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SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse (SAP NetWeaver BW) has a restriction on DataSource names. CAF generates the DataSource names automatically, so the following guidelines were established to ensure that DataSource names are unique.

Name Restrictions for UD Connect

In SAP NetWeaver BW there are name restrictions for DataSources that are created by UD Connect. They are:

  • Length of name can only be less than or equal to 30 characters
  • First 15 characters should be unique
  • Name should contain only numbers, letters, or an underscore ("_"; however, with certain restrictions).

Here is how CAF handles these restrictions:

  • Limit or cut the name of the DataSource to 30 characters.
  • Try to make the first 15 characters of the DataSource name unique and readable. However, the uniqueness cannot be guaranteed 100%, because doing so (for example using hash code function) would make the name unreadable.
  • CAF removes spaces and the following characters from data source names:
    • Period: "."
    • Underscore: "_"
    • Forward slash: "/"
  • You could change the following properties to the caf/runtime/ear:
    Property Description

    CAF_BI_DATASOURCE_NAME_PREFIX

    Prefix for CAF DataSource name, which is needed to create unique SAP NetWeaver BW DataSource names for the same BI extractors on different systems. (default: BW)

    CAF_BI_LD_DATASOURCE_NAME_ PREFIX

    Prefix for CAF DataSource for language dependent attributes (default: LD)

CAF DataSource naming conventions

Type of DataSource Rule Pattern

Business Object Node

CAF_BI_DATASOURCE_NAME_PREFIX + business object node name (without provider, application and service suffix, if available) + application name + 'findByMultipleParameters' (this is the query name).

Remove all illegal characters. If the resulting name exceeds 30 characters, then cut the DataSource name from the right so that the name only has 30 characters.

For example, the business object node sap.com/caf.tests/StudentService could have DataSource name E41StudentcaftestsfindByMultip (CAF_BI_DATASOURCE_NAME_PREFIX = E41 ).

Application services extractor method

CAF_BI_DATASOURCE_NAME_PREFIX + operation name + service name (without provider, application and service suffix if exists) + application name.

Remove all illegal characters. If the resulting name exceeds 30 characters, then cut the DataSource name from the right so that the name only has 30 characters.

For example, the name of the DataSource for BI extract operation extractStudentAddress() in application service sap.com/caf.tests/University would have DataSource nameE41extractStudentAddressUniver (CAF_BI_DATASOURCE_NAME_PREFIX = E41 ).

Business object node with language-dependent attributes

CAF_BI_LD_DATASOURCE_NAME_PREFIX + business object node DataSource name (cut if necessary).

For example, the language-dependent attributes of sap.com/caf.tests/StudentService could have the DataSource name LDE41StudentcaftestsfindByMult (CAF_BI_DATASOURCE_NAME_PREFIX = E41 , CAF_BI_LD_DATASOURCE_NAME_PREFIX = LD ).

Association between two business object nodes.

CAF_BI_DATASOURCE_NAME_PREFIX + association name + Master business object node DataSource name without prefix (cut if necessary).