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SAP NetWeaver BI Query Designer User Interface

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Reporting Services provides a graphical query designer for building Multidimensional Expression (MDX) queries for a SAP NetWeaver® Business Intelligence data source. The MDX graphical query designer has two modes: Design mode and Query mode. Each mode provides a Metadata pane from which you can drag members from an InfoCube, MultiProvider, or Web-enabled query defined on the data source to build an MDX query that retrieves data when the report is processed.

Important

Users access data sources when they create and run queries. You should grant minimal permissions on the data sources, such as read-only permissions.

For more information about working with a SAP multidimensional data source, see SAP NetWeaver BI Connection Type (SSRS).

This section describes the toolbar buttons and query designer panes for each mode of the graphical query designer.

Graphical Query Designer in Design Mode

When you edit a dataset query that uses a SAP NetWeaver Business Intelligence data source, the graphical query designer opens in the Design mode. The following figure labels the panes for Design mode.

Query Designer using MDX in Design Mode

The following table lists the panes in this mode.

Pane Function
Select Cube button Displays the currently selected InfoCube, MultiProvider, or Web-enabled query.
Metadata pane Displays a hierarchical list of InfoCubes, MultiProviders, and queries. Queries created at the data source may appear under the corresponding cube.
Calculated Members pane Displays the currently defined calculated members available for use in the query.
Data pane Displays the results of running the query.

You can drag dimensions and key figures from the Metadata pane, and calculated members from the Calculated Member pane onto the Data pane. If the AutoExecute toggle button on the toolbar is on, the query designer runs the query every time you drop an object onto the Data pane. If AutoExecute is off, the query designer does not run the query as you make changes to the Data pane. You can manually run the query using the Run button on the toolbar.

Toolbar for the Graphical Query Designer in Design Mode Toolbar

The query designer toolbar provides buttons to help you design MDX queries using the graphical interface. The following table describes the buttons and their functions.

Button Description
Edit As Text Toggle between the text-based query designer and the graphical query designer. Not available for this data source type.
Import Import an existing query from a report definition (.rdl) file on the file system. For more information, see Report Embedded Datasets and Shared Datasets (Report Builder and SSRS).
Refresh dataset fields Refresh metadata from the data source.
Add calculated member Display the Calculated Member Builder dialog box.
Toggle for show empty cells Switch between showing and not showing empty cells in the Data pane. (This is the equivalent to using the NON EMPTY clause in MDX).
AutoExecute the query Automatically run the query and show the result every time a change is made, for example, deleting a column in the Data pane. Results are shown in the Data pane.
Delete Delete the selected column in the Data pane from the query.
Icon for the Query Parameters dialog box Display the Variables dialog box. This button is enabled only when the selected cube is a Query cube (because only query cubes support variables). When you assign a default value to a variable, a corresponding report parameter is created.
Run the query Run the query and display the results in the Data pane.
Cancel the query Cancel the query.
Switch to Design mode Switch between Design mode and Query mode.

Graphical Query Designer in Query Mode

To change the graphical query designer to Query mode, click the Design Mode toggle button on the toolbar.

The following figure indicates the parts of the query designer in Query mode.

SAP BW MDX query designer in query view

The following table describes the function of each pane.

Pane Function
Select Cube button Displays the currently selected InfoCube, MultiProvider, or other cube.
Metadata/Functions pane Displays a tabbed window that shows a list of available metadata or functions that can be used to build the query text.
Variables pane Displays the currently defined variables available for use in the query.
Query pane Displays the current query text.
Result pane Displays the results of the query.

From the Metadata pane, you can drag key figures and dimensions from the Metadata tab onto the MDX Query pane; the technical name for the metadata is inserted at the cursor. You can drag functions from the Functions tab onto the MDX Query pane. When you execute the query, the Result pane displays the results for the current MDX query.

If your selected cube is a Web-enabled query, you will be prompted to set static default values for the existing variables. You can then drag variables onto the MDX Query pane.

The Metadata and Variable panes display friendly names. When you drop the objects onto the MDX Query pane, you see the technical names needed by the data source entered into the MDX query.

Toolbar for the Graphical Query Designer in Query Mode

The query designer toolbar provides buttons to help you design MDX queries using the graphical interface. The toolbar buttons are identical between Design mode and Query mode, but the following buttons are not enabled for Query mode:

  • Edit As Text

  • Add Calculated Member (Add calculated member)

  • Show Empty Cells (Toggle for show empty cells)

  • AutoExecute (AutoExecute the query)

  • Delete (Delete)

See Also

Create a Shared Dataset or Embedded Dataset (Report Builder and SSRS) RSReportDesigner Configuration File