Start of Content Area

Process documentation Transferring Data Using Staging BAPIs  Locate the document in its SAP Library structure

Purpose

To enable data and metadata extraction from non-SAP sources on the application level, SAP NetWeaver BI provides open interfaces known as staging BAPIs. BAPIs (Business Application Programming Interface) are standardized programming interfaces that offer external access to the business processes and data in a SAP system.

Staging BAPIs allow you to use SAP BusinessObjects DataServices and certified third-party tools (like Extraction, Transformation, Loading) to integrate data from non-SAP sources. This allows you for example to transfer data from an Oracle application to the BI system.

You can find the object descriptions of the staging BAPIs in your BI system in BAPI Explorer (transaction BAPI). On the Hierarchical tab page, choose SAP Business Information Warehouse    Warehouse Management.

Process Flow

Metadata Exchange

Metadata from non-SAP systems can be defined or updated either manually or using BAPI functionality in BI. If you access the BAPI interface, the non-SAP software’s extraction tool can automatically read the BI metadata from the source system or define the metadata in the extraction tool. The tool can then transfer the metadata to BI using the BAPI interface. To change metadata in BI manually, enter the required data in the transfer structure maintenance transaction. In addition to transferring and updating metadata from the extraction tool to BI, the BAPIs can also be used to transfer BI metadata to the extraction tool.

Scheduling and Data Transfer

BAPIs are provided for scheduling the data transfer job. These can be used to define application-specific parameters, to use parameters and values for input help options in the InfoPackage and to send the data request to the extraction tool. The data transfer can be triggered from BI or using the extraction tool. During transfer, the data is transformed into the relevant BI format. Make sure that the transfer structure in BI and the data structure for the extraction tool match. If possible, run transformations for technical clean-ups (data conversions for example) at the extraction tool level. BAPIs also help you to monitor the data transfer, allowing you to find the request status and the log transfer from the extraction tool.

Integration with SAP BusinessObjects DataServices

You can connect the BI system to SAP BusinessObjects DataServices as a Datastore and import the relevant BI metadata to SAP BusinessObjects DataServices. In the BI system, connect SAP BusinessObjects DataServices as the source system. The data transfer can be triggered by a data request from the BI system or by SAP BusinessObjects DataServices.

You can find out more about integration with SAP BusinessObjects DataServices in SAP Help Portal, under help.sap.com  SAP BusinessObjects  IM Solutions  SAP BusinessObjects Solution Portfolio Knowledge Center in the Data Services Supplement for SAP guide.

Restriction

The new DataSource concept introduced in SAP NetWeaver 7.0 cannot be used to transfer data using staging BAPIs. To transfer data using staging BAPIs, a DataSource 3.x with InfoSource is required.

 

End of Content Area