST
- SID
- PORT (if different from standard port= 1521)
- USER/PWD for the database system to connect to BW; the user must have the
authorization to run specific queries in Oracle.

This information is required by

- the basis expert responsible for the BW instance
- the BW expert to create the source system

It should be tested whether the Oracle source system can successfully be pinged from the BW
server (TNSPING).

Important: The Oracle release must be at least 8.1.7.3 in order that DB-Connect properly functions.

5. Creation of the source system (example)

HOST: zsvilla04 / 144.138.1.124
SID: MABD
PORT: 1521

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User / Pwd: sapbwdev / sapbwdev

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Save.

Go back (2x).

The source system is created.

The connection can also be checked with right-click on the system and selecting Check:

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 6. Creation of Data Source
Right-click on Source System and choose Select Database Tables.

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Confirm either “Select Tables” or “Select Views” or both and execute.

All Tables or Views that the user (that was entered when creating the Source System) is authorized
for are shown.

Select the Table / View and Press “Edit DataSource”.

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All fields within the table/view are shown. It is possible to select only a subset of the fields available
to transfer to BW.

After selecting “Display Table Content” a number of records are shown so that the data can be
validated.

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After pressing “Generate DataSource” a data source for this particular table or view is generated
within BW.

The data source thus generated is named with a prefix “6” and the table/view name.

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7. Check data source

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The Object Overview shows more details on the fields within all the data sources generated for a
particular source system. Note that the “InfoObject” column is still blank. A mapping of the data
sources fields to the BW InfoObjects is required. This is done in an InfoSource.

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New Object Overview:

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 8. Later changes to the database view
If the view changes later-on (e.g. a new indicator is included) the data source has to be re-
generated (see above).

The following steps are the same as with other data sources:
- Create new InfoObject
- Change InfoProvider to include the new InfoObject
- Change communication structure to include new InfoObject
- Assign the new source field to the new BW InfoObject
- Change Update Rule to include new InfoObject
- Change queries…

Depending on the complexity of the changes to the view it might be necessary to re-assign also the
other fields that were already assigned to BW InfoObjects earlier. See above for this step.

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