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Navigation PropertiesLocate this document in the navigation structure

Introduction

The Entity Types includes one or more Navigation Properties. Navigation Properties describe the navigation path between the relationship of an entity. It is the property of an Entity that represents a link from the Entity to one or more related Entities. The Navigation Property is tied to an Association and allows the navigation from one end of the Entity Type that declares the Navigation Property, to the other related end. Navigation property is required to create a link from one entity to another via an association.

Procedure

To create a Navigation Property for Entity Types proceed as follows:

Note

Create Entity Types and Associations before creating Navigation Property. The Navigation Property folder displays only when an entity type is added. Associations and Navigation Properties are related, an association should exist between the entity types to create a navigation property. See Entity Types for creating entity types and Associations for creating associations.

  1. Open the Service Builder.

  2. Expand the Data Model folder in the tree view of your project.

  3. Expand the Entity Types folder to view the entity types.

  4. Expand the listed entity types to view the Navigation Properties folder.

  5. Double click the Navigation Properties folder to open it in the mass edit view.

  6. Click Display-->Change to switch to edit mode.

  7. ClickInsert Row to create a new association.

    A row will be added.

  8. Do the following in the mass edit view under Navigation Properties :

    Fields

    To Do

    Name

    Enter a name for the navigation property

    Relationship Name

    Enter the Association Name in the Relationship Name field, or use the input help to select the value (Mandatory field)

    ABAP Field Name

    This is a technical name for the Navigation Property, maximum characters allowed: 30.

    Label

    Enter a label for the new Navigation Property

    Label Text Reference Editor

    To define the label, use the Label Text Reference Editor. The Label Text Reference Editor enables you to enter the reference type.
    Note

    If the field ABAP Field Name is left blank, a unique name is generated by the system on its own during runtime generation:

    • In case of “file Import” unique ABAP name is generated based on Navigation Property name and displayed in mass edit view

    • In case of “Redefine”, a unique ABAP name is fetched from Base Service and displayed in mass edit view

    • In case of upgrade, you have to trigger generation manually in order to get ABAP name in mass edit view

  9. Save the changes.

You have successfully created navigation property in your project.