With the increasing complexity and volume of enterprise data, organizations require efficient ways to model, access, and consume data directly within the database. Core Data Services (CDS) is a key innovation by SAP that allows developers to define semantic data models at the database level. This article introduces CDS concepts, its integration with SAP HANA, and its significance within the SAP-HANA-Live environment.
Core Data Services (CDS) are a data modeling infrastructure and specification for defining semantic layers on top of database tables. Rather than dealing with raw database tables, CDS enables the creation of rich, reusable, and consumable data models that describe business entities, relationships, and annotations.
Initially introduced as part of the SAP NetWeaver ABAP platform, CDS has evolved significantly with SAP HANA, becoming central to modern SAP data modeling strategies.
SAP-HANA-Live leverages CDS to provide virtual data models that enable real-time operational reporting without data replication or delay.
Consider a business scenario where sales data is stored in multiple tables. A CDS view can be defined to join these tables and expose sales information with relevant calculations and annotations in one unified model. This view can then be consumed directly by analytics tools or SAP Fiori applications, providing real-time insights without complex ETL processes.
Core Data Services (CDS) is a foundational technology in the SAP HANA ecosystem, enabling efficient, consistent, and semantic data modeling directly within the database. As a core enabler of SAP-HANA-Live, CDS empowers organizations to build real-time, flexible, and high-performing reporting solutions that are essential for modern data-driven enterprises.