Persistent Staging Area  

Purpose
The Persistent Staging Area (PSA) is the inbound storage area for data from the source systems in the
SAP Business Information Warehouse. The requested data is saved, unchanged from the source system.

Request data is stored in the transfer structure format in transparent, relational database tables in the
Business Information Warehouse. The data format remains unchanged, meaning that no summarization
or transformations take place, as is the case with InfoCubes.

When loading flat files, the data does not remain completely unchanged, since it
is adjusted by conversion routines if necessary (for example, the date format
31.21.1999 is converted to 19991231 in order to ensure uniformity of data).

You determine the transfer method PSA in the Transfer rules maintenance.

If you set the PSA when you are extracting data, you get improved performance if you use TRFCs for
loading the data. The temporary storage facility in the PSA also allows you to check and change the data
before the update into data targets. In contrast to a data request with IDocs, a data request in the PSA
also gives you various options for a further update of the data in the data targets. The possible coupling of
the loading process from the further processing in BW likewise contributes to an improved loading
performance. The operative system is not debited if data errors first appear with further processing.

The PSA delivers the backup status for the ODS (until the total staging process is confirmed). The
duration of the data storage in the PSA is medium-term, since the data can still be used for
reorganization. However data storage when updating ODS objects is short-term.
A PSA is displayed for every InfoSource in the PSA tree of the Administrator Workbench. You get to the
PSA tree in the Administrator Workbench using either Modeling or Monitoring. The requested data
records appear, divided according to request, under the source system they belong to for an InfoSource
in the PSA tree.

Functions
The data records in BW are transferred to the transfer structure when you load data with the transfer
method PSA. One TRFC is carried out per data package. Data is written to the PSA table from the
transfer structure, and stored there. A transparent PSA table is created for every transfer structure that is
activated. The PSA tables each have the same structure as their respective transfer structures. They are
also flagged with key fields for the request ID, the data package number, and the data record number.

Since the requested data is stored unchanged in the PSA, it can have errors if it already had errors in the
source system. If the requested data records have been written into the PSA table, you can check the
data for the request and change incorrect data records.

Depending on the type of update, data is transferred from the PSA table into the communication structure
using the transfer rules. From the communication structure, the data is finally updated into the
corresponding data target.

Using partitioning, you can separate the dataset of a PSA table into several smaller, physically
independent, and redundancy-free units. This separation can mean improved performance when you
update data from the PSA. In the BW Customizing Implementation Guide, you determine from which
number of data records a partition is created, under Business Information Warehouse    Connections to
Other Systems    Maintain Control Parameters for Data Transfer. Only data records from a complete
request are stored in a partition. The specified value is a threshold value.

As of BW 3.0, it is possible to load hierarchies using the PSA from OLTP

DataSources released for this. The respective DataSources will be delivered with
PlugIn (-A) 2001.2 at the earliest. You can also use a PSA to load hierarchies
from files.

Restrictions
The number of fields is limited to a maximum of 255 when using TRFCs to transfer data. The length of the
data record is limited to 1962 bytes when you use TRFCs.

Data transfer with IDocs cannot be used in connection with the PSA.

Processing Transfer Rules 

Use
When you have maintained the transfer structure and the communication structure, you use the transfer
rules to determine how you want the transfer structure fields to be assigned to the communication
structure InfoObjects. You can arrange for a 1:1 assignment. You can also fill InfoObjects using routines,
formulas, or constants.
 You need not assign InfoObjects to each field of the transfer structure. If you only need a
field for entering a routine or for reading from the PSA, you need not create an InfoObject.
However, you must keep the following in mind: When you load data from non-SAP systems,
the information from the InfoObject is used as the basis for converting the key figures into
the SAP format. In this case you must assign an InfoObject to the field. Otherwise wrong
numbers might be loaded or the numbers might be displayed incorrectly in the reports. For
more information, also see Conversion Routines in BW.

Prerequisites
Before you are able to maintain the transfer rules for an InfoSource, you must assign a source system to
the InfoSource and create a communication structure.

Procedure
...

       1.      You maintain the transfer rules in the InfoSource tree of the Administrator Workbench.
For InfoSources, choose Your Application Components  Your InfoSource  Context menu (right
mouse-click)  Change.
       2.      Select a transfer method. We recommend the PSA transfer method. In the Scheduler you also
have other options for data updating. See also Tab Page: Processing.
       3.      The transfer structure is displayed in the right half of the screen along with the selected
DataSource fields.
The system uses the data elements to help it suggest InfoObjects that could be assigned to the
corresponding fields of the DataSource. These suggested InfoObjects are displayed in the left
column of the transfer structure
The fields for which the system cannot provide any proposals remain empty.
Using the Context Menu (right mouse-button)   Entry Options, or F4 Help, you select the
InfoObjects that you want to assign to the DataSource fields. Alternatively, you can use the same
data elements or field names to help you create an assignment.
You do not have to assign InfoObjects to all the DataSources fields at this point. Using the transfer
rules, you can also fill the InfoObjects of the communication structure with a constant or from a
routine.
       4.      In the left half of the screen, the communication structure InfoObjects are displayed as well as the
transfer rules that the system proposes.
By selecting one row from both the left-hand side and the right-hand side of the screen, you can
use the arrows to assign fields from the transfer structure to the InfoObjects of the communication
structure.

You must remove from the transfer structure any fields that are not required. This improves
performance, because otherwise data that you have not selected will be extracted.
       5.      For InfoObjects with the conversion routines ALPHA, NUMC or GJAHR, you can set the Optional
Conversion key figure. See also Conversion Routines in BW.
       6.      You can create a start routine if you use the PSA to load the data.

This improves the system performance, for example, when you check if a certain request is already
available in an ODS object, and makes the update rules consistent.
       7.      You can enhance or modify the transfer rules suggested by the system.

To do this, select a transfer rule type by clicking on the corresponding Type symbol in the

appropriate row:
         InfoObject: The fields are transferred from the transfer structure and are not modified.
Use the Default transfer rules function to assign fields in the transfer structure to fields in the
communication structure.
          Constants: An InfoObject is filled by a fixed value.
You could, for example, assign the fixed value US to the InfoObject 0COUNTRY.
         Formula: An InfoObject is filled with a value that is determined using a formula.
         Routine: An InfoObject is filled from a local transfer routine.
Local transfer routines are ABAP programs that you can create, modify, or transfer. The
routine only affects the selected InfoObject in the relevant communication structure.
For an explanation of the procedure see Creating Transfer Routines.
       8.      Activate the transfer rules. Data can be loaded from the source system in an activated version
only.

The status of the transfer rules is shown as a green or a yellow traffic light.
Since not all of the fields in the transfer structure have to be transferred into the communication
structure, you can activate the transfer rules with just one assigned field. The status is shown as a
yellow traffic light.
A red traffic light indicates an error. The transfer rules cannot be activated if there are errors.

Result
You have ensured that the communication structure can be filled with data.