Access Live SAP BusinessObjects BI Data in TIBCO Data Virtualization

TIBCO Data Virtualization (TDV) is an enterprise data virtualization solution that orchestrates access to multiple and varied data sources. When paired with the CData TIBCO DV Adapter for SAP BusinessObjects BI, you get federated access to live SAP BusinessObjects BI data directly within TIBCO Data Virtualization. This article walks through deploying an adapter and creating a new data source based on SAP BusinessObjects BI.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData TIBCO DV Adapter offers unmatched performance for interacting with live SAP BusinessObjects BI data. When you issue complex SQL queries to SAP BusinessObjects BI, the adapter pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to SAP BusinessObjects BI. Its built-in dynamic metadata querying allows you to work with and analyze SAP BusinessObjects BI data using native data types.

Deploy the SAP BusinessObjects BI TIBCO DV Adapter

1. In a console, navigate to the bin folder in the TDV Server installation directory. If there is a current version of the adapter installed, you will need to undeploy it.

   .\server_util.bat -server localhost -user admin -password ******** -undeploy -version 1 -name SAPBusinessObjectsBI
   

2. Extract the CData TIBCO DV Adapter to a local folder and deploy the JAR file (tdv.sapbusinessobjectsbi.jar) to the server from the extract location.

   .\server_util.bat -server localhost -user admin -password ******** -deploy -package /PATH/TO/tdv.sapbusinessobjectsbi.jar
   

You may need to restart the server to ensure the new JAR file is loaded properly, which can be accomplished by running the composite.bat script located at: C:\Program Files\TIBCO\TDV Server <version>\bin. Note that reauthenticating to the TDV Studio is required after restarting the server.

Sample Restart Call

.\composite.bat monitor restart

Create a SAP BusinessObjects BI Data Source in TDV Studio

With the CData TIBCO DV Adapter for SAP BusinessObjects BI, you can easily create a data source for SAP BusinessObjects BI and introspect the data source to add resources to TDV.

Create the Data Source

1. Right-click on the folder you wish to add the data source to and select New -> New Data Source.
2. Scroll until you find the adapter (e.g. SAP BusinessObjects BI) and click Next.
3. Name the data source (e.g. CData SAP BusinessObjects BI Source).

4. Fill in the required connection properties.

   To connect to your SAP Business Objects BI instance, you must set the following connection properties:

   • Url: set this to the rest API URL. After logging into the Central Management Console, choose 'Applications' from the combo box. Double-click on 'RESTful Web Service' and you'll see the access URL. By default it is, http://{Server-Name}:6405/biprws.
   • User: set this to the username of your instance.
   • Password: set this to the password of your instance.
5. Click Create & Close.

Introspect the Data Source

Once the data source is created, you can introspect the data source by right-clicking and selecting Open. In the dashboard, click Add/Remove Resources and select the Tables, Views, and Stored Procedures to include as part of the data source. Click Next and Finish to add the selected SAP BusinessObjects BI tables, views, and stored procedures as resources.

After creating and introspecting the data source, you are ready to work with SAP BusinessObjects BI data in TIBCO Data Virtualization just like you would any other relational data source. You can create views, query using SQL, publish the data source, and more.