Questions and Answers: SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.0 and the New Semantic Layer for OLAP

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Questions and Answers: SAP

BusinessObjects BI 4.0 and the

New Semantic Layer for OLAP

Applies to:

SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.0, the latest version of the Universe Designer called universe design tool and the new metadata modeling tool called, information design tool. For more information, visit the Business Objects homepage.

Summary

This document summarizes frequent questions for OLAP customers on SAP BusinessObjects BI Solutions, especially on the capabilities of the new semantic layer with SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.0. It is meant complement the SAP BusinessObjects product documentation that is delivered at release.

We welcome your feedback, comments and additional questions. (Version 1.2, last update, 26 February 2011)

Authors: Didier Mazoué, Elizabeth Imm, Abdellatif Astito, Company: SAP

Created on: 18 October 2010

Authors Bio

Didier Mazoué is an expert product manager in the semantic layer team at SAP

BusinessObjects Enterprise Information Management. Didier is the expert on most major OLAP databases, SAP NetWeaver BW and relational databases. Before joinging the product group in 2005 Didier was a strategic pre-sales field representative specializing in closing large database deals. He currently resides in France and works out of the SAP Lab Paris.

Abdellatif Astito is a senior program manager at the SAP Labs Paris in Levallois France. Since joining the company in 2000, he has been responsible for software specification for universe design tool with a focus on improvements for OLAP database support. He resides in France and works out of the SAP Labs Paris.

Elizabeth Imm has worked in the semantic layer team since 2004. She was global program lead for SAP BusinessObjects XI 3.0 product documentation and manager of a team of information developers for information design tool, universe design tool and other semantic layer tools before becoming a product owner in 2010. She resides in France and works out the SAP Labs Paris.

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Purpose

The purpose of this document is to provide brief answers to common questions surrounding supported features of OLAP databases in SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise BI 4.0. Another document that is specifically for SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse customers on the SAP Developer Network the following title: “Questions and Answers: SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.0 and the semantic layer for SAP NetWeaver BW” This document does not replace the Information Design Tool User Guidereleased with the product and available on the SAP Help Portal. It explains the semantic layer positioning and strategy within the overall SAP portfolio.

General Questions

What is the semantic layer?

The semantic layer is an abstraction layer between the database and the business user that frees the business user from the complexity of the data structures and technical names. It enables business users to access, interact, and analyze their data regardless of the underlying data sources and their schemas. The semantic layer encompasses the following elements: database connectivity parameters, universes, query panel, query generation, calculator, and local cache (that is, a microcube).

What is a universe?

The universe is created and deployed using the information design tool, an SAP BusinessObjects metadata design environment that enables a designer to extract, define, and manipulate metadata from relational and OLAP sources.

A universe is an organized collection of metadata objects that enable business users to analyze and report on corporate data in non-technical terms. These objects include dimensions, measures, hierarchies, attributes, pre-defined calculations, functions, and queries. The metadata object layer, called the business layer, is built on a relational database schema or an OLAP cube, so the objects map directly to the database structures via SQL or MDX expressions.

A universe includes connections identifying the data sources so queries can be run on the data. The role of the universe is to provide the business user with semantically understandable business objects that are simply named such as, Customer, Country, Quarter, Revenue, or Margin. The user is then free to analyze data and create reports using the business objects that are relevant to their needs. They need no knowledge of the underlying data sources and structures.

There are two types of universe: multi-source enabled relational universes, and dimensional universes. The semantic Layer provides:



Access to all the major relational sources.



Support for SAP NetWeaver BW 7.0.1 with: o Multi-source enabled relational universe

o With direct access to BEx Queries (no universe)



Support for OLAP sources — Microsoft Analysis Services 2005 and 2008 with dimensional universes

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In summary, the semantic layer and universes:



Facilitate access to information to make it easier to answer business questions



Increase the range of information accessible to business users



Provide a single user experience for metatdata management no matter which access method is used thus reducing training costs and lowering TCO.



Reduce maintenance by providing one optimized source of data and metadata for multiple reports



Maintain IT control of who accesses the data and provides trusted information How do I create a universe?

With BI 4.0, universes are authored with the information design tool, a new SAP BusinessObjects metadata design environment. You have the choice to create either:

 dimensional universes

 multi-source enabled relational universes.

Depending on which type you choose, your universe creation workflow involves three or four steps that defines the connection to the data source, designs the data foundation, designs the business layer and then a final step, to publish the universe to the CMS repository. The information design tool enables a designer to extract, define, and manipulate metadata from relational and OLAP sources to create and deploy SAP BusinessObjects universes. The dimensional universe offers true dimensional support for member hierarchies in OLAP cubes.

What are the main benefits of the semantic layer from an IT perspective? The common semantic layer provides a:

Single point of administration for all data sources



Reduces the cost of delivering Business Intelligence by leveraging the IT investments in data.



Reduces, postpones or eliminates ETL development cycles.



Extends and leverages the BI platform security model.



Promotes schema neutrality—does not impose any ETL or data warehousing.



Provides multi-source universes to combine more than one relational source at a time. Common semantic for all



Uses and shares the same concepts and vocabulary independently of the sources and users.



Provides consistent modeling workflows and capabilities for all data sources. Trusted and secure environment



Provides data lineage that is traceable from the end-user reports.



Supports and extends database security.

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Design environment to empower users and reduce IT bottlenecks



Increases self-sufficiency and reduces IT bottleneck.



Provides predefined and reusable queries, parameters, filters, calculations, list of values, to facilitate collaborative editing.

What are the main benefits of universes from a user perspective? Consistent user experience



Provides the same user experience and design language no matter what the data source.



Exposes business terminology that is relevant to business users’ needs and easily evolves as needs change.



Reduces costs for training across departments and data domains. Trusted and secure environment



Provides the users with confidence that they always access trusted information—data lineage.



Secures the data, the documents, the queries, the parameters, by inheriting the CMS repository security.

Autonomous users



Presents users with user-friendly business terms.



Enables users to create and change reports without involving IT at all.



Makes informed real-time decisions possible with up-to-date data.



Increases productivity by publishing re-usable queries, calculations, parameters, filters, list of values, etc.

How I can access OLAP Sources with SAP BusinessObjects 4.0? There are two ways to access OLAP sources with SAP BusinessObjects 4.0:

 Generate a dimensional universe with information design tool.

 Reuse or generate an OLAP universe with universe design tool.

Dimensional universes fully support multidimensional capabilities of an OLAP sources whereas an OLAP universe does not support the same the same capabilities.

OLAP universe flatten hierarchies whereas dimensional universes keep the structure of the hierarchies. Do I need to continue to create OLAP universes on universe design tool?

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Are there differences between multi-source enabled relational universes and dimensional universes? Yes, while both universe types are generated and persisted on the SAP BusinessObjects repository and can therefore be shared or reused, the type of universe you choose to create depends on your design and reporting needs.

Multi-source enabled relational universes only concern relational sources and SAP BW.

Universe metadata can be reorganized and renamed. Designers can extend the inherited metadata by adding calculated key figures, variables, pre-defined filters, etc.

What are the major differences between the two types of SAP BusinessObjects universes? The two universe types are the result of choosing the Data Foundations enable you to select the type of design for your universe. If you need of universes have many similarities but the main differences are:



Universes provide consistent modeling features across all compatible sources. The compatible sources include Microsoft Analysis Services 2005 and 2008, and other OLAP or RDBMS providers.



Universes provide more autonomy to end users by enabling business users, not only IT experts, to create queries.



Multiple relational data sources, creating the multi-source enabled universe can be mixed in a single universe to provide unified business user access across data domains



With universes, maintenance is usually lower as each universe may serve more users and reports than a typical SAP BEx query



Universes provide a consistent user experience using the same query panel across BI tools (SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence, SAP Crystal Reports Enterprise and SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards)



Universes provide the same reporting capabilities for relational and OLAP data sources.



In Web Intelligence, data provider synchronization is enabled for direct access to SAP BEx queries, universes (OLAP and relational data sources), personal data providers.



Adds value to the data source by customizing and enriching a business layer that is visible to the report creator and consumer.



SAP BEx queries support more complex SAP NetWeaver BW 7.0.1, 7.3, functionalities.

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What are the client tools that can consume OLAP universes?

As with SAP BusinessObjects XI 3.1, OLAP universes (Microsoft Analysis, Oracle Essbase and SAP BW) can be consumed:

 Directly by SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence (the applet, HTML, and the Rich Client).

 Using Query as a Web Service (QaaWS) by SAP BusinessObjects Live Office and SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards.

What are the client tools that can consume dimensional universes?

Dimensional universes can be consumed directly by SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence (the applet, HTML, and the Rich Client), and SAP Crystal Reports Enterprise.

Can I reuse OLAP universes that were created with SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 3.x? Yes. OLAP universes created with BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 3.x will continue to function in BI4 and Web Intelligence 4.0 continues to consume those OLAP universes (unv files). However, OLAP universes can only be edited using the universe design tool, not the new information design tool. Use the upgrade

management tool to update OLAP universes (as you would any universe) from a 3.x CMS repository to the 4.0 CMS repository.

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Which SAP BusinessObjects BI Solutions 4.0 clients are compatible with which universe file types? The table below summarizes which SAP BusinessObjects BI clients are compatible with which file types:

SAP BusinessObjects BI Solutions 4.0 Clients  SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence (Applet, HTML, and Rich Client)

SAP Crystal Reports 2011 SAP Crystal Reports Enterprise SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards SAP BusinessObjects Explorer File type

SAP BEx query via

BICS (no universe) YES

NO YES YES NO

BI 4.0 UNX

(dimensional universe for MSAS OLAP)

YES NO YES NO NO

BI 4.0 UNX (multi-source enabled relational universe)

YES NO YES YES YES

XI 3.1 UNV

(OLAP universe) YES

NO NO YES via

QAAWS

NO

XI 3.1 UNV

(relational universe) YES YES

NO YES via QAAWS NO XI 3.1 UNV (relational universe) converted to BI 4.0 UNX

YES NO YES YES YES

What OLAP sources are supported by BI 4.0?

BI 4.0 supports SAP NetWeaver BW 7.0.1, 7.3, and Microsoft Analysis Services (MSAS) 2005 and 2008. SAP will continue to add support for additional OLAP databases, particularly for Essbase and SAP.

Do I need specific training to create and/or consume dimensional universes?



Report consumers do not need any specific training.



Report creators require a standard training adapted to the BI client that you are using: SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence, SAP Crystal Reports Enterprise, SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards, SAP BusinessObjects Explorer.



If you are a designer, you may have to customize dimensional universes generated by adding pre-defined filters, variable, calculated members/measures, sets, security.

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Detailed Capabilities Questions

Are hierarchies supported in the semantic layer, SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence and SAP Crystal Reports Enterprise?

Yes, with BI 4.0 the semantic layer is fully multi-dimensional, this being one of the main objectives of the release.

The concept of hierarchies exists at the universe level and at the query level. Hierarchies are fully supported for Microsoft Analysis Services (MSAS) cubes.

This means that the business intelligence clients that consume the semantic layer, for example, SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence, and SAP Crystal Reports Enterprise, gain access to multi-dimensional metadata..

Is data security addressed for universes that are based on OLAP sources? Dimensional universes also support Microsoft Analysis Services (MSAS) security.

Moreover, BI 4.0 introduces a major feature that enables data restriction in dimensional universes in addition to the existing data restrictions in OLAP cubes that apply data restrictions at runtime.

The security administrator defines and sets data restrictions for each hierarchy by using a member selector. Multiple data restrictions can be combined and used with AND and OR operators.

What Microsoft Analysis Services features are supported by the dimensional universes in BI 4.0? Please refer to the following table to understand how the metadata maps between BOE XI 3.x and BI 4.0.

Metadata mapping SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise release

XI 3.x BI 4.0

Dimension Class Analysis Dimension

Level based Hierarchy Sub-class Hierarchy

Parent-child Hierarchy Sub-class Hierarchy

Hierarchy level (level based

hierarchy only) Object Level

Dimension attribute Detail Attribute dimension

Level attribute Object Level attribute

Measure Measure (numeric) Measure (numeric)

Named Set NA Named set

Calculated member NA

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Are there restricted features in SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence while using dimensional universes?

Yes. The query drill feature is only available for reports created from multi-source enabled relational universes. SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence also provides hierarchy navigation through fold/unfold capability with OLAP universes. Keep in mind, however, that the drill will not display additional members unless you edit and change the member selection to retrieve more members. Another alternative for drilling outside of the initial query scope is to define a prompted member selection in the initial query.

How to create a dimensional universe?

In SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.0, you do not generate a universe but a business layer: the universe is the result of the publication of the business layer that includes the database connection.

To create a dimensional business layer:



Run information design tool.



Create or open an existing project.



Create a new dimensional business layer and select the created OLAP connection: o Create or import an OLAP connection.

o Use an existing OLAP connection:

 You can select a cube when generating the business layer if the connection definition does not reference any cube.



Select which dimension, hierarchies and measures you want to be generated.



Check the different generation parameters.



Once everything selected, the business layer is automatically generated. Refer to the product documentation for more information on http://help.sap.com. Are universes impacted when OLAP cubes are updated?

Yes. Each universe must be updated manually in the information design tool by selecting the Refresh Structure option. This functionality is carried over from universe design tool on the SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise 3.x universes (unv).

Universes can be synchronized with data source with several options that can be activated by the user in who is charge of the update:



Select which objects to update.



Keep track of deleted objects by the designer.



Overwrite or not properties such as name, description, list of values, etc.



Regenerates deleted objects.

At the end of the update process, users can view and select the changes that they want to apply individually or not. Note that Life Cycle Management only updates metadata that have automatically generated from cube definition.

Is it possible to mix relational data and OLAP data in a single universe?

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However it is possible to generate multiple universes (one per language) and use the XLIFF import/export capabilities in Translation Manager to merge the different translated metadata.

What are the differences between relational universes and dimensional universes?

OLAP databases are built to be accessed directly by users without an additional IT layer. The objectives of dimensional universes are to extend cubes capabilities.

Feature SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.0 Relational Universe Dimensional Universe

Data Foundation _YES _NO

Multi-dimensional: dimensions,

hierarchies NO YES

Custom objects _YES _YES

Native filters _YES _NO

Business filters _YES _YES

Mandatory filters _YES _YES

Use Designer functions in objects or filters definition: @Prompt, @Select, @Variable, etc

YES YES

Automatic update of universes (Life

Cycle Management) NO YES

Mandatory prompts in universe _YES _YES

Optional prompts in universe

YES YES

List of values _YES _YES

Hierarchical list of values _YES _YES

SQL list of values _YES _NO

Business Objects list of values _YES _YES

Static list of values _YES _YES

Object format _YES _YES

Objects restriction _YES _YES

Data restriction _YES _YES

Universe views _YES _YES

Calculated members NA _YES

Calculated measures _YES _YES

Named sets NA _YES

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What multi-dimensional concepts are used in dimensional universes? OLAP databases mainly contain dimensions and measures:



A dimension is a collection of data of the same type, allowing structuring a multidimensional database.



A dimension may also referred to as an axis.



In a measure, each cell is associated with a single position in each dimension. Dimensions are often organized in hierarchies.



Time, Customer, Geography and Product are common dimensions.



Measures are stored in a specific dimension called “Measures” in Microsoft.



The illustration below shows an example of a hierarchy of a dimension.

Parent Children Ancestor

Descendants Quarters

Days Days Days Days Days Days

Months

Quarters Quarters Quarters Years M E M B E R S Q1 February 1997 L E V E L S

Weeks Weeks Weeks Weeks

Siblings

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Questions and Answers: SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.0 and the New Semantic Layer for OLAP