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Creating Flex Master Data

Objectives

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Explain what a Flex Master Data template is
Identify when to use Flex Master Data
Explain Flex Master Data Reporting Limitations
Access and Create Flex Master Data Templates
Revise Flex Master Data Templates

Flex Master Data Templates

A Flex Master data (FMD) template is a custom-defined data structure designed to meet a specific business need.

When to Use Flex Master Data

Use Flex Master Data to house complex data that cannot be stored in a normal header field, such as a text field for example.

A text field can store the names of hospitals.
A Flex Master Data field can store the names of hospitals and attributes such as their addresses, phone numbers, and the name of the hospital administrator.

The structure of a Flex Master Data element is defined by a configurable template.

Every Flex Master Data template is comprised of two default fields.
- UniqueName
- Name
Custom fields (attributes) are defined by the business requirement.

Below is an example of a Flex Master Data file structure:

Default Fields: UniqueName, Name

Custom Attributes: City, State, Administrator

Reporting Limitations

Only Names are reportable.
IDs (UniqueName) and custom attributes are not reportable.

Note

As a workaround custom reportable fields can be introduced to capture the unique name and custom attribute data to make it reportable.

Access and Create Flex Master Data Templates

Templates are defined within Manage → Administration/Core Administration → Customization Manager → Manage Flex Master Data Template. From there, the following steps can be performed to create a new FMD Template:

Select Create Flex Master Data Template.
Provide a Name.
Add additional fields/custom attributes (optional).
Publish the Flex Master Data Template.
After publish, Import/Export Tasks and Import Translation tasks are created/updated.
The csv file can be imported either remotely (Import Batch Data), or via Manage → (Core) Administration → Site Manager → Data Export/Import. The task name for each FMD can be recognized by prefix ‘Import Flex Master Data’.

Revise Flex Master Data Templates

Changes can be initiated on published FMD templates by selecting Revise beside the FMD Template name.

To make all the latest changes visible, the FMD template must be published.

Other Considerations

Technical Class name is created with formatting vrealm_<realm id>.fmd_<form number>.<Initial FMD UI Name>, make sure this is used in all the expressions used on conditions, relation type definition for relation entries etc. The Technical Class name is unique on each realm (if the FMD is replicated from Parent, the Technical Class Name will be unique on each realm).
Renaming FMD UI-Name is not recommended. The Technical Class name will not be changed after and some of the exported file names might not be compliant with the updated Name.
Based on the realm variant (SAP vs. Simple-Generic vs. PeopleSoft), there can be additional columns added to the FMD structure. For example, FMDs used on SAP-based realms will always have CompanyCode and PurchasingUnit columns added. Those are used for filtering and validation unless Relation Entries are applied.
When an ERP is configured in a Sourcing realm, Flex Master Data templates are automatically created for that data. The ERP related FMD templates should not be modified. Their default setup is designed to drive other functionalities, and modifying the ERP FMD templates can cause issues when performing a master data search and adding item master data to Events or CLIDs.

As a general rule, do no modify these ERP related FMD templates:

Variant::ariba.masterdata.CompanyCode
Variant::ariba.masterdata.Incoterms
Variant::ariba.masterdata.IncotermsDescriptionLang
Variant::ariba.masterdata.ItemCategory
Variant::ariba.masterdata.ItemCategoryDescriptionLang
Variant::ariba.masterdata.ItemMaster
Variant::ariba.masterdata.ItemMasterAML
Variant::ariba.masterdata.ItemMasterAMLDescriptionLang
Variant::ariba.masterdata.ItemMasterDescriptionLang
Variant::ariba.masterdata.ItemMasterPlant
Variant::ariba.masterdata.ItemMasterPlantCombo
Variant::ariba.masterdata.MaterialGroup
Variant::ariba.masterdata.PaymentTerms
Variant::ariba.masterdata.Plant
Variant::ariba.masterdata.PlantPurchaseOrgCombo
Variant::ariba.masterdata.PurchaseGroup
Variant::ariba.masterdata.PurchaseOrg

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