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 Displaying Business Partner Relationships

Use

You can display business partner relationships in one of the following ways in the SAP GUI:

  • As a list

  • As a hierarchy

  • As a network

Integration

You can hide the selection fields for the list display in the Implementation Guide (IMG) in Customizing of the Business Partner under Start of the navigation path Business Partner Relationships Next navigation step Basic Settings Next navigation step Field Groupings. End of the navigation path

Note Note

From Release 6.20 it is possible to hide the fields by means of the IMG activity Configure Field Attributes for Each Client (application object BUPR). Up to Release 6.10, you can use the IMG activity Configure Field Attributes for Each Activity (activity ’02 change’), which is also still available from 6.20.

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Make the necessary settings for the layout management of the list view under Assign Layout Groups to Relationship Categories.

You can extend the relationship overview by adding user-defined fields with the help of a Business Add-In (BAdI).

Prerequisites

You have maintained one or more relationships for a business partner.

Features

List

In the Overview of the list display, you can see all the relationships of a business partner for all relationship categories. Select a particular relationship type to display the relationships of that relationship category.

From the list, you can click on the pushbutton Change Relationship , to access process the detailed data for a relationship.

You can restrict the number of selected relationships by means of different selection criteria and their combinations (selection fields).

Note Note

Only the first 200 relationships of a business partner are read by default, for reasons to do with the runtime. If the number of relationships exceeds the maximum number of hits, the selection fields are automatically displayed. You can expand or collapse the selection area manually.

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In addition to standard communication data such as fax, telephone and e-mail that belong to the standard address, additional data, such as the standard relationship, is also displayed in the list for the contact person relationship

Other fields for the display, which you can select when you personalize the lists, are also available to you

You can adapt the list view to your specific requirements. You can use the standard functions of the SAP List Viewer(ALV) for carrying out personalization with the help of the layout management. For more information, see the user documentation for the SAP List Viewer.

Note Note

When you switch to a different business partner or a different tab page, the settings for the selection area (for example, the setting for expanding) are transferred for each tab page from the last processing transaction of the BP in question. The settings in the selection area are not transferred when you call up the transaction again.

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Hierarchy

In the hierarchical display format, you can see all the relationships of a business partner belonging to each relationship type you have selected on a specified key date (1:n view). You can also select the appropriate display level in order to display a complex relationship set for a BP. If you select a high level, for example, for the contact person of a BP with the category Organization that you are currently processing, other organizations are displayed that also have this contact person.

From the hierarchical display, you can access and process the detailed data of the relationship by clicking on the pushbutton Change Relationship . The relationship is maintained from the lower-level business partner.

Note Note

Because of the hierarchical display format (1:n), it is not possible to map additional relationships for a business partner that is already displayed. For this reason, additional incoming and outgoing relationships to business partners that are already displayed are shown in the form of an icon.

To display these relationships, select the corresponding business partner, right-click on it, and select Display Relationships . Choose Incoming or Outgoing relationships. A detail screen appears. Select the business partner for the required relationship in order to be able to maintain the detailed data.

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Network

In the network display, all the relationships of a business partner of a selected relationship type on a specified Key Date (1:n view) are displayed graphically. The business partners are represented as nodes, and the business partner relationships are represented as lines between the nodes.

The graphical display format allows you to view all the incoming and outgoing business partner relationships as well as the relationships for additional business partners simultaneously. You can select the display level here as well, and use pushbuttons to enlarge or reduce the display. You can choose between portrait and landscape format when displaying relationships.

You can maintain both business partners and relationships from the network display. In addition, you can create relationships of the selected relationship category between any two business partners depicted in the network, by means of the pushbutton Insert dependency .

Overview of All the Display Formats

Display Format:

Maintenance

Display Level (Depth)

List

A list of all the relationships of a BP to all relationship types.

Maintenance of relationships possible

Selection not possible

Hierarchy

Hierarchical display of all relationships of a BP of a particular relationship type (1:n display).

Additional relationships with existing business partners are identified by an icon.

Maintenance of relationships possible

Selection possible

Network

Graphical display of all relationships of a BP of one relationship type (n:m display).

The business partners are represented as nodes, and the business partner relationships are represented as lines between the nodes.

Maintenance of business partners and relationships possible

  • Selection possible

  • Possibility to enlarge and reduce

  • Choice of vertical or horizontal format