Business intelligence data extraction on demand

• US 8,407,183 B2
• Filed: 12/21/2007
• Issued: 03/26/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/21/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Foeldesi, Gabi, Haerle, Peter
• Primary Examiner(s): Mofiz, Apu
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, THU N
• Application Number:
  US11/963,752
• Publication Number:
  US 20090164486A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,922 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 707/611
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/254 Extract, transform and load [ETL] procedures, e.g. ETL data flows in data warehouses
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/283 Multi-dimensional databases or data warehouses, e.g. MOLAP or ROLAP

Abstract

Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, for business intelligence data extraction on demand. In general, a first request is sent from a first system to a second system for a query of a data structure to include indications of updates at the second system to data at both the first and second systems. An indication of an update at the second system is received in response to the first request, where the indication includes an identification of updated data. A second request is sent to a database data structure of the second system for data corresponding to the updated data. The updated data is received at the first system in response to the second request. Data is updated at the first system in accordance with the updated data in response to the receiving the updated data.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

sending a first request from an upload control component of a target system to a control table of a source system for a query of the control table, the query being performed to provide one or more indications of one or more data updates available at the source system;

receiving at the upload control component of the target system the one or more indications of one or more data updates available at the source system in response to the first request, the one or more indications identifying at least one data source of the source system containing the one or more data updates;

sending a second request from one or more data storage objects of the target system to the at least one data source of the source system for the one or more data updates contained in the at least one data source;

receiving at the one or more data storage objects of the target system the one or more data updates of the at least one data source in response to the second request; and

updating data in the one or more data storage objects of the target system with the one or more data updates of the at least one data source in response to receiving the one or more data updates from the at least one data source of the source system.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the target system is an online analytical processing system from which reports are generated and the source system is an online transaction processing system.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more data updates available at the source system correspond to data at both the target system and the source system.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first request is sent in response to a trigger related to a time interval or a request for a query from a reporting application.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing in the control table the one or more indications of the one or more data updates in response to a change in one or more object instances contained in the at least one data source of the source system; and

removing the one or more indications of the one or more data updates from the control table when the target system has received the one or more data updates.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the one or more data updates comprises receiving a delta update of a data object.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one data source provides data for a full upload.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one data source stores delta updates of one or more data objects.

14. The method of claim 5, wherein the storing further comprises at least one saving operation performed by one or more applications of the source system.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein when one or more data updates are not available data is requested directly from the one or more data storage objects in response to the first request.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the upload control component of the target system causes only those one or more data storage objects that correspond to an at least one data source containing one or more data updates to request one or more data updates.

9. A non-transitory computer program product, tangibly embodied on a computer-readable medium, the product comprising instructions to cause a data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

sending a first request from an upload control component of a target system to a control table of a source system for a query of the control table, the query being performed to provide one or more indications of one or more data updates available at the source system;

receiving at the upload control component of the target system the one or more indications of one or more data updates available at the source system in response to the first request, the one or more indications identifying at least one data source of the source system containing the one or more data updates;

sending a second request from one or more data storage objects of the target system to the at least one data source of the source system for the one or more data updates in the at least one data source;

receiving at the one or more data storage objects of the target system the one or more data updates of the at least one data source in response to the second request; and

updating data in the one or more data storage objects of the target system with the one or more data updates of the at least one data source in response to receiving the one or more data updates from the at least one data source.

10. The product of claim 9, wherein the target system is an online analytical processing system from which reports are generated and the source system is an online transaction processing system.

11. The product of claim 9, wherein the one or more data updates available at the source system correspond to data at both the target system and the source system.

12. The product of claim 9, wherein the first request is sent in response to a trigger related to a time interval or a request for a query from a reporting application.

17. The product of claim 9, the operations further comprising:

storing in the control table the one or more indications of the one or more data updates in response to a change in one or more object instances contained in the at least one data source of the source system; and

removing the one or more indications of the one or more data updates from the control table when the target system has received the one or more data updates.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the storing further comprises at least one saving operation performed by one or more applications of the source system.

13. A non-transitory computer program product, tangibly embodied on a computer-readable medium, the product comprising instructions to cause a data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

periodically sending a first request from an upload control component of a business intelligence system to a control table of an online transaction processing system for a query of the online transaction processing system, the query being performed to provide one or more indications of one or more data updates available at the online transaction processing system;

receiving at the upload control component of the business intelligence system a list identifying one or more data updates in response to the first request, the one or more data updates being contained within at least one data source of the online transaction processing system;

sending a second request from one or more data storage objects of the business intelligence system to the at least one data source of the online transaction processing system for the one or more data updates in response to receiving the list;

receiving at the one or more data storage objects of the business intelligence system the one or more data updates of the at least one data source in response to the second request; and

updating data in the one or more data storage objects of the business intelligence system with the one or more data updates of the at least one data source in response to receiving the one or more data updates from the at least one data source.