Importing Data Using the SAP IBP Web UI

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to import data using the SAP Integrated Business Planning for Supply Chain Web UI

Data Integration Using the Web UI

The SAP Integrated Business Planning (SAP IBP) for Supply Chain Data Integration application provides a mechanism for importing and exporting data between on-premise systems in the customer environment and SAP IBP applications in the SAP Cloud environment.

The following figures are showing the main integration scenarios with their tools and the available options for importing and exporting data.

The figure describes the integration scenarios for SAP IBP. To integrate time-series data and master data the main integration tools are SAP Cloud Integration for data services (CI-DS) and SAP Cloud Integration (CI). To integrate order based data and master data the main integration tool is SAP Real-Time Integration (RTI).

The following video are showing the main integration scenarios with their tools and the available options for importing and exporting data.

Data Integration Process

There are two phases in the data integration process:

  1. The system reads the contents of the CSV file and loads them into a staging table, which is an intermediate storage space. Rejections can occur at this point if, for example, the system cannot parse a file.

  2. The data is moved from the intermediate staging table to the application tables. Sometimes, records are rejected in this phase. When this occurs, the rejection appears as a rejection code. The system retains data load reports according to the global parameter setting.

Data Types

When you set up your SAP IBP system, you must create and activate time profiles, master data types, and planning areas before loading data.

Once you have set up your system, you can import the following types of data in the sequence shown, using the Data Integration application:

  1. Time periods

  2. Master data related to master data objects

  3. Key figures

Note

It is possible to load master data before the time profile, but, generally, the data should be loaded in the sequence shown to ensure a successful data load.

Log File

The figure displays where in the data integration data app, import jobs can be filtered, the status can be verified and log files for further analysis can be downloaded.

As shown in step 1 in the figure, Data Integration, you can filter the data import jobs on the overview screen. As shown in step 2 of the figure, the status of the job can be viewed as Success, Processed with Error(s), or Fatal Error(s). As shown in step 3 of the figure, you can download the log file for further analysis. Note the following steps:

  1. Select your job in the job list on the left side of the screen. The job details are uploaded.

  2. Choose the Download icon and choose a report type in the Context menu, as shown in step 3 of the figure. There are two types of report:

    • Full report (which gives information about each uploaded data line)

    • Rejection report (which lists only the rejected data lines with the description of the rejection)

    Note

    You can download Initial Problem Report as shown in step 4 of the figure in case of a fatal error only. However, it is not possible to choose a report type.

  3. The selected report is downloaded and can be opened for analysis.

Troubleshooting

If the end of a status of the data load process job is not successful (if it does not display as green), download the rejection report.

The figure shows a rejection report downloaded for a not successful data load process job.

The rejection code name shown in the figure, Troubleshooting, helps to establish why the characteristic combination is rejected.

Troubleshooting Tips

Troubleshooting Tips

Troubleshooting SubjectDescription
Comma-separated fields

The headers and data in a CSV file must not contain spaces, only comma separations. For example:

Syntax

SM1PRDDESCR,SM1PRDID,SM1PRDSUBFAMILY

x100 Phone,x100 Phone descr,xPhone SF

This is different from:

Syntax

x100 Phone, x100 Phone descr, xPhone SF

Note the empty space characters in front of  x100 Phone descr

CSV file formatBy default, when you open a CSV file, it launches in Microsoft Excel. Check that Microsoft Excel does not change the file format. For example, if you have data that begins with a 0 and you open the CSV file in Microsoft Excel, it will remove that initial 0. When you save the file, the 0 will be permanently removed. SAP recommends that you open the CSV files with a program that does not change the format of the file. Microsoft Excel adds extra rows and 0s to the file, which will cause an error when the data load runs. To resolve this, open the file in another editor and correct the changes that Microsoft Excel has made to the file.
Special characters

The following special characters are not allowed in the data feeds:

  • Single quotes/apostrophe (')

  • Double quotes (")

  • Greater than (>)

  • Less than (<)

  • Carriage Return (CR)

  • Carriage Return + Line Feed (CRLF)

  • Empty line

  • Tab

Note that when data is loaded into SAP IBP, it allows quotes in the Product Description when the description attribute is assigned to an attribute in Configuration.

Escape characterCurrently, the escape character is not supported and (") cannot be used as the escape character.
Decimal formatsDecimal formats are not supported at present when you perform data loads from the Web UI. Use Cloud Integration Data Services (CI-DS) for this type of operation. For example, the European number format 1.890.200,54 EUR is not supported.
Year formatThe year format must be expressed as YYYY-MM-DD.
Scientific notationNumbers cannot be expressed in scientific notation, for example, use 0.000434343 instead of 4.34E-04
New linesCheck for new lines at the end of the file.

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