BPC Master Data: Automate fixed hierarchy node

Introduction:

The purpose of this blog post is to explain a simple solution to the challenge of updating fixed hierarchy node manually to a faster moving master data in a dimension. This blog post is aimed for consultants and administrators with moderate level of expertise in integrating the data from BW Info object to BPC dimension

Context:

Master data update for BPC dimensions can be done in following ways:

• Id, attributes, text and hierarchy flowing from BW > BPC
• Id, attributes, text only flowing from BW > BPC – (blog focus is on this scenario)
• Manually updating the master data in certain dimensions that are not sourced from BW e.g. Version, Audit etc.
• Id,attributes, text and hierarchy through file uploads

Business case:

Let’s say you have a dimension e.g. FR_ACT with new master data updates from respective BW info object with Id and text only. If that dimension is used in reporting and has to be displayed at total node in EPM context then a dummy total node TOT_FR has to be updated manually after the master data load for Id, attribute and text is complete otherwise the following issues will occur:

• Business will not be able to get the complete view of the all the FR Act loaded in BPC
• Business will raise concern on missing FR Act that are available in source system however not visible in BPC reporting

Generally in these cases a consultant or administrator has to login to webadmin and update the newly added master data entries with fixed hierarchy node manually, save and process the dimension, this is a cumbersome process and not a best practice.

Situation – Manual update

Situation – Automated update

Solution:

Graphical illustration of simple steps to automate the fixed hierarchy node in Parenth1 property

Components:

Components required (process chain and data manager packages) to automate the process

Step by step process:

Step one:

Create a process to import the master data Id, text, attribute from BW Info object. This process is not in the purview of this blog, you may refer the link to understand the process

Step two:

Once the master data Id, Text process set up is complete, next step is to create a transformation file with mapping as shown below and set up data manager package using the process chain /CPMB/EXPORT_MD_TO_FILE to export the loaded master data Id to BPC file service

Transformation Logic when exporting the file:

View of exported data file:

Text, attributes, hierarchy need not to be exported just the Id’s will do

Step three:

Once the file is exported to BPC file service, the third step is to import the file back into the dimension with necessary transformation logic in mapping section to update the fixed hierarchy node

Create a data manager package and assign the process chain /CPMB/IMPORT_MASTER and create a transformation file with the logic as shown below:

Upon successful completion of step three the final output you see in the dimension will be an updated fixed hierarchy node in the dimension

Step four:

Finally combine all three data manager packages (Import master data from BW, export master data to file, import file from file service) in a package link … by doing so you will have an advantage to either schedule it to run at a specific frequency in BPC space or add this package link as an ABAP process in BW process chain to take advantage of BW based data load trigger mechanism

Points to consider:

• Valid for BPC classic environment version
• Master data import from BW to BPC is not covered in this blog post
• Blog is based on the idea posted by Vadim Kalinin on the same topic

Conclusion:

You have learned the trick to automate the fixed hierarchy total node for a BPC dimension that has no hierarchy feed coming from BW info object