Dataflow in SAP BW
Data is normally loaded into a PSA first, and from there into ODS and InfoCubes.
It is also possible to directly load data into the ODS and InfoCubes, and from ODS to
InfoCube.
Data can be loaded from various heterogeneous data sources, such as:
Key figures are numeric values or quantities, such as Per Unit Sales Price, Quantity Sold, and Sales Revenue. The maximum number of characters allowed for the technical name is 9.
A line item dimension in a fact table connects directly with the SID table of its sole characteristic.
A multi-cube is a union of basic cubes. The multi-cube itself does not contain any data; rather, data reside in the basic cubes. To a user, the multi-cube is similar to a basic cube. When creating a query, the user can select characteristics and key figures from different basic cubes.
A navigational attribute indicates a characteristic-to-characteristic relationship between two characteristics. It provides supplemental information about a characteristic and enables navigation from characteristic to characteristic during a query.
A number range is a range of numbers that resides in application server memory for quick number assignments.
ODS is a BW architectural component located between PSA and InfoCubes that allows BEx reporting. It is not based on the star schema and is used primarily for detail reporting, rather than for dimensional analysis. ODS objects do not aggregate data as InfoCubes do. Instead, data are loaded into an ODS object by inserting new records, updating existing records, or deleting old records, as specified by the 0RECORDMODE value.
A parallel query uses multiple database processes, when available, to execute a query.