Views - Attribute, Calculation & Analytic

SAP HANA Views / Modeling Views which is also known as SAP HANA Data Modeling is the centerpiece of SAP HANA application development. You can create meaningful and purposeful reports with the help of creating modeling views. As we discussed earlier, there are 3 types of modeling views. They are,

• Attribute Views
• Analytic Views
• Calculation Views

Attribute Views

When it comes to the Attribute views, they are mainly used to define joins between tables. These views play a vital role in explaining efficient methods for these joins to be undertaken. They can also be used to select a subset of columns and rows from a table. These Attribute Views in are created on the top of Dimension tables. They are used to join Dimension tables or other Attribute Views. You can also copy a new Attribute View from already existing Attribute Views inside other Packages but that doesn’t let you change the View Attributes.

Attribute views can also be used to join multiple tables together to create an integrated single dimension table while using star schemas. The dimension attribute view produced by the joining can later be joined to a fact table via an analytic view to bringing meaning to its data. For example attribute views can be used to join employees to organizational units which could then be joined to a sales transaction via an analytic view.

Analytic Views

Typically, the Analytic views can be defined on at least one fact table that contains transactional data. They are in the form of Star schemas and they can use the real power of SAP HANA to perform complex calculations and aggregate functions by joining tables in form of star schema and by executing Star schema queries. With the help of the Analytic Views, selection of measures (key figures) can be easily created, add attributes and join attribute views.

Analytic views leverage the computing power of SAP HANA to calculate aggregate data, e. g. the number of sold cars per country, or the maximum power consumption per day. They are defined on at least one fact table, i. e. a table which contains e. g. one row per sold car or one row per power meter reading, or more, generally speaking, some form of business transaction records. Fact tables can be joined to allow access to more detailed data using a single analytic view.

Calculation Views

Calculation views in SAP HANA Modeling are powerful enough to enable creating the composites of other views. Generally, they are based on a union of two or more data flows or invoke built-in or generic SQL functions