You can define hierarchical structures for characteristics in Profitability Analysis (CO-PA) and analyze these structures later in the information system. This means you can, for example, structure your products or customers in a hierarchy.
Each characteristic value contained in the hierarchy represents a hierarchy node. Further to the characteristic values contained in the master data, you can add "non-chargeable nodes" to the structure.
Note that different characteristics that use the same master data table are grouped in the same characteristics hierarchy. It is not possible to define external hierarchies for characteristics that do not have a check table or text table.
Note that only the characteristic values for one characteristic are grouped hierarchically for each hierarchy. In addition, each characteristic value can occur only once in the hierarchy. Thus each value is unique within the entire hierarchy.
You can define alternative hierarchies for the same characteristic in order to simulate different ways of grouping the characteristic values. These alternative hierarchies are stored as hierarchy variants. You can define up to 999 different variants for each characteristic.
Each characteristic value can only occur once in the hierarchy variant. If a characteristic value already occurs in the hierarchy, it no longer appears in the list of possible entries. To add new nodes, you can use the following functions:
The functions for changing, displaying,
copying, and deleting master data hierarchies work the same way as the
function for creating them.
You can use an existing hierarchy as the basis for creating a new hierarchy
variant by copying the existing variant and then changing it.
When you change a hierarchy, you can add new nodes and remove existing nodes,
as well as cut and paste existing parts of the hierarchy. When deleting a
node, ensure that all dependent entries are deleted as well.
You can search for specific values in the hierarchy by choosing
Edit -> Find -> Characteristic value . It is also possible
to see the relationships between the different nodes by positioning the cursor
on a node and then searching for the parent, child, and so on.
You can expand and collapse branches of the hierarchy by clicking on the plus
and minus signs. This makes it easier to find your way around in the
hierarchy.
You can delete any hierarchy variants that you no longer need from the initial
screen of this transaction.