6.4 Foundation Object Associations and Field Criteria

6.4 Foundation Object Associations and Field Criteria

Quick Answer: An association defines a relationship between foundation objects, so that choosing a higher-level record limits the lower-level choices. For example, choosing a business unit shows only its divisions. Filtering in employee data takes two configurations: the association on the object being filtered, and field criteria on the filtered field in Job Information (and on the Position object if Position Management is used).

Why Associations Matter

THR81's example: ACE Corp has 30 locations, 13 of them in the United States. Associating those 13 locations with the US legal entity means that when Ace USA is chosen, only 13 locations are offered. Associations make data entry easier and keep employee data consistent with the organization hierarchy. Some associations are pre-delivered, for example Location with Legal Entity, and Pay Range with Pay Grade.

Multiplicity

SAP recommends that any new custom association be created as one-to-many. One-to-many does not force you to select several records; it keeps the option open.

Association Properties

Category 1: MDF to MDF (Business Unit filters Division)

Step 1 – Create the relationship on the object being filtered (the lower level). In Configure Object Definitions, open Division and choose Take Action > Make Correction. In Associations > Details, set:

• Name: for example toBusinessUnit (saved as cust_toBusinessUnit)
• Multiplicity: One to Many
• Destination Object: Business Unit (the higher-level, filtering object)
• Type: Valid When

Then link the records in Manage Data. Each division record is associated with its business unit(s).

Step 2 – Apply the filter in the employee file. In Manage Business Configuration > HRIS Elements > jobInfo, open the division field (the field being filtered) and go to Details > Field Criteria:

• Destination Field Value = business-unit. This is the HRIS field identifier of the higher-level object doing the filtering.
• Source Field Name = cust_toBusinessUnit.internalId. This is the association name, a period, and the field name of the parent's internal code. Look it up in Configure Object Definitions as the field whose Database Field is InternalCode.

Step 3 – Apply the filter to positions (only if Position Management is enabled). In Configure Object Definitions > Position, open the division field's Details and fill in its Field Criteria the same way, so position records respect the hierarchy too.

Common trap: people often swap these two values. In SAP's configuration, the Destination Field Value is the filtering HRIS field (business-unit), and the Source Field Name is the association path on the filtered object (cust_toBusinessUnit.internalId).

Category 2: XML to MDF (Legal Entity filters Location)

Here the object being filtered, Location, is XML-based, so the association is built in the Corporate Data Model:

1. Open the latest corporate-datamodel.xml and go to the location element.
2. In its hris-associations section, add an association line with multiplicity ONE_TO_MANY and destination-entity = LegalEntity, the code of the MDF object from Configure Object Definitions.
3. Validate, save as a new version, and upload.

Then, in BCUI > jobInfo > location > Field Criteria:

• Destination Field Value = company, the HRIS field of the filtering legal entity.
• Source Field Name = LegalEntity, the code of the filtering object in Configure Object Definitions.

Finally, add the same field criteria to the Position object's location field if Position Management is used.

Category 3: XML to XML (Location Group filters Location)

Several XML-to-XML associations are pre-delivered. For a custom one, SAP's example adds this to the location element:

<hris-associations>
  <association id="id" multiplicity="ONE_TO_MANY" destination-entity="locationGroup" required="false"/>
</hris-associations>

Location Group is not a standard Job Information field, so a custom field (custom-string3) displays the location group in jobInfo. The location field's criteria then point to it:

<hris-field max-length="128" id="location" visibility="both">
  <label>Location</label>
  <field-criteria destinationFieldValue="custom-string3" sourceFieldName="locationGroup"/>
</hris-field>

Category 4: MDF to XML (Location filters a custom Garage object)

You cannot associate an MDF object directly with a legacy FO. Use the pre-delivered wrapper object that represents it, such as Location Wrapper. When a wrapper is used, the association type must be Composite, not Valid When.

THR81's Garage object (Basic effective dating, externalCode Auto Number, externalName Garage Name, carCapacity) gets the association toLocation: One to Many, destination Location Wrapper, type Composite. In jobInfo, a custom field (custom-string4, Type of Reference Object = Foundation Object, Reference Object = the garage object's code) shows the garage. Its field criteria use Destination Field Value = location and Source Field Name = cust_toLocation.externalCode. The external code connects the wrapper to the legacy object.

Validating the Setup

• The Check Tool includes a validation for existing or missing field criteria.
• Test with Add New Employee or Change Job and Compensation Info: choose the parent value and confirm that only associated records appear.
• Remember effective dates. An association cannot link records if the child record starts before the parent record exists.