SAP NetWeaver BI Connection Type (SSRS)

To include data from a SAP NetWeaver® Business Intelligence external data source in your report, you must have a dataset that is based on a report data source of type SAP NetWeaver Business Intelligence. This built-in data source type is based on the data extension for the Microsoft .NET Framework Data Provider 1.0 for SAP NetWeaver Business Intelligence.

This data extension enables you to retrieve multidimensional data from InfoCubes, MultiProviders (virtual InfoCubes), and Web-enabled queries that are defined on a SAP NetWeaver Business Intelligence external data source.

Use the information in this topic to build a data source. For step-by-step instructions, see How to: Add and Verify a Data Connection or Data Source (Report Builder 3.0 and SSRS).

In This Article

Connection String

Credentials

Queries

Extended Field Properties

Remarks

How-To Topics

Related Sections

Connection String

Contact the database administrator for connection information and for the credentials to use to connect to the data source. The following connection string example specifies an SAP NetWeaver Business Intelligence data source on a server using port 8000 and XML for Analysis Services (XMLA) over the Internet using SOAP:

DataSource=http://mySAPNetWeaverBIServer:8000/sap/bw/xml/soap/xmla

For more connection string examples, see Data Connections, Data Sources, and Connection Strings in Report Builder 3.0.

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Credentials

Credentials are required to run queries, to preview the report locally, and to preview the report from the report server.

After you publish your report, you may need to change the credentials for the data source so that when the report runs on the report server, the permissions to retrieve the data are valid.

For more information, see Data Connections, Data Sources, and Connection Strings (SSRS) or Specifying Credentials in Report Builder 3.0.

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Queries

You can use the graphical query designer in Design or Query mode to build a Multidimensional Expression (MDX) query by browsing the underlying data structures on the data source. At design time, you can interactively run a query from the query designer to see the results. The query you build defines fields in the dataset. At run time, the actual data is returned from the data source. Use the graphical query designer to perform the following actions:

  • In Design mode, drag dimensions, members, member properties, and key figures from the data source onto a Data pane to build a Multidimensional Expression (MDX) query. Drag calculated members from the Calculated Members pane to the Data pane to define additional dataset fields.

  • In Query mode, drag dimensions, members, member properties, and key figures onto the Query pane or type MDX text directly into the Query pane. Drag calculated members from the Calculated Members pane to the Data pane to define additional dataset fields.

As you build queries, the query designer automatically adds default properties to the MDX query. To include properties other than default properties, you must manually modify the MDX query.

For more information about working with this query designer, see SAP NetWeaver BI Query Designer User Interface (Report Builder 3.0).

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Extended Field Properties

The SAP NetWeaver Business Intelligence data source supports extended field properties. Extended field properties are properties in addition to Value and IsMissing that are defined for a dataset field by the data processing extension. Extended properties include predefined properties and custom properties. Predefined properties are properties common to multiple data sources. Custom properties are unique to each data source.

Working with Field Properties

Extended field properties do not appear in the Report Data pane as items that you can drag onto your report layout. Instead, you drag the parent field of the property onto the report and then change the default property from Value to the property you want to use. For example, if the field name Calendar Year/Month Level 01 is created in an MDX query designer by dropping a level from the Metadata pane onto the Query pane, you would refer to the custom extended property Long Name in an expression using the following syntax:

=Fields!Calendar_Year_Month_Level_01("Long Name")

The name for an extended field property appears in the ToolTip when you hover over a field in the Metadata pane. For more information about the query designers you can use to explore the underlying data, see SAP NetWeaver BI Query Designer User Interface.

Note

Values exist for extended field properties only if the data source provides these values when your report runs and retrieves the data for its datasets. You can then refer to those Field property values from any expression using the syntax described below. However, because these fields are specific to this data provider and not part of the report definition language, changes that you make to these values are not saved with the report definition.

Use either of the following syntaxes to refer to predefined extended properties in an expression:

  • Fields!FieldName.PropertyName

  • Fields!FieldName("PropertyName")

Use the following syntax to refer to custom extended properties in an expression:

  • Fields!FieldName("PropertyName")

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Predefined Field Properties

The following table provides a list of predefined field properties that you can use for an SAP NetWeaver Business Intelligence data source.

Property

Type

Description or expected value

Value

Object

Specifies the data value of the field.

IsMissing

Boolean

Indicates whether the field was found in the resulting data set.

FormattedValue

String

Returns a formatted value for a key figure.

BackgroundColor

String

Returns the background color defined in the database for the field.

Color

String

Returns the foreground color defined in the database for the item.

Key

Object

Returns the key for a level.

LevelNumber

Integer

For parent-child hierarchies, returns the level or dimension number.

ParentUniqueName

String

For parent-child hierarchies, returns a fully qualified name of the parent level.

UniqueName

String

Returns the fully qualified name of a level. For example, the UniqueName value for an employee might be [0D_Company].[10D_Department].[11].

For more information about using fields and field properties in an expression, see Using Built-in Collections in Expressions (Report Builder 3.0 and SSRS).

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Remarks

Not all report delivery modes are supported by this data provider. Delivering reports through data-driven subscriptions is not supported for this data processing extension. For more information, see Using an External Data Source for Subscriber Data.

For more information, see Using SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services with SAP NetWeaver Business Intelligence.

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These sections of the documentation provide in-depth conceptual information about report data, as well as procedural information about how to define, customize, and use parts of a report that are related to data.

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