After the initial problems of downloading MDM SP02, we were finally successful in getting the server up. However the tricky part is getting the iViews. Because unless the standard business packages, MDM gives you couple of .SDA files which when deployed will get the MDM connector up and some MDM content on the EP stuff. It will not give us ready made iViews which we can start using immediately. And there are good reason behind the same. The reasons are that the repository will be different from customer to customer and so will be the data model. So, the iView has to pick fields from the specified repository and then build the screen. In order to do that, the standard thing that you will have to do is to create a MDM system on the Enterprise Portal, where in you specify the MDM server details and also specify which repository you want to connect to. Once that is done, do the user mapping for the MDM system. Now, coming to the creation of iViews, what SAP gives you as standard are the following iView types for MDM. The following is the screen shot taken from what will be displayed in EP while you are creating the iView. (I did this because I don’t have to type the list myself). 
You might be wondering what each of these mean it looks different from the standard iView types that usually see for R/3, CRM etc systems. Let me try and explain the same. The following 4 are meant for customizing the search criteria. MDM Search Hierarchies - This iView will allow you to search the data by any look table that you have defined as Look up –Hierarchy. So, while creating this iView it will prompt you to enter which Hierarchy table you want to use, if you have multiple. 
MDM Search Attributes - This iView is to search on the attributes of your product. However, this has the dependency as it requires a Category so that it can take the list of attributes for that category. 
Now that we have chosen the category, the iView that we have created by specifying the table. In the above picture, we have selected Goggles as the category. So, below we see the attributes of the Category. I have tried to show that it also lists the possible of each of the attribute, so that if you want to further narrow down your search, you can do that too. 
MDM Search Picklists - This is more or less a straight forward search on a specific column of your main table in the repository. In this case I have chosen Manufacturers. 
MDM Search Texts This is the best iView that I personally like. Here you can search by a Keyword. 
Now comes the fun part, as I have narrowed down my search, where is my list of product list being displayed. This happens in the MDM Resultset iView 
Now, we need to keep in mind that these iViews are interdependent on each other. The data is the filtered data which you have done in the other iViews. While creating this iView you can select what are the fields that you want to display. MDM Item Details This is pretty straight forward, once you select the radio button in the resultset iView, this one shows all the details of the product. In this also, while creating this iView you can select what are the fields that you want to display. If the product has got attachments, they will appear as hyper links, and once click will open the corresponding document. 
Oops, I almost forgot about the last iView type – MDM Search States What this does is that it will tell you what are the search criteria the user has applied. 
If you want to remove search criteria, its pretty straight forward, just click on reset search for the specific field or the button for resetting the entire search criteria. So, from a Catalog management perspective we are good to go. We need to remember that the standard functionality given by these iViews are only Search and Display. If you have business process that requires extension for the same, we need to enhance this. In further continuation for learning process of MDM, we will see about the process of synchronizing data between R/3 and MDM using Syndicator and XI.
You might be wondering what each of these mean it looks different from the standard iView types that usually see for R/3, CRM etc systems. Let me try and explain the same. The following 4 are meant for customizing the search criteria. MDM Search Hierarchies - This iView will allow you to search the data by any look table that you have defined as Look up –Hierarchy. So, while creating this iView it will prompt you to enter which Hierarchy table you want to use, if you have multiple. 
MDM Search Attributes - This iView is to search on the attributes of your product. However, this has the dependency as it requires a Category so that it can take the list of attributes for that category. 
Now that we have chosen the category, the iView that we have created by specifying the table. In the above picture, we have selected Goggles as the category. So, below we see the attributes of the Category. I have tried to show that it also lists the possible of each of the attribute, so that if you want to further narrow down your search, you can do that too. 
MDM Search Picklists - This is more or less a straight forward search on a specific column of your main table in the repository. In this case I have chosen Manufacturers. 
MDM Search Texts This is the best iView that I personally like. Here you can search by a Keyword. 
Now comes the fun part, as I have narrowed down my search, where is my list of product list being displayed. This happens in the MDM Resultset iView 
Now, we need to keep in mind that these iViews are interdependent on each other. The data is the filtered data which you have done in the other iViews. While creating this iView you can select what are the fields that you want to display. MDM Item Details This is pretty straight forward, once you select the radio button in the resultset iView, this one shows all the details of the product. In this also, while creating this iView you can select what are the fields that you want to display. If the product has got attachments, they will appear as hyper links, and once click will open the corresponding document. 
Oops, I almost forgot about the last iView type – MDM Search States What this does is that it will tell you what are the search criteria the user has applied. 
If you want to remove search criteria, its pretty straight forward, just click on reset search for the specific field or the button for resetting the entire search criteria. So, from a Catalog management perspective we are good to go. We need to remember that the standard functionality given by these iViews are only Search and Display. If you have business process that requires extension for the same, we need to enhance this. In further continuation for learning process of MDM, we will see about the process of synchronizing data between R/3 and MDM using Syndicator and XI.