2012 All Rights Reserved.

SAP UA
BO BI DES
SAP BI Curriculum
BI2-M1 SAP BW Data
Modeling
SAP UA
Page 2
2012 SAP AG
Overview
InfoObjects
Key Figures
Characteristics
InfoProviders
DataStore Objects
InfoCubes
Agenda
SAP BI Curriculum
BI2-M1 SAP BW Data
Modeling
SAP UA
Page 3
2012 SAP AG
SAP Business Intelligence Platform
SAP NetWeaver Portal Any Portal, Any Destination
SAP Business Intelligence - BI 4.0
Crystal
Reports
Web
Intelligence
Dashboar
d
Explorer
I
n
f
o
r
m
a
t
i
o
n

A
c
c
e
s
s

M
e
t
a
d
a
t
a

M
a
n
a
g
e
m
e
n
t

D
a
t
a

F
o
u
n
d
a
t
i
o
n

Data
Quality
Mgmt
SAP NetWeaver
BW / BW-IP
Data
Federator
Data Services
Data Quality
Management
Data Integrator
SAP NetWeaver BW on
HANA

Master Data
Management
Text
Analysis
3rd-Party Databases and Applications
CRM SCM
SRM PLM
SAP Business Suite
ERP
Financials
Operations
Human Resources
Corporate Services
Data
Quality
Mgmt
SAP
BEx
Analysis
SAP
WAD
SAP
Integration
SAP BI Curriculum
BI2-M1 SAP BW Data
Modeling
SAP UA
Page 4
2012 SAP AG
What is an InfoObject?
InfoObjects are used to focus on business requirements.
Note:
The original product name was SAP Business Information
Warehouse.
The abbrevation BIW conflicted with another product name, so
BW was chosen.

InfoObjects are the bricks to build data structures inside SAP
BW.
InfoObjects represent business objects from an end users
view.
The most important InfoObject types used for business analysis
are Characteristics and Key Figures.
SAP BI Curriculum
BI2-M1 SAP BW Data
Modeling
SAP UA
Page 5
2012 SAP AG
InfoObject: Characteristics
A Characteristic represents a business object (or concept,
business term, business entity).
A Characteristic may have attributes which describes the
business object in more detail.
Example: InfoObject Customer is a characteristic with
attributes such as Customer Number, ZIP Code, Region,
etc.
The attributes Customer Number, ZIP Code, Region, etc.
are also managed as Characteristics and may have their own
attributes.

Note: What SAP calls a Characteristic is often referred
to in the data warehouse community as a Dimension.
SAP BI Curriculum
BI2-M1 SAP BW Data
Modeling
SAP UA
Page 6
2012 SAP AG
InfoObject: Key Figures
A Key Figure (or variable, measure) is oftenly used to document
the performance of a business process over time.
It can be found in document records such as invoice, delivery
note, purchase order, or goods receipt.
Example: InfoObject Revenue or Sales Amount, etc.

Note: InfoObjects are unique inside SAP BW, and they are used to
build the data structures for analysis requirements.
Conceptually unique: the semantics (meaning) of an
InfoObject is uniquely defined system-wide inside SAP BW.
Logically unique: the data type, value range or field length is
uniquely defined system-wide inside SAP BW.
From the technical point of view, an InfoObject can viewed as a
database field.
SAP BI Curriculum
BI2-M1 SAP BW Data
Modeling
SAP UA
Page 7
2012 SAP AG
Evolution from a SAP ERP Database Object to an
SAP BW InfoObject
InfoObject
"0COSTCENTER"
SAP Business Information Warehouse!!
CO
Accounting
R/3
HR
Human
Ressources
COSTC ...
Table Costcenter
Table Employee
EMPLO COST_CENTER ...
BW Extraktor
DataSource
CostCenter
Definition
&
Mapping
SAP ERP
SAP BW InfoObjects
SAP BW DataSource
SAP BI Curriculum
BI2-M1 SAP BW Data
Modeling
SAP UA
Page 8
2012 SAP AG
InfoObjects Are Bricks for Data Structures
SAP BI Curriculum
BI2-M1 SAP BW Data
Modeling
SAP UA
Page 9
2012 SAP AG
InfoProviders Provide Access to Data Records
InfoProviders:
Are data storage inside SAP BW
May store data records physically (persistent)
May also be used to access data stored outside SAP BW virtually
(transparent views)
May be accessed with front end tools such as SAP
BusinessExplorer

Note: A query is a view to data within an InfoProvider
and does not contain physical data.
SAP BI Curriculum
BI2-M1 SAP BW Data
Modeling
SAP UA
Page 10
2012 SAP AG
InfoProviders
InfoProviders with physical data:
InfoCubes
Contain data optimized for fast multi-dimensional analysis.
DataStore Objects
Contain detailed data.
Used for high data volumes stored in normal database tables.
Often used as data source for InfoCubes.
InfoProviders with virtual data:
MultiProviders
Often used to create views above two or more InfoCubes with the same
Characteristics but different Key Figures.
Data resides in the InfoCubes involved and data redundancy is avoided.
VirtualProviders
Data stored somewhere outside SAP BW.
Some ERP systems provide data storage which may be accessed directly
by SAP BW without changing the end user s view to the data.
SAP BI Curriculum
BI2-M1 SAP BW Data
Modeling
SAP UA
Page 11
2012 SAP AG
InfoCubes
Provide data storage used for reporting and online
analysis.
Consist of Key Figures and Characteristics.
Contain data stored multi-dimensionally and often aggregated
(week, month).
Use star database schema, consisting of a fact table surrounded
by dimension tables.
Use a maximum of 3 + 13 dimension tables.
3 dimension tables are pre-defined by SAP.
Time, Unit and DataPackage (for technical information)
13 dimensions may be used by InfoCube developers.

Note: In practice, good InfoCube design should not exceed
6-8 dimensions (+ the 3 above) so 13 dimensions are plenty.

SAP BI Curriculum
BI2-M1 SAP BW Data
Modeling
SAP UA
Page 12
2012 SAP AG
DataStore Objects
Contain single data records such as invoices,
purchase orders or customer order items.
Consist of key fields (such as order number,
order position number) and data fields (Key Figures and
Characteristics such as sales amount, net value, customer id,
material number).
Store data records in relational database tables.
Often contain massive volumes of data.
SAP BI Curriculum
BI2-M1 SAP BW Data
Modeling
SAP UA
Page 13
2012 SAP AG
InfoCube versus DataStore Object
Data Warehouse,
Operational Data Store
and Data Marts are
general layers in a Data
Warehouse Architecture.
BI1-M2-01-Data Warehouse
Data Warehouse and
Operational Data Store
may be implemented with
DataStoreObjects.
Data Marts will be
implemented with
InfoCubes.
SAP BI Curriculum
BI2-M1 SAP BW Data
Modeling
SAP UA
Page 14
2012 SAP AG
Overview
InfoObjects
Key Figures
Characteristics
InfoProviders
DataStore Objects
InfoCubes
Agenda
SAP BI Curriculum
BI2-M1 SAP BW Data
Modeling
SAP UA
Page 15
2012 SAP AG
InfoObjects
InfoObjects
Key Figures
Revenue, Sales Amount, Net Value, .
Characteristics
Customer, Region, Zip Code,
Units
Unit of Measurement, Currency,
Time
Calender Year, Fiscal Year, Month, Day, Quarter, .
Some Technical Stuff
DataPackageID, RequestID,
SAP BI Curriculum
BI2-M1 SAP BW Data
Modeling
SAP UA
Page 16
2012 SAP AG
Key Figure Definition: Revenue
Amount, Quantity, ..
EUR, USD, (fix)
Pieces, inch, %, (fix)
Unit / Currency (fix) / Currency
reference
Data Type: integer,
float, char(10),
SAP BI Curriculum
BI2-M1 SAP BW Data
Modeling
SAP UA
Page 17
2012 SAP AG
Key Figure Definition: Revenue (cont.)
Aggregation:
Summation,
Minimum,
Maximum
Aggregation: Last Value,
Maximum, Average
Reference Characteristic, e.g. Quarter
The reference characteristic allows the use
of a function to aggregate data instead of
summation.
Example: Number of Employees at the
end of the quarter. Sum does not make
sense!
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
500
520
515
520 520
Last value
No Employee per Month
521
Last value
SAP BI Curriculum
BI2-M1 SAP BW Data
Modeling
SAP UA
Page 18
2012 SAP AG
Key Figure Definition: Revenue (cont.)
If the Key Figure is non-
cumulative (e.g.,
warehouse stock), this field
defines an InfoObject
representing non-
cumulative change. This
InfoObject is either positive
or negative. So, the stock
amount can be calculated
from it.
Two fields are used to
calculate the non-
cumulative amounts.
Inflow is the InfoObject
which represents the stock
inflow amount. Outflow is
vice versa.
SAP BI Curriculum
BI2-M1 SAP BW Data
Modeling
SAP UA
Page 19
2012 SAP AG
Key Figure Definition: Revenue (cont.)
SAP BI Curriculum
BI2-M1 SAP BW Data
Modeling
SAP UA
Page 20
2012 SAP AG
Characteristic Definition: Customer
Data Types: Num,
Char, Date,
SAP BI Curriculum
BI2-M1 SAP BW Data
Modeling
SAP UA
Page 21
2012 SAP AG
Conversion Routine
Database values
Are stored in internal format
appropriate to the database
Date as YYYYMMDD
Are presented to a user in external
format according to his local settings,
e.g., in
Europe
Date: DD.MM.YYYY
Numbers: 1.234,56
US
Date: MM/DD/YYYY
Numbers: 1,234.56

Transformation external internal format is
performed by a conversion routine
SAP BI Curriculum
BI2-M1 SAP BW Data
Modeling
SAP UA
Page 22
2012 SAP AG
ALPHA Conversion Routine
Alphanumeric database fields
Datatype CHAR in SAP
Can store character and number values
Have conversion exit ALPHA as default
Eliminates leading blanks after user input
User input of 1000 and 1000 refers to same object
Stores numbers with leading 0s in database
Numeric values are stored in natural order in database, e.g. 9000
first, then 10000




SAP BI Curriculum
BI2-M1 SAP BW Data
Modeling
SAP UA
Page 23
2012 SAP AG
Characteristic Definition: Customer (cont.)
An InfoObject may
have attributes!
Texts:
Descriptive texts
Multi-language texts
Time dependent texts
SAP BI Curriculum
BI2-M1 SAP BW Data
Modeling
SAP UA
Page 24
2012 SAP AG
Characteristic Definition: Customer (cont.)

Attributes
Usable for OLAP operations
or display only
Time-Dependent
SAP BI Curriculum
BI2-M1 SAP BW Data
Modeling
SAP UA
Page 25
2012 SAP AG
Time Characteristics
Time characteristics are always
necessary and define the time-
related reference point for data
analysis purposes.
Time characteristics are
predefined by SAP and cannot
be changed.

SAP BI Curriculum
BI2-M1 SAP BW Data
Modeling
SAP UA
Page 26
2012 SAP AG
Units/Currencies
Units and Currencies are used to define Key Figures in more detail.
A Unit may be an InfoObject which defines the Unit of a Key Figure.
A Currency may be an InfoObject which defines the Currency of a
Key Figure
Examples:
0CURRENCY
0BASE_UOM

SAP BI Curriculum
BI2-M1 SAP BW Data
Modeling
SAP UA
Page 27
2012 SAP AG
Overview
InfoObjects
Key Figures
Characteristics
InfoProviders
DataStore Objects
InfoCubes
Agenda
SAP BI Curriculum
BI2-M1 SAP BW Data
Modeling
SAP UA
Page 28
2012 SAP AG
5 Steps to Define a DataStore Object
5 steps to Define an DataStore Object
1) Define a name for a
DataStoreObject
2) Choose the key fields
3) Choose the data fields
4) Define attributes used for data
analysis
5) Activate the DataStoreObject


SAP BI Curriculum
BI2-M1 SAP BW Data
Modeling
SAP UA
Page 29
2012 SAP AG
Choosing InfoObjects to Build a DataStore Object
Select the relevant InfoObjects
Direct InfoObject name input (1) or
Choose InfoObjects by InfoObjectCatalog and drag & drop the
InfoObjects (2)

SAP BI Curriculum
BI2-M1 SAP BW Data
Modeling
SAP UA
Page 30
2012 SAP AG
7 Steps to Define an InfoCube
7 Steps to Define an InfoCube
1) Choose a name for an InfoCube
2) Create Dimensions as needed
3) Assign Characteristics to Dimensions
4) Choose Time Characteristics
5) Choose Key Figures
6) Define Navigational Attributes
7) Activate InfoCube

SAP BI Curriculum
BI2-M1 SAP BW Data
Modeling
SAP UA
Page 31
2012 SAP AG
Create New Dimensions If Needed

SAP BI Curriculum
BI2-M1 SAP BW Data
Modeling
SAP UA
Page 32
2012 SAP AG
What is a Dimension Inside SAP BW?
A dimension is a group of characteristics which belong to the
same business object (semantically).
Each characteristic may contain additional attributes which are
relevant for data analysis or not!!!
Navigational attributes are InfoObjects which are used to
perform data analysis.
Display attributes are InfoObjects for which data analysis does
not make sense (e.g. a house number or a family name)
This has an impact to cube design!

Note: In data warehouse community, the term Dimension is
used for what SAP calls Characteristic .
SAP BI Curriculum
BI2-M1 SAP BW Data
Modeling
SAP UA
Page 33
2012 SAP AG
Excursion: SAP BW - Enhanced Star Schema
Attributes are not part of a dimension!

Dimension
Characteristic as part
of a dimension
Characteristic as
navigation attribute
SAP BI Curriculum
BI2-M1 SAP BW Data
Modeling
SAP UA
Page 34
2012 SAP AG
Displayed in the Frontend Tool
SAP BI Curriculum
BI2-M1 SAP BW Data
Modeling
SAP UA
Page 35
2012 SAP AG
Basic Characteristic and Its Navigation Attributes
2. Characteristic
1. Dimension
3. Navigation Attributes are
ready to be used in analysis.
SAP BI Curriculum
BI2-M1 SAP BW Data
Modeling
SAP UA
Page 36
2012 SAP AG
Steps to Create an InfoCube
Define the InfoObjects needed.
Key Figures
Characteristices
Define which Characteristics may be chosen to create a semantic
cluster for semantic dimensions.
Examples are: Sales, Production, Material Management, Finance, etc.
Define which attributes are appropriate to perform data analysis
OLAP attributes define them as navigational attributes
Non-OLAP attributes define them as display attributes
Done! Deploy the InfoCube inside SAP BW!

SAP BI Curriculum
BI2-M1 SAP BW Data
Modeling
SAP UA
Page 37
2012 SAP AG
Summary
Key Figures and Characteristics are defined as InfoObjects.
InfoObjects are the smallest bricks to define InfoProviders
within SAP BW.
InfoProviders are used to store data within SAP BW or allow SAP
BW to access data stored somewhere else.
The most important InfoProviders are InfoCubes
and DataStore Objects.
The definition of an SAP BW InfoCube is
no Witchery!