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MongoDB and SAP BW Connection Guide

Overview

Note
  1. This article describes only the Select Data Table configuration step when connecting MongoDB and SAP BW.
  2. Unlike standard databases, MongoDB and SAP BW do not support dynamic parameters such as time macros or global parameters during table selection.

Because MongoDB and SAP BW differ in data structure and query behavior, the Select Data Table step has a different configuration flow, so it is documented separately here.

Except for Select Data Table, all other configuration such as selecting the connector, configuring update methods, and confirming the data table information is basically the same as standard database integration. See Standard Database Connection Guide.

MongoDB

  1. Select an existing MongoDB account. The visible data tables under that account are listed on the left.

  2. Select one table. The system automatically generates field information based on the first 100 rows of data in that table. Users can review the generated fields, manually adjust field types, and remove any fields that should not be imported.

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  3. If the first 100 rows do not contain a field you need, you can add the field manually by creating a new field and defining its type.

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  4. If multiple fields need to be added, Guandata BI supports Batch Create Fields, allowing users to enter multiple field names and field types by line.

    Note
    1. Enter values in the order field name;field type, using a half-width semicolon ; as the separator, and separate fields by line breaks.
    2. If an unsupported field type is entered, the platform applies conversion rules. For example, if a dataset contains unstructured arrays or JSON fields, they are stored as text. If further transformation is needed, Spark JSON functions may be required.

  5. If the extracted data needs filtering, click Add Filter Condition. Users can add one or more field-level filter conditions. The filtering logic is basically the same as the data filtering logic used in chart creation. See the Data Filtering section in Chart Building.

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  6. After configuration is complete, click Preview to inspect the resulting data.

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SAP BW

Connecting data from SAP BW means using Guandata's dedicated SAP BW connector to connect directly to SAP BW as a database source.

Guandata connects to SAP BW through XMLA to retrieve catalog and cube information and then obtain data. Therefore, the XMLA service must be enabled on the SAP BW server before Guandata BI can connect successfully.

Log in to the SAP system client, enter transaction code SICF, navigate to default_host -> sap -> bw -> xml -> soap, locate xmla, right-click it, and choose Activate Service.

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After the server-side configuration is complete, the account can be configured in Guandata BI.

Create an SAP BW Data Account

If no Data Account has been created yet, go to the Data Accounts page, click New Data Account, choose SAP BW, and fill in the database information.

If the target is an Info Cube, enter $INFOCUBE in the catalog field. If the target is a Query Cube under a specific Info Provider, enter the corresponding Info Provider information. After entering the account information, click Test Connection. If the result shows Connection Successful, click Confirm.

Select the Connector

Go to the data center, choose Add Dataset > Database, enter the Select Connector page, choose SAP BW, and click Next.

Select the Data Table

Select an existing SAP BW account. The visible data tables under that account are listed on the left. If no account exists yet, click New Account to create one.

Select one table. The system automatically generates field information based on the first 100 rows. If there are fields that should not be imported, they can be removed. If the first 100 rows do not contain fields you need, add them manually and define the field types. If filtering is needed, add filter conditions by field.

After configuration, click Preview to view the data preview.

Update Settings

SAP BW data integration supports only Guan-Index mode. Users can configure an update cycle for SAP BW datasets.

Update settings can also be configured from the dataset details page. See Dataset Updates.

Confirm the Data Table Information

Assign a recognizable name to the dataset, choose the save location, and click Confirm Creation.

After the dataset is created successfully, it can be found under Data Center > Datasets.

Use SAP BW Datasets

SAP BW datasets can be used directly to create Cards or ETL flows. If the dataset contains unstructured array fields or JSON fields, they are stored as text. If further transformation is needed, Spark JSON functions may be required.

Glossary

SAP BW

SAP BW is one of the integrated components of SAP Business Intelligence. It provides an integrated business-oriented platform for collecting, storing, analyzing, and managing both SAP and non-SAP data. The full name is Business Information Warehouse, and after version 3.5 it was also known as SAP Business Intelligence.