The OData Query Service

The BI Semantic Layer RESTful Web Service SDK allows client tools to use the Open Data (OData) protocol to perform the following tasks:

  • Running a query statement
  • Retrieving the query results
  • Exposing the query results as OData flows

The OData query service exposes the query results according to a schema based on the Entity Data Model (EDM). The schema is described with the help of CSDL. CSDL is an XML format that describes the structure and semantics of Entity Data Model schemas. To learn more about the concepts that rule an entity data model, see the CSDL specificationInformation published on non-SAP site.

The OData query service exposes the results of a query as one flow. It returns multiple flows in the following cases:

  • If the query specification defines combined queries
  • If the query uses unlinked objects

The schema defines the metadata used to build the query results. It is represented as a file of the EDMX format.

The query is running when the OData service is called. The OData service does not support POST HTTP requests.