Multidimensional Interfaces
The table below shows the available multidimensional interfaces:
OLE DB for OLAP (ODBO) |
OLAP BAPI |
XML for Analysis (XML/A) |
Technical Concepts |
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· COM(Component Object Model) protocol · MDX as query language
|
· RFC (Remote Function Call) protocol · MDX as query language |
· XML as exchange format · HTTP/SOAP protocol · MDX as query language |
Prerequisites |
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Driver installation on clients |
Access library provided on every SAP platform. |
|
Platform Dependency |
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For MS Windows platform only |
Every platform supported by SAP |
Every platform |
Unicode-Enabled |
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Fully Unicode-enabled |
Caller specifies the required Codepage when the RFC connection is built. |
Fully Unicode-enabled, by default UTF-8 (Unicode Transformation Format, 8-bit character representation). |
Availability |
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With SAP BW 1.2B |
With SAP BW 2.0A |
With SAP BW 3.0A |
The figure below shows how you can access data of the BI system using multidimensional interfaces.
Restrictions
Platform Dependency
Use of the interfaces OLE DB for OLAP and OLAP BAPI depends on the platform: OLE DB for OLAP assumes MS Windows, OLAP BAPI assumes an SAP platform. XML for Analysis is not platform-dependent.