Maintaining aggregates

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© 2011 SAP AG 1
Maintaining Aggregates in BW
Applies to:
SAP BI/BW 7.0 and above. For more information visit the Enterprise Data Warehousing
Summary
This document provides an overview of the use of aggregates in the SAP Business Information Warehouse.
The document gives an overview of the aggregates features and a detailed step-by-step solution to
Author: Umesh Pednekar
Company: Howdens Joinery Co.
Created on: 31st Oct 2011
Author Bio
Umesh is working as a SAP BI/ BW Analyst in Howdens Joinery co and has techno-functional
experience of over 7 years in designing, developing and implementing/upgrading SAP BW-BI
solutions across various Industries in India and in the UK.

© 2011 SAP AG 2
Table of Contents
Overview.............................................................................................................................................................3
Aggregates..........................................................................................................................................................3
Aggregates Roll up and Change Run.................................................................................................................3
Roll up .............................................................................................................................................................3
Change Run ....................................................................................................................................................3
Building Aggregates............................................................................................................................................4
Aggregates Roll up ...........................................................................................................................................14
Roll up Through Process Chains ..................................................................................................................14
Roll up Using a Program...............................................................................................................................17
Aggregates Efficiency.......................................................................................................................................18
Switch On/Off Aggregates.............................................................................................................................18
Delete Aggregates ........................................................................................................................................19
Deactivate Aggregates..................................................................................................................................19
Compressing Aggregates..............................................................................................................................19
Related Content................................................................................................................................................21
Copyright...........................................................................................................................................................22

© 2011 SAP AG 3
Overview
This document provides an overview of the use of aggregates in the SAP Business Information Warehouse.
The document gives an overview of the aggregates features and a detailed step-by-step solution to
- Building the aggregates on an Info cube
- Rolling up the aggregates on an Info Cube.
- Maintaining aggregates efficiency on an Info cube.
Aggregates
An aggregate is a materialized, summarized view of the data in an InfoCube. In other words, it consolidates
and stores a subset of InfoCube data into a database. This subset of data is redundant and persistent. When
we execute a query on an InfoCube with appropriate aggregates, the query reads the summarized data
directly from the database thus eliminating the need to perform any processing related to summarization
during query runtime.
Needless to mention, aggregates help access Infocube data quickly during reporting. Aggregates creation sis
highly recommended when:
- Query execution and navigation requires speeding up.
- Navigational attributes are required to be used in the queries.
- Hierarchies used in the queries need to be speed up – you can aggregate on specific hierarchy
levels.
There are a few disadvantages of Aggregates which need to be kept in mind.
- They increase load time
 through data packages uploads;
 through the hierarchy/attribute change run after loading master data;
 through adjusting time-dependent aggregates.
Aggregates Roll up and Change Run
Roll up
If the InfoCube has aggregates that have aggregates already filled, then data that has been recently loaded
into an InfoCube is not visible for reporting, from the InfoCube or aggregates, until an aggregate roll-up takes
place.
During this process you can continue to report using the data that existed prior to the recent data load. The
new data is only displayed by queries that are executed after a successful roll-up.
Change Run
A Change Run is executed only in the event of change in the master data. As changes in the master data
also trigger changes in navigational attributes or hierarchies, it is recommended that data in the aggregates
is adjusted after master data load. This ensures consistency in Reporting results.
The change run adjusts the data in the aggregates and turns the modified version of the navigational
attributes and hierarchies into an active version. During the change run process, you can carry out Reporting
on old master data and hierarchies.

© 2011 SAP AG 4
Building Aggregates
This section describes to processes involving in creating, filling and activating aggregates.
In the DW workbench select the InfoCube you wish to create the aggregates on in the Modeling-InfoProvider
tab.
Right click and select ‘Maintain Aggregates’.
You are prompted to select the option to create ‘Proposals for Aggregates’.
If you select ‘Generate Proposals’ that system helps us derive the proposals for various aggregates
depending on the statistics data and the input provided by you.

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For the sake of this document ,we will create the aggregates manually, so we select the option ‘Create by
Yourself’.
In the ‘Maintenance for Aggregates’ screen, the system displays list of characteristics, navigational attributes
and hierarchies.
List of Objects that qualify for creating aggregates can be viewed by expanding the dimensions in the
template.

© 2011 SAP AG 6
Maintenance for Aggregates screen is used to :
- Define aggregates
- Obtain information about the status of individual aggregates.
We will manually create aggregate on the Characteristics ‘Plant’ – 0PLANT. Select 0PLANT from the
template on the left hand side and drag it onto the right hand side screen.
You are prompted to enter description for the aggregate.
Enter the descriptions, short and long, for the aggregate and Continue.
You can now see the aggregate added onto the right hand side. ‘Red’ indicators tell us that the aggregate is
not active/filled up.

© 2011 SAP AG 7
You have the option of looking at the following parameters for each of the aggregates:
- Status – Could be created, changed, Save and active.
- Proposed action
- Filled/Switched Off – On - Could be not filled / Filled with data – Switch on or off for the queries.
- Selection Type - the system aggregates according to the values of the selected objects: * All
characteristic values, H Hierarchy level, F Fixed value
- Hierarchy – Name of the Hierarchy selected, if any.
- Fixed Value – Fixed value selected, if any.
- Valuation
- Records - Number of records in the filled aggregate.
- Records Summarized - Number of records read on average from the source to create a record in
the aggregate. (This value should never be equal to 1)
- Usage - Number of uses (in queries).
- Last Used
- Last Roll-up - When was data last entered for the aggregate?
- Last Changed on
From the top-menu , select ‘Aggregate’ tab which displays a list of sub-menu.

© 2011 SAP AG 8
Select ‘Activate and Fill’ .
Post processing that could take a few minutes, we are now prompted to run the Aggregates filling and
activation job.
You can also schedule Parallel run of Initial Fill of Aggregates. Select the option from the menu at the bottom
of the screen.
Select the desired value as applicable (in particular for Number of parallel processes)

© 2011 SAP AG 9
Process Variant (Name)
Name of the process. The configuration of a process of a specific type is static, which means it is
determined for a definition time. It is described in the context of the process chain as a variant. A
variant is always uniquely defined in connection with the type.
Example
The name of the InfoPackage displays the variants during the loading process.
Maximum Number of All Parallel Processes for This type
Number of processses of this process type on all permitted servers.
Dependencies
The default setting is 3. If you do not enter a value, the system chooses the default setting.
If you enter 1 for PSAPROCESS (serial processing), background administration is not used. The
system continues to use the old program process flow from before SAP NetWeaver 2004s.
Save your selections . .
To schedule Job for Aggregate Filling and activation – click on ‘Start’ which takes you to the option asking for
either ‘Immediate’ run of the process or its scheduling at a ‘later’ date/time. We have selected ‘Immediate’.
The process is now scheduled.
Wish to check the Background job ? Select ‘Jobs’ from the options available in the bottom menu.

© 2011 SAP AG 10
Select ‘Execute’ on the Simple Job Selection screen.
The aggregation job is completed successfully in our case.
Wish to check the Log? Select the ‘Log’ option.
You can analyze the application log.

© 2011 SAP AG 11
We go back to the Scheduling screen. Refresh the screen.
Confirmation is provided over the consistency of the InfoCube.

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Refresh the screen a few times to get the latest Status and the Aggregate Filled indicators.
Remember that we can create multiple aggregates based on our requirements and opt for simultaneous
Activation and Fill up process. You can see that three aggregates are being considered for activation and fill
up process.
Select the desired aggregates and then click on the icon for ‘Activate and Fill’.
Schedule the process for all the aggregates.

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Post process completion, we can see aggregates available on the InfoCube.
Go back to the DW Workbench – Select the InfoCube under consideration.
And refresh the tree structure to Obtain…
The ‘Aggregate’ availability indicator next to the InfoCube

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Aggregates Roll up
Although, aggregates can be rolled up manually, it is highly recommended that a process chain is used to
execute this process. Using the data package roll up in a process chain helps eliminating errors during
complex flows either by automating related processes and/or by ensuring that dependent processes are
integrated with each other.
Roll up Through Process Chains
You can achieve this by selecting the Infocube under consideration and right click to ‘Manage’ the InfoCube.
In the Manage Data Targets screen select ‘Rollup’ tab.
The system recommends the greatest possible value for Rollup in the ‘Request ID’ . You can manually set
the same.

© 2011 SAP AG 15
Now choose the option ‘Process Chain Maintenance’.
You are now taken to the RSPC transaction screen and the list of associated process chains is displayed. If
you do not have the relevant chain, you can create a new chain.
We select the First chain from the list of chains made available.
Double click on the desired chain to go to the ‘Process Chain Maintenance Screen’.

© 2011 SAP AG 16
We will add the Roll up process at the end of the chain i.e. After Index creation process for the InfoCube is
completed.
Select icon ‘Process Type’.
Expand ‘Data Target Administration’ option and select the Roll up process as shown.
Double click and the system prompts you to Create a Variant for the process. Select ‘Create’.

© 2011 SAP AG 17
In the Process Maintenance: Roll up of Filled Aggregates/BIA Index screen, select the Infocube for which
you wish to add the roll up process – following the data load.
Save and Go Back. Continue at the next screen.
Make sure that the roll up process follows the desired dependent processes.
Save, Activate and Schedule the Chain.
Roll up Using a Program
You can also roll up using program RSDDK_AGGREGATES_ROLLUP by scheduling it to run as a
background job or using it in an Event Collector.

© 2011 SAP AG 18
Aggregates Efficiency
If aggregates can help improve query performance they are can also prove detrimental to the overall system
performance due to the increase in loading times during roll-up and change runs. It always helps to
undertake an investigation that can tell you how critical an aggregate is for your queries depending on the
requirement from the users. Certain parameters to consider during this process are:
- At what frequency is the query executed? (If it is a weekly report – then aggregate roll up need not
be a daily process – it could also be done weekly)
- How critical is the query performance?
- How often are the master data / hierarchy changes done?
- Do we need the Change run to be directly associated with the master data/hierarchy change or can it
be done at a different frequency?
- If the Change run is not associated directly with master data/hierarchy changes, then how often the
transaction data uploaded? If weekly then will it helps executing the change run on a weekly basis?
- It always helps to build aggregates based on the real life feedback. Now this is possible only if your
InfoCube has the necessary aggregates which give you an insight based on the initial response from
the system – during data load and query execution.
- To optimize an InfoCube, you should repeatedly check:
o Whether aggregates are missing: Create new aggregates.
o Whether existing aggregates are no longer being used: Delete unnecessary aggregates.
Switch On/Off Aggregates
You can also switch Off a specific aggregate/s for queries of the InfoCube. This can be done by accessing
the specific aggregate/s in the Maintenance for Aggregates scree. Select the aggregate under consideration
and then from the ‘Aggregate’ menu – go to option ‘Switch On/Off for Queries’ (or select the icon Switch
On/Off)
You can see that after switching off the ‘Aggregate Version’ of the Infocube the indicator in the ‘Filled/Switch
Off’ is no longer shown Green.

© 2011 SAP AG 19
Delete Aggregates
To deactivate the aggregate and delete the definition of the aggregate, select the aggregate to be deleted
and select the delete function either with Delete or from the context menu of the aggregate.
Deactivate Aggregates
To delete all the data and database tables of an aggregate, select the required aggregate and choose
Deactivate.
The status display in the columns Status and Filled/switched off change back to . If you want to, you can
activate and fill the aggregate again later.
Compressing Aggregates
Aggregates can be compressed when they are filled up with data or rolled up from requests in an InfoCube.
To achieve this, select the Infocube and right click to ‘Manage’.

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In the Manage Data Targets screen select ‘Rollup’ tab.
You can set the same compression as show below.
When the compression is set, the aggregates are compressed automatically when they either filled with data
or rolled up from requests. However, this means that deletion of a request from the Infocube, which is
already rolled up to the aggregate, calls for deactivation and rebuilding of the aggregate.
If the compression is not switched on, then the aggregates are compressed together with the InfoCube. This
option helps if you wish to frequently delete requests from the Infocube. It is always recommended that
aggregates are compressed automatically so that they do not become larger and detrimental to the system
performance.

© 2011 SAP AG 21
Related Content
Performance Tuning for Queries with Aggregates ASAP FOR BW ACCELERATOR
Infocube Aggregate Status (History)
Performance Optimization with Aggregates
For more information visit the Enterprise Data Warehousing

© 2011 SAP AG 22
Copyright
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