BusinessObjects Architecture
Unit Overview
This unit begins with an exploration of the rich architecture of SAP
BusinessObjects Enterprise. The unit also discusses important vocabulary terms used in both SAP BW and SAP BusinessObjects and how various elements map between the two. The unit finishes with an introduction to SAP BusinessObjects XI Integration for SAP Solutions, the components that integrate these two powerful business intelligence platforms to form a world class solution.
Unit Objectives
After completing this unit, you will be able to:
• Explain the architecture and technical requirements for SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise front-end tools.
• Describe the BusinessObjects Enterprise service groups and servers. • Describe the components and features in BusinessObjects XI Integration
for SAP Solutions
Unit Contents
Lesson: Architecture Overview ... 26 Lesson: BusinessObjects Integration with SAP solutions ... 36
Unit 2: BusinessObjects Architecture SAPBO
Lesson: Architecture Overview
Lesson Overview
Lesson Objectives
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:
• Explain the architecture and technical requirements for SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise front-end tools.
• Describe the BusinessObjects Enterprise service groups and servers.
Business Example
End users log in, create, edit, and interact with reports and documents using specialized BusinessObjects Enterprise tools and applications that include: • Crystal Reports
• Web Intelligence
• Performance management applications
Administrators in the IT departments use data and system management tools that include:
• Central Management Console • Central Configuration Manager • Import Wizard
• Publishing Wizard • Universe Designer
Developers access the platform using a set of web services and Java APIs to integrate BusinessObjects Enterprise into other enterprise systems, and to share dynamically updated documents with users on separate networks.
When certain tasks are performed in BusinessObjects Enterprise, such as logging in, scheduling a report, or viewing a report, information flows through the system and the various servers communicate with each other. BusinessObjects Enterprise server architecture consists of web, management, processing, and storage services. Understanding this architecture will help you visualize how actions performed in client applications are processed by the services.
BusinessObjects Enterprise architecture
A full deployment of BusinessObjects Enterprise is made up of client applications, BusinessObjects Enterprise services, and the organization’s relational and/or OLAP data sources.
SAPBO Lesson: Architecture Overview
Figure 13: BusinessObjects XI 3.1 Architecture
Describing BusinessObjects Enterprise service groups and servers
The BusinessObjects Enterprise system can be installed on a single machine, spread across different machines in an intranet, or separated over a wide area network (WAN). For learning purposes, BusinessObjects Enterprise services can be grouped as follows: Service group Servers Web services
Web Application Server, Business Process BI Services Manage-
ment ser- vices
Central Management Server, Event Server, Destination Job Server
Storage services
Input File Repository Server, Output File Repository Server, Crystal Reports Cache Server, Desktop Intelligence Cache Server Processing
services
Adaptive Processing Server, Adaptive Job Server, Program Job Server, Crystal Reports Job Server, Web Intelligence Job Server, Web Intelligence Processing Server, List of Values (LOV) Server, Desktop Intelligence Job Server, Desktop Intelligence Processing
Unit 2: BusinessObjects Architecture SAPBO
Server, Connection Server, Crystal Reports Processing Server, Report Application Server, Multi-dimensional Analysis Server (MDAS), Publication Job Server, Search Server.
Note: The service groups indicated above are logical groupings meant to facilitate learning in this course by grouping servers together that share similar operating behavior. In reality, BusinessObjects Enterprise web services must interact with management and processing services, storage services must interact with management and processing services, and so forth.
Enterprise Infrastructure
The Enterprise Infrastructure provides the basic messaging mechanism needed for BusinessObjects Enterprise components to communicate with one another. The Enterprise Infrastructure is a series of services that are designed to communicate via CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture), which runs over TCP/IP.
Some CORBA applications use a Name server. The Name server service is a facility of the underlying CORBA architecture that binds the BusinessObjects Enterprise servers together. The Name server provides a directory of the servers registered in the BusinessObjects Enterprise environment and helps establish connections between clients and these servers. The Name server service is a part of the Central Management Server. The Enterprise Infrastructure establishes connections between clients and servers.
1. It is the centerpiece of BusinessObjects Enterprise technology which facilitates communication between servers.
2. A client object can transparently make requests to server objects using the Enterprise Infrastructure.
• A server object is a server that participates in serving requests to client objects.
• A client object is a client that makes requests to servers on the Enterprise Infrastructure.
Note: In the BusinessObjects Enterprise environment, most services act as clients and servers to each other during transactions between the servers. When a BusinessObjects Enterprise server starts, it registers itself with the Name server in the CMS. The server provides information about itself, such as its IP address, TCP port, and description of the server, to the Name Server. Each individual server polls the CMS every 60 seconds to get an updated list of available servers in the system.
SAPBO Lesson: Architecture Overview
BusinessObjects Enterprise web services
The web services are server-side components that process requests from client applications and communicate these requests to the appropriate server. They include support for report viewing, and logic to understand and direct web requests to the appropriate BusinessObjects Enterprise server.
BusinessObjects Enterprise web services include: • Web Application Server
The Web Application Server uses the BusinessObjects Enterprise SDK to interface with the rest of the BusinessObjects Enterprise services. The Web Application Server acts as a gateway between the browser and the rest of the components in BusinessObjects Enterprise.
Note: When configuring servers using the Central Management Console, the CMS holds the configuration settings and the CMS communicates with all BusinessObjects Enterprise servers.
BusinessObjects web services provide a Java API accessed by rich clients in the user interaction tier, such as Live Office and Crystal Reports.
Web Services consists of software components that can be called remotely using the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP). SOAP is a protocol for exchanging information that is not dependent on a specific platform, object model, or programming language.
BusinessObjects Enterprise Web Services includes functionality in the following areas:
• Session: Authentication and user privilege management.
• BI platform: Exposes advanced platform features such as scheduling, search, user and group administration, server administration, platform events, and calendars.
• Report Engine: Displays Web Intelligence and Crystal Reports in HTML, PDF, Excel, and XML format.
• Query: Builds ad hoc queries based on the BusinessObjects universe semantic layer.
BusinessObjects Enterprise management services
The management services manage the BusinessObjects Enterprise system. These services maintain all security information, send requests to the appropriate services, manage auditing information, and maintain a record of each and every instance and its location.
The management services are:
• Central Management Server (CMS)
Unit 2: BusinessObjects Architecture SAPBO
The CMS is responsible for authenticating users and groups, and keeping track of the availability of the other BusinessObjects Enterprise services. It also maintains the BusinessObjects Enterprise system database, which includes information about users, groups, security levels, BusinessObjects Enterprise content, and services. The CMS also maintains a separate audit database of information about user actions and manages the BusinessObjects system database.
Note: All servers communicate with the CMS when they start up. Note: The Audit Database is optional in a regular system deployment. It allows for extra auditing and tracking of some system information. • Server Intelligence Agent
Server Intelligence Agent is a component of the Central Management Console (CMC) that simplifies administrative procedures, such as the management of CMC server processes. This includes the addition and removal of server processes, server process configuration, and the automatic restart or shutdown of servers that encounter unexpected conditions.
• Event Server
The Event Server manages file-based events. It monitors the directory you specified when setting up a file-based event. When the appropriate file appears in the monitored directory, the Event Server triggers your file-based event.
• Destination Job Server
The Destination Job Server makes it possible for a user to send an existing instance or object to a specified destination (Inbox, Email, FTP, disk location) independent of any schedules related to those instances or objects. It can also send a shortcut to a user’s inbox. For example, the server updates the shortcut in the CMS database to point to the object location. If the destination is to send a copy to a user inbox, then the server copies the object to the Input File Repository Server.
BusinessObjects Enterprise storage services
The storage services are responsible for storing objects and object instances. The storage services are:
• Input File Repository Server
The Input File Repository Server manages all of the report and program objects that have been published to the system. It can store the following files: .rpt, .exe, .bat, .js, .xls, .doc, .ppt, .rtf, .txt, .pdf, .wid, .rep, .unv, and Voyager workspaces.
Note: .rpt files can be stored to Input with Data. • Output File Repository Server
SAPBO Lesson: Architecture Overview
The Output File Repository Server manages all of the report instances generated by the Crystal Reports Job Server and the program instances generated by the Program Job Server. It also manages instances generated by the Web Intelligence Processing Server and the LOV Job Server.
It can store the following files: .rpt, .csv, .xls, .doc, .rtf, .txt, .pdf, .wid, .rep. Note: .rpt and .wid files are stored as reports/documents with saved data.
Crystal Reports Cache Server
The Cache Server maintains a folder of cached report EPF files and determines if a request can be fulfilled with a cached report page. If the request cannot be fulfilled with a cached report page, it passes the request to the Crystal Reports Processing Server. The benefit of caching is that BusinessObjects Enterprise doesn’t have to generate .epf files each time a page is viewed. Therefore, report pages that have been cached can be shared among users.
Desktop Intelligence Cache Server
The Desktop Intelligence Cache Server handles viewing requests for Desktop Intelligence documents and manages the viewable pages created by the Desktop Intelligence Processing Server.
BusinessObjects Enterprise processing services
The processing services access the data and generate reports. This is the only tier that interacts directly with the databases that contain report data.
Which services become involved in processing an object is determined by whether the object is being scheduled or viewed on demand. Viewer choice also plays a role in determining which servers are involved in object processing.
The processing services are:
Program Job Server
The Program Job Server processes scheduled actions on objects at the request of the CMS and generates text output. The Program Job Server processes the program objects by invoking the BAT and EXE file that are added to the BusinessObjects Enterprise system.
Unit 2: BusinessObjects Architecture SAPBO
Crystal Reports Job Server
The Crystal Reports Job Server processes report objects, as requested by the CMS, and generates report instances.
Note: Both the Program Job Server and the Crystal Reports Job Server retrieve the file to be run from the Input File Repository Server, run the report or program, and then save the processed file to the Output File Repository Server as an instance.
Adaptive Job Server
The Adaptive Job Server receives scheduling Web Intelligence documents requests from the CMS and then forwards them to the processing servers for processing.
Adaptive Processing Server
The Adaptive Processing Server is a generic server process that hosts BusinessObjects Enterprise services such as Client Auditing Proxy Service, Publishing Post Processing Service, and Search Service.
Web Intelligence Processing Server
The Web Intelligence Processing Server processes Web Intelligence Document requests.
List of Values (LOV) Job Server
The List of Values Job Server receives scheduling requests from the Business View manager and processes scheduled List of Values objects to populate them with values retrieved from a database.
Desktop Intelligence Job Server
The Desktop Intelligence Job Server processes scheduling requests received from the CMS for Desktop Intelligence documents and generates the instance of the Desktop Intelligence document.
Desktop Intelligence Processing Server
The Desktop Intelligence Processing Server processes viewing requests for Desktop Intelligence documents and generates the Desktop Intelligence document.
SAPBO Lesson: Architecture Overview
Connection Server
The Connection Server is a service that can be administered and configured through the CMC (Central Management Console). The Connection Server is responsible for the database connectivity to access data. It is invoked when users want to edit and view Desktop Intelligence documents through InfoView in 3-tier mode. It is also used by some EPM services.
Note: The Connection Server libraries are present on the Web Intelligence Processing Server, and Desktop Intelligence Processing Server. These libraries allow services to query the database directly without communicating with the Connection Server service. The viewing processing services are.
• Crystal Reports Processing Server
The Crystal Reports Processing Server is responsible for responding to files requests by processing reports and generating Encapsulated Page Format (.epf) files. The Crystal Reports Processing Server retrieves data for the report from the latest instance or directly from that database. After it generates the report, the Processing Server converts the requested data to one or more EPF files. These files are then sent to the Crystal Reports Cache Server.
• Web Intelligence Processing Server
The Web Intelligence Processing Server is responsible for generating documents. The Web Intelligence Processing Server obtains document creation requests from the Web Application Server and then communicates with the Input File Repository Server in order to obtain a copy of the Web Intelligence Document (WID) file and the universe definition. When viewing an existing instance of a WID, the Web Intelligence Processing Server communicates with the Output File Repository Server to obtain an existing historical instance of a WID.
• Report Application Server
Report Application Server resolves Dynamic Recipient Lists at design time and Runtime in Publishing, as well as with LiveOffice. The RAS also provides the ad hoc reporting capabilities that allow users to create and modify reports over the Web. As with the Crystal Reports Processing Server, the RAS supports Java viewer SDKs. The Report Application Server also includes an SDK for report creation and modification, providing you with tools for building custom report interaction interfaces.
• Multi-Dimensional Analysis Server
The Multi-Dimensional Analysis Server (MDAS) is a dedicated server intended to interact with OLAP data sources and to support Voyager.
Unit 2: BusinessObjects Architecture SAPBO
The MDAS needs an appropriate OLAP database client configured for the appropriate OLAP data source. The list of providers is dynamically generated, based on which database drivers are installed on the MDAS that you happen to connect to. If more than one MDAS exists, the server contacted is selected randomly, so the same drivers should be installed on all servers. Connections to OLAP data sources are defined and managed from the CMC. Entries can include: • Oracle
• SAP
• Essbase
• Microsoft Analysis Services 8.0 (MSAS 2000) • Microsoft Analysis Services 9.0 (MSAS 2005) • Search Server
The Search Server processes search requests and executes the indexing. Your deployment can include multiple Search servers, and search requests are actively processed by all available servers. However, only one Search server performs the indexing process.
SAPBO Lesson: Architecture Overview
Lesson Summary
You should now be able to:
• Explain the architecture and technical requirements for SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise front-end tools.
• Describe the BusinessObjects Enterprise service groups and servers.
Unit 2: BusinessObjects Architecture SAPBO
Lesson: BusinessObjects Integration with SAP solutions
Lesson Overview
This lesson provides a high-level overview of the major features in BusinessObjects XI Integration for SAP Solutions.
Lesson Objectives
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:
• Describe the components and features in BusinessObjects XI Integration for SAP Solutions
Business Example
The management executives in Company A felt that they did not have enough visibility into the various aspects of their business. They wanted to see trends, note exceptions and evaluate against goals. They were looking for a way to get highly summarized monthly data, displaying various aspects of their business performance. BusinessObjects XI Integration for SAP Solutions provides you with powerful report design tools and a framework for managing, scheduling, and distributing your reports over the Web. Also it enables you to extract additional value from your SAP Business Warehouse (BW) and ECC data and share it with users across the enterprise. In addition, SAP Authentication enables Single Sign On between your SAP system and BusinessObjects Enterprise.
What’s in BusinessObjects XI Integration for SAP
Solutions?
BusinessObjects XI Integration for SAP Solutions consists of several key components: Crystal Reports is the report design tool that allows you to report off your SAP data; BusinessObjects Enterprise provides the framework for managing, scheduling, and distributing reports over the Web; Web Intelligence enables you to create queries and documents quickly; and Voyager allows you to analyze and report off the multidimensional data that is stored in the InfoCubes of SAP BW. This solution allows tools such as Voyager, Web Intelligence, LiveOffice and Xcelsius to report on SAP data.
BusinessObjects XI Integration for SAP Solutions also includes several add-on components to further integrate the BusinessObjects reporting technologies with existing SAP systems. The add-on components include
• Data Access
SAPBO Lesson: BusinessObjects Integration with SAP solutions
This component provides database drivers that are designed specifically for reporting on SAP data. Crystal Reports drivers are included for OpenSQL, InfoSet, BW Query, BW MDX and DSO.
• Crystal Reports SAP Toolbar
Integrated within Crystal Reports, the SAP Tools toolbar facilitates tasks
associated with reporting based on BW queries. It allows you to log on to BW and work with its data sources, save reports to BW, and publish reports immediately to BusinessObjects Enterprise via BW.
• SAP Authentication
This component allows you to map your existing SAP roles and users to BusinessObjects Enterprise. It also enables BusinessObjects Enterprise to authenticate users against the SAP system, thereby providing Single Sign On to your SAP users. As a result, once SAP users are logged on to the SAP system, they are recognized by BusinessObjects Enterprise as authenticated users. • BW Publisher
This component allows you to publish reports individually or in batches from BW to BusinessObjects Enterprise
• Web content
This component includes BusinessObjects Enterprise InfoView. InfoView allows users to organize and view their Crystal reports in multiple languages over the internet.
• Transport files
You use these transport files to connect to SAP through Crystal Reports and BusinessObjects Enterprise.
• BW Content Administration Workbench
This feature allows you to manage report publishing from within BW. You can identify roles in BW with specific BusinessObjects Enterprise systems, publish