HANA Live Connections

For this blog, we will solely focus on HANA Live Connections. This type of connection allows database artifacts such as graphical calculation views created in HANA Studio or SAP Web IDE for SAP HANA to act as data sources (models) in SAC. Using remote resources we can combine data within a calculation view from multiple tenant databases inside the SAP HANA database. These calculation views can then be consumed in SAC. Each time an end user accesses a dashboard, the underlying calculation view is executed in SAP HANA and the output data is sent via the network to SAC. Data from multiple calculation views can be combined into one source for real time data exploration and visualization. As the data is not persisted in SAC, there is no duplication of data either. More information on this connection type can be found here.

Establishing a tenant database connection in SAP Analytics Cloud

When installing a multiple-container system, only the system database is created. You will need to create and configure the tenants inside the database thereafter. SAP HANA does not know how to target tenant databases out of the box. This requires the backend to be configured correctly which will not be described in this article. Please contact your database administrator or check out this link for more information on this step.

Once the backend has been configured, it is time to create a connection in SAC. To do this, log into SAC in your browser and navigate to the task bar and select “Connection.”

In this example, a HANA Live Connection between SAC and the tenant running Financial Product Subledger (FPSL) has already been established.

Overview

connections

To create a new connection, click on the plus symbol in the righthand corner of the screen.

Then click on “Connect to Live Data” and select “SAP HANA.” Remember, we are creating a HANA Live Connection which allows SAC to consume database objects such as calculation views created in SAP HANA Studio or SAP Web IDE for SAP HANA.

Select a data source

You will need to provide the following information:

• Connection Type: “Direct” (see
  link
  for more information on the different connection types)
• Host: __
• Port: __

Edit HANA Live Connection

Once the connection has been established, it will appear under “Connections.” The next blog in the mini-series will describe how to build a basic calculation view in SAP HANA. The output of this calculation view will form the basis of your data source in SAC.