Intervals
Use
Under both postable and not postable nodes you can hang an interval instead of a quantity of leaves. An interval includes a quantity of characteristic values for the hierarchy basic characteristic and is defined by its lower limit (the From-<Characteristic Value>) and its upper limit (the To-<Characteristic Value>). Since an interval corresponds to a quantity of leaves, you cannot hang additional objects under an interval. (You can find additional information about the individual hierarchy nodes under Hierarchy Nodes.)
Features
In the InfoObject maintenance, you define whether intervals in hierarchies are permitted for the hierarchy basic characteristic (see Tab Page: Hierarchy).
In the hierarchy maintenance, you model the hierarchy with intervals, if necessary.
If you add an interval to a hierarchy in the hierarchy maintenance, the system creates a node to the hierarchy basic characteristic. This node represents the interval. The limits of the interval are entered in the fields LEAFFROM and LEAFTO of the /BI*/J<IOBJNM> hierarchy table. The description of the interval is comprised of the description for the characteristic values selected for these fields.
You can also create intervals for such characteristic values for which no master data has yet been posted. If you post new data for the respective characteristic values, the system automatically arranges it. In this way you can avoid having to enhance the hierarchy when accessing master data again.
In reporting, an interval is not displayed as a node, but rather as triggered: All leaves, which are in the interval and for which data is posted in the InfoProvider, are displayed.
Example
Example 1 – Cost Element Hierarchy
In a hierarchy for the Cost Element (0COSTELMNT) InfoObject, you want to add cost elements 100 to 1000 as an interval under the Material Costs node. Until now, your BI system posted for the hierarchy basic characteristic only the characteristic values 100 to 500 in the InfoProvider.
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1. Create the Material Costs text node.
2. You can create the interval directly under the Material Costs node. In this case, the leaves for the individual cost elements are likewise displayed directly under the Material Costs node in the query.
However, if you also want to see a node in the query that summarizes the cost elements included in the interval, you can then create a Cost Element 100 to 1000 text node under the node.
This way of modeling intermediate nodes is also suitable, for example, for a customer hierarchy in which you do not want see all customers at the same time, but rather want to display groups, such as Customers A-C and Customers D-F.
3. Under the Material Costs (or Cost Element 100 to 1000) parent node, create an interval for Cost Element InfoObject.
4. Specify the interval limits in the Create Interval dialog box. Since the Controlling Area (0CO_AREA) InfoObject is compounded to the Cost Element (0COSTELMNT) InfoObject, specifying the required controlling area you want is also necessary. Example:
From-ContArea 1000
From-CostElmnt 100
To-ContArea 1000
To-CostElmnt 1000
Long Description10000000000100 – 10000000001000
The Node Level corresponds to the place where you add the interval.
If the interval nodes (or a part of the values) in the hierarchy already exists, you receive a Warning: Duplicate Nodes. Usually, the user does not want values to occur multiple times in a hierarchy. However, you can decide whether the system is to transfer the duplicate nodes. (The latter is the default setting.)
In the query, the leaves with values 100 to 500 are displayed in the cost element hierarchy under the node Material Costs (or Cost Element 100 to 1000). If cost elements are added to the material costs, and you create the master data for the values from 501, the new cost elements are automatically displayed in the query as soon as the transaction data has been loaded.
The following graphic shows both types of modeling cost element hierarchies:
Example 2 – Time Hierarchy
Another typical example for the use of intervals is the time hierarchy (see Hierarchy Nodes, Example 1).
More Information: