Tools for Extraction from Planning Areas 

Use

SAP provides a group of tools for checking and working with DataSources and other objects used in conjunction with planning areas.

Features

Most of the functions available here are also available in other transactions, in particular in the Data Warehousing Workbench and in Administration of Demand Planning and Supply Network Planning. The data extraction functions described here have been bundled together for ease of use.

DataSource Management

Generate DataSource

You use this function to generate a DataSource. This is the existing SAP APO function that you can also access from the context menu for a planning area under Generate Export DataSource.

You can only create one DataSource for each basis planning object structure and each aggregate assigned to a planning area.

You can choose any characteristic to be used for selection purposes. The characteristic 9AVERSION for the planning version is always used for selection and cannot therefore be changed here. You cannot use key figures or units for selection purposes.

You must enter the version in the selection when you call up the DataSource. Otherwise, the system issues an error message.

You use the Suppress field indicator to exclude key figures from a DataSource. These key figures are not extracted. This reduces the amount of data to be handled, and thus improves performance.

For performance reasons, we recommend that you only use export DataSources for extracting data from liveCache. You can extract key figures from an InfoCube directly by creating an export DataSource in the Data Warehousing Workbench.

For technical reasons, extracting data from planning areas to InfoCubes using DataSources is only possible with full uploads. However, you can use DataStore objects to simply update the changes. For more information, see Updating InfoCubes Using DataStore Objects.

Change/Display DataSource

This function allows you to change or display a DataSource using the same screen as above.

Check DataSource

This function runs a consistency check on the selected DataSource and displays a log if errors are found.

Repair DataSource

This function attempts to repair errors found in the above checks.

Test DataSource

You can use this function to test data extraction using the selected DataSource.

Restrictions

Do not use F4 help.

The system uses the internal representation of characteristic values. This means:

○     When entering numeric characteristic values, use leading zeros, if necessary

○     Enter dates in internal formal, that is, YYYYMMDD, YYYYMM, YYYYWW, for example

Assigning DataSources to InfoSources

The system automatically suggests a name for the InfoSource when you make the assignment in the Data Warehousing Workbench. The InfoObjects from the DataSource are then automatically assigned to the InfoSource per default. On the dialog box that appears, the name is in the Applictn Proposal field and the corresponding indicator is selected by default. If you want to use another name for the InfoSource, choose Others and then . In this case, some InfoObjects may not be transferred automatically from the DataSource.

This function is only available for DataSources that were created in release 4.0 or after release 3.0 SP 22, or after release 3.1 SP 9. If the DataSources were created before these releases, execute the function Check DataSource and then the function Repair DataSource as described above.

VirtualProvider Management

You use these functions (ad hoc reporting) to check and test VirtualProviders.

Information About VirtualProvider

This function provides information about the selected VirtualProvider, such as the names of the objects involved (DataSource, InfoSource, planning area, for example), the initialized versions, and the number of characteristic combinations.

VirtualProvider Consistency Check

You can use this function to run a consistency check on the selected VirtualProvider. The system displays a log if errors are found. For example, the system checks if the same InfoObjects exist in the planning area and the VirtualProvider.

Test VirtualProvider Automatically

This function chooses an existing characteristic combination and reads it from the planning area. It then checks for the same characteristic combination in the VirtualProvider. If the characteristic combination exists in both objects, it reads the data for all key figures in one period from the planning area and the VirtualProvider. If the values of the individual key figures are the same in the planning area and the VirtualProvider, the system completes the test successfully.

A log is produced in which the various steps are documented. You can find details of most steps in the long texts.

Start the Report Monitor

This starts a BEx query in the SAP APO environment (does not use Microsoft Excel). You can use it to test queries for basic InfoCubes and VirtualProviders. Other functions are also available for testing queries.

BasicCube Management

You use this function to generate a BasicCube based on a planning area. You can use BasicCubes for backing up data and for reporting purposes.

This function only generates the InfoCube. It does not generate other objects required for data extraction, such as DataSources or InfoSources. Similarly, it does make any assignments.

Activities

To access the tools described here, call the planning area maintenance. There, choose Extras → Data Extraction Tools and then one of the following functions:

●     To call DataSource management, choose  DataSource management.

●     To call VirtualProvider management, choose  Ad-Hoc reporting.

●     To generate a basic InfoCube, choose  Data backup.