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The first article in this series provided an overview of BW Workspaces, including the roles and responsibilies as well as some general best practices.  This article in the series goes into the detailed steps for the configuration of BW Workspaces, the security setup and the creation of the BW Workspace itself.

Setup: Configuration

The pre-requisites for using BW Workspaces are as follows:

  • SAP NetWeaver BW 7.30 SP1 or higher
  • Workspace ABAP AddOn for BW7.30 (includes ABAP WebDynpro application)
  • SAP NetWeaver BWA 7.20 or SAP HANA 1.0 SP05
  • SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, Edition for Microsoft Office 1.3 or higher

In addition to the above pre-requisites, the following procedure needs to be followed in order to make sure that the Web Dynpro application for BW Workspaces works properly:

  • Additionally, the following ICF services for the BW Workspace Designer application (which is a Web Dynpro application) need to be enabled via transaction SICF:
    • RSL_UI_MY_WORKSPACE
    • RSL_UI_CREATE_COPR
    • RSL_UI_CREATE_PROVIDER
    • RSL_UI_CHANGE_WORKSPACE
    • RSL_UI_CHANGE_QUERIES

The above ICF services can be found at the location /default_host/sap/bc/webdynpro/sap

Figure 3: Location of ICF Services

  • Create the authorization roles (see the next section)
  • Assign the users the appropriate roles
  • Confirm the parameters in Internet Communication Manager (ICM) are set to
  • Activate the service myssocntl via transaction code SICF

Figure 4: Service myssocntl


Setup: Security

BW Workspaces have their own authorization objects.  As there are three different perspectives on BW Workspaces (i.e. IT, Power Users, Business Users), there should be three different roles with different values specified for the relevant authorization objects.  Table 2 summarizes the authorization objects, field names and values from the different perspectives.  It should be noted that the entries in Table 2 that are highlighted in yellow should be replaced by the specific pattern that fits the company’s naming convention or the specific namespaces.

Table 2: Required Authorization Objects

In addition to the users needing a role with the above authorizations, the users will also need ot have an appropriate analysis authorization in order to see the data returned from the CompositeProviders/Queries.  The important thing to remember when setting up the analysis authorizations is that the field “Authorizations for InfoProvider” (i.e. 0TCAIPROV) should also contain an entry for the CompositeProviders, which will all start with @3 followed by the technical name of the CompositeProvider.  As a simple example, let us assume the following:

  • The InfoArea is BOBJ.
  • All queries will be based upon MultiProviders that start with the prefix MBOBJ*, and will have the same analysis authorization concept based upon Profit Center (i.e. 0PROFIT_CTR).
  • The analysis authorization field 0TCAIPROV  already contains the pattern MBOBJ*.
  • The CompositeProviders, Analytical Indexes, and Queries all start with the prefix MBOBJ*.

Given the very simple example above, the analysis authorization would have to be extended to also include the pattern @3MBOBJ* in order for the same analysis authorization to work for the CompositeProviders, analytical indexes, and queries.  This simple example also illustrates the benefits of the best practice for naming the CompositeProviders, analytical indexes, and queries.

Setup: BW Workspace

As mentioned in part 1 in this series, IT is responsible for setting up the BW Workspace area.  IT uses transaction RSWSP (or RSWSPW) in order to access the interface that is used to setup a BW Workspace via the classic SAP GUI.  This section describes the specific steps that IT must perform in order to setup a BW Workspace.

General Setup

  • Execute transaction RSWSP
  • Enter a technical name for the BW Workspace and then click the button Create

Figure 5: Creating a BW Workspace

  • On the screen that appears, enter a Description for the BW Workspace

Figure 6: Entering a BW Workspace Description

Settings Tab

  • On the Settings tab, the default Expiry Date will be 31.12.9999.  It can be overriden with a different date that corresponds to the company’s best practice for how long a BW Workspace can exist (e.g. 6 months – 18 months from the date it was created).  The date entered in this field will be the date that the BW Workspace will no longer be valid and users will no longer be able to access the BW Workspace and its contents.   It should be noted that thesystem will not automatically delete an expired BW Workspace.  Rather, the administrator will need to check on a regular basis for expired BW Workspaces.

NOTE: When a user tries to display data for an expired BW Workspace, the error message will look as follows:

Figure 7: Error From Expired BW Workspace

  • The Workspace Prefix defaults to the first 3 characters of the technical name of the workspace.  If IT leaves the Workspace Prefix field populated, then all objects within the BW Workspace will start with the specified prefix (e.g. CompositeProvider and queries).   Clear out the abbreviation so that there is a   The value in this field cannot be changed once the BW Workspace has been saved.
  • Enter the Business Contact and the IT Contact for the BW Workspace in the Contact 1 and Contact 2 fields, respectively.

NOTE: This will allow transparency on who to contact with questions/issues about the BW Workspace or its contents

  • IF the BW Workspace should be based upon a MultiProvider ONLY, then enter the MultiProvider technical name in the MultiProvider field.


NOTE: If the MultiProvider is specified , then no other InfoProvider can be specified on the Central Providers tab.

  • Leave the other defaults and click on the Central Providers tab.

Figure 8: Settings Tab of BW Workspace

Central Providers Tab

This tab is used to select which Provider and which fields should be usable within the BW Workspace.  This is particularly useful when empowering the users to create their own CompositeProviders and reports based upon BW data without giving them access to sensitive fields to which they should not have access (e.g. SSN, salary, etc.).

  • If navigating to this tab without first saving the Workspace and without specifying a MultiProvider on the Settings tab, then the screen will initially appear as shown below:

Figure 9: Initial View of Central Providers Tab


NOTE: If a specific MultiProvider was specified on the Settings tab, then the initial screen will show the MultiProvider on the right-hand side of the screen on the Central Providers tab.

Figure 10: Central Providers Tab For MultiProviders

  • Simply click the icon on the left-side of the screen (which is highlighted in Figure 9) in order to see a list of available Providers to include in the BW Workspace.  Navigate to the InfoProvider and drag it to the right pane.

Figure 11: Available Providers on Central Providers Tab

  • After expanding the Provider on the right, all of the Dimensions and Key Figures will initially be checked in the Usable column (as shown in the screenshot below).  Simply expand the Dimensions and de-select any characteristics that should not be visible in the BW Workspace.  Similarly, de-select any Key Figures that should not be visible in the BW Workspace.  In this specific example, all Characteristics and Key Figures will remain selected.

Figure 12: Selecting Fields Usable By BW Workspace

NOTE: If a MultiProvider was selected on the Settings tab, then there will be a node labeled Provider below the MultiProvider on the right-hand side of the screen and non of the Providers will be selected in the Usable column.  If all of the Providers that are included in the MultiProvider should be available in the BW Workspace, then click the checkbox next to the node labeled Provider.  Otherwise, click the specific InfoProvider to include and then further unselect any dimension, characteristic or key figures that should not be visible in the BW Workspace.

Figure 13: Selecting Providers Usable By BW Workspace

  • Save & Activate the BW Workspace by click the Activate icon (as highlighted in Figure 14).   Figure 15 shows the message that will appear once the BW Workspace has been activated.

Figure 14: Saving & Activating BW Workspace

Figure 15: Confirmation Messages

  • The Power User can then start to use the BW Workspace to model CompositeProviders.  He can upload local data and create a Composite Provider from either the web-based Composite Provider Designer application or an SAP BI client such as SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, edition for Microsoft Office. Once the Composite Provider is defined, he can manage (edit, empty) it from the the web application. BEx queries can be defined on top of the Composite Provider from BEx Query Designer.

Next Articles in the Series

To get the step-by-step details, including screenshots, for creating the local providers and CompositeProviders, see part 3a in the series.  To get the step-by-step details, including screenshots, for switching between different BW Workspaces, editing BW Workspaces, notifying users of changes, and queries, see part 3b in the series.

Previous Article in the Series

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