Article List and Article List Hierarchy Extraction/Retraction 

Use

In SAP BI, you can use article lists created in SAP ECC for reporting purposes to simplify article selection (extraction). In SAP BI, you can create article lists from the results of reports and then transfer them to SAP ECC (retraction). You can do this by executing a query online or in background processing.

The following graphic provides an overview of extraction and retraction of article lists and the article list hierarchy.

Features

·        Extraction from SAP ECC to SAP BI

The article list supports you in SAP BI when you are selecting article numbers for article-specific reports (queries). The Business Content in SAP BI contains objects used to map the article list. SAP ECC supplies these objects with the static article lists created there.

Three different extractors are used for extraction. The attribute and hierarchy extractors have their own function modules for retrieving data. For text extraction, the tables are accessed directly. For attribute extraction, you can use the release status as a selection parameter. The attribute extractor is equipped with delta handling, which is based on the TIMESTAMP field that is filled during article list maintenance. Depending on when the last data load took place, a certain time interval is transferred to the extractor during the delta upload and data is only extracted in line with this.

·        Retraction from SAP BI to SAP ECC

The aim of retraction from SAP BI to SAP ECC is to make the results of a query available to SAP ECC, and to save the articles contained in it as a new article list. This scenario can be performed online with user interaction or it can be scheduled to run offline in the background.

You can perform retraction in two ways:

¡        Online

A Web template is executed in SAP BI. This Web template transfers the data to a Business Server Page in XML format. The Business Server Page copies the data to SAP ECC, with additional information such as the technical name, name of the node assignment, selection condition explanation, and validity period. An RFC-enabled function module receives the article numbers and transfers them to the processing modules of the article list.

¡        In the background

A second function module is required for offline article list retraction. This executes an SAP BI query in the background using an RFC call, receives the result of the query, and then transfers it to the processing modules of the article list. In this case, you must make settings in Customizing for SAP ECC (transaction MCW_AA).