Hau Ngo

I have moved! (Feb. 7, 2010)

2010-02-07T06:19:46Z

Hello.

If you have reached this page via a search-engine or bookmark, then please note that I have moved my blog to www.haungo.com.

Thanks!

Hau

Up To Something

2010-01-28T17:41:39Z

Working from home gave me a chance to see what Juicy is up to.

For example, I was downstairs grabbing a bite to eat during my break when I gave her a treat. She grabs the snack out of my hand and quickly disappears.

Here is what she was up to (as captured by the humble camera from my iPhone 3G):

Up To Something from Hau Ngo on Vimeo.

A Perfect Day (Northstar at Tahoe)

2010-01-26T15:45:29Z

The moguls at the beginning of this run (black) took away what little energy had I had in my legs. While taking a break, I captured a shot of the run when some blue mountains in the background.

Here is a picture of a sunny Northstar (Lake Tahoe, CA) after a week's worth of fresh snow.

How To: Resolve Data Load Issues with Dead Locks

2010-01-19T17:44:56Z

Here is a familiar phrase for anyone who has worked in SAP BW or BI production support environment: ‘Short dump in the Warehouse’

Checking transaction ST22, you should see another familiar screen telling you about a deadlock issue.

Personally, I find it hilarious that the system message tells you to try again and hope the outcome will be different.

There are a few ways to get around the deadlock issue and reload your data successfully. I like the two options below because that means less hoops to jump through (from a business approval standpoint).

Option 1: Delete the Index

In BI 7.0, the process chain creation wizard is smart enough to delete and generate an index when loading data into an infocube. In BW 3.x, this data target administration had to be specified.

I was performing the ETL manually, so forgot this step. In general, deleting the index of an infocube will speed up the loading process. (I can find the SAP Note if anyone is interested.)

Option 2: Change the Package Size

If you would prefer not to bother the Basis team to increase the global memory size, then changing the DTP package size is another quick remedy for dead lock issues.

Since dead lock situations arise when a number of processes encounter a circular waiting pattern (where A waits for B, B waits for C, and C waits for A), decreasing the number of parallel processes may be a remedy.

Here, I changed the default size of a data package from 20,000 kByte to 5,000 kByte. Also, I changed the number of data packages from a previous value of 10 to 5.

After deleting the index on my cube and changing the package setting, I restarted the load.

The cube was loaded with 3.4 million records in under 40 minutes. That’s a success in my book. =D

Posted via email from hau

Beautiful Sunset (Wailea on Maui, Hawaii)

2010-01-15T15:19:31Z

Here is my favorite picture from our recent vacation to the Big Island and Maui (Hawaii).

It was first attempt of the sunset at this location (Wailea Marriott). I'm glad I give this picture a shot, because these clouds did not return for the rest of our stay. I spent an hour sitting on the rocky shore, my camera and I were splashed a few times, but I capture that shot that I had in mind.

It's almost postcard worthy. Enjoy!

How to save hours of frustration when working SAP Application Process Designer (APD)

2010-01-14T16:49:24Z

A client requests a specific report to be saved as a flat file.

In this case, the format is a comma space vertical (CSV) delimited file, which is a common workaround for Microsoft Excel's limitation of 65,000 rows. That sounds easy enough.

Working with SAP Application Process Designer (APD), however, was anything but straight-forward. The Business Explorer (BEx) query report was showing one set of numbers while the flat-file seemed to display whatever it wanted at the moment. After hours of banging my head against my desk, I have discovered 3 tips that will help to save you the frustration and recoup several hours from your workday. Here is a summary of the three tips followed by a more detailed explanation.

Three Rules for Working with SAP APD

1. Unhide all fields

2. 'Display Data'

3. Create formulas in APD

Before explaining the three rules in detail, I want to show you a before picture. Below is a screen-capture, comparing the query results with the generated flat file. The value of "50" for Safety Stock in the report is correct but the value of "0.000" in the APD flat file is wrong. (Click on the image below for a larger picture)

To drive the point home, here is another view of the same record. Notice how the value of "50" for Safety Stock (in the query) appears under "Reorder Point" (in the APD flat-file)? Also, how the value of "24" for Open SO Quantity in the query appears under Max Stock Value in the APD flat-file.

What is causing the values to jump around and be displayed in arbitrary columns? For that, we will need to take a closer look at the query definition.

Notice below how there are a series of green and blue icons in the columns section of the query designer. The green icons are your visible fields and the blue icons signify that a field (key figure, calculation, formula, restricted key figure, etc.) is hidden from view. Not only is that field hidden in the report output but it is hidden from the APD mapping as well.

Rule 1: Unhide all fields in APD

Your life will be much better for it. See below.

Apparently, un-hiding the fields in Query Designer help APD to put the output values in the correct buckets. Otherwise, selectively displaying and hiding column fields will make numbers omelet look like scrambled eggs.

So now that you are displaying all of the report fields, how do you go about verifying that the flat-file output will match the Business Explorer (BEx) query? Well, you test the APD of course! How you go about testing the APD is another thing altogether.

To start this topic, here is a sample APD. Notice there are five distinct steps between the initial query result (step 1) to the final flat-file layout (step 5).

So the question is "If the query result from step 1 does not match the data in the final flat-file in step 5, then how do you find out what went wrong and where it went wrong"?

One approach (that I am embarrassed to admit guilt of doing) is to run the ADP, compare the results from step 1 and step 5, and adjust the APD. That is, I tried adjusting the join in step 2. When that didn't work, I tried adjusting the calculation in step 3. When that didn't work, I tried adjusting the display/hide field mapping in step 4. When that didn't work, I would bang my head against the desk, rinse, and repeat. It's not the best approach or most methodical approach.

Rule 2: Display Data

A more pragmatic approach is to use the "Display Data". See below:

Performing a Right-Click on a node (steps 1 through 5) will display the data at it exists at that point in the execution of the APD transformation.

For instance, I realized that my selective display and hide of the report fields was causing an issue after having verified the query results by selecting "Display Data" on the Query Result node at Step 1.

Rule 3: Create formulas in APD

After verifying the query output in the APD at step 1 matches my expectations, I select "Display Data" at the Join node in Step 2. At this stage, I find that my calculation for Open Purchase Order Quantity and Open Sales Order quantity was displaying the results in scientific notation. For example, the value "24" was displayed as "2.4000000000000000E+01". That was easily fixed by performing the calculation in the APD as a node, instead of the performing the calculation in the query.

Well, those are my 3 tips to making working with APD a better experience. I hope the tips saved you a few hours. =D

Orange Cat Sleeping Oceanside at the Waikoloa Hilton

2010-01-04T05:31:38Z

During our last trip to Kaua'i, there were chickens at the Hilton. This time around on The Big Island, there are a number of cats walking around the Waikoloa Hilton.

They are cared for by a group of volunteers. Signs are posted, asking visitors not to feed the cats as it interferes with their diet.

Walking around the resort, I see a number of guests rubbing and petting the cats. They seem friendly enough.

I took this picture with my iPhone while waiting for a sunset. She was content to sleep under the bush, near my feet as I fiddle with my camera. She even purred when I reached down to scratch her neck. Melissa gave her a tummy rub.

She gave Melissa a small rash when she licked her hand. Melissa is allergic to cats, apparently.

Posted via email from hau

Happy New Year's Eve from Kona, Hawaii

2010-01-01T04:28:38Z

Funny how things work out.

I spent the better part of an hour trying to capture the sunset from our resort at the Waikoloa Hilton with my fancy digital SLR. However, the preview in the back of the camera just didn't captures that my eyes were seeing.

After the sunset, I took a picture with my iPhone to geo-tag the location. The above picture, taken with my humble phone camera, was closer to the real colors of the sunset. Funny.

Posted via email from hau

Island Bound!

2009-12-29T19:13:26Z

Flight attendants are wearing leis and serving Mai Tais.

I think we're on the right plane. =P

Posted via email from hau

Leaving Utah!

2009-12-29T18:44:05Z

More iPhone fun.

Melissa and I had a three-hour layover in Salt Lake City, Utah.

I had two coffees since 3:00 am so I thought taking some pictures would be cool. Of course, this could be the coffee's idea.

Here's a view from the D-gate.

Posted via email from hau

Merry Christmas | from Hau, Melissa, and Juicy

2009-12-25T22:37:12Z

From our family to yours, we hope you have a safe and wonderful holiday season.

Foggy Day in the Southwest | Las Vegas, NV

2009-12-24T21:23:40Z

I saw these clouds coming around the mountains and the scene looked like the wallpaper on my macbook.

The colors were mostly brown and flat, so I thought the composition would be more interesting as B&W to highlight the shapes.

Arin and Hilary | Portraits

2009-12-24T03:34:46Z

Des and Randy Bautista's wedding was this past Saturday in Las Vegas, NV. They had a lovely ceremony and a very nice reception (at a mansion, no less).

Between the two events, we had a few hours to spare so we stopped by the new Rose Park in Southern Highlands for a few portraits. This is my favorite pose.

Quick Tip: Using Posterous and MovableType

2009-12-24T00:04:20Z

I ran into this problem when I had to reset the connection between blog on Posterous and MovableType. Here's what you need to know to reconnect the two blogs via Autopost:

1. Blog URL: Enter the top-level domain to your site. For example, I would enter "http://www.haungo.com" and not "http://www.haungo.com/cgi/mt4/mt.cgi?" (which is the login page to the dashboard).

2. Username: The [username] for your MT blog.

3. Password: This one is tricky! It is not asking for the password for the [username] (in step 2).

Instead, you need to provide the "web services password". That secondary password can be found via the MT system overview > manage users > [username] > profile preferences > web services password.

After entering all three fields, click on the SAVE button and you should be ready to go!

Posted via email from hau

City Center opens (Las Vegas, NV)

2009-12-17T21:27:03Z

My friend Chris Petite was running around last night and manage to capture this spectacular view of the fireworks show at the Grand Opening of City Center in Las Vegas, NV.

City Center is the largest privately funded project in the U.S. and may possibly the last hotel/casino to open in Las Vegas for next next few years.

Personally, I'm interested in seeing if their buffet is any good. Look forward to a review of their buffet (and the crab selection in particular) and pictures in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, here are some links to hold you over:

http://www.citycenter.com/
http://www.ktnv.com/Global/story.asp?S=11690823
http://www.dwell.com/articles/citycenter-las-vegas.html
http://www.hotelinteractive.com/article.aspx?articleid=15719