Using a Characteristic as a Data Service 
You can use a characteristic as a data service in order to view and access an InfoCube's master data. You can apply this functionality in conjunction with value help, or you can create custom entry lists of characteristic values that you use in formulas or to populate controls such as drop-down lists (see Create Value Help).
Prerequisites
As outlined in Work with SAP BI Systems.
Procedure
On the Find Data Services task panel, select an SAP BI data service (see Find Data).
Expand the Structure of the data service until you are navigating in the Characteristics folder (see Using a BI System as a Data Service for more on the structure of BI data services):
Select the desired characteristic and drag it onto the workspace.
Result
The metadata from the characteristic is retrieved and integrated into your model. You can use the characteristic like you would any other data service. You can, for example, place it in an iView and connect a start point to its Input port and a table view to its Output port, creating a model that looks like the below:
When you deploy this iView to the portal, the table displays the characteristic's master data:
More Information
In Data Service (in the SAP NetWeaver Visual Composer Reference Guide), see the Characteristic reference for properties you can configure using the Configure Element task panel.