I'm using Analysis OLAP with a BEx Query that has a mandatory date variable. It will only let me pick certain dates for this variable. Since I'm in the US, I read dates, MM-DD-YYYY. Apparently, Analysis OLAP does YYYYMMDD regardless of the back end formatting in BI 4.0 SP 4. I can pick dates up to the 12th of the month, since A-OLAP thinks that is month 12. I don't have this issue with the exact same query using Analysis Office, WebI, or BEx (via RSRT).
Date 08/22/2013 doesn't work...
Date 08/10/2013 works...
I checked the SAP BusinessObjects Analysis, edition for OLAP User Guide (for BI 4.0 SP5). On page 126, it states...
"When you connect to an SAP BW data source, the format for displaying dates in the analysis window is
determined by a setting on the SAP BW server for the user profile that you used to connect to the data source."
Also, it notes, "Analysis requires that all prompt values in the Prompts dialog box be entered in the format
yyyymmdd. Dates in the Prompts dialog box are always displayed in this format, and you must follow this
format when manually typing values for date prompts."
Fair enough, I can enter the date in a different format...however, there's more. If you are on BI 4.0 SP 4 Patch 0, the user account users for the OLAP connection on the BW backend must be set to...YYYY-MM-DD in SU01. Given, that I'm in the US, the isn't a productive scenario.
Here are a few relevant SAP notes...
1761780 - Cannot enter a date value in USA format [mm/dd/yyyy] when SSO authentication is used in an Analysis edition for OLAP workspace against an SAP BW source
This note mentions ADAPT01662017 which is part of SP 05.
1832395 - Changes in the user specific date format in SAP BW are not getting reflected in existing Analysis edition for OLAP workspace prompts.
1879223 - In Analysis Edition for OLAP format for date prompt is yyyyMMdd when selecting from calendar
ADAPT01662017 (Available in BI 4.0 SP 5 - see release notes)
Description
In Analysis, edition for OLAP, when you connect to an SAP BW data source with a date prompt that has a
default value, the date format for the SAP BW server is applied to the default prompt value. However,
Analysis only accepts date prompts that have the format yyyymmdd.
If the date format for the SAP BW server does not match the yyyymmdd format, you will not be able to specify
valid dates for date prompts with default values.
New Behavior
This problem is resolved. The “Prompts” dialog box formats default values for date prompts as
yyyymmdd regardless of the date format setting for the SAP BW server.
The date format that you specified for the SAP BW server still applies to dates in the analysis window.
See the fixed issue note for ADAPT01637226 for more information.
So, I would LOVE to upgrade to SP 5, but I cant in the next few days to solve this issue. Anyone have a suggestion as to how to deal with this in Analysis OLAP and stay on BI 4.0 SP 4?
Thanks for taking a look!
-S