Access SAP ERP tables from BO tools - memory consumption

[Former Member]

Dear all,

we need to access ERP tables like EKKO or EKPO for example via the BO tools "Analysis for Office" (1.4.16) and "Lumira" (1.29) for operational reporting purposes. (We run SAP BW 7.31 and ERP EHP 7).

We did this in two ways: Via BW queries on ERP InfoSets (created with TA sq02) and universes build with the IDT tool based on the mentioned InfoSets as described in several discussions here.

Now the problem is that the BW query solution only works for very small tables. When we run a BW query based on an InfoSet with a huge table like EKKO below, we receive an error message although the query restricts to one record only. This error message is related to the memory consumption of the ERP application server (BICS_PROV_GET_RESULT_SET returned an exception: RFC_ERROR_SYSTEM_FAILURE: No memory for extension of an internal table). Please find a screenshot of the st22 dump attached.

With an universe in between it works. Unfortunately "Analysis for Office" does not support universes. We suspect that the usage of BW queries transfers the entire InfoSet definition of an Infoset into the memory of the application server before any query filters are considered.

Has anyone of you experienced the same behaviour and can advice with best pratice to access ERP tables in general or especially from the mentioned BO tools.

Best regards,

Alex

[TammyPowlas · Accepted solution]

Hi Alex,

Best tool for reporting on ERP tables is Crystal Reports 2013/2016

That said, since you have BW, why not use the standard Purchasing BI content and extractors and report on procurement using BW?  That way you can use Analysis Office.

Also the version of Analysis Office (1.4) will soon go out of support (September, I think) so I recommend updating as soon as you can. 

You could try reporting against the BW ERP query using Analysis Office 2.3 and maybe you will see some performance improvements - but you are right, it works only against smaller tables.

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Tammy,

thank you very much for your answer. We performed in the meantime a database trace on ERP side and found out that if a BW Query is executed on an ERP Infoset the whole amount of data is tranferred into the memory of the application server although the query is restricted to one record only.

When we use an universe in between only the selection is transferred as expected.

Subsequently we skip the BW query solution with "Analysis for Office" and will explore to use Crystal Reports.

We have the standard purchasing BI content in use but some Business Analyst have the demand to investigate special information for operational/ Adhoc reporting purposes next to standard BI reports. The reason why we use "Analysis for Office" 1.4 is related to Office 2007. But we hope to have an upgrade here soon.

Best regards,

Alex