Importing Master Data

Watch this short video to take a close look at the next step in your integration project.

Import queries are created in the SAP Analytics Cloud dimension. SAP Business Warehouse query design impacts on import queries in the following ways:

• Filters and variables in the SAP Business Warehouse query are taken into account when importing master data. For example, if the query has a variable for profit center, a dialog will prompt you for the profit center values before the Build SAP Business Warehouse Query dialog pops up.
• Hierarchies can be imported independently of whether or not they are selected in the SAP Business Warehouse query.
• Selections in the SAP Business Warehouse query, such as key or key and text, are not relevant.

SAP Analytics Cloud dimensions can use SAP Business Warehouse queries that are created directly against the SAP Business Warehouse characteristics.

When importing master data from SAP Business Warehouse, the members, text, and hierarchy data can all be imported in with one import query.

Only one hierarchy can be imported per import query.

Generic and organizational dimensions in SAP Analytics Cloud include an unassigned member with ID # as you can see in the following example of the Dimension Workspace.

However, unassigned members are not available for the account, date, and version dimensions.

When records are imported into models, irrelevant dimensions use the unassigned member. For example, when importing income statement data, revenue records do not contain a value for cost center (because cost center is only relevant for expense). In this case, as displayed in the following example, the unassigned member is used.

When you create an import query, you select the SAP Business Warehouse query that includes the corresponding characteristic that you require. For example, if we are importing data into the SAP Analytics Cloud account dimension, then we need to select an SAP Business Warehouse query that includes the account characteristic.

The dimensions that appear under Available Data are based on the SAP BW query definition (filter, rows, and columns).

You can select as few or as many dimensions as you require for your data import.

If the characteristic has a hierarchy in SAP Business Warehouse, you can choose the hierarchy you need to import and the drill level.

The lowest drill level will typically be selected so that you can import all leaf members.

Access the hierarchies and drill levels by selecting the Hierarchies icon in the Build SAP BW Query dialog.

SAP Business Warehouse has several Member IDs and Descriptions to pick from, so when selecting the presentations for an import query, it is possible to select from the following options:

• Key (DISPLAY_KEY): Import the compounded member ID that is displayed in SAP Business Warehouse reports (no leading zeroes for numeric members). For example, if the compounded attribute is the YCOA chart of accounts and account number is 411100, then the system will import YCOA/411100. Use this option if you import accounts from multiple charts of accounts.
• Key (Internal_KEY): Import the compounded member ID that is stored internally in SAP Business Warehouse (with leading zeroes for numeric members). For example, if the compounded attribute is the YCOA chart of accounts and the internal account number is 0000411100, then the system will import YCOA/0000411100. Use this option if you import internally stored accounts from multiple charts of accounts.
• Key (Internal, Not Compounded) (KEY NOT COMPOUNDED): Import the uncompounded member ID that is stored internally in SAP Business Warehouse. For example, if the internal account number is 0000411100, then the system will import 0000411100. Use this option if you import internally stored accounts from only one chart of accounts.
• Key (Not Compounded) (DISPLAY KEY NOT COMPOUNDED): Import the uncompounded member ID that is displayed in SAP Business Warehouse reports. For example, if the account number displayed in SAP Business Warehouse is 411100, then the system will import 411100. Use this option if you import accounts from only one chart of accounts.
• Key (Partially Compounded) (DISPLAY KEY MIXED COMPOUNDMENT): This option is undocumented.
• Short Text (SHORT_TEXT): Import the short description from SAP Business Warehouse.
• Text (TEXT): Import the medium description from SAP Business Warehouse.

Access the presentations by selecting the Select Parameters icon in the Build SAP BW Query dialog.

Filters can be used to restrict the import. Simply drag the dimension into the Filters area to apply a filter to that specific dimension. Variables in the SAP Business Warehouse query will automatically appear in the filter when the Select Members icon is selected.

If you want to import all members, then you leave the filter blank.

When the import query is created, the data wrangling screen is used to transform the data, perform QA checks, and map the incoming columns to the target fields.

At this point in the import process, the data has not been committed to the database.

In the previous example, you can see that Account Type is not mapped. This is because SAP Business Warehouse doesn’t have a suitable field to use as a source. It is possible to derive them in a transformation based on the account numbers when you are wrangling the data.

Note

All transformations and mapping are reused when you schedule the import, so you only need to complete this step once during query creation.

After you finish mapping, the data is written to the database and the import query appears in the Data Management Workspace.

When you select the import query, there are several options you can perform:

• Edit Query: Change the filter criteria for the import.
• Schedule Settings: Schedule the import to run periodically. This is covered in detail later in the course.
• View Mapping and Transformations: Display the mapped columns as well as any transformations.
• Delete Source: Delete the import query (this does not delete the data).

To confirm the data, go to the Dimension Workspace to view the results. In the following example, an account dimension with hierarchy information is displayed.

It is also possible to add the Account Type after the import to the dimension. It can be added manually, by using a file, or data source. Dimension members can also be deleted if they do not contain postings in an SAP Analytics Cloud model.

You can view and drill down into the imported hierarchies by selecting Toggle Hierarchies in the Dimension Workspace.