Acquiring Data

Users with a modeler role can import data directly into the Data Builder from connections and other sources, and use flows to replicate, extract, transform and load data.

This topic contains the following sections:

Space administrators and integrators prepare connections and other sources to allow modelers to acquire data (see Integrating Data and Managing Spaces in SAP Datasphere).

Acquire Data from SAP S/4HANA

The Import Entities wizard allows you to import entities from SAP S/4HANA Cloud and SAP S/4HANA on-premise systems with rich metadata. See Importing Entities with Semantics from SAP S/4HANA.

Acquire Data from SAP BW and SAP BW Bridge

If your SAP Datasphere tenant is part of an SAP Business Data Cloud formation, then data can be pushed from SAP BW via the data product generator for SAP Business Data Cloud. See Integrating Data from SAP BW and SAP BW∕4HANA with the Data Product Generator for SAP Business Data Cloud.

You can enable the SAP Datasphere, SAP BW Bridge option to access SAP BW and SAP BW∕4HANA functionalities in the public cloud, and to import SAP BW bridge data models into SAP Datasphere. See Getting Started With SAP Datasphere, SAP BW Bridge.

You can use the Import Entities wizard to import entities from SAP BW∕4HANA and SAP BW bridge systems with rich metadata. See Importing Entities with Semantics from SAP BW∕4HANA or SAP BW Bridge.

For older SAP BW versions, you can use an SAP BW or SAP ABAP connection to import data. See:

SAP BW Connections
SAP ABAP Connections (including support for replication flows)

Federate and Replicate Data in Remote Tables

Many connections (including most connections to SAP systems) support importing remote tables to federate or replicate data (see Integrating Data via Connections).

You can import remote tables to make the data available in your space from the Data Builder start page, in an entity-relationship model, or directly as a source in a view.

To get started: In the side navigation area, select  (Data Builder), select a space if necessary, and select Import Import Remote Tables. See Import Remote Tables.
By default, remote tables federate data, and each time the data is used a call is made to the remote system to load it. You can improve performance by enabling replication to store the data in SAP Datasphere. Some connections support real-time replication and for others, you can keep your data fresh by scheduling regular updates (see Replicate Remote Table Data).
To optimize replication performance and reduce your data footprint, you can remove unneccessary columns and set filters (see Restrict Remote Table Data Loads).
To maximize access performance, you can store the replicated data in-memory (see Accelerate Table Data Access with In-Memory Storage).
Once a remote table is imported, it is available for use by all users of the space and can be used as a source for views.
You can automate sequences of data replication and loading tasks with task chains (see Creating a Task Chain).

Extract, Transform, and Load Data with Data Flows

Many connections (including most connections to SAP systems) support loading data to SAP Datasphere via data flows (see Integrating Data via Connections).

Data flows support a wide range of extract, transform, and load (ETL) operations.

To get started: In the side navigation area, select  (Data Builder), select a space if necessary, and select New Data Flow to open the editor. See Creating a Data Flow.
To add a source to your data flow, drag it from the Source Browser (see Using the Source Browser).
In addition to connections, data flows can load and transform data from the following kinds of sources:
- Open SQL schemas (see Integrating Data via Database Users/Open SQL Schemas)
- HDI containers (see Exchanging Data with SAP HANA for SQL Data Warehousing HDI Containers).
- Objects that are already in the SAP Datasphere repository (see Add Objects from the Repository).
Data flows load data into local tables.
You can automate sequences of data replication and loading tasks with task chains (see Creating a Task Chain).

Load Data from Multiple Objects with Replication Flows

Certain connections support loading data from multiple source objects to SAP Datasphere via a replication flow. You can enable a single initial load or request initial and delta loads and perform simple projection operations (see Creating a Replication Flow).

Load Data to the Object Store

The object store provides an inbound layer for staging large quantities of data cost-effectively.

A user with an administrator role can create a space with SAP HANA data lake files storage in the object store. See Create a File Space to Load Data in the Object Store.
A user with a modeler role can:
- Create local tables (file) to hold data. See Creating a Local Table (File).
- Load data via replication flows. See Creating a Replication Flow.
  
  If your SAP Datasphere tenant is part of an SAP Business Data Cloud formation, then data can be pushed from SAP BW via the data product generator for SAP Business Data Cloud. See Integrating Data from SAP BW and SAP BW∕4HANA with the Data Product Generator for SAP Business Data Cloud.
- Clean and prepare data via transformation flows. See Creating a Transformation Flow in a File Space.
- Share local tables (file) to standard spaces to allow the data to be used as a source for flows, views, and analytic models. See Sharing Entities and Task Chains to Other Spaces.

Import Data from CSV Files

You can import data from a CSV file to create a new local table (see Creating a Local Table from a CSV File).

Purchase Data from Data Marketplace

Purchase data products from providers and download them directly into your space (see Installing Marketplace Data Products).

You can become a data provider and offer your own data products for sale in Data Marketplace via the Data Sharing Cockpit (see Data Sharing Cockpit - Data Provider's Guide).

Create and Import Objects to Receive and Prepare Data

You can create and import empty tables and views to receive and prepare data:

You can create an empty local table ready to receive data from a CSV file or from a data flow (see Creating a Local Table).
You can import business content prepared by SAP and partners to support end-to-end business scenarios (see Importing SAP and Partner Business Content from the Content Network).
You can import object definitions from a CSN/JSON file (see Importing Objects from a CSN/JSON File).