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Loading Hierarchies Using a Process ChainLocate this document in the navigation structure

Use

If you want to load and schedule a hierarchy automatically, you can include loading as an application process in the procedure for a process chain.

Prerequisites

You have already created an InfoPackage to load your your hierarchy with. More information: Loading Hierarchies

Procedure

You can load a hierarchy into a process chain using one of the following methods:

  • You can create your process chain from the InfoPackage maintenance transaction by choosing Process Chain Maintenance. The system guides you step-by-step through the process of creating the process chain.

  • You can call process chain maintenance directly from the SAP Easy Access Menu by choosing Start of the navigation path Administration Next navigation step Process Chains End of the navigation path. Perform the following steps:

    1. Choose Edit Process Chains from the symbol bar in Data Warehousing Workbench. The Process Chain Maintenance Planning View screen appears.

    2. In the left-hand screen area of the required display component, navigate to the process chain where you want to insert your hierarchy loading process and double-click to select it. The system displays the process chain plan view in the right-hand screen area.

      If you cannot find a suitable process chain, create a new one. More information: Creating Process Chains.

    3. To insert a process for loading a hierarchy, choose Process Types in the left-hand area of the screen. The system displays all process categories that you can choose from.

    4. In process category Loading Process and Postprocessing, choose application process type Execute InfoPackage.

    5. Drag the Execute InfoPackage application process type to the process chain. The dialog box for inserting a process variant appears.

    6. Use input help to select the InfoPackage that you want to include in the process chain.

    7. Confirm your entries. The system automatically adds the processes Save Hierarchy (BW 3.x) and Change Run to your process chain. As of SAP NetWeaver 7.1, you need to insert the Data transfer process manually using drag and drop.

      Note

      For 3.x DataSources: In this process variant, you can specify multiple InfoPackages so that multiple hierarchies can be saved with just one variant. The sequence specified in the variant is not kept to here however. If you want to keep the sequence, for example when saving hierarchies as a subtree, you need to insert a Save Hierarchy process after each hierarchy loading process. These Save Hierarchy processes have to be activated serially, one after the other.

Process

What you need to know

Data Transfer Process(in SAP NetWeaver 7.1 and Higher)

This process always has to be included in a process chain where a hierarchy is loaded. If the data transfer process is missing or is not used, the data is not written to the hierarchy tables from the PSA. This means that the hierarchy is not saved in the BW system.

Set the flag for Activate Hierarchies After Loading or Note for Activation if the hierarchy needs to be automatically saved and activated after loading. The corresponding option in the InfoPackage is not sufficient, because it is only used if the hierarchy loading process (manual) is scheduled using this InfoPackage.

If you do not set the flag for activating the hierarchy in the Data Transfer Process, only a modified version of the hierarchy (M version) is saved in the BW system. The hierarchy is not directly activated however.

Save Hierarchy (BW 3.x)(for 3.x DataSources only)

This process always has to be included in a process chain where a hierarchy is loaded. If the Saving Hierarchies process is missing or is not used, the InfoPackage goes nowhere, meaning that the hierarchy is not saved in the BW system.

Set the flag for Activate Hierarchies After Loading or Note for Activation if the hierarchy needs to be automatically saved and activated after loading. The corresponding option in the InfoPackage is not sufficient, because it is only used if the hierarchy loading process (manual) is scheduled using this InfoPackage.

If you do not set the flag for activating the hierarchy in the Save Hierarchy process, only a modified version of the hierarchy (M version) is saved in the BW system. The hierarchy is not directly activated however.

Change Run

This process is needed if the hierarchy occurs in aggregates.

If you set the flag for Activate Hierarchies after Loading in the Save Hierarchy process and have adopted the Change Run process in the chain, the hierarchy is activated by the change run.

If you are not using aggregates, you can delete this process from the process chain.

  1. Continue as described in Creating Process Chains.

Result

You have included your hierarchy loading process in a process chain.

Example

The following graphic illustrates an example of how a process chain is used to load a hierarchy.