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THR81_005
Advanced Foundation Object and
Employee Data Management

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PARTICIPANT HANDBOOK
INSTRUCTOR-LED TRAINING
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Course Version: 2111
e-book Duration: 4 Hours

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Typographic Conventions

American English is the standard used in this handbook.

The following typographic conventions are also used.

This information is displayed in the instructor’s presentation

Demonstration

Procedure

Warning or Caution

Hint

Related or Additional Information

Facilitated Discussion

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Contents

vi Course Overview

1 Unit 1: Advanced Foundation Object and Employee Data Management

2 Lesson: Foundation Object Association

13 Exercise 1: Configure an Association
17 Lesson: Creating Internal Integration using HRIS Synchronization
25 Exercise 2: Create a Custom Synchronization Map
29 Lesson: Translating Foundation Object Data

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Course Overview

TARGET AUDIENCE
This course is intended for the following audiences:

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UNIT 1 Advanced Foundation

Object and Employee
Data Management

Lesson 1
Foundation Object Association 2
Exercise 1: Configure an Association 13

Lesson 2
Creating Internal Integration using HRIS Synchronization 17
Exercise 2: Create a Custom Synchronization Map 25

Lesson 3
Translating Foundation Object Data 29

UNIT OBJECTIVES

● Configure Foundation Object Association

● Define HRIS synchronization
● Determine how synchronization is triggered
● Identify field mappings
● Describe the EC translation process
● Translate foundation data

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Unit 1
Lesson 1
Foundation Object Association

LESSON OVERVIEW
In this lesson, you will learn how to create and troubleshoot associations.

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:
● Configure Foundation Object Association

Foundation Object Associations

Figure 1: Foundation Object Associations

Associations enable you to define relationships between Foundation Objects and their
records. The associations themselves are built in the Foundation Object configurations, either
on the MDF Object or within the XML. Once the association is built, then records are linked
together.
The standard pre-delivered configuration in Employee Central also includes some standard
pre-built associations, such as the Location object with pre-built association with Legal Entity
object; Pay Range object with pre-built association with Pay grade object.
The associations built on the FO records must also align with the behavior on the employee
files. The choices you see on the different lists will be restricted based on the relationships
and hierarchy’s built. This makes it easier for the person working on the employee file to find
the correct value, and it also ensures the information is compliant with the defined hierarchy.
For example, let’s say you are working with a customer that has 500 locations worldwide.
Only 25 of these locations are within the United States. The association between the Legal
Entity FO and the Location FO establishes the relationship between these objects. The 25 US
location records are connected to the United States Legal Entity. When the US Legal Entity is
chosen on the employee files, only those 25 locations will display as options, even though we
have 500 active location records in the system.

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Lesson: Foundation Object Association

Supported Associations
The type of association configured in the object will determine the kind of relationship the two
objects have and what is their behavior.
● Composite Association this type of association creates a parent-child relationship, where
the child object cannot exist outside of the parent object. The child object's effective dating
MUST always be From Parent . In a composite association, the relationship is configured in
the parent object. An example in the training environment used for this module: Legal
Entity USA is the child object of Legal Entity.
● Valid When this type of association is used to create filtering capabilities between objects
creating a hierarchy structure. Objects associated in this relationship exists independently
and has its own life cycle. An example in the training environment used for this module:
Department object is associated with Division Object. In a valid-when association,
relationship is configured in the "lower level object", using the example between
department and division, the association is configured in department object.

Multiplicity
Whether you are creating Composite or Valid When associations, there are two types of
Multiplicities: One to One and One to Many. The type of multiplicity will determine how many
records you can associate together. We will go through examples of both types of
multiplicities.

One to One Associations

Figure 2: One to One Associations

Here you can see an example of a One to One Association between Geo Zones and Locations.
At the bottom of the chart, you can see that the Seattle Location only belongs to the NA_West
Geo Zone. Seattle does not connect to the NA_East Geo Zone. If none of the Location records
ever belong to more than one Geo Zone, than you can set the multiplicity as One to One.
Simply stated, this means that a location can only belong to one Geo Zone.

One to one associations will display at the record level as picklists, since you can only choose
one option.

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Unit 1: Advanced Foundation Object and Employee Data Management

Note:
There are existing One to One relationships that come standard with Employee
Central. SAP SuccessFactors recommends that you do not create any new
custom One to One associations for pre-delivered Foundation Objects. All new and
custom associations between Foundation Objects should be built as One to Many.

One To Many Association

Figure 3: One To Many

The most common type of multiplicity when it comes to Foundation Object Records is One to
Many. Here we see an example of a One to Many Relationship between Business Units and
Divisions. The Division Professional Services falls under both Global Professional Services and
Corporate Industries. This means Professional Services will show up as an option on the
Employee Files if either Business Unit is chosen. Simply stated, this means that a Division can
belong to Many Business Units.

The display for One to Many associations is a little different. There is a separate section on the
bottom of the FO Record where multiple records can be connected.

Note:
Just because you create a One to Many association, that doesn’t mean you have
to always choose multiple records. For example, if the Professional Services
Division only fell under the Global Professional Services Business unit, that
individual record would still maintain a one to one relationship. One to Many opens
up the possibility of being connected to more than one option.

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Lesson: Foundation Object Association

Types of Foundation Object Association

Figure 4: Types of Foundation Object Associations

There are four types of Foundation Object associations, as listed in this figure. The first two
are discussed in detail while 3rd and 4th types are discussed in high-level as the process are
quite similar.

Association Properties
These are the fields required to be filled-in when configuring relationships between objects:
● Name: a unique name for the association. All customer defined association is
automatically prefixed with "cust_"
● Multiplicity: One to One or One to Many
● Destination Object: This has different meaning whether the association is composite or
valid-when
- For composite, it is the child object on which the association is added
- For valid-when, it is the "higher-level" object in the hierarchical structure
● Type : Composite or valid-when (the other type, Join By Column is not used in this
training).
● Field Criteria: Restricts the possible values for the field. Applicable only for valid-when
associations (the system automatically add one field criteria for Effective Start Date for
objects with Effective Dating Basic or Multiple Changes per Day).

Create MDF to MDF Associations

In this association, we are creating a hierarchical relationship (and a filtering effect) between
two MDF-Based objects, Business Unit to filter Division records. The steps to configure this
type of association can be divided into three high-level steps:

1. Creating the relationship in the object

2. Aligning the relationship in the Employee File

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Unit 1: Advanced Foundation Object and Employee Data Management

3. Aligning the relationship in Position Management (applicable only if Position Management

is enabled)

Create the relationship

Configure the association on the Foundation Object to be filtered (lower-level object in the
hierarchy). In the hierarchy structure, Business Unit is the higher-level object and Division is
the lower-level object.
The steps are as follows:

1. Type Configure Object Definitions in Action Search

2. From the Search drop down, select Object Definition and then from the next drop down
select Division (the object to be filtered). Division's object definition is displayed.

3. Take Action → Make Correction

4. Scroll to the Associations section at the bottom.

5. Click Details. We will now set the association.

a. In the Name field, specify a name for the association.

b. In the Multiplicity field, select One to Many.

c. In the Destination Object field, select the higher-level object that will filter the values
for source object.

d. In the Type field, select Valid When

Align the relationship in the Employee File

Ensure that the relationship built between FO records are aligned with employee records by
defining field criteria in BCUI (Manage Business Configuration UI) or in Succession Data
Model.
The steps are as follows:

1. Type Manage Business Configuration in Action Search

2. Go to HRIS Elements→ jobInfo.

3. Navigate to division field which corresponds to lower-level object (the object getting
filtered). Go toDetails→ Field Criteria

4. The Destination Field Value is the HRIS field identifier of the higher-level object (the field
doing the filtering), in this case, business-unit.

5. The Source Field Name has two parts. The first part, is the Name of the association in
Configure Object Definition, second part is the fieldname of the internal code in the higher-
level object. In this example, Source Field Name is written as
cust_toBusinessUnit.internalId.

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Lesson: Foundation Object Association

Figure 5: Field Criteria

The field name of the internal code on the parent Object (in this example, internalID) can
be derived from the Configure Object Definition page. Look for the Database Field named
InternalCode.

Figure 6: Business Unit

6. Save your changes.

Align the relationship in Position Management

This step is to be done only when Position Management is enabled. Define Field Criteria for
the field related to the MDF FO being filtered. Just like the employee files, this ensures the
relationships defined between FO records translate to the Position records.
The steps are as follows:

1. Go to Configure Object Definition in Action Search.

2. Go to Search→ Object Definition→ Position. The Object Definitions page is displayed.

3. Take Action → Make Correction

4. In the Fields section, scroll to the MDF FO field to be filtered. In this case, division.

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Unit 1: Advanced Foundation Object and Employee Data Management

5. Click Details to view configuration.

6. In the Field Criteria section, fill in the values mentioned in the figure.

Figure 7: Align to Position

Create XML to MDF Associations

In this association, we are creating a hierarchical relationship (and a filtering effect) between
an XML-based and MDF-based object, Legal Entity to filter Location records. The steps to
configure this type of association can be divided into three high-level steps:

1. Creating the relationship in the FO

2. Aligning the relationship in the Employee File

3. Aligning the relationship in Position Management (applicable only if Position Management

is enabled)

Create the relationship

Configure the association on the Object to be filtered. This allows you to attach the higher-
level MDF FO doing the filtering (Legal Entity) to the lower-level XML Legacy FO being filtered
(Location). Since the FO being filtered is an XML Legacy FO, the association is built in the
Corporate Data Model.
The steps are as follows:

1. Open the latest version of your corporate-datamodel.xml

2. Navigate to the source FO to be filtered: location

3. In the hris-associations section of the FO, add an association line

a. Set the multiplicity to ONE_TO_MANY

b. The destination entity should be the id/code of the MDF FO destination object, which
in this case: LegalEntity This can be found in Configure Object Definitions

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Lesson: Foundation Object Association

Figure 8: XML Association

4. Validate your data model.

5. Save your file as a new version.

6. Upload your data model.

Align the relationship in the Employee File

Ensure that the relationship built between FO records are aligned with employee records by
defining field criteria in BCUI (Manage Business Configuration UI) or in Succession Data
Model. In the Succession Data Model, define Field Criteria for the XML Legacy FO field being
filtered. Just like with the MDF/MDF associations, the MDF/XML association needs field
criteria as well to maintain the relationships in the employee files. While the step is the same,
the information needed is a little different
The steps are as follows:

1. Type Manage Business Configuration in Action Search

2. Go to HRIS Elements→ jobInfo.

3. Navigate to location field which corresponds to lower-level object (the object getting
filtered). Go toDetails→ Field Criteria

4. The Destination Field Value is the HRIS field identifier of the higher-level object (the field
doing the filtering), in this case, company.

5. The Source Field Name is the id/code of the object doing the filtering in Configure Object
Definition. In this example, Source Field Name is written as LegalEntity.

Figure 9: Field Criteria

6. Save your changes.

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Unit 1: Advanced Foundation Object and Employee Data Management

Align the relationship in Position Management

This step is to be done only when Position Management is enabled. Define Field Criteria for
the source XML FO being filtered.
The steps are as follows:

1. Navigate to Admin Center

2. In the Tools Search field, type Configure Object Definitions.

3. From the Search dropdown, select Object Definition and then select Position from
the drop down next to it. The Configure Object Definitions page is displayed.

4. From the Take Action drop down, select Make Correction.

5. In the Fields section, scroll to the field to be filtered. In this case, location.

6. Click Details to view configuration.

7. In the Field Criteria section, fill in the values mentioned in the figure.

8.

Figure 10: Align in Position object

Other Types of Associations

XML to XML Association
In this association, the configuration steps are similar to XML to MDF association.
EXAMPLE: Location Group to Filter Location records

1. Create Association in Corporate Data Model

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

2. Align the Association in Succession Data Model (or BCUI). Custom-String3 is used
because Location group is not a standard field in Job Information.
<hris-field max-length="128" id="location" visibility="both">
<label>Location</label>
<label xml:lang="en-US">Location</label>
<field-criteria destinationFieldValue="custom-string3"
sourceFieldName="locationGroup"/>
</hris-field>

3. Same steps for aligning in Position Management as other association types.

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Lesson: Foundation Object Association

MDF to XML Association

When configuring custom associations to XML based Foundation Objects, an FO wrapper is
used. This is because you cannot directly define the associations to Legacy FO. FO wrappers
are pre-delivered objects. The association steps are similar to that of MDF to MDF
Associations.
EXAMPLE: Location to filter Parking records

1. Create the associations in Configure Object Definition

Figure 11: Association using wrapper

An association to wrapper uses Composite Type association.

2. Align the association in Succession Data Model or BCUI. Custom-String2 is used because
Parking is not a standard field in Job Information.

Figure 12: Parking BCUI

externalCode is used because it's the field that connects the wrapper to the legacy
Foundation Object.

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Unit 1: Advanced Foundation Object and Employee Data Management

Figure 13: Wrapper externalCode

3. Same steps for aligning in Position Management as other association types.

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Unit 1
Exercise 1
Configure an Association

Business Example
Most of the associations for predelivered Foundation Objects have already been setup for
ACE, but a new business process requires creating a relationship between an MDF custom
object and an XML Foundation Object. The new association does not have to be aligned with
Position records.

1. Create an MDF to XML association where Location will filter Parking records. The Parking
object is already created in the training instance.

2. Align the relationship in BCUI.

3. Create 2 Parking records for testing.

4. Test the association in employee records.

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Unit 1
Solution 1
Configure an Association

Business Example
Most of the associations for predelivered Foundation Objects have already been setup for
ACE, but a new business process requires creating a relationship between an MDF custom
object and an XML Foundation Object. The new association does not have to be aligned with
Position records.

1. Create an MDF to XML association where Location will filter Parking records. The Parking
object is already created in the training instance.
a) Navigate to Configure Object Definition→ Search: Object Definition→ Parking

b) Select Take Action → Make Correction

c) Scroll down to Association section, add toLocation as association name.

d) One to Many multiplicity

e) Location Wrapper as Destination Object

f) Type is Composite.

g) In Details section, enter Location as label.

h) Save.

2. Align the relationship in BCUI.

a) Navigate to Business Configuration UI (BCUI)

b) Go to Job Information element, add a custom string field. Follow the properties in the
table, Parking Field.

Table 1: Parking Field

Field Properties Value
Field ID custom-string4
Label/Default Label Parking
Enabled Yes
Mandatory No
Type Of Reference Object Foundation Object
Reference Object cust_parking
Visibility Edit
Destination Field Value location

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Lesson: Foundation Object Association

Field Properties Value

Source Field Name cust_toLocation.externalCode

c) Select Done. Save.

d) Go to Manage Permission Roles → System Admin → Permission→ Employee central

Effective Dated Entities → Job Information

e) Select ALL permissions for Parking Field.

f) Select Done. Save Changes. Logout and log back in.

3. Create 2 Parking records for testing.

a) Go to Manage Data→ Create New → Parking

b) Use the table, Parking Records for reference.

Table 2: Parking Records

external Code external name Effective date Associated Loca-
tion/s
galapark Gala Parking 01/01/1990 San Mateo | San
Francisco
amidipark Amidi Parking 01/01/1990 Arlington

c) Save records.

4. Test the association in employee records.

a) Navigate to Marcus Hoff's Profile → Job Information→ Edit

b) Select Edit , change location to Arlington Virginia.

c) Verify that you can see the associated parking record in the Parking field.

d) Cancel the changes.

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Unit 1: Advanced Foundation Object and Employee Data Management

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:
● Configure Foundation Object Association

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Unit 1
Lesson 2
Creating Internal Integration using HRIS
Synchronization

LESSON OVERVIEW
In this lesson, you will learn about HRIS synchronization. You will also learn how to activate
synchronization jobs manually and automatically and create a custom synchronization map.

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:
● Define HRIS synchronization
● Determine how synchronization is triggered
● Identify field mappings

HRIS Synchronization
Human Resource Information System (HRIS) synchronization is the sync of data from
Employee Central to User Data Tables and the Employee Profile. HRIS Sync is a one way
(unidirectional) sync of EC data to populate the talent data to support the other modules of
SAP SuccessFactors. Since Employee Central is the core HR system of record for SAP
SuccessFactors, we want to ensure data is accurate across the entire SAP SuccessFactors
Suite. Some areas of the system store data in legacy data tables, so the HRIS sync populates
these tables with Employee Central data.
The process of synchronization is called an HRIS Sync Job and is completed in Manage
Scheduled Jobs in Provisioning. HRIS sync is a background quartz job that periodically looks
for data that has been changed in Employee Central and updates the legacy user tables with
data from EC. The job itself should be configured to run on a schedule. For data updated using
the UI, the synchronization process is triggered automatically at the end of the update for
current and past dated records.

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Unit 1: Advanced Foundation Object and Employee Data Management

Figure 14: HRIS Sync

User Tables feed data to other modules like Performance, Goals, Compensation, and
Recruiting.
Warning: To avoid future data inconsistency between EC tables and legacy tables, do not use
basic import to directly update data in the legacy tables.

Note:
Additional configuration in EC may be required to utilize all features of integration
between EC and other modules.

Why is HRIS sync important?

Figure 15: HRIS Sync

Employee Central serves as the core HR system, and contains relevant information to
manage employees through their lifecycle within an organization. Employee Profile serves as
the platform for talent management activities and modules, and it requires a mini-master of
core employee data in order for the talent processes to launch and run successfully.

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Lesson: Creating Internal Integration using HRIS Synchronization

Employee Central stores employee’s Personal and Employment Information. For example,
Job Information includes fields such as an employee’s Department, Company, or Location. EC
data is robust and connected to the supporting Foundation Object record data in the system,
which makes it more valuable and accurate compared to the standard element data being
used by the User Data Tables.
When configuring HRIS Sync fields, you connect the EC data fields to Standard Elements in
Succession Data Model with an HRIS Synchronization Mapping. When there is a change in EC
information, it flows to Employee Profile fields and consumed by talent modules that cannot
directly leverage EC data.
For customers WITHOUT Employee Central, their talent process relies solely on data that is
imported using the User Data File (UDF), which is displayed in Employee Profile blocks in
People Profile. These fields allow the standard Org Chart to populate correctly, provide filter
criteria for dashboards and reports, create the route maps that are used for Performance
Management and Compensation, and more.
For customers WITH Employee Central, some talent modules continue to refer to User Data
File to run the talent processes in the system because they don't have the ability to leverage
person and employment information directly from EC. With HRIS Sync however, customers
do not need to manually upload this information.
Therefore, there are fields that are critical to keep in sync between EC and the UDF. If using
Employee Central, you should not be making user data changes by importing the User Data
File (UDF) either from the UI or through a scheduled job. Doing so can overwrite data coming
from Employee Central and cause data inconsistencies.

HRIS Sync Provisioning Jobs

You can schedule HRIS Sync Jobs in Provisioning. You can monitor the HRIS Sync Job using
the Scheduled Job Manager in the Admin Center.

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Unit 1: Advanced Foundation Object and Employee Data Management

Figure 16: HRIS Sync Jobs

When is HRIS Sync triggered?

HRIS sync can be triggered by certain actions taken on the UI or it can be due to a scheduled
job. The following list describes the ways HRIS sync is triggered.
● Real-time sync due to UI operation: automatically triggers sync on changes that are made
in the UI.
- When EC record is changed and becomes effective at that time, data is sync
automatically.
- When EC record is changed using future effective date, data is sync when that day
becomes current
- Real-time sync happens when changes are made via ESS, MSS and new hire process
- This method will only sync the data from the Element you are updating, and not all other
Elements.
● EC Data Import or User Data changes through API : When there is a recurring HRIS Sync
Job setup in Provisioning, updates made through an import or through an API will trigger
the sync job to run.
● Scheduled HRIS Sync Job: Submitted HRIS Sync job will run on specified schedule.
- Scheduled job can be made to trigger one-time or on a regular recurring schedule
- HRIS Sync Job can be setup in Manage Scheduled Jobs in Provisioning.

Synchronization Job Types

The following list describes two HRIS Sync Job types:

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Lesson: Creating Internal Integration using HRIS Synchronization

● Incremental Sync This sync type is normally setup using a recurring schedule.
- All EC data whether effective dated or not is incrementally synchronized
- Only syncs the records that have changed since last successful run date
- Future dated records are synced when the future date becomes the current date
- An incremental sync job that runs on a regular scheduled basis, daily at midnight is
common. It is recommended to configure this job for notification upon failure so EC
administrators can proactive address HRIS Sync issues. Also, since updates made via
import or API will trigger the sync job, it is NOT recommended to schedule an hourly
sync job.
● Full Sync This sync type is recommended to be setup to run only ONCE.
- Synchronizes all EC data whether effective dated or not
- Runs HRIS Sync from a specific date to achieve full sync (specific date must be a
retrospective date and cannot be future dated)
- Full Sync job is meant for initial customer go-live or for any massive data change or for
any major data discrepancies
- Used to remove inconsistent data between EC and User Data Tables. Data
inconsistency could happen for several reasons including, in the past if basic import
was used to upload data to the legacy tables.
A full sync for all users in the system may take several hours especially if there are
numerous fields mapped, and while the job is in progress all EC data transactions must
be avoided . Alternatively, you can run a full sync on selected users. A list of users must
first be uploaded in FTP server. A full sync on selected users will always sync all data
from the beginning of employee's lifecycle, you cannot specify date from when the sync
is to be run. Date is hard coded at 01/01/1900.

Within the HRIS Sync Job, you can specify if you would like to use the local time zone of a user
to set the effective start date for an employee status update. This is especially important for
terminations. Normally, syncs run based on the timezone of the data center the customer
uses. Therefore if you set an employee in Shanghai to be terminated at noon, but the data
center is Eastern Standard time, the user would get an additional 12 hours after termination
before they lose access to the system. You can specify that you are using the employee’s
timezone, which would perform all functions related to termination or any other employee
status change in real time.

Note:
In order to turn on the feature, within the HRIS Sync job in Provisioning, Check the
Use the local time zone of the user to set the effective start date of the status
update. Please update job schedule of needed box. Be sure to update the job
schedule for previously scheduled jobs.

Synchronization Mappings
The data to be synchronized from Employee Central to basic user data tables are either hard-
coded (designed by default) or configured in the Succession Data model (custom-designed).

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Hard-coded sync means that the system will sync some HRIS elements and HRIS fields into
user directory tables without any configuration based on hard-coded rules, such as syncing
Job Information: job-code to Standard element: jobCode.
However, you can also customize sync mappings, which means you can configure the syncing
of Employment Details: Eligible for Stock to Standard Element: Customizable Field 9 in
Succession Data Model.
you can define HRIS Sync mappings for standard elements, user info elements, and user info
record key elements. With these mappings you can establish a relationship between these
elements and HRIS fields (predefined and custom fields). HRIS Sync considers these
mappings when propagating Employee Central to other SAP SuccessFactors products.

Hard-Coded Sync Mapping

Certain mappings are hard-coded into the system, which means that you MUST NOT
configure these in the Succession Data Model. Configuring an HRIS-sync mapping in the data
model for these fields can cause undesired results.
The system prevents anyone from adding duplicate sync mappings to the sync-mappings
section of the Succession Data Model. Duplicate sync mappings lead to data not syncing to
Employee Profile correctly. Manage Business Configuration (BCUI) has a validation that
prevents creating an HRIS sync mapping for fields that are hard-coded.
These are some of the HRIS fields that are hard-coded to standard elements:

Table 3: Hard-coded fields

HRIS Element HRIS Field Standard Element
employmentInfo start-date hireDate
jobInfo emplStatus status
manager-id managerId
job-code jobCode
department department
division division
location location
jobRelationsInfo rel-user-id (using picklist external code hr hrId, matrixManager,
manager, matrix manager, second manager secondManager, cus-
and custom manager) tomManager
personInfo date-of-birth dateOfBirth
nationalIdInfo national-id national ID
personalInfo salutation salutation
gender gender

Note:
Please refer to Implementing Employee Central Core guide in the Help Portal for
the complete list and other sync logic.

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Lesson: Creating Internal Integration using HRIS Synchronization

Custom Sync Mapping

You can create custom sync mapping by adding additional XML into your Succession Data
Model or through BCUI. The separate section in your XML document uses the tag <hris-
sync-mappings>.
The attribute entity-type is mandatory for HRIS-sync mapping of address, email, phone,
and global info. Entity type specifies the type of information, for example, emailInfo can either
be business or personal. The external code used for each type can be verified in picklist
center.
The following steps describe the custom mapping process in Succession Data Model.

1. Identify the Employee Central block, using hris-element-ref refid=”jobInfo”

2. Identify the Employee Central field, using hris-field-ref refid=”business-unit”.

3. Identify the Employee Profile field ( standard-element), using standard-element-ref

refid=”custom01”.

4. Update the XML in your Succession Data Model.

5. Upload to Provisioning.

The code in the Succession Data Model is as follows:

<hris-sync-mappings>
<hris-element-ref refid="jobInfo">
<hris-mapping>
<hris-field-ref refid="business-unit"/>
<standard-element-ref refid="custom01"/>
</hris-mapping>
</hris-element-ref>
</hris-sync-mappings>

Note:
You can define multiple sets of hris-mapping within hris-element-ref tag, and
multiple sets of hris-element-ref inside hris-sync-mappings tag.

Alternatively, you can configure the mapping in Manage Business Configuration (BCUI) with
these steps:

1. Go toManage Business Configuration → HRIS Sync Mappings

2. Select Plus (+)

3. Select the appropriate HRIS Element ID from the drop-down menu

4. Select the Field ID

5. Select the Target Field Type

6. Select the Target Field ID

7. Select Entity Type when applicable

8. Save.

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Unit 1: Advanced Foundation Object and Employee Data Management

HRIS Sync Mappings in BCUI

Figure 17: HRIS Sync Mappings

Fields mapped using the HRIS Sync Mappings will also reflect in the Field Element.

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Unit 1
Exercise 2
Create a Custom Synchronization Map

Business Example
You will create custom sync mappings. These custom mappings can overwrite default sync
mappings for fields like Division or Department in standard elements. In this exercise, you will
use this functionality to include Standard Weekly Hours on the Talent Profile of every
employee.

1. Update the label of the Standard Field.

2. Create the mapping in BCUI

3. In Provisioning, run an HRIS Sync Job using the following data:

Field Value

Job Name HRIS SYNC Custom

Job Owner Emily Clark

Job Type HRIS Sync

Specify a date radio button Select
Specify a date field 01/01/2001

Start Date <Today’s date> (MM/DD/YYYY)

Time: Hour / Minute 5 minutes after the current time (EST)
Send E-mail when job starts Select

Submit the job.

4. Add the Standard Hours field to the Talent Profile .Verify that the Standard Hours field
displays in Carla Grant’s Talent Profile, as shown in the figure, C Grant Talent Profile.

Figure 18: C Grant Talent Profile

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Field Value

Time: Hour / Minute 5 minutes after the current time (EST)

Send E-mail when job starts Select

Submit the job.

a) Open Provisioning and select your Company Name.

b) Search for Manage Scheduled Jobs.

c) Click Create New Job .

d) In the Create New Job screen area, enter the appropriate data from the table provided.

e) Click Create Job .

f) Find your job and click Select→ Submit.

Choose to Run the Job Now. Use the Monitor Job tool to see when the job in
completed. .

4. Add the Standard Hours field to the Talent Profile .Verify that the Standard Hours field
displays in Carla Grant’s Talent Profile, as shown in the figure, C Grant Talent Profile.

Figure 18: C Grant Talent Profile

a) Log in to your instance and go to Configure People Profile .

b) Navigate toTalent Profile and click Employee Information.

c) On the right hand side of the screen, scroll down and click on Add Field .

d) Replace Middle Name with Standard Hours.

e) Click Save.

f) Navigate to Carla Grant→ Talent profile .

g) Confirm that you can see Talent Profile Section → Standard Hours, as shown in the
figure, C Grant Talent Profile.

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Unit 1: Advanced Foundation Object and Employee Data Management

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:
● Define HRIS synchronization
● Determine how synchronization is triggered
● Identify field mappings

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Unit 1
Lesson 3
Translating Foundation Object Data

LESSON OVERVIEW
In this lesson, you will learn about the EC translation process. You will also learn how to
translate foundation data.

LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:
● Describe the EC translation process
● Translate foundation data

Languages in Provisioning
To enable company languages, log on to Provisioning with your user name and password, and
select the company from the list. Choose Company Settings, search for Language Packs , and
select the checkboxes for the relevant language packs.

Figure 19: Languages in Provisioning

Then, scroll to the top of the screen, and choose Save Feature .

Note:
You can use this process for deactivating a language pack as well.

Translation Enablement
To enable translation, log on to Provisioning with your user name and password, and select
the company from the list. Choose Company Settings, and then choose Enable Translation of
Employee Central Foundation Objects . Scroll to the top of the screen and choose Save
Feature .

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Unit 1: Advanced Foundation Object and Employee Data Management

Figure 20: Translation Enablement

Languages in an Instance
You can select the language for your instance by logging on to the instance and choosing
Settings. Then, you can choose your desired language.

Figure 21: Languages in an Instance

Data Model and Specific Language Translation

The label is the descriptor that displays on the UI. You can change this label by overwriting it
with a name that the customer prefers. In the following example, the value of the <label> tag
of the HRIS element is the descriptor for the FO “location”.

Figure 22: Data Models and Specific Language Translation

Label Translation
The label is the descriptor that appears on the UI. You can change this label. It can also be
translated into other languages using the xml:lang attribute and the corresponding
language code. The corresponding translations are stored in the XML file for the data as
shown in the figure, XML Translation Process.

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Lesson: Translating Foundation Object Data

Figure 23: XML Translation Process

If the system does not find a corresponding label for the system language, it displays the label
that has been configured without the xml:lang attribute; in the figure, XML Translation
Process, Start Date displays.

Label Translation in MDF Foundation Objects

The figure, Label Translation in MDF Foundation Objects, is for FO managed through MDF, if
the field is translatable.

Figure 24: Label Translation in MDF Foundation Objects

Limitations of Translations
The translations of FO are not shown in the Employee Profile. The Employee Profile reuses FO
data for basic organizational information, such as Division, Department, and Location.
Within EC, there are two areas where the Employee Profile is used and where the FO
translations are not shown.

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Unit 1: Advanced Foundation Object and Employee Data Management

Figure 25: Limitations of Translations

Foundation Data Translation

FO reflect a company’s basic information about the organization, pay, and job structures. This
information is fundamental data that displays repeatedly throughout the system for both
Admin and employees. It is, therefore, important that this information can be shown in the
user’s language.
To display information in the user’s language, you can translate the language-specific data of
FO, such as the name and description of the department, business unit, or job classification.
The translation process is handled differently for the following:
● Job Classification FO (technical name: jobCode)
● All other FO (except jobCode)

This module only covers the translation of general FOs, not Job Classifications FO. For
additional information, refer to the Implementing Employee Central Core guide.

Translation Process
The following steps highlight the general translation process:

1. Export or list the translatable foundation data.

2. Translate the foundation data.

3. Import the translations.

Export or List the Translatable Foundation Data

Open Import and Export Data. In the Download Data Import File Template field, choose
FoTranslation .

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Lesson: Translating Foundation Object Data

Figure 26: Export or List the Translatable Foundation Data

Export or List the Translatable Foundation Data: Import and Export Data
In the Select the action to perform dropdown menu, choose Export Data. In the Select Generic
Object dropdown menu, choose FoTranslation . Then, choose Export.

Figure 27: Import and Export Data

Export or List the Translatable Foundation Data: Monitor Jobs

Navigate to Monitor Job.
On the Monitor jobs screen, you can check the status of the export. When it is complete, you
can select download from the Download Status link. The figure, Downloaded CSV File, is a
sample of a downloaded CSV file.

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Unit 1: Advanced Foundation Object and Employee Data Management

Figure 28: Monitor Jobs

Export or List the Translatable Foundation Data: Downloaded CSV File

The figure, Downloaded CSV File, shows the downloaded CSV file.

Figure 29: Downloaded CSV File

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Lesson: Translating Foundation Object Data

Note:
If the downloaded CSV file contains only the first two rows, then the initialization
of the FoTranslation object has probably not finished yet. This initialization
process starts when you activate FO translation in Provisioning, and it can take
several hours, depending on the number of FO existing in the system.
The first two rows are the column titles. The columns define the following:
● externalCode: this column is a specific external code that the system assigns to
all instances of FO that exist in the system. This is not the external code the
Admin has created or imported, but it is the FoTranslation-specific external
code that is created when you enable FO translation in Provisioning.
● foObjectID: this column is a specific ID that the system assigns to all instances
of FO that exist in the system. This ID is created when you enable the FO
translation in Provisioning.
● foType : this column contains the HRIS-field ID for all translatable fields
(typically name and description).
● value.*: the remaining columns that begin with value. are followed by the locale
ID for the corresponding language (for example, value.en_US for US English,
value.fr_FR for French, and so on represent one language).

The texts that the Admin has entered for the name and description of existing FO are
contained in the corresponding language column. All other language columns are determined
by the language pack activated in Provisioning. You must enter the translations into these
columns.
Send the CSV file to the translator, who can edit the file offline. Then, consolidate the
translations for all required languages in one CSV file.

Note:
There is no incremental upload for the supported FO translations. If you have
already uploaded translations before, the latest CSV file upload overwrites the
previous version. It is, therefore, important that the consolidated document
contains all translations that are required, even if the translation is a shared
process of different translators.

Translate the Foundation Data

The following figure is an example of a translated file; the translations are highlighted in
column F.

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Unit 1: Advanced Foundation Object and Employee Data Management

Figure 30: Translated File

Import the Translations

Navigate to Import and Export Data.
In the Select the action to perform dropdown menu, choose Import Data. Select the CSV File
radio button. In the Select Generic Object dropdown menu, choose FoTranslation .

Figure 31: Import the Translations

In the File field, browse for the translated CSV file. In the File Encoding field, select the
character set that is appropriate for the languages that you want to import.

Note:
This action guarantees that all special characters of the languages display
correctly.

In the Purge Type dropdown menu, choose Incremental Load . Choose Validate to ensure that
the file has no formatting errors. If there are no validation errors, choose Import.

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Lesson: Translating Foundation Object Data

After the Import

After the import, the system decides which language a FO displays in the following sequence:

1. The system checks whether the foundation data is available in the user’s logon language.
This is the language the user has selected under Settings → Change Language.

2. If there is no translation in the logon language, the system shows the default language that
has been set in Provisioning under Company Settings → Default Language.

3. If there is no translation in the default language, the system looks for a translated term in
US English.

Translation Testing
To test your translations, an end-user logs on in the language they wish to see and then
validates the translation information. From the home page, choose Settings → Change
Language → (desired language) .

Figure 32: Test Your Translations

Translation Validation
The system returns to the home page. You can then check the labels and navigate to different
areas to validate that translation occurred. Repeat the import process, if necessary.

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Unit 1: Advanced Foundation Object and Employee Data Management

Figure 33: After the Import

Modification of Translations

Figure 34: Modification of Translations

Use the following process to modify translations:

1. Export and import translations as previously described. We recommend completing these

tasks if you want to translate a high number of new or changed fields in multiple
languages.

2. Add or change translations on the UI. This is recommended if you want to add or change
only a few terms, for example, when you want to correct single terms that have not been
translated appropriately. Use the following steps to complete this action:

a. Open Admin Center.

b. Open Manage Organization, Pay, and Job Structures.

c. In the Search field, choose the type of FO (for example, Event Reason ) and the specific
FO (for example, New Hire) for which you want to add or change a translation.

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Lesson: Translating Foundation Object Data

d. Choose the Translations icon next to the translatable field (as shown in the figure,
Modification of Translations).

e. In the Translations dialog box, enter or change the translation directly.

f. Choose Done and then Save.

Additional Translation Resources

Figure 35: Additional Translation Resources

For more information and best practices, explore the EC Country-Specific Implementation
Handbook and Implementing Employee central Core guide from the SAP Help Portal ( http://
help.sap.com/cloud4hr ).

LESSON SUMMARY
You should now be able to:
● Describe the EC translation process
● Translate foundation data

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