Analyze SAP Netweaver Gateway Data in SAP Analytics Cloud

SAP Analytics Cloud is a cloud-based business intelligence platform. The CData Connect Server creates a virtual database for SAP Netweaver Gateway and can be used to generate an OData API (natively consumable in Analytics Cloud) for SAP Netweaver Gateway. By pairing SAP Analytics Cloud with the CData Connect Server, you get direct connectivity to all of your SaaS and cloud-based Big Data and NoSQL sources — no need to migrate your data or write your integrations. Simply connect to Connect Server as you would any other OData service and get instant, consolidated access to all of your data.

In this article, we walk through connecting to SAP Netweaver Gateway in Connect Server and connecting to Connect Server from Analytics Cloud to create a model and build a simple dashboard.

Configure Connect Server to Connect to SAP Netweaver Gateway

To connect to SAP Netweaver Gateway data from SAP Analytics Cloud, you need to configure SAP Netweaver Gateway access from your Connect Server instance. This means creating a user, connecting to SAP Netweaver Gateway, adding OData endpoints, and (optionally) configuring CORS.

Add a Connect Server User

Create a User to connect to SAP Netweaver Gateway from Analytics Cloud through Connect Server.

1. Click Users -> Add
2. Configure a User
3. Click Save Changes and make note of the Authtoken for the new user

Connect to SAP Netweaver Gateway from Connect Server

CData Connect Server uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources and generate APIs.

1. Open Connect Server and click Connections
2. Select "SAP Netweaver Gateway" from Available Data Sources
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to SAP Netweaver Gateway.

   SAP Gateway allows both basic and OAuth 2.0 authentication. You can use basic authentication to connect to your own account, or you can use OAuth to enable other users to retrieve data from your service with their accounts. In addition to authenticating, set the following connection properties to access SAP Gateway tables.

   • Url: Set this to the URL of your environment, or to the full URL of the service. For example, the full URL might appear as: https://sapes5.sapdevcenter.com/sap/opu/odata/IWBEP/GWSAMPLE_BASIC/. In this example, the environment URL would just be: https://sapes5.sapdevcenter.com.
   • Namespace: Set the appropriate Service Namespace. In the example above, IWBEP is the namespace. It is optional if the full URL to the service is specified.
   • Service: Set this to the service you want to retrieve data from. In the example above, the service is GWSAMPLE_BASIC. It is not required if the full URL is specified.

   Authenticate via Basic Authentication

   In basic authentication, you use your login credentials to connect. Set the following properties:

   • User: This is the username you use to log in to SAP Gateway.
   • Password: This is the password you use to log in to SAP Gateway.

   Authenticate via OAuth Authentication

   You can connect to SAP Gateway using the embedded OAuth connectivity (without setting any additional authentication connection properties). When you connect, the OAuth endpoint opens in your browser. Log in and grant permissions to complete the OAuth process. See the OAuth section in the online Help documentation for more information on other OAuth authentication flows.

4. Click Save Changes
5. Click Privileges -> Add, and add the new user (or an existing user) with the appropriate permissions (SELECT is all that is required for Reveal)

Add SAP Netweaver Gateway OData Endpoints in Connect Server

After connecting to SAP Netweaver Gateway, create OData Endpoint for the desired table(s).

1. Click OData -> Tables -> Add Tables
2. Select the SAP Netweaver Gateway database
3. Select the table(s) you wish to work with and click Next
4. (Optional) Edit the resource to select specific fields and more
5. Save the settings

(Optional) Configure Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS)

When accessing and connecting to multiple different domains from an application such as Ajax, there is a possibility of violating the limitations of cross-site scripting. In that case, configure the CORS settings in OData -> Settings.

• Enable cross-origin resource sharing (CORS): ON
• Allow all domains without '*': ON
• Access-Control-Allow-Methods: GET, PUT, POST, OPTIONS
• Access-Control-Allow-Headers: Authorization

Save the changes to the settings.

Create a Model of SAP Netweaver Gateway Data in SAP Analytics Cloud

With the connection to SAP Netweaver Gateway configured and the OData endpoint(s) created, we can create a Model for SAP Netweaver Gateway data in SAP Analytics Cloud.

1. Log into your Analytics Cloud instance and click Create -> Model from the menu.
2. Choose "Get data from a datasource" and select "OData Services"
3. Choose an existing connection to your Connect Server OData or Create a new one:
   • Set "Connection Name"
   • Set "Data Service URL" to the Base URL for your OData API (typically: CONNECT_SERVER_URL/api.rsc)
   • Set "Authentication Type" to Basic Authentication
   • Set "User Name" to the Connect Server user you configured earlier
   • Set "Password" to the Authtoken for the above user
4. Choose "Create a new query" and click Next
5. Name the Query, select an OData endpoint (like sapgatewaydb_SalesOrderLineItems) and click Next
6. Drag the columns you wish to work with into the Selected Data workspace and click Create
7. At this point, a Draft Data source is created; click the draft to finalize the model
8. Perform any transformations, including creating calculated dimensions, location dimensions, and combining data sources, then click Create Model
9. Name your model and click OK

Build a Dashboard in SAP Analytics Cloud

With the model created, you are ready to create a dashboard in SAP Analytics Cloud based on SAP Netweaver Gateway data.

1. From the menu, click Create -> Story
2. Click an SAP Analytics Template (this article uses the "Dashboard" template)
3. Choose a layout and click Apply
4. From the More menu, select a visualization to insert (Chart)
5. Select a model to visualize
6. Select a structure and the required Measures and Dimensions
7. Save the story

More Information & Free Trial

Now, you have created a simple but powerful dashboard from live SAP Netweaver Gateway data. For more information on creating OData feeds from SAP Netweaver Gateway (and more than 200 other data sources), visit the Connect Server page. Sign up for a free trial and start working with live SAP Netweaver Gateway data in SAP Analytics Cloud.