Strategy ONE
Converting SAP BW Variables into Strategy Prompts
Variables in SAP BW allow users to enter values as parameters for the queries on a cube. Types of variables include characteristic values, hierarchies, hierarchy nodes, texts, and formula elements.
Variable types with the Customer Exit/SAP Exit and Authorization processing types are automatically resolved by the SAP BW system. Only variables with the Manual Entry/Default processing type are presented to users for resolution.
SAP BW variables of the type Replacement Path cannot be imported into Strategy. If your SAP BW cube includes variables of the type Replacement Path, you must remove them before importing the cube into Strategy. Otherwise, an error occurs when you attempt to import the SAP BW cube.
Originally created in an SAP query cube, variables are represented as prompts in the Strategy environment. Strategy users answer prompts to complete the definition of a report at report execution time. The conversion process involves the following general steps:
- When an SAP query cube is imported into a Strategy project, variables are automatically turned into prompts in the Strategy MDX cube.
- When a Strategy report is created using a Strategy MDX cube, the report inherits the prompts included in the MDX cube.
In addition to the "inherited" variable prompts, standard Strategy prompts can also be created for an MDX cube report. For more information, see Prompts on MDX Cube Reports.
The following table contains information on how the different types of SAP BW variables are mapped to Strategy prompts.
| SAP Variable Type | Strategy Prompt | Notes |
|
Characteristic Value variable |
Element list prompt or attribute qualification prompt |
Characteristic value variables offer an "Including/Excluding" option. Qualifications in the Including section cause the data to be included in the query, while those in the Excluding section restrict the data from being displayed in the query. To be consistent with the SAP functionality, the Strategy interface qualifies on the key value of each element by default. |
|
Hierarchy variable |
N/A |
Not supported. |
|
Hierarchy node variable |
Hierarchy element list prompt |
Both single and multiple selections are supported. |
|
Text variable |
Text value prompt |
SAP text variables that provide dynamic names to SAP measures are converted to text value prompts in Strategy. These prompts are then used to provide a dynamic metric alias for the Strategy metric mapped to the SAP measure. When these Strategy metrics are displayed on reports, it's metric name reflects the text value provided from the SAP text variable. |
|
Formula variable |
All types of value prompts |
No major differences. |
If you use any SAP BW key date variables in your query, you need to manually define the variable as a key date variable. See Mapping SAP BW Variables to Strategy Prompts for information about how to define key date variables using the Strategy MDX Cube Catalog while mapping your MDX cubes.
If you use any SAP BW variables with complex expression qualifications in your query, you can define which form is used to evaluate the variable's qualification, as described in Mapping SAP BW Variables to Strategy Prompts.