Create a direct live connection to SAP HANA

Execute the following steps to connect to the on-premise SAP HANA system to use live data in SAP Analytics Cloud. Live data means that you can get up-to-the-minute data when you open a story in SAP Analytics Cloud. In this case, any changes made to the data in the source system are reflected immediately. Usually, there are two ways to establish a connection to a data source--use the Connection option from the main menu, or specify the data source during the process of creating a model. However, live data connections must be established via the Connection menu option prior to creating the corresponding model. Here are the steps:

1. From the main menu, select Connection.
2. On the Connections page, click on the Add Connection icon (+), and select Live Data Connection | SAP HANA.
3. In the New Live Connection dialog, enter a name for the connection (for example, HANA).
4. From the Connection Type drop-down list, select Direct. The Direct option is used when you connect to a data source that resides inside your corporate network. The Path option requires a reverse proxy to the HANA XS server. The SAP Cloud Platform and Cloud options in this list are used when you are connecting to SAP cloud environments. When you select the Direct option, the System Type is set to HANA and the protocol is set to HTTPS.
5. Enter the host name and port number in respective text boxes.
6. The Authentication Method list contains two options: User Name and Password and SAML Single Sign On. The SAML Single Sign On option requires that the SAP HANA system is already configured to use SAML authentication. If not, choose the User Name and Password option and enter these credentials in relevant boxes.
7. Click on OK to finish the process. A new connection will appear on the Connection page, which can now be used as a data source for models. The creation of the model is discussed in the next chapter. However, in order to complete this exercise, we will go through a short demo of this process here.
8. From the main menu, go to Create | Model.
9. On the New Model page, select Use a datasource.
10. From the list that appears on your right side, select Live Data connection.
11. In the dialog that is displayed, select the HANA connection you created in the previous steps from the System list.

1. From the Data Source list, select the HANA view you want to work with. The list of views may be very long, and a search feature is available to help you locate the source you are looking for.
2. Finally, enter the name and the optional description for the new model, and click on OK. The model will be created, and its definitions will appear on another page. Refer to the next two chapters for further details on models.