Universe Conversion: Manually Repointing Documents

Background about the Business Objects Universe Conversion project

As part of SAP's evolution of the Business Objects platform, they will no longer support the legacy universe format in the next major update. SAP introduced a new universe format in 2015, and AITS has been creating all new universes in that format since then. However, many of our universes were created prior to 2015 and remain in the legacy format. These older universes need to be converted to the new format at this time.

Once the legacy universes are converted to the new format, all documents that query those universes will need to be repointed from the legacy universe to the new universe.

All documents stored correctly in the EDDIE repository will be automatically repointed to the new universe. If you as a user and your unit store all needed documents within the EDDIE repository, there is nothing you or your unit will need to do for this part of this project, other than making sure the documents are stored correctly.

However, if you or your unit use the Web Intelligence Rich Client application on your desktop and store reports outside the EDDIE repository (on a user’s desktop, on a unit’s network drive, in a Box folder, etc.), these documents will not be automatically repointed. They must be manually repointed by the user within 90 days of the conversion.

Universes will be converted in groups based on subject area. AITS will be sending communications to users with access to the affected universes throughout this project. You will know when universes are to be converted, and when the 90-day time frame ends.

How to Manually Repoint Documents

1. Launch the Web Intelligence Rich Client application and open the document that needs to be repointed.
2. Ensure you are in Design mode (Alt + 2).
3. In the Toolbar along the top, in the Query section, select the ellipsis icon, and select Change Source.
4. Select the Data Provider corresponding to the Data Source that needs to be repointed and select OK.
5. Select the radio button next to Specify a new data source, and then select the Select a Data Source button.
6. Select Universe and select OK.
7. Scroll or search for the name of the new universe, select it and select OK.
8. Select Next.
9. Leave the Selected strategy order in the default order (Same ID > Same technical name > Same path > Closest name > Same name), and select Next.
10. Since the conversions in this project simply change the format of the universe, the objects should match exactly between the old and new universes. However, prompts can cause ambiguous matchings. To check for this, scroll to the bottom of the list of objects and if any say Remove Object in the New column of the object matching, follow the next steps. If there are none that say Remove Object, you can skip to step 11.
    1. Select the ellipsis icon at the right of the first object listed as Remove Object.
    2. Select the Settings button near the bottom.
    3. Change both radio button options from Same object/data type to Similar object/data type, and select OK.
    4. Check the box for 'Only display object name...', select the object your prompt was created using, and select OK.
    5. For all remaining Remove Objects, select the ellipsis icon at the right, check the box for 'Only display object name...', select the object your prompt was created using, and select OK.
11. Select Finish.
12. Once you receive a message saying the change was successful, you may begin using the document.