Testing Guide - System Scout

Do you also have to deal with very complex data models that are very difficult to keep track of and, for example, make the integration of new colleagues a mammoth task?
The following functionalities will help understand all objects of the data application at a glance:

• Pick a complex BW data model and let the System Scout show you the complete data flow of the CompositeProvider/MultiProvider.
• Afterward, show the superordinate Queries and frontend objects (e.g. SAC & BO).
• Assign the objects to layers based on naming conventions and show them as well.
• If you test other SAP components besides BW: You can also view the data flow of a HANA Calculation View or a SAC Story!

To understand from which sources an InfoProvider gets data, to only see the Transformations and their source and target objects. More complex updates, for example with filter settings and logics, are not visible at first sight. 
The following functions show you these complex updates:

• Perform a look-up scan in the previously visualized data flow to see in which transformations additional data is read from other sources via look-ups.
• Perform the DTP & InfoPackage Scan, to analyze all filter settings and restrictions in the data flow. If a filter for example causes wrong data in a report, you can quickly identify the guilty filter setting.

Do you need to explain to the business how certain information is processed from the data source to the report and from which source systems it originates? Is a value in the report not correct because certain values are filtered out during staging? Then try out the following functions:

• Perform the mapping analysis in the network view and select multiple target InfoObjects of your analyzed object to trace the mapping of your Characteristics and Key Figures to the DataSource. 
• Perform the mapping analysis in the tree structure for several InfoObjects simultaneously or export the entire mapping directly in the form of an Excel file via Data Lineage.
• If you are testing other SAP connectors besides BW: Run the mapping analysis for HANA Calculation Views or CDS Views in the tree structure.

Are you sometimes afraid to make technical changes, because the impact can be fatal if you do not have them on your radar? The difficult-to-see interdependencies across systems can quickly cause certain objects to become inconsistent after changes. Test the following functions to detect these dependencies quickly:

• Select a Query that is used in BO or SAC objects and perform a Where-used analysis. A change in the Query could impact the Bo and SAC objects in the results.
• Use the Code Scan to search for the active table name of an ADSO, for example, to find out in which look-ups the ADSO is addressed. The results are the places in the code, that should be checked after the change.
• If you also test the HANA connector you can also check the direct object usage, e.g. on a Calculation View or searching the HANA coding for specific keywords.

Do you want to understand the buildup of your entities at a glance and search their elements for keywords? At the same time, if you want to check if there are cross-system differences between the same entity?
The following functions will help: 

• Choose a complex Query in your development system and start the function Analyze/Compare to quickly overview their buildup (Calculated 6 Restricted Key Figures, Variables, etc.).
• Afterward, you can select the same Query in the productive system and highlight differences, to detect potential differences. The same analysis can also be performed to compare their DTPs.
• Test this functionality also for other connectors and analyze a Calculation View in your HANA system, a BO report in BO and a Story in SAC.

Historically grown systems unfortunately tend to become very messy and chaotic: Duplicates are created or naming conventions are ignored due to the lack of an overview. The following functions ensure that unused and redundant objects can be found with just a few clicks:

• Do you want to find out which BW objects are assigned to a specific transport? Then open the function Resolve Transports, choose one or more transports, and start the analysis, to list the assigned objects. You can also use Resolve Promotion Jobs to view the BO reports on a specific Promotion Job.

• Do you at the same time want to make sure that the objects conform to your naming conventions before transporting them? Then make sure that the BW and BO naming conventions are defined with the Naming Conventions-function and are actually followed.

• Do you want to identify unused objects that can therefore be deleted?

  • Use the Data Loads and Usages function to find out when certain Queries were last called by users and when their InfoProviders were last loaded.

  • Determine InfoObjects that are not used in InfoProviders, other InfoObjects, Transformations, and InfoSources and can therefore be deleted, via Unused InfoObjects.

• You did changes on objects and want to make sure that these changes did not cause the deactivation of dependent objects (e.g. Transformations and DTPs)? The Inactive Entities-function shows all inactive objects in your system.