BI Geocoding

Purpose

To display dynamic geo-characteristics as points on a map, you have to determine the geographic co-ordinates for every master data object.

The master data table for dynamic geo-characteristics is, therefore, extended with a number of standard geo-attributes such as LONGITUDE and LATITUDE (see Static and Dynamic Geo-Characteristics ).

Prerequisites

You have marked the geo-relevant characteristic as geo-relevant in the InfoObject maintenance. See the tab page: Business Explorer

To follow the example that explains the geocoding process, you must ensure that SAP DemoContent is active in your BI system.

Process Flow

Geocoding is implemented with ArcView GIS software from ESRI. ArcView GIS determines the geographical coordinates of BI data by identifying a column with geo-relevant characteristics in a reference Shapefile. To carry out this process, you have to load the BI master data table into a dBase file. The geographical coordinates are determined for every master data object. After you have done this, convert the dBase file with the determined geo-attributes into a CSV file (comma-separated value file), which you can use for a master data upload into the BI master data table.

The following steps explain the process of geocoding dynamic geo-characteristics using the 0D_SOLD_TO characteristic (Sold-to Party) from the 0D_SD_C03 Sales Overview Demo-Content InfoCube.

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1. You download BI master data into a dBase file.

2. You execute the geocoding with ArcView GIS .

3. You convert dBase files into a CSV files.

4. You schedule a master data upload for the CSV file.

The system administrator is responsible for the master data upload.

Result

You are now able to use the characteristic as a dynamic geo-characteristic in the Business Explorer. Each user who works with a query that contains this dynamic geo-characteristic can now analyze data from a chart.