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Modifying Existing Relations via Relation Types

Objectives

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Define custom filtering
Define Relation Types
Define Relation Entries

Define Custom Filtering

The existing filtering logic between system objects including custom FMDs can be defined or altered via the concept of Relation Entries. This allows you to apply custom filtering on available values in ‘Field B’ based on a value set in ‘Field A’.

Note

The relation entry filtering is possible only between non-list cluster root fields (for example: Purchase Organization and custom FMD ‘Profit Center’).
The filtering cannot be set for — or cannot be based on — simple field types like text, digit, Enumeration etc.

Define Relation Types

In order to set up the filtering based on Relation Entries, the first step is to define the relation types. This is done by importing RelationType.csv. This file is required to set the filtering between two existing classes in SAP Ariba – Left class (the class where the values are being filtered) and the Right class (that is driving the filtering logic). The relation type can include multiple definitions for custom object filtering, each combination identified by the relation type unique name. The corresponding name of the class can be found in:

Class Browser (for System / Standard classes), or
Manage Flex Master Data Template for FMDs

The file can be imported either remotely or manually via Manage → Administration/Core Administration → Site Manager → Data Import/Export:

Note

The Import/Export Relations tasks are only visible to members of the Customer Administrator group.

Relation Type File Structure

UniqueName – Used as a filtering reference name in Relation Entries
Name – Optional, description of the filtering logic
LeftClass – The filtered class you wish to place the restriction on
RightClass – The filtering class you wish to have drive the restriction of the LeftClass

Define Relation Entries

Once the Relation Types are set up, import the filtering object values. This is defined in the Relation Entries file, which contains the values (unique IDs) for each combination defined in Relation Type. The values are used as references to existing objects with corresponding IDs.

Note

The Unique IDs of an object can be represented either by a simple key for example Purchasing Unit → UniqueName or by a compounded key like User → User’s UniqueName + Password Adapter).
Once relation types are defined for filtered object, the relation entry file must contain at least one valid combination otherwise no value is shown.

The file can be imported either remotely or manually through Administration/Core Administration → Site Manager → Data Import/Export:

Relation Entry File Structure

RelationType.UniqueName — Internal filtering reference name (defined in UniqueName in RelationType.csv).
RightId — Unique combination of the object driving the filtering. In case of compounded key it can be defined as ID concatenation (e.g. userID_passwordAdapter pattern)
RightKey1 — Unique ID reference to filtering object ID
RightKey2 — Optional: Second key of compounded Unique ID reference to filtering object ID
RightKey3 — Optional: Third key of compounded Unique ID reference to filtering object ID
LeftId — Unique combination of the object being filtered. In case of compounded key it can be defined as ID concatenation
LeftKey1 — Unique ID reference to filtered object ID
LeftKey2 — Optional: Second key of compounded Unique ID reference to filtered object ID
LeftKey3 — Optional: Second key of compounded Unique ID reference to filtered object ID

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