Performing Drag&Relate (SAP Library - BI Suite: Business Explorer)

Performing Drag&Relate

Use

In a Drag&Relate operation, a Business Object is transferred from one iView (Drag&Relate Source) to another iView (Drag&Relate Target) as a parameter. Transfer and starting of the iView is done using by dragging the This graphic is explained in the accompanying text symbol with the mouse. During transfer as a parameter, a Business Object contains the type, a value and optionally, the logical system.

A Drag&Relate Source is an iView that contains Business Objects. Drag&Relate compatible Business Objects are designated with the symbol This graphic is explained in the accompanying text . In SAP BW, Business Objects correspond to InfoObjects of type Characteristic. With a Drag&Relate operation, the characteristic, a characteristic value and the logical system are transferred. When you only click on the symbol in a BEx Web Application without dragging it to another iView, the master data with attributes from the InfoObject Characteristic are displayed.

For more information on including characteristics as Business Objects, see Creating Business Objects. For more information about Drag&Relate sources, see Defining an iView as a Drag&Relate Source.

A Drag&Relate Target is displayed in the navigation panel and designated with the symbol This graphic is explained in the accompanying text . Drag&Relate targets are displayed in the navigation panel in the Detailed Navigation iView and in the Drag&Relate Target Objects iView. For more information, see Defining an iView as a Drag&Relate Target.

Caution

Note that only the value of a Business Object can be transferred during a Drag&Relate operation. This means only one characteristic value can be transferred to a Drag&Relate target and used for filtering.

Possible Drag&Relate Scenarios

Drag&Relate Source	Drag&Relate Target
BEx Web Application	BEx Web Application
BEx Web Application	SAP transaction
SAP transaction	BEx Web Application
BEx Web Application	External Web application

Note

The BEx Web application can either be a BEx Web application created with the BEx Web Application Designer or an ad-hoc query displayed on the Web (in the Standard Web Template).

Procedure

1. Start an iView that is defined as a Drag&Relate Source. This type of iView includes one or more Drag&Relate symbols This graphic is explained in the accompanying text .

2. Drag the This graphic is explained in the accompanying text symbol to the navigation panel with the mouse. The Business Object represented by the symbol is taken as the parameter. If the iView is a BEx Web Application or query, then an InfoObject of type Characteristic is transferred.

3. Release the symbol This graphic is explained in the accompanying text on a Drag&Relate Target. A Drag&Relate target is an iView that is designated with the symbol . A Drag&Relate target is displayed within the navigation panel, either in the iView Detailed Navigation or in the iView Drag&Relate Target Objects.

Drag&Relate in Tables and Charts

You can use the Drag&Relate function with Drag&Relate-enabled characteristics in tables and charts. These can be a component of a BEx Web application as an iView in the portal.

In charts you can use Drag&Relate from legends as long as the legend only contains one characteristic and this characteristic is enabled for Drag&Relate.

Caution

If the BEx Web application with the chart is from a BW system with release SAP BW 3.0B or SAP BW 3.1 content and you have activated Drag&Relate, you are no longer able to use the context menu in the legend of the chart. If the BEx Web application with the chart is from a BW system with release SAP BW 3.5 then you are able to use both functions (context menu and Drag&Relate) in the legend of the chart simultaneously. This is possible in SAP BW 3.5 as the context menu is called with the right mouse button and Drag&Relate with the left. In SAP BW 3.0B and SAP BW 3.1. content the context menu is called with the left mouse button and this results in a conflict.

Result

The Drag&Relate service processes the parameter. The Drag&Relate service uses the Relation Resolving Service and the Unification Controller Service to send requests to the connected systems using the Distributed Query Engine (DQE) via connectors.

The Relation Resolving Service links Business Objects that are stored in the Portal Content Directory (PCD) (see Creating Business Objects). An application-specific parameter for the Drag&Relate target is created from the application-specific parameter of the Drag&Relate source.

The selected iView (Drag&Relate target) is started automatically and the application-specific parameter is transferred.

Examples

Drag&Relate from One BEx Web Application to Another BEx Web Application (in the Same BW System)

The Customer Overview iView is a BEx Web Application that contains a query with the Customer characteristic. Drag&Relate enables you to select one customer and transfer it to the BEx Web Application Sales Orders as a filter value.

Drag&Relate from a BEx Web Application to a SAP Transaction

The Orders iView is a BEx Web Application that contains a query with the Order characteristic. Drag&Relate allows you to select an order and display the delivery status of the order using an SAP transaction.

Drag&Relate from a BEx Web Application to BEx Web Application

The SAP transaction Display Material displays all information on a material, such as Material Group. Using Drag&Relate you can drag the material group onto a BEx Web Application Material Group.

Drag&Relate from a BEx Web Application to an External Web Application

The Customer Overview iView is a BEx Web Application that contains a query with the Customer characteristic. The Web application www.google.com is included in the portal using an iView for Web target objects. You can transfer the Customer characteristic to the Google search as a business object.