Create relations between elements of a breakdown

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read

    • Use a breakdown relation to set up navigation between a hierarchy of elements within the same breakdown. A field in the breakdown records must identify the hierarchical relationship of one record to another.

    Before you begin

    Review the use cases for breakdown relations in Navigating breakdown elements with breakdown relations.
    Important:
    To show breakdown relations on Platform Analytics, you have to create a dashboard with an indicator scorecard and a filter. KPI Details does not support breakdown relations.

    Role required: pa_data_collector, pa_power_user, admin

    Note:
    While a business analyst, typically with the pa_power_user role, is most likely to know what breakdown relations to create, creating them requires the knowledge and access to tables of a technical expert with pa_data_collector. A pa_admin is likely to understand both. Consider having either a pa_admin create the relation or have a collaboration between a pa_power_user and a pa_data_collector.

    About this task

    You can create breakdown relations to navigate the following hierarchical relationships between elements of a breakdown:
    • Child relations, to navigate from a parent element to its children
    • Parent relations, to navigate from a child element to its parents
    • Sibling, or peer relations, to navigate between elements that share the same parent element

    In a breakdown with a hierarchical relationship between elements, one field in the element record identifies the position of the element in the hierarchy. Typically this field is Parent, and identifies the parent element. Elements that are the parent of one element can themselves have a parent element.

    Note:
    Breakdown relations are one-way relationships. Define multiple breakdown relations to create a bi-directional relationship.

    Procedure

    1. Navigate to All > Breakdowns > Breakdown Relations and click New.
    2. In the Breakdown and Related breakdown fields, select the breakdown whose elements you want to navigate between.
      These fields have the same value when you're creating a hierarchical relation between elements of the same breakdown.
    3. In the Table field, select the same table as the breakdown source facts table.
    4. Fill in the rest of the form, depending on whether you're creating a child, a parent, or a sibling/peer relation.
      Table 1. Breakdown Relation form
      Field Child relation Parent relation Sibling/peer relation
      Breakdown field Select the field that identifies the parent element.

      For the Location breakdown, select Parent.

      		 Select the unique identifier field for elements of this breakdown.

      For the Location breakdown, as for most breakdowns, select Sys ID

      		 Select the unique identifier field for elements of this breakdown.

      For the Location breakdown, as for most breakdowns, select Sys ID
      Related breakdown field Select the unique identifier field for elements of this breakdown.

      For the Location breakdown, as for most breakdowns, select Sys ID

      		 Select the field that identifies the parent element.

      For the Location breakdown, select Parent.

      		 Select the unique identifier field for elements of this breakdown.

      For the Location breakdown, as for most breakdowns, select Sys ID
      Common field Leave empty. Leave empty. Select the field that identifies the parent element.

      For the Location breakdown, select Parent.
    5. Under Conditions, define any further conditions that a record must fulfill to appear as a related breakdown for this relationship.

    What to do next

    View examples of breakdown relations that are shipped by default in every instance.