Figure 31 Ensure processing via manual input is selected Next click the Details tab, which takes you to Figure 32. Figure 32 Ensure the variable is ready for input When you are creating the variables that you require for cascading, ensure that they are ready for input by checking the Variable Is Ready for Input check box. By default, this is left blank so be sure that you select it when creating your variables. Now save the variable. Then, in the BEx Query filter, ensure that the two new variables are included. In Figure 33 you can see the variables selected in the example scenario. Figure 33 BEx Query filter results – Characteristic relationship displaying variables After you save the variables and the query, click the Filter button (boxed in red in Figure 33). The result set (shown in Figure 34) includes several measures that are relevant for the analysis. For example, sales, quantity, comparisons, and some InfoObjects are set as free characteristics, which the user can select after the report has been refreshed to enrich the report analysis display. Figure 34 BEx Query rows/columns

Save the BEx Query

The final steps for creating the new query are to check and save your query. To do this go to the Query tab and click the Save option (Figure 35). The BEx Query is complete. Figure 35 Save the query As shown in Figure 36, when you run the query, by default, you can see that when a specific product is selected, an unfiltered list of all the products company-wide is selected that shows more than the maximum result set that is allowed. I added prompt selections, then selected Product by clicking the icon next to it. Figure 36 Select the product I have added prompts for one site and one vendor, which should have a small number of products from which to select in Figure 37. Instead, Figure 37 shows the whole list of products, many of which are not relevant to my analysis. Figure 37 The unfiltered product list of help values shows all products for the entire data set In the next section, I create the ABAP logic to capture the user’s input to each variable and return a specific filter list of values.

Step 4. Create an RSR_VARIABLE_F4_RESTRICT_BAdI to Define the Logic for Cascading Filtering

At this point, the base underlying SAP HANA view is set up and returning results to filter on specific inputs. Also, the BEx Query has been created as the main communication to capture the user’s filter input requirements. The last step is to develop a codebase to link the two with the logic to filter each variable in the prompt screen based on the user’s input, and return a filtered list of values back to the prompt screen. For example, you want to filter a product’s list of values based only on the products sold at a specific site rather than an unfiltered list of all products. In the example, the focus is on the product list of values being filtered by several inputs. This is a significant use case that uses the SAP HANA optimized view to quickly return a filtered list of products based on a very large result set. For smaller master data objects, the calculation view can be computed on the InfoObjects themselves rather than by using the new SAP HANA view.

Ensure RSR_VARIABLE_F4_RESTRICT_BAdI Is Set Up

To set up the construct of the BAdI RSR_VARIABLE_F4_RESTRICT_BAdI, refer to the documentation here: In this case, name the enhancement implementation ZVAR_F4_RESTRICT. This holds multiple classes to filter specific InfoObjects.

For this scenario on high-volume filtering, I created a single class for each InfoObject (e.g., product, brand, and vendor) although for small volumes of InfoObject data, this could be used in one implementation class based on the InfoObject filters, rather than using the SAP HANA view.

Once the enhancement implementation ZVAR_F4_RESTRICT has been created, create a new class implementation and call it ZVAR_F4_RESTRICT_PRODUCT by clicking the Change button (Figure 38) or pressing Enter.

Figure 38 Create a new BAdI implementation

That takes you to Figure 39. Click the Enh. Implementation Elements tab and then click the create icon.

Figure 39 Select the new implementation

This action displays the screen in Figure 40 in which you can enter the technical name and text of your implementation class. I have called the class ZCL_F4_RESTRICT_PRODUCT as part of the BAdI implementation created previously (refer back to the instructions before Figure 38).

Figure 40 Create a new BAdI implementation and implementation class

Once created, the implementation has two areas that you need to define: the implementing class and the filter value. The filter value essentially triggers the BAdI to be called. The implementing class is the restriction logic based on the flat, node, or hierarchy values.

Click the continue icon (the green checkmark) in Figure 40 to create your implementation class. Figure 41 appears.

Figure 41 Filter value based on an InfoObject

Expand the class you just created. In the Flt. Val. (filter value) tab highlighted in Figure 41, select the InfoObject on which the variable is based. In this case, the BAdI is triggered once you select the variable created in the previous steps. In this case, I used the ZPRODUCT InfoObject (Figure 41) highlighted in orange.

To enter the InfoObject select the Flt. Val. tab highlighted in the red box in Figure 41 and type in the name of the InfoObject. Press Enter.

This is a custom product InfoObject that is specific to the implementation, but it can be extended to any InfoObject required. In a standard case, for example, this could be InfoObject 0MAT_PLANT or ZPRODUCT in our specific example. Figure 42 shows the InfoObject and variable in the BEx query, created in previous steps.

ZPRODUCT highlighted in blue is the InfoObject, which is a copy of 0MAT_PLANT.  When a user runs a report based on the BEx query and selects the product prompt, this will now trigger the BAdI.

Figure 42 displays that ZPRODUCT is part of the BEx query created earlier, which now triggers the code to be created in the following steps below based on Figure 41.

Figure 42 Trigger InfoObject ZPRODUCT in the BEx Query

Implementation Class

In this example, I use a restriction based on the flat structure, although this could also be extended out to hierarchy and node restrictions. The following logic is based on the specific InfoObjects in your system and can be extended or amended to fit specific requirements. When creating the new implementation class, implement the following pseudo logic:

1. Obtain the list of selected InfoObject(s) values in the Prompts screen.
2. Check the criteria and only process the F4 value help filtering logic if certain criteria are matched—for example, only display active sites based on an active/inactive flag
3. Filter the SAP HANA master data view based on the selection of filled-in prompts
4. Return the final list of values to the selected prompts

You should still be on the same screen shown in Figure 41., which is shown in Figure 43 to highlight the class. Double-click the Implementing Class link highlighted in red and then double-click the GET_RESTRICTION_FLAT method as shown in Figure 44. Figure 43 Double-click Implementing Class Figure 44 Double-click the flat restriction method Double-clicking the flat restriction method displays Figure 45. This displays a blank method that you can now customize. Because I selected the RESTRICTION_FLAT method, the system filters on a flat structure of master data. If node or hierarchy characteristics are required, then you can use the _NODE or _HIER methods provided by SAP. The code in Figures 46 to 50 has been optimized for the specific environment. However, anyone with ABAP experience can amend this code for specific use cases and specific systems. You can use this code as a base template and modify it as needed for the InfoObjects and variables specific to your environment. Figure 45 A blank method, to be modified and the below code to be amended and added based on specific environment objects You place the code in Figure 46 into Figure 45. The code in Figure 46 includes all the data declarations to be used in method. This includes declaring a table of each InfoObject to hold the user’s entered F4 Help values. METHOD if_rsr_variable_f4_restrict~get_restriction_flat. DATA: lt_comp_sel   TYPE TABLE OF rsrange, lt_stor_sel   TYPE TABLE OF rsrange, lt_dept_sel   TYPE TABLE OF rsrange, lt_vend_sel   TYPE TABLE OF rsrange, lt_vpre_sel   TYPE TABLE OF rsrange, lt_site_sel   TYPE TABLE OF rsrange, ls_selection  TYPE rsrange, lt_product    TYPE TABLE OF /bic/oizvenart, lv_product    TYPE /bic/oizvenart, l_s_range     LIKE LINE OF c_t_range, prev_flag     TYPE CHAR1, avend_flag    TYPE CHAR1, lv_prefix     TYPE string VALUE 'SAPBWMESSAGE', lv_suffix     TYPE n LENGTH 3, loc_var_range LIKE LINE OF i_t_var_range.