Company priority setup

Important

This content is archived and is not being updated. For the latest documentation, see Microsoft Dynamics 365 product documentation. For the latest release plans, see Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform release plans.

Applies To: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Feature Pack, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012

When you merge the data from more than one company, the priority of the companies determines which company's values take priority for the data.

Use the Company priority setup form to define the priority of companies.

Note

You must set up the company priority only if you upgrade items from more than one company.

Company priority affects product numbers and item dimension values

The company priority affects the following data when items are mapped to products:

  • The sequence of product numbers

  • The names and descriptions for sizes, colors, and configurations

Company priority and the sequence of product numbers

If the items that you map to a product have identical numbers but come from different companies, the sequence of product numbers is determined by the company priority. For more information, see the description of the 1:1 mapping method in Product upgrade (preprocessing).

Company priority and the names and descriptions of item dimensions

If the items that you map to a product have identical item numbers but come from different companies, the active item dimensions of these items may have different names and descriptions. When several items are mapped to one product, the names and descriptions of the item dimensions are consolidated. The names and descriptions from the company that has the highest priority are used.

Example

  • Three identical items are mapped to one product. The items come from three different companies, C1, C2, and C3.

  • The priority of C1 is 1, the priority of C2 is 2, and the priority of C3 is 3.

  • The item has one active dimension, Color. However, the name of the dimension is not the same in the three companies.

The following table shows this setup.

Company

Item

Item dimension

Item dimension name

C1

INV-1000

Color

Red

C2

INV-1000

Color

_Red

C3

INV-1000

Color

"Red"

The items are mapped to one product, PROD-1000. The name of the Color dimension is consolidated to Red, because this name is used in C1, the company that has the highest priority.

Company priority and product translations

When items are mapped to products, product translations are derived in the same way as dimension names and descriptions. When several items are mapped to one product, if more than one translation into a particular language exists for the items, the translations are consolidated. The translation from the company that has the highest priority is used.

The initial company takes priority

When a mapping is completed, there is always a one-to-one relationship between items and products. Furthermore, an item is always initiated from one company. An item’s initial company is the company where the item was first created. Therefore, if you map items to existing products by aligning the product numbers in the Product upgrade form, the initial company always has the highest priority, regardless of how company priority is set up.

Example

In the previous example, product PROD-1000 inherited the dimension name from item INV-1000 in company C1, because C1 had the highest company priority. You now want to map an additional item, INV-A100, to PROD-1000. Item INV-A100 comes from another company, CA, which has a higher priority than C1. However, C1 takes precedence when properties such as the dimension name are copied to PROD-1000, because C1 is assigned as the initial company of PROD-1000. Therefore, when properties are copied, the order of priority is C1, CA, C2, and C3.

The following table shows this setup.

Company priority

Item

Initial mapping

Additional mapping

Initial company

CA

INV-A100

PROD1

C1

C1

INV-1000

PROD1

PROD1

C1

C2

INV-1000

PROD1

PROD1

C1

C3

INV-1000

PROD1

PROD1

C1

Tip

You can view the initial company of a product in the Company field on the Mapping tab of the Product preview form.

See also

Product upgrade (preprocessing)