SAP And Postgres – A Brief Guide On Connecting The Two

This post will elaborate on Postgres and SAP Data Services and then briefly go into how to move from SAP to Postgres.

PostgreSQL

PostgreSQL is an object-relational database management system (ORDBMS), that offers many modern features and supports a large part of the SQL standard. PostgreSQL is commonly referred to as Postgres.  

The technologically-advanced features of PostgreSQL are as follows:

·        complex queries

·        foreign keys

·        triggers

·        updatable views

·        transactional integrity

·        multi-version concurrency control

Users can extend the use of PostgreSQL in several ways. They can, for example, add new 

·        data types

·        functions

·        operators

·        aggregate functions

·        index methods

·        procedural languages

Now, let us go into the difference between PostgreSQL and other relational databases.

What is the difference between PostgreSQL and other relational databases? Postgres is an object-relational database management system (ORDMBS) with relational capabilities and an object-oriented design. On the other hand, a relational database is a collection of data items organized in a set of tables with columns and rows.

Postgres programmers can use its object-oriented features to:

·        Communicate with the database servers using objects in their code.

·        Define complex custom data types.

·        Define functions that work with their own data types.

·        Define inheritance, or parent-child relationships, between tables.

Now, before going into the details of SAP to Postgres, let us know what the SAP software is used for.

SAP Data Services

In conventional databases, data management is largely decentralized with different business functionalities using a separate database to store operational data. Since the data is kept in isolated silos, all employees do not have access to the complete set of data. Moreover, data duplication across multiple departments increases the cost of data storage and the risk of data errors.   

SAP software centralizes data management providing multiple business functions with a single-point data access. This enables employees to get access to data across multiple business functions, helping to accelerate workflow, raise operational productivity, and improve customer experience.  

How to move from SAP to Postgres

For using Postgres tables as sources and targets in SAP Data Services a PostgreSQL datastore must be created for importing tables and other metadata. However. Before moving data from SAP to Postgres, certain prerequisites must be fulfilled.  

·        Download and install the latest supported PostgreSQL Server version from the official PostgreSQL Web site. Check the Product Availability Matrix (PAM) on the SAP Support Portal to ensure that you have the supported PostgreSQL version for your version of Data Services.

·        Obtain the ODBC driver that is compatible with your version of PostgreSQL. To avoid potential processing problems, download the ODBC driver from the official PostgreSQL Web site.

For SAP to Postgres DSN or DSN-less connections, create a PostgreSQL datastore using either a DSN or DSN-less connection.

To carry out bulk loading options, obtain the PSQL tool from the official PostgreSQL website and complete the Bulk Loader Options tab in the target editor.