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Function documentationObject Links for Items and Initiatives

 

Portfolio items and initiatives can be related in various ways to business objects in other applications, such as projects in Project Management, Project System projects in SAP ERP, or facilities in SAP Environmental Compliance. These business objects can be located in the same system or in a different system, for example, a separate ERP system. By creating object links, you can connect portfolio items and initiatives to business objects of predefined object types in order to achieve the following:

  • Provide an overview of all objects relevant for an item or initiative

  • Enable the display of detailed header data for these objects within Portfolio Management

  • Provide access to predefined applications related to these objects, allowing you to, for example, display master data, or analyze and edit transactional data

All features for object link display and maintenance are available in the Object Links subview of items and initiatives. To access this view, open the detail screen of an item or initiative, choose the Relationships view, and then Object Links.

Integration

Project Management also supports the creation of object links. You cannot copy the object links, when you create a project based on a portfolio item. However, if a linked object is also relevant for the project, you can create an object link in the corresponding project element. For more information, see Object Links.

Prerequisites

You have configured object types for the objects to which you want to link. SAP delivers a number of predefined object types. You can, however, also define further object types. For information about how to configure the predefined object types for usage in Portfolio Management, see the attachment SAP Portfolio and Project Management: Configuration in SAP Note 2026421Information published on SAP site under Start of the navigation path Portfolio Management: Configuration Next navigation step Business Customizing Next navigation step Setting Up Object Links (Portf. Mgmt) End of the navigation path.

Features

The following sections describe the functionality supported for object links in general. Note, however, that some functions have not been implemented for all predefined object types. These functions include, for example, the following:

  • Search help for object assignment

  • Existence check for the linked object

  • Data retrieval for displaying object details

Object Link Creation and Editing

Portfolio Management supports the creation of multiple object links for an item or initiative. You can create object links with various object types, as well as several object links with the same object type. When using the search function to identify the linked object, you can create multiple object links at a time.

If the object to which you want to link has not yet been created, you can plan the link by creating an object link without assigning an object. Object links without object assignments can be edited. Once the object has been created, you can add the missing object data.

The following features apply for both object link creation and editing:

  • You can identify objects using a search function.

  • Before creating an object link, the system verifies the existence of the specified object in the source system.

  • If you have not entered a name for the object, the system transfers the name of the linked object from the source system to the object link.

For more information about how to create an object link, see Creating Object Links.

Object Link Overview and Object Details

The Object Links subview of an item or initiative displays an ABAP List Viewer (ALV) table that provides a generic overview of all object links created for the item or initiative. You can obtain an object link list for a specific object type using the standard filter functionality of the ABAP List Viewer.

By selecting an entry in the object link table and choosing Details, you can open an additional screen area below the ALV table. In this screen area, detailed header data of the selected object is displayed in a layout specific to the object type. It is updated every time you select a new entry in the ALV table.

Applications Related to the Linked Object

Depending on the object type, you can open predefined applications related to the linked object from the Object Link table. To do so, choose the Open link in the Application column. For objects that are located in a separate system, you may have to log on to this system before the application is started.

More Information

For information about links to individual object types predefined by SAP, see the following sections: