Administration Guide CUSTOMER

SAP SuccessFactors Foundation

Document Version: Q2 2017 – 2017-06-05

Picklist Migration
Migrating Legacy Picklists to MDF and Using the Picklist Center
Content

1 What's New In This Guide?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.1 Picklists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
2.2 Picklist Migration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Picklist Migration Process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.3 After Picklist Migration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

3 Preparing for Picklist Migration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

3.1 Preparing Your Instances for Picklist Migration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.2 Picklist Merge Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Resolving Conflicts with the Picklist Merge Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

4 After Picklist Migration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

4.1 Picklist Center. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Accessing Picklist Center. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Creating a New Picklist Using the Picklist Center. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Editing a Picklist Using the Picklist Center. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Creating and Editing a Picklist Value Using the Picklist Center. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Importing or Exporting a Picklist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4.2 Non-Unique External Code. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Disabling Sync of Non-Unique External Code. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
4.3 Fields Hidden in Picklist Center. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Revealing Hidden Fields in Picklist Center. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

5 Troubleshooting Picklists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

6 Field Migration from Legacy Picklists to MDF Picklists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

Picklist Migration
2 CUSTOMER Content
1 What's New In This Guide?

This is a summary of changes for this document.

Q2 2017

Table 1: The following table summarizes changes to this guide for the Q2 2017 publication and later

What's New Description More Info

June 2

Prepare all instances Added note explaining that pre-migra­ Preparing Your Instances for Picklist Mi­
tion steps must be completed in all in­ gration [page 9]
stances, Preview and Production.

May 19

Non-unique external code Added information about this MDF field, Non-Unique External Code [page 22]
which stores the external code from leg­
acy picklist values, and how to manage it
after migration.

Hidden fields Add information about how to reveal hid­ Fields Hidden in Picklist Center [page
den fields to make them editable in Pick­ 23]
list Center.

For example, if you are using SAP Suc­

cessFactors Recruiting, you may want to
make the optValue field editable in
Picklist Center after migration.

Field migration details Updated and clarified information about Field Migration from Legacy Picklists to
how legacy picklist fields are migrated to MDF Picklists [page 27]
MDF.

May 5

Picklist migration Added information about the upcoming Picklist Migration [page 7]
migration of legacy picklists to MDF.

Picklist merge tool Added information about the new Picklist Picklist Merge Tool [page 9]
Merge Tool tool. If necessary in your in­
stance, you can use this tool to resolve
potential conflicts prior to picklist migra­
tion.

Picklist Migration
What's New In This Guide? CUSTOMER 3
What's New Description More Info

General improvements Copyediting and general improvements N/A

to organization of content.

Q1 2017

Table 2: The following table summarizes changes to this guide for the Q1 2017 publication and later

What's New Description More Info

Removed information about managing We are beginning the phase-out of leg­ N/A
legacy picklists. acy picklists and replacing the legacy
picklist management tool. This guide is
intended for customers whose instances
have been migrated to the new picklist
framework on MDF. To avoid confusion,
we removed information about manag­
ing legacy picklists.

Q4 2016

Table 3: The following table summarizes changes to this guide for the Q4 2016 publication and later

What's New Description More Info

No changes Did not update the guide during this pe­ N/A
riod

Q3 2016

Table 4: The following table summarizes changes to this guide for the Q3 2016 release

What's New Description More Info

September 09, 2016

Picklist Migration
4 CUSTOMER What's New In This Guide?
 What's New Description More Info

Removed rows from table Troubleshooting Topic: Troubleshooting Picklists [page 25]

● Removed the edit picklist after the

migration, since option IDs will be
generated for existing MDF picklist
during migration
● Existing pre-migration MDF picklist
availability should no longer be an
issue for the same reason as above
bullet.

Added Topic Added Prerequisites for Migration (This information has since been re­
moved.)

Insert new screenshot New screenshot of the Manage Picklist Field Migration from Legacy Picklists to
UI page MDF Picklists [page 27]

Removed multiple topics Removed all Employee Central Picklist This information can be found in the Em­
topics ployee Central Master documenation
available on the Help Portal

Picklist Migration
What's New In This Guide? CUSTOMER 5
2 Introduction

2.1 Picklists

A picklists is a configurable set of options from which a user can make a selection, typically in a drop-down menu
or smart search list. You can define the picklists used in your system to limit the values a user can enter in a form,
preventing them from entering an invalid value.

Example
For example, there are many places in the system where users must select a country, such as in an employee's
home address in SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central or the location of a job requisition in SAP
SuccessFactors Recruiting. The Country picklist defines the countries that are available for users to select in
the user interface.

Picklists can also have a "parent-child" relationship, in which options in the child picklist are associated with
options in the parent picklist. These are sometimes known as "cascading picklists".

Example
For example, in places where users must select country, they might also need to select a a state or province
within that country. Rather than have one very long list of all the possible states and provinces in all countries,
you want the options in the State picklist to be dependent on the Country selection. In this way, users can only
choose a state or province that is within the country they selected. To do this, you would set up the Country
picklist as the "parent" and each corresponding State or Province picklist as its "children".

Note
Historically, picklists in different SAP SuccessFactors solutions have been managed using different tools: the
Picklists import/export tool for legacy picklists and the Metadata Framework (MDF) tools for MDF picklists
Management of legacy picklists is cumbersome and error-prone. For example, they can only be edited with a full
import of all picklists in the system.

To alleviate this difficulty, we are standardizing the way picklists are managed in the system. All picklists in the
suite will now be managed from a unified, easier-to-use Picklist Center tool, reducing the risk of errors and
potential for data corruption. To accomplish this, your legacy picklists must be migrated to MDF.

Picklist migration is taking place now and you will be contacted directly when your instance is scheduled for
migration. After migration, you will use Picklist Center to manage picklists in all your SAP SuccessFactors
solutions.

Picklist Migration
6 CUSTOMER Introduction
Related Information

Picklist Migration [page 7]

Picklist Center [page 14]
Field Migration from Legacy Picklists to MDF Picklists [page 27]

2.2 Picklist Migration

We are in the process of migrating picklists to one common framework, built on the Metadata Framework (MDF).
Over the coming months, all legacy picklists will be migrated to MDF. In many cases, we can complete the
migration with no effort on your part. In some cases, however, we need administrators to complete some steps
prior to the migration.

Picklist Migration Process [page 7]

Picklists in all SAP SuccessFactors instances will be migrated to the new framework in batches, over the
coming months. Read this overview of the process.

2.2.1 Picklist Migration Process

Picklists in all SAP SuccessFactors instances will be migrated to the new framework in batches, over the coming
months. Read this overview of the process.

1. Pre-check
Our development team analyzes your existing picklists to determine the best course of action for your
instance or instances.
2. Scheduling
Your picklist migration dates are scheduled, according to the complexity and amount of preparation required.
Your Preview instance or instances will be scheduled one month prior to your Production instance, to allow
you plenty of time for testing.
3. Communication
We will contact you directly in advance of the migration of your Preview instance, with precise dates and
instructions.
4. Preparation
In many cases, you do not need to do anything to prepare for your picklist migration, other than plan for post-
migration testing. We will do everything for you.
In some cases, however, we may need your input before we can proceed. If we have identified conflicts
between your existing legacy and MDF picklists that we don't know how to resolve, you need to resolve them
before we can complete the migration. You can resolve many of these conflicts with the new Picklist Merge
Tool. Other conflicts may require additional steps, with legacy picklist management tools or offline tools that
we provide.

Remember
You need to resolve picklist migration conflicts in both your Preview and Production instances.

Picklist Migration
Introduction CUSTOMER 7
5. Preview Migration
Legacy picklists in your Preview instance or instances are migrated to the new framework (MDF). After
migration is complete, picklists in these instances should function just as before in the user interface, for end-
users, but are managed using a new Picklist Center admin tool.
6. Testing
You will have one month to test the outcome of your picklist migration and familiarize yourself with the new
Picklist Center tool before legacy picklists are migrated in your Production instance.
7. Production Migration
Legacy picklists in your Production instance are migrated to the new framework (MDF). After migration is
complete, picklists in this instance should function just as before in the user interface, for end-users, but are
managed using a new Picklist Center admin tool.

Note
You can find out more about the migration plan on the Customer Community .

Parent topic: Picklist Migration [page 7]

2.3 After Picklist Migration

Changes you will see in your instance after your picklist migration is complete.

● All picklists in your system are now MDF picklists.

● All picklists in your system are managed in the Picklist Center.
● The legacy Picklist import/export tool is removed and no longer available.

Remember
There should be no change to end-user behavior. Users of your system should still be able to select from the
same picklist options as before. Only the backend framework and administration tools have changed.

Picklist Migration
8 CUSTOMER Introduction
3 Preparing for Picklist Migration

3.1 Preparing Your Instances for Picklist Migration

In some cases, we may need your input before we can migrate your legacy picklists in each of your SuccessFactors
instances.

If we have identified conflicts between your existing legacy and MDF picklists that we don't know how to resolve,
you need to resolve them before we can complete the migration. You can resolve many of these conflicts with the
new Picklist Merge Tool. Other conflicts may require additional steps, with legacy picklist management tools or
offline tools that we provide.

Remember
You need to resolve picklist migration conflicts in both your Preview and Production instances.

3.2 Picklist Merge Tool

The Picklist Merge Tool is a temporary tool used prior to picklist migration. Use it to tell us how to handle conflicts
we've identified that are preventing migration of your legacy picklists to the new framework.

If we have identified some conflicts that require your input, we will enable the Picklist Merge Tool temporarily in
your instance. It is only visible in instances where it is needed and it is only used prior to migration. After your
legacy picklists have been successfully migrated to MDF, this tool disappears.

Example
For example, let's say you have two existing picklists called Salutation, one legacy picklist used in SAP
SuccessFactors Recruiting and another MDF picklist used in.SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central. In the
Picklist Merge Tool, you can see that the legacy picklist has one additional option (for the salutation "Miss") that
is not present in the MDF picklist. In this case, the best option would be to merge the two picklists, adding a
fourth option (for "Miss") to the MDF Salutation picklist during migration.

Picklist Migration
Preparing for Picklist Migration CUSTOMER 9
 Example
In this example, there are two existing picklists, one legacy picklist and one MDF picklist, called LegEntity,
listing legal entities in the company. In the Picklist Merge Tool, you can see that both picklists have nearly
identical values and serve the same purpose (listing the names of different legal entities in the company) but
with slight differences in option names. In this case, you wouldn't want to merge and keep all of the options in
both picklists. Instead, here the best option would be to merge the two picklists, but deactivate duplicate
options. All of the existing legacy options will be migrated to MDF but any duplicate options will be deactivated.
That is, users would only see the Legal Entity option BestRun France in the user interface, from the original
MDF picklist, not BestRun France (2200) , from the legacy picklist.

Picklist Migration
10 CUSTOMER Preparing for Picklist Migration
Related Information

Resolving Conflicts with the Picklist Merge Tool [page 11]

3.2.1 Resolving Conflicts with the Picklist Merge Tool

Use the Picklist Merge Tool tool to tell us how to handle the conflicts we identified in your picklists.

Context

If we have identified some conflicts that require your input, we will enable the Picklist Merge Tool temporarily in
your instance. It is only visible in instances where it is needed and it is only used prior to migration. After your
legacy picklists have been successfully migrated to MDF, this tool disappears.

If you can't see this tool in your instance, you: (1) have not yet been scheduled for migration and checked for
conflicts; (2) do not have any conflicts affecting migration; or (3) have successfully completed migration.

Picklist Migration
Preparing for Picklist Migration CUSTOMER 11
 Note
You need to resolve picklist migration conflicts in both your Preview and Production instances.

Procedure

1. Go to Admin Center Managing Picklist Migration Conflicts

2. Select one of the picklist pairs shown, for which a decision is required.

3. Decide how you want us to handle this conflict during migration. You can:

○ Merge picklists: Select this to merge legacy options into the MDF picklist. (Recommended)
○ Merge picklists, but deactivate duplicate: Select this option to merge legacy options into the MDF picklist
but deactivate them.

Picklist Migration
12 CUSTOMER Preparing for Picklist Migration
 ○ Keep picklists separated: Select this to migrate the legacy picklist into a new MDF picklist. This allows you
to retain all of the data in your legacy picklist but defer any decision about reconciling differences to a later
date. (Not recommended)

4. To proceed , you can:

○ Skip: Skip this decision and move on to the next picklist pair on the list.
○ Save & Close: Save the decisions you've made so far and close the Picklist Merge Tool tool for now.
○ Save & Go to Next: Proceed to the next picklist pair on the list.
5. To review or change your past selections, click the Decisions Made tab.

Note
Your selections are still not final. You can still change your decision, for any picklist pair, at any point..

6. When you have reviewed and made selections for all of the identified conflicts, finalize your selections by
clicking Mark as 'Complete'.

Results

Your decision for each identified conflict is saved. It has no immediate effect but will be used during migration of
legacy picklists in your instance. We will use your decisions to resolve the conflicts accordingly.

Picklist Migration
Preparing for Picklist Migration CUSTOMER 13
4 After Picklist Migration

4.1 Picklist Center

After your legacy picklists have been migrated to MDF, you can use the Picklist Center admin tool to manage
picklists in your instance.

The Picklist Center offers the following advantages:

● Ease of management
You can change a single picklist value or subset of picklist values, and edit the attributes and values of a
picklist. You can choose the picklist name and then navigate to the picklist element that you want to change.
● Mandatory, unique external codes
Through both the UI and the import/export mechanisms (admin tool and scheduled job), you can enter a
unique external code for every picklist (including parent-child picklists).
● Single, suitewide set of picklists
You only have to manage a single picklist for each picklist type. For example, if you need a Country picklist in
several places, you don't have to maintain separate Country picklists and create a mapping between them.
● Effective-dating
You can assign an effective date to picklist values so that they are only shown as of their assigned effective
date.

Remember
Picklist Center is only available in your instance after your legacy picklists have been migrated to MDF. After the
data is migrated successfully, the Picklist appears within the dropdown from the Configure Object Definition
page. However, when selected, you are redirected to the Picklist Center page.

Picklist Migration
14 CUSTOMER After Picklist Migration
 Figure 1: Viewing a Picklist in Picklist Center

Figure 2: Editing a Picklist in Picklist Center

Accessing Picklist Center [page 16]

As an administrator, you can manage picklists using the Picklist Center.

Creating a New Picklist Using the Picklist Center [page 17]

Create a new picklist in Picklist Center.

Editing a Picklist Using the Picklist Center [page 19]

Follow this procedure to edit an existing picklist.

Creating and Editing a Picklist Value Using the Picklist Center [page 20]
Follow this procedure to add a new picklist value to an existing picklist or to edit an existing picklist value in
an existing picklist.

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After Picklist Migration CUSTOMER 15
 Importing or Exporting a Picklist [page 21]
Follow this procedure to import picklists to or export picklists from your instance.

4.1.1 Accessing Picklist Center

As an administrator, you can manage picklists using the Picklist Center.

Prerequisites

All system administrators and picklist administrators should already have permission to access the Picklist Center.
All users who had the permission to access legacy Picklists import/export tool should automatically have access
to Picklist Center after migration.

Procedure

Go to Admin Center Picklist Center .

Note
After your picklist migration, you can no longer manage picklists using the Configure Object Definitions admin
tool for MDF. You should now use Picklist Center for managing picklists.

Task overview: Picklist Center [page 14]

Related Information

Creating a New Picklist Using the Picklist Center [page 17]

Editing a Picklist Using the Picklist Center [page 19]
Creating and Editing a Picklist Value Using the Picklist Center [page 20]
Importing or Exporting a Picklist [page 21]

Picklist Migration
16 CUSTOMER After Picklist Migration
4.1.2 Creating a New Picklist Using the Picklist Center

Create a new picklist in Picklist Center.

Prerequisites

Permission to access the Picklist Center page.

Procedure

1. In the Admin Center, click Company Settings Picklist Center .

2. Choose Create New.
3. Enter the picklist data.

Field Description

Code Unique business key that is used to identify the picklist. (If
you are familiar with legacy picklists, which is the equivalent
of the picklist ID.)

Parent Picklist A picklist can have a parent picklist. For example, if only cer­
tain states can be chosen when a specific country is se­
lected, the Country picklist is the parent of the State picklist.

When legacy picklists are migrated to MDF picklists, an

optionId is generated for existing MDF picklist values. For
legacy picklist option that have been migrated, the existing
optionId is stored in the mapping table.

Note
After the migration, if you create a picklist from the
Picklist Center, an option ID is generated for all records.
The present effective dated record is used; other effec­
tive dated entries for the parent picklist are not consid­
ered.

Display Order Order in which the picklist values are listed in the picklist
dropdown, for example, alphabetically or numerically.

Name Unique name of the picklist. For example, if the picklist is for
the type of address (home, mailing, business, billing, and so
on), you could name the picklist "Address Type".

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After Picklist Migration CUSTOMER 17
 Field Description

Status Specifies whether the picklist is active or inactive, that is,

whether it is available for use.

Effective Start Date A picklist can have different sets of picklist values for differ­
ent start dates.

Example
To add a new value New York to the Location picklist
but you want this picklist to be available for this location
after January 1, 2017. Enter in 01/01/2017 as the ef­
fective date, this picklist that contains the new value is
available after the January date.

4. Enter the picklist values.

For example, if your picklist is State, your values could be Alabama, Alaska, Alberta, and so on.

Field Description

External Code MDF external code. A unique business key that is used to
identify the picklist value, for example, state_Alabama.

Non-unique External Code Legacy external code. Unlike the MDF external code, it can
be blank or duplicated.

Parent Picklist Value For example, if the external code is state_Alabama, the pa­
rent picklist value would be United States. If the value is
state_Alberta, the parent picklist value would be Canada.

Label For example, if the external code is state_Alabama, the label

would be Alabama.

5. To enter additional data for picklist values, click Details.

Field Description

Status Specifies whether the picklist value is active or inactive, that

is, whether it is available for use.

Minval

6. Choose Save.

Task overview: Picklist Center [page 14]

Picklist Migration
18 CUSTOMER After Picklist Migration
Related Information

Accessing Picklist Center [page 16]

Editing a Picklist Using the Picklist Center [page 19]
Creating and Editing a Picklist Value Using the Picklist Center [page 20]
Importing or Exporting a Picklist [page 21]
Accessing Picklist Center [page 16]

4.1.3 Editing a Picklist Using the Picklist Center

Follow this procedure to edit an existing picklist.

Prerequisites

Permission to access the Picklist Center page.

Procedure

1. In the Admin Center, click Company Settings Picklist Center .

2. In the Picklist Search field, enter the name of the picklist and click the one that you want to edit.
3. In the Take Action menu, choose Make Correction.
4. Continue as you would when creating a new picklist.

Task overview: Picklist Center [page 14]

Related Information

Accessing Picklist Center [page 16]

Creating a New Picklist Using the Picklist Center [page 17]
Creating and Editing a Picklist Value Using the Picklist Center [page 20]
Importing or Exporting a Picklist [page 21]
Creating a New Picklist Using the Picklist Center [page 17]

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After Picklist Migration CUSTOMER 19
4.1.4 Creating and Editing a Picklist Value Using the Picklist
Center

Follow this procedure to add a new picklist value to an existing picklist or to edit an existing picklist value in an
existing picklist.

Prerequisites

Permission to access the Picklist Center page.

Procedure

1. In the Admin Center, click Company Settings Picklist Center .

2. In the Picklist Search field, enter the name of the picklist and click the one that you want to edit.
3. In the Take Action menu, choose Make Correction.
4. Enter the new picklist value or edit an existing picklist value.

Field Description

External Code MDF external code. A unique business key that is used to
identify the picklist value, for example, state_Alabama.

Non Unique External Code Legacy external code. Unlike the MDF external code, it can
be blank or duplicated.

Parent Picklist Value For example, if the external code is state_Alabama, the pa­
rent picklist value would be United States. If the value is
state_Alberta, the parent picklist value would be Canada.

Label For example, if the external code is state_Alabama, the label

would be Alabama.

5. To enter additional data for the picklist value, click Details.

Field Description

Status Specifies whether the picklist value is active or inactive, that

is, whether it is available for use.

Minval

6. Choose Save.

Task overview: Picklist Center [page 14]

Picklist Migration
20 CUSTOMER After Picklist Migration
Related Information

Accessing Picklist Center [page 16]

Creating a New Picklist Using the Picklist Center [page 17]
Editing a Picklist Using the Picklist Center [page 19]
Importing or Exporting a Picklist [page 21]

4.1.5 Importing or Exporting a Picklist

Follow this procedure to import picklists to or export picklists from your instance.

Prerequisites

Permission to access the Picklist Center page.

Context

You typically import or export picklists to feed data from or to external systems. For example, you import picklists
for the initial mass creation of values.

Procedure

1. In the Admin Center, click Company Settings Manage Picklist .

2. Choose Import/Export.
3. In the Select the action to perform dropdown, choose one of the following options:

○ Import Data
When importing a legacy picklist, be sure to provide a value for the external code. If you leave it blank, the
import will fail.
○ Export Data
○ Download Template

Task overview: Picklist Center [page 14]

Picklist Migration
After Picklist Migration CUSTOMER 21
Related Information

Accessing Picklist Center [page 16]

Creating a New Picklist Using the Picklist Center [page 17]
Editing a Picklist Using the Picklist Center [page 19]
Creating and Editing a Picklist Value Using the Picklist Center [page 20]

4.2 Non-Unique External Code

The "non-unique external code" is a field in the PicklistValue MDF object that contains the legacy "external code"
value after your picklist migration.

In legacy picklists, the "external code" field had no validation, so it could be any value, and it was not required, so it
could be empty. With MDF picklists, the "external code" field is mandatory and must be unique. As a result, in
many cases, the migration of this field couldn't be a straight one-to-one mapping. In such cases, the legacy
"external code" value" is stored in a new MDF field called the "non-unique external code". After migration, pages in
the application that previously used legacy picklists now use the "non unique external code" to read legacy picklist
values and ensure that there is no change to end-user experience.

By default, after picklist migration, in the PicklistValue MDF object, the value of the unique "external code" and the
value of the "non unique external code" (copied from legacy picklists) are kept in sync. That means that, after
migration, any change you make to the "external code" field in the PicklistValue MDF object will automatically be
copied over into the "non unique external code" field as well.

However, this behavior can be changed. You may have used the legacy "external code" field in legacy picklists for a
specific purpose that we could not anticipate and not want them to be synced automatically with the MDF
"external code". In this case, you can choose to disable this sync and treat the "external code" and "non unique
external code" as two distinct and separate values.

4.2.1 Disabling Sync of Non-Unique External Code

Disable the automatic sync between the "non-unique external code" and "external code" fields in the PicklistValue
MDF object.

Procedure

1. Create a Support ticket.

2. Request to have the following option disabled: Picklist Management: Automatically copy External Code to Non
Unique External Code

Picklist Migration
22 CUSTOMER After Picklist Migration
Results

After this option is disabled, the value of the "external code" field in the PicklistValue MDF object is no longer
copied automatically in the "non-unique external code" field. Instead, you can treat each field as distinct and use
them for different purposes.

4.3 Fields Hidden in Picklist Center

Some MDF picklist fields are hidden in Picklist Center by default. If needed, these can be made visible by editing
the PicklistValue MDF object.

By default, only the most commonly used fields are displayed in Picklist Center. Other fields exist in the database
and in the PicklistValue MDF object, but are hidden from view to make Picklist Center simpler to read and use.
However, in some cases, you may want to make of these hidden fields visible and editable in Picklist Center.

Example
The legacy picklist field Value is used by SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting. Setting this field to 99999 allows for a
job requisition to be closed. The legacy field is migrated to the optValue field in MDF. If you are using SAP
SuccessFactors Recruiting, you may want to make the optValue field editable in Picklist Center after your
picklist migration.

4.3.1 Revealing Hidden Fields in Picklist Center

Make fields in the PicklistValue MDF object visible and editable in Picklist Center.

Procedure

1. Go to Admin Center Configure Object Definition .

2. Select Object Definition in the first search menu.
3. Type Picklist Value in the second search menu and select this object.
4. In the Take Action menu, click Make Correction.
5. In the Fields section, find the field you want to make editable in Picklist Center.

For example, if you are using SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting, you may want to make the OptValue field
editable. Find this field name in the object definition.
6. Click Details to see all of the properties of this field.
7. Set the Visibility property to Editable.
8. Click Done to close the Details dialog and Save to save your changes.

Picklist Migration
After Picklist Migration CUSTOMER 23
Results

You can now view and edit this field in Picklist Center.

Note
Only the first few fields are immediately visible on the Picklist Center page. To view or edit additional fields for a
given picklist value, open the Details dialog.

Picklist Migration
24 CUSTOMER After Picklist Migration
5 Troubleshooting Picklists

Table 5: Troubleshooting

Issue Solution

When you import a legacy picklist, the import fails. Check whether you have provided a value for the external
code.

Post migration, the parent_option_id does not exist. As part of migration, the <parent_option_id> reference is
dropped and it will be set to "-1", which is the default value. If
this proves to be an issue, specify the correct mapping using
the Picklist Center.

Migration fails when the child picklist has multiple parent pick­ This is not a supported scenario and will cause migration to
lists. fail.

Duplicate external codes exist in the existing MDF picklist. Duplicate <external_code> values are not supported by
MDF. As a result, during migration, a unique external code is
generated for MDF and the legacy external code is preserved
in a new database field. This new database field appears on the
UI as non-unique external code while the other code is dis­
played as the external code. You can edit both these fields us­
ing the Picklist Center.

Note
To edit the NonUniqueExternalCode field, you will first need
to make the field editable using the Configure Object
Definition page in the Admin Center.

Picklist ID is 'null' in the Legacy table 'Null' picklist ID values are not supported by migration. Such
picklists are not migrated.

Picklist Migration
Troubleshooting Picklists CUSTOMER 25
Issue Solution

Legacy Picklists with no labels Legacy picklists without labels will not be migrated in the fol­
lowing scenarios:

● Scenario 1: None of the optionIds of a picklist exist in the

label table. In this case, neither picklist nor picklistValue
will be migrated.
● Scenario 2: Some of the optionIds of a picklist do not exist
in the label table. In this case, PicklistValues that are not
present in the label will not be migrated. Picklist and other
picklistValues will be migrated.

Note
Labels of languages that are not enabled for a com­
pany will not be migrated. This means that: label_id will
not be migrated from the legacy label table.

Picklist Migration
26 CUSTOMER Troubleshooting Picklists
6 Field Migration from Legacy Picklists to
MDF Picklists

A description of how each legacy picklist field is migrated to MDF.

Table 6: Mapping of Legacy Picklists to MDF Picklists

Legacy Picklist Legacy Field Val­ MDF Object MDF Picklist MDF Picklist Comments
Field ues Field Name Field Values

PICKLISTID ● Not unique Picklist externalCode ● Must be

unique
Note
● Case-sensi­
tive ● Case-insen­ The MDF
sitive externalCode field
does not contain the ex­
ternal code value from
legacy picklist.

Case-sensitive legacy
external_code
value is stored in the
nonUniqueExterna
lCode field in MDF.

STATUS Supports the fol­ Picklist status Supports the fol­ Original legacy value is cop­
lowing values: Value lowing values: ied to status field in MDF.

● ACTIVE ● ACTIVE
● OBSOLETE ● INACTIVE
● DELETED (obsolete or
deleted)

EXTERNAL_COD ● No con­ Picklist nonUniqueExt ● Must be Original legacy value is cop­

E straints ernalCode unique ied or a new unique value is
Value
● Not unique ● Cannot be assigned where there are
● Can be null/ null/empty conflicts.
empty
Original legacy value is cop­
ied to
nonUniqueExternalC
ode field in MDF.

OPTIONID Unique primary Picklist N/A N/A Original legacy value is cop­
key Value ied to a mapping table, not
to the Picklist object in
MDF.

Picklist Migration
Field Migration from Legacy Picklists to MDF Picklists CUSTOMER 27
Legacy Picklist Legacy Field Val­ MDF Object MDF Picklist MDF Picklist Comments
Field ues Field Name Field Values

VALUE Present Picklist optValue Not present prior Original legacy value is cop­
Value to migration ied to optValue field in
MDF.

Before migration, the

optValue is not present
in MDF. This field is created
during migration to hold the
legacy value.

L_VALUE Present Picklist lValue Not present prior Original legacy value is cop­
Value to migration ied to lValue field in MDF.

Before migration, the

lValue is not present in
MDF. This field is created
during migration to hold the
legacy value.

R_VALUE Present Picklist rValue Not present prior Original legacy value is cop­
Value to migration ied to rValue field in MDF.

Before migration, the

rValue is not present in
MDF. This field is created
during migration to hold the
legacy value.

MINVAL Present Picklist minVal Not present prior Original legacy value is cop­
Value to migration ied to minVal field in MDF.

Before migration, the

minVal is not present in
MDF. This field is created
during migration to hold the
legacy value.

MAXVAL Present Picklist maxVal Not present prior Original legacy value is cop­
Value to migration ied to maxVal field in MDF.

Before migration, the

maxVal is not present in
MDF. This field is created
during migration to hold the
legacy value.

Picklist Migration
28 CUSTOMER Field Migration from Legacy Picklists to MDF Picklists
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Important Disclaimers and Legal Information CUSTOMER 29
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