OLAP UNV on BEx query limited to 50 dimensions in Webi. But BICS & Relational UNX not. WHY???

[antonette_oberholster]

Hello Experts.

We created a multiprovider and BEx query on top of it with about 70 characteristics (dimensions) and 100 key figures (measures). Then we created an OLAP universe on top of the BEx query and now we face a limitation of only being able to have a maximum of 50 characteristics in a Webi query.

I recently logged an OSS ticket with SAP and they said it is due to a BW/BEx limitation and you cannot have more than 50 characteristics in one query.

BUT. If this is a BW/BEx limitation, how come I don't have this limitation when creating a report using a Relational UNX or direct BICS connection on the exact same BEx query (IDT)?

SAP referred me to this post but I still don't get why only OLAP is limited and BICS and UNX are not. BICS vs BAPI vs DF Relational Connection

Please help I really want to understand why this is happening. Unfortunately it is not as simple as just using the BICS and UNX universe because I need hierarchy functionality (accessing specific levels as flat objects) in UDT.

We are on NW 7.4 and BO 4.2.

Thanks

Antonette

[LepreuxLoic]

Hi,

This limitation is indeed enforced by BEx model, you can refer to documentation in page https://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw75/helpdata/EN/f1/0a5625e09411d2acb90000e829fbfe/frameset.htm.

You can use any number of characteristics in the query. Note, however, that the number of characteristics in the drilldown is restricted. An unlimited number of characteristics is permitted in theFree Characteristicsarea. Note, however, that the rows and columns can contain a maximum of 50 - <number of structures> characteristics only.

This rule is valid whether you connect with BAPI UNV Universe or with BICS Direct Access.

If you need to build a Web Intelligence report with objects based on Hierarchy levels, then you may use a function called 'MemberAtDepth' which will let you define same kind of logic that is available with UNV OLAP Universes.

Best regards,

Loic

[antonette_oberholster]

Thank you Loic

I don't experience the limitation with BICS . . . . that is why this is so confusing.

Antonette

[matheo_d_m]

Hi Antonette and Loic,

I have experienced similar problem with the Bex query used through BICS connection in WEBI.

If I add to the 'Data Source' definition on the 'Data' tab in WEBI more than 98 fields of attributes/characteristics then I get message 'No data to retrieve in Query 1' when I try to refresh the DataSource. As long as I keep them below 99 fields I get the data.

We are on BusinessObjects BI Platform 4.2 Support Pack 3 Patch 8 Version: 14.2.3.2455 and data are extracted from BW query on HANA. I wonder if there is any limit on the number of fields in SQL generated from the WEBI definition...

Did you by chance find solution to your problem or could you direct me to some clues on the number of max columns when using Bex query through BICS connection?

Kind regards

Marek