07 sap scripts

Editor's Notes

• #4: Forms Vs. Reports: Forms Look “nicer” (More control mechanisms to format fonts, paragraphs, etc) Forms can have graphic element (e.g. company logo, bar code) Forms can be event-triggered (e.g. Generate output as soon as the document is saved)
• #5: SAP documents (e.g. sales order, billing document) are printed using forms. Forms are defined and formatted using layout sets Layout set is a template that defines how the form will look SAP script is a tool that SAP provides for creating layout sets
• #6: At a very high level, the only difference between creating a report and a form is the one additional step of formatting the data using the layout set. The output program(written in ABAP) will still extract the needed data The manual formatting logic is taken out of the ABAP program The layout set defines the format the extracted data gets printed There has to be some mechanism for the output program and the layout set to communicate The communication is achieved through Function calls Communication structures Configuration
• #7: Most people commonly refer to SAP Script as the combination of the output program and the corresponding layout set. However, in order for SAP script forms to work, all of its components (including the configuration elements) must be created and configured properly Output program is written in ABAP. It collects the data in the document (communication structure) and feeds it to the layout set via function calls. Layout set formats the passed data Output determination configuration determines the appropriate output program / layout set combination. It defines which event triggers the printing of the forms, and also defines the timing (batch, on-line) and destination (which printer) of the output Printer configuration specifies the print control of the output device (e.g. impact, laser printer). Font configuration can be used to specify logos and barcodes.
• #8: Creating SAP script requires very broad set of knowledge across many different areas. It is ideal to develop a skill set to configure / develop all of these items. The more of these different skills you gain, the easier (less dependent on others) it will be to develop SAPscript forms. Understanding of how all these components work together and how the other components impact your area of responsibility is essential. Understanding where different types of problems can originate is essential in working together very efficiently.
• #9: Client specific (client-dependent) Language specific Can be translated using the standard SAP translation tools Note: If the layout set is not available in the client in which the document is being printed, then the SAPscript checks for the style or layout set in client 000. Recommendation: Keep only one copy of the layout set in client 000
• #10: There are 6 components of the layout set Header: General info and default settings Paragraphs: Font and tab info Character strings: Font info within a paragraph Windows: Description of areas on the pages Pages: Name of the pages with page flow info Page windows: Position and size of the windows on the pages Most often used window is the Page windows and Paragraphs. Header, Pages, and Windows can be defined once in the beginning. Character string is usually only changed as needed.
• #12: “Page windows” shows a list of all the windows on the page with coordinates given by the upper left-hand corner and the width and length. It only shows the windows defined for the first page. To see the windows defined for the next page, select the appropriate page and click the ‘Enter’ button. It is possible to jump from this list to the text elements of the windows.
• #13: There are 3 different types of windows: Main - A special window where item lines are to be printed. CONST (Constant) - Contents of a constant window is generated once at the beginning and then printed on every output page. Performance consideration. VAR (Variable) - Contents of a variable window is regenerated on every new page. All windows which contain different information different pages must be of type ‘VAR’.
• #14: A window can contain hard-coded texts and the variables to be printed in the window. Tag column: Specifies format of the text Text line column: Contains the text of the window. Special characters * Default paragraph /: Command line /* Comment line /E Text element
• #15: To jump to the contents of a window, select the window by double clicking on the name of the window, and then click the Text element button. Text element always starts with the line /E and continues to the next text element. The output program controls whether or not to print a text element and the order of printing of the text elements. If you specify more tabs than defined for the paragraph, the default paragraph of the header is used.
• #16: The next page of the first page (FIRST) is defined as NEXT. The next page of the second page (NEXT) is defined as NEXT, recursively defining all subsequent pages to be the same format as NEXT.
• #17: Paragraphs contain all necessary information needed to format a paragraph of text. Font and Tabs are important characteristics of the paragraphs.
• #18: Specifying a list of tabs is the way to create columns for outputting line items of a document. You specify the tab positions by number of characters from the left, but note that the system uses the value behind ‘Character/inch’ of the header to convert the number of characters into an absolute value. The font size does not matter for this conversion. If not font is specified, then the default font from the layout set header will be used.
• #19: A character string is used to override the paragraph settings for a few words within a paragraph. (e.g. Switch to bold for a single word within a paragraph)
• #20: Header consists of either administrative information for the layout set or default settings which can be overridden in other parts of the layout set. Page format = LETTER for the US, DINA for Australia
• #21: Release 3.0 + has a new feature called test print. It allows you to visually confirm the layout set definitions (mostly the window parameters and field lengths) you have defined without execution of the print program. No data will be extracted. Useful for the development process of the layout set.
• #22: Release 3.0 + has a new feature called test print. It allows you to visually confirm the layout set definitions (mostly the window parameters and field lengths) you have defined without execution of the print program. No data will be extracted. Useful for the development process of the layout set.
• #40: Forms Vs. Reports: Forms Look “nicer” (More control mechanisms to forat fonts, paragraphs, etc) Forms can have graphic element (e.g. company logo, bar code) Forms can be event-triggered
• #55: Output determination configuration will allow you to Establish link between the layout set and the printing program Define the time at which the combination (layout set + printing program) will be executed (Print time) Define the output device Define the print parameters Generally, there’s two parts to the output type configuration (Module specific) Establishing the link between the layout set and the print program Proposing output type for the documents Output determination configuration is usually a responsibility of the functional consultant. However, the more you understand how it works, the better you will be equipped to solve output related problems. Gaining output determination configuration knowledge is not easy because it is often very module specific. It is very different from one module to another, sometimes even very different from one sub module to another within the module.
• #56: Part of what output determination configuration will allow you to do is establish the link between the layout set and the print program which extracts the data for the layout set. The best way to develop a custom layout set is to copy an existing one and modifying it. Therefore, this is a good screen to investigate initially to find out which program and the layout set is being used by the standard system. For each output type / medium combination, you can define Print program Layout set FORM routine
• #57: FORM routine allows you to start the print program from different routines. This gives you the flexibility to use one program instead of using many programs each for specific cases. For example, instead of writing 3 separate programs to print international invoice, inter-company invoice, and internal invoice, you can write one single program which contains the main logic all of the three invoice have in common. By starting the program through different “entry” FORM routine, you can set certain flags and later branch into different routines based on the flag. The advantage of doing it this way is that you will only have one program to maintain. It is highly recommended to create as few programs and layout sets as possible in order to reduce the amount of effort involved in maintaining all the variations.
• #58: Gaining output determination configuration knowledge is not easy because it is often very module specific. It is very different from one module to another, sometimes even very different from one sub module to another within one module.
• #59: Gaining output determination configuration knowledge is not easy because it is often very module specific. It is very different from one module to another, sometimes even very different from one sub module to another within one module.
• #60: Where should it be printed? Which output device should it be printed on? How many copied should be printed? One Multiple When should it be printed? On demand Batch mode Specified time Immediately after saving the document What medium should it be “printed” on? Printout Fax EDI Workflow etc. At what level should the information be stored? SAP document What types of status should be captured? Was it correctly processed? How many times was it processed?
• #61: In order to print a form, you have to understand a little bit about the output type determination configuration. You will not necessarily have to know how to configure it, but you’ll need to understand what aspects (e.g. timing, output device) of the printing can be controlled through the configuration. Output type defines when, to where, and how to print the form. The output types are proposed for SAP documents via configuration and can be over-ridden. To get to the detail screen which allows you to define the timing of the output, click on “Communication method” button. To get to the detail screen which allows you to define which output device to print to, click on “Further data” button.
• #62: Many of SAP forms are designed to be triggered by “event”. For example, you can configure it so that the saving (event) of the document can trigger the automatic printing of the form. There are 4 different triggering events 1 - Send with next selection run The output will not be issued until a batch printing program called RSNAST00 is executed. When the program is executed (typically once or twice a day manually), all output types with send time = 1 that hasn’t been printed yet (status =0) will be printed. 2 - Send with time specification Output has to be issued manually on demand. 3 - Explicit request Individual output will be triggered manually on demand. This demand is registered by the system when a user performs “Issue > Output to” command. 4 - Immediately Saving of the document will trigger the output to be issued. Output will be generated and issued to the specified printer when triggered by their respective events. It is assumed that the output type which contains the timing information will also contain the correct device to print.
• #63: Specify the name of the physical output device name. Enter the number of copies to be printed in the “Number of message” field. Specified number of copies will be printed to the same device at the same time. Note: In order to print two identical copies, each to a different printer, you must set up a separate output type. Each of these output types should specify different output device name even though they are configured to print the same form. Click on “Print immediately” indicator to have the output come out immediately upon triggering events. If this indicator is not turned on, the output will only be generated in the spool format until it is manually released. Click on “Release after output” indicator to release the printed form from the spool. If this indicator is not turned on, the spool will not be deleted from the system even after the form was physically printed.
• #64: Available choices for the Output medium are: 1 Printout- Printer (laser, impact) 2 Fax 3 Teletex 4 Telex 6 EDI 7 SAPoffice 8 Special function- Exit to a ABAP routine 9 Workflow events A Distribution (ALE) T Workflow: Task Available choices for the Processing status are: 0 Not processed 1 Successfully processed 2 Incorrectly processed 3 Not active Initially all unprocessed output types have status = 0. Once the output was successfully printed, the status will be updated to 1. Once the status is updated to 1 or 2, the same output type cannot be used again unless you follow the procedure on the slide titled “Repeating output”. Note: This indicator is especially important for those output types with timing = 1.
• #65: You may preview the output on the screen before printing by following the procedure. Bring up the document you want to print in either change or display mode. There are two options at this point. Sales document > Issue > output to > Printer Sales document > Issue > output to > Screen Selecting the Printer option will only work if you have an output type defined with timing of 3 (explicit request) Selecting the Screen option will work regardless of what timing the output type has been defined with, as long as there exists a default output type (proposed by output type determination configuration) Over write any information (e.g. output type, device name) and confirm.
• #66: Print preview is WYSIWYG as of 3.0 release
• #67: Those documents with output types which are defined to print with send time = 1, are to be printed collectively. Therefore, when a document with such output type is saved, nothing happens until at later time when a triggering program RSNAS00 is manually launched. The program RSNAST00 loops through all documents that are between the specified number ranges (object key) contain the specified output type the output type has not been processed (status = 0) Note: The object key is the document number. It must be specified in 10 digits (padded with preceding 0’s if necessary) In normal day to day operation, you do not have to specify the document number ranges. By not specifying the number range, the system will evaluate ALL documents that meet the above criteria and print the ones that haven’t been printed since the last collective run. Once the collective run finishes the status of all the documents that have been printed will be updated.
• #68: Once the document has been successfully printed, you must follow the following procedures to reprint the same form (except Send time = 3). Enter the document in change mode Select the output type that has already been successfully printed which you wish to print again. Click on “Repeat output” button This will generate an identical entry of the same output type. Select the new entry and change any data if necessary. Proceed to trigger printing the same way as before. List of output types shows the history of when and how many times the form was generated to which output device. Understanding how this “log” works is essential in deducing the user error.