SAP Data Services
What is it?
SAP Data Services provides a batch and real-time data integration system to drive today's new generation of analytic and supply-chain management applications. Using the highly scalable data integration solution provided by SAP, the enterprise can maintain a real-time, on-line dialogue with customers, suppliers, employees, and partners, providing the critical information needed for transactions and business analysis.
SAP Data Services combines both batch and real-time data movement and management to provide a single data integration platform for information management from any information source, for any information use.
Using the software, you can:
- Stage data in an operational data store, data warehouse, or data mart.
- Update staged data in batch or real-time modes.
- Create a single graphical development environment for developing, testing, and deploying the entire data integration platform.
- Manage a single metadata repository to capture the relationships between different extraction and access methods and provide integrated lineage and impact analysis.
The SMA OpCon SAP Data Services Connector interacts with the Central Management Console (CMC) through web services to start and track (monitor) jobs defined within the Repository and running on Job Servers within the SAP Data Services environment.
SAP Data Services Connector
The SAP Data Services Connector is a Windows-based component that lets OpCon start, cancel, and track jobs running in the SAP Data Services environment. The current connector implementation consists of a Windows batch program that is run by the Windows Agent. Job definitions are entered as Windows jobs using the SAP Data Services job subtype. When the job is scheduled by OpCon, the definitions are passed as arguments to the SAP Data Services Connector.
Supported job types
The SAP Data Services Connector supports the following job types, which can be used to communicate with the SAP Data Services batch environment:
| Job type | Purpose |
|---|---|
| CANCEL | Cancels a running batch job. |
| PING | Tests a connection to the SAP Data Services environment. |
| START | Starts a batch job defined within the SAP Data Services environment. |
| TRACK | Monitors a job running within the SAP Data Services environment that was started by the SAP Data Services Scheduler. |
How the connector communicates
The job definitions are passed to the SAP Data Services Connector as arguments. The connector uses the BODS_WSDL.wsdl definition to define the web services endpoints. The job definition information received from OpCon is then mapped to the appropriate structures and the web service is called.
Each job type apart from PING requires a valid user and password, which the connector uses to establish the connection to SAP Data Services. Once the connection is established, a security token is returned and used on all subsequent calls to the web service until the job has completed. The security token is then discarded.
FAQs
Does the connector create job definitions in SAP Data Services? No. The connector does not create job definitions in the SAP Data Services database. It only references existing jobs in the Repository.
Where does the connector run? The connector runs as a Windows batch program started by the Windows Agent. It can be installed on the OpCon server or on a separate Windows server with a Windows Agent installed.
What does the PING job type do? A PING job type has no additional parameters and is used to test the communications link between the SAP Data Services Connector and the SAP Data Services environment.
Glossary
BODS — Business Objects Data Services, the legacy name for SAP Data Services. The connector's WSDL file is named BODS_WSDL.wsdl for historical reasons.
Central Management Console (CMC) — The SAP Business Objects administration interface that the connector communicates with through web services.
Repository — The SAP Data Services metadata store where job definitions reside. The connector references jobs in the Repository by name.
Security token — A short-lived identifier returned by SAP Data Services after a successful logon. The connector uses this token for subsequent web service calls during a job and discards it when the job completes.