16.2 S/4HANA VDM & CDS

1. What is the VDM?

The S/4HANA Virtual Data Model provides business-oriented access to application data.

SAP documentation describes the VDM as the basis for data access in analytical applications and APIs, with CDS views representing the model.

That matters for Datasphere because the source interface can carry business semantics instead of exposing only physical table structures.

2. CDS layers

A simplified mental model is:

Database tables
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Basic / interface CDS
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Composite / reuse CDS
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Consumption-oriented CDS
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Analytics / API consumers

The exact view hierarchy varies by application.

Do not assume every CDS view is extraction-enabled.

3. Released versus internal views

Enterprise architecture must distinguish:

• views intended for reuse,
• internal implementation views,
• extraction-enabled views,
• analytical queries,
• application-specific views.

Use the source system's documented release and extraction contract rather than selecting a view merely because it appears in a browser.

4. Extraction enablement

For supported ABAP sources, Datasphere documentation references CDS views enabled for extraction using the appropriate extraction annotations.

The important architectural question is:

Is this CDS view intentionally exposed as an extraction interface?

That is stronger than:

Can I technically query this view?

5. CDS selection criteria

Evaluate:

Criterion	Question
Business semantics	Does it represent the required concept?
Release status	Is reuse supported?
Extraction	Is extraction supported?
Grain	What does one row represent?
Keys	Are keys stable and sufficient?
Delta	Is the required delta mechanism available?
Performance	Can source workload support it?
Security	Are source authorizations respected?

6. CDS does not remove modeling responsibility

A source CDS view can still require:

• harmonization,
• key mapping,
• currency handling,
• unit handling,
• text enrichment,
• historical logic,
• master-data conformance.

7. Practical discovery workflow

Business requirement
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Identify business object
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Search View Browser / SAP documentation
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Check supported capabilities
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Check extraction enablement
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Check source release
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Validate grain / keys / delta
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Prototype in Datasphere

Architect exercise

Select a CDS-based source for Sales Order Item analytics.

Document:

• business purpose,
• CDS view,
• release status,
• extraction capability,
• grain,
• key,
• delta behavior,
• required enrichment,
• consumer latency.