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Function documentationSearch

 

Depending on your master data needs you may need to search for different types of master data objects. Master Data Governance offers three different search providers:

  • Database Search

    Database Search finds data in a database based on user-specified search criteria. Database Search can also be used in applications such as duplicate check.

  • Enterprise Search

    Enterprise Search is based on TREX – the SAP NetWeaver search engine. When you create or change data in the database, this data is also added to the TREX index. Enterprise Search retrieves data from TREX based on user-specified search criteria. Enterprise Search can also be used in applications such as duplicate check.

    Enterprise Search supports free text search and fuzzy search . Unlike Database Search, Enterprise Search considers all attributes of a data object, for example, if you enter a street name, Enterprise Search searches across all attributes and returns all records containing the search string, regardless of attribute. To use fuzzy search you enable the fuzzy search option on the UI. With fuzzy search enabled, the system normalizes input strings that differ by a few letters from an index term making the search more error tolerant. Enterprise Search supports real-time indexing using change pointers.

    • You enter a free text “Heidelberg”. No attributes are specified so the system searches all entries and returns results for any attribute, for example any record that has Heidelberg as the city name or, as the street name.

    • With fuzzy search enabled, you enter “Heidelburg”. The system returns results for any attributes that are similar to the text entered.

  • Key Search

    Key search is performed in a hub system allowing you to search for object by IDs across the system landscape, where the object ID on the client system is not identical to the object ID on the hub. Given a client system master data object ID, the Key Search returns the corresponding master data object on the hub.

Search Operators

The Search Operators available for a search are specific to the attribute type. For example, when searching for a date you can select from the search operators to find dates that are “exactly, “prior to” or “after” the specified date. Whereas, a search for a name can find names that start with, end with, contain or are exactly equal to the search string.

Prerequisites

Enterprise Search

TREX is configured and running. You have created Enterprise Search connectors and ensured that the system has created the TREX index.

Example

Database Search

You enter the name of a specific firm in a specific city on a specific street and the search returns one result.

Key Search

Client System PTQ/810 contains Supplier master data with unique ID 200. During replication from hub system to client system, this ID was mapped to the corresponding master data entry on the hub system, in this case ID 100.

From the client system, you perform a search, specifying object ID 200. This value is passed to the hub system. Based on the mapping, the hub system identifies the corresponding hub system ID – in this case 100 – and returns the corresponding master data to the client system.