Listing of commonly used tables in SAP BI and to understand the way data is stored in the backend of SAP BI

Listed below are some of the tables commonly used in SAP BI ( NW 2004) - however the same has not been tested in NW2004s and please
make corrections if required. Some of this material has gone through a lot of eyeballs before making it to the final list and could contain some
older references / incorrect references , however most of them have been validated.

Transfer Structure  

RSTS Transfer Structure List

RSTSFIELD Transfer Structure fields

RSTSRULES  Transfer Structure rules

RSAROUTT Text name of Transfer Routine

DD03T Text for R/3 Transfer structure Objects

Update Rules  

RSUPDROUT Update rules List

RSUPDDAT   Update rules with routines

RSUPDKEY    Update rule key fields

RSUPDINFO InfoProvider to Infosource correlation

Embedded ABAP coding for Transfer / Update Rules  

RSAABAP ABAP source code per object routine

InfoPackage  

RSLDPIO Links datasource to infopackages

RSLDPIOT  InfoPackage Text Description

RSLDPRULE ABAP source code for InfoPackages

RSLDPSEL   Hardcoded selections in InfoPackages

RSMONICDP Contains the request-id number by data target

RSPAKPOS List of InfoPackage Groups / InfoPackages

ProcessChain

RSEVENTCHAIN   Event Chain Processing Event Table

RSEVENTHEAD    Header for the event chain

RSEVENTHEADT    Header for the event chain

RSPCCHAIN Process chain details

RSPCCHAINATTR  Attributes for a Process Chain

RSPCCHAINEVENTS  Multiple Events with Process Chains

RSPCCHAINT  Texts for Chain

RSPCCOMMANDLOG System Command Execution Logs (Process Chains)

RSPCLOGCHAIN  Cross-Table Log ID / Chain ID

RSPCLOGS Application Logs for the Process Chains

RSPCPROCESSLOG Logs for the Chain Runs

RSPCRUNVARIABLES  Variables for Process Chains for Runtime

RSPC_MONITOR Monitor individual process chains

Queries  

RSZELTDIR Directory of the reporting component elements

RSZELTTXT Texts of reporting component elements

RSZELTXREF Directory of query element references

RSRREPDIR Directory of all reports (Query GENUNIID)

RSZCOMPDIR Directory of reporting components

RSZRANGE Selection specification for an element

RSZSELECT Selection properties of an element

RSZELTDIR Directory of the reporting component elements

RSZCOMPIC Assignment reuseable component <-> InfoCube

RSZELTPRIO Priorities with element collisions

RSZELTPROP Element properties (settings)

RSZELTATTR Attribute selection per dimension element

RSZCALC Definition of a formula element

RSZCEL Query Designer: Directory of Cells

RSZGLOBV Global Variables in Reporting

RSZCHANGES Change history of reporting components

Workbooks  

RSRWBINDEX List of binary large objects (Excel workbooks)

RSRWBINDEXT Titles of binary objects (Excel workbooks)

RSRWBSTORE Storage for binary large objects (Excel workbooks)

RSRWBTEMPLATE Assignment of Excel workbooks as personal templates

RSRWORKBOOK Where-used list for reports in workbooks

Web templates  

RSZWOBJ Storage of the Web Objects

RSZWOBJTXT Texts for Templates/Items/Views

RSZWOBJXREF Structure of the BW Objects in a Template

RSZWTEMPLATE Header Table for BW HTML Templates

InfoObject  

RSDIOBJ                               Directory of all InfoObjects

RSDIOBJT Texts of InfoObjects

RSDATRNAV Navigation Attributes

RSDATRNAVT Navigation Attributes

RSDBCHATR Master Data Attributes

RSDCHABAS Basic Characteristics (for Characteristics,Time Characteristics, and Units)

RSDCHA  Characteristics Catalog

RSDDPA Data Package Characteristic

RSDIOBJCMP Dependencies of InfoObjects

RSKYF  Key Figures

RSDTIM Time Characteristics

RSDUNI Units

InfoCube  

RSDCUBE  Directory of InfoCubes

RSDCUBET Texts on InfoCubes

RSDCUBEIOBJ Objects per InfoCube (where-used list)

RSDDIME Directory of Dimensions

RSDDIMET Texts on Dimensions

RSDDIMEIOBJ  InfoObjects for each Dimension (Where-Used List)

RSDCUBEMULTI InfoCubes involved in a MultiCube

RSDICMULTIIOBJ MultiProvider: Selection/Identification of InfoObjects

RSDICHAPRO Characteristic Properties Specific to an InfoCube

RSDIKYFPRO Flag Properties Specific to an InfoCube

RSDICVALIOBJ InfoObjects of the Stock Validity Table for the InfoCube

Aggregates  

RSDDAGGRDIR Directory of Aggregates

RSDDAGGRCOMP Description of Aggregates

RSDDAGGRT Text on Aggregates

RSDDAGGLT Directory of the aggregates, texts

ODS Object  

RSDODSO Directory of all ODS Objects

RSDODSOT Texts of all ODS Objects

RSDODSOIOBJ InfoObjects of ODS Objects

RSDODSOATRNAV Navigation Attributes for ODS Object

RSDODSOTABL Directory of all ODS Object Tables

PSA  

RSTSODS  Directory of all PSA Tables

DataSource (= OLTP Source)  

ROOSOURCE   Header Table for SAP BW DataSources (SAP Source System/BW System)

RODELTAM BW Delta Procedure (SAP Source System)

RSOLTPSOURCE Replication Table for DataSources in BW

InfoSource  

RSIS  Directory of InfoSources with Flexible Update

RSIST Texts on InfoSources with Flexible Update

RSISFIELD InfoObjects of an InfoSource

Communications Structure  

RSKS Communications Structure for InfoSources with Flexible Update

RSKS Communications Structure (View) for Attributes for an InfoSource with Direct Update

RSKSFIELD Texts on InfoSources with Flexible Update

RSISFIELD InfoObjects of an InfoSource with Flexible Update

Transfer Structure  

RSTS Transfer Structure in SAP BW

ROOSGEN Generated Objects for a DataSource (Transfer Structure, for example in SAP Source System)

Mapping  

RSISOSMAP Mapping Between InfoSources and DataSources (=OLTP Sources)

RSOSFIELDMAP Mapping Between DataSource Fields and InfoObjects

InfoSpoke  

RSBSPOKESELSET InfoSpoke Directory and Selection Options

RSBSPOKEVSELSET InfoSpoke Directory with Selection Options and Versioning

RSBSPOKE List of all InfoSpokes with attributes maintained with transaction RSBO which include the name of
the Source & Target Structures

RSBSPOKET List of all InfoSpokes with the Short & Long Descriptions (only one of these can be maintained).

RSBSTEPIDMESS Contains all the messages that have been recorded during the execution of an InfoSpoke. This table can
be added to using the ABAP Class/Method i_r_log->add_sy_message.

SAP BW Statistics  

RSDDSTAT Basic Table for InfoCubes/Queries

RSDDSTATAGGR Detail Table for Aggregate Setup

RSDDSTATAGGRDEF Detail Table of Navigation for each InfoCube/Query

RSDDSTATCOND InfoCube Compression

RSDDSTATDELE InfoCube Deletions

RSDDSTATWHM Warehouse Management

Misc  

RSFEC BW Frontend Check. Useful for checking the installed SAP GUI versions on user machines.

RSSELDONE InfoPackage selection and job program, there in field UPDMODE the update status (INIT/DELTA/FULL)

RSPSADEL PSA Table deletion

TBTCP Job Schedule Definition

TBTCO Job Schedule Result

RSMONMESS Monitor Messages

RSERRORLOG Check loading errors in table

V_RSZGLOBV Report Variables view table

DEVACCESS Developer Keys table

TSTC All Transactions in the system

RSDDAGGRDIR Directory of the aggregates

ROIDOCPRMS Control parameters for data transfer from the source system

SMEN_BUFFC Objects in User's Favorites

TSTCT Transaction Codes with Text

DD03L field names and corresponding data element names

DD03LT Description of each data element

DD02L All SAP Defined Table Names

DD02LT Description of All SAP Defined Table Names

Web Item  

RSZWITEM Header Table for BW Web Items

RSZWMDITEM BW Web Metadata: Template Item ( Dataprovider, Item, ... ).

RSZWITEMXREF Cross Reference of Web Items

RSZWMIMEIOBUFFER Buffer for Translation MIME Rep. to IO

RSZWOBJ Storage of the Web Objects

RSZWOBJTXT Texts of Templates/Items/Views

RSZWOBJXREF Structure of the BW Objects in a Template

RSZWTEMPLATE  Header Table for BW HTML Templates

Archiving  

RSARCHIPRO BW Archiving: General Archiving Properties

RSARCHIPROIOBJ BW Archiving: General Archiving Properties

RSARCHIPROLOC BW ARchiving: General Local Properties

RSARCHIPROLOCSEL BW Archiving: Archived Data Area

RSARCHIPROPID BW Archiving: Program References of InfoProvider

RSARCHREQ BW Archiving: Archiving Request

RSARCHREQFILES BW Archiving: Verfified Archive Files

RSARCHREQSEL BW Archiving: Request-Selections

Open Hub Destination  

RSBOHSERVICETP Open Hub: Service Types

RSBREQUESTDELTA Open Hub: Cross Reference Outbound/Inbound

RSBREQUESTMESS Open Hub: Log for a Request

RSBREQUID Open Hub: Requests

RSBREQUID3RD Open Hub: Status of 3rd Party Requests

RSBREQUIDRUN Open Hub: Table with Status for a Request

RSBSTRUCTURE Open Hub: Generated Structures and Tables

BW Glossary, Definitions & Explanations

A
Aggregate
An aggregate is a subset of an InfoCube. The objective when using aggregates is to reduce I/O volume.The BW OLAP processor selects an
appropriate aggregate during a query run or a navigation step. If no appropriate aggregate exists, the BW OLAP processor retrieves data from
the original InfoCube instead.
For examples, assume you may have 10 dimensions and each one have 10 value, that means you may have up to 10^10 possible records. If
high level manager often access the report focus revenue in 2008 by customer, that's mean only 2 dimension are involved. You can do
aggregate and it may only contain 2 dimensions with 100 records. It reduce the I/O and improve the performance.
Aggregate rollup
Aggregate rollup is a procedure to update aggregates with new data loads. Reference Aggregate
Application component
Application components are used to organize InfoSources. They are similar to the InfoAreas used with InfoCubes. The maximum number of
characters allowed for the technical name is 32.
Authorization
An authorization defines what a user can do, and to which SAP objects. For example, a user with an authorization can display and execute, but
not change, a query. Authorizations are defined using authorization objects.
Authorization object
An authorization object is used to define user authorizations. It has fields with values to specify authorized activities, such as display and
execution, on authorized business objects, such as queries. The maximum number of characters allowed for the technical name is 10.
Authorization profile
An authorization profile is made up of multiple authorizations. The maximum number of characters allowed for the technical name is 10.
B
BEx
Short for Business Explorer. It includes following tools to present the reports to end user: Analyzer  / Web Application Designer / Report
Designer / Web Analyzer.
Bitmap index
A bitmap index uses maps of bits to locate records in a table. Bitmap indices are very effective for Boolean operations of the WHERE clause of
a SELECT statement. When the cardinality of a column is low, a bitmap index size will be small, thereby reducing I/O volume.
Another possible choice in BW on this topic is B-tree index.
Business Content
Business Content is a complete set of BW objects developed by SAP to support the OLAP tasks. It contains roles, workbooks, queries,
InfoCubes, key figures, characteristics, update rules, InfoSources, and extractors for SAP R/3, and other mySAP solutions.
You can simply use business content directly, or take it as template for your project to speed up implementations.
BW
Business Warehouse (BW) is a Data Warehousing solution from SAP.
When we talking about BW, it often talking about BW3.5. The latest version is SAP Business Intelligence 7.0.
BW Monitor
BW Monitor displays data loading status and provides assistance in troubleshooting if errors occur. T-code: RSMO
BW Scheduler
BW Scheduler specifies when to load data. It is based on the same techniques used for scheduling R/3 background jobs.
BW Statistics
BW Statistics is a tool for recording and reporting system activity and performance information.
BWA / BIA
BW/BI Accelarator is a tool that improves the performance of BW 7.x queries on InfoCubes. It enables quick access to any data with a low
amount of administrative effort and is especially useful for sophisticated scenarios with unpredictable query types, high data volume and high
frequency of queries
C
Cache / OLAP Cache
A technology to improve the performance. Cache buffers query result data, in order to provider them for further accesses.  
Cache Mode
Determines whether and in what way the  query result and navigational states are to be saved in the OLAP  Cache.
Change run
Change run is a procedure used to activate characteristic data changes.
Characteristic
Characteristics are descriptions of fields, such as Customer ID, Material Number, Sales Representative ID, Unit of Measure, and Transaction
Date. The maximum number of characters allowed for the technical name is 9.
Client
A client is a subset of data in an SAP system. Data shared by all clients is called client-independent data, as compared with client-dependent
data. When logging on to an SAP system, a user must specify which client to use. Once in the system, the user has access to both client-
dependent data and client-independent data.
Communication structure
The communication structure is the structure underlying the InfoSource.
Compound attribute
A compound attribute differentiates a characteristic to make the characteristic uniquely identifiable. For example, if the same characteristic
data from different source systems mean different things, then we can add the compound attribute 0SOURSYSTEM (source system ID) to the
characteristic; 0SOURSYSTEM is provided with the Business Content.
Compress
Compressing will bringing data from different requests together into one single request (request ID 0) in Infocube.
 When you load data into Infocube, they are group with Requests ID. You can easily manage the data with Request ID. But the request ID
have disadvantages cause the same data record (with same characteristics but different request ID) to appear more than once in the fact
table. It waste the table space and affects query performance.
You can eliminate these disadvantages by compressing data and bringing data from different requests together into one single request
(request ID 0).
Technically, Compress will move the data in F table to E table and aggregate the records with same char. automatically.
It is widly used when you are sure that the data in InfoCube is correct and you won't need Request ID in the future. And be careful if you
defined your own delta mechanism.
D
Data packet size
For the same amount of data, the data packet size determines how work processes will be used in data loading. The smaller the data packet
size, the more work processes needed.You can set it in SPRO
Data Mining
Data mining is the process of extracting hidden patterns from data. It is one of the function provided by SAP BI.
Take the most famous story "beer and diapers" as example. Wall-Mart noticed that men often bought beer at the same time they bought
diapers. They mined its receipts and proved the observations. So they put diapers next to the beer coolers, and sales skyrocketed. The story is
a myth, but it shows how data mining seeks to understand the relationship between different actions.
Data Warehouse
Data Warehouse is a dedicated reporting and analysis environment based on the star schema (Extended) database design technique and
requiring special attention to the data ETTL process.
DataMart
The distribution of contents of ODS or InfoCube into other BW data targets on the same or on other BW systems
DataSource
A DataSource is not only a structure in which source system fields are logically grouped together, but also an object that contains ETTL-related
information. Four types of DataSources exist:
 DataSources for transaction data
 DataSources for characteristic attributes
 DataSources for characteristic texts
 DataSources for characteristic hierarchies
If the source system is R/3, replicating DataSources from a source system will create identical DataSource structures in the BW system. The
maximum number of characters allowed for a DataSource's technical name is 32.
DB Connect
A BW function that offers flexible options for extracting data directly into the BW from tables and views in database management systems that
are connected to the BW in addition to the default connection. You can use tables and views from the database management systems that are
supported by SAP to transfer data. DataSources are used to make data known to the BW, where it is then processed in the same way as data
from all other sources.
Delta Caching
Additional requests will be read from the InfoCube's (F) fact table. These additional requests will be updated into the OLAP Cache. In this way,
when they are changes to the data basis, the complete data for the query no longer has to be read from the database again.  
Delta update
The Delta update option in the InfoPackage definition requests BW to load only the data that have been accumulated since the last update.
Before a delta update occurs, the delta process must be initialized.
Development class
A development class is a group of objects that are logically related.
Dimension table
Part of the Star Schema structure for InfoCubes. Dim tables contain pointers to the Fact tables & to the Master Data (SID tables).
Display attribute
A display attribute provides supplemental information to a characteristic. Reference Navigation attribute
Drill-down
Drill-down is a user navigation step intended to get further detailed information. For example, you can drill-down to detail report through free
characteristic
DSO
Short for Data Store Object. Reference ODS in BW3.5
A DataStore object serves as a storage location for consolidated and cleansed transaction data or master data on a document (atomic) level.
This data can be evaluated using a BEx query.
A DataStore object contains key fields (such as document number, document item) and data fields that, in addition to key figures, can also
contain character fields (such as order status, customer). The data from a DataStore object can be updated with a delta update into InfoCubes
(standard) and/or other DataStore objects or master data tables (attributes or texts) in the same system or across different systems.
There are 3 kinds of DSO: Standard DataStore Object / Write-Optimized DataStore Objects / DataStore Objects for Direct Update. Check the
definition and example at: http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw2004s/helpdata/en/f9/45503c242b4a67e10000000a114084/frameset.htm
DTP
The Data Transfer Process (DTP) transfers data from source objects to target objects in BI 7.x. You can also use the data transfer process to
access InfoProvider data directly. Prerequisite: a transformation to define the data flow between the source and target object.
E 
EDW
The Enterprise Data Warehouse, a comprehensive / harmonized data warehouse solution, is design to avoid isolated applications. Reference
BW330.
ETTL
ETTL, one of the most challenging tasks in building a data warehouse, is the process of extracting, transforming, transferring, and loading data
correctly and quickly. Also known as ETL.
Extraction Structure
The data structure used by the extraction program to extract data. Its fields are mapped to the fields of the SAP Source System DataSource.
F
Fact tables
The Fact table is the central table of the InfoCube. Here key figures & pointers to the dimension tables are stored. There are two fact tables:
the F-fact table and the E-fact table. If you upload data into an InfoCube, it is always written into the F-fact table. If you compress the data,
the data is shifted from the F-fact table to the E-fact table. The F-fact tables for aggregates are always empty, since aggregates are
compressed automatically. After a changerun, the F-fact table can have entries as well as when you use the functionality 'do not compress
requests' for Aggregates.
E-fact table is optimized for Reading => good for Queries. F-fact table is optimized for Writing => good for Loads
Free characteristic
A free characteristic is a characteristic in a query used for drill-downs. It is not displayed in the initial result of a query run.
Full update
The Full update option in the InfoPackage definition requests BW to load all data that meet the selection criteria specified via the Select data
tab. Reference Delta update
Filter
Filter is used to restrict data to a certain business sector, product group, or time period. And these can be saved and reused in the in
othercontexts. Here the data is filtered and showed in the intial result of the query. 
G
Generic data extraction
Generic data extraction is a function in Business Content that allows us to create DataSources based on database views or InfoSet queries.
InfoSet is similar to a view but allows outer joins between tables.
Granularity
Granularity describes the level of detail in a data warehouse. It is determined by business requirements and technology capabilities. For high
level reports, manager tend to high aggregated report such as by month or by BU. But operational reports always require more detail
information such as by day or by product spec.

H
High Cardinality
means that this dimension contains a high number of attributes. This information is used to execute physical optimizations, depending on the
database platform. For example, different index types from those in a standard case are used. Generally, a dimension has a high cardinality if
the number of dimension entries is 20% (or more) of the number of fact table entries.
I
IDoc
IDoc (Intermediate Document) is used in SAP to transfer data between two systems. It is a specific instance of a data structure called the IDoc
Type, whose processing logic is defined in the IDoc Interface. See: IDOC Basics
Index
An index is a technique used to locate needed records in a database table quickly. BW uses two types of indices: B-tree indices for regular
database tables and bitmap indices for fact tables and aggregate tables.
InfoArea
InfoAreas are used to organize InfoCubes and InfoObjects. Each InfoCube is assigned to an InfoArea. Through an InfoObject Catalog, each
InfoObject is assigned to an InfoArea as well. The maximum number of characters allowed for the technical name is 30.
InfoCube
An InfoCube is a fact table and its associated dimension tables in the star schema. The maximum number of characters allowed for the
technical name is 30.
InfoCube compression
InfoCube compression is a procedure used to aggregate multiple data loads at the request level.
InfoObject
In BW, key figures and characteristics are collectively called InfoObjects. See:
https://wiki.sdn.sap.com/wiki/display/BI/Characterstic+and+Key+Figures Characteristic and key figures
InfoObject Catalog
InfoObject Catalogs organize InfoObjects. Two types of InfoObject Catalogs exist: one for characteristics, and one for key figures. The
maximum number of characters allowed for the technical name is 30.
InfoPackage
An InfoPackage specifies when and how to load data from a given source system. BW generates a 30-digit code starting with ZPAK as an
InfoPackage's technical name.
InfoSource
 An InfoSource is a structure in which InfoObjects are logically grouped together. InfoCubes and characteristics interact with InfoSources to get
source system data. The maximum number of characters allowed for the technical name is 32. In BW 3.5 it is a MUST and in BI 7.0 it is
optional.
The difference: http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw2004s/helpdata/en/a4/1be541f321c717e10000000a155106/content.htm
And the Recommendations for Using InfoSources in BI 7.0:
http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw2004s/helpdata/en/44/0243dd8ae1603ae10000000a1553f6/content.htm
Information Lifecycle Mangement
Generally, the data was generated in OLTP system such as R/3. In BW, Information Lifecycle Management includes data target management
and data archiving.
Reference ADK and archiving for more information. And online help:
http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw2004s/helpdata/en/d0/84e5414f070640e10000000a1550b0/frameset.htm
K
Key figure
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. Reference Characteristic.
L
Line item dimension
A line item dimension in a fact table connects directly with the SID table of its sole characteristic.
When you creating a InfoCube, you have chance to use this feature on define dimension. It is only possible if exactly one characteristic in a
dimension. It help to improve the performance because we do not need to join SID table when accessing the master data.
Logical system
A logical system is the name of a client in an SAP system.
M
Metadata Repository  
Metadata repository contains information about the metadata objects of SAP NetWeaver Business Intelligence, important object properties and
their relationships with other objects. Metadata contains data about data.
Multi-cube
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.
N
Navigational attribute
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.
The naming convention for a navigational attribute is: InfoObject_ Attribute, such as 0customer_0country
Number range
A number range is a range of numbers that resides in application server memory for quick number assignments.
O
ODS
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.
Reference DSO.
Open Hub Service
The open hub service enables you to distribute data from an SAP BW system into external data marts, analytical applications, and other
applications.
OLTP / OLAP
Short for Online Transaction Processing / Online Analytical Processing.
OLTP system are Transacton-Orientated, which means it is generally used to support the daily operation. For example, SAP R/3, ERP / PDM /
MES ...
OLAP is generally used to analysis data. For examples, SAP BW, DDS - Decision Support System, EIS - Executive information systems.
P
Parallel query
A parallel query uses multiple database processes, when available, to execute a query.
Partition
A partition is a piece of physical storage for database tables and indices. If the needed data reside in one or a few partitions, then only those
partitions will be selected and examined by a SQL statement, thereby significantly reducing I/O volume. It can be done in Cube or DB level.
The benefit of using partition is mainly focus on:
 Well balanced partition / fragments
 Improve read performance
 Fast of delete partition by "Drop" instead of "Delete from where"
Fact table can be partitioned over a time characteristic either 0CALMONTH or 0FISCPER(Fiscal year/period). Repartition is possible in SAP BI
7.0. See https://wiki.sdn.sap.com/wiki/x/N4C4AQ Repartitioning
Partitioning Type
 For MultiProvider queries, Partitioning Type provides options for handling the data that is returned by the individual InfoProviders from the
MultiProvider separately and saving it in the cache separately.
 No Partitioning: All results of the InfoProviders are summarized as one result and cached.
 Partitioning in Groups: Infocubes in one group, and other infoproviders are saved together in groups according to their properties.
 Partitioning in Groups: Basis Cubes Separate: similar as above. individual Infocubes are saved separately.
 Each InfoProvider Separate: All InfoProviders are saved separately.
Process Chain
A process chain is a sequence of processes that are scheduled to wait in the background for an event. You can include process chains in other
process chains to manage a group of them, known as meta chains.
It is design at the implementation phase and one of the most important jobs in support and maintenance phase.
More information please reference: http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw2004s/helpdata/en/8f/c08b3baaa59649e10000000a11402f/frameset.htm
Profile Generator
Profile Generator is a tool used to create authorization profiles.
PSA
The Persistent Staging Area (PSA) is a data staging area in BW. It allows us to check data in an intermediate location, before the data are sent
to its destinations in BW.
Q
Query
A BW query is a selection of characteristics and key figures for the analysis of the data in an InfoCube. A query refers to only one InfoCube,
and its result is presented in a BEx Excel sheet. The maximum number of characters allowed for the technical name is 30.
R
Read mode
Read mode determines how often the OLAP processor reads data from the database during navigation.
 Read all data
 Read during navigation
 Read during navigation & expanding hierarchy 
Reconstruct
Reconstruct is a procedure used to restore load requests from PSA.
Request
A request is a data load request from BW Scheduler. Each time that BW Scheduler loads data into an InfoCube, a unique request ID is created
in the data packet dimension table of the InfoCube.
RFC
RFC (Remote Function Call) is a call to a function module in a system different from the caller's usually another SAP system on the local
network.
Role
In Profile Generator, an authorization profile corresponds to a role. A user assigned to that role also has the corresponding authorization
profile. A user can be assigned to multiple roles. The maximum number of characters allowed for the technical name is 30.
Reclustering
It allows you to change the clustering of Infocubes and Data store objects that already contain data.
S
SID
SID (Surrogate-ID) translates a potentially long key for an InfoObject into a short four-byte integer, which saves I/O and memory during
OLAP.
Source system
A source system is a protocol that BW uses to find and extract data. When the source system is a non-SAP system, such as a flat file or a
third-party tool, the maximum number of characters allowed for the technical name is 10. When the source system is an SAP system, either
R/3 or BW, the technical name matches the logical system name. The maximum number of characters allowed for the technical name is 32.
Star schema
A star schema is a technique used in the data warehouse database design to help data retrieval for online analytical processing.
SAP BW use extended star schema with following advantage compare to classical star schema:

 Use of generated key (short number) for faster access

 External hierarchy
 Multi-language support
 Master data are separated. It is common to all cubes
 Support slowly changing dimensions
 Aggregates in its own tables for faster access
Statistics
For a SQL statement, many execution plans are possible. The database optimizer generates the most efficient execution plan based on either
the heuristic ranking of available execution plans or the cost calculation of available execution plans. Statistics is the information that the cost-
based optimizer uses to calculate the cost of available execution plans and select the most appropriate one for execution. BW uses the cost-
base optimizer for Oracle databases.
System Administration Assistant
System Administration Assistant is a collection of tools used to monitor and analyze general system operation conditions.
 System landscape
The system landscape specifies the role of each system and the paths used in transporting objects among the various systems.
T
Time-dependent entire hierarchy
A time-dependent entire hierarchy is a time-dependent hierarchy whose nodes and leaves are not time-dependent.
For example, you have two hierarchy which presents organization of company in 2007 and 2008.
Time-dependent hierarchy structure
A time-dependent hierarchy structure consists of nodes or leaves that are time-dependent, but the hierarchy itself is not time-dependent.
For example, you have one hierarchy but one of his node was changed from 2007 and 2008. HR may belong to administration division before
2007 and belong to supporting division after 2008.
Transfer rule
Transfer rules specify how DataSource fields are mapped to InfoSource InfoObjects.
In BI 7.0, transfer rule and update rule are replaced by transformation.
Transfer structure
A transfer structure maps DataSource fields to InfoSource InfoObjects.
Transformations (TRF)
TRFs connect source objects (DataSources, DSOs, InfoCubes, InfoSets) to Data Targets (InfoProviders) of a data-staging process. They
replace combination of transfer rules & update rules. The TRF process allows you to consolidate, cleanse & integrate data. You must use DTP
to load data to InfoProvider.
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Update rule
An update rule specifies how data will be updated into their targets. The data target can be an InfoCube or an ODS object. If the update rule
is applied to data from an InfoSource, the update rule's technical name will match the InfoSource's technical name. If the update rule is
applied to data from an ODS object, the update rule's technical name will match the ODS object's technical name prefixed with number 8.
In BI 7.0, transfer rule and update rule are replaced by transformation. But we still have chance to use it in BI 7.0
Variable
A variable is a query parameter. It gets its value from user input or takes a default value set by the variable creator.
Variables act as placeholders for:
 Characteristic values
 Hierarchies
 Hierarchy nodes
 Texts
 Formula elements
Virtual InfoProvider
A Virtual Provider is a type of InfoCube where the data is not managed in BI. Only the structure of the VirtualProvider is defined in BI, the data
is read for reporting using an interface with another system.
Workbook
A BW workbook is an Excel file with a BEx query result saved in BDS. BW assigns a 25-digit ID to each workbook. Users need merely name a
workbook's title.

relation between BEx Tables

Most of the times, we are confused while debugging any query for getting where used list, for writing codes where query relations need to be
required. We always think if we know the relation between them, our work is done.
 This  linking of the SAP BW tables help to meet multiple requirements.Some of which are:
--> Find Where Used List
---> Find List of queries restricted on the particualr value.
--> Find the queries list where selection is used etc.
This can be obtained by using the relationship as shown in the diagram below:
 List of

Important Query Related Tables

RSZELTTXT        Texts of reporting component elements 
RSZELTXREF       Directory of query element references 
RSRREPDIR        Directory of all reports 
RSZCOMPDIR       Directory of reporting components
RSZELTDIR        Directory of the reporting component elements
RSZELTDIR        Directory of the reporting component elements
RSZRANGE         Selection specification for an element 
RSZSELECT        Selection properties of an element 
RSZCOMPIC        Assignment reuseable component <-> InfoCube
RSZCALC            Definition of a formula element 
RSZCEL              Query Designer: Directory of Cells
RSZELTPRIO       Priorities with element collisions
RSZGLOBV          Global Variables in Reporting
RSZELTATTR       Attribute selection per dimension element
RSZCHANGES       Change history of reporting components
RSZELTPROP       Element properties (settings)