SYMPTOM
A query cube exists in a SAP BW system, defined with a condition to apply at runtime, as shown below:
When this query cube is run in Business Explorer Analyzer, the results correctly include only the top three grossing regions. In Strategy, however, all regions are returned, as shown below:
CAUSE
This issue occurs because SAP BW evaluates query cubes accessed through an MDX statement differently from the evaluation in Business Explorer. In current leases of SAP BW, conditions in a query cube are supported only in Business Explorer. External access, such as an MDX statement run through the OLAP BAPI, do not support query cube conditions.
To confirm that this is the case, users should copy the MDX statement generated by Strategy and paste it into the MDX Test Editor tool in the SAP Front End application. Consult the following Strategy Knowledge Base article for instructions on using the MDX Test Editor.
KB16082: How to verify SAP BW query results using the MDX Test Editor tool in the SAP Front End application
When the Strategy MDX statement is executed in the SAP Front End application, the results will be the same as in Strategy -- that is, including attribute elements that should have been excluded by the condition built into the query cube.
Note that in this example, the MDX is reduced to the simplest possible, with only one attribute and one metric on the report.
ACTION
For Strategy reporting, users should avoid the use of conditions in query cubes.
Note: In Strategy, metric ranking conditions may be evaluated in the Analytical Engine. This means that all rows must be retrieved before being filtered by the Intelligence Server. Also, compound metrics may be defined in an OLAP Cube with a formula such as Rank(Metric) and configured to disable smart metric functionality. If the report includes a metric qualification based on this compound metrics, the qualification will be evaluated as part of the MDX query and only the rows meeting the qualification will be retrieved. If ranking qualifications are needed against SAP, this approach should be taken in Strategy.
