Activating a Planning Area

All affected objects (master data types, time profiles, and planning areas) are activated within a single process. Modifying operations are grouped together (inactive ＞＞ active state).

Activation brings the planning model from a consistent state to another consistent state.

The following list describes the lifecycle steps of a model:

1. Define or configure a model:

   • In this step, master data types, time profiles, and key figures are defined.

   • Master data types are used for planning. Master data is grouped using the following sample master data types: product, customer, location, and resource. Attributes on the master data types are used to further describe the master data types, for example, product family, product subfamily, and customer region.

   • The time profile is the time dimension of the model.

   • Key figures are measures that hold transaction data, such as demand plan, sales forecast, and supply plan.

2. Activate the model:

   • In this step, the defined model is validated for integrity and the model is activated.

     • Each object is validated internally for every object in scope.
     • External check is processed to validate dependency starting/ending with each object in scope.
     • Relationship check is processed for a set of objects, including objects in scope and dependent objects.
     • If this subsequent activation and planning area already contains data, the relationship to the uploaded data will also be validated.

   • This involves the creation of generated objects.

3. Import:

   • Master data and key figure data are imported.

4. Use:

   • The model is now ready to be used to enable the SAP Integrated Business Planning business process.

Historical states of the planning area created and saved as a result of certain actions. Historical states fall into two groups: full states and delta states.

• Full states are created on:
  • Planing area activation
  • Planning area copy
  • Planning area transport
  • During a system upgrade

• Attributes, master data types, key figures, planning levels and time profiles creation/deletion/update
• Any database change

A new SAP Fiori app Manage Historical states is available to facilitate the review of the historical states of the planning area. There, it is possible to archive the selected state and delete the archived state.

During the process of configuring and activating your planning area, activation errors may show up in the log. These need to be resolved before a successful activation can be achieved. In this section, we look at four common activation errors and how they can be resolved.

To display the error log, in the Planning Areas Model Configuration app, choose the Log Hyperlink icon on the Planning Areas tab. You are connected to the Application Logs app, where you can choose the Download Table Contents toolbar button. The log opens in Microsoft Excel format.

Activation Error 4

Activation error 4 is one of the most difficult to trace and resolve. While creating key figure calculations, the Error dialog box shown in the figure, Error 4 in the Calculation Validation, may appear.

Or, if you get past this point, the error in the error log appears like one of the following:

• E - Calculation DEPENDENTDEMANDQTY@MTHPRODLOC: Output PL attr. must be a subset of the input PL attr.

• E - Calculation DEPENDENTDEMANDQTY@MTHPRODLOCCUST: Output PL attr. must be the union of the input PL attr.

All three errors refer to the same issue and are resolved in the same way. These errors refer to the planning level, which is where the error is located. If you look at the planning levels, this error usually means that you do not have the same number of attributes selected in the planning levels involved in the calculation.

Resolving Error Activation 4

To resolve this error, choose the Planning Levels tab. In the left column, select the planning levels involved in the calculation. The different numbers of attributes are selected in the planning levels. For example, in the figure, the four attributes for T##PRODUCT are selected in the MTHPRODLOCCUST planning level, while only three attributes are selected for T##PRODUCT in the MTHPRODCUST planning level. The system cannot match up four attributes to only three attributes in this join, so the activation fails and the error is logged. A quick scan of the numbers can help you locate the error quickly, but the error details need to be viewed to see how it can be resolved. This can be a difficult error to locate.

This error occurs most often when you make a change to a master data type by either adding or eliminating an attribute. Failure to make the identical adjustment in all planning levels that are involved in calculations with each other causes this error.

You can eliminate or reduce the errors related to the union of attributes by adding the attributes to the planning area and choosing the Add and Assign to Planning Levels function.

Select all the planning levels that you want to assign your attribute on the Assign Attribute to Planning Levels screen. To assign the attribute to all planning levels of the planning area or all planning levels of a specific group of planning levels at once, select the checkbox in the table header or the one in the relevant table group header.

If you created a single new attribute and you are adding it to the planning area, you can assign it to the relevant planning levels in one step.

You must exercise caution, as assigning an attribute to the planning level(s) that do not contain the master data type where the new attribute belongs results in a model activation error.

When you start the consistency check or the activation of a planning area, the system performs checks on the planning area and on the model entities that are activated together with a planning area (planning levels, key figures, and versions).

• The following checks are performed for time profiles:

  • The definition of the time profile must be accurate.

  • A description must exist for the time profile.

  • A start date and an end date must be specified.

  • The end date must be later than the start date.

  • At least one time profile level must exist.

  • All time profile levels must have a description.

  • Time profile levels must form a sequence based on the period type. That is, a lower time profile level must have lower granularity than the higher ones.

  For example, a time profile level with the period type "Day" must come before the one that has "Month" for period type.

  • The base level of a time profile level must be a time profile level that has lower granularity.

• The following checks are performed for changing time profiles:

  • It is not allowed to add or delete a time profile level if the time profile is assigned to any planning areas.

  • It is not allowed to remove an attribute assigned to a time profile level if the attribute is used in a planning level of an active planning area that uses the time profile.

  • It is not allowed to use active deletion on a time profile that is assigned to any planning areas.

  • If time periods already exist for the time profile, you cannot add an additional required attribute.

• The following checks are performed for all master data types:

  • A name must exist for the master data type.

  • The master data type must have at least one attribute.

  • Except for a virtual master data type, the master data type must have at least one key attribute.

  • If a description attribute is assigned to an attribute of the master data type, the description attribute must exist.

• The following checks are performed for compound master data types:

  • A compound master data type must have at least two components, and all components must be active.

  • Virtual master data types cannot be used as a component of a compound master data type.

  • A compound master data type must have all the key attributes of the component master data types set to key, and it must not have any additional key attributes.

• The following checks are performed when changing master data types:

  • It is not allowed to add or remove components to a compound master data type if data already exists for the master data type.

  • If an additional attribute is set to key, the attribute cannot be empty in any of the master data records.

  • If a key attribute is changed to a non-key attribute, the remaining key combination must have unique values for all existing master data records.

The following are some of the checks that are performed for planning areas:

• The planning area ID must be all uppercase.

• A time profile must be assigned to the planning area.

• The lowest time profile level must be used as the storage time profile level.

• Time horizons must be specified for each time profile level of the assigned time profile.

• A planning area cannot have inactive master data types and attributes.

• You must either activate the master data types and attributes used in the planning area before you activate the planning area or include them in the activation of the planning area.

• The planning area must have at least one stored key figure.

• If a compound master data type is assigned to a planning area, its component master data types must be assigned to the planning area as well. The attributes that are assigned to the planning area must be selected from the component master data types.

The following checks are performed for versions:

• The version ID must be all uppercase.

• The version ID must not be BASELINE or __BASELINE.

• A version must have at least one stored key figure specified as version-specific key figure.

The following checks are the most common for planning levels:

• The planning level ID must be all uppercase.

• All attributes of a planning level must be attributes selected for the planning area.

• All attributes selected for the planning area should be used in one or more planning levels.

• A planning level that is used in a stored key figure must exist.

• A planning level that is used as a base planning level of a stored key figure must have one or more root attributes other than the time attribute.

• The time profile level of the lowest granularity must be the root attribute in a planning level.

• If a planning level is used as a base planning level of a key figure, it must have exactly one time profile level set as root attribute.

• Key figure data must not exist at a planning level whose root attributes have been changed.

• Two planning levels that have the same root attributes (apart from the time attribute) and are used as the base planning level of one or more stored key figures must have the same set of non-root attributes.

• Checks for external planning levels.

• The following checks are some of the checks that are performed for key figures:

  • The key figure ID must be all uppercase.

  • A key figure and an attribute cannot share the same ID.

  • An attribute used as a time-dependent key figure can have either a time reference attribute specified or one or both of the From Period and To Period fields filled out.

  • For an attribute as a key figure, the value in the To Period field must not be sooner than the one in the From Period field.

• The following checks are some of the checks that are performed for the calculation of key figures:

  • A key figure - except for helper key figures - must have a calculation defined at REQUEST level.

  • The calculation chain for every key figure must result in a stored key figure.

  • There should not be a calculation that is not used in any calculation graph.

  • The calculation graph must not contain circular references.

  • A key figure referenced in a calculation must be specified as an input key figure for the calculation.

  • An aggregation calculation must have exactly one input key figure.

  • In an aggregation calculation, the attributes of the output planning level must be a subset of the attributes of the input planning levels.

  • In a calculation that is not aggregation, the output planning level must contain all attributes from the input planning levels.

  • A calculation must include two planning levels in its inputs at most.

  • Only a planning level that has one or more root attributes can be used as the base planning level of a stored key figure.

  • Data upload is possible only at a planning level that has one or more root attributes.

  • SUM() calculation can be used for a key figure only if the Aggregation Mode of the key figure is set to Sum or Custom.

  • Only stored key figures can be marked as stored input in a key figure calculation.

  • A key figure must not reference itself on the same planning level in its calculation.

  • For a key figure at a specific planning level, only one calculation must exist.

SAP introduces other checks with the goal to streamline the SAP IBP foundation and decrease the time it takes to activate planning areas.

Some recently introduced checks include checks for functions, such as IBP_CAGGR and IBP_LPA.

It is possible that the configuration done in a planning area had not been conceived correctly, and many errors are coming up when a consistency check is being run.

In such cases, the Restore Active Instance option can be used to revert changes made to a planning area that has already been activated. The same option can be used to cancel the deletion of an active planning area.

If this option is used on a planning area that has been changed, it restores the following settings and sub-objects of the active instance:

• Planning area settings
• Planning area attribute assignments
• Time settings
• Planning levels
• Attributes as key figures
• Key figures
• Snapshot definitions
• Versions

In a case of settings that can be changed without inactivation of the planning area (such as planning area attribute descriptions, business meaning, current period offset, planning area description, and so on), restoring the active instance doesn't revert the change. Changes have to be undone manually one by one.