--- description: This tutorial covers Attributes definition, Types of Attributes, and a detailed step-by-step explanation on How to create attribute view in SAP HANA. title: "Attribute View in SAP HANA: How to Create?" image: https://www.guru99.com/images/attribute-view-in-sap-hana.png --- [Skip to content](#main) **⚡ Smart Summary** Attribute views in SAP HANA model master data as a reusable dimension, joining tables such as PRODUCT and PRODUCT\_DESC so reports read descriptive text alongside keys, without any measure or aggregation. - 🧱 **Purpose:** An attribute view supplies master-data context, providing text or description for key and non-key fields. - ♻️ **Reuse:** One activated attribute view can be consumed by analytic views and calculation views alike. - 🗂️ **Types:** Standard, Time and Derived, with Copy From as an editable alternative to a read-only derived view. - 🛠️ **Build:** Drop tables on the data foundation, join on PRODUCT\_ID, mark the key, validate, then activate. - 🔍 **Preview:** Data preview offers Analysis, Distinct Values and Raw Data tabs, or plain SQL output. - 🏛️ **Runtime:** Activation generates a column view under the \_SYS\_BIC schema, which every query actually reads. Read More ![Attribute view modeling in SAP HANA Studio](https://www.guru99.com/images/attribute-view-in-sap-hana.png) ## What is an Attribute View in SAP HANA? An attribute view in SAP HANA acts like a dimension. It joins multiple tables, behaves as master data for other views, and is a reusable object. Attribute views offer these advantages. - It acts as the master data context, providing text or a description for key and non-key fields. - It can be reused in an [analytic view](https://www.guru99.com/sap-hana-analytic-view.html) and in a [calculation view](https://www.guru99.com/sap-hana-calculation-view.html). - It selects a subset of columns and rows from a database table. - Attributes (fields) can be calculated from fields of several tables. - It holds no measure and no aggregation option. ## Attribute View Types Three attribute view types are available, and the type is chosen in the creation dialog. | Attribute View Type | Description | | --- | --- | | Standard | A standard view built from table fields, used in the walkthrough below. | | Time | Based on the default time tables. Gregorian: M\_TIME\_DIMENSION, M\_TIME\_DIMENSION\_YEAR, M\_TIME\_DIMENSION\_MONTH, M\_TIME\_DIMENSION\_WEEK. Fiscal: M\_FISCAL\_CALENDAR. | | Derived | Derived from an existing attribute view. It opens read-only, and only the description can be edited. | **Copy From** in the same dialog defines a view by copying an existing one. The difference matters: a derived view allows only its description to be edited, while a copy can be modified entirely. ## How to Create an Attribute View in SAP HANA Standard view creation follows the predefined sequence below, from table creation to data preview. ![Predefined steps for standard attribute view creation in SAP HANA]() ### Table Creation for Attribute View A standard attribute view is built here for a product table, so the “PRODUCT” and “PRODUCT\_DESC” tables are created first with the scripts below. Product table script – ``` CREATE COLUMN TABLE "DHK_SCHEMA"."PRODUCT" ( "PRODUCT_ID" NVARCHAR (10) PRIMARY KEY, "SUPPLIER_ID" NVARCHAR (10), "CATEGORY" NVARCHAR (3), "PRICE" DECIMAL (5,2) ); INSERT INTO "DHK_SCHEMA"."PRODUCT" VALUES ('A0001','10000','A', 500.00); INSERT INTO "DHK_SCHEMA"."PRODUCT" VALUES ('A0002','10000','B', 300.00); INSERT INTO "DHK_SCHEMA"."PRODUCT" VALUES ('A0003','10000','C', 200.00); INSERT INTO "DHK_SCHEMA"."PRODUCT" VALUES ('A0004','10000','D', 100.00); INSERT INTO "DHK_SCHEMA"."PRODUCT" VALUES ('A0005','10000','A', 550.00); ``` Product description table script – ``` CREATE COLUMN TABLE "DHK_SCHEMA"."PRODUCT_DESC" ( "PRODUCT_ID" NVARCHAR (10) PRIMARY KEY, "PRODUCT_NAME" NVARCHAR (10) ); INSERT INTO "DHK_SCHEMA"."PRODUCT_DESC" VALUES ('A0001','PRODUCT1'); INSERT INTO "DHK_SCHEMA"."PRODUCT_DESC" VALUES ('A0002','PRODUCT2'); INSERT INTO "DHK_SCHEMA"."PRODUCT_DESC" VALUES ('A0003','PRODUCT3'); INSERT INTO "DHK_SCHEMA"."PRODUCT_DESC" VALUES ('A0004','PRODUCT4'); INSERT INTO "DHK_SCHEMA"."PRODUCT_DESC" VALUES ('A0005','PRODUCT5'); ``` Both tables now exist in schema “DHK\_SCHEMA”, so the modeling steps can begin. **Don't Miss:** - [SAP HANA Tutorial for Beginners](https://www.guru99.com/sap-hana-tutorial.html) - [SAP HANA Security: Complete Tutorial](https://www.guru99.com/sap-hana-security.html) - [Top 15 SAP HANA Interview Questions & Answers in 2026](https://www.guru99.com/sap-hana-interview-questions.html) - [SAP HANA Direct Extractor Connection (DXC) Tutorial](https://www.guru99.com/sap-hana-direct-extractor-connection-dxc-in-sap-hana.html) ### Attribute View Creation **Step 1)** Select the SAP HANA system, then work down the content node as shown below. 1. Select the Content folder. 2. Select the non-structural package MODELLING under DHK\_SCHEMA, then right-click and choose New. 3. Select the Attribute View option. ![Right-click New Attribute View on the MODELLING package in SAP HANA Studio]() **Step 2)** Enter the view information in the creation dialog shown below. 1. Enter the attribute view name and label. 2. Select the view type, here Attribute View. 3. Select the subtype “Standard”. 4. Click the Finish button. ![Attribute view creation dialog with name, view type and Standard subtype]() **Step 3)** Check the view editor screen. The information view editor opens, and each numbered part of it is described below. 1. Scenario pane: contains the Semantics and Data Foundation nodes. 2. Detail pane: contains the Column, View Properties and Hierarchies tabs. 3. Semantics node: the output structure of the view, here a dimension. 4. Data Foundation node: the tables that define the view, dropped here. 5. The tabs of the detail pane are displayed. 6. Local: shows every local attribute detail. 7. Show: filter for local attributes. 8. Detail of the selected attribute. 9. Toolbar: performance analysis, find column, validate, activate, data preview. ![Information view editor showing scenario pane, detail pane and toolbar]() **Step 4)** Click the Data Foundation node to include database tables, then follow the sequence below. 1. Drag tables “PRODUCT” and “PRODUCT\_DESC” from the TABLE node under DHK\_SCHEMA. 2. Drop “PRODUCT” and “PRODUCT\_DESC” on the Data Foundation node. 3. Select the fields of “PRODUCT” as output; the field icon turns from grey to orange. 4. Select the fields of “PRODUCT\_DESC” as output in the same way. 5. Output fields from both tables appear in the column list of the output pane. ![PRODUCT and PRODUCT\_DESC tables dropped on the data foundation node]() Join the “PRODUCT” table to “PRODUCT\_DESC” on the “PRODUCT\_ID” field. **Step 5)** Select the join path, right-click it and choose Edit. The Edit Join Condition screen appears. 1. Select the join type “Inner”. 2. Select the cardinality “1..1”. ![Edit Join Condition screen with inner join type and 1..1 cardinality]() Click OK to confirm. Other [SAP HANA join](https://www.guru99.com/sap-hana-join.html) types, such as referential and text joins, are set in the same dialog. **Step 6)** Select the columns and define the output key. 1. Select the Semantics node. 2. The Column tab appears in the detail pane. 3. Select “PRODUCT\_ID” as Key. 4. Check Hidden for field PRODUCT\_ID\_1, from PRODUCT\_DESC. 5. Click the Validate button. 6. After successful validation, click the Activate button. ![Semantics column tab with PRODUCT\_ID set as key and PRODUCT\_ID\_1 hidden]() The Job Log section at the bottom of the screen reports validation and activation. ![Job Log section reporting successful validation and activation]() **Step 7)** The attribute view “AT\_PRODUCT” now exists; refresh the Attribute View folder to see it. 1. Go to the DHK\_SCHEMA->MODELLING package. 2. AT\_PRODUCT appears under the Attribute View folder. ![AT\_PRODUCT listed under the Attribute View folder of the MODELLING package]() **Step 8)** Check the data. Select Data Preview on the toolbar; two options are offered, as shown below. - Open in Data Preview Editor, with analysis options. - Open in SQL Editor, with only the query output. ![Data preview menu offering Data Preview Editor and SQL Editor]() **Step 9)** Check the view data. The preview editor offers three tabs: Analysis, Distinct Values and Raw Data. **Analysis** is a graphical representation of the attribute view. 1. Select attributes for the label and value axes. 2. An attribute on the label axis appears on the X axis. 3. An attribute on the value axis appears on the Y axis. 4. Output is available as chart, table, grid and HTML. ![Analysis tab charting attribute view data on label and value axes]() **Distinct Values** lists the distinct values of a column with the record count for the selected attribute. ![Distinct Values tab listing distinct entries and record counts]() **Raw Data** displays the attribute view data in table format. 1. Click the Raw Data tab. 2. The data appears in table format. ![Raw Data tab showing attribute view records in table format]() **Step 10)** Check the data from the SQL editor, chosen in the same preview menu. ![Open in SQL Editor option in the data preview menu]() This option reads the column view generated in the “\_SYS\_BIC” schema when “AT\_PRODUCT” was activated, so the editor also shows the [SQL](https://www.guru99.com/sap-hana-sql.html) statement used. 1. The SQL query used for data selection is displayed. 2. The output is displayed. ![SQL editor showing the generated SELECT statement and its result set]() Every data preview therefore reads from \_SYS\_BIC, not from the design-time object. The screenshot below shows column view “AT\_PRODUCT” under that schema in the catalog node. ![Column view AT\_PRODUCT under the \_SYS\_BIC schema in the catalog node]() One planning note: attribute views are deprecated, so on current releases the same dimension is built as a calculation view of data category Dimension. The steps above still apply to existing content in [SAP HANA Studio](https://www.guru99.com/sap-hana-studio.html), and the wider [SAP HANA modeling](https://www.guru99.com/sap-hana-modeling.html) material covers the replacements. ## FAQs 🧭 What replaces the attribute view on current SAP HANA releases? A graphical calculation view of data category Dimension. Attribute views are deprecated, cannot be added to new calculation views, and SAP HANA Cloud supports calculation views only, so content is converted before migration. 🕐 How is data generated for a time attribute view? The time tables start empty. Generate Time Data in the Quick Launch view fills M\_TIME\_DIMENSION and its year, month and week tables for a chosen range, or M\_FISCAL\_CALENDAR for a fiscal calendar. 🌳 Which hierarchy types can an attribute view contain? Two, both created on the Hierarchies tab. A level hierarchy fixes ordered levels such as country, region, city. A parent-child hierarchy derives depth from a parent column, which suits cost centres. 🔑 Which privileges are needed to activate and preview the view? The modeler needs package privileges and SELECT on the source schema. \_SYS\_REPO needs SELECT with grant option there, otherwise activation fails. Consumers need SELECT on \_SYS\_BIC plus an analytic privilege. ⚠️ Why does data preview return an insufficient privilege error? Activation succeeded but the runtime object is unreadable. The user usually lacks SELECT on the generated \_SYS\_BIC column view, or holds no [analytic privilege](https://www.guru99.com/sap-hana-analytic-privileges.html) covering the requested rows. 🔗 Can an attribute view join tables from different schemas? Yes, provided the modeler and \_SYS\_REPO hold SELECT on each schema. Cross-schema models usually point at a synonym or a dedicated schema so transports stay portable. 🤖 How is AI applied to master data modeled in SAP HANA? Machine learning matches duplicate master records, proposes missing descriptions and classifies products. Because an attribute view exposes clean keys and texts, it is a convenient input for those models and for predictive services inside the database. 💻 Can GitHub Copilot help build SAP HANA views? It helps with the code around the view: DDL, test data and CDS or HDI artifacts. Graphical modeling stays manual, and generated SQL still needs checking against the real schema and privileges. #### Summarize this post with: ChatGPTPerplexityGrokGoogle AI **Stay Updated on AI** **Get Weekly AI Skills, Trends, Actionable Advice.** ##### Sign up for the newsletter Subscribe for Free You have successfully subscribed. Please check your inbox. ![AI-Newsletter]() Chosen by over **350,000+** professionals [Scroll to top](#wrapper) × Search for: ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.guru99.com/#organization","name":"Guru99","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/Guru99Official","https://twitter.com/guru99com"],"logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://www.guru99.com/#logo","url":"https://www.guru99.com/images/guru99-logo-v1-150x59.png","contentUrl":"https://www.guru99.com/images/guru99-logo-v1-150x59.png","caption":"Guru99","inLanguage":"en-US"}},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://www.guru99.com/#website","url":"https://www.guru99.com","name":"Guru99","publisher":{"@id":"https://www.guru99.com/#organization"},"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://www.guru99.com/images/attribute-view-in-sap-hana.png","url":"https://www.guru99.com/images/attribute-view-in-sap-hana.png","width":"700","height":"250","caption":"Attribute View in SAP HANA","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://www.guru99.com/sap-hana-attribute-view.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":"1","item":{"@id":"https://www.guru99.com","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":"2","item":{"@id":"https://www.guru99.com/sap-hana","name":"SAP-HANA"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":"3","item":{"@id":"https://www.guru99.com/sap-hana-attribute-view.html","name":"Attribute View in SAP HANA: How to Create?"}}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://www.guru99.com/sap-hana-attribute-view.html#webpage","url":"https://www.guru99.com/sap-hana-attribute-view.html","name":"Attribute View in SAP HANA: How to Create?","dateModified":"2026-10-09T13:44:15+05:30","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://www.guru99.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://www.guru99.com/images/attribute-view-in-sap-hana.png"},"inLanguage":"en-US","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://www.guru99.com/sap-hana-attribute-view.html#breadcrumb"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https://www.guru99.com/author/editorial","name":"Editorial Team","url":"https://www.guru99.com/author/editorial","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://www.guru99.com/images/favicon-new-logo.png","url":"https://www.guru99.com/images/favicon-new-logo.png","caption":"Editorial Team","inLanguage":"en-US"},"sameAs":["https://www.guru99.com/editorial-team"],"worksFor":{"@id":"https://www.guru99.com/#organization"}},{"articleSection":"SAP-HANA","headline":"Attribute View in SAP HANA: How to Create?","description":"This tutorial covers Attributes definition, Types of Attributes, and a detailed step-by-step explanation on How to create attribute view in SAP HANA.","keywords":"sap-hana","speakable":{"@type":"SpeakableSpecification","cssSelector":[".entry-title",".summary"]},"@type":"Article","author":{"@id":"https://www.guru99.com/author/editorial","name":"Editorial Team"},"dateModified":"2026-10-09T13:44:15+05:30","image":{"@id":"https://www.guru99.com/images/attribute-view-in-sap-hana.png"},"copyrightYear":"2026","name":"Attribute View in SAP HANA: How to Create?","subjectOf":[{"@type":"HowTo","name":"How to Create Attribute View in SAP HANA","description":"Here is a step by step process on how to create attribute view in SAP HANA:","step":[{"@type":"HowToStep","name":"Step 1) Select SAP HANA System.","text":"Select content Folder-> Non-structural Package-> Attribute View Option","image":"https://www.guru99.com/images/sap-hana/030216_1026_SAPHANAMode16.png","url":"https://www.guru99.com/sap-hana-attribute-view.html#step1"},{"@type":"HowToStep","name":"Step 2) Enter information.","text":"Enter Attribute Name and Label, Select View type and subtype as a Standard. 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A screen for Edit Join Condition will appear.","image":"https://www.guru99.com/images/sap-hana/030216_1026_SAPHANAMode20.png","url":"https://www.guru99.com/sap-hana-attribute-view.html#step5"},{"@type":"HowToStep","name":"Step 6) Select column.","text":"In this step, we will select column and define the key for output","image":"https://www.guru99.com/images/sap-hana/030216_1026_SAPHANAMode21.jpg","url":"https://www.guru99.com/sap-hana-attribute-view.html#step6"},{"@type":"HowToStep","name":"Step 7) View is created.","text":"An attribute view with name \u201cAT_PRODUCT\u201d will be created. To view, refresh the Attribute View folder.","image":"https://www.guru99.com/images/sap-hana/030216_1026_SAPHANAMode23.jpg","url":"https://www.guru99.com/sap-hana-attribute-view.html#step7"},{"@type":"HowToStep","name":"Step 8) Check data.","text":"To view data in Attribute view, Select data Preview option from the toolbar. 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