About This Guide

About This Guide Why This Guide Reporting Made Easy xviii Welcome to Report Development Tools, the second book in the three-volume Reporting Made Easy series.. Reporting Made Easy Guid

Report Development Tools xvii

About This Guide

Contents

Why This Guide xix

How This Guide Is Organized xix

Who This Guide Is For xxiii

How to Use This Guide xxiii

Navigating the System xxiii

Special Icons xxiv

Typographical Conventions xxv

About This Guide

Why This Guide

Reporting Made Easy xviii

Welcome to Report Development Tools, the second book in the three-volume Reporting Made

Easy series In book 1, we presented the tactical approach to reporting and explored basic

R/3 reporting concepts Building on the material covered in the first book, this book focuses

on creating reports with standard R/3 tools

In this book, we begin by reviewing the process of choosing a report development tool Later, we provide information on each of the reporting tools to help you use them efficiently

In this book, we not only cover the core report development tools that were highlighted in

book 1, but also several tools you may have only heard about Additionally, we discuss several reporting-related functions such as web reporting, ABAP List Viewer (ALV), and Extended Export of Lists (XXL)

Other guides

in the

Reporting

Made Easy

series

The other two guidebooks in the Reporting Made Easy series are:

< Book 1: Fundamentals of Reporting

< Book 3: Commonly Used Reports: Illustrations and Perspectives

These guidebooks are intended to bridge the gap in R/3 reporting knowledge and training The guidebook series is geared toward users, implementation teams, and consultants who need a deeper understanding of how reporting works in the R/3 System For availability and ordering information, refer to the order form included with the

guidebooks or visit our web site: http://www.saplabs.com/rme

Reporting Made Easy Guidebooks

Fundamentals of Reporting

Report Development Tools

Commonly Used Reports

About This Guide Why This Guide

Report Development Tools

xix

Why This Guide

The primary goal of this guide is to help you create your own reports in R/3 Each application area provides ways to retrieve information and develop reports By using the report development tools in an efficient manner, you can quickly create reports that fit your needs

This guidebook will help you:

< Understand the nuts-and-bolts of R/3 report development tools such as Logistics Information System, Report Painter, ABAP Query, Business Information Warehouse, and more

< Learn how to use the report development tools using step-by-step examples to help you get started

< Discover “tips and tricks“ on getting the most out of the report development tools (for advanced developers)

< Use program templates to create your own ABAP reports How This Guide Is Organized

This guidebook is organized as follows:

< Part 1: Core Report Development Tools (chapters 1 through 6)

< Part 2: Business Information Warehouse (chapters 7 through 11)

< Part 3: Other Report Development Topics (chapter 12, appendices A through F)

Part 1: Core Report Development Tools

The first part of this guidebook focuses on the core report development tools identified in book 1 These core tools include:

< ABAP Query

< Report Painter/Report Writer

< Drilldown Reporting

< Logistics Information System—Standard Analyses

< Logistics Information System—Flexible Analyses

As mentioned in book 1, the tools listed above are not the only tools available to develop

R/3 reports The list includes only tools that are used exclusively to retrieve information

Tools such as the Business Information Warehouse (BW) or ABAP (the programming

language of R/3) are not considered core reporting tools because they are not exclusively

intended for report development; they do much more than data extraction for reporting purposes You will find more information on these topics in Part 2

About This Guide

How This Guide Is Organized

Reporting Made Easy xx

The chapters in this section are organized as follows:

Chapter What you will learn Chapter 1:

Choosing the Right Report Development Tool

< Choosing the right report development tool for your needs

< Identifying report development tools that support application areas in Release 4.0B

< Using the Tools Summary Matrix to evaluate different

report development tools

Chapter 2:

ABAP Query

< Creating a functional report in ABAP Query

< Building a basic functional area using a logical database

< Maintaining a user group

< Creating a report using a functional area and a user group

< Improving your usability of ABAP Query

Chapter 3:

Report Painter/Report Writer

< Differences between Report Painter and Report Writer

< How to create a simple report with Report Painter

< Helpful hints and information on the Report/Report Interface, formula variables, and creating your own evaluation structures

Chapter 4:

Drilldown Reporting

< Organization of the components of Drilldown reporting

< Differences between Drilldown and other reporting tools

< How to create and execute a form (drilldown) report

Chapter 5:

LIS Standard Analyses

< Selecting data for standard analysis

< Navigating within an LIS standard analysis

< Choosing which key figures to display

< Customizing or controlling how the data is displayed (for example, formats)

< Running a statistical analysis (for example, an ABC analysis)

Chapter 6:

LIS Flexible Analyses

< Defining an evaluation

< Generating and executing an evaluation

< Modifying the report layout of a flexible analysis

About This Guide How This Guide Is Organized

Report Development Tools

xxi

Part 2: Business Information Warehouse

The second part of this guidebook focuses on SAP’s Business Information Warehouse The chapters in this section are organized as follows:

Chapter What you will learn Chapter 7:

Overview of Reporting in the Business Information Warehouse

< How the Business Information Warehouse (BW) works as an enterprise-wide information hub

< The overall architecture of the Business Information Warehouse environment

< Important concepts and terminology related to the Business Information Warehouse

Chapter 8:

Creating Workbooks

< How to create a workbook template using the BEx Analyzer

< How to insert a query (or queries) into a workbook

< How to save a workbook template to the InfoCatalog

< How to add pushbuttons and textboxes to a workbook template using simple Visual Basic commands

Chapter 9:

Creating Queries

< How to create and save a new query

< How to define filters in a query

< How to create restricted key figures and calculated key figures in a query

< How to create new formulas in a query

< How to work with drilldown, currency conversion, charts, and other BW query functions

Chapter 10:

Working With the BEx Browser

< How to create channels in the InfoCatalog

< How to assign users to channels

< How to add workbooks to Favorites

< How to execute workbooks in the BEx Browser

< How to create and populate clusters

< How to create SAP transaction, Internet, and workbook shortcuts

Chapter 11:

Business Information Warehouse: Special Topics

< How to use the Administrator Workbench

< How to work with SAP-delivered DemoCubes

< How to organize workbooks in the InfoCatalog

< How to get the most out of BW (tips and tricks)

About This Guide

How This Guide Is Organized

Reporting Made Easy xxii

Part 3: Other Report Development Topics

Chapter or Appendix What you will learn Chapter 12:

ABAP Report Templates

< The basic structure of an ABAP report

< Differences between traditional and interactive reports

< How to build traditional and interactive reports using the report template

< Useful tips and tricks on ABAP report development

Appendix A:

ABAP List Viewer (ALV)

< Some of the time-saving features of ALV, as well as its ability to enhance information display

< Differences between reports written with and without the ALV

< Technical information (sample code) to help you build reports with ALV “functionality”

Appendix B:

Extended Export of Lists (XXL)

< What is the Extended Export of Lists (XXL)

< What is the XXL List Viewer

< How to use XXL to export an R/3 list to Microsoft Excel®

Appendix C:

SAP Open Information Warehouse

< What is the SAP Open Information Warehouse (OIW)

< How is the SAP OIW organized

< How to prepare OIW source and meta data

< How to download an OIW report into Microsoft Excel

Appendix D:

Web Reporting

< The functionality behind web-reporting

< The remote function calls necessary for web reporting interaction with R/3

< The function modules you can incorporate into your ABAP programs to enable web-based reporting

Appendix E:

LIS Information Structures List of available information structures within the “SAP name space”—structures numbered between S001 and

S500 Structures are listed according to the application area for which they were created

Appendix F:

Creating a Drilldown Report in Executive Information System

< How to create a form for an EIS report

< How to create an EIS report using a form

< How to execute and analyze an EIS report

About This Guide Who This Guide Is For

Report Development Tools

xxiii

Who This Guide Is For

The target audience for this guide includes end users, consultants, and implementation teams This publication is intended to benefit a wide range of users—with varying levels of familiarity with the R/3 System

This guide assumes that you are:

< Familiar with R/3 System logon procedures, menu-tree program selection, and general navigation

< Familiar with basic Windows® or Macintosh® system operations

< Familiar with Microsoft®-based applications such as Word and Excel How to Use This Guide

While reading this book from cover to cover may make sense for some R/3 users, others could easily scan, skim, and select portions that are of most interest You can use it as a reference or as a handbook

Not all chapters are for all users; the guide seeks to accommodate different needs

Report Examples Use IDES Data

Almost all documentation in this guide uses sample data from SAP’s International Demo and Education System (IDES) Release 4.0B To use these report examples (with the specified data and results) as a tutorial, you will need access to an IDES system If you are not sure how to access the model company data in IDES, ask your SAP system administrator for assistance For more information about IDES and its current availability, visit the SAP web

site at http://www.sap.com

Training and Documentation

This material may be reprinted or reused for user training or to develop internal company documentation However, no part of this guide may be reproduced for commercial

purposes without the written permission of SAP AG and the R/3 Simplification Group of SAP Labs, Inc

Navigating the System

You may navigate the R/3 System using menu paths, transaction codes, or shortcut and function keys If you use transaction codes, remember that you can enter the codes from the

main SAP R/3 screen

About This Guide

Special Icons

Reporting Made Easy xxiv

But if you wish to jump from one transaction to another, you must precede the transaction

with either /n or /o, as follows:

/n<trans code> Example: /nVA01

Use /n to exit the current transaction and start a new transaction

Your current transaction gets replaced by the new one

/o<trans code> Example: /oVA01

Use /o to open a new session (window) Your current transaction

is maintained, while a new window opens with the new transaction

Before you use /n<transaction code>, make sure you have saved all information

Otherwise, when you jump from one transaction to another, all unsaved information is lost If you wish to review transactions side-by-side, you may want to start a new session

by entering /o<transaction code> in the command filed

Special Icons

Throughout this guide you will see special icons indicating important messages Below are brief explanations of each icon:

Exercise caution when performing this task or step An explanation of why you should be careful will be included

This information helps you understand the topic in greater detail

It is not necessary to know this information to perform the task

This information provides helpful hints and shortcuts to make your work faster and easier

About This Guide Typographical Conventions

Report Development Tools

xxv

Typographical Conventions

The table shown below lists the typographical conventions and symbols, and icons used throughout this guide

Click Click the left mouse button to perform the action “Click” or

“double-click” are used when the mouse is the only way to

perform a certain function “Choose” is always used for actions involving on-screen buttons or icons

Example: Click the node for Production Planning

Choose When you see the word “choose,” you will either perform certain

actions by choosing particular buttons on screen (using the mouse

or a shortcut key, for example) or follow given menu paths

Examples:

1 Choose File → Save

2 Choose Back

3 Choose Enter

Select Used with instructions for radio buttons and checkboxes

Example: Select Generate Enterprise IMG

Typeface Style What it Means User input Type in the text exactly as shown

Example: Enter 14287 in Personnel Number

Object Style Shown in italics, this word is usually an on-screen object, for

example, button, field, screen title, book or chapter title, screen text

or message

Example: In the User Maintenance screen, enter SAP* in User

About This Guide

Typographical Conventions

Reporting Made Easy xxvi