pyunv 0.1.7

Introduction

PyUnv reads SAP BusinessObjects universe (.unv) files. In BusinessObjects, a universe provides a metadata layer above enterprise databases, expressed in language that is easier for business users to understand than the underlying data structures. Universes are edited with the BusinessObjects Designer and saved to universe files in an undocumented binary format. PyUnv can extract most of this metadata from the universe file, enabling you to use it outside BusinessObjects, or to create tools to streamline your BusinessObjects development process.

PyUnv requires Mako to produce manifests. I include a sample template for a text manifest. If you come up with your own manifests in RST, HTML, or other, let me know.

Installation

Install PyUnv with easy_install:

easy_install pyunv

Sample Usage

With PyUnv installed, this should work:

>>> from pyunv.reader import Reader
>>> from pyunv.manifest import Manifest
>>> universe = Reader(open('sample.unv', 'rb')).universe
>>> manifest = Manifest()
>>> manifest.save(open('manifest.txt', 'w'), universe)

This will create a text manifest of the tables, columns, classes, objects, and conditions in your universe.

Applications

I wrote the earliest versions of PyUnv to extract descriptions for classes, objects, and conditions from the universe file. After reverse-engineering more of the universe file format, I saw PyUnv as a way to workaround limitations of the BusinessObjects development tools. For example, BusinessObjects Designer provides no support for change tracking. If you want to know what changed between two versions of a universe, you open the first universe in one Designer window and the second in another window, and then compare them visually. That is impractical for all but the simplest universes.

With PyUnv, you can export all of the universe metadata to a text manifest file and use your favorite file comparison tool (diff, p4diff, FileMerge, or even Microsoft Word) to highlight the differences. To track changes over time, just store the manifest with your universe in a version control system.

Roadmap

At this point, PyUnv reads basic universe information and classes, objects, conditions, tables, and virtual tables from a universe file. The Python objects defined in PyUnv mirror the entities from the universe file, and are arranged in memory in a tree structure as you would see them in Designer. For objects and conditions, you can get the description, select statement, where statement, and more.

I’m testing PyUnv with universes created on BusinessObjects XI R2. I haven’t tested it with earlier or later versions. I am still reverse-engineering other metadata in the universe file. If you have questions, or would like to help, just drop me a line.

Change Log