BW Statistics and RSDDSTAT* views, tables

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BW 3.x: - before you use table RSDDSTAT you must activate the BW Statistics: RSA1 -> Tools -> BW Stats for InfoProviders - can collect stats for OLAP (frontend) & for Loading (WHM backend) - make sure that you have stats checked for ALL InfoProviders that you are querying on - all RSDDSTAT tbls get updated when BW stats are switched on - all RSDDSTAT tbls feed into the ST03 monitor ================================================== BI 7.x: - to activate statistics goto tcode RSA1 .. Tools ... Settings for BI Stats -- set stats for Query- set stats for InfoProvider (as per 3.x) - set stats for Web Template- set stats for Workbook ================================================== RSDDSTAT* predefined views & tables in BI 7.x:

- RSDDSTATAGGR -- Detail Table for Aggregate Setup - RSDDSTATAGGRDEF -- Detail Table of Navigation for each InfoCube/Query - RSDDSTAT_OLAP: -- view containing data from the events from the areas for the front end and calculation layer of the analytic engine (Front End/OLAP) -- similar to old 3.x one but now has different breakdown for OLAP time -- SESSIONID: when you start your session (i.e. run the query) -- STEPUID: when you do something different (i.e. navigate)# -- Events ID 9000-9011: more info for QTIMEDB -- Events ID 3000-3999: more info for QOLAPTIME - RSDDSTATSTEPTP: -- type of steps -- BEX, BEX3, BRCS (broadcasting), EXTN (external read), JAVA, MDX - RSDDSTATHANDLTP: -- combines Handle & Step type -- helps to identify where the time is being spent - RSDDSTAT_DM: -- Statistics DataManager for Query execution -- view containing data from the events from the area for the aggregation layer and analytic engine (Data Manager). -- gives the detail of the DB access -- get the STEPID of the RSDDSTAT_OLAP entry with Event ID = 9000 (DBTIME) -- look STEPID up in RSDDSTAT_DM- gives the InfoProvider its reading

-- gives the aggregate being used- if $__ in AGGREGATE => BIA is being used -- TABLTP: which fact table is being used- TIMEREAD: time spent reading- WP_ID: which work process is being used - RSDDSTATWHM: -- Warehouse management statistics -- time it takes to do a load - RSDDSTATCOND -- InfoCube Compression - RSDDSTATDELE -- InfoCube Deletions - RSDDSTAT_WRITE -- InfoCube Writes - RSDDSTATBCACT -- Business Content Activation Statistics - RSDDSTATCOND -- Data on Condensing Run InfoCube - RSDDSTATEXTRACT -- Time of last delta load Labels parameters
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BW statistics is for performance anylsis of the system. In tables RSDDSTAT* all information is stored how long a query took, how a long a loading process took and so on. With this information you can analyze which are your long running queries, the most performance taking actions and so on. This reporting is available in the web, in BEx by predefined queries. To be able to execute these queries you have to activate technical content and load it regularly (on a daily basis). You can also setup the so-called BI Administrators cockpit. See help.sap.com or here in SDN for much more detailed information. The other way is of course to visit class "BI Performance & administration".

You can install the BW statistics same as Business content. Go to Business Content tab in RSA1--go to BW Statistics infoarea--collect all the BW statistics Cubes and Multiprovider. Once it is done you can load data and can able to report on them.
Query Monitor - helpful tool for testing BI queries Query Monitor is one of the BEx monitor tools that enable to display and verify query correctness, test variants and additional query properties. To use it start RSRT transaction (you do not need BW front end).

I usually use Execute and Execute + Debug options. Execute + Debug option enable for example to check aggregates, set authorization breakpoints, run query with BI Accelerator, display SQL statement for the query and show BW statistics.

You may choose different query display format. BEX Analyser display format is by far the fastest and the simplest, List gives you additional query options and using HTML format you receive portal-like view. You can also use the tool to check users' authorization to a query. To execute a query as another user start RSUDO transaction and choose a user and a query.

Tools, tips, and techniques for better reports

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Get expert tips for structuring your query definition, improving the look and feel of your reports, and working with the enhanced SAP BEx formatting toolbar. Get a clear picture of the outofthe-box and customization options before and after SAP BW 3.5. Explore proven strategies that you can use to determine if Visual Basic is a desirable option to help you add formatting to your reports. Learn how to get more out of cascading style sheets and see why you may have to customize the formatting via JavaScript. Discover why some BEx formatting and printing techniques that work well for static reports can cause significant problems for analytics, and learn how to avoid these pitfalls. Weigh the pros and cons of using macros (which are userfriendly, but expensive to maintain) as a formatting tool. Take home a practical usage matrix to help you decide when to use each reporting tool and examples of formatted reports that were created with different tools. 7 tips for managing queries during and after a BI implementation Get best practices for managing queries both during and after your initial SAP NetWeaver BI implementation. Learn successful techniques to make the most of ad hoc reporting capabilities and understand how to make changes to queries post go-live in a controlled environment. Receive best practices for managing SAP NetWeaver BI queries and workbooks so that problems such as report duplication do not occur. Learn how to handle query design and capture end-user requirements effectively so that you avoid having to create multiple versions and repeated trips back to the drawing board. Learn effective query management techniques, such as a periodic query reviews, and learn how to build report libraries that will help you balance end users needs and stop the proliferation of useless reports. An updated, comprehensive guide to SAP NetWeaver BI reporting tools (and guidelines for choosing one tool versus another) Take a new look at the enterprise reporting and analysis capabilities now available in SAP NetWeaver BI. This session offers you the opportunity to see the different formats in which SAP NetWeaver BI data can now be shown, ranging from formatted and presentation-optimized forms for information consumers, to complex and highly interactive applications for business analysts. Review the current set of capabilities made available by different SAP reporting design tools, including SAP Business Explorer Web Application designer, Report Designer, and Query Designer. Learn which specific scenarios each tool is best suited for. See how queries and query views can be made available via comprehensive Web applications using the SAP Business Explorer Web Application designer. Evaluate the ways the new SAP BEx Report Designer enables you to produce better formatted reports. Compare the traditional reporting tools available with SAP BW to the new SAP NetWeaver BI reporting tools and identify the key differences and opportunities to improve your existing reports and methods. See a live demo of new capabilities, such as integration of a PDF into SAP NetWeaver BI. Take home valuable tips to help you properly migrate existing reports and queries to your new SAP NetWeaver BI environment and to formulate an effective deployment strategy.

An expert guide to new Web Application Designer capabilities in SAP NetWeaver 2004s Leverage a host of new features available with Web Application Designer in SAP NetWeaver 2004s to create state-of-the-art reports, including PDF generation and printing. Get a detailed guide for integrating and converting old reports and Web templates to the newer version of Web Application Designer. Walk through the four basic steps for configuring Web reports using Web Application Designer in SAP NetWeaver 2004s and learn an intuitive way of working with reusable Web items. Get a handle on new chart features and where and when to use Gantt charts or heatmaps. See how to enrich current reports with integrated planning features and avoid performance bottlenecks in Web reports. Take home a checklist of seven steps to set up Web reports in SAP NetWeaver 2004s and seven steps to convert templates from SAP BW 3.x to SAP NetWeaver 2004s. Tighten security and optimize performance in environments that empower users with ad hoc reporting capabilities This session offers guidance to IT organizations that are empowering users with ad hoc reporting capabilities. Delve into issues of SAP BW system security and performance. Examine the ways in which ad hoc queries differ from pre-designed certified queries when it comes to their impact on SAP BW system performance. Get tips to overcome the three main causes of poor ad hoc query performance. Determine when it makes sense to use calculated key figures versus formulas in ad hoc queries. Improve the way you govern and control ad hoc queries by parsing out different levels of capabilities to different groups of users. Discover when it is and is not advisable to run ad hoc queries over the Web, depending on your current version of SAP BW. Find out how to certify and generally release ad hoc queries that may be useful to the general SAP BW user community. Learn how to develop clear guidelines and rules of thumb to avoid designing unwieldy, ad hoc queries that compromise your systems performance. Evaluate if and when it makes sense to leverage the Analysis Process Designer to analyze the results of ad hoc queries. Learn the right way to use structures and hierarchies to optimize ad hoc query performance. Get the most out of advanced SAP Business Explorer Web Application Designer capabilities for SAP NetWeaver BI Empower your IT team to build your Web applications more effectively and with the lowest total cost of ownership. Get an overview of SAP Business Explorer Web Application Designer runtime and design-time architecture, including the development technologies available to you, such as ABAP, Java, JavaScript, and Extensible Style Language Transformation (XSLT). Learn how these technologies function together to create powerful Web development and customization options. Understand the new functionality available in SAP NetWeaver 2004s and master advanced concepts in both the strategic and technical arenas. Learn how to leverage this tool to build and deploy Web applications and user exits. Find out how you can design a more

effective user interface with reusable components. Learn different ways to extend the capabilities of Web Application Designer using advanced customization options, including JavaScript and application programming interface (API) commands, instructions, and functions. Turbocharge query and analytic performance with SAP NetWeaver BI Accelerator Dont let large data volumes, difficult-to-predict usage patterns, and demanding user response expectations slow your BI system to a crawl! Learn how SAP NetWeaver BI Accelerator can dramatically speed query and analytic performance using the principles of search engine technology. Assess the technical prerequisites, capabilities, and rationale behind SAP NetWeaver BI Accelerator. Understand the impact of SAP NetWeaver BI Accelerator on reporting performance. Delve into the unique architecture and hardware requirements of SAP NetWeaver BI Accelerator. Find out how SAP NetWeaver BI Accelerator can also help you simplify query and analytics administration and monitoring. Walk through key configuration steps and requirements to properly set up SAP NetWeaver BI Accelerator at your company. Invaluable lessons for distributing reports with SAP BEx Broadcaster Hear how your competitors use SAP BEx Broadcaster, available with SAP BW 3.5 and later, to better schedule and execute the delivery of SAP BW reports. Step through demos to see how to set up and operate SAP BEx Broadcaster, and how to efficiently schedule jobs on the back end. Prepare for the unique hardware and software prerequisites that come with SAP BEx Broadcaster, and learn how these requirements may change depending on how you publish and distribute reports. Understand the key differences between using SAP BEx Broadcaster to publish and distribute reports via your in-house email system and using SAP NetWeaver Portal. See how tagging SAP BEx Broadcaster onto your SAP BW process chains can help you further automate your report scheduling. Apply stringent controls that ensure that unauthorized parties do not gain access to broadcasted reports. Find out why you should consider a core governance council to maintain control over SAP BW report distribution as you roll out SAP BEx Broadcaster. Determine if and how you should configure SAP BEx Broadcaster depending on the type of user receiving specific reports. Take home sample code to help you bypass domain conflicts that can arise when you call reports from SAP BW into SAP NetWeaver Portal. Options for building your management cockpits and best practices to optimize their navigation and usability Evaluate your options for building Web-delivered management cockpits and get best practices for cockpit navigation and usability. You will learn how to determine when it is advisable to use the prebuilt Web templates delivered in SAP Strategic Enterprise Management Corporate Performance Monitor (SAP SEM-CPM) to accelerate cockpit development and delivery. Learn how you can develop more meaningful analytics by feeding your CPM cockpit with data from multiple sources. Examine the best ways to use custom iViews to build cockpits directly in SAP NetWeaver Portal and why this may be the best choice for displaying static information.

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Explore the architecture and features available with the SAP NetWeaver 2004s version of Information Broadcasting. Take an in-depth look at how

How to insert two queries into one BEx Analyzer workbook. I frequently need to use data form different InfoProviders. Sometimes, instead creating MultiProvider, it is faster to put two or more queries into one workbook and create separate tab to display joined data. Here are 7 steps to create such a solution: 1. Create queries you would like to join. 2. Open one of the queries in BEx Analyzer and save it as a workbook. 3. Create two additional tabs in the workbook, and give them names (e.g., query2, results) 4. Edit the query2 tab by adding design items: click BEx Analyzer > Design Toolbar > Insert Analysis Grid 5. Click on the Properties dialog box, change Data Provider's name and click create button. 6. Choose the second query and confirm your choice. 7. Create a table, on the result tab, that merge data form both queries. Save the workbook. What about selection screen? The variables related to the queries will be displayed on one selection screen, if you use the same variable in the queries - there will be only one field for the shared variables.

Transporting SAP BI queries In this post I present basic steps to transport SAP BI queries from development to quality server. The steps are performed in source and target system, so you need authorizations to release and import objects. Source system Start with transaction RSOR (Transport Connection), insert initial and target source system names using Conversion button (2) and choose grouping type (3). Select queries you would like to transport to target system and press Execute and than Transport objects (truck) button.

Release the change request to transport using SE10 transaction. Press Display, choose tasks and requests you would like to release and press the button with single truck (or F9). When both task and request have been released successfully, start transport in target system. Target system To import queries to quality system start STMS transaction > Import Overview (F5) > Display Import Queue. On the Import Queue screen select the request and press Import (truck with a small loading). Choose target client's number and press enter. The queries will be written to the target system. Standard BEx Transport Request When the request, you have released, was set as Standard BEx Transport Request, you need created a new standard request. If there is no standard request, nobody is able to process queries or workbooks on the system. When you try to do so, you will receive the error: The query could not be saved due to a problem in transport. BEx transport request is not available or not suitable. To create a new request you need to press BEx and than Assign / Delete button, add the request and save the choice.

Now all new objects and modifications will be written to the chosen BEx transport request. For more information on the standard transport request see this note:194051. Additional resource: Transporting: role and objects.

Loading plan and actual data into the same InfoCube Today, I had a discussion with my colleagues, about loading plan and actual financial data into the same InfoCube. The process seems to be easy, but update mode and aggregation issues make me consider different way of loading such a data. The actual data need to be loaded with delta update mode, plan data (e.g., 0VTYPE 20) can only use full update and the previous load need to be deleted to avoid duplicated data. I consider 3 loading options: 1. Automatic removal of the previous load after data loading using InfoPackage. To use this option we need to modify the InfoPakage that is used to load data. In the DataTarget tab we choose Automatic Loading of Similar/Identical Requests from the InfoCube and then Delete Existing Requests, Full or Initial Requests, Same or More Comprehensive.

Now we can schedule the job or add the load to a process chain. After the update, Same or More Comprehensive requests will be deleted. 2. Delete previous load in the process chain. The second option is to build a process chain (TCode: RSPC) to load data and add deletion of the previous load of plan data using Delete Overlapping Requests from InfoCube option.

3. Remove previous data via ABAP program using DELETE_FACTS. This option requires including in a process chain an ABAP program that performs selective deletion of the data (TCode to generate the program: DELETE_FACTS). I must also take into consideration data aggregation. If I have both actual and plan data in one InfoCube I can not aggregate the Cube. One of the option is to create two InfoCubes, the first for actual data (delta update) and the second for plan data (full update), and aggregate the first one. The second option is to remove plan data from our InfoCube before aggregating the InfoCube. I think I will choose the option with two InfoProviders because it appears to be more flexible to maintain.

What is your experience with loading plan and actual data? Which loading option do you prefer and how do you solve the aggregation issue? Feel free to comment the post and share your opinion with us. Note: The overall issue is related not only with plan values but also with down payments, overall plan values, variances and accrual calculations. For these values only a full update is possible.

SAP BW Process Chains - automation and job scheduling Would you like to automate repetitive BW tasks like loading transaction data? Create Process Chains! Let's begin with basic definitions:

Process chain (PC) is a sequence of processes linked together. Each Process have a type (BW activity, e.g., activate ODS) and a variant (contains parameters). Start process describes when the process will start (immediately, scheduled job, metaprocess, API). Connector is linking processes; you can choose 1 of 3 options of starting next process: when previous finishes with success (green arrow), failure (red) or always start the next process (black). Variant is a set of parameters passed to the process, such as the name of the InfoPackage to use for loading, the name of the InfoObject to perform a change run for.

Selected icon bar buttons:

Planning view enables to create and modify processes. Checking view checks consistency of a process chain selected in plan view. Log view shows log of the execution of a process chain selected in plan view.

Selected left panel buttons:

Process Chains displays process chains. Process Types displays process types, enable to drag and drop process into main panel.

The picture below shows simple PC (loading transaction data into ODS and than into InfoCube).

Loading Hierarchy using Process Chain Now, we will describe how to load a hierarchy into an InfoObject. The process will start every day at 1PM. The process chain will have the following processes: Start > Load Hierarchy > Save Hierarchy > Attr. Change Run

1. Start transaction RSPC and choose Process Chain > Create. Enter a name of the chain and description. You will be asked to insert a name of start process - choose New, enter a variant name and description. 2. Select Direct Scheduling option and click Change Selection. Click Date/Time, enter schedule start date and hour (current date, 01:00:00). Click Period values > Daily > Save > Save > Save > Back. 3. Click Process Types button on the left panel. Expand Load process and click twice Execute InfoPackage. Choose the InfoPackage for the Hierarchy you would like to load and confirm the choice. To connect the Start process with the load process: right click on the Start, choose process > Connect with > Load Data > created process. 4. Add processes to save hierarchy and attributes change run (commits changes in the InfoObject). 5. Save the process. Click Checking View button. If the chain is OK, activate and schedule the chain by clicking Activate and then Schedule buttons.

Additional information

To work with PC, you need authorization for authorization object S_RS_PC. To monitor selected processes create a list of PCs using TCode RSPCM. This tool will enable you to see statuses of selected PCs and provide a link to process chains' log. To have a PC that can be scheduled and maintained only in specified client - press Process Chain > Attributes > Editing Client, and enter the name of the selected client. To transport client dependant PC with complete starting options, enter required background user data in the target system using TCode RSTPRFC. If you transport PC with scheduling option: immediately the PC will start immediately after the transport. To "stop" scheduled PC click Execution > Remove from Schedule. To see overall PCs status - start BWCCMS tool. PC can send e-mail message when process failed. To create e-mail alert right click on the process and choose Maintain Message option. To see technical names and additional information about processes: click View > Detail View.

Examples of BW PC Example of processes sequence when deleting overlapping requests form a InfoCube: Start > Del. indexes > Load InfoCube > Delete Overlapping request > Gen. Indexes Loading hierarchy, attributes and texts into InfoObjects: Start > Load Attr. > Load Hierarchy > Save Hierarchy > Attr. Change Run > Load Te

Process chain creation - step by step Juergen Noe Business Card Company: IBSolution GmbH Posted on Jan. 11, 2008 12:37 PM in Beginner, Enterprise Data Warehousing/Business Warehouse

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I want to continue my series for beginners new to SAP BI. In this blog I write down the necessary steps how to create a process chain loading data with an infopackage and with a DTP, activation and scheduling of this chain.

1.) Call transaction RSPC

RSPC is the central transaction for all your process chain maintenance. Here you find on the left existing process chains sorted by application components. The default mode is planning view. There are two other views available: Check view and protocol view. 2.) Create a new process chain
To create a new process chain, press Create icon in planning view. In the following pop-Up window you have to enter a technical name and a description of your new process chain.

The technical name can be as long as up to 20 characters. Usually it starts with a Z or Y. See your project internal naming conventions for it.

3.) Define a start process

After entering a process chain name and description, a new window pop-ups. You are asked to define a start variant.

Thats the first step in your process chain! Every process chain does have one and only one starting step. A new step of type Start process will be added. To be able to define unique start processes for your chain you have to create a start variant. These steps you have to do for any other of the subsequent steps. First drag a process type on the design window. Then define a variant for this type and you have to create a process step. The formula is: Process Type + Process Variant = Process Step! If you save your chain, process chain name will be saved into table RSPCCHAIN. The process chain definition with its steps is stored into table RSPCPROCESSCHAIN as a modified version.So press on the create button, a new pop-up appears:

Here you define a technical name for the start variant and a description. In the n ext step you define when the process chain will start. You can choose from direct scheduling or start using meta chain or API. With direct scheduling you can define either to start immediately upon activating and scheduling or to a defined point in time like you know it from the job scheduling in any SAP system. With start using meta chain or API you are able to start this chain as a

subchain or from an external application via a function module RSPC_API_CHAIN_START. Press enter and choose an existing transport request or create a new one and you have successfully created the first step of your chain. 4.) Add a loading step If you have defined the starting point for your chain you can add now a loading step for loading master data or transaction data. For all of this data choose Execute infopackage from all available process types. See picture below:

You can easily move this step with drag & drop from the left on the right side into your design window.A new pop-up window appears. Here you can choose which infopackage you want to use. You cant create a new one here. Press F4 help and a new window will pop-up with all available infoapckages sorted by use. At the top are infopackages used in this process chain, followed by all other available infopackages not used in the process chain. Choose one and confirm. This step will now be added to your process chain. Your chain should look now like this:

How do you connect these both steps? One way is with right mouse click on the first step and choose Connect with -> Load Data and then the infopackage you want to be the successor.

Another possibility is to select the starting point and keep left mouse button pressed. Then move mouse down to your target step. An arrow should follow your movement. Stop pressing the mouse button and a new connection is created. From the Start process to every second step its a black line.
5.) Add a DTP process In BI 7.0 systems you can also add a DTP to your chain. From the process type window ( see above.) you can choose Data Transfer Process. Drag & Drop it on the design window. You will be asked for a variant for this step. Again as in infopackages press F4 help and choose from the list of available DTPs the one you want to execute. Confirm your choice and a new step for the DTP is added to your chain. Now you have to connect this step again with one of its possible predecessors. As described

above choose context menu and connect with -> Data transfer process. But now a new pop-up window appears.

Here you can choose if this successor step shall be executed only if the predecessor was successful, ended with errors or anyhow if successful or not always execute. With this connection type you can control the behaviour of your chain in case of errors. If a step ends successful or with errors is defined in the process step itself. To see the settings for each step you can go to Settings -> Maintain Process Types in the menu. In this window you see all defined (standard and custom ) process types. Choose Data transfer process and display details in the menu. In the new window you can see:

DTP can have the possible event Process ends successful or incorrect, has ID @VK@, which actually means the icon and appears under category 10, which is Load process and postprocessing. Your process chain can now look like this:

You can now add all other steps necessary. By default the process chain itself suggests successors and predecessors for each step. For loading transaction data with an infopackage it usually adds steps for deleting and creating indexes on a cube. You can switch off this behaviour in the menu under Settings -> Default Chains". In the pop-up choose Do not suggest Process and confirm.

Then you have to add all necessary steps yourself. 6.) Check chain Now you can check your chain with menu Goto -> Checking View or press the button Check. Your chain will now be checked if all steps are connected, have at least one predecessor. Logical errors are not detected. Thats your responsibility. If the chain checking returns with warnings or is ok you can activate it. If check carries out errors you have to remove the errors first. 7.) Activate chain After successful checking you can activate your process chain. In this step the entries in table RSPCPROCCESSCHAIN will be converted into an active version. You can activate your chain with menu Process chain -> Activate or press on the activation button in the symbol bar. You will find your new chain under application component "Not assigned". To assign it to another application component you have to change it. Choose "application component" button in change mode of the chain, save and reactivate it. Then refresh the application component hierarchy. Your process chain will now appear under new application component. 8.) Schedule chain After successful activation you can now schedule your chain. Press button Schedule or menu Execution -> schedule. The chain will be scheduled as background job. You can see it in SM37. You will find a job named BI_PROCESS_TRIGGER. Unfortunately every process chain is scheduled with a job with this name. In the job variant you will find which process chain will be executed. During execution the steps defined in RSPCPROCESSCHAIN will be executed one after each other. The execution of the next event is triggered by events defined in the table. You can watch SM37 for new executed jobs starting with BI_ or look at the protocol view of the chain. 9.) Check protocol for errors You can check chain execution for errors in the protocol or process chain log. Choose in the menu Go to -> Log View. You will be asked for the time interval for which you want to check chain execution. Possible options are today, yesterday and today, one week ago, this month and last month or free date. For us option today is sufficient.
Here is an example of another chain that ended incorrect:

On the left side you see when the chain was executed and how it ended. On the right side you see for every step if it ended successfully or not. As you can see the two first steps were successfull and step Load Data of an infopackage failed. You can now check the reason with context menu display messages or Process monitor. Display messages displays the job log of the background job and messages created by the request monitor. With Process monitor you get to the request monitor and see detailed information why the loading failed. THe logs are stored in tables RSPCLOGCHAIN and RSPCPROCESSLOG. Examining request monitor will be a topic of one of my next upcoming blogs.