Dynamic Runtime Parameters in KNIME Workflows

The following article describes how user-defined runtime parameters in Xtract Universal can be transferred to the SAP Reader (Theobald Software) of a KNIME workflow. This reduces transaction costs and improves the use of a delta-mechanism on standard SAP tables.

The depicted example uses the field AEDAT (Changed On) of the standard table EKKO (Purchasing Document Header). A runtime parameter in KNIME is used to extract and process only the entries from the SAP table EKKO that changed since the last run.

Requirements

Basic knowledge of T-SQL, KNIME Analytics Platform and the creation of table extractions in Xtract Universal is required.
The following BI architecture must be available and configured:

• Latest version of the KNIME Analytics Platform.
• Installed KNIME extension SAP Reader (Theobald Software).
• Existing table object in a Microsoft database (SQL-Server).
• Latest version of Xtract Universal, obtained from the Theobald Software website.
• Existing table extraction of table EKKO - Purchasing Document Header in Xtract Universal, see Define a Table Extraction.
• Use of a WHERE condition with runtime parameters of the table extraction in Xtract Universal e.g.: EKKO~AEDAT > @maxAEDAT.

KNIME Analytics Platform Workflow

1. Configuration of the KNIME node Microsoft SQL Server Connector:
   
2. Configuration of the KNIME node DB Table Selector:
   Use the following SQL statement for the table object EKKO in the Custom Query .

   SELECT MAX(REPLACE(AEDAT, '-', '')) AS maxAEDAT FROM #table#
   

   
3. Use the KNIME node DB Reader to read the result value of the Custom Query maxAEDAT and propagate the data to all connected nodes.
4. Configuration of the KNIME node Table Row to Varaiable :
   
5. Right-click on the node SAP Reader (Theobald Software) to display the flow variable ports.
   
6. Configuration of the KNIME node SAP Reader (Theobald Software), see KNIME Integration via SAP Reader (Theobald Software):
   
7. In the Parameters tab, use Fetch Parameters to add the user-defined variable to the WHERE condition and enter a default value .
   
8. In the Flow Variables tab, select the variable maxAEDAT in the Custom Parameters section using the drop-down menu .
   
9. Pass the results of the extraction in the workflow to the KNIME node DB Writer and execute the workflow.

Releated Links

• Documentation: KNIME Destination
• Read or download documentation for KNIME Software
• KNIME Flow Control Guide