SAP BusinessObjects Repository bridge reference

Prerequisites, frequently asked questions, troubleshooting, and parameter information for the SAP BusinessObjects Repository bridge.

About this bridge

The SAP BusinessObjects Repository bridge imports business intelligence reports, business intelligence models, and related implemented data resources such as database tables from versions 11 through 12.4 of SAP BusinessObjects Designer and BusinessObjects Desktop Intelligence.

Note: This bridge contains beta support for BusinessObjects versions XI 4.0 and 4.1. To import from versions XI 4.0 and 4.1, you must download software that is specified in the Prerequisites section. The XI 4.0 and 4.1 versions do not support BusinessObjects Desktop Intelligence and thus do not require BusinessObjects Desktop Intelligence as a prerequisite.

The bridge relies on the following tools to import metadata:

BusinessObjects Designer OLE/COM API to import universe metadata.
For BusinessObjects versions up to XI 3.1, Business Objects Desktop Intelligence COM/OLE API to import report metadata.
Business Objects Web Intelligence SDK to import report metadata. For XI versions 4.0 SP6 and newer, the bridge uses the WebIntelligence Restful SDK. For XI versions 4.0 to SP5, the bridge uses the deprecated Web Intelligence Report Engine (Rebean) SDK, which provides limited metadata. For XI versions up to 3, the uses the WebIntelligence Report Engine (Rebean) SDK.
Semantic Layer Java SDK to import Information Design Tool universe metadata. The Semantic Layer Java SDK is supported for XI versions 4.1 and newer.

Prerequisites
Frequently asked questions
Troubleshooting
Import parameters

Prerequisites

Meet the following prerequisites before you use the bridge to import metadata.

To use the bridge with BusinessObjects XI 4.0 or 4.1, take the following actions:
1. Install the prerequisite software: http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg27038230.
2. Enable the bridge: http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21653765.
3. Before using the bridge, read the technote Known limitations of the beta bridge for SAP BusinessObjects Repository XI 4.0 and 4.1: http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21655320.
A supported version of the BusinessObjects Designer client must be installed on the same computer that the bridges are installed on. For BusinessObjects versions up to XI 3.1, Business Objects Desktop Intelligence must be installed on the same computer. Do not install the bridges on a computer where the BusinessObjects server is installed.
Ensure that there are no firewall restrictions for access to the BusinessObjects API and server. If the bridge fails to connect properly, disable the firewall temporarily to ensure that it is not the cause of the failure.
Ensure that the latest BusinessObjects service packs are installed consistently on the server and client computers. If you use BusinessObjects 4.0, install SP7 or later.
Clean up the temporary universe download directory because stale or locked files can prevent you from importing universes. Delete all temporary files from this directory. This directory path is configured in BusinessObjects Designer: Tools > Options > Save > Default Universe Folder. This directory path can be saved in the registry in: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Business Objects\Suite XXXX\default\Shared\General\Directories\Universes 8.
If any designer.exe processes are running on the system before you start the bridge, end the process by using the task manager. Such processes can interfere with successful execution of the COM API.
You must publish a universe and reports to the BusinessObjects central management server (CMS).
If you import Crystal reports, use the Crystal CORBA port import parameter to specify the client port number on which the Crystal SDK communicates with the report application server (RAS). Ensure that the local Windows firewall is disabled or allows receiving communication on this port. If you use an enterprise firewall, configure it to allow communication from the RAS server to the client computer on this port.

Frequently asked questions

What report file formats does this bridge support?

For BusinessObjects versions up to XI 3.1, this bridge reads the following report formats that are supported by BusinessObjects Desktop Intelligence:

BusinessObjects documents (*.rep)
BusinessObjects document templates (*.ret)
BusinessQuery files (*.bqy)
Web Intelligence Version 2 documents (*.wqy)
Crystal reports (*.rpt) starting with version 11

What report file formats are not supported?

BusinessObjects Desktop Intelligence and this bridge do not support the following report formats:

Web Intelligence Version 6 documents (*.wid)
Crystal reports (*.rpt) before version 11
Crystal OLAP Analysis reports (*.car)

What are the best firewall settings for running this bridge?

This bridge relies on the BusinessObjects client components to be able to communicate reliably with the BusinessObjects server. BusinessObjects Designer, Desktop Intelligence, Web Intelligence, and Crystal Reports must be able to log on with the Central Management Server (CMS), download and open universes and documents.

If your firewall is not properly configured, the bridge might hang indefinitely, or fail with no clear explanation. For detailed firewall settings, consult your system administrator and see the BusinessObjects documentation. Alternately, you can disable the firewall and ensure that the bridge runs correctly without it.

Why do some universe-dependent report documents seem to be missing?

The subsetting-by-universe feature relies on the BusinessObjects repository metadata cache of the dependencies between universes and report documents. It works well on production environments where all reports are actively used.

However, in the context of BusinessObjects repositories in development and test environments, some universes and report documents might be redesigned or moved. These changes can leave inaccurate dependency information in the repository cache. In such cases, some dependent report documents for a particular universe might not be detected. You can refresh the BusinessObjects repository cache by editing such documents, refreshing the queries, and saving the documents back to the BusinessObjects server.

To verify that a particular document is correctly linked to its universes in the BusinessObjects server cache, navigate through the public folders in the CMC administration web console (not InfoView). Find the document and view its properties. The Universe tab in version 11 and the Report Universes tab in version 12 show the universe dependencies

Why are some universes imported that are not in the folders that were specified for the import?

The bridge tries to harvest a self-contained set of objects. If the bridge parameter Add dependent objects is selected, the bridge imports all reports that depend on the specified universes. If these reports depend on any other universes, the bridge imports the other universes to be sure that these reports are fully defined.

How do I provide information to help the support team reproduce an issue?

For BusinessObjects Designer 11 and 12, create a Business Intelligence Archive file (*.BIAR) by using the Business Objects Import Wizard utility (ImportWiz.exe). Include the universes and any other documents of interest.

For Business Objects 14 (XI R4), use the Lifecycle Management Console to create a promotion job that has the required InfoObjects in it. Export the job as a BIAR file and send it to the support team. For more information, see Lifecycle management console for SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence platform 4.0 User Guide.

Troubleshooting

You can use the SAP BusinessObjects Diagnostic Tool to test for connectivity issues.

Log in with the same credentials that you use with the bridge, and run all tests. If any test fails, contact the local SAP BusinessObjects Administrator to resolve the issues. See Working with Firewalls in the SAP BusinessObjects Administration Guide.

In addition, you can customize the configuration file that is used to control which tests are run. The path to the configuration file is C:\Program Files (x86)\Business Objects\common\4.0\java\lib\TestClasses.xml in the default BusinessObjects client installation.

Import parameters

The SAP BusinessObjects Repository bridge uses the following import configuration parameters.

Version

Required. Select the version of BusinessObjects that you want to connect to. The default selection, Auto-detect, identifies the version of BusinessObjects client software that is installed locally.

Applying different BusinessObjects service packs can change the version number. Make the following choices based on the service pack installed:

For 14.1 (XI R4.1) service packs, select 14.1 (XI R4.1) - Beta bridge.
For 14.0 (XI R4.0) Service Pack 6 and above, select 14.0.6 (XI R4.0 SP6 and above) - Beta bridge.
For 14.0 (XI R4.0) up to Service Pack 5, select 14.0 (XI R4.0 up to SP5) - Beta bridge.
For 12.1 service packs, select 12.1 (XI R3.1) or Auto-detect.
For 11.5 service packs, select 11.5 (XI R2) or Auto-detect.
For 11.0 service packs, select 11.0 (XI) or Auto-detect.

System

Required. Type the name of the BusinessObjects repository to log in to. Type the name of the CMS, for example, localhost. This server logs in by default on port 6400.

If the CMS is configured in a cluster environment, you can specify the cluster name with the following syntax: cms:port@cluster. For example: localhost:6400@MYCLUSTER.

Authentication mode

Required. Select the login authentication mode. You can log in by using the default BusinessObjects Enterprise login or by using an LDAP server.

User name

Required. Type the user name to log in to BusinessObjects. Specify the BusinessObjects user Administrator when you using this bridge, because many of the API calls that the bridge uses provide complete information only if you connect as Administrator.

If you are not sure which user name and password to use, contact your BusinessObjects system administrator. For versions 11 and 12, the user must be a member of the Universe Designer Users group to open universes and of the Administrators group to access favorite folders.

Password

Type the password to log in to BusinessObjects.

Repository browsing mode

Specify what types of objects are retrieved when you browse the BusinessObjects repository. For complete data lineage, select the default, All.

This parameter is used only if you browse for assets in the Assets to import field. It is not used if you specify a list of IDs of objects to import.

Assets to import

Browse to select assets in a remote BusinessObjects repository, or type the IDs of the objects that you want to import. You can specify multiple IDs of universes, reports, and folders to be retrieved, separated by semicolons (;).

Incremental import

Keep this parameter selected. When you reimport from the same source, the bridge uses cached information to determine which objects did not change since the previous import. Only changed objects are retrieved from BusinessObjects. Using the cached information can increase performance for large imports.

For new imports, or when the cache is deleted or corrupted, the bridge imports all objects from the source regardless of the selection that is specified.

Add dependent objects

By default, documents that are dependent on the selected universes are imported. Clear the check mark if you do not want to import documents that are dependent on the selected universes.

When you import from BusinessObjects repositories that are in development and test environments, some universes and report documents might have been redesigned or moved. Inaccurate dependency information might remain in the BusinessObjects repository cache. Some report documents for a particular universe might not be imported, and all dependent report documents of a universe might not be detected. To avoid this situation, before you import, refresh the cache by loading any modified or moved report documents and refreshing the queries.

Add specific objects

Select whether to import additional objects that do not depend on a particular universe. The default is None. If you select Universe-independent documents, documents that do not depend on any universe are imported.

Crystal CORBA port

If you import Crystal reports, specify the client port number on which the Crystal SDK communicates with the report application server (RAS). If no port is specified, the RAS server randomly selects a port for each execution. If a port is specified, the RAS server uses that port to send metadata to the local client computer.

Ensure that the local Windows firewall is disabled or allows receiving communication on this port. If you use an enterprise firewall, configure it to allow communication from the RAS server to the client computer on this port. If a firewall blocks communication, the client Crystal SDK waits for metadata indefinitely.

Class representation

Specify how the tree structure of classes and subclasses is imported. By default, the bridge imports each class that contains objects as a dimension, as defined by the CWM OLAP standard. Only the default option, As a flat structure, is supported.

Worker threads

This parameter is available only if you have upgraded to the version of the bridge that supports XI 4.0 and 4.1.

Specify the number of worker threads to retrieve metadata asynchronously from the source. For the most reliable performance, leave the parameter blank to have the bridge compute the default value, which is based on JVM architecture and the number of available CPU cores.

If you must experiment with increasing retrieval speed, specify a number from 1 to 6 to provide the actual number of threads. If the value specified is invalid, a warning is issued and the number 1 is used instead. If you experience out-of-memory conditions when you are importing metadata asynchronously, experiment with smaller numbers. If your computer has a large amount of available memory, for example, 10 GB or more, you can try larger numbers when you are retrieving many documents. However, setting the number too high can decrease performance due to resource contention.

Import joins

You can import joins that are defined in the BI model. By default, joins are not imported.

Import levels

You can import levels and hierarchies. When the option is selected, levels and hierarchies that are defined in the BI model are imported. By default, levels and hierarchies are not imported.

Metadata consistency check

Perform a consistency check on the selected metadata before it is imported into the metadata repository. It is possible to save metadata in source tools in ways that cause problems when the assets are imported into the metadata repository or used in other tools. For example, a foreign key might have no connection to a primary key or to an alternate key. In some cases, the metadata might be so semantically inconsistent that the bridge cannot import it.

The metadata consistency check returns warnings and errors in the log file.

Basic check: The default. Runs the minimum consistency checks necessary to validate the metadata, including checking for missing relationships and foreign keys that are not connected to primary or alternate keys.; In some cases, the basic check might be more rigorous than necessary and you can ignore certain errors or warnings.
Detailed check: Runs the basic check plus more advanced semantic checks specific to the type of metadata that is imported. This level can be used when the source tool cannot validate the metadata.
No check: Use with extreme caution. Selecting this option might result in the import of duplicates or invalid identities and might cause serious problems with your use of suite tools and the metadata repository.