Definition of a Data Provision Technology

Data provision technology is a framework for accessing data providers. The data provision technology can be configured, for example, Embedded Search or Business Intelligence.

You can either use data provision technologies provided by SAP or define new ones. You can integrate new data provision technologies into the configuration center (see Configuration Center).

To define the data provision technology, you have to select one of the following search connectors:

You have to define the ID, and the description of the search connector. The system automatically defines the time of creation and the user who created the search connector as well as the person having made the last change.

Definition of Data Providers

A data provider provides the data processed in BCV. It can be a configuration (if the data provider is Embedded Search: connector with template) or a set of tables (if the data provider is Business Intelligence: InfoCube).

You have to select the data provider that is provided by the data provision technology:

The system calls the list of the data providers from the data provision technology in the reference system or, in the case of ES and IS, from the local system. For BAPIs (as the call is implemented locally) the system calls this list from the local BAPI implementation of the data provision technology.

Definition of Additional Systems

If the data provision technology can call another system (for example, through RFC-enabled function modules), you can specify one or several systems for these calls. You have to define the connections in transaction Configuration of RFC Connections (SM59). The type of the connections (for example, RFC) depends on the capabilities of the data provision technology. After you have defined connections, you create a logical system in transaction SALV, and then use transaction BD97 to assign the connection to the logical system.

You have to maintain the system in transaction BD91 as well.

If you have defined multiple systems, you have to specify one of these systems as the reference system. You have to ensure that the configuration of the listed systems is consistent with the configuration of the reference system. If you do not specify a reference system or any additional systems, the system uses the local system.

Definition of Input Field Details

The system automatically determines the input fields and displays them as a list with as much detailed information as possible. You cannot enhance or reduce the list of input fields. You can define details that are not available, for example, conversion exit and meaning.

Definition of Output Field Details

The system automatically determines the output field and displays them as a list with as much detailed information as possible. You cannot enhance or reduce the list of fields. You can define details that are not available, for example, meaning and reference field. When you define a query, you can decide if you want to use the fields (see Definition of Queries).