Share SAP data into SAP Databricks

Each SAP application in your landscape will automatically appear in your SAP Databricks account as a provider. Activating a data product in SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC) automatically creates a Delta Share from SAP BDC to SAP Databricks. After data products are mounted to catalogs in SAP Databricks, they can be used in notebooks, the SQL editor, and AI/ML products.

See SAP documentation for more details.

Make SAP data available in SAP Databricks

Active SAP data products are available for consumption by SAP Databricks users once they are mounted to a catalog. See SAP's documentation on activating data products. To mount a data product to a catalog, you need USE PROVIDER and CREATE CATALOG permissions on the metastore.

To mount a data product to a catalog:

1. Click Catalog.
2. Click Delta Sharing.
3. Click an SAP provider.
4. Click Mount to catalog for the target table.
5. Either create a new catalog or mount to an existing catalog.

These data products can now be used in notebooks, the SQL editor, and AI/ML products. After creating assets in SAP Databricks, they can be published back to SAP as data products.

SAP BDC semantic metadata

SAP table and column names can be difficult to read. For all mounted SAP BDC shares, semantic metadata is automatically ingested into Unity Catalog at the table level when a table is accessed, making the data more understandable and discoverable. Any changes made in SAP BDC are reflected in Unity Catalog.

SAP BDC is the source of truth for semantic metadata. Metadata synced from SAP BDC is read-only in SAP Databricks. Delta Sharing recipients of SAP BDC shares cannot directly access or query the semantic metadata.

note

If you don't see the latest metadata in Catalog Explorer, click Refresh Table to trigger ingestion.

SAP semantic types ingested

The following semantics from SAP BDC are ingested into Unity Catalog:

SAP semantic metadata	Description
Table and column comments	Descriptions of the purpose of each table and column.
Primary keys	Primary key defined in SAP BDC, synced as Unity Catalog primary key constraints.
Foreign keys	Foreign key relationships between tables within the same share. Foreign keys that reference tables in a different share are not supported.
SAP governance tags	System tags in the sap.PersonalData.* namespace that classify personal and sensitive data. See SAP governance tags.

SAP governance tags

SAP BDC syncs governance tags in the sap.PersonalData namespace as system governed tags on tables in Unity Catalog. These tags classify whether SAP BDC data contains personal or sensitive information.

important

Do not manually assign, modify, or delete tags in the sap.* namespace. These are system-reserved values that are automatically assigned by the SAP Databricks system when SAP BDC shares are mounted. If you assign them manually, Databricks might clear or remove them later.

To govern access based on these tags, create attribute-based access control (ABAC) policies that reference them.

The following tag is synced. For more information about SAP personal data annotations, see the SAP CSN Interop specification.

SAP tag	Unity Catalog system tag	Applied to	Description
@PersonalData.entitySemantics	sap.PersonalData.entitySemantics	Tables	Indicates whether the table represents a data subject, such as a person or organization. Known values include DataSubject, DataSubjectDetails, or Other.

Use SAP BDC metadata in SAP Databricks

After you mount an SAP data product to a catalog, synced metadata is available across SAP Databricks. Because SAP table and column names are often difficult to interpret, the synced comments, key constraints, and tags help you understand and work with SAP data more effectively.

• Catalog Explorer: View comments, key constraints, and tags in the table and column details. You can filter columns by searching for the contents of their comments, making it easier to find relevant columns.
• SQL: Use DESCRIBE TABLE EXTENDED to view table and column comments and key constraints. Query INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLE_TAGS to view SAP governance tags.
• Genie: In a Genie space that includes SAP BDC tables, users can ask questions in natural language without needing to understand SAP naming conventions.
• Governance: Use synced SAP governance tags in ABAC policies to control access to sensitive data.
• Audit logs: Metadata sync events, including tag assignments, comment updates, and constraint changes, are recorded in audit logs. Use audit logs to track when SAP BDC metadata was ingested or updated in your catalog.