Characteristic Relationships for Time Characteristics 

The BI system contains various time characteristics. When you create a planning model, you have to select an appropriate time characteristic for the real-time InfoCube.  The choice of time characteristic depends on the planning application. You can use the Fiscal Year Period characteristic 0FISCPER (12.2005 + 1 = 1.2006) for rolling planning, for example. However, if you want to build query views that contain Periods in the rows and the Fiscal Year in the data columns, it makes more sense to use the Periods and Fiscal Year time characteristics. You should avoid using redundant time characteristics in a real-time InfoCube. However in some cases, like the example given above, this may be useful.

If a real-time InfoCube contains redundant time characteristics, at runtime, the system uses the characteristic relationships that are required by the input-ready queries or planning functions for the corresponding time characteristics. These characteristic relationships have type “derivation”.

Note that the system only allows unique relationships. You can derive the calendar year (0CALYEAR) from time characteristic quarter (0CALQUARTER), but not the calendar week (0CALWEEK). 

If you want to model a relationship of this type, you require a customer-defined characteristic relationship of type exit that uses its own characteristics. These characteristics must reference the appropriate standard time characteristics.

The system uses the derived characteristic relationships for the time characteristics (as with the other relations) for derivation purposes and combinations checks.

Note that for each time characteristic there is a maximum valid time interval. This can be set in the system. If you are using a time characteristic, the maximum valid time interval has to cover the entire planning timeframe. 

On the General Settings tab page, you specify the value on the F4 Help and Hierarchies for Time Characteristics screen (transaction RSRHIERARCHYVIRT). Since this setting impacts on performance, you should keep the interval as small as possible.

You cannot create derivations that contain a time derivation that is used automatically in the system.

The following table offers an overview of the derivations that are automatically supported by the system:

Overview of characteristic relationships for time characteristics

Source Characteristics	Target Characteristics	Comment
0CALDAY	0CALWEEK
0CALDAY	0CALMONTH
0CALDAY	0CALQUARTER
0CALDAY	0CALYEAR
0CALDAY,  0FISCVARNT	0FISCPER	Fiscal year variant required due to compounding
0CALDAY,  0FISCVARNT	0FISCYEAR	Fiscal year variant required due to compounding
0CALDAY	0WEEKDAY1
0CALDAY	0CALMONTH2
0CALDAY	0CALQUART1
0CALDAY	0HALFYEAR1
0CALDAY,  0FISCVARNT	0FISCPER3	Fiscal year variant required due to compounding
0CALMONTH	0CALQUARTER
0CALMONTH	0CALYEAR
0CALMONTH	0CALMONTH2
0CALMONTH	0CALQUART1
0CALMONTH	0HALFYEAR1
0CALQUARTER	0CALYEAR
0CALQUARTER	0CALQUART1
0CALQUARTER	0HALFYEAR1
0CALMONTH2	0CALQUART1
0CALMONTH2	0HALFYEAR1
0CALQUART1	0HALFYEAR1
0FISCPER, 0FISCVARNT	0FISCYEAR	Fiscal year variant required due to compounding
0FISCPER, 0FISCVARNT	0FISCPER3	Fiscal year variant required due to compounding
0CALWEEK, 0WEEKDAY1	0CALDAY
0CALYEAR, 0CALQUART1	0CALQUARTER
0CALYEAR, 0CALMONTH2	0CALMONTH
0FISCYEAR, 0FISCVARNT, 0FISCPER3	0FISCPER	Fiscal year variant required due to compounding