2315265 - Employee Central - Foundation Objects

Symptom

This is a collection of useful articles related to Foundation Objects.

Environment

Reproducing the Issue

Before opening an case with Product Support

Please be sure that before you open a support case with Product Support, you have performed the following sanity checks on your configuration/data - bearing in mind most issues are due to a configuration issue -:

The feature is correctly enabled, as described in the related Implementation Handbook

Some Foundation Objects have function fields, such as Pay Components fields Recurring and Target - for example these fields are required by the application to display Pay Components in the correct section of Compensation Info or Spot Bonus portlets
Some Foundation Objects will have associations to other Foundation Objects - make sure the association is configured correctly from Child object to Parent object and not the other way around!

Correct permissions are granted to the administrator to be able to use the tool (as specified in the Implementation Handbook)

Some Foundation Objects such as Pay Components, Pay Component Group, Pay Group and Event Reason have extra permissions that must be granted for them to be available for an end user. If you just created a new Object, make sure you have granted permission to see it

Has the configuration changed recently?

Can the recent change be un-done so re-testing can be performed?

Can the issue be reproduced for just 1 or multiple admins?

If the issue is reproducible for all it is still likely to be a permissions issue.
If it seems to be related to 1 or a small admin population - the next step is to check and verify the permissions are correctly granted.

Is the data correct? (Ensure that any recent configuration changes you have made have not caused any data inconsistencies)
Checked the FAQ below

Checked the FAQ below?

Cause

Tips & Tricks

Below are some tips and tricks recommended by Product Support, which you should consider first before opening a Support case

FAQ Index

Foundation Objects Implementation Guide Overview
MDF Foundation Objects Implementation Guide Overview
Associations Implementation Guide Overview
Open a Support case

1. Foundation Objects Implementation Guide Overview

Please review the entire chapter from the Employee Central Master Implementation Handbook "Introduction to Foundation Objects" - click here. The following sections should be reviewed in detail, which will cover configuration, best practices and every day use scenarios -:

Introduction to Foundation Objects
What are the characteristics of foundation objects?
What are Associations?
Examples of Foundation Object Associations
What is effective dating?
Which foundation objects can you use to structure your business?
Which foundation objects can you use to handle job-related areas?
Which foundation objects can you use to handle pay-related areas?
Which other foundation objects are available?
Setting up country-specific picklists for pay components or event reasons

Foundation Objects FAQ

Some frequently encountered issues/questions that you may have in regards to Foundation Objects

Configuration FAQ

Some How To guides which are not directly explained in the Implementation Handbook.

2. MDF Foundation Objects Implementation Guide Overview

We are currently in the process of migrating Foundation Objects onto the Metadata Framework - which a far more extensive framework that the one originally designed to house Foundation Objects, where there are some funaction/behaviour limitations. You can read all there is to know about MDF Foundation Objects in the "MDF Foundation Objects" guide - click here

Please note that the entire document is required reading, as we progress with our future releases, more Foundation Objects and EC features will move to MDF, and this handbook will be maintained with all the relative information.

Next please review the entire chapter from the Employee Central Implementation Handbook "Introduction to Foundation Objects" - click here. The following sections should be reviewed in detail, which will cover configuration, best practices and every day use scenarios -:

MDF Foundation Objects
Setting Permissions for MDF Foundation Objects
* Defining Value Help Permissions for Everyone
* Defining Value Help Permissions for Admins
Defining the Search Criteria
Working with Associations, Field Criteria and Value Help
Importing MDF Foundation Objects
Managing the Country and Currency GO
Adding a New Country and Related Fields to LegalEntity
* Create a New MDF Object for the Country-Specific Fields
* Assign the New Object to Legal Entity
Adding a New Country and Related Fields to JobClassification
* Step 1: Create a New MDF Object for the Country-Specific Fields
* Step 2: Assign the New Object to JobClassificationCountry
Changes to Workflow Behavior
Customizing Standard Fields

MDF Foundation Objects FAQ

Please refer to the below KBA's which cover further topics not directly explained in the handbook documentation.

3. Associations Implementation Guide Overview

Associations define relationships between Foundation Objects. For example, a Business Unit consists of several Departments, so you would create an association of one Business Unit to many Departments — a ONE-TO-MANY relationship. Whereas a location can only have one geozone associated with it — this is a ONE—TO—ONE association. The type of association restricts what the user can display or enter in Employee Central — for a ONE_TO_ONE association from location to geozone, for example, the user can enter exactly one geozone for a location on the UI

Another example of an association could be that you want the end user to only choose particular Foundation Object values based on the selection of another Foundation Object. For example - when making Job Information changes to an employee's Job Information record, you want to display a list of Divisions that are linked to a specific Department selection. This would help limit the end users ability to create inconsistent data in the system when making data changes. The idea herre being that once you have selected the desired Department value, you then only see a list of Divisions to choose from, that are directly associated with the chosen Department.

Associations can be configured like a chain, so that when an end user chooses a Legal Entity > their list of Business Units is filtered to display only associated Business Units, and when Business Unit is selected the Department field will only list Departments associated with the Business Unit select, and so on. These associations are customer specific, so they really do differ from one customer to another.

You may have already reviewed the section from the Employee Central Implementation Handbook "Foundation Objects for Structuring Your Business" but if not - click here

You should also note that Associations for MDF Foundation Objects are configured on the object itself. This was already discussed above in the EC2MDF section, and found in the EC Impementation Handbook under the section "Working with Associations, Field Criteria and Value Help"

Associations FAQ

Configuration FAQ

Some helpful How To KBA's which explain in detail how object associations work. One of the most common misconceptions is where the association should be made. Associations always work from CHILD TO PARENT (so the association is configured on the Child object). The below KBA's offer further advice and considerations for anyone configuring object associations

Troubleshooting FAQ

Some helpful articles regarding troubleshooting association related configuration issues

Resolution

When opening a support case in related to Foundation Data, please ensure the following information is attached to the case

Foundation Object

Attach the Data Models related to the issue: Succession Data Model, Country Specific Succession Data Model, Corporate Data Model, Country Specific Corporate Data Model and HRIS Propagation Configuration XML.
If any Business Rules exist for the field/element in question, please attach a screen shot of the rule(s).
Please provide detailed steps to reproduce the issue you are encountering - preferably including screenshots - Please make sure that the screenshot is full screen (meaning to show complete Web page view)
When creating an issue, please answer following questions (answer whichever is applicable, if a question doesn't apply in a scenario then answer "Not Applicable"):

Did this issue start recently?
Was the same feature or functionality working before?
Is the issue reproducible for other users?
If the issue is related to a picklist field or Foundation Object, then please attach an export of the Picklist/Object

Associations

Attach all Data Models: Succession Data Model, Country Specific XML for Succession Data Model, Corporate Data Model, Country Specific XML for Corporate Data Model and HRIS Propagation Configuration XML
Screenshot of Configure Object Definition page of Object in question if MDF Foundation Object is involved (Legal Entity, Business Unit, Department, Division, Cost Center, Pay Group, Job Classification, Job Function)

Keywords

Foundation Objects, Custom Objects, Foundation Data, Employee Central, fo, mFo, go, associations, field criteria, field-criteria, destinationFieldValue, sourceFieldName, generic object, mdf object, mdf, FAQ , KBA , LOD-SF-EC-FOO , Foundation Objects (Organisation, Pay and Job Structures) , How To

Product

SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central all versions ; SAP SuccessFactors HCM Suite all versions