Figure 4

General settings of a BW Workspace

A simple adjustment to this date restores all functionality.

In addition to the technical name entered on the first screen,the system allows a prefix, which is an extension of thetechnical names of the objects used in a BW Workspace andcan be used to organize and tag the objects created later inthe Workspace Designer.

Next, you can enter primary and back-up contacts. Maybecontact 1 is the name of an IT person, and contact 2 is thename of a business user. These must be valid users in thesystem. On one hand, this step forces you into accurate datamaintenance, but on the other hand, it prevents the use ofmore generic users such as China IT manager or China sales

analyst. One nice feature is that the email icons next tothese users allow you to send a quick message, such as whena change to a BW Workspace is made.

In the screen shown in Figure 4, the Settings for LocalProviders section provides you with the option of initiallyentering a MultiProvider, rather than later adding this underthe Central Providers tab. They are related, yet putting thereference to the MultiProvider in the settings tab has a morerobust effect. Although you see the part providers of theMultiProvider on the Central Providers tab as they areinherited from this entry on the settings tab, they are notselected by default, just proposed. The larger effects of the

MultiProvider entry on this tab are:

If a BW Workspace Designer later uses part providersfrom the MultiProvider, as a part of aCompositeProvider in the BW Workspace, the linking(unions) needed are defaulted from the MultiProviderentered on this Settings tab.Any queries that exist on the MultiProvider can be usedas a reference query for a later query on theComposite Provider subsequently created in this BWWorkspace.Most important, if BW analysis authorizations are linkedto the MultiProvider, the authorizations are inherited bythe CompositeProviders subsequently built in thisWorkspace. This benefit is significant, as the wholeprocess to request authorizations at many companies isso slow that it could discourage the adoption of BWWorkspaces.

NoteAfter you create a CompositeProvider using a BWWorkspace, it is no longer possible to change the assignedMultiProvider.

Also in the Settings screen, the Maximum Memory andMaximum Number of Local Providers fields are featuresdesigned to limit the complexity of the BW Workspaces. In myopinion, the administrator should focus more on controlling thememory allowed rather than the number of Local Providers.You might add a lower limit, maybe four Local Providers and100 MB, just so that you can be warned when these areviolated, thus keeping an eye on growth. Warning (yellow)icons are provided when each metric reaches 80 percent ofthe limit.

The Settings for CompositeProviders section provides controlsthat might be needed for the less experienced designer usingthe Workspace Designer tool. This is especially true for thesetting that allows the designer to create a join on a columnthat has non-unique entries. Figure 5 shows how this caneasily happen and cause inaccurate results.

Figure 5

The potential for incorrect data based onnon-unique columns

To eliminate the possibility that these joins are allowed, thusproducing bad results, do not select the check box Non-Unique Join Columns Allowed.

The other two settings are less complex, but from a back-endperspective are important. Note that the usable results fromthe efforts of building a BW Workspace are a new providertype called a CompositeProvider. The master data setting onthis data is needed if your users create CompositeProvidersfrom locally sourced master data (not snapshot queries).Although this setting is a nuance you should understand itbecause it affects your master data IDs (SIDs) in the globalBW. There is a possibility that the system needs to create anSID if the master data does not have an existing SID in BWalready. In some cases, the BW Workspace administrator maywant to prevent the BW Workspace Designer from activatingthe CompositeProvider if a resulting query has the possibilityof creating new master data SIDs at query runtime.

When it is selected, the setting Creation of Master DataAllowed field only generates a warning for this situation. If it isleft unchecked, then when a union is detected, an error occurson the activation of the CompositeProvider. Remember, I amjust discussing the possibility of an SID, not new attributes.

NoteFor more information about the setting for Creation ofMaster Data Allowed, I recommend the SDN article locatedat:http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/go/portal/prtroot/docs/library/uuid/0073aa9b-7560-2f10-4eac-cf0432155e2b?

http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/go/portal/prtroot/docs/library/uuid/0073aa9b-7560-2f10-4eac-cf0432155e2b?QuickLink=index&overridelayout=true&54395760806710http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/go/portal/prtroot/docs/library/uuid/0073aa9b-7560-2f10-4eac-cf0432155e2b?QuickLink=index&overridelayout=true&54395760806710

Figure 6

The Central Providers tab

QuickLink=index&overridelayout=true&54395760806710.

The final setting (Key Figure Copying Allowed) allows therestricted and calculated key figures (for example, Februarysales and sales revenue) that were established against theunderlying MultiProviders to be used when accessing querieslater built for the CompositeProvider. To allow the reuse ofthese central provider-based key figures, select this setting.

Expose InfoProviders to a BWWorkSpace

On the BW Workspace general settings screen, I consider theCentral Providers tab (Figure 6) as the guts of the BWWorkspace. In this tab the administrator exposes objects(mostly InfoProviders) existing in the global BW system to beused and improved by BW Workspace designers, such as byadding Local Providers and building composites.

NoteTo be clear, in the case of InfoProviders exposes meansproviding access to, not copying. That is not quite the casefor central providers of the DataSource type.

http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/go/portal/prtroot/docs/library/uuid/0073aa9b-7560-2f10-4eac-cf0432155e2b?QuickLink=index&overridelayout=true&54395760806710

Once expanded, the left side of the UI shown in the screen inFigure 6 enables you to access all the InfoProviders existingin the BW system. In addition, you can click the data sourcesicon, which is positioned next to the refresh icon, to toggle thelist to show Data Sources. When you use data sources, theybehave as enablers for later access to the data when youcreate a Local Provider.

In the example shown, the employee data source was madeavailable. I assume that this data source, DataSourceEmployee, is a database-connected DataSource, and later inthe process, the BW Workplace designer or power user usesthe data source for a Local Provider. The details of where thatdata is sourced from are not needed (they are under thecovers of the DataSource).

When the designer uses this data source in defining a LocalProvider, the external system is read and a snapshot of itbecomes the basis of this Local Provider. Because guaranteedaccess to the data is needed, if the DataSource ultimately isgetting data from a file, this file must be stored on the server.If your warehouse already has a DSO built from aDataSource, using the DSO as an InfoProvider-based centralprovider in the workspace might make more sense.Remember from the note above that InfoProviders areexposed rather than causing a load of the snapshot of data tobe generated as described above with the DataSource Option.Also, remember DataSources are not cleansed, but rather arebased on source-defined fields.

NoteFor the reasons above, I recommend avoiding the use ofDataSources as central providers and instead using DSOsor cubes.

In the creation of the BW Workspace, the process of assigningcentral providers is tantamount to creating a mini-BW systemfor a specific reason. For example, in the sidebar Use Casesfor BW Workspaces, if a MultiProvider has six part-providercubes covering three years of data for the United States andChina, your users mini warehouse and BW Workspace mightjust need the cubes for this year and last year for just theUnited States. You might add other objects, such as masterdata (using InfoObjects as InfoProviders) and other DSOs thatmight be in some way related to this core data, to form yourmini warehouse.

In addition to choosing the providers themselves, you can hideirrelevant parts of the object by not exposing (i.e., unmarking)the dimensions or characteristics after you move the object tothe right side of the UI (Figure 6). This step further limits thedata exposed to the BW Workspace. Once you include (i.e.,move to the right side) and select all the BW warehouseobjects that can be needed by the users (designers) of yourBW Workspace, the next step is to activate the BWWorkspace. This is done in the normal way with thematchstick icon, (not shown in the screenprint).

Figure 7

Local Providers created by a Web-based BWWorkspace designer

Other BW WorkSpaceInformation

The remaining tabs in transaction RSWSP are moreinformational. Data is collected on these tabs to help back-endprofessionals manage the BW Workspace. A back-endprofessional does not enter data in these tabs; rather, variousactivities of other people populate the fields. I discuss eachtab further.

Local and Composite ProvidersOverviewThe tabs for Local Providers and CompositeProvider (Figures7 and 8) are only populated through work done by the BWWorkspace designer. These figures show the tabs populatedwith objects, which is just for your convenience. Normally, atthis point in the process, when no design work has beendone, they would be empty. In my example screens, they arepopulated because this later design work has already beendone.

The power user populates the Local Providers tab later in theprocess (Figure 7). The power user accesses the Web-basedBW Workspace Designer and creates and uploads LocalProviders to the underlying database (HANA or BWA). As youwill see in detail in the article Introducing the Front-EndWorkspace Designer, these Local Providers are based onsnapshots of execution of queries, the load of a DataSource,or the load of a file.

Similarly, power users also create CompositeProviders later inthe second part of the process of building the workspace byusing the Workspace Designer tool set. CompositeProvidersallow the join or union of both local and central providers. I

http://sapexperts.wispubs.com/Articles/2013/October/Introducing-the-Front-End-Workspace-Designerhttp://sapexperts.wispubs.com/Articles/2013/October/Introducing-the-Front-End-Workspace-Designer

Figure 8

CompositeProviders built by a Web-basedBW Workspace designer

think of CompositeProviders as the heart of a workspace. Foryour information, these designer-created objects are listed onthis tab.

Again, only after Local Providers and CompositeProvidershave been created in the Workspace Designer are they visiblewith their status in the Local Providers and CompositeProvidertabs.

Authorized Users of a BW WorkspaceThe final tab, Users (Figure 9), shows the users withauthorizations to use the BW Workspace. In my example, nouser-specific access is granted. My user has SAP ALL access(not shown).

Figure 9

Authorized users

Figure 10

Transaction RSWSPW for mass maintenancefor BW Workspaces

Mass Maintenance of BW WorkspacesAnother back-end option is the mass maintenance of BWWorkspaces transaction RSWSPW. This transaction is shownin Figure 10. With it, you can group Workspaces in folders fororganizational reasons for example, US_FI_AP forWorkspaces belonging to the accounts payable group. Fromthe folder tree, you can double-click to the editing of a specificspace, which is returning back to transaction RSWSP.

Here are some of the features in this transaction:

You can drag and drop a BW Workspace to a different folder.

You can toggle between a list view and a detailed viewof a single BW Workspace, which allows you to changeand activate multiple BW WorkspacesA mass check function is also available via the pathEnvironment > Collective CheckDeleting the whole BW Workspace (every relatedobject) or just the contents of the Local Providers isavailable via the path Workspace > Delete or DeleteContents (global BW content InfoProviders are notaffected)Finally, an advanced search function using pathEnvironment > Detailed Search lets you search for BWWorkspaces with specific properties (Figure 11)

Figure 11

The advanced search screen for a specificworkspace via some of its properties

An example of a benefit of the advanced search screen isusing it to find existing BW Workspaces that contain theInfoProviders required by a business analyst before youdecide that you need to create a new workspace.

Learning Exercise: Front-EndTasks

Now that you have read this article, which focuses on back-end tasks, you can go to the article BW Workspaces Front-End Workspace Designer, which picks up where the superanalyst tasks begin. This learning exercise is intended to showyou how intuitive the front-end tasks are. Here is how to getstarted:

1. Access the WEB BW WorkSpace Designer

2. Load Local Providers

3. Build CompositeProviders by join and union of LocalProviders and the exposed InfoProviders from theback-end team

4. Create queries or use the default query for the BWWorkspace.

You first have to access the Workspace Designer. This part isnot intuitive unless you are using SAP NetWeaver Portal. Inmy article, I use the newer SAP NetWeaver Business Client.

The BW Workspace designer is a collection of Web Dynproapplications that as the name suggests display data usingWeb-based technologies. The SAP methods for displayingthese applications to an end user include SAP NetWeaverPortal or the new NWBC. The advantage of using NWBC isthat it does not require a separate portal box running Java.

Rather the Web Dynpro application in the SAP ERP CentralComponent (ECC)/BW box can be directly used by NWBC,which is installed as a rich (PC) client application. NWBC canthen be used to display SAP GUI transactions as well asWeb-based ones. This is shown in my example of the BWWorkspace Designer (one such Web Dynpro application)shown below. Transaction NWBC launches the UI from SAPGUI. In either case, to get started you need access to thefollowing services:

MY Workspace = RSL_UI_MY_WORKSPACECreate Composite Providers =RSL_UI_CREATE_COPRCreate Local Provider = RSL_UI_CREATE_PROVIDERWorkspace Tools = RSL_UI_CHANGE_WORKSPACE

Use the tabs and links presented in these services to uploadLocal Providers and then continue to composites and queries.You can check the article Introducing the Front-EndWorkspace Designer for any details you may not haveintuitively figured out, but try to figure it out on your own tosee just how intuitive it is before you look at the front endarticle.

One final note: If you want to learn about BW Workspaces inperson or via virtual classroom training look up BW362training from SAP Education.

http://sapexperts.wispubs.com/Articles/2013/October/Introducing-the-Front-End-Workspace-Designerhttp://sapexperts.wispubs.com/Articles/2013/October/Introducing-the-Front-End-Workspace-Designer