1. Implementation Guide
  2. Extensibility
  3. Extensibility Example – Product Hierarchy
  4. Input File Changes

Input File Changes

To add an additional product hierarchy level into the RAP foundation data files, you must leverage the FLEX fields available on either PRODUCT.csv or PRODUCT_ALT.csv files. Either file may be used, as the columns are merged together into one table before sending it downstream. For this example, we will use PRODUCT_ALT.csv columns FLEX1_CHAR_VALUE and FLEX2_CHAR_VALUE. The FLEX1 values are the unique identifiers for the hierarchy positions, while the FLEX2 values are the description for display in user interfaces. The file is generated at the item level the same way as PRODUCT.csv and must follow the same rules for hierarchy construction (IDs must be unique within the level, you must not have multiple parents for the same children in the level below this one, and so on). Example rows from the file may be: 

ITEM,FLEX1_CHAR_VALUE,FLEX2_CHAR_VALUE
30018,100101,WOMEN'S CLOTHING
30019,100101,WOMEN'S CLOTHING
51963371,100103,WOMEN'S INSPIRATION
1101247,100104,WOMEN'S FAST FASHION

Once you have generated this data for all items in the hierarchy, then you will load it into the platform following the Initialize Dimensions process in Data Loads and Initial Batch Processing. The following jobs in the RI_DIM_INITIAL_ADHOC process are used to load this file:

  • COPY_SI_PRODUCT_ALT_JOB

  • STG_SI_PRODUCT_ALT_JOB

  • SI_W_PRODUCT_FLEX_DS_JOB

  • W_PRODUCT_FLEX_D_JOB

You should already have loaded a PRODUCT.csv file at this stage, or you should load it at the same time as the PRODUCT_ALT.csv file, so that the full product hierarchy is available in the data warehouse. Once loaded, the data for the alternate levels will be available in the W_PRODUCT_FLEX_D table for review. At this stage, the data is only available in the data warehouse table; it has not been configured for use in any other solution.