Purpose

In classification, characteristics describe the properties of objects. The values of a characteristic specify these properties.

Characteristic COLOR has the values 'red', 'green', and 'blue'. When you classify an object, you use this characteristic to specify the color of the object.

You create characteristics centrally, then assign them to classes. When you assign a characteristic to a class, you can adapt (overwrite) the characteristic.

When you assign objects to a class, you assign values to the characteristics.

You can use characteristics in other application areas, as well as classification. Characteristics serve different purposes in different applications (see Integration).

Integration

Characteristics are used in the following application areas:

PP-PI – Process Industries: To describe the PI-PCS interface in the process control station

QM – Quality Management:

To transfer inspection values to batch classification. (The characteristics in classification are referred to as "general characteristics" in mySAP PLM quality management.)

To produce quality certificates

EH&S – Environment, Health and Safety: To describe the properties of substances

PP-CAP: In formulas for determining standard values

LO – batches: Substance processing

MM – Purchasing: In the procedure for releasing purchase requisitions and purchasing documents with classification

LO – Variant Configuration: To configure complex products

CA – Classification:

For classification: To describe the properties of the objects you classify

For finding objects: As search criteria for finding objects that have been classified

Easy Cost Planning : To enter and assign values to costs incurred. For information on how to proceed, see Creating and Assigning Characteristics .

Features

When you create or change a characteristic, you can define the following settings:

Format

For example, numeric format is for figures, and character format is for alphanumeric characters.

Units of measure for numeric values

Templates for entering values

Required entries for a characteristic (required characteristics)

Whether intervals are allowed as values

Language-dependent descriptions and texts for characteristics and characteristic values

Display options for characteristics on the value assignment screen

Allowed values

Default values that are set automatically on the value assignment screen

To describe how characteristics and characteristic values in classification influence each other, you can assign dependencies to them.