Microsoft Connector 1.0 for SAP BI Readme

October 2008

Introduction

This Readme document contains important information to read before using Microsoft Connector 1.0 for SAP BI. It describes the prerequisites for installing and using the connector, and also describes some known issues.

Microsoft Connector for SAP BI is a set of managed components for transferring data from or to an SAP NetWeaver BI version 7 system. The connector is designed to be used with the Enterprise and Developer editions of SQL Server 2008 Integration Services.

Prerequisites

1. Microsoft Windows Vista, or Microsoft Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2, or Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and above.

2. Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Integration Services. Microsoft Connector 1.0 for SAP BI must be installed on the same computer where Integration Services is installed.

3. Windows Installer 4.5 or above.

4. Extracting data from an SAP BI system using Microsoft Connector 1.0 for SAP BI requires an SAP Open Hub license. For more information about SAP licensing, please consult your SAP representative.

5. SAP NetWeaver SPS 14 (BI SP 16) is required. BI SP 17 or higher is strongly recommended.

6. To use Microsoft Connector 1.0 for SAP BI in 32-bit mode on a 32-bit operating system, the 32-bit version of librfc32.dll must be put under the folder %windir%\system32. To use Microsoft Connector 1.0 for SAP BI in 64-bit mode on a 64-bit operating system, the 64-bit version of librfc32.dll must be put under the folder %windir%\system32.

7. To use Microsoft Connector 1.0 for SAP BI in 32-bit mode on a 64-bit operating system, the 32-bit librfc32.dll must be put in the folder %windir%\SysWow64.

Important Notes

1. Librfc32.dll is a component owned by SAP. Microsoft does not provide support for this SAP component, and assumes no liability for its use.

2. Microsoft Connector 1.0 for SAP BI does not support SAP BW version 3.5 and earlier versions.

3. Extracting data from an SAP BI system using Microsoft Connector 1.0 for SAP BI supports only Open Hub Destinations. It does not support InfoSpokes, as InfoSpokes are obsolete in SAP NetWeaver BI version 7.

Known Issues

1. In an SAP BI system, users can define different separators to customize number formats. However, Microsoft Connector for SAP BI only supports the default separators, which are the thousands separator "." and the decimal separator ",". Thus the only supported number format is "12.345,00".

2. An SAP BI destination component can be configured in "Wait Mode", which means that it does not start an InfoPackage. Instead, it waits for a third party to start the InfoPackage. Currently Microsoft Connector for SAP BI only supports a single destination component "Wait Mode" in a package. Customers cannot load data in parallel if the package has multiple SAP BI destination components that are configured in "Wait Mode".

3. Although Microsoft Connector 1.0 for SAP BI has the ability to exchange Unicode data with an SAP BI system, the connector only exchanges non-Unicode control information with SAP BI. When you create an RFC Destination or Source System, you need to leave "Communication Type with Target System" at its default value of non-Unicode.

4. When you use a data transfer process (DTP) to extract data to an Open Hub Destination, which has the type "3rd party tool", the status of the request remains yellow if no new data is extracted. You cannot extract new data. This is an issue with SAP BI; you can find detailed information in SAP Note 1180294. To prevent this situation, go to the Advanced page of the SAP BI Source Editor, input the current Request ID, and click the Reset button. This sets the request status to "G" (green) and allows later extraction.

5. If multiple users access the same RFC Destination or Source System at the same time, it may lead to a time-out result when extracting data from an SAP BI system or loading data to it. It is recommended to use a different RFC Destination for each OHS Destination and InfoSource, and to try to avoid using the same RFC Destination or Source System concurrently.

6. If an SAP BI system executes a data transfer process (DTP) in parallel, it may lead to a time-out result when using Microsoft Connector 1.0 for SAP BI to extract data from SAP BI or load data to SAP BI. To avoid this issue, you can set Number of Processes to 1 in the DTP's setting for Batch Manager.

7. Extracting data from an SAP BI system in extract-only (E) mode fails if there are multiple packages within one request. This failure occurs because the SAP BI system does not provide the number of packets correctly when the read function of the Open Hub API is called. To work around this limitation and support extract-only (E) mode, increase the package size in the data transfer process (DTP) of the Open Hub Destination to a value greater than the number of rows that will be extracted. As a result, only one package is created.