Use of planning characteristics vs navigation attributes in APO DP

I am using APO DP V5.
I have a product characteristic.
Products are grouped into 'product groups'.
I want to be able to run stat forecasts at the 'product group' level, and also adjustments via key figures at the 'product group' level.
For the 'product group', I could set up a planning characteristic or a navigation attribute.
What are the pros/cons of setting up a planning characteristic or navigation attribute, bearing in mind the need to forecast and make adjustments at this level?
Thanks in advance...

Hi,
The pros for using navigatyion attribute are quite easy: it will give you far more flexibility.
For example in case of change of hierarchy, you will not need to run realignment.
It simplify in the same way the data loading.
Now the cons: there is still some limitations: you can without any problem run stat forecast and adjustment for a navigation attribute. The only limitations I can remember are for promotion and store the assigment of a forecast profile to a selection (see /SAPAPO/MSDP_FCST2 - Assign Forecast Profiles to a Selection ).
this point might, or not, be the issue for you: do you plan to use the automatic forecast profile selection? If yes, then I suggest you to test it with navigation attributes; but as far I know it will fail. (note: I think there is workaround with a badi implementation, but can't remember which one now)
I hope it helps
Julien

Similar Messages

Navigation attributes in APO DP

I am using APO DP V5.
I have a planning characteristics of product and customer. I also have a characteristic of 'product group'. I am trying to clarify the <u>real difference</u> between modelling this characteristic as a planning characteristic or as a navigation attribute of product.
Based on my testing, using product group as a navigation attribute, I can select by product group and apply fixing and disaggregation.
So, what is the 'added value' of modelling 'product group' as a planning characteristics?
Any feedback appreciated.
Thanks, Bob Austin

To quote OSS note 413526
When defining a planning area you have the option of using either basic
characteristics or navigation attributes. With regard to the design the
following aspects should be considered:
Navigation attributes:
===========================================================
The use of navigation attributes adversely affects performance during
data selection and during navigation in the interactive planning. The
number of used navigation attributes is important and not the different
specifications of a navigation attribute.
It is very easy to realign the planning objects since only the master
record table of the affected InfoObject has to be changed.
Navigation attributes can not be used as a characteristic during the
definition of a fixed aggregate.
During the disaggregation a navigation attribute can never represent the
lowest planning level.
Navigation attributes can not be used in the promotion planning, in
other words an 'assign object' is not possible for navigation attributes.
Basic characteristics:
===========================================================
In comparison with navigation attributes, the exclusive use of basic
characteristics improves the performance.
It is possible to realign the planning objects, but this is more
complicated.
Basic characteristics can be used during the definition of aggregates.
Both navigation attributes and basic characteristics can be used during the
data extraction.
It is therefore not possible to give a clear-cut recommendation for or
against navigation attributes.

Use of navigation attributes in APO DP

I am trying to clarify how navigation attributes compare with full planning characteristics in APO DP (V5).
In general, I know that navigation attributes are used for selection and navigation in APO DP.
But suppose I have a navigation attribute called 'product type' for planning characteristic 'product'. Isn't it also possible to forecast and make adjustments at the 'product type' level.
If the answer is yes, what is the real difference between the use of navigation attributes and planning characteristics?
Thanks for any help with this.
Bob Austin

You do not see difference in Attribute and characteristics in the interactive planning screen. So you should be able to create selections and do general navigation
just a little more detail on the difference between nav attributes and planning char
But creating forecast profiles might be a problem- Selections with navigational attributes do not create forecast assignment table entries. As of SCM4.1, the attribute information can be stripped out of the selection via BADI, allowing an assignment entry to be created.
Maintenance of CVCs also have to be done differently. Navigational attributes are not same as CVCs. Instead they point at the value of another characteristic. We create master data for nav attrib in the Admin workbench. Also If you plan to use navigational attributes on standard characteristics, say in 9AMATNR, then you could have issues in SNP since SNP does not support Nav attrib
Also realignment of Navigational attributes is not a standard process but can be done.

Use of planning characteristics in APO DP

I am using APO DP V5.
In my planning object structure I have the following planning characteristics:
- product
- product group
- customer
Suppose I am extracting history data (based on despatches) from an attached ECC system.
As I see things, I have two alternatives for the extraction of 'product group':
1. Extract the product group when I extract the despatch data from ECC
2. Model the product group as an attribute (display) of the product InfoObject, maintain this attribute as part of APO master data, and then read the product group from the product master data when I extract the despatch data from ECC.
What is 'best practice' in this situation.
Thanks, Bob Austin

Bob
Both your Options being valid technically and will work you need to now judge based on the demerits of the methods based on your situation
If you expect a huge CVC population and dont to have say a million CVCs you would want to use attributes thus effectively distributing it into two tables
Your Product Group to product will be one to many i suppose so the CVCs in your MPOS will be reduced by a factor or that ratio
Now this also means that you will need to look at a join of the table if you are using you Attributes as selections. So that is going to take more time and if your client is not patient youo may not want to take that route
Also your downstream planning process and your regular maintainance of your system needs to be considered.
Attributes are good if you want them just to navigate but if you want a forecast profile or if you want a realignment based on them it might end up to be a bit of a pain. I remember we had a post from you on this one and there are a few more points that are not favorable to Nav attribs
So youo need to weigh in the advantages each of these will give you and how much weightage you place on these advantages for your situation.
If you have the Prod group in ECC and can extract it i would prefer that option. Looks straightforward that way

APO Demand Planning - Navigational Attributes BADI

Hi,
I have an issue in that I need a Navigational Attribute to be able to store the GUID for a Forecast Profile to a Selection. In standard, only a selection with Key Characteristics can do this. It is not practical for us to use a Key Characteristic because the realignment would take to long therefore it needs to be a Navigational Attribute.
Having read the note "Use of planning characteristics vs navigation attributes in APO DP " dated 19/10/2009 in SAP Solutions » SCM - APO Forum, it indicates that there is a BADI work around to enable this to be done but cant remember which one.
Does anyone know the BADI can be used to achieve this?
Thanks
Mark

Prabhat
Please refer to OSS note 413526 for a comparison of Navigational Attributes v/s basic characteristics. While most planning tasks can be done with navigational attributes there are a few limitations.
Rishi Menon

Navigation Attributes & Planning Characteristics

Hi,
We plan to maintain some of the characteristics as Navigation Attributes. We understand that there are performance issues if we use navigation attributes in planning area.
I have a query: If we do not navigate data based on navigation attribute in interactive planning, even then the performance be low or only when we select navigation attribute in interactive planning?
regards,
Mohit

By definition, nothing is stored in live cache against navigation attributes. So if you load a selection containing navigational attribute or drill down by navigational attribute, in theory this should be much faster vis a vis reading from live cache (not withstanding the general computing theory of memory resident processing). This statement (of mine) is contra positive to SAP warnings on performance when using navigational attributes. There are a dozen notes on this to scare users.
There is no definitive answer I guess... at least empirically. It depends eventually on the query size. When query is large, it is hard to blame navigational attributes alone (if you are using some). It can be more so because of transaction time (SQL>LC routine > SQL) in the live cache as well. Sometimes reading a simple relational table (if indexed) can be much faster than reading non-relational (live cache) tables.
I am not a techspert and authority on this. This response is based on my painful experiences. For me anything more than couple of seconds on interactive DP is a waste of time.
Thanks
Borat

Performance issue... navigational attribute used

hi ,,
if navigational attrributes are used sytem performnce incerases or decreases ?
if so why?
regards
snigdha

Hi
Navigational attributes require additional table joins at runtime (in comparison to dimension characteristics) but usually the decision for dimension characteristics or navigational attributes is based on business requirements rather than on performance considerations. If your aggregates contain navigational attributes, a change run must be scheduled every time this master data is loaded.
Dimensional attributes generally have a performance advantage over navigational attributes for query operations. Fewer tables are joined to access the values of dimensional attributes than navigational attributes; therefore less overhead is seen during query execution. The requirements should be carefully analyzed to determine whether a certain attribute needs to be navigational or if dimensional or display attribute

Navigation attribute in the Alert Monitor

Hi All,
In the alert monitor in SAP APO the display table contains only characteristics and not the navigational attribute.
Is there any way through which we can display the navigational attribute also?
Thanks,
Diana

Diana ,
This is how we handled it when we had a situation similar to yours. Since the navigational attribute was also a BW info object , we pulled the value for the navigational attribute to APO-BW . We then put custom logic in the BAdI to pull data for the navigational attribute and display the same in the alert monitor.
Your ABAP team should be able to help you in putting the custom logic in the BAdI . To save the value to the info object you need to have an idea about APO-BW.
Thanks
Saradha

Navigational attribute Vs normal infoobject in Query

Hi
I have some infoobjects named ..1)ITEM....2)STATUS....3)SALES etc in cubes...
I have to design a query showing this data...the report should show Item Status also...I can use normal infoobject STATUS from infocube in report to show Item Status....I have one more possibilitySTATUS is added as navigational attribute of infoobject ITEM..So I can use this navigational attribute also..which one should I use normal infoobject STATUS or navigational attribute STATUS of infoobject ITEM to show item status in report?how to decide on this?
Thanks for your guidance.

Hi Hayward,
Status as direct Object
When you use Status as an object added in cube you get the data of the day the cube was loaded. Let say for example your cube is loaded weekely on sundays, so the field status will give status as on sunday, even when it is run on other subsequent days of the week. So as correctly pointed in above posts values you get in status are not real time but historical.
Status as Navigational Attr of Item
When you use Status as Navigational attribute of Item then you get current data because in almost all cases Master Data Objects are loaded on daily basis and thus it picks the latetst Status of Items.
In case your cube is loaded daily then it won't make much difference that whether you are using it as a standalone object or as navigational attribute of Item.
Hope it helped
Regards
Raj Rai

Showing navigation attributes in the same column of a query

Hi,
I would like to know if there is a way to define a query such that TWO navigation attributes that reference the same underlying characteristic can be displayed in the SAME column rather than TWO separate columns.
I will describe an example scenario to clarify the requirement. We are using a BI Content InfoCube (0COOM_C02) that has the navigation attributes 0COSTCENTER__0PROFIT_CTR and 0WBS_ELEMT__PROFIT_CTR activated. Both of these attributes reference the characteristic 0PROFIT_CTR. The InfoCube contains transaction data for Cost Centres and WBS Elements.
The requirement is to define a query that summarizes the data by profit centre. At the moment, in order to combine Cost Centre and WBS (Project) data in the same query by Profit Centre, both navigation attributes need to be selected, resulting in the following output:
0COSTCENTER__0PROFIT_CTR......0WBS_ELEMT__PROFIT_CTR......AMOUNT
PC01...............................................Not assigned...................................10,000
PC02...............................................Not assigned...................................20,000
PC03...............................................Not assigned...................................12,000
PC04...............................................Not assigned....................................2,000
Not Assigned....................................PC02..............................................5,000
Not Assigned....................................PC03..............................................8,000
Not Assigned....................................PC05..............................................30,000
Not Assigned....................................PC06..............................................50,000
However, the desired result is to display only one profit centre column using the two profit centre navigation attributes as shown below:
PROFIT CENTRE......AMOUNT
PC01..........................10,000
PC02..........................25,000
PC03..........................20,000
PC04............................2,000
PC05..........................30,000
PC06..........................50,000
Is there a way to achieve the above result using the two navigation attributes only, without having to add 0PROFIT_CTR as a characteristic to the InfoCube?
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Mustafa.

Hi Mustafa,
You have to use enhancement RSR00001 in the transaction CMOD to start developing your code.
For more information how the customer exit variables are processed, refer to the documentation:
http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw70/helpdata/EN/f1/0a56f5e09411d2acb90000e829fbfe/frameset.htm
A short example can be found here:
http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw70/helpdata/EN/1d/ca10d858c2e949ba4a152c44f8128a/frameset.htm
This should help.
Regards,
Daniel

How to lookup time independent navigation attribute of master data table

Hi,
which table is used to lookup time independent navigation attribute (0ACCNT_ASGN) of 0CUST_SALES master data InfoObject. I am seeing too many tables ( P,X,T,H,K...etc.).
Please help me.
Regards
Jharna

Hi,
FYI,
P-table --- time independent Master data attributes
Q----
time dependent Master data attributes
M-----view of P & Q.
X----
time independent Nav Attributes Master data attributes
Y----
time dependent Nav. Master data attributes
H,K,I tables are related to Hierarchies.
REDDY

What is the role of navigation atributes in APO DP

What is the role of navigation attributes in APO DP

Hi,
Navigational attributes bear the same meaning as in BW. They can be used for navigation- drill up and drill down in the planning book. There is a very little difference in usage.
They also appear in the CVCs, they are just like a regular characteristic. You can select the N.Attribute in your selection profiles, you can use them for forecasting as well.
But the problem is , when you specify as a navigational attribute, additional tables are created and they have to be accessed from there instead of database like the regular key figures. So it hampers the performance.
It is a good idea to define the characteristics that you think would be using in planning, macros, forecasting model selections, selection profiles etc. and have the characteristics by which you want to drill up/down the data in the planning book.
This saves a lot of performance.

Using navigation attributes in planning queries

Hi all!
In one of the SAP demos I saw something like: we've got a "Store" char in planning query, and Region, Format and Climate added as free characteristics. Region, Format and Climate are navigation attributes of the Store characteristic. And when user drags, for example, Region into the planning table, he or she can enter the values on region level, and when saving the data it's being automatically distributed by all the Stores that have that Region as an attribute.
I have a somewhat similar task - I have a "Branch" characteristic that has "Country" as a navigation attribute. I have to plan data for that navigation attribute, the country, and I expect the data to be distributed by all the branches that have that country as an attribute. But when I add it to the planning query, I've got repeating rows for each branch in each country even though I don't see the branches.
What should I do to accomplish this task?
Thanks!
Best regards,
Andrey

Hi Gregor!
Thanks a lot for your help!
It's almost working as I want it to work.
But there's something I'm probably doing wrong.
I'm selecting B as a "free characteristic" in the query and hide it, and put B__C in the rows section, then choose "Master Data" for both "Access Type for Result Values" and "Filter value selection..." for both characteristics. After that I execute the query and see that everything seems to be as it should be, and after I enter data for something, it automatically distributes by the branches that have that country as an attribute.
That's weird. Because when I do as you told me to, using the flag "Characteristic Rel-ps" for "Access Type for Result Values", put B__C and B in rows (B is hidden) and execute the query, I get multiple repeating rows for each branch that has the selected country as an attribute. And system tells me that "3 characteristic combinations generated successfully" (that is correct - I have 3 branches for the selected country).
I've tried setting "Char rel-ps" for both of the characteristics, then for only one each of them - and I still get the same picture.
Could you please tell me what I might be doing wrong here? And why it seems to be working with "Master data" chosen for "Acc. type for result values"?..
Thanks!
Best regards,
Andrey
Edited by: Andrey Makeev on Feb 3, 2012 6:45 AM

Can we use Navigational attributes as Virtual Characteristics

Hi,
I need to derive the virtual characteristic based on 2 infoobjects in the multiprovider. One of the infoobject is a navigational attribute. I am using the BADI approach to create the virtual characteristic. Can we use navigational attributes to pass values to derive the virtual Char or is there any limitation.
Basically can I use the below code to read navigational attr
when <b>'0EMPLOYEE_0JOB'</b> OR '0PROFIT_CTR'.
          l_s_chanm-chanm = <chanm_used>.
          l_s_chanm-mode = rrke_c_mode-read.
          append l_s_chanm to c_t_chanm.
Thanks,
Kal

Hi Kal,
          I think you model a virtual KFig in the way you have suggested.I think the routine will work.Its looking similar populating a field using read masterdata.I think it will work.
Regards
Karthik

Integrated Planning on Navigational Attribute

Hello Experts ,
We are using BI 7.0 integrated planning.
We have a Report that is input enabled on Service . Service info Object is a characteristics in the info provider and is in the rows area of the Report . Input enabled was fine .
But I would like to bring Service which is navigational attribute of Fund center ie 0funds_ctr-bservice in the report(rows area) and want to plan against that service.
But when I bring this navigational attribute , now the query is not enabled for input . Do i have to any thing else in the Planning to make it input enabled .
Any ideas please .
Thanks

Andrey, indu,
Thanks for your reply.
Andrey,
I have put navigational attribute(Service) in the rows area and restricted with a variable . Still query is not enabled.
The query is not enabled as soon as i select Fund center in the Aggregation levels in IP.
If I remove(un check) fund center in the aggregation level , the query is input enabled . But i got to enable Fund center at aggregation level so that I can bring in Navigational attribute(service) of func cener.
Any ideas please .
Thanks

Use of planning characteristics vs navigation attributes in APO DP

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