Customizing Settings

Data Type

You use flexible uploads to import transaction data and master data. For details about which objects are involved, see Flexible Upload .

Column Width

You can choose between fixed and variable column widths:

Fixed column width: The fields are determined by their horizontal position, not by a separation character. The fields need to be positioned according to their respective lengths as defined in the field catalog of the method.

Variable column width: The fields are separated by a designated separation character. Typical separators are the tab character, semicolon, comma, or the space character. However, other characters can be designated as well.

Row Types

You can select one of the following types of rows:

A header row, followed by data rows

Row type indicators

A row type indicator is a character at the beginning of a data row that determines the type of the row. The following are valid indicators and supported row types:

1: Header row

2: Data row

3: Row with hierarchy information

When row type indicators are used, every row (except for comment rows) must begin with a valid indicator. If the data has a variable column width and field separators are used, the indicator must also be separated from the first data field using the same separation character.

If the upload file contains comment rows, a unique character is needed in the first column to identify such a row. You specify the character for identifying comments at the Comment Row prompt.

If no row type indicators are used, the function interprets the first non-comment row as the header row, and all subsequent rows as data rows.

Digit Separation

Here you specify which format is used for numbers and currencies in the data (such as the symbols used to indicate thousands and the decimal place).

Update Mode

The update mode determines how existing data records are treated during an upload.

You can choose one of the following update modes:

Delete all existing data

Deletes all existing data. Only the uploaded data (from the last upload) remains in the system.

Delete existing uploaded data

Deletes only the existing data related to the objects (such as the consolidation unit) contained in the uploaded file. The data of these objects is fully replaced by the data that is uploaded.

Overwrite existing data

Overwrites existing data and adds new data.

Do not change existing data

Does not upload data that belongs to objects that already exist in the system. Only adds new data.

For detailed documentation on update modes (including examples), see Control of Data Collection Using Update Mode .

Treatment of Debit/Credit Sign Attributes

You can determine whether the system should consider the debit/credit sign attributes that are defined in Customizing for financial statement items and/or transaction types. If you choose this option, the system reads the debit/credit signs for characteristic values prior to posting these values.

Input Type

You can specify whether the consolidation system should interpret the reported transaction data as cumulative (year to date) or periodic :

Period values reflect the values of the accounting period specified in the data record. They represent the changes since the last collection of data.

Cumulative values reflect the accumulated (year-to-date) values as of the current date. Internally, the system stores the values as period values after automatically calculating the differences to the prior period balance.

BAdI Filter

After the data is uploaded, you can have the data undergo special processing by implementing the BAdI UC_DATATRANSFER . If you do this, this is where you specify the BAdI filter value used to request the desired BAdI implementation. For more detailed information, see the system documentation of the BAdI UC_DATATRANSFER and the documentation of its methods.

Field Catalog

You include in the field catalog for the upload all fields you want to use in the upload file.

You also have the option of using a free field . You can assign free fields to all field catalogs as often as desired. Columns in the upload file that are allocated to the free field are read, but not interpreted, during the flexible upload. This enables the system to process files that contain additional information not related to consolidation.

In uploads from a field catalog, you also have the option to use the mapping feature. If mapping is used, the structure of the upload file does not need to coincide with the structure of the data basis. Instead, you can allocate an InfoObject catalog of BI, which then serves as a data structure description. You specify the InfoObject catalog in Customizing of the data basis .

Mapping ( optional)

If you use an external field catalog, you need to specify in mapping how the data structure of the file relates to the structure of the data basis.

Selection ( optional)

If you use an external field catalog (and thus define mapping settings), you can use the selection to restrict which data is selected and to which area of the data basis the data is written.