How to use .hdbsysbicsynonym correctly?

[mike_howles4]

I'm trying to expose some HDI CVs to _SYS_BIC schema because of this Power BI limitation: https://ideas.powerbi.com/forums/265200-power-bi-ideas/suggestions/36306355-sap-hana-2-0-display-cal...

I see in the SAP HANA Developer Guide they mention a ".hdbsysbicsynonym" file which looks promising...

I've updated my .hdiconfig entry with:

"hdbsysbicsynonym" : {
   "plugin_name" : "com.sap.hana.di.sysbicsynonym"
}

Below is my .hdbsysbicsynonym file (my DB Module has no namespace FYI):

{
   "ipaper.test::Sflight" : {
      "target" : {
         "object" : "SYN_Sflight"
      }
   }
}

When trying to build, I receive this error in the log:

Error: Starting make in the container "SFLIGHT_EXAMPLE_1" with 2 files to deploy, 0 files to undeploy... failed [8214168]
Error: Could not run make [8211554]
Error: "src/calculation-views/SYN_Sflight.hdbsysbicsynonym": could not create a compile unit for the file [8211714]   at "src/calculation-views/SYN_Sflight.hdbsysbicsynonym" (0:0)
Error: Could not find version 2.0.32.0 of the "com.sap.hana.di.sysbicsynonym" build plugin [8210501]

In section 11.25 of the guide, it mentions:

The _SYS_BIC Synonym plug in is intended for use in migration scenarios where an existing application accesses database objects via _SYS_BIC synonyms. Consequently, the corresponding plug in library (com.sap.hana.di.sysbicsynonym) is not part of the default libraries for a new HDI container; com.sap.hana.di.sysbicsynonym must be explicitly configured by an administrator.

So this led to a different rabbit hole that I hope I don't really have to go down... It had to do with setting up HDI Administrator, HDI Group Administrator, and HDI Container Administrators, etc. I started trying to follow that documentation but it seemed like complete overkill for a build-time object and honestly I don't know if that's even what's wrong.

Any hints on how to enable the com.sap.hana.di.sysbicsynonym plugin would be greatly appreciated, as I've run out of ideas.

[mike_howles4 · Accepted solution]

So I finally was able to sort it out by getting myself as an HDI Container Administrator and enabling the plugin on the HDI container in question. At the end of the day I still have questions about how to manage the build vs deploy containers but I have some ideas for another day there. Marking "become an HDI Container Administrator and enable the plugin" as my accepted answer unless some kind soul gives me a better answer at a later date.

[mike_howles4]

I think I just had an realization about why this is not possible at WebIDE build time. _SYS_BIC is a "singleton" classic schema so it would be impossible for a build-time and deploy-time version of HDI containers both have Synonyms pointing to 2 different target containers, which would be the situation in the development system.

So I believe I must first deploy an HDI container and its DB artifacts in one container, and then have an administrator manually enable sysbicsynonym plugin as documented *TO THE DEPLOYED* HDI Container (for Production, for Development perhaps it's the buildtime one?), and then can subsequently then deploy a .mtar containing a .hdbsysbicssynonym to set the Synonyms.

I *think* this is why, at least....

[braghavendra_rao]

Looks like a mismatch of plugin version in your underlying HANA system.

Can you try using a lesser version say 2.0.030.0 (corresponds to HANA 2 SP03) system.in your .hdiconfig file

[mike_howles4]

Thanks for the suggestion, however I get the same error:

Error: Starting make in the container "SFLIGHT_EXAMPLE_1" with 2 files to deploy, 0 files to undeploy... failed [8214168]
 Error: Could not run make [8211554]
 Error: "src/calculation-views/SYN_Sflight.hdbsysbicsynonym": could not create a compile unit for the file [8211714]
   at "src/calculation-views/SYN_Sflight.hdbsysbicsynonym" (0:0)
 Error: Could not find version 2.0.30.0 of the "com.sap.hana.di.sysbicsynonym" build plugin [8210501]
Deployment to container SFLIGHT_EXAMPLE_1 failed - error: HDI make failed [Deployment ID: none].

FYI, we are on 2.0 SP03 Rev 32 of HANA DB, so when the DB module was first created, the header section of the .hdiconfig was pre-populated with 2.0.32.0 which I suspect is why it is looking for that one. I tried to override as per documentation with both 2.0.30.0 and 2.0.0.0 and I get the same error that it could not find it.