Unlocking SAP S/4HANA Analytics with ABAP CDS: A Comprehensive Guide

Analytical Queries are crucial in SAP S/4HANA analytics, generating meaningful data sets for business users to explore. Developed using ABAP CDS in Eclipse's ADT tools, a new free Learning Journey is available to help users develop skills in this popular topic. The course files can be accessed here, allowing learners to practice in their own cloud ABAP environment.

Analytical queries are an essential component of SAP S/4HANA analytics, providing business users with the ability to generate meaningful data sets for exploration [1]. These queries define the attributes, measures, and settings available in multidimensional reports, enabling users to answer business-specific questions that require free data exploration.

Developed using ABAP CDS in Eclipse's ADT tools, a new free learning journey is available to help users master this popular topic [1]. The course files can be accessed through this link, allowing learners to practice in their own cloud ABAP environments.

An analytical query generates ad-hoc views of business data and strictly defines the list of allowed fields and filters [1]. It sits at the top of the virtual data model stack, built on top of cube type CDS views. Technically, these queries are the central objects of SAP S4/HANA embedded analytics, with key performance indicators (KPIs), multidimensional reports, and the analysis path framework all consuming them.

While SAP provides a vast number of ready-made analytical queries for various lines of business, there are instances when these delivered queries do not fit specific business requirements. This may include preferring alternative layouts, applying fixed filters, selecting different fields, generating custom calculated measures, or defining restricted measures for side-by-side comparisons. In such cases, users can create custom analytical queries following these key steps:

1. Choose a data source.
2. Select the required fields.
3. Choose the axis for each field (rows, columns, or free).
4. Check and adjust settings for each field.
5. Optionally define filters (fixed or user input).
6. Optionally define calculated or restricted measures.
7. Save draft.
8. Optionally preview results.
9. Publish.

SAP offers the Custom Analytical Queries app to help users define their own analytical queries, providing even more flexibility and control for business users in their data exploration journey.

References:
[1] SAP. (n.d.). Discovering SAP S/4HANA Embedded Analytics: Creating Analytical Queries. Retrieved from https://learning.sap.com/learning-journeys/discovering-sap-s-4hana-embedded-analytics/creating-analytical-queries_f19d294b-e1bf-4549-846f-340f695663f7