Definition
In BW, an InfoSource describes the quantity of all the data available for a business transaction or a type of business transaction (for example, cost center accounting).
An InfoSource is a quantity of information that logically belongs together, summarized into a single unit. It prepares consolidated data for updating to the data targets. InfoSources contain either transaction data or master data (attributes, texts and hierarchies).
An InfoSource is always a quantity of InfoObjects that logically belong together in the form of the communication structure.
Use
In BW, a DataSource is assigned to an InfoSource. If fields that logically belong together exist in various source systems, they can be grouped together into a single InfoSource in BW, in which multiple DataSources can be assigned to an InfoSource.
In the BW Processing Transfer Rules, individual DataSource fields are assigned to the corresponding InfoObject of the InfoSource. Here you can also determine how the data for a DataSource can actually be transferred to the InfoSource. The uploaded data is transformed using transfer rules. An extensive library of transformation functions that contain business logic can be used here to perform data cleansing and to make the data analyzable. The rules can be applied in a simple way without code with the use of formulas.
The transfer structure is used to transfer data to the BW system. The data is transferred 1:1 from the transfer structure of the source system into the BW transfer structure.
Integration
If fields that logically belong together exist in various source systems, they can be grouped together into a single InfoSource in BW. The source system release is not important here.
If you are dealing with an InfoSource with flexible updating, then the data is updated from the communication structure into the InfoCube into other data targets with the aid of the Update Rules. InfoSources with direct updating permit master data to be written directly (without update rules) into the master data tables.
InfoSources are listed in the InfoSource tree of the Administrator Workbench under an application component.
