Prerequisites, frequently asked questions, troubleshooting, and parameter information for the SAP BusinessObjects Repository bridge.
To use the latest version of this bridge, you must install the prerequisite software: http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg27038230.
A supported version of the BusinessObjects Designer client and Developer Components (SDKs) must be installed on the same computer that the bridges are installed on. For BusinessObjects versions up to XI 3.1, the Business Objects Desktop Intelligence client must be installed on the same computer. For BusinessObjects versions XI 4.0 and newer, you must also install the SAP BusinessObjects Semantic Layer Java SDK and Crystal Reports Java SDK on the same computer. Do not install the bridges on a computer where the BusinessObjects server is installed.
If you are unsure whether the Semantic Layer Java SDK is installed properly, check that BusinessObjects Information Design Tool can be started on the machine that the bridge is running on. Also check that the folder SL SDK exists in your BusinessObjects client tools installation. If the folder does not exist, reinstall BusinessObjects client tools and select SAP BusinessObjects Semantic Layer Java SDK during installation.
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.
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
The SAP BusinessObjects Repository bridge uses the following import configuration parameters.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.