SAP Business Warehouse LIS Data Extraction

The business scenario for LIS data extraction as explained .Your company uses its own info structure to report on incoming orders according to sales organizations and customers.You are responsible for extracting the data from the R/3 System and transporting it into BW. To do this, you have to create the necessary components in the R/3 and BW Systems.You have to use a delta update mechanism to upload the data.

Updating Info Structures in BW

The BW InfoSources help prepare the data that is to be updated in the Business Information Warehouse.The InfoSource allows the system to:

import the extracted data from the extraction structure in the SAP R/3 OLTP System
transfer the data to the BW transfer structure using the OLTP System transfer structure
convert the data using the transfer rules in BW and
transfer the data to the communication structure in BW.

The InfoSource prepares the data for permanent storage in the InfoCube.In addition to the LIS info structure, two additional tables are required as extractors in the OLTP  System for the delta upload.


LIS Data Flow

The LIS data flow can be described as follows:

ŸOperative transaction data (for example sales orders, billing documents) is stored in application data tables (e.g. VBAK/VBAP for sales orders). When the data is updated in LIS, the information is transferred from an operative document to 'communication structures' (e.g. MCVBAK, MCVBAP). Ÿ This information is then written from the communication structures to the corresponding information structures using update rules.


Set up LIS Environment

Before LIS info structures can be used as source tables, you have to define several settings.
First, you have to configure the LIS environment for the relevant info structures.
To do so, choose Administrator Workbench > Modeling > Source Systems (choose the relevant source system and click the right mouse button) > Customizing Extractors. > Generated DataSources > Logistics > Logistical Informatio n System > Attach Information Structures.Alternatively, you can use the transaction SBIW in R/3 or start the report RMCSBIWC. 


Set up the LIS Environment: Result

Once the LIS environment has been configured, two transparent tables and one structure are generated for this special info structure.The transparent tables 'S5nnBIW1' and 'S5nnBIW2' (S5nn = customer name range for information structures developed in-house) are used for the delta update in BW (see end of this unit). These tables are identical copies of the information structure.The structure 'S5nnBIWS' is adapted to meet the requirements of BW and is used as an extraction structure.


Generate InfoSource

A DataSource must be generated so that the info structures in the OLTP System can be used as source tables for the BW.First, the fields in the extract structure must be assigned InfoObjects.


Generating an InfoSource: Procedure

Each time a DataSource is generated for an info structure 'S5nn' in the OLTP System, the DataSource '2_LIS_01_S5nn' is created in the connected BW System.A maintenance screen is displayed in which you can assign other properties to the fields of the extract structure (S5nnBIWS).

ŸSelection fields
ŸHide fields
ŸCancellation fields (field is inverted when canceled (*-1))

Replicating DataSources

OLTP extraction tables make up the basis of a DataSource as far as BW is concerned. In some application areas, you can use separate generation tools. DataSources are created from the customer specific information structures in the LIS environment, in this way, an interface is established between LIS and BW.

An R/3 System connected to BW provides a variety of DataSources. These can be uploaded into BW by replicating them in the source system tree.The DataSources are delivered in a so-called 'D version' and can be transferred to the 'A version' when they are activated. They can be also changed and forwarded to the 'A version' (one that deviates from the default).

If DataSources have changed in the source system (for example, when your R/3 System is upgraded), you can decide if you want to activate them to the 'A version', or continue using the existing ones.  The DataSource must be replicated before it can be used in BW. To do this, choose the 'Source Systems' tabstrip in the BW Administrator Workbench. Select the relevant OLTP system and choose Replicate DataSources from the context menu. All the DataSources that do not yet exist in the BW are then transferred from the OLTP to the BW System. 


Maintain Communication Structure

Communication structures are created for InfoSources and thus represent part of an application in the OLTP System (for example, order data from Sales, purchase order data from Purchasing, and so on). The total number of InfoObjects in the communication structure and extract structure may be different, since InfoObjects can be copied to the communication structure from all extract structures (several source systems).


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SAP R/3 Extraction and BW Overview Continued

This post is a continuation of our previous post regarding SAP BW data extraction overview.

SAP BW Business Content Components

Business Content in BW Release 2.0B  contains:

around 800 SAP standard extractors (for R/3, New Dimensions, external)
around 120 SAP standard InfoSources
around 240 SAP standard InfoCubes
around 800 SAP standard queries (of which around 80 are Web-compatible)
around 800 SAP standard workbooks
around 180 channels / roles

SAP will continue to add further objects in all application areas.


In response to demands from our customers, SAP has designed the reporting facility in certain parts of the R/3 System in such a way that it can be easily customized. Information systems were developed in the R/3 System that can be adapted individually to the customer's requirements.The Business Information Warehouse must be able to process this data, with the result that it must be possible to define generic extractors in certain applications. These applications are the Logistics Information System, profitability analysis and Special Ledger.




Each individual application provides tools for this purpose. But first, you have to generate a DataSource from a selected 'data base' in the application.Following this, you have to assign attributes to the fields of the extract structure / DataSource (for example, selectability).Depending on the application, certain settings may have to be made. In this example, activating the delta update in the LIS.




Data supplied to customer tables in an R/3 System by programs developed in-house can also be transferred to BW. This includes data in R/3 tables that are supplied by SAP programs but cannot be made available to the Business Information Warehouse with Business Content.The tool for generic data extraction can be used here to generate an extractor for all applications. By assigning a database view or transparent database table, you can transfer data to BW without having to write your own programs. Furthermore, the generic extractor can also be used by SAP Query to retrieve data .These techniques are also used for some of the Business Content extractors. 

Several steps are also required to create extractors using the generic data extraction tool (transaction RS02). These are basically as follows: 

Create a DataSource with the generic data extraction tool (transaction RSO2)
If necessary, create a view or an InfoSet (functional area).
The fields in the DataSource must then be assigned InfoObjects. If these InfoObjects are not available, they must be created.

Function Enhancements for Extractors


The Business Content shipped by SAP provides customers with a set of standard extractors for the R/3 System in the Business Information Warehouse. Every customer, however, has his or her own requirements when it comes to the data that is to be supplied by the extractors. For this reason, BW provides function exits for extending Business Content.

This procedure first involves extending the standard extraction structures. After this, the new fields must be assigned InfoObjects and then the function exit for enriching the data must be programmed. Application-specific generic extractors in CO/PA, LIS, and FI-SL can also be extended.This also applies to the cross-application generic extractors, with the exception that enhancements are not possible if a view is used to extract transaction data.

Delta Update

Data can be imported into BW using two different update methods: a full update, in which all of the data is extracted, and a delta update, in which only the data that has been changed or added since the last import run is extracted.Naturally, a delta update is particularly suitable for large quantities of data so that the same data does not have to be imported into BW several times. Unfortunately, not all of the extractors in Release 2.0B support a delta process, such as FI-SL.

A delta management tool (change log) is provided for the most important master data, which can have a very large number of characteristic instances in the R/3 OLTP System. These characteristics are the material, batch number, plant, creditor, debtor, cost center, cost component, activity type and G/L account.As far as the transaction data is concerned, Business Content is shipped with extractors in SD and HR, which support delta processes. Within the LO module, a central delta management is used. In LIS and CO/PA, all application-specific generated extractors support a delta process. Delta updates in the LIS are based on separate delta tables. The CO/PA module, on the other hand, uses a timestamp.A delta process is not implemented for the cross-application generic data extraction tool. Delta extraction in this case can only be carried out by suitable selections using a creation and change date.


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SAP R/3 Extraction and BW Overview

The transaction data entering the Business Information Warehouse by means of extractors originates from very different modules. Due to past developments, very different extraction mechanisms are necessary.Before you start an SAP BW project (and also if BW is already in productive use), you will probably think about the reports you want to run and the data you need from the R/3 System.You will then have to take a look at the sources shipped with SAP Business Content to decide which ones meet your requirements and can be used by default.If you need data that cannot be supplied by the standard sources, you can: 

Create new InfoSources
Enhance the standard ones

As components of the Business Framework, OLTP applications and the Business Information Warehouse communicate via BAPIs (Business Application Programming Interfaces).The extraction mechanisms that are used to prepare the production data in each application for the Business Information Warehouse are located in an R/3 OLTP System. The purpose of this course is to explain how these extraction mechanisms in the R/3 OLTP System work.With non-SAP applications, the prerequisites for exchanging data between the application and the Business Information Warehouse can be met by separate installations from external suppliers.

 
 Extracting Transaction Data

A DataSource describes a type of infrastructure that allows information to be transported between OLTP Systems and BW. This infrastructure comprises various DDIC structures that are linked by means of transformation rules. DataSources, therefore, regula te the flow of data between the extraction source structure in the source system to the communication structure in BW, via which the respective data is supplied. DataSources can supply both transaction data (stored in InfoCubes) and master data (attributes, texts, and hierarchies - stored in separate, transparent tables). The structure of the DataSources for transaction and master data is almost identical.

DataSources describe the set of all available data for a business event, or type of business event (for example, Cost Center Accounting). For this reason, every operative SAP BW environment will contain a large number of DataSources that describe the individual operations within the applications that are to be analyzed.

Each time a DataSource is generated, the corresponding transfer and communication structures are also generated in the BW System. Transfer structures always exist in pairs - in a source system and in the associated SAP BW System. This transfer structure is used to transfer data in the format of the original application from a source system to BW, where it is forwarded to the communication structure of the InfoSource using transformation rules.The communication structure is independent of the source system and contains all of the fields in the InfoSource that it represents in BW.


Extracting Master Data

A DataSource describes a type of infrastructure that allows information to be transported between OLTP Systems and BW. This infrastructure comprises various DDIC structures that are linked by means of transformation rules. DataSources, therefore, regulate the flow of data between the extraction source structure in the source system to the communication structure in BW, via which the respective data is supplied. DataSources can supply both transaction data (stored in InfoCubes) and master data (attributes, texts, and hierarchies - stored in separate, transparent tables). The structure of the DataSources for transaction and master data is almost identical.

DataSources describe the set of all available data for a business event, or type of business event (for example, Cost Center Accounting). For this reason, every operative SAP BW environment will contain a large number of DataSources that describe the individual operations within the applications that are to be analyzed.

Each time a DataSource is generated, the corresponding transfer and communication structures are also generated in the BW System. Transfer structures always exist in pairs - in a source system and in the associated SAP BW System. This transfer structure is used to transfer data in the format of the original application from a source system to BW, where it is forwarded to the communication structure of the InfoSource using transformation rules.The communication structure is independent of the source system and contains all of the fields in the InfoSource that it represents in BW.


Info Sources in the R/3 OLTP System

Every DataSource gets its data in some form from transparent tables in the R/3 OLTP System. The database of such an extractor is therefore a transparent table.The extractor now defines by which methods data will be extracted. Extraction can now take place directly from the transparent table. It can also take place with a database overview, a function module or SAP Query. This means you can use a view to go to several different database tables. n The extractor forwards the data to the extract structure. The extractor may be able to supply data to more fields than exist in the extract structure. But it may also be the case that the extract structure has more fields than the extractor can supply to. These fields can then be supplied with data using function enhancements (see unit on Enhancing Business Content).

Data elements of the respective SAP OLTP Data Dictionary describe the individual fields of the extract structure. For SAP BW, we also need a description of InfoObjects in the SAP BW Metadata Repository.The fields in the extract structure must then be assigned InfoObjects. Not all the fields in the extract structure have to be assigned InfoObjects. However, after a Metadata upload, only the fiields that were assigned an InfoObject are made available in the template DataSource for creating the communication structure.





Effects of Subsequent Activities in SAP BW

Once a DataSource has been generated in the OLTP system, the Metadata must be uploaded to the SAP BW System. During this process, a template DataSource for selecting the fields in the communication structure is created from the InfoObjects assigned to the extract structure.The fields in the communication structure then have to be supplied with data by means of transfer rules. This can take place using a field in the template DataSource, a fixed value, or a function exit. The fields in the template DataSource that are used to populate the communication structure together define the transfer structure.The transfer structure is generated automatically when the transfer rules are activated in SAP BW and in the R/3 OLTP System.

Replicating DataSources
 
The DataSource is replicated in BW.
Fields in the OLTP extract structure that have been assigned
InfoObjects are made available in a template DataSource in BW.
Assigning InfoSources
The DataSource is assigned to an InfoSource.
Maintaining the Communication Structure
The communication structure is generated from the selected fields in the template InfoSource in BW.
Creating Transfer Rules
The transfer structure is generated from the selected
InfoObjects in the template DataSource in BW and in the R/3 OLTP System.

Business Content Extractors

SAP provides extractors for almost all applications.These extractors are programmed on a fixed basis and shipped with Business Content. However, some Business Conent extractors do use the technology of the cross-application generic extrractors.Business Content is developed and enhanced with every new BW Release.




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