Consolidated InfoObjects for BP, Product and Product Category

Overview

In the SAP BW system, business objects such as product or business partner have different technical representations depending on their source system – SAP component (R/3, CRM, EBP, APO) or non-SAP system. An InfoObject exists for each technical representation in the current SAP BW data model.

Identical characteristic values in the business objects do not usually have the same key in their various technical representations (that is, in their InfoObjects).

Example Example

In the SAP BW system, the InfoObjects 0MATERIAL (source SAP R/3), 0CRM_PROD (source SAO CRM), 0BBP_PROD (source SAP EBP) and 0APO_PROD (source SAP APO) correspond to the business object "Product".

The characteristic value "Pump", which is identical in all source systems, has the key "1000" in the SAP BW system for the InfoObject 0MATERIAL and "P100" for the InfoObject 0CRM_PROD.

End of the example.

The consolidated InfoObjects serve in the SAP BW system to integrate information from different SAP components (for example, 0MATERIAL from SAP R/3 and 0CRM_PROD from SAP CRM) in a standardized (consolidated) data model. In particular, these consolidated InfoObjects fulfill the technical prerequisite for integrating data from non-SAP systems.

Integrated SAP BW reporting is possible on the level of consolidated InfoObjects using a heterogeneous source system environment. The unique assignment of physically identical object characteristic values applies to the following data:

Data from different SAP R/3 systems
Data that is stored in different SAP component systems (R/3, CRM, EBP, APO) in various technical representations (object types) (R/3 material, CRM product, and so on).
Data from non-SAP systems

Example Example

The following illustration shows the data flow for product (InfoObject 0PRODUCT).

The lower layer (local views) consists of the existing InfoObjects (0MATERIAL, 0CRM_PROD, and so on). These InfoObjects reflect a technical representation of data that is dependent on the SAP component or the non-SAP system used.

The upper layer (global view) forms the integration level of all InfoObjects of the lower layer. Data is updated redundantly into the consolidated InfoObjects of the global view that is required for the integration of the local views (all keys of the existing InfoObjects and their source systems) or that are required for master data reporting on a consolidated level (global attributes).

The model is extensible to additional SAP components or non-SAP systems.

End of the example.

Mapping Key Fields from Local Views

Key mapping (the reciprocal mapping of key fields) is of decisive importance for the integration of data from different SAP components or non-SAP systems.Information about which characteristic values of the InfoObjects from the local view belong to identical business objects is stored in the key mapping information.

This key mapping information is an attribute of each consolidated InfoObject and links identical objects in the global view.

The master data information in the local view is replicated in a special system (the SAP Markets Content Integrator). You can determine the key mapping information from this system. The key mapping information determined is extracted from the SAP Markets Content Integrator into the SAP BW system and updated into the consolidated InfoObjects in the global view.

If the SAP Markets Content Integrator is no available, the key mapping information can be extracted from other data sources (for example, flat files) into the SAP BW system.

Example Example

End of the example.

Product (InfoObject 0PRODUCT)

Key of consolidated InfoObject 0PRODUCT	Source System	0MATERIAL (Key of local view: R/3 system)	0CRM_PROD (Key of local view: CRM System)	….	Key Mapping Information (Group ID)
R1 1MAT1000	R/3-1	1000	-		G1
R2 1MAT1000	R/3-2	1000			G1
C1 1PROP100	CRM -1	-	P100		G1
R1 1MAT2000	R/3-1	2000			G2
R2 1MAT2000	R/3-2	2000			G2
C1 1PROP200	CRM -1	-	P200		G2

Two identical products with different keys are loaded from the SAP R/3 systems R/3-1 and R/3-2 as well as the SAP CRM system CRM-1 for the local views (InfoObjects 0MATERIAL and 0CRM_RPOD) into the consolidated InfoObject 0PRODUCT. The keys of the InfoObjects from the local views (0MATERIAL = 1000, 2000 and 0CRM_PROD = P100, P200) and the source systems used are saved as attributes of 0PRODUCT. See the next section for information about the key structure of consolidated InfoObjects.

Key mapping information from the SAP Markets Content Integrator system has been added as an additional attribute (group ID) for 0PRODUCT. A decisive factor for data integration in 0PRODUCT is that identical products have the same group ID, which is used in evaluations (SAP BW queries) as a navigation attribute.

Key Structure of Consolidated InfoObjects

The key of consolidated InfoObjects is composed of information from several sources and has the following structure:

Source system ID
A blank character
Backend object type
InfoObject key from local view

The two-character source system ID is stored in the table RSSOURCESYSTEM in the SAP BW system (SOURSYSID field).

In the example above, the source systems R/3-1, R/3-2, and CRM-1 have the two-character system ID’s R1, R2, C1.

The four-character backend object type combines information about the source system (SAP component or non-SAP system) and the object type (partner, product, product category) within this source system. You can display the possible characteristic values of the backend object type in the SAP BW system in transaction RS_BCT_BWBEOTYP.

Example Example

Examples of backend object types:

End of the example.

R/3 material 1MAT
CRM / EBP product 1PRO
R/3 customer 2CUS
Business partner 2BPA

Attributes of Consolidated InfoObjects

The attributes of consolidated InfoObjects are structured as follows:

Source system information, InfoObject key from local views, backend object type.

This information also forms the key of the consolidated InfoObject.

All InfoObjects in the local view that form the consolidated InfoObject.
Key mapping information: Group ID as a navigation attribute
Global attributes

The global attributes of consolidated InfoObjects have to be consolidated InfoObjects (for example, the product category as a global attribute of product) and have to conform to generally recognized standards (for example, the ISO codes for the global attribute Country ). This is the only way to ensure that data is standardized in the global view.

More specifically, attributes of InfoObjects from the local views (for example, the R/3 material group as an attribute of R/3 material) cannot be transferred directly as global attributes into the relevant consolidated InfoObject. These local attributes are relevant only in the local views (SAP R/3, SAP CRM, and so on).

Example Example

The following example shows the attributes for product (InfoObject 0PRODUCT).

End of the example.

Information in the 0PRODUCT Key

Attributes	Description
0GN_PRO_SSY	Product source system.
0GN_PRO_LID	Local ID of generic product
0GN_BWBEOTY	Backend object type for InfoObjects in SAP BW

All InfoObjects in the local views that form the 0PRODUCT.

Attributes	Description
0MATERIAL	Material
0SERVICE	Service number
BBP_PROD	Product
0CRM_PROD	CRM product
0APO_PROD	APO product

Key Mapping Information

Attributes	Description
0CI_GRP_PRO	Product group ID

Global Attributes

Attributes	Description
0GN_CAT_PUR	Purchasing category
0GN_CAT_SAL	Sales category

The global attributes are also consolidated InfoObjects for the product category (from the purchasing and sales views).