Analytics and Description Attributes

[steve_rampton2]

Has anyone else tried using the Description Attributes that came out in 4.0 FPS 2 Patch 2?

I have created a new planning area that uses this feature extensively to simplify the planning area etc. The functionality works perfectly with the Excel Addon where you can choose for each attribute using it whether to display ID, Description or both. So far so good.

However when I now come and try and create some Analytics I seem to be getting an issue where it returns no data if any of the attributes in the Group By field are Description attributes. The drop down list in fact only lists the Description Attributes so you cannot even select the Ids to get around the issue.

[steve_rampton2 · Accepted solution]

Hi All

I have had a response from SAP Product Support. Apparently Description Attributes do not work with Analytics. If you use them you also have to include the description attribute in the Planning Area. This completely negates the advantages of the functionality to simplify the planning area and the volume of master data downloaded to excel at logon. Seems very strange to me!

[Former Member]

I think I know some background on why this is happening, but I haven't used the Analytics much so I don't know a work around.  When you link an ID and a Description the Excel UI no longer reads the Descriptions from the planning object table.  It reads them straight from the master data tables, so the descriptions don't even need to be included in the planning levels once they're linked.  If they are included, Excel just ignores the values that are on the planning object table.  I would guess that the Analytics Group by is running into issues because it's not reading the descriptions from the planning object table like it reads the IDs.

[steve_rampton2]

HI Renate

Thanks for that. The strange thing is that the Analytics are still reading the same 'attribute' selections as in Excel. So product id doesn't even appear in the list - only the descriptions. So I assume it only checks the planning object table and doesn't find the descriptions there and I have no way of selecting the Product Id which is!

[Irmi_Kuntze]

I assume you mean you have e.g. a master data type "Material" that has "PRID" as key and as ID and "PRODDESCR" as description assigned to PRID but WITHOUT seperately assigning to the MD-type? And that this does not fit with the analytics?

I have tried assigning descriptions to ID and in Excel it works well, as you said. But I have not tried in Analytics

Please, if you find the root cause and solution maybe by an OSS message, can you please post it here as this would be interesting?

Thanks

Irmi

[steve_rampton2]

HI Irmhild

I certainly will. SAP have yet to pick up my incident - after more than a week!

Regards

Steve