SAP BPC 7.5 NetWeaver BW 7.01 Integration

Transcription

1 Applies to: SAP Business Planning and Consolidation 7.5 and Business Warehouse Summary The purpose of this document is to provide an overview of good practice for integration between a BPC 7.5 system and a BW 7.01 environment. It is based on the experiences of a particular implementation and is written by experienced BW consultants for BW consultants with little knowledge of the BPC application. It therefore does not cover basic BW concepts or detail steps on how to create BW objects. It also does not cover any aspects of the BPC functional application. This documentation was created as a team and based on project implementation. Authors: Bill Lang, Lee Oxley, Henning Stolz Company: SAP UK Ltd. Created on: September 2012 Authors Bio Henning Stolz, a certified and experienced Business Intelligence consultant within SAP (UKi) working in a SAP environment since The main focuses of his SAP consulting are on business intelligence and analytics (BW/BO), BPC data integration as well as Sustainability Performance Management (SAP SuPM). His contribution to this document and the project focused on the inbound data flow into the BPC application. Bill Lang is a Solution Architect in Business Intelligence and Performance Management in SAP UKi and is certified in both areas. He has worked in Business Intelligence in various guises since His role in the project was that of Technical Lead across the infrastructure and the data modeling and data flow areas. Lee Oxley, a certified and experienced Business Intelligence/ Warehouse consultant for SAP UKi, performing team leader, consultant, expert and quality review roles across multiple industries. His contribution to this document and the project focused on the outbound data flow from the BPC application and integrating into the existing BW system SAP AG 1

2 Table of Contents Introduction... 4 Inbound Data Flow... 6 BPC Application... 7 BW Staging Info Provider... 9 BPC Data Manager Transformation File Conversion File BPC Data Manager Packages BPC Data Manager Package Links BPC Data Manager Logs Master Data Attributes and Texts Hierarchy Outbound Data Flow Creation of objects for BPC Outbound Dataflow Custom table Custom ABAP program to delete table contents Retraction BADI DSO Outbound Layer DSO Outbound Layer BPC Outbound Dataflow BPC Data Manager (BPC Outbound) Common Issues Administration Client Issues Loading Data into a Dim from BW Fails unprocessed member data Cannot Delete Dimension Member Other Processing Dimension Errors Dimension Changes Are Not Implemented but no Error is Given Maintain Dimension Members in Admin Client Generates a BPC Dump Maintain Dimension Members in Admin Client Generates File not Found Error Cannot Modify BPF s in BPC Admin Client Creating BPF Step Generates Resource with identifier not found Error Excel Client Issues Logging on and Excel Environment Planning and Consolidation Tab Missing in Excel Log on to BPC Excel generates Object Variable or With Block variable not set Error Log on to BPC Excel generates Microsoft Excel is waiting for another application to complete an OLE action and never logs on Log on to BPC Excel using Sign Sign-On requests username and password and fails Logging on results a The remote name could not be resolved: planningosoft All Menu Bars and Ribbons Disappear in Excel Refreshing Client Cached Dimensions, Templates and Application Information Excel Client Issues Reporting and Data Manager Complex non-bpc Spreadsheets are slow to Open and slow to Edit SAP AG 2

3 All Input Schedules and Reports generate an EvDRE Error for a Particular User All Input Schedules and Reports generate an EvDRE Error after Data Load All Input Schedules and Reports generate an EvDRE Error for all Users/ Applications Using any edata Component Generates an Error Input Schedule Send Data Gives Overflow Error Users cannot see the Data Manager Package Logs blank error messages Data Manager Packages are recorded as Cancelled Status Data Manager Export Packages get cancelled Admin Loading Master Data Generates a Hierarchy Does not Exist Error BPC Web Interface No BPF Interface is displayed when Logging on to BPC Web Viewing BPF s in Web Interface Times Out Copyright SAP AG 3

4 Introduction The purpose of this document is to provide an overview of good practice for integration between a BPC 7.5 system and a BW 7.0 environment. It is based on the experiences of a particular implementation and is written by experienced BW consultants for BW consultants with little knowledge of the BPC application. It therefore does not cover basic BW concepts or detail steps on how to create BW objects. It also does not cover any aspects of the BPC functional application. A BPC system includes one or more Applications which are combined in an Application Set (AppSet), analogous to an InfoArea. An Application Set contains multiple Dimensions (Master Data objects) and applications (cubes). The Dimensions can be used by any BPC Application and are shared within the Application Set. The BPC Application uses a separate namespace within a NetWeaver BW system (/CPMB/ as opposed to standard content /BI0/). When an Application with Dimensions is created, an InfoCube and InfoObjects relating to this application, are created in this namespace. See below: Figure 1. Data Flow into BPC from BW and back out again 2012 SAP AG 4

5 The mechanism for transferring data into and out of BPC is via BPC-specific process chains. These are called via a BPC client tool called BPC Data Manager. These process chains can be viewed in transaction RSPC and are standard BW process chains that use specific BPC process types and can execute BPC scripts (known as ScriptLogic). It is not recommended that you change the BPC installed process chains however they can be copied and amended. These BPC process chains are executed via a BPC Data Manager Package. This package defines the type of data import or export and all the necessary parameters for the transfer including data filter selections. Two important elements of a Data Manager Package are a Transformation file and a Conversion file which are in Microsoft Excel format. The transformation file defines the mapping between source and target objects and which objects should be converted and where to find the conversion rules. The Conversion file contains these conversion rules in this implementation is typically used to add or remove prefixes to or from data when loading into or out of BPC. To create objects in BPC, the Planning and Consolidation Administration Client is used. This tool enables the creation of Applications (real-time InfoCubes in the BW system) with Dimensions (InfoObjects). It also gives access to the Dimension Library which is a shared master data library for all Applications within one AppSet. InfoObjects are not created in the SAP GUI. Figure 2. BPC Administration Client Loading transactional data into the BPC Applications is described in chapter 2.3 BPC Data Manager. Chapter 2.4 Master Data goes into more detail of the BPC Administration Client and how to load data into a BPC Dimension. The data load from BPC back into the BW name space is described in Chapter 3. Outbound. Chapter 4 Common Issues covers some known problems and gives possible solutions SAP AG 5

6 Inbound Data Flow The two scenarios of data integration inbound (BW into BPC) are A Master Data load from an InfoObject in BW to a BPC Dimension; A transactional data load from an InfoCube into a BPC Application; As noted previously, the BPC objects are created by the BPC Administration Console and all objects within BPC are created in an InfoArea within the BPC name space /CPMB/. Following figure shows one example from this implementation. In this case the Application Set name is GROUP and the description is Group Planning and Forecasting. The Application Set contains several applications (cubes) and several dimensions (info objects): Figure 3. Application Set with Dimensions and Applications There is no standard BW data flow between a staging InfoProvider and the InfoCubes/ InfoObjects in the BPC namespace. BPC 7.5 for NetWeaver provides the BPC Data Manager Packages and process chains to load data (Master and transactional data) from the BI name space (/BIC/) to the BPC name space (/CPMB/). The following section demonstrates how to load data into the BPC objects, how to prepare the staging layer, the Transformation and Conversion files and the BPC Data Manager Packages and Package Links. As an example the GROUP Application Set and the Indirect Costs (IC) Application will be used SAP AG 6

7 BPC Application The dimensionality of the Indirect Costs (IC) Application is defined within the BPC Administration Client. During this step the InfoCube in the BW system is automatically created. In this example the Info Cube has a technical name /CPMB/MRIZU2L (automatically defined) with a description matching that of the Application name. For each BPC Dimension assigned to the Application, the tool creates one characteristic within the BW InfoCube. Each InfoCube (Application) has one and only one key figure: ZSIGNDATA Sign Data. That means the cube is always a line item cube with an account based data model. Each characteristic is defined with the type of CHAR20; the key figure is set to DEC11, which is a number without unit and an aggregation method SUM. The following figure shows the InfoCube in BW - as an example the Dimension Version is expanded and has a single characteristic (of same name): Figure 4. The Indirect Costs BPC Application displayed in RSA1 in the SAP GUI 2012 SAP AG 7

8 Each InfoCube is set as a planning cube and as such doesn t allow a data load via a Data Transfer Package (DTP) note that the process chains that load the data do this as part of the chain: Figure 5. Change an Info Cube s Real-Time type to enable the loading of data Tip: This setting can be used in case of the need to clear the content or do a selective deletion. During the time the setting is switched to Can be Loaded with Data those deletions are possible but the cube will only be accessible for reporting but not for writing. It s important to change it back after the necessary step is done. After the load process it is generally recommended to run application/cube optimisation tasks to provide satisfactory performance for reporting and input schedule updates. There are two different possibilities, a light and a full optimisation. A light optimisation is a maintenance process similar to the BW InfoCube performance maintenance tasks of index rebuild, statistics rebuilds, and compression. This process deletes the InfoCube indexes and moves records from the F to the E fact tables. It compresses/collapses the records with the same key and additional zero suppression is possible. The InfoCube statistics gets updated. The full optimisation rebuilds the application in its entirety. The process creates a new application and copies the data to the new application. It is a restructuring of the BPC application data model and it will change the technical InfoCube name. More information about these optimisation processes can be found in SAP note Optimization in version 7.5 and BPC: How often do we need to run optimization to avoid low performance issue in BPC? 2012 SAP AG 8

9 BW Staging Info Provider In this particular implementation two BWs exist. The Business As Usual (BAU) BW is used for general reporting purposes and is the source system for the BPC-only BW installation. The BAU system is also the target system for the final planned data which is created in BPC. This is not necessarily a recommended approach but for the project meant that the existing (BAU) BW system did not require upgrading to the minimum patch level required for the BPC 7.5 release. Despite the fact that additional data staging steps are necessary, this situation offered flexibility in patching and transporting throughout the project duration with little additional support overhead. The project team could work more independently from the standard BI landscape lifecycle, minimising interruptions with the existing business process. Because of this two-system scenario, two staging layers are required: The first layer of staging is used to load the data (actuals) into the BPC BW system. During this load no data transformation is performed and in general, all records are transferred without filtering (1:1). Some aggregation takes place as not all objects in the source have a corresponding object in the target. Between staging layer 1 and 2 the data is transformed into the BPC required format so the layer 2 is be aligned as much as possible to the BPC Application simply, an InfoCube is created with the same structure as the BPC Application cube. In the example below, the staging cube is also created with one key figure (account based model) and the characteristics are Z objects as they created for BPC they are created as CHAR20 to ensure consistency: Figure 6. Staging Info Cube in the /BIC/ namespace There is no particular need to have an Info Cube as a staging object and if the data source is not multidimensional and the key fields are known, a DSO is another possible solution SAP AG 9

10 The more the staging data structure matches the target structure in BPC, the less data transformation needs to be done in the BPC Transformation and Conversion files. For instance the data model could be key figurebased (multiple key figures) and then transformed into an account-based model (single key figure) with a formula in the BPC Transformation file (refer to section 0 BPC Data Manager), but to keep the transformation file as simple as possible (to have one single point of maintenance and use the existing BW skillset), the vast majority of the transformations are performed between staging layer 1 and 2 (exceptions were based on expediency and ease of implementation). The following diagram illustrates what a data flow looks like from the BI 0 objects to the staging Z objects and then to the BPC objects: 0-Object (different characteristics, multiple key figures) Z-Object (CHAR 20, single key figure) BPC Data Manager BPC Object (CHAR 20, single key figure) Figure 7. Data flow from existing BW objects to BPC objects A 0-object does not necessarily mean a business-content Info Object or a z-object a custom one, it just illustrates that data gets loaded from existing BW objects into those which are created for BPC staging and then to those in BPC. The BW transformations between staging layer 1 and 2 are not described in detail because these steps are common BW data modelling tasks and not part of this document SAP AG 10

11 For this implementation individual field mappings were used in the main. The Indirect Costs staging layer 2 (below) is already an account-based data model with one key figure and several individual field mappings. For characteristics where no 1:1 field mapping (direct assignment) or fixed value (constant) is sufficient, an ABAP routine transforms the source data into the BPC required format. For instance the time dimension is a character 20 field in BPC and is expected in a format YYYY.MMM. The source for that is the BW standard field Fiscal year / period. Figure 8. Staging Layer 2 Object A common practice in BPC is to prefix master data ID s to ensure uniqueness across the Application Set, e.g. a profit centre number is prefixed with PC_. To match the transactional data records with the master data in the BPC dimension, the same prefix needs to be added to each value in the characteristic. This could be done at this level of data staging however for simplicity this was implemented in the Conversion file (one of the transformation exceptions for more details refer to section 0 Conversion File) SAP AG 11

12 BPC Data Manager The BPC Data Manager is a tool to run various BPC code packages. Amongst these are ones that enable the loading of data into the BPC system, copy and move data within and across BPC Applications and export data from an Application. Data Manager Packages are based on BW process chains which are delivered with the BPC installation. They can be viewed in transaction RSPC but do not use standard BW process chain types and do not need to be altered. The Data Manager is integrated within the BPC Excel interface. To start the Data Manager, choose the Planning & Consolidation ribbon in Excel and choose etools and then Data Manager: Figure 9. Selecting Data Manager Interface in the BPC Excel Client In the following section, the process of loading data from the staging InfoCube into a BPC Application is described. First a Transformation and a Conversion file are needed then a Package combines those files with prompts (variables) and triggers a BW process chain. Finally multiple Packages for different tasks can be combined in Package Links. Further help can be found at SAP AG 12

13 Transformation File A Transformation file is a Microsoft Excel file used to map fields in BW to fields in BPC. For transactional data it means Info Objects on the BW staging side (characteristics and key figures in the Info Provider) with Dimensions in BPC: Figure 10. Example Transformation File The mapping file is structured in three sections, Options, Mapping and Conversion. In the first Options section, general settings are made; the Mapping section is to assign a dimension or property in BPC with a source column (in this case an attribute of the InfoObject); the Conversion section is to link another excel sheet to a specific field to apply a conversion routine. An example transformation file is Appendix 1. The following section describes how to create a Transformation file SAP AG 13

14 How to create a Transformation File: 1. Logon to BPC Excel client. 2. Select the Application Set and Application where the Transformation file will be used. The files are stored on the BPC server and are specific to a BPC Application. 3. In the Data Manager section on the Planning & Consolidation ribbon, select More New Transformation File: 2012 SAP AG 14

15 4. A new Excel sheet with the structure of a Transformation File opens. If no changes under Options are necessary and no conversions should be applied, the focus is the Mapping section. Here the field mapping is listed and structured as a list of the technical field names in rows. The BPC dimension is assigned to a BW Info Object and its attributes as in the following: ACCOUNT=ZACCOUNT TIME=ZBPCTIME SIGNEDDATA=ZAMOUNT The Key Figure of the BW cube (ZAMOUNT) is assigned to SIGNEDDATA. If the source is a csv file a BPC Dimension can be mapped to a column (by name) or if there is no header row in the source file (Header under *OPTIONS must be disabled) then a placeholder like *()Col1, *()Col2, etc. needs to be mapped. If a conversion is to be applied, a reference to the corresponding Conversion file is needed. In this case the BPC dimension or property needs to be mapped to a specific sheet in a separated Conversion file, e.g. DIMENSION1=conversionfile.xls!sheet1 Other functionality: To change an existing transformation files go to Data Manager on the Planning & Consolidation ribbon and select More Manage Transformation File: After each change a transformation file needs to be processed (saved on the server). Also a validation is possible. To do that, use the Transformation Maintenance Options in the right-hand action pane: 2012 SAP AG 15

16 Conversion File A Conversion File is a Microsoft Excel file used to apply conversion rules for a BPC Dimension and its properties. Once an empty Conversion file is created an excel sheet with three column provides the structure. Column A is the value from the source, column B is how it should be structured in BPC and column C is a possible transformation formula which can be applied for each record. For this implementation no formulas were used because all transformations are done in the BW staging layer, however one conversion for each dimension was the addition of a prefix for the ID s. The figure below shows how to prefix CC_ to each cost centre: Figure 11. Example Conversion File An example Conversion file is in Appendix SAP AG 16

17 How to create a Conversion File: 1. Logon to BPC Excel client. 2. Select the Application Set and Application where the Transformation file will be used. The files are stored on the BPC server and are specific to a BPC Application. 3. In the Data Manager section on the Planning & Consolidation ribbon, select More New Conversion File: 2012 SAP AG 17

18 Other functionality: Managing Conversion files To change existing conversion files go to Data Manager on the Planning & Consolidation ribbon and select More Manage Conversion File: After each change a Transformation file needs to be processed (saved on the server). Also a validation can be performed and again, to do that use the Transformation Maintenance Options in the action pane SAP AG 18

19 BPC Data Manager Packages Packages are used across the BPC system for a number of tasks. The Package folder Data Management lists some functionality to load data and in the figure below a package Run BW process chain is highlighted. This package triggers a standard BW process chain. Run Package Figure 12. The Data Manager, Run Package dialog Organize Package List: These packages can be organized including adding, removing, copying and changing: Figure 13. The Data Manager, Organise Package List dialog 2012 SAP AG 19

20 View Package Status: Package Status is a monitor to see the logs per application. The status of a running package is visible in the first screen: Figure 14. Package Status Run Log For each individual run details can be displayed: 2012 SAP AG 20

21 BPC Data Manager Package Links BPC Data Manager Package Links link one or many Packages together in a specified order. Package Links execute in a specific order, set value for prompts and variables but they are a list of Packages executed in order. If one Package fails, all subsequent Packages are not run: Figure 15. Data Manager Package Link Detail 2012 SAP AG 21

22 BPC Data Manager Logs Data Manager More View Package Status provides a log for the component Packages: An overall Package status for the Application shows a history with user, status, start and end time: Figure 16. Data Manager Package Link Log Tip: Tick Refresh status every x seconds enables an auto update of this list. Figure 17. Data Manager Package Link Log Detail 2012 SAP AG 22

23 Master Data As with transactional data, Master Data is staged in separated BW Info Objects and then loaded into BPC with the BPC Data Manager. To map fields (InfoObject Attributes to BPC Dimension Properties) a Transformation and a Conversion file is required (refer to section 0 BPC Data Manager). When a BPC Dimension is set up in the Planning and Consolidation Administration Client an InfoObject in the BW system gets created (in the BPC name space). The BPC Dimension Library is shared between all Applications (within one Appset). Each Dimension is one InfoObject in the BW stystem and each Dimension property represents an attribute of the InfoObject. The figure below shows the Planning and Consolidation Administration Client and the expanded Dimension Library. The following section details an illustration of how to load Master Data into the ProfitCentre Dimension, including attributes (properties in BPC terminology), hierarchies and texts. Figure 18. Dimension Library in the BPC Administration Client 2012 SAP AG 23

24 The Dimension properties are maintainable. For each BPC property created, an attribute gets created in the BW system. ProfitCentre Dimension properties: ProfitCentre Info Object attributes: Figure 19. Dimension Properties Figure 20. Dimension Info Object Attributes 2012 SAP AG 24

25 A BPC Dimension can be populated from other BW InfoObjects via BPC Data Manager or entered manually in the Administration Client. This can be useful if the dimension s content is static or changes rarely (or can only be performed manually for business reasons). In the right hand side menu bar Manage Dimension a task to maintain the Dimension members can be selected. This opens an embedded Excel file with the contents of this Dimension: Figure 21. Maintaining a Dimension in the BPC Administration Client In this example (ProfitCentre) column A is the ID, column B the description and column C the parent ID in the hierarchy. From column D on, the properties are listed. Each cell is editable and the value can be changed and written back to the BW InfoObject. When using the save option a file gets stored on the server and is used as a cache. The changes won t be visible in the frontend until the Dimension is processed which commits the data to the InfoObject. The Dimension member sheet can only be accessed by one user. For all others the access is locked during the time of editing. Tip: Process dimension after even just opening the dimension member sheet to avoid load failure Dimension contains unprocessed members SAP AG 25

26 To see the changes in the BPC client go to etools Refresh Dimension Members: In the BPC client the Dimension is then updated and the properties (right-click context menu) will show the Master Data for the object: Figure 22. Dimension Hierarchy and Properties in the BPC Excel Client 2012 SAP AG 26

27 Attributes and Texts For master data and its attributes a transformation file needs to be created and used in a BPC Data Manager package to load into the BPC Dimension. The transformation file for master data follows the same principal as for transactional data and can be combined with conversion files if necessary. In the BPC Data Manager the Package set up is as follows: When a BW InfoObject is selected there are several selections to set. In the first screen Attribute the selection can be restricted as well as a KeyDate defined for time dependent Master Data: 2012 SAP AG 27

28 In the next screen the Hierarchy the hierarchy is set (if there is one): The third screen the Language is for selecting the texts of the InfoObject. First the language is to be selected and then the short, the medium or the long text can be loaded into the description column of the BPC dimension SAP AG 28

29 Finally the Attribute list shows all attributes of the info object. Select the attributes that need to be mapped to B PC objects in the Transformation file. The package needs to know the path to the transformation file on the server and the name of the BPC Dimension: 2012 SAP AG 29

30 Hierarchy To load the relevant hierarchy an additional package is required: When the BW InfoObject is chosen the hierarchy needs to be selected: 2012 SAP AG 30

31 To load a hierarchy a Transformation file also needs to be specified in the Package: This Package is usually combined with other packages in a package link for instance the previously detailed text load. Outbound Data Flow With BPC NetWeaver 7.5 there are three different ways to extract transaction data: 1. To a file, in the file service or application server. 2. Via a virtual provider on top of the planning cube. 3. Via a BADI Based on the customer set up it had already been determined that method 3 was the most appropriate based on data volumes and for performance. Details of method 1 can be found at this location for the application server: Or this for the file service: Further details of method 3 and this BADI process and definition can be found at this There are separate Data Manager packages available for the Master Data and transaction data retractions. Only the transaction data retraction is discussed as Master Data created for the BPC application was not required outside of BPC. The example is based on the requirements of this project. The retraction data flow takes the required data from the BPC application, adds it to a staging table via a BADI (as the BADI couldn t directly update a DSO or cube), creates a data source on the table and loads via a Data Transfer Package (DTP) and process chain into an outbound layer 1 DSO with no business rule transformation. From there the data is loaded into an outbound layer 2 DSO where the business rule transformations are applied. From the outbound layer 2, 2012 SAP AG 31

32 data is loaded into a separate BW system the Business As Usual (BAU) BW system discussed in the previous section. This inter-bw load step is not discussed here. Figure 23. Data Flow from BPC back into BW When executing the Data Manager Package, based on the filter selections within the Package, the required data is taken from the relevant BPC application InfoCube and passed via internal table to the BADI code. The BADI code has to determine the structure of this table, and map the relevant columns to an output. In this example, the output is a custom database table created via transaction SE11 in BW. This staging table is given the same structure as the BPC application to allow for data reconciliation during the retraction process in case of issues. Standard BW process chains are used to move the data from the staging table to the outbound layers 1 and 2. As the planning process creates new versions of plans during the year, differing requirements determine what data is required to be stored and at what level. In this example, the staging table is just a temporary repository before moving the data to the outbound layer 1 DSO therefore the data in this table can and should be deleted before every new retraction. The outbound layer 1 DSO is required to have the latest version of each plan. As retractions are run daily, plans with the same version overwrite previous versions; any new plans are added therefore the transformation into the DSO is set with overwrite. The DTP into this DSO could be full or delta as long as the PSA for the staging table data source is deleted with every load. Outbound layer 2 only has the required data from the latest plan and therefore the contents are deleted before every new load. This is because an equivalent DSO in another BW system will maintain the history, and the data is already held, albeit without business transformation rules applied, in outbound layer SAP AG 32

33 Creation of objects for BPC Outbound Dataflow As outlined above, the required objects for the outbound dataflow from BPC are: 1. Custom table 2. Custom ABAP program to delete the contents of the custom table 3. Retraction BADI 4. DSO outbound layer 1 5. DSO outbound layer 2 Each of these objects will be covered below either outlining how to create it, or if it s a standard BW object just an overview of what the object is. Custom table A custom table is created via transaction SE11 and is a database table. The required structure is manually defined or based on existing data elements. The example below is manually defined which can be done via selecting Predefined Type button. The data type and length can then be freely defined. In the example below each field matches the definition in the planning info provider: Figure 24. Outbound Data Flow Target Custom Table 2012 SAP AG 33

34 Custom ABAP program to delete table contents The process flow requires that the contents of the custom table are deleted before the next load a custom ABAP program was written to perform this function. As there are multiple data flows, the program was written to allow program variants to determine which table contents are to be deleted without the need for one program per custom table. The program was created via transaction SE38. The code for the program can be found in Appendix 2. Ensure the settings type are executable program and the status are Customer Production Program : After the program is created, variants for each custom table for each data flow can be created. To do this, choose the variants radio button in SE38 with the program name and then choose the change icon: 2012 SAP AG 34

35 Enter a variant name and select the create icon. Enter the required values for application set ID and application ID: Select the attributes icon and enter a description and any other required settings and save: 2012 SAP AG 35

36 Retraction BADI The BADI for transaction (and Master) data retraction is called via a process chain. You must specify the filter in the data package script to indicate to the system the BADI implementation calls. For transaction data, the BADI is called for each package during the transaction data load. The online help for this BADI can be found at The BADI is created in transaction SE19. Enter UJD_RETRACT as the enhancement spot and select the create icon: Create the enhancement implementation and enter a description: 2012 SAP AG 36

37 Enter the BADI implementation BADI_UJD_RETRACT and implementation class IF_UJD_RETRACT : Save the enhancement implementation: 2012 SAP AG 37

38 Expand the arrow icon under the BADI implementation and select the filter value and then the change filter value icon: Enter the filter value that will be used as the BADI name in the BPC data manager package. After confirming the changed filter value, select the implementing class : 2012 SAP AG 38

39 Change the implementing class to the custom version created for the BADI (refer to Appendix 3): The technical details tab should now look as follows: 2012 SAP AG 39

40 DSO Outbound Layer 1 The definition of the outbound DSO layer 1 matches the definition of the planning provider with all characteristics as keys and the single key figure as a data field: Figure 25. Outbound Layer 1 Data Store Object (DSO) DSO Outbound Layer 2 Required transformations to meet the reporting requirements are made between the DSO outbound layers 1 and 2. The required definition of this second layer is therefore customer specific with an example definition of this second layer below: Figure 26. Outbound Layer 2 Data Store Object (DSO) 2012 SAP AG 40

41 BPC Outbound Dataflow Once all the objects required for the outbound dataflow have been created, the mechanism for managing the dataflow can be created. This is performed by the BPC Data Manager and a package link. BPC Data Manager (BPC Outbound) A package link contains steps of individual data manager packages. Each package executes one of the required retraction steps. These are: 1. Delete data from the application staging table; 2. Export the BPC data via the BADI into the staging table; 3. Run the BW process chain to load the data from the staging table into the outbound staging layer 1 and layer 2; The steps detailing how to create a data manager package link are covered in the previous inbound data loading section. Thebelow highlights the created package link for outbound dataflow: Figure 27. Outbound Data Flow Package Link The BAdi writes data to staging table: ZBPC_INDC_RET - BPC Indirect Cost data (BPC Indirect Cost app. Outbound). This table is used as data source ZDS_INDC_TD - Indirect Costs BPC Outbound to load the data into the BW namespace. A 1:1 mapping (direct assignment) is used in the transformation to the DSO ZDOIND1 - BPC Indirect Costs Outbound Layer 1. This staging layer contains the data as it came out of BPC but with BPC prefixes removed via a conversion file used in the Data Manager Package SAP AG 41

42 A second staging DSO, ZDOIND2 - BPC Indirect Costs Outbound Layer 2 then takes this source data and applies relevant business rules to determine the required data set to then be staged into BAU BW. These 2 DSO are in the info area as per the screen shot below: Figure 28. Outbound BW Data Flow The deletion of the staging table is carried out by running a BW process chain, ZBPC_IC_DEL INDIRECTCOSTS Delete retraction data. This chain calls an ABAP program, ZBPC_DELETE_RETRACT_DATA Delete BPC Retraction Data, with a variant, ZINDIRECTCOSTS Delete INDIRECTCOSTS Retract D SAP AG 42

43 The export of data from BPC to the staging table uses the BAdi called from BPC data manager. For BAdi details, see the appendix. No transformation is applied however prefixes that were added to data items on the BPC inbound flows are removed via a conversion file on the outbound flow. Data in the staging table is therefore referred to as unprefixed. The loading of data from the staging table through the staging layers is executed via a BW process chain, ZBPC_IC_TD_OUT - INDIRECTCOSTS Transactional Data Load (BPC > BPC BW) SAP AG 43

44 Export Indirect Costs BPC data to staging package settings The Data Manager Package for Export Indirect Costs BPC data to staging has the following settings: Figure 1. Indirect Costs Outbound Data Flow Package Settings The steps detailing how to create transformation and conversion are covered in the inbound section above. See Appendix 1 for examples of transformation and conversion files for the outbound dataflow. Once the data manager packages and package link are created, the package link can be scheduled thus performing the retraction of data from the planning provider into the DSO outbound layer 2. Common Issues Administration Client Issues Loading Data into a Dim from BW Fails unprocessed member data Note this is not strictly an Administration Client error as Data Manager is run from the Excel client tool. The Data Manager Package to load data into BPC fails with an unprocessed member data error in the Reject Records tab: To clear this error the dimension must be processed in the Administration Client before the load can start: 2012 SAP AG 44

45 Note table UJA_DIMENSION shows whether a dimension is in a processed (P) or unprocessed state (U) SAP AG 45

46 Cannot Delete Dimension Member You cannot remove a dimension member when there is transaction data recorded for that member (including zeros). This can be the case when you see the following error: In this case you need to remove the data related to the dimension member from all relevant cubes. This can be done with selective deletion of records in the relevant cube in RSA1. This error can also happen when there are corruptions in the server-side cache. In this case delete the delta files (pending changes) in UJFS and try processing again: Dimension Members may also be referenced as Driving Dimension Members in Business Process Flows (BPFs). In this case, to remove the dimension members they would need to be removed from the BPF first. Other Processing Dimension Errors If you are changing the dimension hierarchy or removing dimensions then you can get errors when members are referenced in Active Business Process Flows (BPF s). Archiving the Instances of a BPF should resolve this problem but if not, you can remove the offending entries from the NetWeaver back-end tables SAP AG 46

47 Dimension Changes Are Not Implemented but no Error is Given The developer makes a dimension member change, saves to server and processes (or just processes). They then close and re-open the dimension and the change has not been implemented. Another developer checks and confirms the change has not been implemented. Close all versions of excel and refresh the dimension members. If this does not work then check the contents of the UJFS cache by downloading the dimension xls file: If this file is corrupt (or empty) then delete the xls file in UJFS and BPC will automatically recreate it when someone requests the file: 2012 SAP AG 47

48 Maintain Dimension Members in Admin Client Generates a BPC Dump When clicking on Maintain Dimension Members in the BPC Administrative client the following error is seen: This error can be caused because Excel is busy in another Window. This can happen if you are editing a cell formula in Excel: The best method is to close all versions of Excel and try again. If this does not work then restart the BPC Administration console 2012 SAP AG 48

49 Maintain Dimension Members in Admin Client Generates File not Found Error When clicking on Maintain Dimension Members in the BPC Administrative client the following error is seen: In fact none of the files from the BPC.NET server (Input Schedules, Dimension files etc.) are being downloaded. First check that the user has read/write access to the cache directory (C:\Program Files\SAP BusinessObjects\PC_NW\Cache). If they do then the XceedZip.dll registration has become corrupted in some way. Re-register by running the following command (e.g. Start > Run): regsvr32 "C:\Program Files\SAP BusinessObjects\PC_NW\XceedZip.dll" If this succeeds the following message is seen: 2012 SAP AG 49

50 Cannot Modify BPF s in BPC Admin Client When trying to modify a BPF, the BPC Administration Client makes a change to the C:\Program Files\ SAP BusinessObjects\PC_NW\log-configuration.xml file. If this file is read the following error message is seen: Read-write access to this file for authenticated users is a requirement of the installation instructions SAP AG 50

51 Creating BPF Step Generates Resource with identifier not found Error The administrator creates a BPF step and clicks on OK. The following error is seen: When creating a BPF step the Driver Dimension must be set before completing the step. Click on Define Step Region Criteria, fill in the driver dimensions and owner property (members are not required at this point) and then the step can be completed: Note - the members must be selected before activating the BPF SAP AG 51

52 Excel Client Issues Logging on and Excel Environment Planning and Consolidation Tab Missing in Excel Assuming that BPC is installed correctly, it is likely that the add-in has been disabled: This can happen if Excel becomes unstable and/or crashes. The add-in needs to be re-enabled in Excel (this is documented in SAP Note ): Step Actions 1. Click on the round Office button in the top-left of Excel. 2. Click on Excel Options at the bottom of the list Click on Add-Ins on the left-hand side menu and Planning and Consolidation should appear as a COM Add-in in the list. If it is not in the list it may be disabled, so under Manage at the bottom, select Disabled Items and click on Go. 5. In the resulting pop-up select the BPC Add-In and click the Enable button, 2012 SAP AG 52

53 Log on to BPC Excel generates Object Variable or With Block variable not set Error When logging on you see the following error: As with the previous error, the Planning and Consolidation tab is also missing. If the previous solution does not work then the BPC Office Client has likely become corrupt and should be uninstalled and re-installed. Log on to BPC Excel generates Microsoft Excel is waiting for another application to complete an OLE action and never logs on When logging on you see the following error: Editing dimension members in the Administration client also fails. None of the files from the BPC.NET server: Input Schedules, Dimension files etc. are being downloaded. The XceedZip.dll registration has become corrupted in some way. Re-register by running the following command (e.g. Start > Run): regsvr32 "C:\Program Files\SAP BusinessObjects\PC_NW\XceedZip.dll" If this succeeds you will see the following message: 2012 SAP AG 53

54 Log on to BPC Excel using Sign Sign-On requests username and password and fails When logging through the Excel Client Connection Wizard you get asked for your username and password and fails: This will mean that the user s network domain account is now locked and they should call the helpdesk to get this unlocked. The problem is with cached domain directory credentials and can be cleared by clearing Internet Explorer cache and the BPC connection cache. In Internet Explorer click on Tools and Select internet Options: On the General tab under Browsing history click on Delete. Then delete Form Data, Passwords and Cookies in the browsing history. For completeness the user should now reboot SAP AG 54

55 If the problem persists then the user should call the IT helpdesk to get their account unlocked (if it is locked) and then should change their Windows password. Wait for 10 minutes after changing the password before trying to log on to BPC again. Logging on results a The remote name could not be resolved: planningosoft When logging on a user sees the follow message (or slight variant): Assuming the user has used the correct server name (PLANNING) the addition on osoft at the end of the server name occurs when a user has logged off and on again (or changed Application Sets) in the same Excel session. They will actually have been asked to clog on twice. This error is benign and can be ignored. If Excel is closed before logging on again the error will not be seen. All Menu Bars and Ribbons Disappear in Excel When the laptop is under load and BPC Excel Client is minimised or behind other windows, the Menu bar and Ribbon can disappear when bringing it back into focus. To restore them, un-dock the BPC Action Pane and dock it again. If this does not work then close and re-open Excel SAP AG 55

56 Refreshing Client Cached Dimensions, Templates and Application Information As previously detailed the client cache is stored in the C:\Program Files\SAP BusinessObjects\PC_NW\Cache directory. These files can become corrupt so can be deleted. This can be done from the etools menu directly or in the Client Options: From the Client Options the locally cached Input Schedules and Reports can also be deleted as well as clearing all system connectivity information (in this case the user will need to run through the Import Wizard again as no connection information will be present). Note that the Planning and Consolidation local folder cannot be changed as the user will not have access to this area of the registry SAP AG 56

57 Excel Client Issues Reporting and Data Manager Complex non-bpc Spreadsheets are slow to Open and slow to Edit Large and/or complex non-bpc spreadsheets, especially ones with many links, are slow to open and to update when logged on to BPC. These spreadsheets do not contain (and have never contained) EvDRE queries. When opening the spreadsheet or updating, a BPC message appears in the progress bar on the bottom left of the Excel window: To prevent this from happening, the default BPC refresh options should be turned off for the spreadsheet: Step Actions 1. Log off from BPC and open the spreadsheet concerned. 2. Log on to BPC whilst the spreadsheet is open. 3. Click on etools > Workbook Options. 4. Under Refresh options untick: Refresh workbook on worksheet update; Refresh workbook on workbook open; 2012 SAP AG 57

58 All Input Schedules and Reports generate an EvDRE Error for a Particular User This symptom is a generic EvDRE error so this fix only applies if all EvDRE reports are failing for a particular user: This can be symptomatic of an inconsistent Dimension so refresh the client side dimension cache. If this symptom is happening to a group of users then the application being queries may need to be processed. If this does not work there may be a problem with the report itself such as using invalid dimension members. In this case check the report/ template. All Input Schedules and Reports generate an EvDRE Error after Data Load If refreshing the dimension members doesn t work then the next step is to process the application in which the error is occurring. This is done in the Administrative Client do not do this if any data loads, exports or optimize packages are running. Ste p Actions 1. Log into the BPC Administration Client and select the application to be processed. Click on Modify Application SAP AG 58

59 Ste p Actions 2. Click on Modify Application. 3. The application is successfully processed. If this still does not work then run a Lite Optimise. Do not run this from the Administration Client in case a job is running use the Data Manager package SAP AG 59

60 All Input Schedules and Reports generate an EvDRE Error for all Users/ Applications Occasionally the IIS.NET Application Pool can stop responding and Input Schedules and Reports generate a generic EvDRE error that retries every 30s (as in the previous section). In case you should restart the ASP.NET 2.0 Application Pool in IIS Manager on the.net server: This issue is less clear when there are multiple.net servers (there are 4 in production). You can test this by logging on to a specific server in the Connection Wizard rather than the load balancer name. Note that if any user is currently running a query or sending data via that Application Pool, their connection will be terminated. Using any edata Component Generates an Error When trying to use any edata component (e.g. Run Package) an error is generated: The EvServerDataMgr COM+ component has failed to start. The service account password may have changed SAP AG 60

61 Input Schedule Send Data Gives Overflow Error Sending data from an Input Schedule results in the following error: The error is some data being sent has more than 7 decimal places. Users cannot see the Data Manager Package Logs blank error messages If no Data Manager logs are viewable from within Data Manager users see a blank screen and a blank error message then the EvServerDataMgr COM+ component should be restarted (this is a BASIS task) SAP AG 61

62 Data Manager Packages are recorded as Cancelled Status Users running a package see the status as Cancelled even though in the Detail the log states success: If this happens to a Run BW Process Chain Package then check the Process Chain in the BW system (BW technical task). This can happen (for instance) if the period selection is incorrectly or not populated in BAU BW for the inbound transaction data Package Links. Data Manager Export Packages get cancelled Packages with the retraction BAdi get cancelled with message: Error found in NetWeaver BI, RSDRI read error OTHERS. This happened after a system copy and could be resolved with setting the application s cube load behaviour to normal and then back to planning-cube. After that a light optimization worked SAP AG 62

63 Admin Loading Master Data Generates a Hierarchy Does not Exist Error In the second step to loading a dimension (Import BW MasterData process chain), the package fails with a Failed to read hierarchy xxxxx error: After a transport the Data Manager Hierarchy selections are lost and need to be added. In the Organise Package Link List, edit the relevant Package Link and add the hierarchy to both the following steps: Load MD Attributes into BPC; Load MD Hierarchy into BPC; Step Actions 1. Edit the Package Link (Organise package List), select the Load MD Attributes into BPC Package and click on Set Prompt SAP AG 63

64 Step Actions 2. Click on Set Selection and click on OK to the error message. 3. Select the Hierarchy tab and enter the hierarchy details and the Key Date. Click on OK SAP AG 64

65 Step Actions 4. Select the Load MD Hierachy into BPC Package and click on Set Prompt. Make the same hierarchy changes as before and click on OK. 5. Save the Package Link and Package Link List SAP AG 65

66 BPC Web Interface No BPF Interface is displayed when Logging on to BPC Web When BPC Web is launched there is no BPF interface at all (as opposed to just no BPF s). This can happen especially in the Citrix environment: Either refresh the browser or click on the Business Process Flows link: 2012 SAP AG 66

67 Viewing BPF s in Web Interface Times Out When viewing Business Process Flows (BPFs) in the BPC Interface for Web the main screen displays a wait timer and eventually times out: The interface is trying to load too much data. This should not be the case for a user but an administrator may be able to see many steps for all BPFs. In normal operation this should not be a problem but if a BPF is created in error with too many steps (e.g. every Cost Centre in the hierarchy) and has not been removed correctly, then this error could occur. Rather than searching through all the BPFs, the number of BPF Instance Steps generated can be checked by looking in table UJB_STEP_RGN. Order by the third ID used in BPF: 2012 SAP AG 67

68 Export this result set to an Excel spreadsheet, select the third ID used in BPF column and use the Subtotal button: In the above example the instance ID 4ECD051441EA3C80E A09652C has 4795 steps. Use the instance ID to find the BPF template ID: Template ID is 4EA541F E A09652C. Use this to find the template: In this case the template has been deleted (status of D) so the instance steps can be deleted from the UJB_STEP_REGION table SAP AG 68

69 Appendix 1. Transformation and Conversion Files An example outbound Transformation file : *OPTIONS FORMAT = DELIMITED HEADER = YES DELIMITER =, AMOUNTDECIMALPOINT =. SKIP = 0 SKIPIF = VALIDATERECORDS=YES CREDITPOSITIVE=YES MAXREJECTCOUNT=-1 ROUNDAMOUNT= *MAPPING ZACCOUNT=ACCOUNT ZASSCL=ASSETCLASSES ZCOSTCTR=COSTCENTRE ZDATASRC=DATASOURCE ZDETAIL=DETAIL ZGRADETYP=GA_GRADETYPE ZRPTCURR=RPTCURRENCY ZBPCTIME=TIME ZTRADEP=TRADEPARTNERS ZVERSION=VERSION ZAMOUNT=SIGNEDDATA *CONVERSION ZCOSTCTR=EXPORT_TD_INDIRECTCOSTS_CONV.xls!COSTCENTRE ZGRADETYP=EXPORT_TD_INDIRECTCOSTS_CONV.xls!GA_GRADETYPE ZASSCL=EXPORT_TD_INDIRECTCOSTS_CONV.xls!ASSETCLASSES ZDETAIL=EXPORT_TD_INDIRECTCOSTS_CONV.xls!DETAIL ZTRADEP=EXPORT_TD_INDIRECTCOSTS_CONV.xls!TRADEPARTNERS ZVERSION=EXPORT_TD_INDIRECTCOSTS_CONV.xls!VERSION ZDATASRC=EXPORT_TD_INDIRECTCOSTS_CONV.xls!DATASOURCE ZACCOUNT=EXPORT_TD_INDIRECTCOSTS_CONV.xls!ACCOUNT An example Conversion file for the outbound dataflow: 2012 SAP AG 69