What is the CAST SAP BusinessObjects Extractor?
Background information
CAST AIP has provided support for analyzing SAP BusinessObjects source code via its BO Analyzer (provided out-of-the-box in CAST AIP) for some time now. This "legacy" analyzer requires the following:
- SAP BusinessObjects (the BO Designer module) must be installed on the workstation on which the CAST Management Studio is being run from.
- you must manually define a connection to the SAP BusinessObjects instance on which your Universe files are used - this instance must be available during the analysis process in the CAST Management Studio - this is known as an "online" analysis.
These requirements can sometimes present significant difficulties for the process of on-boarding a SAP BusinessObjects application into CAST AIP. As a direct result of this and wanting to simplify the approach, CAST has developed the SAP BusinessObjects Analyzer as a standalone extension. The extension provides a means to analyze SAP BusinessObjects source code "offline", i.e. no connection to the SAP BusinessObjects instance is required. In addition there is no longer any requirement to have BusinessObjects (the BO Designer module) installed on the workstation on which the CAST Management Studio is being run from.
On this page:
Target audience:
- CAST Delivery Managers
- CAST AI Administrators
Where does the CAST SAP BusinessObjects Extractor come into play?
If you want to use the standalone SAP BusinessObjects Analyzer extension to analyze your SAP BusinessObjects source code, you must use the CAST SAP BusinessObjects Extractor first:
- The extractor takes the raw Universe (and Documents) files in a local or network folder as input, it then uses the SAP BusinessObjects instance to interpret these raw Universe (and Documents) files and finally transforms them into a format that can be understood by the analyzer provided in the SAP BusinessObjects Analyzer.
- The output of the SAP BusinessObjects Extractor is then fed into the CAST Delivery Manager Tool, packaged and delivered for analysis.
How does the standalone database extractor work?
The standalone database extractor is a command line tool which does not require installation. You can specify:
- the host SAP BusinessObjects instance that will be accessed during the extraction (to interpret the Universe (and Documents)
- the credentials you want to use to access the instance
- the location where you want to save the results
- the location of the Universe (and Document) files
Where can I obtain the CAST SAP BusinessObjects Extractor?
You can obtain the CAST SAP BusinessObjects Extractor from the CAST Product Center - this requires a CAST login.
How is
Supported SAP BusinessObjects releases for extraction
The CAST SAP BusinessObjects Extractor can extract data from any of the following releases:
| Releae | Supported | Supported by reference | Deprecated |
|---|---|---|---|
| BusinessObjects XI |  | ||
| BusinessObjects XI R2 | | ||
| BusinessObjects XI 3.0 | | ||
| BusinessObjects XI 3.1 | | ||
| SAP Business Intelligence BusinessObjects 4.0 | | ||
| SAP Business Intelligence BusinessObjects 4.1 | |
Supported Operating Systems
The CAST SAP BusinessObjects Extractor can be run form on the following Operating Systems:
| Operating System | Supported | Supported by reference |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Windows 7 SP1 64-bit | | |
| Microsoft Windows 8 64-bit | | |
| Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-bit | | |
| Microsoft Windows 10 64-bit | | |
| Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 64-bit (Standard edition) | | |
| Microsoft Windows Server 2012 64-bit (Standard edition) | | |
| Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 64-bit (Standard edition) | |
Prerequisites
To use the CAST Database Extractor, the following is required:
SAP BusinessObjects Client Tools
SAP BusinessObjects Client Tools must be installed on the workstation where the CAST SAP BusinessObjects Extractor will be run from. This client layer must be pre-configured for access to the SAP BusinessObjects instance you wish to extract from.
| Client version | Supported |
|---|---|
| BusinessObjects XI | |
| BusinessObjects XI R2 | |
| BusinessObjects XI 3.0 | |
| BusinessObjects XI 3.1 | |
| SAP Business Intelligence BusinessObjects 4.0 | |
| SAP Business Intelligence BusinessObjects 4.1 | |
Using the CAST SAP BusinessObjects Extractor
The CAST SAP BusinessObjects Extractor is provided as a ZIP file containing an BoExporter.EXE file and multiple DLL files. This ZIP must be extracted on the workstation which you will use to perform the extraction. This workstation must have access to the SAP BusinessObjects instance:
- Via the local network
- Or on the local workstation itself
How to run an extraction
CAST recommends using a batch file (.bat) to run the extraction CLI, however, it is also possible to enter the command line direct into the Windows Command Prompt (CMD). An example CLI is shown below:
BoExporter.exe -r "XIV | XI" --host "MyHost: <port>" --u "Administrator" -p "password" -a "Enterprise" --Lov "true | false" -d "true | false" -o "<path_to_output_folder>" -i "<path_to_input_folder>"
The path to the BoExporter.exe file must be surrounded with double quotes if the path contains a white space (for example a folder name containing a white space).
CLI parameters
| Parameter | Mandatory? | Description | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -r "XI | XIV" | | Determines the SAP BusinessObjects runtime that will be used to complete the extraction. Choose one of the following:
| ||||
| --host "MyHost: <port>" | | Determines the host name and port number of your SAP BusinessObjects instance (by default SAP BusinessObjects runs on port 6400). | ||||
| --u "<user_name>" |  | Allows you to specify the user you wish to connect to the SAP BusinessObjects instance with. This parameter is optional and if omitted, the user Administrator will be used. | ||||
-p "<password>" | | Allows you to specify the password for the user you are connecting to the SAP BusinessObjects instance with. | ||||
-a "<authentication>" | | Determines the authentication level you will use to connect to the SAP BusinessObjects instance with. This parameter is optional and if omitted, Enterprise authentication will be used. | ||||
--Lov "true | false" | | Allows you to specify if you would like the LOV (List Of Values) data to be extracted with the Universes. This parameter is optional and if omitted, the option is set to false. | ||||
| -d "true | false" | | When set to true, the user specified in the --u parameter must have sufficient rights to connect to the Desktop Intelligence module and view objects in the Business Objects Central Management Console (CMC) - this will then allow the extraction of both SAP BusinessObjects reports (*.rep) and Universes (*.unv). This option is only relevant for those extracting SAP BusinessObjects XI, XI R2, XI 3.0 and XI 3.1. When extracting SAP Business Intelligence BusinessObjects 4.0 or 4.1, the option has no effect because the Desktop Intelligence module no longer exists in these more recent versions of SAP BusinessObjects. This parameter is optional and if omitted, the option is set to false. | ||||
| -o "<path_to_output_folder>" | | Determines the location you would like to output the extraction data to. | ||||
-i "<path_to_input_folder>" | | Determines the location of the .unv and .rep (BusinessObjects XI, XI R2, XI 3.0 and XI 3.1 only) files that you would like to extract. |
Output results
When completed, the CAST SAP BusinessExtractor will output result data to the specified location on disk. The next step is to deliver this output with the CAST Delivery Manager Tool. See SAP BusinessObjects Analyzer for more information.