Monitoring

the Change Run

Version 2.0 – BI 7.0
Changerun Basics

Monitoring Transactions

Monitoring Tasks

FAQ
Attribute and Hierarchy Changerun

Attribute and Hierarchy Changerun

The attribute and hierarchy changerun is required to

 activate master data changes to attributes and hierarchies

 realign aggregates containing navigational attributes

 realign aggregates defined on hierarchy levels

 SAP AG 2006
 Attribute and Hierarchy Changerun

If you change master data (navigation attributes) or hierarchies of a

characteristic that is contained in aggregates, you must adjust these
aggregates.

This ensures that queries that access to the InfoCube or assigned

aggregates are consistent. Unlike in the aggregates, no data that
refers to navigation attributes or hierarchies is stored in the InfoCube.

The master data or the hierarchy tables are joined with the tables of
the cube when the query is executed. Regardless of whether or not
aggregates exist, the system does not automatically transfer master
data record changes, rather you must activate this master data
explicitly.

 SAP AG 2006
 Activation of Attributes in Detail

Activation of Master data Attributes

Method 1: ‚Manual‘ activation Method 2: Automatic activation
(only possible if no by Change Run
aggregates are existing,
otherwise: method 2)

InfoObjects are
recommended automatically
assigned by
the system
Active data in
Active data in master data
master data tables and
tables and aggregates
aggregates

 SAP AG 2006
Attribute and Hierarchy Changerun – Example

Navigational Attribute of Customer

Customer OBJVERS Industry
1000 A Pharma
2000 A Retail Changed master
data not available
3000 A Pharma
3000 M Chemical for reporting
4000 A Chemical

Fact Table Sales Data Aggregate Customer__Industry *

Country Customer Key Figure Customer__Industry Key Figure
USA 1000 10 Pharma 60
Germany 2000 15 Retail 25
USA 3000 5 Chemical 10
Austria 2000 10
The impact in the aggregates is
Austria 4000 10 always because the navigational
Germany 3000 20 attributes (xxx__navattribute)
USA
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1000 25
Attribute and Hierarchy Changerun – Example

Navigational Attribute of Customer

Customer OBJVERS Industry
1000 A Pharma
2000 A Retail Changed master
data now available
3000 A Chemical
4000 A Chemical for reporting

Fact Table Sales Data Aggregate Customer__Industry *

Country Customer Key Figure Customer__Industry Key Figure
USA 1000 10 Pharma 35
Germany 2000 15 Retail 25
USA 3000 5 Chemical 35
Austria 2000 10
Austria 4000 10
Germany 3000 20
USA
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1000 25
Strategies to Adapt Aggregates

There are different strategies to adapt aggregates in a changerun:

 Rebuild the aggregate

 Delta Mode
 Rollup from previously adapted aggregate (Parent ->Child
Aggregates)

For InfoCubes containing key figures with aggregation MIN/MAX, the

only way to adapt the aggregates in a changerun is rebuilding them.

Changed to

The value 'Limit with Delta' determines the percentage of master data
changes at which the delta mode is to be switched to reconstruction.

 SAP AG 2006
 Aggregates - Blocksize

During rollup and Change Run high

PROBLEM resource consuming operations on the
PSAPTEMP SIZE temporary tablespace can be performed.

Read in several blocks to prevent resource

Idea problems when filling an aggregate

 SAP AG 2006
NEW : Wait Time

Wait Time: An immediate Change Run start may not be possible

because other processes hold necessary locks (e.g
Master Data Loading, Roll Up, …)
The Wait Time specifies the time in minutes how long
a Change Runs waits before terminating.

Hard-Coded Time: Other processes locked by a changerun in STARTUP-

phase wait per Default 5 min. (not changeable)

 SAP AG 2006
NEW : Parallel Change Run in NetWeaver 2004s

New since NetWeaver 2004s:

- Change Runs are executed only with background processes
- The parallel degree can be set in Customizing or transaction RSBATCH

 SAP AG 2006
NEW: Parallel Change Run in NetWeaver 2004s

• The Change Run combines different steps which are processed

sequentially
• Each of the steps is restricted by the maximum number of
parallel jobs (N) chosen in Change Run Customizing
• There is 1 Managing job
• There are maximal N-1 working jobs

Maximal N-1 parallel jobs 1. Adjustment of Aggregates

Managing job

Maximal N-1 parallel jobs 2. Activation of Master Data

Maximal N-1 parallel jobs 3. Compression of Aggregates

 SAP AG 2006
 Technical details about Change Run

 Step 1 (usually less than 1min):

When the Change Run starts a global SAP enqueue lock is set.
This global lock is hold just for a short time until the affected
infocubes are identified. This global enqueue lock doesn’t allow
– any master data loads to InfoObjects
– starting another Change Run
– rollup to an aggregate

 Step 2:
After the global lock was removed just a smaller enqueue lock is set. It
locks just the affected Infoobjects and the InfoCubes where the infoobject
is used. Furthermore some activities are not allowed during the Change
Run works
– master data loads to the affected InfoObjects, but master dataload to other
InfoObjects
– rollup for InfoCubes having aggregates affected by the Change Run

 SAP AG 2006
 NEW:Change Run in Netweaver 2004s

New Change Run Lock Concept with NetWeaver 2004s :

 Two or more Change Runs in WORK-Phase can run in parallel
(if the Change Runs process different
objects)

 There can be only one Change Run in STARTUP-phase

– A second Change Run waits up to 5min to get the lock for STARTUP (hard-
coded)
– Other blocked processes (e.g Master data loading) wait as well up to 5min
(hard-coded) for the Change Run

 The locks for Change Run are set/checked on InfoCube level (in former
releases on aggregate level)
 The RSADMIN-parameter CR_MAXWAIT was replaced by Customizing
– Default = 1min

 SAP AG 2006
NEW: Parallel Change Run in NetWeaver 2004s

Change Run Concept since NetWeaver 2004s

Max. 5min
NEW !!
Two Change Runs can run
in parallel if affected
Change Run 2 objects are different

Change Run 1 NEW !!

Change Run does not
terminate immediately if
STARTUP WORK Time another Change Run is in
Startup

NEW !!
Change Run 2 Second Change Run does
not set global lock when
waiting for another Change
Change Run 1 Run.

STARTUP WORK Time

 SAP AG 2006
 Keep in Mind….

The length of the change run depends on several factors:

 Amount of master data to be changed

 Amount of hierarchies to be adapted
 Number and size of aggregates and their basis infocubes

 General load on the system

 Status of the database (statistics & indices)
 number of partitions in Source Cube (F-Table)

 SAP AG 2006
Changerun Basics

Monitoring Transactions

Monitoring Tasks

FAQ
Changerun Transaction

The central transaction to the changerun is RSATTR or

RSA1
 Tools
 Apply Hierarchy/
Attribute Change…

 SAP AG 2006
InfoObjects and Hierarchies to Be Activated

The changerun is always started for a set of InfoObjects and/or

hierarchies.

 SAP AG 2006
Information on Background Jobs

The frame 'Applied hierarchy/attribute change runs’ shows

information on background jobs:
 Changerun Status
 Start and end date
 Start and end time
 User
 Job name

Transaction SM37 always shows times in UTC format whereas the

times in the changerun transaction are converted to the time zone of
the user.
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Application Log

The application log shows information about the InfoObjects and

hierarchies to be activated, number of changed characteristic
values and adapted aggregates.

 SAP AG 2006
Changerun Monitor

The changerun monitor shows information about the current status

of the changerun, the InfoObjects and hierarchies to be activated,
the affected aggregates and how they were/will be adapted.

The changerun monitor is

displayed in a separate window
be Patient.
Ignore the message about
missing authorizations.

 SAP AG 2006
Changerun Monitor
The changerun monitor ( RSDDS_CHANGERUN_MONITOR) shows
information about the current status of the changerun, the
InfoObjects and hierarchies to be activated, the affected cubes and
no. of object changes ,affected aggregates and how they were/will
be adapted.
The changerun monitor is
displayed in a separate window
be patient.
Ignore the message about
missing authorizations.

 SAP AG 2006
Standard Changerun Monitor

Some info below will be

available after clicking
the Details button

Status of changerun

Basic Characteristics
with modified master data
to be activated

Object changes in
Infocube to be updated

Aggregates which have

to be adjusted during the
changerun including
mode: delta, rollup,
reconstruction

 SAP AG 2006
Terminated Monitor
In case the ACR terminates by any reason, after resolving the issue
you can repeat the failed step in the process chain or restart it via
the Change Run Monitor

The changerun monitor is

displayed in a separate window
be patient.
Ignore the message about
missing authorizations.

Click here to restart the

terminated ACR
 SAP AG 2006
Using Statistical Information before Deactivating Aggr

Fields of table RSDDAGGRDIR

INFOCUBE Infocube name

AGGRCUBE Aggregate name

NUM_AGGR Number of Components

NUM_ENTRIES Number of Records in the Aggregate

CALLS Aggregate usage (if low it is a candidate to be

deleted)

LAST_CALL Last time the aggregate was used

AVGFACTREDUCE Medium dividing the cube records per aggr

records. If equal to 1, means aggr same size as
the cube

 SAP AG 2006
Statistical Information on Adjusted Aggregates

Still in the table RSDDAGGRDIR selecting “INA” in the column

Object Status (OBJSTAT) and “A” in the column Version it is
possible to analyze which aggregate is being adjusted at the ACR
time. This way, IF NEEDED, you can deactivated just the
aggregates that are being adjusted not ALL aggregates.

Analyzing the table RSDDAGGR_V you can see which aggregates

are going to be impacted by the Change Run Process before the
ACR job to adjust those infoobjects start. You must select those
entries in “M” version

Analyzing the table RSDCUBEIOBJ – Verify which infoobjects are

being used by aggregates

 SAP AG 2006
Changerun Basics

Monitoring Transactions

Monitoring Tasks

FAQ
Monitoring Tasks

Monitoring Tasks
While monitoring the system, one of the following questions may
arise

 What is the status of the changerun?

 How should I restart a cancelled changerun?

 SAP AG 2006
Changerun Status – Step 1

Status of Background Job

In transaction SM37, select jobs starting with 'BI_STRU'
or 'BI_PROCESS_ATTRIBCHAN‘ which are the Parent Jobs

The Child jobs start with

BICHNG* (Job to adjust/rebuilt Aggregate)

BIACTI* ( Job to activate the Info object )

 SAP AG 2006
Changerun Status – Step 1

Based on the Parallel settings you could see Multiple jobs running.
Currently its set to 16 BTC processes in parallel.

Pls note that When a BICHNG* job fails, the Parent Job Automatically
repairs and adjusts the aggregate in the failed job.

 SAP AG 2006
Some more in depth tips (1)

1) To get stats on Info Objects concerned and Aggregates touched:

1.1.Condition : all Process Type ATTRIBCHAN will have to be

preceded with Custom Process Type ZGTTC_CR and ACR will not
be run directly (via Tools>Mdata Activation = job type BI_STRU*).

1.2. In Table RSDCUBEIOBJ (or RSDDAGRR_V (version ‘M’), find

out the aggregates that presents the high number of master data
changes.

 SAP AG 2006
More in depth tips (1.2): Nav Attributes : where used (aggregates)

select Infocube [*] Y5 with version ‘A’

and InfoObject = YMAT_COMP__0MATL_GRP_1

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Some more in depth tips (2)

2) To get all ACR background jobs (manual or PC trigerred)

in proper sequence with Start Time, End Time and Process Chain Id.

Use SE16 on view V_OP with selection on jobname

BI_STRU*

BI_PROCESS_ATTRIBCHAN

BICHNG*

BIACTI*

A = Abort

F=Finished

 SAP AG 2006
Typical Reasons for Cancelled Changeruns

In transaction SE16, table RSDDAGGRDIR, find the InfoCube on

which the aggregate is defined:

 SAP AG 2006
Typical Reasons for Cancelled Changeruns

In transaction RSDDV, enter the InfoCube name and deactivate the

aggregate:

Then, restart the changerun from the log view of the process chain:

 SAP AG 2006
Changerun Basics

Monitoring Transactions

Monitoring Tasks

FAQ
FAQ

Is there an alternative to deactivating an aggregate in n order to

it o
solve changerun problems? a
f irm
on
If the changerun gets stuck with an aggregate,c Please check if this
am
Aggregate has been adapted for Reconstruction te in the Change
Run Monitor and if it is .. then you couldsitgo e ahead and Deactivate
it and fill it later on. n
O
o ut
If obsolete DB statistics caused wthe ith problem, they can be
refreshed in transaction DB20.neHowever, the refresh does not
d o
affect the currently running eSQL statement. Therefore, the current
t b
changerun must be cancelled and restarted. In this (rare) case,
us
deactivating the aggregate m may not be necessary.
E S
G
N
A
H
C
No

 SAP AG 2006
FAQ

Is it possible to activate master data separately from adjusting

aggregates? If so, it would be possible to start critical process
chains, which require up-to-date master data, without waiting for
the end of the changerun. The aggregates could be adapted later
once the critical process chains are finished.

There are function modules to activate master data which do not

check whether aggregates are affected by the master data
changes. However, in this case, it is not possible any longer to
adapt the affected aggregates in delta or rollup mode. Then, all
affected aggregates must be deactivated and re-filled manually.

It is obvious that this procedure involves a high risk of

inconsistent data in aggregates (if one forgets to deactivate an
aggregate).

Therefore, this procedure is not considered as an alternative to

the changerun.

 SAP AG 2006
FAQ

Is it possible to select which aggregates are activated as part of

the changerun and which can be scheduled separately later?

As explained on the slide before, the approach to adjust

aggregates separately from the master data activation involves a
high risk and is not considered as an alternative to the changerun.

However, if the decision is taken to deactivate several aggregates

in order to speed up the changerun, it is possible to select which
aggregates are deactivated and which should be adjusted by the
changerun.

 SAP AG 2006
FAQ
n
io
at
ir m
How to tune the performance of the changerun?
nf
co
1. Identify aggregates that are adjustedaby m rebuild during the
te
changerun (table RSDDAGGRDIR i t e Vers A, Stat = INA)
or RSDDSTATAGGR . ns
O t
o u
2. Identify aggregates adjusted ti h in delta or rollup mode with high
changerun times and woptimize the aggregate hierarchy.
ne
d o
b e
t
us
m
E S
G
AN
H
C
o
N

 SAP AG 2006
 FAQ

Possible causes of poor performance

n
Poor modeling decisions tio
a
– Maybe there are too many aggregates. You should check if you
f irmcan delete any unused &
unnecessary aggregates.
on
– Both a characteristic and it’s navigational attribute are usedc in the same aggregate
definition with * aggregation level (for example, 0CUSTOMERam &
0CUSTOMER__0CUST_GRP). This is NOT recommended. te It will increase the time of the
it e
change run. It is enough to only have the characteristic 0CUSTOMER in the aggregate
ns
definition. A query with a selection on 0CUSTOMER__0CUST_GRP will still access the
aggregate, even though they have only included O
t 0CUSTOMER in the definition!!
hou
Too many uncompressed requests initthe F Facttables of the infocube or
w
aggregate ne
d o
– On all database platforms it is strongly recommended to regularly compress infocube
and aggregate data. For ORACLE b e it is particularly important. Check the number of
t
entries in packet dimension stable /bic/DxxxxxxP. A maximum number of 20 - 30
u
partitions (uncompressed requests) per F table are recommended. See note 590370.
COMPRESS! COMPRESS! mCOMPRESS!
E S
G
N
A
H
C
No

 SAP AG 2006
 FAQ

Possible causes of poor performance (2) n

tio
DB statistics are not up-to-date a
rm
– DB statistics must be up to date for the database to choose fthei most optimal accesses
n
o that you have a run away
to the data. If statistics are not up-to-date, it could happen
c
change run program that can never finish because of a poor execution plan.
am
Degenerated Indexes te
te
nsi
– Degenerated indexes can also cause longer runtimes as the data cannot be accessed in
the most efficient way on the database. O
o ut
RSCUSTV8-DELTALIMIT is set too low th or too high
i
– SAP recommends setting this parameter w to 20. This means that if less than 20 percent
e
of the masterdata of a characteristic has been changed, the aggregate will be changed
n 20 percent has changed, then the aggregate will be
with the ‘Delta’ method. If more than
d o
‘Reconstructed’ (or rebuilt completely).
e If the DELTALIMIT is set too high, it can take
longer to adjust the aggregateb using the delta method, as opposed to doing a rebuild. If
it is set too low or not set atstall, then all aggregates will be ‘Reconstructed’ during each
change run. u
m
E S
Missing SAP Notes G
– Be sure to searchAN for any relevant notes for the customers BW Support package level.
Good search terms H for notes are Change Run or Realignment Run & BW-BEX-OT-AGGR.
C
o
– Don’t forgetN to look for DB related performance notes that refer to index rebuilding or
statistics creation.

 SAP AG 2006
 FAQ

Additional ways to improve performance n

tio
a
m
fir are run in parallel
Execute Change Run in Parallel..currently 16BTC
n
co
Schedule the Change Run when the systemamload is lightest
e
t to take more time. Try to
– Heavy system load can cause the change run e
sit
schedule this job during periods of low or
n limited system activity.
t O
Customize the BLOCKSIZE parameter hou
it
w
– During the initial filling of an aggregate or the rebuild of an aggregate during
ne
the change run, high resource o consuming operations are performed on the
d
temporary tablespace. Sete the BLOCKSIZE parameter to read in several
blocks to prevent resource t b problems when rebuilding an aggregate.
us
Transaction SPRO –>mGeneral BW Settings –> Parameters for Aggregates ->
Blocksize . This isEaS database dependent setting and should be tested by
G
customers to determine the best performance when filling an aggregate.
N
A
H
C
No

 SAP AG 2006