Uploading Hierarchies from
Flat Files 
Prerequisites
If you want to load InfoObjects in the form of hierarchies, you have to activate the indicator with hierarchies for each of the relevant InfoObjects in the InfoObject maintenance. If necessary, you need to specify whether the whole hierarchy or the hierarchy structure is to be time-dependent, whether the hierarchy can contain intervals, whether additional node attributes are allowed (only when loading using a PSA), and which characteristics are allowed.
Procedure
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1. Defining the source system from which you want to load data:
Choose Source System Tree ® Root (Source System) ® Context menu (Right Mouse Button) ® Create.
For a flat file, choose: File System, Manual Metadata; Data via File Interface.
2. Defining the InfoSource for which you want to load data:
Optional: Choose InfoSource Tree ®Root (InfoSources) ® Context Menu (Right Mouse Button) ® Create Application Component.
Choose InfoSource Tree ® Your Application Component ® Context Menu (Right Mouse Button) ® Create InfoSource ® Direct Update
Choose an InfoObject from the proposal list, and specify a name and a description.
3. Assigning the source system to the InfoSource
Choose InfoSource tree ® Your Application Component ® One of your InfoSources ® Context Menu (Right Mouse Button) ® Assign Source System. You are taken automatically to the transfer structure maintenance.
The system automatically generates DataSources for the three different data types to which you can load data.
¡ Attributes
¡ Texts
¡ Hierarchies (if the InfoObject has access to hierarchies)
The system automatically generates the transfer structure, the transfer rules, and the communication structure (for attributes and texts).
4. Maintaining the transfer structure / transfer rules
Choose the DataSource to be able to upload hierarchies.
Idoc transfer method: The system automatically generates a proposal for the DataSource and the transfer structure. This consists of an entry for the InfoObject, for which hierarchies are loaded. With this transfer method, during loading, the structure is converted to the structure of the PSA, which affects performance.
PSA transfer method: The transfer methods and the communication structure are also generated here.
5. Maintaining the hierarchy:
Choose Hierarchy Maintenance, and specify a technical name and a description of the hierarchy.
PSA Transfer Method: You have the option here to set the Remove Leaf Value and Node InfoObjects indicator. As a result, characteristic values are not transferred into the hierarchy fields NODENAME, LEAFFROM and LEAFTO as is normally the case, but in their own transfer structure fields. This option allows you to load characteristic values having a length greater than 32 characters.
Characteristic values with a length > 32 can be loaded into the PSA, but they cannot be updated in characteristics that have a length >32.
The node names for pure text nodes remain restricted to 32 characters in the hierarchy (0HIER_NODE characteristic).
The system automatically generates a table with the following hierarchy format (for sorted hierarchies without removed leaf values and node InfoObjects):
Description |
Field Name |
Length |
Type |
Node ID |
NODEID |
8 |
NUMC |
InfoObject name |
INFOOBJECT |
30 |
CHAR |
Node name |
NODENAME |
32 |
CHAR |
Catalog ID |
LINK |
1 |
CHAR |
Parent node |
PARENTID |
8 |
NUMC |
First subnode |
CHILDID |
8 |
NUMC |
Next adjacent node |
NEXTID |
8 |
NUMC |
Language key |
LANGU |
1 |
CHAR |
Description - short |
TXTSH |
20 |
CHAR |
Description - medium |
TXTMD |
40 |
CHAR |
Description- long |
TXTLG |
60 |
CHAR |
The system transfers the settings for the intervals and for time-dependency from the InfoObject maintenance. Depending on which settings you have defined in the InfoObject maintenance, further table fields can be generated from the system.
The valid from and valid to field is filled if you select Total Hierarchy Time-dependent in the InfoObject maintenance. The time-dependent indicator is activated if you select the Hierarchy Nodes Time-dependent option in the InfoObject maintenance.
6. Save your entries.
Depending on which settings you defined in the InfoObject maintenance, additional fields can be generated from the system. Also note the detailed description for Structure of a Flat Hierarchy File for Loading via an IDoc and for Structure of a Flat Hierarchy File for Loading via a PSA.
Further Steps:
Result
You have uploaded the hierarchy data for the corresponding characteristic.