Data Providers in BI Applications 

Introduction

Data providers are objects that provide data for one or more Web items at runtime. There are two different types of data providers:

·        Query view

Data providers of this type usually provide data for Web items that display the result of a query or a query view, such as the Analysis and Chart Web items. Data providers of this type, however, can also be used as data providers for Web items that are related to filtering data (such as the Checkbox Group and Radio Button Group Web items. The initial status of a data provider of this type is defined by specifying an InfoProvider, a query or a query view.

·        Filters

Data providers of this type usually provide data for Web items that are related to filtering data, such as the Dropdown Box and Radio Button Group Web items. Since data providers of this type do not return results of queries or query views, they cannot be used as data providers for Web items such as Analysis, Chart, Report and so on. The initial status of a data provider of this type is usually defined by specifying a filter.

Defining and Changing Data Providers

You define the data provider in the BEx Analyzer or in the BEx Web Application Designer and link it with the interface elements of the BI application you wish to create. At runtime of the BI application, the defined initial status of the data provider can be changed with commands. Commands are automatically triggered by the interface elements of BI applications that were created with the Web Application Designer or the BEx Analyzer (in design mode). In this way, when you select an entry from a dropdown box, it sets a filter value in the data provider that is linked to the dropdown box. For special application cases, however, it is also possible to generate commands with programs and to send them to data providers. See also: Web Design API.

Saving Data Providers

The current status of a data provider at runtime can in principle be saved by the user as a new query view. When designing the affected BI application, you can determine whether the user has this option.