Query, Reporting, and Analysis (SAP Library - Technical Operations Manual for SAP NetWeaver)

Query, Reporting, and Analysis

With this variant, business experts can use the BEx Query Designer to make queries available with which BI data can be analyzed in a flexible, user-oriented way.

The queries serve as data providers for Web applications that are created using the BEx Web Application Designer. Web applications can be modified to meet the requirements of different categories of user. For example, BI data can be presented in a concise form for information consumers, or in complex and interactive applications for business analysts.

Business experts use the BEx Report Designer to create formatted reports. This tool provides various functions, for example, for selecting formats, fonts, and data layouts and for adding header and footer rows to reports. These reports are optimized for displaying and printing.

The BEx Report Designer is integrated into the BEx Web Application Designer. This means that reports can be integrated into BEx Web applications using the Report Web item.

You access BEx Web applications and reports in the portal.

Prerequisites

To use the Query, Reporting, and Analysis variant you have to configure the SAP NetWeaver Application Server (SAP NetWeaver AS). Before you can use SAP NetWeaver AS functions, you have to set the relevant profile parameters for configuring SAP NetWeaver AS. For detailed documentation on profile parameters, see Parameterization of ICM and the ICM Server Cache.

Note

Note that the BI standard client is used when you log on to SAP NetWeaver AS. The BI standard client is specified in profile parameter login/system_client. Logon to SAP NetWeaver AS is implicitly performed in the BI standard client. Alternatively, you can pass the client by using the URL parameter &sap-client=<CLIENT>. If you do not have the BI standard client and you do not specify a URL parameter you cannot successfully log on.

Tasks on Demand

The most important administration tasks that are to be executed on demand are:

Tasks to Be Performed Once	Further Information
Migrating Web templates	A migration tool is available if you want to migrate Web templates in format SAP BW 3.x to format SAP NetWeaver 7.0. More information: Web Templates and Migration Tool
Specifying standard Web templates for ad hoc analysis and reports	You can use the Standard Web Templates for Ad Hoc Analysis (0ANALYSIS_PATTERN) to display queries from the BEx Query Designer on the Web on an ad hoc basis. Reports from the BEx Report Designer are displayed on the Web using the Standard Web Template for Reports (0REPORT_TEMPLATE). In addition, you can define other Web templates as standard Web templates, for example Web templates that include your company logo. You can also change the delivered standard Web templates to meet your requirements. For more information, see the SAP Reference IMG ® SAP Customizing Implementation Guide ® SAP NetWeaver ® Business Intelligence ® Settings for Reporting and Analysis ® BEx Web ® Set Standard Web Templates.
Specifying settings for Web templates	You can set the properties of Web templates for all Web applications in Customizing. You make these settings in the SAP Reference IMG ® SAP Customizing Implementation Guide ® SAP NetWeaver ® Business Intelligence ® Settings for Reporting and Analysis ® BEx Web ® Determine Settings for Web Templates. More information: Web Template Properties and Web Template Parameters
Setting the size restriction for result sets	Using report SAP_RSADMIN_MAINTAIN (transaction SA38), you can specify the maximum size of the result set that users can query. This allows you to avoid returning result sets that are too large and that can have a negative impact on the performance and quality of Web applications. More information: Setting the Size Restriction for Result Sets
Activating Export Services	To export PDF, PostScript and PCL files from BEx web applications, activate the Export Library for SAP NetWeaver BI. This is optimized for exporting larger documents. For more information, see Activating Export Library for SAP NetWeaver BI. To create PDF files (for example, if you want to create a print version of a Web application), you can also use the Adobe document services. For more information, see Adobe Document Services Configuration Guide. You can also find this documentation in SAP Solution Manager under Solutions ® Basic Configuration ® SAP NetWeaver 7.0 ® Usage Type AS Java.
Activating personalization in BEx	Personalization in the Business Explorer allows users to fill variables with user-specific entries, to save user-specific access to BI objects for the history view in the BEx open dialog, and to save user-specific start views for Web applications. You activate personalization in the SAP Reference IMG ® SAP Customizing Implementation Guide ® SAP NetWeaver ® Business Intelligence ® Settings for Reporting and Analysis ® General Settings for Reporting and Analysis ® Activate Personalization in BEx. More information: Personalization in BEx
Displaying BI query runtime statistics on the Web	You can display technical information about the performance of a Web application directly on the Web. If performance problems occur, you can send this information to SAP in a customer message for error analysis purposes. To display the statistics data on the Web, add parameter &PROFILING=X to the start URL of the Web application. More information: Display of BI Query Runtime Statistics on the Web
Creating external data sources in the system landscape of the portal	To enable users to perform ad hoc analyses in BEx Web applications and reports based on multidimensionally stored data from third-party providers, you have to create the appropriate data sources in the portal system landscape. You do this using BI Java Connectors. Business experts can create Web applications and reports in the BEx Web Application Designer and the BEx Report Designer using this data. You define these settings in the SAP Reference IMG ® SAP Customizing Implementation Guide ® SAP NetWeaver ® Business Intelligence ® UDI Settings by Purpose ® Integration of BEx Web. More information: Access to External Data Sources
Tasks to Be Performed More Than Once	Further Information
Mass maintenance and mass conversion of Web templates and reusable Web items	The mass maintenance of Web templates and reusable Web items enables you to automatically change multiple Web templates or reusable Web items simultaneously. You can simultaneously export or import multiple objects and execute simple replacement operations. More information: Mass Maintenance and Conversion of Web Templates and Reusable Web Items
Setting the portal theme	Themes determine the colors and appearance of the portal desktop. In the portal, content from BI is always displayed with the current user theme. You can set the user themes in system administration. More information: Formatting of Web Applications and Portal Themes
Assigning roles in the portal	You assign roles to users for working with content from BI in the portal. These are managed by the Portal Content Directory (PCD). More information: Role Assignment
Maintaining sender-recipient assignment	You make the required settings for connecting a query to the report-report interface (RRI) by choosing SAP Menu ® Business Explorer ® Query ® Jump Targets. More information: Editing Sender-Receiver Assignments to the RRI in the BI System
Setting intervals and hierarchies for time characteristics	For time characteristics, you can specify the time interval that appears in the F4 help for the characteristic values. Generally you make this setting once a year. You can also specify hierarchies for the time characteristics that you want to use in reporting. The leaves of the hierarchy are then located in the time interval that you have set. You make these settings in the SAP Reference IMG ® SAP Customizing Implementation Guide ® SAP NetWeaver ® Business Intelligence ® Settings for Reporting and Analysis ® General Settings for Reporting and Analysis ® Set F4 Help and Hierarchies for Time Characteristics/OLAP Settings. More information: Activating Virtual Time Hierarchies
Deleting query objects	You can delete queries, structures, and calculated or restricted key figures by choosing SAP Menu ® Business Explorer ® Query ® Delete Objects. More information: Deleting Query Objects
Copying queries between InfoCubes	You can copy queries and their subobjects (structures, calculated key figures, and restricted key figures) between various InfoCubes by choosing SAP Menu ® Business Explorer ® Query ® Copy. More information: Copying Queries Between InfoCubes

Tasks Performed Regularly

You perform the following tasks regularly:

Tasks

Further Information

Monitoring BI log files (when using Java components)

The BI log files can be found in the Log Viewer under ./log/Application/BI/*

More information: Monitoring and Displaying Log Files

Reorganizing bookmarks

You use report RSWR_BOOKMARK_REORG (transaction SA38) to reorganize and delete bookmarks.

Bookmarks are saved navigational states of Web applications. In the BI system, they are created, for example, when:

● You execute the Broadcast and Export ® Bookmark function in the context menu of a Web application

● You personalize Web applications

More information: Reorganization of Bookmarks

Troubleshooting

In the BEx Web Application Designer, you can record traces to analyze problems in Web applications. For more information, see Functions in the Tools Menu under Settings ® General.

The function for recording traces is automatically always activated in the BEx Report Designer.

The trace file is a text file that contains a log of the activities performed by the BEx tool concerned. It is stored in your system’s temporary folder. The recorded traces help to resolve problems that you report to SAP as customer messages.