Using the BIA Index Maintenance Wizard

Purpose

You can create only one SAP NetWeaver BI accelerator index for each InfoCube. This BI accelerator index contains all the data from the InfoCube. In contrast to the procedure with aggregates, it is not necessary to make specific selections and restrictions for the definition of the BI accelerator index.

Overview of Steps

Using the BIA index maintenance wizard, you can create and activate a BI accelerator index in a step and fill it or delete it as necessary. The following figure outlines the possible steps:

Structure of the BIA Index Maintenance Wizard

In the upper area of the screen, the system displays a text field with information about each step. Corresponding pushbuttons are available:

Function Key	Meaning
Exit Maintenance	You exit the BIA index maintenance wizard.
Continue	You navigate to the next step.

In the center area of the screen, you find the following tab pages:

●      On the  Information tab page, you find additional information about the step.

●      On the  Messages tab page, the system displays information about the current status.

●      On the  Index Information tab page, the system displays the tables or indexes of the BI accelerator index and its properties (see SAP NetWeaver BI Accelerator Index Designsap).

In this area of the screen, you find the following function keys:

Function Key	Meaning
Application Logs	The Log Selection dialog box appears. You choose the processes for which you want to display the log. You can choose from the following processes: ●      Initial Filling ●      Roll Up ●      Compress InfoCube ●      Delete Request ●      Change Run ●      Check Choose . The Analyze Application Log screen appears.
BIA Monitor	The BI Accelerator Monitor screen appears (see Using the SAP NetWeaver BI Accelerator Monitor).
BIA Index Properties	If a BI accelerator index is available, the Maintain BIA Index Properties dialog box opens. You can specify the following settings: ●      Always store BIA index data completely in the main memory. This setting is advisable if enough main memory is available, you constantly require optimum response times, and the index is used frequently (see also Checking SAP NetWeaver BI Accelerator Indexes (Transaction RSRV), test Load BIA Index Data into Main Memory). ●      Change the status of the BIA index: Active or Inactive (see scenario 2). Further information about the index is also provided: Last Changed By, Date and Time of last change, Index Type (see Technical Information About SAP NetWeaver BI Accelerator Engine).

Prerequisites

Communication between the BI system and the BI accelerator server takes place using RFC modules. To connect a BI accelerator server to the BI system, you must make the following settings:

●      Set up the RFC destination for the BI accelerator server (transaction SM59). For more information, see Customizing under SAP Customizing Implementation Guide ® SAP NetWeaver ® Business Intelligence ® Connectivity of TREX ® Creation of RFC Destination in BI System.

●      Specify the RFC destination for the BI accelerator server (transaction RSADMIN). The RFC BI Accelerator parameter has to correspond to the above RFC destination.

Note on System Landscape

Only one BI accelerator server can be used for each BI system. This is because the master data tables stored in the BI accelerator server can be used by multiple BI accelerator indexes. However, this does not work if the data is distributed across various BI accelerator servers.

If you want to run BI accelerators with productive and test systems in a system landscape, we recommend using a separate BI accelerator server for each BI system.

The InfoCube for which you want to create a BI accelerator is active and filled with data.

Process Flow

Access from Data Warehousing Workbench

...

       1.      You are in the Data Warehousing Workbench in the Modeling functional area. In the navigation window, choose InfoProvider. In the InfoProvider tree, navigate to the InfoCube with the queries you want to optimize using the BI accelerator index.

       2.      In the context menu of the InfoCube, choose Maintain BI Accelerator Index. The first dialog box for the BIA index maintenance wizard appears.

Access from Transaction RSDDV

...

       1.      On the Aggregate/BI Accelerator Index: Select InfoCubescreen (transaction RSDDV), select the required InfoCube.

       2.      Choose  BIA Index. The first dialog box for the BIA index maintenance wizard appears.

Scenario 1

You call the BIA index wizard for an InfoCube that does not yet have a BI accelerator index.

Step 1: Creating a BI accelerator index

When you execute this step, the system creates the indexes for the tables of the InfoCube star schema on the BI accelerator server, as long as they have not already been created by other BI accelerator indexes. These tables consist of the fact and dimension tables of the InfoCube as well as the master data tables that contain the required SIDs, the S, X, and Y tables of the InfoObjects. A "logical index" is also created. This contains the metadata of the BI accelerator. Finally, the system activates the BI accelerator index.

If the aggregate was filled successfully, the status in the Object Version column on the  Index Info tab page switches to.

This step may take a few minutes if the individual tables are very large and have split indexes on the BI accelerator server. The more parts into which the index is being split, the longer the duration of the activation step. For more information about split indexes, see Technical Information About the SAP NetWeaver BI Accelerator Engine.

To use the BI accelerator index in reporting, you have to fill it with data. To schedule a background job to fill the BI accelerator index, choose Continue.

Step 2: Filling a BI accelerator index

The dialog box for specifying the Start Time appears. Specify when you want the fill job (RSDDTREX_AGGREGATES_FILL) to run in background processing and choose .

When you execute this step, the system starts a process in the background that reads the data in the tables of the InfoCube star schema from the database and writes them to the corresponding indexes on the BI accelerator server. If the index of a master data table (S/X/Y tables) has already been created and filled by another BI accelerator index, only those records that have been subsequently added have to be indexed (read mode/fill mode "D" during indexing).

If the aggregate was filled successfully, the status in the Object Status column on the  Index Info tab page switches to.

Reading the data from the database and writing the data to the BI accelerator server can be performed in parallel in the BI system in different ways. To do this, maintain the system parameters in the BI accelerator monitor.

For more information about the steps for creating and filling a BI accelerator index, see Activating and Filling SAP NetWeaver BI Accelerator Indexes.

Step 3: Completing BI accelerator index maintenance

After the BI accelerator has been filled, you can choose  Cancel to return to the source transaction or  Continue to continue to the first part of BI accelerator index maintenance. The BI accelerator index is available and can be used for queries.

Scenario 2

You call the BIA index wizard for an InfoCube that has a BI accelerator index that is already filled with data.

Step 1: Deleting a BI accelerator index

Since an active and filled BI accelerator index that can be used for reporting is already available, you can either temporarily deactivate it or delete it at this point. This can be useful if you want to ensure, for performance purposes or analysis of data consistency, that the system is not using a BI accelerator index.

●      To delete the BI accelerator index, choose  Continue.

The system deletes the definition and the settings of the BI accelerator index in the BI system and the logical index (metadata) and all indexes for the tables of the enhanced star schema of the InfoCube on the BI accelerator server. The only exceptions are the indexes for the master data tables that are still being used by other BI accelerator indexes.

●      To deactivate the BI accelerator index temporarily, choose  BIA Index Properties. The BI Accelerator Index Properties dialog box appears. Choose Inactive as the status of the BI accelerator index and choose .

A BI accelerator that is switched off is not used when a query is executed. Since BI accelerator indexes that are switched off must also be consistent, you do not have to activate the BI accelerator index again or fill it when you switch it back on.

Scenario 3

You call the BIA index wizard for an InfoCube that already has an active BI accelerator index, but has not yet been filled or completely filled with data. The full process is either terminated or not even started.

Step 1: Deleting or continuing to fill a BI accelerator index

Since an active BI accelerator index that can be used for reporting is already available, you can either continue to fill it with data or delete it at this point. You can see the status of the individual indexes in the Messages from Previous Step area of the screen.

●      To fill the BI accelerator index, choose Continue Filling.

●      To delete the BI accelerator index, choose Delete.