ODP-Based Data Extraction via OData

OData is connected to the ODP data replication API as a communication protocol. The ODP framework provides the subscriber type OData access for operational data provisioning (ODP), which enables OData access to ODP data.

ODP-based data extraction via OData:

• supports data extraction between different systems, technology stacks, products and deployment modes.

  In an analytic context, operational data provisioning is the set standard for extracting from an ABAP system into another system. Since there is an increasing need in heterogeneous customer system landscapes for more flexibility, it should also be possible to use ODP in other integration scenarios. Data sources should be accessed for extraction for applications, which have been implemented with technologies other than ABAP. Applications should also be supported, which are run in the Cloud (Software as a Service) and not on-premise in a customer system landscape. Using OData as a communication protocol (HTTP-based and following REST principles) means that is possible to provide the qualities of ODP for these scenarios and numerous consumers, for which the ABAP RFC interface is not suitable.

• is available for all ODP contexts in the back end system for the extraction of available ODP contexts, such as SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse (for InfoProviders of the BW system), DataSource/ extractors or HANA information layer.

  This means ODP data sources can also be accessed for extraction in new scenarios. This is especially true for:

  • DataSources in SAP Business Suite systems

  • InfoProvider in BW systems

• is can be achieved by using SAP Gateway Foundation and by generating an OData service (with the SAP Gateway Service Builder) based on an operational data provider (ODP). The service (URL) can then be called from an external application (OData client) via OData/HTTP.

• provides the known ODP qualities:

  • Direct access for small data volumes without an operational delta queue (for a preview, for example)

  • Package-based full extraction via the operational delta queue for large data volumes

  • Delta extraction (with initial full extraction) via the operational delta queue for changes, provided that the ODP data source supports deltas (for example, DataStore object (advanced) in the BW system)

To provide ODP data for extraction via OData, you need an OData service. You can generate this service in the SAP Gateway Builder. Using this service (and the data model defined within it), you can convert the data structures in the ODP framework into the OData protocol. The data model specifies which data sets should be accessible (entity set) and the structure of these data sets (entity type). Every ODP can be converted into an entity set. Associations between ODPs can be taken into account by adding associated ODPs to the data model of the service. This means the OData service can include all the entities required to display a self-contained, relevant scenario for data extraction: Facts and master data (attributes and texts). When data is accessed, one of the entity sets (ODP) belonging to the scenario is addressed. The following illustration shows an OData service, which contains multiple associated ODPs as entity sets and which thus corresponds to an application or self-contained scenario:

Once the service is generated and registered in the SAP Gateway system, external applications can consume the service. Standard OData requests are used to extract the data. Here the possibility to provide partial responses (packages) and delta requests is supported. Since OData is REST-based, all resources of the entity sets are addressed via URLs. This means the model metadata can be made accessible via URL and extraction can be started via URL. The URL for an entity set, which represents an ODP, can contains different components that specify the requested data in more detail. The use of OData standard syntax with standard system query options means that, for example, projections, filters and the option to display the first n data records are possible. The generated OData services contain SAP enhancements for OData, which are used to explain the meanings of the elements in the data structures.

The following illustration shows the relationships between the involved components:

• For ODP-based data distribution via OData, the SAP Gateway Foundation is either required locally in the SAP NetWeaver system of the ODP provider or in a separate SAP NetWeaver instance. To generate the OData service, the system must contain the functional scope of the software component IW_BEP.

  Information on the SAP Gateway deployment options can be found in SAP Gateway Foundation Master Guide under Deployment Options. Information on the SAP Gateway configuration can be found in SAP Gateway Foundation Configuration Guide under Quick Configuration.

• If you want to extract via the OData service BW InfoProvider (ODP context BW), you need an open hub license.

• Data extraction via OData is an enhancement of the existing open hub interface in BW, which enables data exchange based on ODBC or a third-party tool (ETL tool).

• Unlike the BW easy query, which provides the BW query data for end user UIs, the goal of ODP-based data extraction via OData is reliable extraction of data into the storage of the receiving application.