Friday, February 26, 2016

BEx Analyzer features – Properties for characteristics: Cumulate Values

Here I’m starting couple of posts about not very known features of BEx Analyzer. One of them is called “Cumulate Values”. It is available in context menu (right click) on characteristic’s cell while BEx report is opened in BEx Analyzer tool.

What it does is following. It cumulates a value of KF for specific characteristics shown in the report. This works without considering what aggregation type is defined for particular KF.


Here’s example of report’s output. There is KF called “Total time” displayed in the report. Characteristics Calendar Day is displayed as well in the columns of the report. Without “Cumulate Values” feature enabled report looks like following:


To enable the feature a right click is performed on the characteristics Calendar Day and menu item Properties is chosen. On next pop-up windows the feature is enabled.


This is hoe the report looks like when it is ON. Value of the KF in first column stays the same as the feature wouldn’t be enabled. But value of 2nd and other subsequent columns are cumulating values of all predecessors’ columns:


Online documentation:

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Flash back to pre 2k years

In this post I look back to pre-2000 years to times when new millennium was approaching. Back then all computer industry was scared in wake of what will happen when computers clock turn from 31.12.1999 23:59:59 to 1.1.2000 00:00:00. This problem was known as year 2000 problem. SAP was watching this space also and preparing its software for this change.

They came up with SAP Note with very famous number: 2000 - Internal SAP AG Year2000 activities. In this Note they briefly described what this year change will bring and advised its customers to prepare their computers system for this change. Initiative of the year 2000 within SAP was driven by so called “Year2000 Taskforce” (y2000@sap-ag.de, sap.com/y2ki and sapnet.sap.com/y2000). The taskforce coordinated all activities related to this change. Covering all known facts, problems, methods, tools, organizational and legal questions.

All analyzing and testing of SAP software done for this year change generated about 130+ (based on my brief count of Note numbers in collective Notes) SAP Notes. They vary from databases and OS related changes by different vendors, date field format adjustments in SAP tables like date 1.1.1 is converted to 1.1.0001, ABAP statements like “WRITE date YY/MM/DD”, file format generated by SAP interfaces and so on.

SAP provided also couple of tools to help customer with testing of their systems (like Safety Check 2000 tool, Verification Tool). Customers were encouraged to setup separate system where they shall simulate the year change and test how the SAP software will be affected.

All in all as we all know whole thing ended up successfully. There were no major interruptions of computer systems neither in SAP systems reported. So what will be next challenge? Year 2038 problem or just year 10,000 problem? Some of us will see that J


Information sources on this topic:
2000 - Internal SAP AG Year2000 activities
99664 - General information on year 2000 (collective note)
99662 - Collective note Year2000

135460 - Year 2000 guide for R/3 customers

Parameters of RSADMINS table

In today’s post I introduce another important customizing table of BW. Among tables like RSADMIN, RSADMINA and RSADMINC it is RSADMINS table. Similarly to previous ones it also stores params need to BW system functioning properly.


General parameters

CUSTOMIZID                ID for Customizing in BW. For the BW system a value of this param is always BW.

DRAGDROPOFF             Drag&Drop off(='X'), Controls drag & drop behavior in tcode RSA1->Modeling->InfoObjects section, by default OFF is enabled

ISPREF                          Prefix for name of an InfoSource

AUTOSTEP2                   Step 2 automatic when loading master data and texts

HIERARCHYVIRTFR         Virtual Time Hierarchies: From Date, SAP Note: 1239449 - CTC Correction report

HIERARCHYVIRTTO        Virtual Time Hierarchies: To Date

FCALID                         OLAP: Default Factory Calendar ID, can be maintained in tcode RSRHIERARCHYVIRT

FISCPERTXTFLG             Indicator for Controlling Master Data Texts for 0FISCPER


System Settings for Metadata Modeling: e.g. Business Content

SYSTP                          System type. Either the BW system is using SAP Namespace (value = SAP) or Customer Namespace (value = CUS)

IS_CONTSYST              System is Content system. Setting is relevant if the BW system is used to develop customer or partner BI Content object. If it is the case than param has value of X. All metadata objects are then copied from the active (A) version into the delivery (D) version when you save or activate them. Additionally, only the delivery objects and not the active objects are written to the transport request.

CONTENT_CHANGE      Changeability of External Content Objects. Setting external objects to can be changed in the Content system. Changes to BW Content objects delivered by SAP or other partners are not normally allowed in customer Content systems. SAP Note: 539278 - Maintaining SAP objects in the customer Content system

CONTREL                      It contains value of so-called Content release. It tells with which release particular Business Content object was delivered. You can recognize in particular whether there is a newer version (with a higher content release) in the SAP Version than in the active version. In this case, it is advisable where necessary to match these two versions so that you can use the new functionality of the Business Content.

ACT_CONT_AUTOM      Business Content is automatically activated after transport import. To deactivate the BI Content objects activation value of this param shall be set to "Content is not activated". SAP Note: 1140045 - Termination RSO 878 with BI orders, SPs, urgent corrections

TADIRPOPUP               Indicator if TADIR popup is shown while creating new BW objects. In case value of the param is blank than BW Transport System as set which means that a dialog prompting the user to enter a transport request does not appear when creating/editing the objects. If it is set to X standard SAP transport is enabled. Means popup windows is prompting a user while creating/editing the objects. See more information in onlinedocu. SAP Note: 356018 - Activate the standard transport system in BW

PREF_AGR                     Prefix for installed activity groups

APPENDS_ALLOWED       Append Maintenance Switched On (DB Indicator with Default)

SCOPECHECK_MSGTY   Error Severity for Messages About Switch Consistency. InfoObjects that are deactivated using scopes are not displayed although the scope checks are deactivated (values: SPACE or S). SAP Note: 1138109 - Not enough objects displayed in input help for InfoObjects
WAREA_DISABLED         Indicator shows whether worklist was deactivated (='X')


Data loads related parameters

IDOCPREF                     Prefix for IDoc type

Related posts:

Monday, February 15, 2016

Parameters of RSADMINA table

In today’s post I introduce another important customizing table of BW. Among tables like RSADMIN and RSADMINC it is RSADMINA table. Similarly to previous ones it also stores params need to BW system functioning properly.

For BW/4 related RSADMINA params see here.



General parameters

CUSTOMIZID                ID for Customizing in BW. For the BW system a value of this param is always BW.

BWMANDT                    Unique client in BW. For the BW system a value of this param must be maintained.

BWMANDTRFC              Multiple Client Function: Destination in BW Clients. In case BW is used in as system with more than one client then this param is used. It can be a case of an APO system since APO customizing is client dependent unlike BW where it is independent. Param technically enables working with BW in different clients.

TPBWMANDTRFC          After-Import: Destination in Target Clients. This parameter is a destination used during the import post processing for the logon from client 000 into the target client.
BEX_REQUEST               Transport Request number for BEx


BW users related parameters

BW_USER                      User in BW for ALE communication

DEBUG_USER               User permitted for Debugging. Some of BW processes (e.g. staging: loads, DSO activation, etc.) perform a checks for this user and these processes are forced to wait for a specified amount of time before they continue. Therefore never run BW processes with this user.


HANA/BWA related parameters

TREX_RFC_DEST                        RFC Destination for BIA Indexes or HANA appliance


Data loads related parameters

MDINSRECBYREC         Loading Master Data: Use Single Record Insert Statement. Refers to the addition of data records when loading master data attributes. The two values that follow are provided:
initial: For the addition of records to the database, a mass insert statement is used (standard)
X: For the addition of records to the database, a single record insert statement is used (debugging)

PAK_MD_DEL                 Package-Based Deletion of Master Data

MONFILLED                  Monitor initialization completed. Used internally if monitor is run for the first time and has made its initial entries.

IDOCLASTNBR              Last IDoc type number. Param used to define and make unique the name of the basic IDoc type for the source system connection ('number range').

ISLASTNBR                    Last number entered for InfoSource

MONARCHNBR                (Next free) archive number for monitor

XPRADONE                    XPRA executed (2.0a)

ODSMAXTASKS              Maximum Number of Parallel Processes in ODS Activation

ODSMINPAKSIZE          Minimum Number of Data Records per Data Package (ODS Activ.)

ODSACTTIMEOUT          Maximum Wait Time in Secs. for ODS Activation

ENQ_PROT_ON             Switch-on Logs for Lock Manager. Writes an application log for each lock that is requested in the lock manager.

ODSSERVGROUP          Server Group (RZ12) for RFC Call when Activating Data in DataStore used for parallel ODS activation. The parallelization accesses the active table when determining the system ID and during the insert operation. Use tcode RSODSSETTINGS to maintain the param.


Obsolete parameters

DBSYSDEPGLOBL          Name of a generated global program (OBSOLETE)

DBSYSDEPREAD             Name of a generated program (OBSOLETE)

HIERREL                      Release status of application hierarchy DWB (OBSOLETE). . Is evaluated while metadata upload takes place to decide whether the hierarchy is overwritten or not. Used in release 2.0A below       .

TSLASTNBR                   Last number entered of a transfer structure (OBSOLETE)


Related posts:

How to work with RSADMINA and RSADMINC tables

Similarly to maintenance of table RSADMIN we need to maintain also other BW’s customizing tables. Some of these are tables RSADMINARSADMINS and RSADMINC. The tables stores important customizing parameters. There is a bunch of special tcodes which enable maintenance of table.

RSCUSTV1             BW Customizing - View 1
RSCUSTV2             BW Customizing - View 2
RSCUSTV3             BW Customizing - View 3
RSCUSTV4             BW Customizing - View 4
RSCUSTV5             BW Customizing - View 5
RSCUSTV6             BW Customizing - View 6
RSCUSTV7             BW Customizing - View 7
RSCUSTV8             BW Customizing - View 8
RSCUSTV9             BW Customizing - View 9
RSCUSTV10            BW Customizing - View 10
RSCUSTV11            BW Customizing - View 11
RSCUSTV12            Microsoft Analysis Services
RSCUSTV13            RRI Settings for Web Reporting
RSCUSTV14            OLAP: Cache Parameters
RSCUSTV15            BW Customizing - View 11
RSCUSTV16            BW Reporting
RSCUSTV17            Settings: Currency Translation
RSCUSTV18            DB Connect Settings
RSCUSTV19            InfoSet Settings
RSCUSTV21            BW Customizing - View 21
RSCUSTV23            Analysis Authorization System
RSCUSTV24            Quantity Conversion: Buffer Setting
RSCUSTV25            Database Interface/Performance
RSCUSTV26            Database Interface/Perf. (ORA)
RSCUSTV27            Set Standard Web Templates
RSCUSTV28            Determine Settings for Web Templates
RSCUSTV29            Settings for Web Template
RSCUSTV30            Load Distribution for Analys. Proc.


Apart of the special tcodes there is also other more straight forward way how to maintain particular parameter of the tables mentioned. It is function module RSCC_RSADM_ACC. However a prerequisite is there that the parameter that is supposed to be maintained must be known upfront.

Interface of the FM RSCC_RSADM_ACC is very simple. Following two input parameters of the FM are mandatory:

FIELDNAME = a field of the table which is supposed to be maintained
ACTION = U=Update / S=Select / I=Insert
ADMINVALUE = value of the parameter specified in field FIELDNAME


Related posts:


Process chain job priority

Scheduling a process chain (PC) is regular activity done by BW administrator very often. When it is going on usually we start tcode like RSPC and in PC’s maintenance screen we do scheduling of the PC via F8 button. There is a job at the end scheduled in the system which actually runs the PC. While we do the PC scheduling as next a popup which asks us to enter the job priority comes. Usually not many people know what that the job priority is about. On the popup there is a radio button with three positions: The job Priority A, B, C. By default it comes preselected to position of A. Sometimes the job priority is called as the job class in other words.

·         High priority:  Class A
·         Medium priority: Class B
·         Low priority: Class C

Difference between the job classes is that when the job is selected as A then work process will be locked for particular job. If it is class C then it will be waiting the work process.

If there would not be a job class specified by user in method ACTIVATE of class CL_RSPC_CHAIN it would be set to C. Therefore it always safety to put job class C while scheduling the PCs. By this we avoid locking the work process.


Related links:
2198220 - Consulting: Job priority of the extraction job (BIREQU_*) is always 'C'
1850761 - Process chain JOB CLASS definition
1626778 - Consulting: Load distribution of BW background jobs

More links related to Process Chains:

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Parameters of RSADMINC table

One of important customizing tables in BW is table RSADMINC. The customizing of this table takes place when the BW system is setup for first time. But also during time when the system is operational some parameters need to be maintained. Also entries need to be adjusted in case of BW upgrade.

The table stores basic customizing parameters of the BW system. Depending on installation scenario of the BW system values of parameters are either populated automatically (so called Wizard-Based Basic Configuration for BW ABAP) or if it is not the case than then it is possible to perform all steps manually.

In general you can find a documentation of the table params here. On that page all params that are really needed for BW to function properly are listed. Also there on the page are listed corresponding t-codes where respective params are maintained.


General parameter

CUSTOMIZID                ID for Customizing in BW. For the BW system a value of this param is always BW. Note: 1576461 - Unable to open any Web Application from BI Launchpad


Data Warehousing Workbench related parameters

RSAWBN_HIDE_FUNC     Hide obsolete Functions of the Data Warehousing Workbench
PROTAWBSTART                        Write Log to Application Log when DWB Starts
COL_WARNING              Traffic Light Color in Monitor if Warnings Occurred


Query processing related parameters

SPLT_QRY_TAB_THR      Threshold Value for Query Split, Note: 514907 - Processing complex queries (data mart, and so on)
SPLT_DM_TAB_THR        Threshold for Splitting Data Mart Requests


Analysis Process related parameters

ANPR_SERV                   Application Server for Batch Execution of Analysis Processes
ANPR_SERVTYPE                        Type of Server


Any DB specific related parameters

DB_STATISTICS                        Let BW Generate Database Statistics


Oracle specific related parameters

ORA_LOGGING              Deactivates NOLOGGING while Building Index
ORA_PARALLEL_DEG      Degree of Parallelization during Aggregate and Index Building, Note: 544521 - Controlling the PARALLEL degree


Upload related parameters

INFOIDOCFRQ                Frequency with which status IDocs are sent
IDOCPACKSIZE              Number of Data Records per Package
MONITIMEOUT               Waiting time until traffic light status is changed in the monitor
MDMTBOOKMODE           Update method in master data maintenance


DB Connect source system upload related parameters

DBC_BWSERVER          BW Application Server (as of 6.10) settings for DB Connect customizing settings, Note: 930353 - DB Connect customizing settings
DBC_PACKSIZE             Number of Data Records per Package for DB Connect
DBC_SHOWSIZE                        Number of Data Records with Display Mode


SID generation related parameters

AUTOSID                      Automatic MD ID entry when loading transaction data
RRSITHRESHOLD         Threshold Value: Select Single -> Select for All Entries, Note: 1522691 - Performance Optimization: SID Flag Updates


Flat file format related parameters

EXCEL_ESC                    Field Delimiter for CSV Files
EXCEL_FIELDSEP                        Field separator for csv files


Authorization related parameters

USE_NEW_REPAUTH       Analysis Authorization System, Value NEW means current procedure with analysis authorizations. Note: 1369820 - Analysis authorizations: Select concept
MPRO_CHECK                Use MultiProvider Authorization Object (S_RS_MPRO)
MPRO_CHECK_QUERY     Use MultiProvider Authorization Object in Query
CUBE_CHECK_QUERY     Use Authorization Object InfoCube (Query)


“Display of Numeric Values in the Business Explorer” related parameters

RRXDATADIFF0              Display value for dividing by zero
RRXDATANOTEXIST       Display value for cells with error
RRXDATALARGE             Display value for numeric overflow
RRXDATANOAUTHOR      Display value for cells without authorization


Currency display/conversion related parameters

CURR_CONV                  Currency Conversion for External Systems
RRXDATAMIXCUR                       Display value from various currencies/units or mixed values
RRXSHOWMIXCURVAL    Display value of a cell with mixed currency
TCURF_FAKT                  Indicator: Consider TCURF Ratios in Currency Conversion, Note 531983 - TCURF factors ignored during currency translation


Quantity conversion related parameters

UOM_BUFF_SIZE                        Quantity Conversion: Setting Buffer Size Internal Tables


Hierarchies related parameters

MERGE_APPL                 Hierarchies: Merge with applications, yes/no
MERGE_AREA                 Hierarchies: Merge with InfoArea, yes/no
MERGE_IPG                   Hierarchies: Merge with IPG, yes/no
HIER_ISRCMD                Hierarchies: Use Authorization Object S_RS_ISRCM


PSA related parameters

PSAPARTSIZE                Size of PSA Partition. In case if the highest existing partition has more records than this param specifies new partition is created. Note 771191 - Copying BW objects to new tablespaces
PSA_REQUDEL               Check for Activity 06 during PSA Request Deletion


Attribute Change Run (ATR) related parameters

DELTALIMIT                 Threshold Value (0-99): Delta -> Reconstruct Aggregates, Value 0 means that all the aggregates are always reconstructed (this normally has a negative impact on performance). It is recommended that you start with a value of approximately 20%. Note: 903886 - Hierarchy and attribute change run
BLOCKSIZE                  Block Size for Building Aggregate. Size of block for ATR. If E or F table of aggregate is larger than this parameter, system does not read the source in one go, rather it divides it into blocks. The division into blocks is based on a characteristic, the value range of which is divided into intervals. The system only reads the data from such an interval from the source and writes it to the aggregate. If there is no value of the param default value is 100,000,000 valid for ORACLE. Notes: 903886 - Hierarchy and attribute change run; 646402 - Programs for checking aggregates (as of BW 3.0B SP15)
CR_MAXWAIT                Wait Time for Change Run Lock (in Minutes), Note: 825927 - The BW Changerun: CR_MAXWAIT
LOCKCR                                    Reporting Lock on Change Run. I case of huge volume of data while master data IO activation a DB commit is executed between DELETE and UPDATE operation on data if this param is set to X. This ensures that it doesn’t dump. Note: 1694993 - Consulting: Transactional logs filled during MD activation


BW Web environment related parameters

STYLE_SHEET                Style Sheet for Html Page Generation
TMPLID                         Name of the Web Template for Ad Hoc Analysis (SAP BW 3.x)
PROPERTIESID              Name of Standard Template Properties (SAP BW 3.x)
ITS                               ITS Name for URLs Created by Server for BW Web Reporting; Obsolete in 3.x and 7.x.
WEBSERVICE                 ITS Service for BW Web Reporting URLs created by the server; Obsolete in 3.x and 7.x.
WBID                            Workbook ID for the Standard Web Page; Obsolete in 3.x and 7.x.
PAGEID                         Page Name of the Standard BW Web Template; Obsolete in 3.x and 7.x.
For an overview of web reporting related params see Note: 589947 - Relevant Customizing entries in RSADMINC in Web environment


Web templates related parameters

RSER_TMPL_ID              Standard Template for Enterprise Reporting, Note: 1576461 - Unable to open any Web Application from BI Launchpad
TMPLID_BROADCAST     Standard Web Template for Broadcasting (BW 3.5), Note: 666214 - Enhancement RSADMINC - 'Standard Web Template'
TMPLID_QUERY_BR        Standard Web Template for Query Precalculation (BW 3.5)
TMPLID_DOCUMENTS     Standard Web Template for Document Browser (SAP BW 3.x)
TMPLID_BCAST              Standard Web Template for Broadcasting
TMPLID_BCAST_QUE      Standard Web Template for Query Precalculation
TMPLID_ANALYZER         Name of the Template for Ad Hoc Analysis
TMPLID_BCAST70          Standard Web Template for Broadcaster
TMPLID_BCAST_Q70      Standard Web Template for Query Precalculation
TMPLID_BCAST_REP       Standard Web Template for Report Precalculation
TEMPL_PARAM               Name of Standard Template Settings


Broadcasts related parameters

BCAST_SUPP_FOOT        Broadcasting: Suppress Footer in E-mail
BCAST_MAIL_EXP          Number of Days Until Send Requests Are Deleted


OLAP: Cache related parameters

INACTIVE                      Cross-transactional cache is deactivated
MAX_LCS_MB                 Local Cache Size
MAX_GCS_MB                Global Cache Size
PERSISTMODE               Cache Persistence Mode
FILENAME                      Flat File Name
FILENAME_SPAN             Comprehensive Flat File Name for AppServer
LIMIT                            Database Cache Limit
CLUSTER_LIMIT             Size Limit for Clustering


HANA related parameters

RS2HANA_PACKAGE       SAP HANA Content Package for HANA Views
RS2HANA_ASSIGN_TYPE            Privileges assignment type
RS2HANA_DBMS_USER_MAPPING            SAP BW user to SAP HANA user mapping option


Other parameters

Most of these parameters is not used any more in modern BW systems (7.x + versions).
SRCSYST_USER             User in source system for ALE communication
COL_NODATA                Traffic-light color in monitor if no data in source system
CHAR1000                     Thousand separator
DECIMALCHAR               Character for decimal point
GANTT_MIN_LENGTH      Length of horizontal bar in Gantt chart
MSGPOPUP                    Message Long Text As Dialog Box
MONITORASSI               Indicator for standard default starting of the wizard
SRVNAME                      Data element for MD server name
RFCOLAPDEST               RSDP: data tp encapsulating RFC destination to work with
MSASEXIST                   RSDP: Data element for storing info if MS AS2000 can be used
TECHNAME                     RSDP: Data element for technical names
LOCALBORURL               Drag & Relate (D&R) Links for BW Unifier
WP3DEST                      Destination of URL Generation Server
WEBPROTOCOL              Web Protocol for BW Web Reporting URLs Created by Server, Note: 961142 - HTTP or HTTPS protocol when you jump to a 6.40 system
ISETHUGEWHERE                       InfoSet: Limit Value for Large Where Conditions, Note: 673575 - InfoSet: Long running program - SAPSQL_STMNT_TOO_LARGE
EP50_MENU                   Hide Menu 'Publish to Enterprise Portal 5.0'
MHTML_AS_ATTACH       Send MHTML Documents by E-Mail As Attachments
ER_STYLESHEET             Stylesheet for Exception Reporting (Path in MIME Repository)
SOBI_RFC_DEST                        RFC Destination for BW Model Generation
ASYNCHR_DELETION      Asynchronous Deletion from Write-Optimized DSOs


Related post: