Transfer data from Board to SAP BW

Daniele Di Lorenzo

Hello

I need to send some data from a Board db to SAP BW

 

now we're implementing this through a flat files extraction (layout export) and consequent upload to BW.

 

Is there any other (more direct and efficient) way?

SAP Connector allows write-back?

 

thanks

Björn Reuber

Hi,

 

a direct writeback with BOARD SAP Connector is at the moment not possible. But there is a way using an MS SQL Layer and xtraxtIS from Theobald Software.

 

Depending on your BW there might be also different other ways. If it's on HANA (and your contract with SAP allows it) you can also use an HANA ODBC Driver for a direct wirteback

 

regards

Björn

Daniele Di Lorenzo

thanks a lot, useful info!

 

have a nice day

Adam Elvin

Hi Bjorn, just out of interest do you know if write back through the SAP connector is on the roadmap for future development? Is it something that is possible or are there technical difficulties around this?

Thanks

Previous Member

Hello Björn Reuber

If it's on HANA (and your contract with SAP allows it) you can also use an HANA ODBC Driver for a direct wirteback

1. Would the direct writeback be done using RDB cubes?
2. Are there other ways than RDB cubes for a direct writeback?

Björn Reuber

Hi,

short answer

1) yes

2) I know no other ways, but maybe there are....

 

Regards

Björn

Björn Reuber

Hi Adam,

 

don't know

 

regards

Björn

Arnaud Villemain

Hello @Björn Reuber ,

I am not sure which ODBC driver is precisely needed to create an ODBC connection to a SAP S/4 HANA database.

I looked in the Board Manual and didn't found any list or overview of the drivers which are installed during the installation of Board Server (from e.g. B12.5.0_Setup_Server.exe). I would have expected to find them here: https://www.boardmanual.com/2021/summer/data-modeling/2_Database_design_functions/4_Data_Reader/creating-data-reader-protocol.htm

Could help me and confirm whether the yellow-marked driver below "BOARD 8.0 SAP S4HANA" is the correct one to create a data source reading from and writing to a SAP S/4 HANA database?

If not this driver, which one should be used?

Many thanks in advance,

Björn Reuber

Hello,

yes you can use either this drive or the SAP driver for the desired target system

regards

Björn

Arnaud Villemain

Thanks for your response @Björn Reuber.

Unfortunately, i got this error message:

Test Connect Failed: [Board ODBC Drivers][ODBC S4Hana driver][S4Hana]java.lang.NullPointerException java.lang.NullPointerException [Board ODBC Driver][ODBC S4Hana driver]SQL Engine service could not be reached, falling back to Direct SQL Engine mode

See screenshot:

I am using Board version 12.2.0.0.67608 installed locally on my PC.

I can reach my SAP HANA database (read and write data) using SAP HANA Studio from the same PC with the same database user as the one entered into my connector BOARD_8_0_SAP_S4HANA_21.

I have not found any hints in the board manual regarding how to use this. Maybe i should also set some parameters in the next sections (SQLEngine, Schema settings, advanced, Performance, Proxy, Diagnostics)?

Björn Reuber

@Arnaud Villemain sorry for the late feedback.

Please doublecheck if the service is running

Arnaud Villemain

Thank you @Björn Reuber for your answer.

Which service do you mean? I see these two services running:

1. Board Engine
2. Board WebApi Engine

I am using Board version 12.2.0.0.67608 installed locally on my PC.

Björn Reuber

Hello Arnaud,

there should be a service called “Board ODBC Driver SAP S4HANA SQL Engine 08.00 64”. If it does not exist on your machine, it might be due to a Group Policy, but the needed service(s) for the Board ODBC driver can be easily installed:

Open foulder: C:\Program Files\Board\Board Server\ODBC Drivers\tools.

Execute the file “install.ps1" in an adminstrative PowerShell. If there are any errors those might be related to your group policies

Regards

Björn