Process documentation  Geocoding Locate the document in its SAP Library structure

Purpose

To display dynamic geo-characteristics as points on a map, you have to determine the geographic co-ordinates for each master data object.

Note

The master data table for dynamic geo-characteristics is therefore extended with a number of standard geo-attributes such as LONGITUDE and LATITUDE (see Static and Dynamic Geo-Characteristics).

Prerequisites

You have marked the geo-relevant characteristic as geo-relevant in the InfoObject maintenance. See: Tabstrip: Business Explorer

Note

Before you can to follow the example that explains the geocoding process, you have to ensure that SAP DemoContent is active in your BW system.

Process

You geocode using the ArcView GIS software from ESRI. ArcView GIS determines the geographical coordinates of BW data, by identifying a column with geo-relevant characteristics in a reference shapefile. To carry out this process, you have to load the BW master data table into a dBase file. The geographical coordinates are determined for every master data object. After you have done this, convert the dBase file with the determined geo-attributes into a CSV file (comma-separated value file), which you can use for a master data upload into the BW master data table.

The following steps explain the process of geocoding dynamic geo-characteristics using the 0D_SOLD_TO characteristic (sold-to party) from the 0D_SD_C03 Sales Overview Demo-Content InfoCube.

  1. Downloading BW master data into a dBase (.dbf) file
  2. Geocoding using ArcView GIS.
  3. Converting dBase Files into CSV Files.
  4. Scheduling a master data upload for the CSV file.

Note

The system administrator is responsible for the master data upload.

Result

You can now use the characteristic as a dynamic geo-characteristic in the BW Business Explorer. Each user who works with a query that contains this dynamic geo-characteristic can now analyze data from a chart.