Associations define relationships between foundation objects, or between a foundation object and a generic object. 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 association. Whereas a location can only have one geozone associated to 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.
The standard XML file for the Corporate Data Model already contains some associations. These are listed in the table below. You can add more ONE_TO_MANY associations, or change the existing associations in the XML file if needed. Each association has a “driving object" that acts as the basis for the association.
Related Information
How do you set up the Corporate Data Model? [page 79]
XML Examples (Foundation Objects and Associations) [page 83]
MDF Foundation Objects [page 142]
4.2.1 How do you set up the Corporate Data Model?
Context
For information about Corporate Data Model, see Corporate Data Model.
Procedure
1. Download the XML file for the Corporate Data Model.
○ If you're setting up the Corporate Data Model the first time for a company, download the most current version from this link:
https://ps.successfactors.com/productcentral/Pages/display/prodinfo/data+models+and+picklists/
default.aspx .
○ If you're changing an already uploaded Corporate Data Model, download the XML file from Provisioning under Succession Management Import/Export Corporate Data Model XML .
2. If no changes are required to the XML file, you can proceed directly to step 3. Otherwise, open the XML file in an XML editor and adjust the data model according to the company's requirements you have discussed with the customer before. If you want to adjust the XML file, proceed as follows:
a. Change HRIS elements.
You can change the following for the HRIS elements:
○ Delete HRIS elements
Except for company, which is a mandatory HRIS element, you can delete the HRIS element you don't want to use from the data model.
Note
Interaction between data models:
Consider the interaction between the data models when you delete HRIS elements that might be used in some other data model. Some of the foundation objects defined in the Corporate Data Model are used to fill fields that are part of person or employment objects defined in the Succession Data Model.
For example, when you delete the location HRIS element from the Corporate Data Model, you should also delete the location field from the Succession Data Model (which belongs to HRIS element jobInfo), or set its visibility to “none", so it does not appear on the UI. Otherwise, the user will continue to be able to select the location field in the Job Information portlet on the UI but not make chaanges to this field.
The same applies to the following fields:
Table 21:
HRIS-element ID Standard label Data object type Subtype
locationGroup Location Group Foundation object Organization structure
geozone Geo Zone Foundation object Organization structure
location Location Foundation object Organization structure
jobCode Job Classification Foundation object Job structure
jobClassLocal — Foundation object All fields
for this HRIS element are set up in the country-spe
cific Corporate Data Model.
Job structure
jobFunction Job Function Foundation object Job structure
payGroup Pay Group Foundation object Pay structure
payRange Pay Range Foundation object Pay structure
payGrade Pay Grade Foundation object Pay structure
payComponent Pay Component Foundation object Pay structure
payComponentGroup Pay Component Group Foundation object Pay structure
HRIS-element ID Standard label Data object type Subtype
payCalendar Pay Calendar Foundation object Pay structure
frequency Frequency Foundation object Pay structure
corporateAddress — Part of foundation object
location
Organization structure
dynamicRole Dynamic Role Foundation object Dynamic Role
dynamicRoleAssignment — Part of foundation object
dynamicRole
Dynamic Role
wfConfig Workflow Foundation object Workflow
wfConfigStep — Part of foundation object
wfConfig
Workflow
wfStepApprover — Part of foundation object
wfConfig
Workflow
wfConfigContributor Contributor Type Part of foundation object wfConfig
Workflow
wfConfigCC CC Role Type Part of foundation object
wfConfig
Workflow
eventReason Event Reason Foundation object Event reason
○ Change the label for HRIS elements
If you want to use a different label text on the UI, overwrite the existing label text of the corresponding HRIS element or, if there is no label included in the standard XML file, insert a label with the
corresponding text.
b. Change HRIS fields.
You can change the following for HRIS fields:
○ Hide or show fields on the UI by setting the visibility attribute accordingly
For example, set the visibility of HRIS fields the customer does not want to use to "none", so they don't appear on the UI and no data import is possible.
○ Change labels for HRIS fields by overwriting the existing label text
○ Make fields mandatory by setting the required attribute to “true"
○ Mask data entry on screen by including the pii attribute
○ Configure custom fields
○ Use the type attribute to reference customer-specific foundation objects:
You can use the type attribute to reference customer-specific foundation objects. For this, you have to create a generic object first (see How do you create customer-specific Foundation Objects? [page 168]). In the Corporate Data Model, you can then add a custom field of the type custom-string and add the type attribute referencing the generic object (type="GenericObject"). You have to use the external code of the generic object as the type, as in this example:
<hris-field max-length="256" id="custom-string5" visibility="both"
type="Generic_Object_Building">
<label>Building</label>
</hris-field>
Note
For using the type attribute with generic objects, use only a custom field of the type custom-string.
c. Change Search criteria.
You can add search criteria to a field by adding the <search-criteria> element to an HRIS element.
d. Change Associations.
To define relationships between foundation objects, or between a foundation object and a generic object, set up new associations or change the associations included in the standard XML file. The associations are included before the HRIS element end tag and define whether it is a ONE_TO_ONE or a
ONE_TO_MANY association. For more information, see How do you define associations? below.
For more information on the XML elements, attributes and their possible values, see What are data models?
[page 57].
3. Upload the Corporate Data Model in Provisioning under Succession Management Import/Export Corporate Data Model XML .
Next Steps
The company's Admin can now create specific foundation objects in the system one by one, or mass upload data.
You might have to show the Admin where this can be done in the system:
● To create single foundation objects, navigate to the Admin Tools. In the Company Processes & Cycles portlet, select Employee Files Manage Organization, Pay and Job Structures . For MDF Foundation Objects, In the Company Processes & Cycles portlet, select Employee Files Manage Data .
● To mass upload data for Foundation Objects using a CSV file, in the Company Processes & Cycles portlet, select Employee Files Import Foundation Data . For MDF Foundation Objects, select Employee Files Import and Export Data .
Related Information
Setting Up the Corporate Data Model [page 77]
XML Examples (Foundation Objects and Associations) [page 83]
MDF Foundation Objects [page 142]