SAP HANA Database Explorer Overview

The SAP HANA database explorer is a web-based tool for browsing and working with SAP HANA database objects such as tables, views, functions, stored procedures, importing and exporting data, executing SQL statements, creating remote sources, working with multi-model data such as graph, spatial and JSON collections, debugging SQLScript, viewing trace files, and troubleshooting.

It was previously named SAP HANA Runtime Tools (HRTT) and was introduced in SAP HANA 1.0 SPS 12. As it is web-based, individual users do not need to worry about installing the software or applying patches. The SAP HANA Cloud version offers support for data lake Relational Engine and data lake Files container connections.

The following tools also provide the ability to execute SQL queries.

• hdbsql is a text-based tool that can be used to query an SAP HANA database. For additional details see Use Clients to Query an SAP HANA Database.

• dbisql is a tool that can be used to query a data lake Relational Engine. For additional details see Use Clients to Query Data Lake Relational Engine.

• SAP HANA Database Explorer for Visual Studio Code is an extension for Visual Studio Code that offers a subset of the functionality in the SAP HANA database explorer.

• SQL Notebook is a tool available inside of the SAP Business Application Studio. The SQL Notebook enable you to save your queries into .notebook file that combines Markdown cells with cells that control the connection (they start with #) and SAP HANA SQL statements.

The SAP HANA database explorer can be opened from multiple locations as shown below:

• From SAP HANA Cloud Central on either a SAP HANA or SAP data lake instance found under the ‘Actions’ column.

  

• From the SAP HANA cockpit

  

• From the Business Application Studio in a SAP HANA Native Application development space

  The command palette or the SAP HANA Projects panel can be used to open the SAP HANA database explorer.

  

• From the SAP Web IDE for SAP HANA with the extension enabled

  

The following are some related documentation links for SAP HANA and the SAP HANA database explorer.

Functionality such as executing SQL statements and browsing database schema is now also available in SAP HANA Cloud Central providing one tool for administration.

The SAP HANA database explorer releases independently of SAP HANA. New features appear first in SAP HANA Cloud and are available to the on-premise version if applicable, in a later release. Features are also enabled based on the database being connected to. For example, the option to export data or catalog objects to the SAP HANA database’s file system is not supported in SAP HANA Cloud where users do not have access to the file system unlike an on-premise install of SAP HANA.

The screenshots below show the version of the SAP HANA database explorer in SAP HANA Cloud and on-premise.

The image below shows the SAP HANA database explorer running in the SAP BTP.

The image below shows the SAP HANA database explorer running in an on-premise installation.

For the on-premise edition, only the currently released version receives patches. For example, now that version 2.16.X has been released, there will no longer be fixes made to the 2.15.X release. For additional details see SAP Note 2433181 - SAP HANA 2.0 Cockpit Revision and Maintenance Strategy.

The SAP Software download links (requires an S-User ID to access) below are for the on-premise version of the SAP HANA Cockpit, the SAP Web IDE, and the SAP HANA database explorer. These pages also contain links to release notes that describe fixes made to each release.

SAP HANA Cockpit Download from SAP Software Downloads (Includes the SAP HANA database explorer)

SAP HANA Web IDE Download from SAP Software Downloads

SAP HANA Runtime Tools 2.0 (Adds the SAP HANA database explorer to the SAP HANA Web IDE)

To complete the tutorials in this group, an SAP HANA instance is needed. Steps 3 and 4 in this tutorial provide two different, free options that can be used to set up an SAP HANA instance. Only one of these steps needs to be completed if you currently do not have access to an SAP HANA instance. Alternatively, step 7 provides a quick and easy way to try out SAP HANA Cloud although you will be given access to a user with fewer permissions. The SAP BTP Trial is available on the US10 and AP21 landscapes. If a free tier instance is used in a productive subaccount, a seamless transition from a free tier to a paid plan is available.

SAP HANA Cloud free tier instances are shut down overnight (i.e. 10:00 PM based on the location where your instance was provisioned) and will need to be restarted before working with them the next day. The tutorial group Automating SAP HANA Cloud Tasks provides some examples of using tools such as the BTP CLI or the SAP Automation Pilot to help with repetitive tasks such as starting and stopping instances.

In QRC 3 of 2022, a new version of the SAP HANA Cloud tools (SAP HANA Cloud Central, SAP HANA cockpit, and SAP HANA database explorer) was released which runs in the subaccount rather than Cloud Foundry. This edition of the SAP HANA Cloud tools can better support instances of SAP HANA Cloud running in multiple environments. SAP BTP provides multiple runtime environments such as Kyma and Cloud Foundry. When a HANA Cloud or data lake instance is created, it can be provisioned at the BTP subaccount or in a Cloud Foundry space. The runtime environment label in SAP HANA Cloud Central or in the SAP BTP Cockpit indicates where the instance has been provisioned with the value of Other Environments indicating that it was provisioned at the SAP BTP subaccount. Further details can be found at SAP HANA Cloud goes multi-environment.

The instructions on how to setup a free SAP HANA Cloud trial or free tier within SAP BTP are well covered in several other sources listed below.

• Set Up Your SAP HANA Cloud, SAP HANA Database and Understand the Basics

• SAP Learning Journey - Provisioning and Administering Databases in SAP HANA Cloud

• SAP Discovery Center - SAP HANA Cloud, SAP HANA Database Fundamentals

• Help Thomas Get Started with SAP HANA (Only the first 3 steps of this tutorial are needed for basic setup of SAP HANA Cloud.)

  For more information on the SAP BTP see the following:

  • https://www.sap.com/products/business-technology-platform/products.html

  • https://developers.sap.com/topics/business-technology-platform.html

  • https://help.sap.com/docs/btp

Continue on to the next tutorial in this group once you have access to an SAP HANA instance.

This step only needs to be completed if you currently do not have access to an SAP HANA instance and did not setup an SAP HANA instance through the SAP HANA Cloud as explained in step 3.

An alternative option to using the SAP HANA Cloud free tier is to use the SAP HANA, express edition. SAP provides a free, streamlined version of SAP HANA that runs on developer laptops called SAP HANA, express edition.

SAP HANA runs on a few versions of Linux. SAP HANA, express edition provides a binary install as well as docker images. This is described in the Getting Started with SAP HANA 2.0, express edition (Binary Installer Method). A database-only option and a database + XS Advanced Applications option are available. The database + XS Advanced Applications install includes the SAP HANA cockpit, the SAP HANA database explorer, and the SAP HANA Web IDE for SAP HANA. The Applications option adds XS Advanced, the SAP HANA cockpit, the SAP HANA database explorer, and the SAP HANA Web IDE for SAP HANA.

The full install requires sufficient disk space and memory (32 GB).

Once installed, a useful starting point is the page below.

It contains links to the SAP Web IDE for SAP HANA, SAP HANA cockpit, and the SAP HANA cockpit manager.

The SAP HANA Cloud Basic Trial provides a database user and password that has access to a specific schema free for 30 days. The database user can be used with the SAP HANA database explorer. The provided database user can be used to create database objects within the provided schema but cannot create new schemas or users. To get started, click on Try Now on Discover SAP HANA Cloud section of the trial page of SAP HANA Cloud.

The SAP HANA database explorer is shown below connected to the provided instance.

A tutorial is available to be used with the basic trial.

Congratulations! You have configured an instance of SAP HANA, either through the SAP HANA Cloud free tier, or SAP HANA, express edition. You’ve also learned how to start, stop, and manage an instance of SAP HANA Cloud via the Cloud Foundry Command Line Interface.