1. What is the difference between a basic and transactional InfoCube? Why does planning in BPS require transactional InfoCubes?
A Basic InfoCube is one that physically stores data. Data is placed into a Basic InfoCube through the process of BW (Business Warehouse) Staging. Once date is placed in a Basic InfoCube, the Basic InfoCube can act as an InfoProvider for BEx (Business Explorer) reports. The structure of a Basic InfoCube follows the patterns of a Star Schema. The Star Schema requires dimension tables for each data source. In the Star Schema, the fact table is at the center of the schema, as the fact table contains the data that is the primary focus of the business intelligence objective. The dimension tables store the information needed to develop the required business intelligence.
One difference between Basic InfoCubes and Transactional InfoCubes is that Transactional InfoCubes have the capability to support parallel write access. In contrast, Basic InfoCubes are optimized for read access. Planning in BPS (Business Planning and Simulation) frequently requires the simultaneous entry of multiple sets of data (planning data and data for fact tables) into an InfoCube. The BW Staging process for data entry used in the Basic InfoCube does not support simultaneous data entry. The Transactional InfoCube, however, is designed to allow data filling through the use of BW-BPS (Business Planning Simulation), which support simultaneous data entry.
2. Explain the following BPS structures: standard planning area (relate to InfoCube), multi-planning area, planning level (relate to InfoCube) and planning package (relate to InfoCube).
Standard planning area: A standard planning area contains its own planning data; the planning data, in turn, is associated with the data contained in a related InfoCube; a standard planning area covers one InfoCube
Multi-planning area: A multi-planning area does not contain its own planning...