Creation of Dynamic Date Variables to be used in WebI reports

Question

What we are trying to achieve is to create 4 optional filters (Current Day, Current Week, Last Week, Last Month) on 4 different dates which will allow the users to use them in WebI reports.
When using an optional SAP Customer Exit variable in BEx and creating a Universe on top, the filter becomes mandatory (i.e. the whole Universe is filtered by the SAP Exit, irrespective of whether the filter is used in the WebI report). Even if the filter is flagged as optional at the Universe level, it still behaves as mandatory.
If each filter becomes mandatory then we'll have to create 16 different Universes (for each optional filter and date combination)! This is not feasible.
I've seen in other posts that MDX Statements are not currently supported for Universes base on BW and SAP Exit should be utilized.
So with the existing BO version, is it possible to create optional dynamic date variables or is that a product limitation?
We are on XI3.1 SP3 FP3.1
Thanks

Answer 1

Hi Adam,
In BEx, I would create this query very easily using the "Amount" key figure twice in my results and restricting each with a different SAP standard out-of-the-box delivered variable. For your reference, the variables in BEx are: 0FPER and 0FYTLFP.
If I expose these variables in my OLE DB for OLAP query, they are not transfered into the universe, but rather act as filters on the entire universe. I've seen in documentation that only "Ready for Input" variables can be transfered as options into the universe which is not something that I have seen mentioned in this thread.
>> In the BEx Query you have the option to either make the variable "ready for input" or not. The behavior is the same in Bex or in the Universe / Web Intelligence. "Ready for input" means the user can actually provide an input and without the flag the user can not provide an input. Yes those variables are supported in the Universe.
Why this is a problem: I can't create separate universes based on potential variable periods that users might want to see. Additionally, many financial reports require concurrent use of these measures in the same report. Also, in reality it's not 2 variables, but dozens.
>> Which is a decision you make already on the BEx query level. if you decide that the variable is not ready for input then the user can change the timeframe in BEx either.
Also, I don't have a good way to mimic the standard out-of-the-box functionality given with BEx in BO. If I custom create all my variables in the universe, how do I do a lookup from the system date to the fiscal calendar that is stored on the BW server? In other words, how does BO know which date belongs in which period? (the same would be true with factory calendars for a different functional area).
>> Variable are created in the BEx query and the Universe will leverage those.
If you want a dynamic date range then EXIT variable as part of the BEx query - ready for input or not - is the solution.
regards
Ingo Hilgefort
The only work around I can see is to require users to enter the current fiscal period and have the BO reports filter based off that user entered value. This is unfortunate as the entire purpose of SAP Exit variables is to avoid having to require user input at report time.