54427513 SAP BW Interview Questions 1

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201 Interview Questions


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TABLE OF CONTENTSFOREWORD ........................................................................10 KEY QUESTIONS ................................................................. 13Basic ............................................................................................14 Intermediate ................................................................................. 16 Expert ......................................................................................... 2l

CHAPTER 1: BW Administratio11 and Design ......................25Basic Concepts ............................................................................. 2 6 BW Settings in SPRO ..................................................................... 44 Non Cumulative Key Figures ............................................................ 47 A~~thorizations .............................................................................. 5 0

BW Archival and retrieve ................................................................ 55

.............................................................................. 57 Process Chai~isOpen Hub ..................................................................................... 6 2 Tuning ......................................................................................... 6 4 RSRV ...................................

......................................................... 67 ODs ............................................................................................ 69BW Statistics ................................................................................72 Aggregates ...................................................................................74


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Table o f c o n t e n t s

CHAPTER 2: BW Reporting (BEx and Web Reporting) ........79Business Explorer ......................................................................... 80 Calculated key figures ................................................................... 82 Boolean Operators ........................................................................ 84 Structures and cells ...................................................................... 85 Before and after aggregation .......................................................... 86 Key figureproperties .....................................................................88 Hierarchies in Reports ................................................................... 90 92 User Exits for Bex Reporting ........................................................... 95 Variables ..................................................................................... Query properties .......................................................................... 100 Document utility .......................................................................... 'I03 Query Administration .................................................................... 104 105 Conditions and Exceptions ..................................................... Reporting Agent .......................................................................... 108 Web Application Designer ............................................................... 112

CHAPTER 3: Extraction ....................................................121Basic Concepts .................................................................

........... 122 Class System .............................................................................. 129 Generic Data source ............................

......................................... 130


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Table of contents

LIS Extraction ............................................................................... 131 LO Extraction .............................................................................. 134 CO-PA Extraction .......................................................................... 137 CO-PA Retraction ......................................................................... 140 Enhancing data extraction ............................................................. 142

DB Connect ................................................................................. 145Currency Translation in BW ........................................................... 147

CHAPTER 4: BW Fu~~ctional ............................................. 149ASAP methodology ....................................................................... 150 Business Content and roles ............................................................ l5l


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INTRODUCTIONHow to use this book: As a consultant / analyst:J

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Start by reading this book from cover to cover. Repeat that until you think youknow all the details. Now practice what you have learnt in the system.

If you are an employer looking to hirelcontract a BW professional:* ,

The first part of the book highlights key questions that you should be able to ask a candidate and therefore gauge their competency based on their answers. By randomly adding in a few questions from the rest of the book you can focus on a specific area and ensure that the candidate really knows the relevant information. Before interviewing a candidate, always make sure that you fully understand the question and the answer. Although every effort has been made to make the questions and answers simple in their explanation, some questions may still not makesense to an untrained user. We suggest highlighting those questions that you wish to ask, familiarizing yourself with the answers and then conducting the interview.

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Note that the chapter / topic that: the question covcrs is always listed on thetop of each page. This is because it is always important to know in what contextthe question w;ls asked, to ensure that the candidate can respond to it as correctly as possible e.g. If you are asking a reporting question then explain to the candidate that the following question pertains to reporting. Key : Each question has a rating which is illustrated by the tollowing symbols:

000

Basic Intermediate

000 ExpertAs an added benefit we've included several worksheets and bonus material on Geniepress.com, including candidate worksheets which have all the questions marked out for yoi~, provide space for the candidates name, the date of interview and their overall scores. There are also links to other BW data provided by the author, such as SAP'S standard cubes. Links to SAPGcnic's BW material are also available from this bonus arca. To access this information: go to http://www.rrenicr,ress.com/ 201 bw and enter the username 201 bw and password lsd2lk Good luck and enjoy!


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K e y [luestions

Basic1.

What are the advantages of an Extended star schema of BW vs. 'The star schema?9

9

9 9 9

Uses generated numeric keys and aggregates in its own tables for faster access.Uses an external hierarchy. Supports multiple languages. Contains master data common to ;dl cubcs. Supports slowly changing dimensions.

2. How maliy tliniensio~isare there ill a cube?There are a total of 16 dimensions in a culx. Of these 16, 3 are predefined by SAP and thcsc arc timc, unit and request. This leaves the customer uri th 13 dimensions.

3. What is the transaction for the Adrr~inistratorwork bench?Transaction RSA 1

4. Wliat is tlie "myself data mart"?A BW system feeding data to itself is called the myself data mart. It is createdautomatically and ilscs ALE for data transfer.

5. What is an aggregate?Aggregates are mini cubes. They arc uscd t o improvc performance when executingqueries. l'ou can cquate them to indexes on a table. Aggregates klrc transparentto the user.


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Basic

6 . Wliat is a calculated key figure?A calculated key figure is ilsed to do complicatedcalculations on key figures such as mathematical functions, percentage filnctions and total filnctions. For example, you can have a calculated key figure to calci~late sales tax based on your sale price.

7. What is the enlia~icementuser exit for BEx reportilig?

8. What is a characteristics variable?You can have dynamic input for characteristics using a characteristic variable.For example, if you are developing a sales rcport for a given product, you willdefine a variable for OMATERIAL.

9. What is a condition?If yo11 want to filter on key figures or do a ranked analysis then you use a condition. For example, you can use a condition to report on the top 10 customers,or customers with more than a million dollars in annual salcs.


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Kev Ouestions

Intermediate'10. What are the data types s1.1pported by characteristics?4 4 4 4

NUMC CHAR (up to 60) DATS TIMS

Numeric IJp to 60 characters Date Time

11. What are the types of attributes?Display only - These attributes are only for display and no analysis can be done. Navigational attributes regular characteristics.-

These attributes behave like

For example, assume that we have customer characteristics with country as a navigational attribute, you will then be able to analyze the data using customer andcountry. In the BEx query you can create filters or variables for country and you can also use the drill down feature.

12. What is meant by compo~.lnding?Compounding defines the s~lperior Infoobject, which must be combined to define a

n object. For example, when you define a cost center, the controlling area is the compounding (superior) object.


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Intermediate

13. What are tlie 10 decision poi~itsof data warehousi~ig?c/c/

c/ c/

c/c/

Identify a fact table. Identify the dimension tables. Define the attributes of the entities. Define the granularity of the fact table (how detailed do you wantthe data to be). Define pre-calculated key figures. Identify slowly changing dimensions. Identify aggregates. How long will the data be kept. How often is the data extracted. From which system is the data to be extracted.

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14. What options are available in the transfer rule?c/

c/

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Assign an Infoobject - direct transfer, no transformation Assign a constant eg.If you are loading data from a specified country from a flat file, you can makethe country (17s)as a constant and assign the value explicitly ABAP routine eg.If you want to do some complex string manipulation, assume that you are gettinga flat file from legacy data and the cost center is in a field and you have to "massage" the data to get it in. In this case the use of an ABAP routine is most

appropriate


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K e y Cluestions

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Formula - for simple calculations usc formula eg. If you want to convert all lower casc cl~uractcrs to upper case, use the TOUPPER formula. You can use formillabuilder to help put your formulas together.

15. What is compression or collapse?This is the process by which we delete the recluest ID'S which leads to space savings. All the rcgular rcqucsts are stored in the F table. When you compress, the request I D is deleted and data is moved from the F table to the E table. Thissaves space and improves performance but the disadvantage is that you cannot delete the compressed requests individually. You can, however, still use selectivedeletion. If you are using noncumulative key figures in a cube, the cube shouldbe compressed as often possible to improve performance.

16. What is an InfoSet?An InfoSet is an info provider giving data by joining data from different sources like O D s and master data. You can also do an outer join in an InfoSet. InfoSets can also be used to combine transactional data with master data. For example, if you have cli~antity the in transaction data and you have price as an attribute of the material. Then you can have an InfoSet with transaction data and material where yo11 will l)e able to do calculations based on material pricc in BEx.


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Intermediate

Another usage is, if you have O D s you can disable BEx reporting (in the setting) and use the O D s in the InfoSet for reporting, which leads to improved performance

17. What are lion cu~iiulativekey figures?These are key figures that are not summarized (unlike sales, etc.). Examples arehead count and inventory amount. They are always shown in relation to a point in time. For example, we will ask how many employees we had as of last quarter. We don't add up the head count.

18. What perfornialice improvemelit call we do for reporting?4 4 4 4

Aggregates OLAP cache Pre-calculated web templates Use small amount or result data as starting point of any queries and do the drill down. Avoid reporting on OD s and use InfoSet containing O D s for reporting. If you use exclusion in reporting ( < >), the indices are not used. So avoid using the exclusion but use inclusion. Use the read mode "H" read when navigating and expanding hierarchies". Use compression on Infocubes since the E table is optimized for queries. Create additional indexes.

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Key Ruestions

Run DB statistics often. 9 Use secondary indexes on ODS active table. v Use RSRTtransaction to look at the "Explain Plan" statement. 9 If you are running a query on an info provider with non cumulative key figure then suppress summary lineitems (totals).v

19. Wliat are tlie options when defining aggregates?

*H F

Groups according to characteris tics Values Hierarchy Fixed value; for example if you have a OCOUNTRY characteristic and only US is reported on, then you can create an aggregate only for the country IJS

Blank None


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Exoert

Expert20. What are the BEx options for characteristics like F4 help for query definition and execution?This defines how the data is displayed in the query definition screen or when the query is executed. Options are from the data displayed, from master data table(all data) and from dimension data. For example let us assume that you have 100products in total in your material master, 10 products available in a cube andin BEx you display a query for 2 products; the following options for the productwill display different data:4 4 4

Selective data only will display 2 products Dimension data will display 10 products From master data will display all 100 products

21. What is tlie 1:lifference between am~u~it,lqua~itity alid number type key figures?Amount /quantity is always combined with units. For example, sales will be linked to currency and inventory will be linked to quantity in units. In your designif you don't need units then you should use number or integer to improve performance.

22. Wlieli coding the ABAP transfer rule, what are the important variables yo11

make use of?4

RESULT

This gets the result of the ABAP code.


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K e y Questions

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RETURNCODE

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ABORT

You set this to 0 if everything is O K ; else this record is skippcd. Set this to a value not 0, to abort thc cntirc package.

23. What is the use of time distribution option in the update rule?This option is uscd to distribute data according to time. For examplc, if the source contains calendar week and the target contains calendar day, tlie data is split for each calendar day. Here you can select either the normal calendar or the factory calendar.

24. In update rules for key figures, what are tlie return table options for?lJsually thc ilpdatc rulc scnds one record to the data target; using this optionyou can send multiple records to the data target cg. If you gct 1 record from thc communication structure using this option you can create multiple records into thc data target. For example if we are getting total tclcphone expenses for th

e cost center, you can use this to return tclcphone cxpcnses for cach employee (by dividing the total cxpenses by the number of employccs in tlle cost center) and creating cost record for c;~ili cmployec using ABAP code.


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Expert

25. How would you optimize dime~isions?IJse as many dimensions as possible for performance improvement eg. Assume thatyou have 100 products and 200 customers; Option 1) Make one dimension for both,the size of the dimension will be 20,000; ( 100 * 200). Make individual dimensions one for product (100 rows) and one for customers (200) rows. The total numberof rows in both dimensions will be 300.

Option 2)

c/

Obviously Option 2 is better.

Even if you have more than one characteristic per dimension, you should do the math considering the worst case scenario and decide which characteristics may becombined in which dimensions.

26. What is a line item (or degenerate) dimelision?If the size of a dimension of a cube is almost the same as the size of the facttable, you define that dimension as a line item dimension. For example, if you store the sales document number in one dimension in a sales cube, usually the dimension size and the fact table size will be the same. When you add the overhead

of look ups for DIMIDISIDs, the performance will be very slow. By flagging it asa line item dimension, the


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Kev Ouestions

system puts the SID in the fact table instead of DIMID for the sales document number. This avoids one look up into dimension table (the dimension table is not created in this case). Only one characteristic is allowed per line item dimensionand for F4 help, the complete master data is displayed (which takes more time to display).

27. What is a "Marker" in Non Cumulative cubes?Noncumulatives are stored using a "Marker" for the current period. A marker is nothing b ~ l a pointer t referring to a time period. For example an inventory cube marker may refer to the inventory levels as of yesterday.

28. What is the use of a colon ':' as an authorization value?J

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It enables queries that do not contain an authorization relevant object that have been checked into the Infocube. It allows summary data to be displayeci if theuser does not have access to detailed data. For example, if you create 2 authorizations for one user: one with Sales Org * and customers : and second with sales org 1000 and customers *, the user sees all customers for sales org 1000 and only summarized report for other sales org.


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CHAPTER 1

BW Administration and Design


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Chapter 1: B W Administration and Design

Basic Concepts29. What are the differences between OLAP and OLTP applicatiolis? OJ J

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OLAP Summarized data Read only Not Optimized Lot of historical data

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OLTP Detailed Read write Optimized for data applications Less historical data

30. What is a star schema?

O

A fact table at the center and surrounded (linked) by dimension tables

31. What is a slowly changing dimension?

O

A dimension containing characteristics \\,hose value changes over a time period.For example, take an employee's job title, this changes over a pcriod of time as the employee moves through an organization. This is called a slowly changing dimension.

32. What are the advalitages of an Extelided star schenia of BW vs. The star schema? OJ JJ

Use of generated keys (numeric) for faster access External hierarchy Support formultiple languages


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Basic Concepts

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Master data is common to all cubes Supports slowly changing dimensions Aggregates in its own tables which allows for tastcr access

33. What is the namespace for BW? 0 0All SAP objects start with 0. The customer namespace is A - 2. All tables beginwith /BIO for SAP and /BIC for customers; All generated objects start with 1-8 (like export data source). The prefix 9A is used in APO.

34. What is an Infoobject? 0Infoobjects are business objects eg. Customer, product. They are divided into characteristics and key figures. Characteristics are evaluation objects such as customer and key figures are measurable objects such as sales quantity. Characteristics also include special objects like unit and time.

35. What are time dependent text / attribute of cliaracteristics? OIf text (for example a name of a product or person) or if an attribute changes over time then these must be marked as time dependent.

36. Can you create your own time characteristics? O


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C h a o t e r 1: BW A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d D e s i n n

37. Wliat is mealit by Alplia conversio~i?00Alpha conversion is used to store data consistently. It does this by storing numeric values prefixed with 0s eg. If you have defined a material as length 6 (oftype Numc) then material number 1 is stored as 000001 but displayed as 1; this removes inconslstenc~es between 0 1 vs. 001.

38. What is tlie alpha clieck executioli progra~ii?00This is used to check consistency for BW 2.x before upgrading the system to 3.x.I t is RSMDCNVEXIT

39. What is the attributes only flag? 0If this flag is set, no master data is stored. This is only used as an attributefor other characteristics, for example comments on an Accounts Receivable document.

40. Wliat are tlie data types allowed for key figures? 04 4 4 4 4 4

Amount, Quantity Number Integer Date Time

41. What are the aggregation options for key figures? 00If you are defining prices then you may want to set "no aggregation" or you can

define max, min, sum. You


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can also define exception aggregation like first, last etc. This is helpfill ingetting a headcount eg. If you define a monthly inventory count key figure you want the count as of the last day of the previous month.

42. What is ,the niaximuni number of key figures you call Iiave in an Infocube?O

43. What is the maximum number of characteristics you can have per dimension? O

44. What is a SID table a ~ i d what are its advantages? 00The SID table (Surrogate I D table) is the interface betwccn master data and thedimension tables. Advantages include: 4 Using 8 byte integer values as indexesfor faster access 4 Master data is independent of Infocubes 4 Supports multiplelanguages 4 Supports slowly changing dimensions

45. Which tables are generated for master data? 00P tableTime independent master data attributes Time dependent master data attributes

Q table


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Chapter 1: BW Administration and Design

S Table M view X table

Y table

for the SID Ids Com bines P and Q Interface between master data SIDs and time independent navip;ltional attributes SIDs ( P is linked to the X table) Interfacebetween master data SIDs and time dependent navigational attributes SIDs ( Q islinked to the Y table)

46. What is the transfer routine of tlie I~ifoDbject?OIt is like a start routine; this is independent of the data source and valid forall transfer routines; you can use this to define global data and global checks.

47. Wliat is the DIM ID? OThese are Dimensional IDS. Dim ID'S link dimensions to the fact table. I t is an8 byte integer like SID.

48. What is a table partition? 00By partitioning we split the table into smaller tables which is transparent to the application. This improves performance (when reading as well as deleting data). SAP uses fact table partitioning to improve performance. Note that you can on

ly partition on OCALMONTH or OFISCPER.


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Basic Concepts

Remember that the partition is created only in the E fact table; the F fact table is partitioned by Request Number as a default. Advantages of a partition: 4 Makes use of parallel process 4 Allows a smaller set of data to be read 4 Allows fast deletion

49. How many extra partitions are created and why? Can you partition a cube wi,th data ? 00IJsually 2 extra partitions are created to accommodate data before the beginningperiod and one after the end of partitioning period. No, you cannot partition acube with data. A cube must be empty to partition it. One work around is to make a copy of the cube A to cube B and then to export data from A to B using export data source. Then empty cube A, create partition on A, re-import data from B and delete cube B. Note that this is going to change in Netweaver 2004s (Or BW 7)

50. What is a source system? OAny system that is sending data to BW like R/3, flat file, oracle database or anon-SAP systems.


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C h a p t e r 1: B W A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d Design

51. What is a data source and wha,t is an InfoSource? OData source: The source that is sending data to a particular InfoSource on BW For example, wc have a OCUSTOMER-ATTR data source to supply attributes to OCUSTOMER from R/3. InfoSource : Group of logically related objects. For example, the OCUSTOMER InfoSourcc will contain data related to customer and attributes like customer number, address, phone no, etc.

52. Wliat are tlie 4 types of InfoSources? OJ

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Transactional Attributes Text Hierarchy

53. Wliat is a commur~icationstructure? OIs an independent structure created from an InfoSource. It is independent of thesourcc system / data source.

54. What are transfer rules and what is global tralisfer rule? OTransfer rules: T h e transformation rules for data from the source system to the InfoSource / communication structure. These are used to clean up thc data from

source system.


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Basic Concepts

For example when you load customer data from flat file, you can convert the nameto upper case using a transfer rule. Global Transfer Rule: This is a transfer routine (ABAP) defined at the Infoobject level. This is common for all soilrce systems.

55. Name some important formulas available in BW? Oc/

./c/ c/ c/ c/ c/ c/

c/

Concatenate substring condense leftlright (n characters) 1-trim r-trim replace date routines: DATECONV date-week add-to-date date-diff logical functions like: if and

56. What is tlie process of replication and what menu path would you use to perform it? OThis copies data source structures from R/3 to BW For example, assume that you added a new data source in R/3. This will not be visible in the BW system until you replicate it.


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C h a n t e r 1: BW A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d Desinn

You replicate using the transaction RSAl +Source System + k g h t click on the system +Replicate. You can also replicate at an info area level.

57. Wliat is tlie update rule? OThe update rule defines the transformation of data from the communication structure to the data targets. This is independent of the source systems / data sources. For example, you can use update rule to globally change data independent of the source system.

58. What are the options in update r~.lles?OJJ

One to one move for Infoobject value Constant Lookup for master data attribute value Formula Routine (ABAP) Initial value

JJ

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59. What are the special conversions for time in update rules? O

Time dimensions are automatically converted. For example, if the cube contains calendar month and your transfer structure contains date, the date to c;ilendar month is converted automatically.


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Basic C o n c e p t s

60. What is the start routine? 00The first step in the update process is to call start routine. Use this to fillglobal variables to be used in update routines. For example, you can define global values to be used by the update routines. It is also the first step in the Transformation process before the Transfer rules.

81. What is the co~iversio~i routi~ie u ~ i i t s currencies in for and the update rule? 00IJsing this option you can write ABAP code for unit / currency conversion. If you enable this flag then unit of measure of the key figure appears in the ABAP code as an additional parameter. For example, you can use this to convert quantityin pounds to quantity in kilograms.

62. How do you add an entry in the monitor log from the update rules? 000This is added in the internal table MONITOR; the following fields describe the MO N I T O R structure4 4 4 4 4 4

MONITOR-MSGID gives an I D MONITOR-MSGTY message type MONITOR-MSGNO message number MONITOR-MSGV1 monitor message1 MONITOR-MSGV2 monitor message 2 Append it to the M O N I T O R table, this will show up in the monitor


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Here is a sample code to do this. Assumc that you are checking for product 'XYZ'which should not bc loaded to the cube and you want to display a message in themonitor. The code in the update routine will be :Ifc o m m - s t r u c t u r e- p r o d u c t = LXYZ'. R e t u r n c o d e = 1. Monitor-msgid = ' X Y Z ' . Monitor-msgty = L E ' . Monitor-msgno = ' 1 2 3 ' . Monitor-msgvl = ' I n v Prod'.Monitor-msgv2 = comm-structure-product. Append m o n i t o r . Exit. End i f .

63. How do you create the "myself data mart"?

O

The BW system feeding data to itself is called the myself data mart. It is created automatically and uses ALE for data transferd

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d

Right click and create the export data source for the ODSIcube or PSA. In the ta

rget system replicate the data source Create transfer rules and update rules Create info package to load

64. Can you make MultiProviders alid liiaster data as data marts? OYes


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Basic Concepts

65. Wliat are tlie benefits of data marts? 04 4 4 4

Simple to use H u b and spoke usage Distributed data In some cases they can provide performance improvements

66. What are events and how do you use them? 00Events are background signals to tell the system that a certain status has beenreached; you can use events in batch jobs. For example, after you load data to the cube you can trigger an event which will start another job to run the reporting agent. Use SM62 to create and maintain events.

67. Wliat is all event chain and Iiow do you create one? 00This is a group of events that are completed independently of one another. Usedto execute processes based on success or failure of events. For example, you cantrigger a chain event if all loads are successfill. AWB Tools Event collector

68. What is meant by PSA? 0Persistent staging area - is based on the transfer structure and is source system dependent. The data in the PSA is in the same format as the data received fromthe source system.


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C h a o t e r 1: BW A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d D e s i n n

69. What are different options available for update process to data target? Ocl

clr/

cl

PSA and data targets in parallel - improvcs performance PSA and data target in sequencc PSA only - you have to manually load clata to data targets Data targetsonly - N o PSA

For performance reasons you should do PSA ;1nd Data targets in parallel.

70. Wliy, if one request fails, do all the subsequent requests turn to "red" inan Infoprovider? 00This is to avoid inconsistency and ensures that only data from subsequent requests is not available for reporting which otherwise would lead to inconsistency between report and underlying data.

71. What are the two fact tables?

O

There are two fact tables for each I n f o C ~ ~ b c namely the E table and theF table. The E table is ol7timized for Read.

72. What is recons,tructitln? OThis is the process by which you reload data from PSA (or O D s ) into the cube/ODS.


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Basic Concepts

73. What is a remote cube? 0Remote cube is a logical cube where the data is extracted from an external source. It is usually used to report on real time data from an r/3 system instead ofdrilling down from BW to R3.

74. What is a virtual I~ifoCubewith services? 00In this case, a user defined function module is used as the data source. Using this, for example, you can access a table from a logical cilbe. For example, thedelivered cube OBWTC-C08 (BW Metadata) is an InfoCube with Services and it Llsesa function module to get data.

75. What are the restrictio~is/recomme~idations usi~ig for remote cube? 00These are used for reporting on small volumes of data with few users; no masterdata allowed. Performance is poor while using remote cube.

76. Give examples of data sources that support remote cubes.

00OF1-AP-3 - vendor line items, OF1-AR-3 - customer line items

77. What is a MultiProvider? 0lJsing MultiProvider you can access data from different data sources like cubes,

ODS, Infosets, master data. MultiProvidcr does a Union at the database level.


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C h a p t e r 1: BW A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d D e s i g n

78. What are the added features in 3.x for MultiProvider? 00Prior to 3.x only multi cubes were available; J'OLL can not combine a O D s andcube, for example.

79. What is ,the difference between MultiProvider and InfoSet? OMultiProvider is a Union whereas InfoSct is a 'Join" (intersection). So from a MultiProvider JJOLI may get as many rows as the number of underlying InfoProviders. Example: InfoProviderl (with Sales Order and order q t y ) Sales Doc Ord qtyS 10 1 10 InfoProvider2 (with Delivery doc no, salcs doc no, qty delivered) DelDoc No Sales Doc no Qty delivered Dl01 SlOl 8 If we use a MultiProvider to rcport, the f;)llowing data will be displayed :SalesDoc DelDocOrd Qty 1)clQtv

S 10 1 SlOl

# Dl01

10

S

If we use an InfoSct the following result ~ v i l lbe displayed (join on sales d

oc no):SalesDoc DelDocOrdOty

SlOl

D 10 1

10

DclQty S


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Basic Conceots

Please note: Thc InfoSet cannot be created on an Infocube but only on transparent tables like O D s and Master data (BW version 7.0 this limitation is not applicable).

80. What is a transactional Infocube? How will you report on this? OThese cubes arc used for both read and write, standard cubes arc optimized for reading. The transactional cubes are uscd in SEM. Since transactional cubes are not loaded by InfoPackagc thc reporting flag is not set until it rcachcs a certain limit. To view the data from queries with latest data, you should use the system variable O -RQMRC (Most Current Data) as a filter for S Request ID in your BEx queries. BAPI's are needed to load data and also for reporting on Transactional InfoCubes. Plcasc note : You need BAPI to load data and also for reporting onTransactional Infocube.

81. Wliat is the Transaction code for monitori~ig Cache? OTransaction code RSRCACHE


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C h a p t e r 1: BW A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d Design

82. What is meant by Iiigli cardi~ialitydinielisio~i?00If the dimension exceeds 10% of the size of the fact table then you can make itas a high cardinality dimension. Basically SAP converts from a bitmap index to aB tree index.

83. When do you recommend high cardi~ialityvs line item dimension? O 0If your dimension is more than 10% but less than 20% of the size of h c t tablethen use high cardinality dimension; if it exceeds 20% then use line item dimension.

84. What are the profile parameters for cache? 00JJ

rdsb/esm/buffersize-kb rsdb/esm/max-objects

maximum size of cache maximum number of entries in cache

85. Can you disable the cache? 00Yes, either globally or by using query d c l ~ l g tool using transaction code RSRT.

86. What is persistelice mode ill caclie? 00Instead of swapping data from menlor): you can store the data in a cluster tableor file. This option ;~llows you to store more data in cache than the avai1;~ble size of main memory.


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Basic Concepts

87. What does tlie progralli RSMDCNVEXIT check? 000All characteristics with conversion exit ALPHA, NUMC and GJAHR

88. When should you do the alpha conversion? 000If you are upgrading you must do it before the PREPARE phase of upgrade

89. Can you make an Infoobject as an InfoProvider and why? OYes, when you want to report on attribute values of characteristics (master data), to make an Infoobject as InfoProvider, right click on the info area in the administration workbench and make them as an InfoProvider. For example, you can make OCUSTOMER as an InfoProvider and do BEx reporting on OCUSTOMER. Right click on the info area and select "Insert characteristic as data target"


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Chanter 1: BW Administration and Design

BW Settings in SPRO90. What are the control parameters for data transfer?

O

They define the maximum size of the p ~ ~ c k e t , the maximum number of records per packet, the number of parallel processes, etc.

91. Which transaction code is used to set up tlie permitted characters? 000Transaction code RSKC.

92. What is meant by aggregate realignment run maintenance? 00This defines the level of percentage change where a realignment run will cause areconstruction of aggregates. Remember that if you have exception key figures like Min or Max, then the aggregate will be rebuilt every time you run the change.

93. What is meant by update mode for master data?

O

It defines whether the master data (auto sid) is added you automatically, for no

n existing master data, nll~en load the transaction data.


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BW S e t t i n e s i n SPRO

94. What are the ODs object settings? OThey are: c/ The number of parallel processors in activation, c/ Minimum numberof data records c/ Wait time

95. What are the settings for flat files?They are: c/ The thousand separator c/ Decimal pointer c/ Field separator (default is ;) c/ Field delimiter (default '7

O

96. What are the settings for data transfer? OThey are: c/ Maximum number of data packages c/ Frecluency c/ Size of PSA partition

97. What are tlie nio~iitorset'ti~igs?Oc/

Define the wait time before the status turns to red. Usually it is 7 hours, which means if the data is not transferred within 7 hours for the request, the status is set to red. Status colors. Here you can specify what status should be displayed in case of 0 records transferred or warnings. Schedule monitor assistant inthe background to analyze requests.

c/

c/


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98. Which tra~isactit~n defines the background user in the code source system? 00Transaction code RSCUSTV3

99. What are the settings for Reporti~ig?O4

4 4

Defines what should be displayed for conditions like: divide by zero, no data, overflow, mixed values and authorization errors Infoprovider properties for cacheActivate personalization in BEx

100. What are the settings for web ? O4 44

4 4

Define default web template and style sheet RRI Setting Drag and relate settingsIGS settings Maintain web protocol of http or https


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N o n Cumulative Key Figures

Nan Cumulative Key Figures'101. What is standard and exception aggregation? 000Standard aggregation -) specifies how values for a key figure arc aggregated using all characteristics except time. Exception aggregation -) specifies how values for a key figure are aggregated using time characteristics.

102. What is a time reference characteristic? 000It is a time characteristic which determines all other time characteristic eg. OCALDAY, OCALMONTH, OCALWEEK, OFISCPER

103. Give example of data sources supporting non cumulative key fig1.1t-es. 004

4

2L1S-40-S278 2LIS-0 3-BF 2LIS-03-UM

transfer BW stock Material Movements Revaluations

104. Can you create aggregate for a cube having cumulative key figure? 00Yes, but you must include all time characteristics.

105. What is the opening balance? 000When you start loading inventory data from R/3 you start with inventory quantityat a certain point in time, this is what is called the opening balance.


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Authorizations

121. How to inipleme~itstructural autliorization in BW? 00c , c ,

c ,c , c ,

c , c ,

c ,

Create a profile using transaction OOSP Assign the user to the profile using transaction OOSB IJpdate the T 7 7 U U table Run the progrnm RHBAUSOO Activate thedata source and related components OHR-PA-2 in B W Load O D S from R/3 Activatethe target InfoObjects as "Authorization relevant" Rim the filnction module RSSBto generate B W authorization.

122.What are the new BW 3.x authorizations? 0 0c ,

S-RS-C O M P l S-RS-FOLD S-RS-ISET f S-G U I

c ,

c ,4

checks for authorization depending on the owner info area view of BEx elements (to si~ppress) or InfoSets new activity code 6 0 loaded for upload

123.What is the use of c o l ~ n as an au.thoriza'ti~11 ':' value? 00c ,

c ,

It enables queries that d o not contain an authorization relevant object and hav

e been checked in the InfoCube It allows summary data to be displayed if the user does not have access to detailed data.


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C h a n t e r 1: BW A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d Desinn

For example, if you create 2 authorizat~ons one for user, one with Sales Org * and customers : and a second with sales org 1000 and custon~ers*, the Llscr seesall customers for sales org 1000 and only summarized report for other sales org.

124. What is $ as an a~~thorization and what is value OTCTAU'TH H? O OYou use $ followed by a variable name (thcsc variable values are populated in aBEx user exit). This avoids having too many roles OTCTAUTHH is used in hierarchyauthorization.

125. How would you debug security issues? 00By using transactions ST0 1 and RSSMTRACE. An 'X' mark in the log shows a fiiiled authorization check.

126. Which Transaction code shows templates for au,thorizatinns? O OTransaction code SU24.


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B W Archival and retrieve

BW Archival and retrieve127. What are the adva~itagesof archiving a ~ i d what is tlie transaction codefor archiving? 00JJ

i

J

To minimize space Improve query performance Improve load performance

Archive uses A D K (Archive Development Kit).Tnns&ct"on code S A m .

128. What are tlie size parameters for archiving? 00J J

Maximum file size in Megabyte Maximum number of data objects

129. What is the preca~llion should take wlie~i yuu archiving? 00W h e n you archive an InfoCube or O D s , it is locked for any loads until the

delete is finished. You should make sure that you archive and delete before youload any new data.

i

130. Wliat is tlie difference between the restoring of Cube vs [IDS from archivefiles? 00You can restore into O D s directly from the SARA transaction. For the cube youshould schedule an info package.


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C h a n t e r 1: BW A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d D e s i e n

131. Cali you archive Master data or PSA? 00No, it is not currently supported (as of 3.1).

132. Give the step by step approach to archivi~iga Cube. 00J

J

J

J

JJ

JJ

Double click on the cube (or right click and select change) Extras I) select archival Choose fields for selection eg. OCALDAY, OCUSTOMER Define the file structilre (maximum file size and maximum number of data objects) Select the folder (logical file namc) Select the delete options (not scheduled, start automatically o

r after event) Activate the cube The cube is ready for archiving


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P r o c e s s Chains

Process Chains133. Wliat is a process cliai~iand what is the tra~isactio~i code for going to process chain? 00The process chain is a utility to schedule batch jobs on BW similar to SM37. Itoffers good monitoring features and error handling. Transaction code RSPC

134. Wliat are tlie general services supported in process chain? O0c,

Start process

specifies a variant for the start time and date. It can be set to be recursive.you can use this to check for successful completion of two or more processes eg.You can load 2 ODSs in parallel and put an AND condition (if successful) to load a cube. you usually use this to determine if any of the predecessor processorsfailed. If you have multiple tasks in parallel you can use this to detect any process failures. you use this to run an ABAP program with variants.

c ,

AND

c , c ,

OR EXOR (first)

c,

ABAP


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P r o c e s s Chains

136. List the reporting agent tasks. 004 4

4 4

Exception reporting Print in the background Pre calculation of web templates Precalculation of value sets

137. List sollie of the BW process types for building process chain. 004

4 44

Attribute change run Adjustment of time dependent aggregates Deletion of requests from PSA Reorganize attributes and texts for master data. This is a useful tool to compress master data and text.

138. What are the scheduling options for start process? 004 4 4

Direct scheduling or Start from meta chain (parent chain) API

Use the second option for your child process chains.

139. List some of the parallel processes that could have locking problems. 00044

Hierarchy attribute change run Loading master data for the same Infoobject eg. Avoid loading master data from different source systems at the same time


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c, c,

c,

Rolling up for the same InfoCubc Selecting deletion of an InfoCube I ODS ~lnd parallel loading Activation or deletion of an ODS ohjcct when loading in parallel

140. What is tlie benefit of tlie optio~i"default chai~is"?000When this option is enabled (by default) and when you insert a process, any corresponding process types are inserted automatically. For example, if you drag anddrop an info package load for ODS, then the process types (such as "Update fromPSA", "Activate ODS", "Further processing") are automatically inserted. To disable this option use Transaction Code RSPC Settings default chains check mark "Donot suggest processes".

+

+

+

14.1. By default, all newly created process chains are assigned to tlie "unassig

~ied"~iode. How would you reassign it to a proper component? 00Process Chain

+ Attributes + Display components

142. What are the four views available for a process chain? 009 9 9c,

Planning view Checking view Log view Job overview


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Process Chains

143. How would you send an email when a process ends in a process chain? 00%ght click on the process you want to monitor (eg. Load info package) select create message select when you want to send a message (success, fail or always) create a variant for the mail.

*

*

+

144. How would you convert an info package grol.lp into a process chain? 0 0Double click on the info package group click on the "Process Chain Maint." button type in the name and description the individual info packages are inserted automatically.

+

*

*

145. What is tlie differelice between EXOR and OR ill a process chain? 0 OThe target for an O R process will be executed for each successfi~l occurrence.EXOR will be executed only once. Usilally you use EXOR to detect failed processes.


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C h a p t e r 1: B W A d m i n i s t r a t i o n and Design

Open Hub146. What is Ope11 Hub (OH) and what data targets does it rt support? Does it s~ ~ p p odelta? 00O H is a tool by which you can send data from BW to different targets. It is a controlled distribution of consolidated and cleansed daca. Targets could be another BW system, external systems, relational table, flat file and O D B O interface. Yes it supports Delta.

147. How do you get into Ope11 Hub and what are the supported data sources? 0 0Use the following menu path: Transaction Code RSBO or AWB H u b Service

*

Tools

*

Open

Datasources for an Open H u b are cube. ODs and Infoobject (attributes and texts).

148. What are the desti~iatio~i target optiolis for Open Hub in BW? 0OJJ

CSV file Database table


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Open H u b

149. What is the "delete table before extraction" option in Open Hub in BW? 00If you choose this option, the table contents are deleted before any new recordis written. Disable this if you want to keep historical data.

150. How do yo11change tlie default desti~iatio~i Ope11 Hub of files in BW? 00Menu path for changing the default destination of Open H ~ t b as follows: is LJse Transaction Code SE 11 3 choose table RSBFILE 3 modify entry for XIDEST.

151. What is the licensing requirement that you should be aware of for using Open Hub in BW? 00Extracting data from SAP B W by any means requires additional licensing.

152. How do you transform Ope11Hub data? 00IJsing a BAD1 you can transform Open H u b data according to the destination requirement.


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C h a o t e r 1: BW A d m i n i s t r a t i o n and Desinn

J

J

J

J

J

Reporting authorization checks impact tlie performance negatively. Reporting onbrowser is faster than reporting on Excel using BEx Analyzer. Use the aggregatehierarchies to minimize the roll up time. Use parallel upload and activation forODS objects using transaction SPRO or RSCIJSTA?. If you are not going to use anO D s for reporting, disable the BEx Reporting flag.

158. Wliat are tlie syste~iitools you can use to nionitor performance? 000The following are the Transaction codes that are used for system monitoring:J

RSRT, RSRTRACE ST05 RSRV ST03

to debug and get explain plan statements on queries for SQL traces to repair objects to monitor current query performance

J

JJ


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RSRV

RSRV159. Explain the purpose of the tra~isactioncode RSRV . 000RSRV is a powerful transaction code to test consistency

of following BW objects and repair them if required. For example, if there are any inconsistencies between the Q and Y tables for a master data object you can fm using them this transaction.J J J

JJ J

Master data Transaction data Hierarchies Database Aggregates PSA tables

160. What are the RSRV combined tests? 000J

1/J JJ

Master data Transaction data Hierarchies Database Aggregation

181. Cali you scliedule RSRV in the background? 000Yes, but if you want to fix errors found in the background use the program RSDMD-CHECKPRG-ALL.


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'165. What is ODs alid what table structures are used? OOperational Data Source is used for detailed storage of data. You can overwriteexisting data in the O D S (in a cube you can not), You can also drill down froma cube to the O D s . This is used for data harmonizing, cleansing and synchronizing. ODS adds a delta capability when used in the staging process before the cube. The data is stored in a flat table (unlike the extended star schema of thecube). So using SE 11 / SE 16 you can query the ODS data directly. Table structures : J Active data J New data J Change log table

166. What is ,the purpose of a clialige log in ODs a ~ i d do you how delete it?OA change log is used for delta updates to the data target after the ODS. It stores all changes for a record in Active Table. The records in a Change log are stored based on the generated request during each activation of requests in the newdata table. To delete a change log use the following menu path: lJse Transaction code RSAl right click on ODS Manage j Environment Delete change log

+


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Chapter I: BW Administration and Design

167. Wliat are the advantages of usi~ig ODs in an I~ifoSetfor all reporting? O4

Access via OLAP engine. InfoSets can join flat BW objects such as master data attributes.

168. What are additional features available for ODs from BW version 3.x? O4c/

J

4

You can load and activate O D s in parallel. M table is replaced with new data which is similar to PSA. It is possible to create secondary indexes for an O D sobject. Selective deletion of data is now possihle.

169. What is a tra~isactio~ial object? ODs

O

An O D s object: 4 Has only the active table. 4 Is filled using APIs. c/ Is onlyreported on using an InfoSct. 4 Is usually used for applications like SEbl (Strategic Enterprise Management).


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170. What are the flags used for in ODs and specifically what is the unique datarecord flag used for? OIf you enable the unique data record then an error is issued when a duplicate record, to that in the Active table is inserted. 1Jse this feature to load a cubefiltering any duplicates (Cubes will simply add up duplicates)c/

BEx Reporting

whether this O D s is enabled for reporting.

c/ c/ c/ c/

Unique data records. Set quality status to O K automatically. Activate O D s automatically. IJpdate data targets automatically.

Please note: The Unique data record is used to improve performance and it is tobe used only when you are sure that the data source will note send a duplicate record.


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C h a p t e r 1: B W A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d Design

BW Statistics171. What is the purpose of BW statistics cubes? OThe standard sets of cubes delivered by SAP are used to measure performance forqueries, data lo,lds, etc. It also shows aggregate usage and the cost associatedwith them. It provides data on aggregates, OLAP and Warehouse management.

172. How do you enable monitoring of an Infocube-cube using BW statistics? OIndividual data targets and InfoProvidcrs call 1)c included for monitoring in BW statistics using the following menu path: AWB -) Tools I) BUf statistics

173. How do you install BW statistics? OYou use tlle business content available In AW7B to install J Using the BusinessContent section of AWB select info area "BW Statistics" I) right click and ) select insert objects for collections . select before and after data flow for grouping and install. J Similarly install the Technical Content SAP-B W-T C O N T role. # Install the info package groups for Master data / text and transaction data.


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BW Statistics

174. Give some examples of queries delivered with BW statistics. O4 4 44

Mean time per query R~lntime queryT Jsing Infocubes

I Jtilizing OLAP

175. Give some examples of usage of BW statistics reports. O4

4

4

4

W h o is using the query, how often i t is used and when it was last used. How the query was executed? How much time was spent on the Database. How many rows were read from the database vs how many were displayed / processed. You can createcustom exceptions to proactively tune queries eg. You can create exceptions if

the clilery spends more than 50% accessing the database - in this case tuning isneeded.

176. Give a reason why BW statistics can not provide inforniation ill real ti~iieand name the transaction code used to monitor BW system statns in real time. OThe BW statistics data is loaded periodically. If you want to display the data in real time from the statistics tables (not cubes), use transaction ST03. SelectExpert Mode and select BW System load.


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Aggregates

182. In terms of aggregates, what is "Roll Up"? 00Roll up is the process by which new requests loaded into the InfoCube are "rolled up" into the aggregates. The data loaded from a new request is available for reporting only after a successfill roll ilp into the aggregates.

183. Wliat is the optimal size of the aggregates? 00It should have around 10-20% of the size of the fact table. For example, if yourfact table contains 1000,000 rows, the aggregate should have less than 200,000rows.

184. Wliat is meant by "propose from statistics" for aggregates? 00Based on B W statistical data (such as query run time), you can request the system to suggest the optimal characteristics for aggregation.

185. Can you define aggregates 011 tinie depelidelit liavigational attributes? 00Yes, as of version 3.x.

186. What "proposal options" are available for aggregates? 00J

J

Propose from B W statistics cube: history of B W statistics. Propose from B W statistics (tables): based on database tables RSDDSTAT and RSDDSTATAGGRDEF


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C h a n t e r 1: B W A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d D e s i e n

J

J

Propose from the last navigation: suggcstion based on the last entry of the abovc mentioned tables for the current user. Propose from a query.

187. What is the naming convention for aggregates created from statistics? 0 0STAT 1 through STAT n

188. What is the naming convention used for aggregates created from a query? 00MIN 1 through MIN n and

MAX 1 through MAX n.

189. List major usage indicators for aggregates. 00J

Number of records Summarization (compression) Last used date - remember if you don't see any recent activity then this aggregate is not used Valuation - with signs of + for good aggregate and --- for not so good aggregate.

J J

J

+ +

190. What is an aggregate hierarchy? 0 0Aggregates hierarchies are where aggreg;ltcs arc built on top of other aggregates. This hierarchy is done automatically. It is recommended that you create a fcwlarge base hierarchies and small aggregates can bc built from these.


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Aggregates

191. How does change ruli affect the aggregate? 00The change run (also called hierarchy attribute realignment run) adjusts the data in the aggregates and turns the modified version of the navigation attributesand hierarchies into an active version.

192.111 the real world when would you recommend aggregates? 00By looking at the B W statistics and noticing if a query spends more than 50% ofthe time in the database accessing data and the ratio of records read to records processed is more than 10, then you recommend aggregates.


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CHAPTER 2

BW Reporting(BEx and Web Reporting)


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C h a p t e r 2: BW R e p o r t i n g (BEx a n d Web R e p o r t i n g )

Business Explorer193. What is the effect of using characteristics in free area vs filter area inQuery designer? 0Free Characteristics : The characteristics in this area are not displayed in theinitial view of the query but you can drill down and filter once you execute the query. Filter Area: T h e characteristics in this area are restricted and cannot be filtered or drillcd down any further.

194. What is lROWCOUNT key figure? 0 0For InfoProviders based on transparent tal)les like ODs / Master data, this system generated key figure is available. This can be used to count the num1)er of records.

195. What i s a restricted key figure? Give an example.

O

These are key figures "restricted" by values of one or more characteristics. Forexample, nrhcn you want to compare the sales of product "A" betwccn different fiscal year periods, you will create a restricted key figure with "Sales qty" asa key figure and restricted by OMATEFUAL of value "A".


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Business Exolorer

196. Wliat is a constant selection? 00This feature allows you to mark a selection of specific value or all values of characteristics in the query designer as a "Constant". Navigation and filtering has no effect on this selection during run time. For example, if you want to report a product's sale in reference to a product group rather than all the products, you makc the product group as the constant selection; any drill down, navigation, filtering will not have any change in the sales quantity for that.

197. How will yalr debug errors wi,thin SAP GUI (like all Active X error)? 0 0Run BEx analyzer -) Business Explorer menu item -) Installation check. This shows an excel sheet with a start button -) click on it -) this verifies the G U I installation -) if you find any errors either reinstall it or fix it.

198. How do you activate personalization for BEx? 00IMG -) Activate personalization for BEx.

199.1 have a variable for characteristic val~resof Infoobject ZLOCATION. How will I use this variable to select values of ZLOCATION where 'ZA' are the alphabetsin 2nd and 3rd place for the values? 0 0In the BEx variable input window, type in '+ZA*' T h e ' + ' character is used as a single character wild card.


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C h a n t e r 2: BW R e o o r t i n e (BEx a n d Web R e n o r t i n e )

Calculated Key Figures200.Wl1at differelit percentage calculatio~iscan we use in BEx? OPercentage variance : This is defined as parameter 1 % parameter2 eg. Actual expenses exceeds thc % budgeted expenses. Percentage share: It is defined as parameter 1 %A parameter2; gives the percentage share of parameter 1 of parameter2. Percentage share of result: Defined as %CT parameterl; gives the result in percentage with respect to result. Percentage share of overall result: Defined as % G Tparameterl; similar to previous but the percentage is a share of overall results. Percentage share of result total: Defined as %RT.

201. Besides percentage functions, what other usefl~l fl~nctions are there in BEx? OJ

COUNT NDIVO SUMCT

J

J

Count(parameter) returns value 1 if parameter is not zero else zero. ndivO(parameter) returns 0 if the parameter returns division by 0. sumct(parameter) result

of parameter in all rows and columns.


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C a l c u l a t e d Key F i g u r e s

9

SlJMGT SlJMRT

c/

sumgt (parameter) result of the parameter for the overall result. sumrt (parameter) result of the parameter for the report result.

202.List some of the mathematical f~nnctionsavailable in Query designer. Oc/ c/c/ c/

Max Min Absolute Smallest Division

c/


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C h a p t e r 2: BW R e p o r t i n g (BEx a n d W e b R e p o r t i n g )

Boolean Operators203.What does a Boolean operator return? O1 or 0 (True or False)

204.What are the Boolean expressions allowed? OJ J J J J JJ

< > ==

less than not equal to greater than less than or equal to greater than or equalco equal

logical N O T AND OR XOR

J

J

exclusive O R

205.Give an example of boolean expression. OAssume you are calculating tax rate on a sal;u-y; if salary is < I 0 0 0 it is 10% and if more than 1000 then it is 1 5 % is defined as ((salary < 1000) :k salary * 0.10 )+ ((salary > 1000) * salary * 0.15).


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Boolean O p e r a t o r s / S t r u c t u r e s a n d C e l l s

Structures and Cells206.What is a structure?

O

The structure helps in calculation between its elements. For example, a structilre containing 3 months with specific values eg. JAN, FEB and MAR and 4 t h element, could be FIRST QUARTER which is a formula representing sum of the earlier elements. A globally defined structure can be reused in any of the query on the InfoProvider.

207. What is a reusable structure and how do you create it from a local struct~.lre?OThese are InfoProvider level structures which can be used in any queries on thatInfoProvider. k g h t click on the local structure select save as enter technical name and description.

+

+

208.What is a cell editor? O

Gives the definition of a specific cell in a query (intersection of two structures one characteristics structure and one key figure structure). Using this you can override the default cell values.

209.What is an exceptiun cell? OI t is a cell specific definition that allows you to define explicit formulas tooverriding those implicitly created cell vali~es.This allows you to design muchmore detailed queries. tJse the icon to create exception cells.


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Chapter 2: BW Reporting (BEx and Web Reporting)

Before and after aggregation210. Illustrate, with example, effect of 'before and after aggregation' propertyof a key figure. 00In many queries you may come across the following situation. Assume that you have a cube with product qty, ilnit price; you have a BEx report showing clty, unitprice and value (unit price * qty); the report looks like this by defaultQ ~ J

Result

10 20 30

Unit Price 2 3 5

\4lI uc20

60

150

You can see that the value is calculatecl using a calculated key figure as "Afte

r aggregation" by defidult; basically it multiplies 3 0 by 5 which is 150; but the correct amount is 80; Now right click on the calculated key figure, select properties, enhanced and change to Before aggregation. Now the result is calculated correctly :QJ ~

10 Result20 30

Unit Price 2 3 5

Value 206080


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C h a p t e r 2: B W R e p o r t i n g (BEx a n d Web R e p o r t i n g )

Key figure properties211. List some of the properties of key figure.9

O

9

Scaling factor: Valid range is 1 to 1 l)illion; if you set a scaling factor of 1000, then the value 3000 is displayed as 3 Number of decimal places. For example, 2.48 or 2.5 or just 2 is displayed in the report.

212. What are tlie options for "calculate si~iglevalue as"? OFor each item: Normalization9

+ data is displayed as:

9

a percentage of the result normalization of result normalization of overall result normalization of query result

Ranked list size of the characteristic value wit11 the largest being 1. Ranked list (Olympic) silllilar to the previous point except the next smallest v~llue, when a value appears more than once, is not given rank increased by value 1:9 9 9 99

99

maximum minimum count all values count all values < > (not equal to) 0 average of all values average of all values < > (note equal ro) 0 suppress single values


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Key Figure Properties

213. Wliat is an exception aggregation? Give an example. OThis defines how the key figure is aggregated in relation to exception characteristics, usually a time characteristics. For example, when you report number of employees by cost center, you would create an exception aggregation on "Last Value".


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Chanter 2: BW Renortine (BEx and Web Renortine)

Hierarchies in Reports214. Wliat is a reporting hierarchy. M e ~ i t i o a ifew properties of ~ a hierarchy? OA hierarchy is a structure of characteristics valuesallowing you to view data in different ways. Nodes are like branches in trees with thc uppermost node referred to as the root node. A l~ierarchy can have multiple nodes.4

Hierarchy levels:

Node of a hierarchy are structurally placed in different levels eg. Parent - child nodes. Intervals automatically g r o u p leaves together. W h e n a new valueis added to a characteristic it is automatically added to the proper node. Thisnode allows a s u b tree to be included in a hierarchy on more than one occasion.

4

Intervals:

4

Link Node:

215. Wliat are tlie report-relevant setti~igsill hierarchy maintenance? O4

Level maintenance this setting allows the naming of different levels of hierarchies. K1u can navigate during execution of the query 1)). using a right click.

+


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Hierarchies in Reports

4

4

4

4

4

D o not display inner nodes in a query +does not display the leaves level of thehierarchy report. Changeable display for leaves of inner nodes specifies whether a user can change the display. Suppress unassigned node suppress nodes with novalues appearing. Root / totals item indicates whether the totals are displayedat the beginning or end of the hierarchy. Start drill down level -) the defaultlevel of the query that is displayed when opening.

+

+

+


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Chanter 2: BW Renortine (BEx and Web Renortine)

User Exits for BEx Reporting216. Nanie the BEx reporting user exit e~iliancenie~it. 00There are three user exits: RSROOOOl - For User Exit Variable RSR00002 - For Virtual Key Figures RSR00003 - For Moving Characteristics M~lucs

217. Name the BEx reporting user exit component and its include program for variable. 00J

J

The component is EXIT-SAPLRRSO-00 1. T h e include program is ZXRSRUO 1.

218. Wliat variables would you typically use when ~iiaki~ig of use the user exitRSR00001 in BEx reporting? 00J

I-STEP is used in ABAP code as a conditional check. T h e following values are checkcd: Before processing of the variable pop-ups and gets called for every customer var~ablc . 2 Is called after variable popup for variables not marked as "Ready for input" and are set to required entry. Is called after all variables areprocessed (only once and not for each variable). I-VNAM: It is the variable cont

aining the variable name within ABAP Typically you lvould do a 1

3

J


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U s e r E x i t s f o r BEx R e p o r t i n g

J

CASE statement on this variable to get the variable working. E-T-RANGE: This isthe internal table populated with variable values in a customer exit. L S RANGE:This is the structure to populate - -RANGE L O W low end value H I G H high endvalue SIGN 'I' to include, etc. O P T gives the options like 'BT' for between,'EQ' for equal, ecc.

E-f

c/

I-VARTYP- variable type1

2

34c/ c/ c/

5 I-IOBJNM: name of the Infoobject. I-PERIV: fiscal year variant. I-T -VAR-RANGE

: table with all variables andtheir values.

Characteristic Hierarchy node Text Formula Hierarchy

219. What is the call sequence for the user exit RSROOOl in BEx Reporting? OOJ c/

c/

First call of the user exit. Popup and enter values (if ready for input is enabled). Second call for the user exit.


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C h a p t e r 2: B W R e p o r t i n g (BEx a n d W e b R e p o r t i n g )

BEx User Exit ExampleL-S-RANGE T Y P E RSR-S-RANGESID. E-BUPER L I K E TOOSB-POPER, E-GJAHR L I K E TO O S B - B D A T J . DATA: T A B I X L I K E S Y - T A B I X CASE I-VNAM. WHEN' Z P E R Q U A R ' . C A L L F U N C T I O N LDATE-TO-PERIOD-CONVERT' EXPORTING I-DATE = SY-DATUM I-PERIV = 'FL' IMPORTING E-BLIPER = E-BUPER E-GJAHR = E-GJAHR. I F SY-SUBRC= 0 -

DATA: DATA:

CLEAR L-S-RANGE. L-S-RANGE-SIGN = '1'. L-S-RANGE-OPT = 'BT'. L-S-RANGE-HIGH(4) =E-GJAHR. L-S-RANGE-HIGH+4(3) = E-BUPER. L-S-RANGE-LOW = L-S-RANGE-HIGH. CASE E-BUPERWHEN ' O O L ' OR ' 0 0 2 ' L-S-RANGE-LOW+4(3) WHEN ' 0 0 4 ' OR ' 0 0 5 'L-S-RANGE-LOW+4(3) WHEN ' 0 0 7 ' OR ' 0 0 B ' L-S-RANGE-LOW+4(3) WHEN ' O L O 'OR ' 0 1 1 ' L-S-RANGE-LOW+4(3) ENDCASE. APPEND L-S-RANGE ENDIF. ENDCASE OR ' 00 3 ' . = '001'. OR ' O O L ' . = '004'. OR ' 0 0 9 ' . = L007'OR ' 0 1 2 ' . ='009'.

TO E-T-RANGE.

-


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Variables

VariablesVariables are very important i n BEx. You should pay particular attention t o th i s section i f you are interested i n BEx report development.

220.Wha.t is a variable? List tlie objects that are supported by variables. OVariables are used to parameterize the query at the runtime and the following reporting objects are supported by variables:c/

c/ c/ c/

Characteristics Hierarchies Hierarchy nodes Texts Formula elements

221. What is the scope for a characteristics variable? OVariables are defined on Infoobjects and are thus globally available across InfoProviders.

222.Give the 4 variable types for BEx queries. Oc/ c/ c/ c/

Characteristics Hierarchy node Text Hierarchy variables


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C h a p t e r 2: B W R e p o r t i n g (BEx a n d Web R e p o r t i n g )

223.W11at is a cllaracteristics variable? 0Characteristic variables allow you to have dynamic input selection for values ofcharacteristics eg. If you are developing a sales report for a given product, you will define a variable for OMATERIAL to report sales of specific products.

224.What are text variables? 0Text variables are used to display texts dynamically for a given characteristic.For example, take the sales report for a given product for the last 3 nionths.The inputs prompted are product and fiscal year period, on the column level youhave drilled down l>v fiscal year period; since the fiscal year period is dvnamic (depending on the user input), you want to display the correct title for the key figure so in this case create a text variable for the fiscal year period anduse it in the text of properties. These are defined :LS &text-variable -name&.

225.What are formula variables? 0 0Formula variables are variables used in calculations of the query. For example,take a customer disco~lnt report where each customer is given a different percentage discount; yo11 create a formula variable for the discount percentage and use it in the calculated key figure.


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Variables

233. What is the function module used to manipulate the cl~stomerexit processingtype varial:~les?000EXIT-SAPLRRSO-00 1

234. What is a SAP exit processing type? 00The SAP Exit processing type is used for variables delivered by SAP eg. The SAPexit variable OCMONTH returns the current calendar month.

235.How do you replace a result from a ~iiasterquery to a child query (not a drill down)? 00If you select characteristic value with Replacement path then it uses the results from previous query. For example, let us assume that you have query Q 1 whichdisplays the top 10 customers. We have query 4 2 which gets the top 10 customersfor Infoobject OCUSTOMER as a variable with replacement path. This displays a detailed report on the customers passed from Q 1.

236.Explaili variable offsets. 00Variable offsets are a powerfill feature in BEx where a characteristics value iscalculated with an offset. (You can have negative or positive offsets). For example, let us assume that our query displays all sales data for the 3 months prior to a user entered value for the month. You would create 3 restricted key figures for sales quantity with OCALMONTH, first with offset value 0, then with -1 an

d then with -2.


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C h a p t e r 2: BW R e p o r t i n g ( B E x a n d W e b R e p o r t i n g )

Query properties237. List a ~ i d explain properties of a query. 00J

J

JJ

Adjust format after reporting - you can use this option to disable the ability to change the format of the reporting results. You would use this option if you use your own templates and wish co enforce the use of these template. (By defaultchis property is enabled i.e. The user is allowed to adjust the format of the query results). Suppress repeated key values - the def;lult is enabled. If you want repeated key values to be displayed (some users demand this) then disable this option. Display scaling factor (default is disal)lcd). Display document links- use this to display any available document links. Display drag and relate links - this is usefill if you have portals and BW For example, yo11 can drag a sold-to-party and put it on an R/3 transc\. , ctlon to execute. Results position - bottomiright (default) or topi left or bottomileft or toplright.'

J

J

J J

Display of +/- signs. Display or suppression of zero rows and columns


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lluery P r o p e r t i e s

238.What is the purpose of option "Pause Automatic Refresh"? O OW h e n you enable this option, you can stop the query from being refreshed automatically after either selecting a filter value or changing a query or its' forproperties. This is ilsef~ll big queries where you d o not want to wait for thesystem to refresh but just one time after you make all the changes.

239.Wliat is a query te~iiplate?OYou can create excel templates to display the BEx queries. For example, you cancreate a corporate excel template containing your company logo and title. You can then use this as a standard in your BEx reports.

240.What are the options for using template BEx Analyzer?J

O

J

J

Empty (nothing). Select from list - this shows a list of workbooks and you select one. From a permanent template - use a permanent template.

24.1. Give an example of using VBA in a template. OYou can use VBA to customize the report. For example, assume that you want to hide / delete some header / filter are after each refresh of the query, use the SAPBEx on Refresh macro to do this. By default this macro is empty, add excel codeto customize the f~lnctionality BEx queries in workbooks. of


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C h a n t e r 2: BW R e o o r t i n ~(BEx a n d Web Reoortin!?)

Remember that the macro f~~nctions ;n,;lil;tble only are on BEx and not when youdo web reporting using the same query.

242.What are the read modes for a query? OHQuery to be read when you navigate or expand hierarchy. This mode is recommendedby SAP Query to Read Data during navigation.

X

OLAP processor requests data for eachnavigational status of the query.

A

Read all at once - read all data at once. This will take a long time if it is alarge query. Use this if the InfoProvider does not support selection or a user exit is active in a query.

243.How do you set tlie read mode for a query? OYou can set the read mode for the query using the transaction code RSRT +Property.


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Document Utilitv

Document utilityMany users have started using this new feature to create / attach documents forqueries or results.

244.What are the objects that support docume~itatio~i Iiow and do you use the documents feature? OJ JJJ J

Infoobject Infocube InfoSet ODs Query

You ciin use the document feature either: J After executing the query (right click and select documents for BEx, left click and select document from web reports) or, J IJsing the admin work bench documents metadata path.

+

+

245.Give all exarnple of niaster data docume~itatio~i. OAssume that we want to add product images for each product. To do this create a

master data document utility for the creation of a document for each OM ATERIALvalue.

246.What is Infoprovider documentation? OThis is used to create one or more documents for the transaction data of an Infoprovider. For example, you can define a document for the following combination of key figures and characteristics - sales quantity, material and fiscal year period.


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(luery A d m i n i s t r a t i o n / Conditions a n d Exceptions

Conditions and ExceptionsConditions and exceptions a r e extensively used i n BEx reporting.

249.What is a condition? What options are available for usi~ig conditio~is?OIf you want to filter on key figures or do ranked analysis then you would use acondition. For example, you can use a condition to report top 10 customers or customers with more than a million dollars in sales yearly. Option available : Youcan either select a single characteristic, or a combination of characteristics,or all characteristics in the drill down. Note that a condition is only effective when the report is drilled down for all characteristics defined in the condition.

250.What are the options for creating condition on a key figure? OOJ J J J J JJ

=

=

Between Not between


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C h a p t e r 2: BW R e p o r t i n g (BEx a n d W e b R e p o r t i n g )

9 9 9 9 9 9

Top N Bottom N Top % (eg. Top 20% of customers) Bottom % Top Sum Bottom Sum

251. Why do the totals someti~iiesnot ~iiatch, when we use conditions ? 0 OBy default the report shows overall resulrs total and not the results total taking the filter into accounr. ?i> display the correct totals you should use "Si~rnrnation" in the key figure properties instead of "Norhing defined".

252.What are different status' for conditions, when you have multiple active conditio~isin a query? 009 9

9

Conditions work (all valid). Status is displayed as "Variant" because the characteristics combination is not included in the drill down. Status is displayed as"Not Used" because of colliding conditions where one condirion deactivates the other.


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Conditions and Exceptions

253.Wliat is an exception?

O

An exception is not a filter (like condition) but is used to highlight reports in different colors when key figures exceed predefined values. For example, you may want to show red for all accounts receivables that are older than 9 0 days and yellow for older than 60 days.

254.What is cell restriction and what are its' options? 00You can define restrictions on characteristics as to how the exception reportingwill be done. For each characteristics in the report you can define the following:J

J

Everything Totals only - exception on totals only (not individual rows) Everything except totals Fixed value - where you can specify fixed values or select a variable. For example, you may want to do an exception for sales where the customer is in OCOlJNTRY = USA Level - exception is applicable only for a specific level of the hierarchy.

J

J

J


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Chapter 2: BW Reporting (BEx and Web Reporting)

Reporting agentYou can use ,the reporting agent t o schedule exception reporting and alert tlieusers f o r any unusual data. For example, you can create an exception f o r actual sales quantity and an exception t o report any sales t h a t do 11ot nieett h e target. You can then send periodic alerts t o interested parties based onthese exceptions.

255.What types of reports can yo11use in the reporting agent? O Oc , c , c , c , c ,4

Exceptions Print Web templates (precalculated) Value sets Bookmarks Crystal reports

256.How do you use reporting agent for exception ge~ierating alert? 00Use the reporting agent for this from the Administrator Work Bench (AWB):*r

4

Click on the exceptions icon on the left, give it a technical name and text description. Select the exception based on a specific query for generating alert usi

ng drag and drop.


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Reoortinn Anent

9 9

9

Navigate to the Reporting agent job. Open the 1ndex.hcm document by double clicking. Gght click on thc documcnc on the right and select Vicw Source. Search forstring THIS IS A URL T O THE DOCIJMENT. Use this LTRL to get the stacic reporting from docitn~cnc score


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C h a o t e r 2: BW R e o o r t i n n (BEx a n d W e b R e o o r t i n n

Documents

54427513 SAP BW Interview Questions 1