Core Data Services (CDS) Views are the backbone of SAP HANA Live, enabling powerful, real-time analytics directly on transactional data stored in SAP HANA. As SAP landscapes grow more complex and business demands for agile reporting increase, developing efficient and maintainable CDS Views becomes critical.
This article outlines the best practices for CDS View development tailored to SAP HANA Live scenarios, helping developers, architects, and consultants build robust, performant, and scalable data models.
- Basic Views: Create reusable, atomic views that expose core database tables and fields.
- Composite Views: Build intermediate views by combining basic views with additional logic or joins.
- Consumption Views: Develop final, business-oriented views optimized for reporting and UI consumption (e.g., SAP Fiori or OData).
This modular approach improves reusability, clarity, and maintainability.
¶ 2. Use Meaningful Naming Conventions and Annotations
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Follow SAP naming standards to clearly indicate the purpose and scope of each view (e.g., ZV_ prefix for custom views).
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Add annotations to enrich metadata, control behavior, and facilitate integration:
@AbapCatalog.sqlViewName for SQL view naming.@Analytics.dataCategory to define data semantics (e.g., #CUBE, #DIMENSION).@OData.publish: true to expose views as OData services.
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Use meaningful field names and provide descriptions for better understandability.
- Push complex calculations, filters, and aggregations down to the CDS View layer rather than handling them at the application/UI level.
- Leverage SAP HANA’s in-memory capabilities by performing transformations inside CDS rather than in external layers.
- Use filter expressions and parameters in CDS Views to restrict datasets early and reduce data volume.
- Use analytical annotations (
@Analytics) to support reporting features like drill-downs and hierarchies.
- Annotate fields as filterable, sortable, or hidden according to use case requirements.
- Leverage OData annotations to expose relevant metadata for UI frameworks such as SAP Fiori.
¶ 5. Keep Views Simple and Focused
- Avoid overly complex single CDS Views; break down logic into smaller, reusable views.
- Limit joins and calculated fields to what is necessary for business needs.
- This approach improves readability, maintainability, and query performance.
¶ 6. Handle Data Security with Authorization Checks
- Use CDS authorization checks by embedding
@AccessControl.authorizationCheck: #CHECK annotations.
- Integrate with SAP authorization objects to ensure users see only permitted data.
- Consider row-level security for sensitive or regulatory-compliant reporting.
¶ 7. Test and Validate CDS Views Thoroughly
- Test views with representative data volumes to evaluate performance.
- Use SAP HANA Studio or Eclipse-based ADT tools to analyze execution plans.
- Validate the semantic correctness of joins, aggregations, and filters.
- Monitor runtime behavior using SQL trace and ST05 transactions in SAP GUI.
- Maintain clear documentation of each CDS View’s purpose, input parameters, business logic, and dependencies.
- Use annotations and SAP tools to embed documentation.
- Good documentation facilitates team collaboration and future maintenance.
¶ 9. Manage Versions and Transport Properly
- Follow SAP transport management best practices.
- Use transport requests carefully to move CDS Views across development, quality, and production systems.
- Keep track of dependencies to avoid broken views or data inconsistencies.
¶ 10. Keep Up with SAP Updates and Guidelines
- Stay updated with SAP’s evolving CDS syntax, new annotations, and best practices.
- Regularly review SAP Notes and community blogs for tips and troubleshooting.
- Consider using SAP tools like ABAP Test Cockpit (ATC) for static checks.
CDS Views empower SAP HANA Live with real-time, flexible, and semantic data models essential for modern analytics. Adhering to these best practices ensures your CDS Views are not only performant and scalable but also maintainable and aligned with SAP standards.
By leveraging a modular design, pushing logic into the database, securing data properly, and documenting thoroughly, SAP professionals can deliver robust analytical solutions that drive business insights and value.
- SAP Help Portal: Core Data Services
- SAP Community Blog: CDS View Best Practices
- OpenSAP Courses on SAP HANA and CDS Modeling