Uploading Hierarchies from Flat
Files
You have made sure that the following prerequisites have been met:
●
In the InfoObject
Maintenance transaction, you have set the flag for the hierarchy basic
characteristic with Hierarchies and have defined the hierarchy’s properties.
More information:
Tab Page:
Hierarchy.
● You have assigned the characteristic in the InfoProvider tree to an InfoArea (context menu Insert Characteristic as InfoProvider on the InfoArea), thus making the hierarchy an InfoProvider.
●
You have a source
system for loading files from. More information:
Creating a File
System.
...
1. Create a DataSource and make the required hierarchy settings.
More information:
Creating DataSources
for File Source Systems
Making DataSource Settings for Loading Hierarchy Files
2. Create a transformation for your hierarchy.
More
information:
Creating
Transformation for a Hierarchy
3. Create an InfoPackage for loading the data from the file to the PSA tables.
Select a hierarchy header from the Hierarchy Selection tab page. This defines which hierarchy header will be read at runtime.

Hierarchy headers are created in the DataSource Maintenance transaction. You can also create and delete hierarchy headers in the InfoPackage on the Extraction tab page.
More
information:
Creating
InfoPackages
4. In the context menu for your hierarchy, create a data transfer process and set the Activate Hierarchy flag on the Update tab page.
More
information:
Creating Data Transfer
Processes
5. Create and schedule a process chain for the hierarchy load process.
More information: Loading Hierarchies Using a Process Chain
...
1. Create the InfoSource that you want to load the data for.
Optional: choose InfoSource Tree → Root (InfoSources) → Create Application Components.
Choose InfoSource Tree → Your Application Component → Other Functions → Create InfoSource 3.x → Direct Update.
Choose an InfoObject from the proposal list, and specify a name and a description.
2. Assign the source system to the InfoSource
Choose InfoSource Tree → Your Application Component → Your InfoSource → Assign Source System. The transfer structure maintenance screen appears.
The system automatically generates DataSources for the three different data types that you can load data to.
○ 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).
3. Maintain the transfer structure/transfer rules.
Select the DataSource for uploading hierarchies.
IDoc transfer method: The system automatically generates a proposal for the DataSource and the transfer structure. This contains an entry for the InfoObject that hierarchies are loaded for. With this transfer method, the structure is converted to the structure of the PSA during loading, which affects performance.
PSA transfer method: The transfer methods and the communication structure are also generated here.
4. Maintain the hierarchy’s properties.
Choose Hierarchy Maintenance, and specify a technical name and a description of the hierarchy.

You load a sorted hierarchy without expanded leaf values and node InfoObjects. The system generates a table with the following hierarchy format:
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 |

We recommend using the transfer method PSA: You can set the Expand Leaf Values and Node InfoObjects flag here. Characteristic values are therefore not transferred to the hierarchy fields NODENAME, LEAFFROM and LEAFTO as is normally the case, but to their own transfer structure fields. This option allows you to load characteristic values whose node name length is the maximum possible for characteristics (currently 60). To do this, you must have activated the Expanded Leaf Values option.

The system applies interval and time-dependency settings from the InfoObject Maintenance transaction. Depending on which settings you have defined in InfoObject Maintenance, additional 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 InfoObject Maintenance. The time-dependent flag is activated if you select the Hierarchy Nodes Time-dependent option in InfoObject maintenance.
5. Save your entries.

The field can generate additional fields, depending on the settings that you defined in InfoObject Maintenance. See Structure of a Flat Hierarchy File for Loading via an IDoc and Structure of a Flat Hierarchy File for Loading Using a PSA.
6. Create and schedule an InfoPackage.
More
information:
Maintaining
InfoPackages