7/18/2020

Archiving with Archive Development Kit

(ADK)
Generated on: 2020-07-18

SAP NetWeaver 7.0 EHP1 | SPS18

PUBLIC

Original content: https://help.sap.com/viewer/6d959e106c4b1014abf6a2d0866f632c/7.01.18/en-US

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Archiving with Archive Development Kit

(ADK)
Data Archiving – a service provided by SAP NetWeaver – removes mass data that the system no longer needs online, but which
must still be accessible at a later date if required, from the database. The following illustration demonstrates the archiving
process: You use archiving objects to write documents to archive les that can be stored on other media .

Data in the database can only be archived using archiving objects that describe the data structure and context .

 Example
Financial Accounting documents are archived using the archiving object FI_DOCUMNT. It includes the document header,
company code-dependent postings, change documents, SAPscript texts, and other elements.

Integration
For the majority of the archiving objects the SAP Data Archiving concept is based on the Archive Development Kit (ADK).

For some applications it is possible to start archiving directly from the application menu. In these cases the application-speci c
parameters, such as the archiving object or the archiving program appear as default values.

Archiving objects for each application component are prede ned in the system. Their structures are described in the application-
speci c sections.

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Features
The archiving procedure is divided into three main steps:

Creation of archive les

In the write phase the data to be archived is written sequentially into newly created archive les.

Delete from the database

The delete program reads the data from the archive les and then deletes it from the database.

Storage of archive les

The newly created archive les can then be moved to a storage system or copied to a tape. The removal to an external
storage system can be triggered manually or automatically. It is also possible to store the data before the delete phase.

The archiving programs are generally scheduled in the background. However, they can also run in online mode.

Background Information
This section gives you additional background information about Data Archiving:

Reasons for Archiving Data

Archiving Requirements

Important Terms

Reasons for Archiving

There are both technical and legal reasons for archiving application data. Data Archiving:

Resolves memory space and performance problems caused by large volumes of transaction data

Ensures that data growth remains moderate so that the database remains manageable in the long term

Ensures that companies can meet the legal requirements for data storage in a cost-efficient manner

Ensures that data can be reused at a later date, for example, in new product development

See also:

Important Terms

Data Archiving Requirements

Data archiving is intended to do more than just save the contents of database tables. Data archiving must also take, for example,
the following requirements into consideration:

Hardware independence

Since the encoding of numerical elds, such as integers, depends on the hardware, when archiving it is essential to ensure
that information about the hardware currently being used is appended to the archived data so that the data can be
displayed later with different hardware.

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Release dependence

Since the data structure may depend on the release of the SAP Business Suite solution that you are using, information
about record structures and eld de nitions must also be archived.

Dependencies between data

Many data objects only make sense in conjunction with other data objects or are dependent on these other data objects.
Consequently, when archiving data, you must check whether archiving a speci c data object also requires other objects to
be archived beforehand or at the same time.

Enterprise and business structure

Some data is only of use in conjunction with information about an enterprise’s organizational structure, such as how it is
divided into different areas for sales. When archiving, therefore, it is essential to ensure that this information is also
archived.

The list shows that archiving application data requires a very detailed knowledge of data semantics, which is completely
accommodated by the application-integrated approach offered by SAP Data Archiving. For this reason, SAP Data Archiving can be
said to be superior to other products that are not integrated in an SAP Business Suite application (database-based archiving).

Important Terms
This section de nes some basic Data Archiving terms:

Optical Archiving

Reorganization

Residence and Retention Periods

Backup/Restore

See also:

Storage System

Document Storage

Archiving Sequence

Management Data

Metadata

Optical Archiving
When using a storage system, it is important to differentiate between the storage of original documents, such as scanned
incoming invoices, and the storage of archive les that were created using data archiving.

The term "optical archiving" refers to the electronic storage and administration of documents on storage systems outside SAP
Business Suite. Documents stored in this way include:

Scanned-in original documents, such as incoming invoices

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Outgoing documents, such as invoices created in SAP ERP Financials that are created electronically, then sent in printed
form

Print lists created in the SAP Business Suite

In most cases, these documents are physically stored in optical media such as CDs or WORMs, hence the term “optical archiving.”
In this context, however, it is preferable to refer to document storage . Stored documents and lists can be displayed again, but
cannot be imported into or analyzed in an SAP Business Suite solution.

Reorganization
This term has its origins in R/2 and is often incorrectly confused with data archiving. With this kind of reorganization, data was
removed from the database and reloaded to optimize the physical distribution of data on the disk. During this procedure,
unnecessary data was often archived and deleted. Reorganization of this kind has nothing to do with data archiving using the
Archive Development Kit (ADK).

Residence Times and Retention Periods

The residence time is the minimum length of time that data must spend in the database before it meets the archivability criteria.
Residence times can be set in application-speci c Customizing.

The retention period is the entire time that data spends in the database before it is archived. The retention period cannot be set.

 Example

If the residence time is a month, data that has been in the system for two months will be archived. Data that is only three weeks
old remains in the database.

Backup/Restore
Backup is a copy of the database contents that can be used in the case of a system breakdown. The aim is that as much of the
database as possible can be restored to its state before a system failure. Backups are usually made at regular intervals according
to a standard procedure (complete or incremental backup). Reloading the saved data into the le system is called restoring the
data.

 Note
SAP R/3 2.1 and 2.2 required you to back up the database before archiving data. This safety measure is no longer required.

Archiving Features
SAP Data Archiving has the following key features:

Data Security During Archiving

Connection to an External Archive

Data Compression

Archiving Without Database Backup

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Access to Archived Data

Automatic Conversion of Old Archive Files

Data Security During Archiving

Data archiving is carried out in two steps (a third step – storage of archive les – is optional: In the rst step, the data for archiving
is copied to archive les. In the second step, the data is deleted from the database.

This two-step process guarantees data security if problems occur during the archiving process. For example, the procedure
identi es network data transfer errors between the database and the archive le. If an error occurs, you can restart the archiving
process at any time because the data is still either in the database or in an archive le. This means that you can usually archive
parallel to the online application , that is, during normal system operation, without having to back up the database rst.

 Note

You can further increase data security if you store the archive les in an external storage system before you delete the data
from the database. This guarantees that the data from the database will only be deleted after it has been securely stored in an
external storage system. You can de ne the storage time in archiving object-speci c Customizing.

Data Compression
During archiving, data is automatically compressed by up to a factor of 5 . However, if the data to be archived is stored in cluster
tables, no additional compression takes place.

Storage Space Gained by Archiving

Increased storage space in the database and the resulting performance gains in the application programs are the most important
bene ts of data archiving. Therefore it is useful to know how much space the data to be archived takes up in the database.

 Note
Note that cluster tables are stored in a compressed form in the database.

It may also help to know in advance how much space the archive les that you create will need.

 Note
Data is compressed before it is written to the archive le. The extent of the compression depends on how much text (character
elds) the object contains. Optimal compression can achieve a factor of ve .

Estimates of the size of an individual data object are provided in the application-speci c sections of this documentation. You can,
however, also make a rough approximation (for example with your customer-speci c archiving objects) of how much space the
data to be archived occupies in the database and how much space the archive les will require.

For further details, see Calculating Storage Space Gained

See also:

Archive Administration

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Statistics

Calculating Storage Space Gained

Prerequisites
You have determined the tables involved. For more information, see the application-speci c documentation for the archiving
objects. You can also use the DB Tables function to do this (see Tables and Archiving Objects ).

Procedure
Call the ABAP Dictionary by choosing Tools ABAP/4 Workbench Development Dictionary .

Enter the name of each table and choose Display .

The Dictionary: Table screen appears and contains several tab pages with detailed information on the relevant table. The header
contains the following information on the table.

Name

Type (transparent or cluster)

Status (active or inactive)

Short description of table contents

The length of the table elds is given in bytes and can be found in the Length column on the Fields tab page.

 Caution
You must multiply the values for tables containing dependent positions by a factor that re ects their actual business
use.

See also:

Storage Space Gained by Archiving

Archiving Without Database Backup

With SAP Data Archiving, data can be archived independently from general backup operations on the database. However, SAP
recommends that you backup archive les before storing them.

Accessing Archived Data

Because archived data has only been removed from the database and not from the application component itself, the data is
always available. Archive management allows three types of access:

1. (Read) access to a single data object, such as an accounting document

2. Analysis of an archive le (sequential read)

3. Reload into the database (not possible for all archiving objects)

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See also:

Reloading Data

Converting Old Archive Files

When archived data is read, the system automatically makes the conversions required by hardware and software changes.

When old archive les are accessed, the Archive Development Kit (ADK) can make allowances for changes to database structures
( eld types, eld lengths, new elds, and deleted elds) after the data was archived and for changes to hardware-dependent
storage formats. This is only done on a temporary basis during read access. The data in the archive le is not changed. The
following items are changed (if necessary) during automatic conversion:

Database table schema (new and deleted columns)

Data type of a column

Column length

Code page (ASCII, EBCDIC)

Number format (such as the use of the integer format on various hardware platforms)

If database structures in an application have undergone more changes than the ADK can handle (for example, if elds have been
moved from one table to another or if one table has been divided into several separate tables), then a program is usually provided
by the relevant SAP Business Suite solution for the permanent conversion of existing archive les.

Link to External Storage Systems

Content Management Infrastructure

Archive les created by Data Archiving can be stored on tertiary storage media, such as WORMs, magnetic-optical disks (MO), and
tapes using the SAP Content Management Infrastructure (which also contains the ArchiveLink/CMS interface). This can be done
manually or automatically.

Hierarchical Storage Management Systems (HSM Systems)

You can also store archive les in the le system of an HSM system. The HSM system manages the archive les automatically. For
storage, the HSM system can also use tertiary storage media, such as MO-disks.

See also:

Storing Archive les

Retrieving Stored Archive Files

The Archiving Procedure

Purpose
This process describes the basic archiving procedures.

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Process Flow
Archiving is carried out in three steps:

Step 1: Creating the (First) Archive File

Step 2: Storing Archive Files

Step 3: Executing Delete Programs

 Note

Optionally, you can store archive les after the delete phase. To do this, you must mark Delete Phase Before Storage in
archiving object-speci c Customizing.

If security is your main concern, then you should not schedule the delete phase until after the archive les have been stored. In
this way you know that the data will only be deleted from the database after the archive les have successfully been moved to
the external storage system. In addition, you can set the system to read the data from the storage system and not from the le
system.

However, if your main concern is the performance of the archiving programs, then you should schedule the delete program rst
and then store the les.

For more information, see File Storage in the Storage System .

Step 1: Creating (the First) Archive Files

In step one, the write program creates an archive le. The data to be archived is then read from the database and is written to the
archive le in the background. This process continues until one of following three events occurs:

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1. All the data is written to an archive le

2. Archiving is not complete, but the archive le reaches the maximum size speci ed in archiving object-speci c Customizing

3. The archiving is not yet nished, but the archive le contains the maximum number of data objects speci ed in
Customizing.

 Note
If in cases 2 and 3 there is still data to be archived, the system will create another archiving le.

If event 2 or 3 occurs, then archive management continues with the delete step (assuming that the following indicators are
marked in archiving object-speci c Customizing: Start Automatically and Delete Before Storage ).

 Note
Write jobs can be scheduled outside Archive Administration (transaction SARA ) using an external job scheduler. This enables
you greater exibility when coordinating data archiving processes with the other processes in your system environment. For
more information, see Scheduling Write Jobs Outside Archive Administration .

Virus Scan
As with all electronically stored data, data records in the database can also be infected with viruses. It is possible, although highly
unlikely, that these viruses are spread through the archiving of the infected le. You can therefore run a virus scan on the data to
be archived during the write phase of your archiving session. During this check, the system scans all data objects that contain
records with elds in which the type XSTRING (variable string of bytes) or X (byte string) appear. Only these data types of byte
strings are potential carriers of viruses.

The ADK virus scan is integrated in the SAP NetWeaver Virus Scan Interface and can be activated and used as described there.
The virus scan pro le is called /SARC/ARCHIVING_ADK and is set by default to inactive. When the pro le is activated the message
“Virus Scan with Virus Scan Pro le /SARC/ARCHIVING_ADK active” appears in the job log of a write job. This message is always
issued, even if the scan did not identify any potentially infected data objects. Performance is not signi cantly affected by the virus
scan.

If an infected data object has been found, ADK issues the following message: “Virus <Name> in Object <Structuretype>
<Component> found”. The write program is terminated with a system exception and the affected session is treated like any other
terminated session in Archive Administration (for example, errors due to technical reasons). Archive les that are not infected and
that have been completely written and correctly closed at the time of the program termination, remain intact.

Write Run Followed by Event

After all archive les have been completely created for an archiving session, the Archive Development Kit (ADK) triggers the
system event SAP_ARCHIVING_WRITE_FINISHED. By reacting to this system event, you have the option of scheduling archiving
jobs automatically. This includes the rebuilding of indexes or input help, archive le backup before deletion, and so on. The event
parameter is, in each case, the number of the archiving session.

To further automate the archiving process, you can transfer the archiving session number to function module
ARCHIVE_GET_FILES_OF_SESSION. This determines, on a platform-independent basis, the names and paths of the archive les
that were written in an archiving session.

You can de ne new jobs in transaction SM36. You maintain events in transaction SM62 .

See also:

Creating Archive Files

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Archiving Object-Speci c Customizing

Step 2: Storing Archive Files

Once the write program has nished creating archive les, these can be stored.

There are several ways of storing archive les:

Storage systems

If a storage system is connected to the SAP Business Suite: At the end of a successful write job, a request is sent to this
system to store the new archive les (provided the appropriate settings were made in Archiving Object-Speci c
Customizing ). You can also store archive les manually at a later point if you do not want them to be stored automatically.
Storage is carried out by the SAP Content Management Infrastructure (which contains the ArchiveLink/CMS interface).

HSM systems

If you use an HSM system, it is sufficient to maintain the le name in Customizing (transaction FILE ). You do not then need
to communicate with the storage system using the SAP Content Management Infrastructure, because the HSM system
stores the les on suitable storage media according to access frequency and storage space.

Existing storage media

After the archive le has been processed by the delete program, it can be manually transferred to existing storage media
by, for example, copying to tape.

For more information, see File Storage to Storage System und Storing Archive Files .

More information:

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Retrieving Archived Files

Step 3: Running Delete Programs

After closing the rst archive le, Archive Administration creates a new archive le and continues with the write process. If the
settings were made accordingly in archiving-object-speci c Customizing (see Settings for the Delete Program ) , a delete program
is started automatically in parallel for the previously created archive le, to read the data in the archive le and then delete it from
the database. This procedure guarantees that only data that has been correctly saved in the archive le is deleted from the
database.

You can also schedule the delete program manually, for example, so that you can save the archive les before deletion, or because
the next available time window is not sufficiently long to also include deletion. The following scenario may also be a reason to
manually schedule the delete program:

 Example
You create an archive le by starting a write program. The data records are written to an archive le, but the system terminates
processing before the delete program starts to run. In this case you must delete the archived data manually in a separate step.
See Deleting Archived Data from the Database .

 Note
If you do not carry out deletion until after the data has been stored, you can make a setting in Archiving Object-Speci c
Customizing so that the system will read archive les the from the storage system during deletion. In this way, you can detect
errors in good time which might arise when transferring or saving the archive les in the storage system.

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When the last archive le is closed, a delete program starts to run for this le. The graphic shows that several delete programs are
running simultaneously for previously created archive les. Because, unlike the delete program, the write program does not
generally carry out any transactions that change data in the transactions, the write program creates new archive les faster than
they can be processed by the delete program. This decreases the total archiving runtime because the database is used more
efficiently.

 Note
Delete jobs can usually also be scheduled outside Archive Administration (transaction SARA ). This occurs directly in an
external job scheduler or using program RSARCHD. For more information, see Scheduling Delete Jobs Outside Archive
Administration .

Delete Run Followed by Event

After all archive les have been completely created for an archiving session, the Archive Development Kit (ADK) triggers the
system event SAP_ARCHIVING_DELETE_FINISHED. By reacting to this system event, you have the option of scheduling archiving
jobs automatically. This includes the rebuilding of indexes or input help, archive le backup before deletion, and so on. The event
parameter is the number of the archive session.

To further automate the archiving process, you can transfer the archiving session number to function module
ARCHIVE_GET_FILES_OF_SESSION. This determines, on a platform-independent basis, the names and paths of the archive les
that were written in an archiving session.

You can de ne new jobs in transaction SM36. You maintain events in transaction SM62 .

 Note
You can also have event-controlled delete runs started automatically. You can de ne the event that triggers the delete program
in the group box Settings for the Delete Program in Archiving Object Speci c Customizing.

See also:

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Deleting Archived Data from the Database

Archiving Object
De nition
The archiving object is a central component of SAP Data Archiving. The archiving object speci es precisely which data is archived
and how. It describes which database objects must be handled together as a single business object. and interprets the data
irrespective of the technical speci cations at the time of archiving (such as release and hardware).

Use
An archiving object has a name of up to ten characters in length. You need this name to carry out the archiving programs in
archive administration (transaction SARA). However, the function for calling data archiving is often integrated in the application
menu, where the archiving object name is set as the default so that you do not need to enter it yourself.

Structure
The following programs must (or can) be assigned to an archiving object. (Archiving objects are de ned using transaction AOBJ )
The SAP System contains programs (some of which are optional) for the following actions:

Preprocessing (optional)

Some archiving objects require a preprocessing program that prepares the data for archiving. This preprocessing program
marks data to be archived, but it does not delete any data from the database.

Preprocessing programs must always be scheduled manually and are run from Archive Administration.

Write

This program creates archive les and writes data to them. At this point, however, no data is being deleted from the
database.

You can specify in archiving object-speci c Customizing whether the next phase ( delete ) is to take place automatically
after the archive les have been created. Delete jobs can also be event-triggered. To do this, you set up the trigger event in
archiving object-speci c Customizing.

Delete

This function can entail several activities. The activities are always dependent on the existing archive les.

Normally, the data is deleted from the data base. However, in some case, the archived data in the database may only have a
delete indicator.

In archiving object-speci c Customizing, you can specify that archive les, after successful processing, are to be
transferred to an external storage system using the SAP Content Management Infrastructure (which contains the
ArchiveLink/CSM interface).

Postprocessing (optional)

This function is usually carried out after deletion has taken place. It is not available for all archiving objects. If the data has
not yet been deleted from the database by the delete program, it is deleted by the postprocessing program. Depending on
the archiving object used, postprocessing can also ful ll other tasks. For more information, refer to the documentation on
the speci c archiving object.

Reload archive (optional)

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You can reload archived data from the archive les into the database using this function. It is not available for all archiving
objects. To access this function, choose Goto Reload.

Index (optional)

This function builds (or deletes) an index that allows individual access. It is not included in every archiving object.

For more information on the de nition of archiving objects, refer to Creating Archiving Objects .

Sample Data Description Using an FI

Document
The archiving object data structure is described here using Financial Accounting as an example. To archive FI documents so that
they can be accessed in the future, you must make sure that the technical and business environments are stored in the archive le.
This is ensured by the respective data description.

The archiving object for FI documents, FI_DOCUMNT, includes the following data, which is stored in various database tables:

Document header

Document segment accounting

Document segment control data

Posting procedures that depend on company codes

Document segment variable data

Document segment change data

Change documents

SAPscript texts

See also:

Archiving Object

Data Object
De nition
A data object is the application-speci c instance of an archiving object, that is, an archiving object lled with concrete application
data.

Structure
The archiving object only describes the data structure, that is, it determines which data belong logically together, whereas the
data object contains real data from the database, such as all table entries belonging to a Financial Accounting document.

A data object incorporates all application data that is necessary to archive a business object (master data or transaction data)
completely and consistently. Examples of master data objects include material masters and bills of material. Examples of
transaction data objects are Financial Accounting documents, billing documents, and deliveries.

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A typical data object is composed of a:

Header containing general information for identifying the data object, and a

Individual items that contain the actual application data

Use
The Archive Development Kit (ADK) ensures that data objects are written sequentially to an archive le. All data objects in an
archive le have the same structure, which is described in the archiving object.

See also:

Archiving Object

Archive Administration
Use
The most important actions relating to data archiving take place in the Archive Administration (transaction SARA ).

 Note
The de nition of an archiving object determines which actions are possible for the archiving object. Consequently, all the
following archiving functions are not always offered in Archive Administration.

Features
Preprocessing

Enables you to schedule and run preprocessing programs. Preprocessing programs prepare data objects for archiving, for
example, by setting a deletion indicator. See Scheduling Preprocessing .

Write

Enables you to schedule and run a write program to create archive les. The program copies the relevant data objects sequentially
to the archive les that were previously created. See Creating Archive Files .

Delete

Enables you to schedule and run delete programs. Data objects that were successfully imported into the archive le created are
deleted from the database. See Deleting Data from the Database .

Postprocessing

Enables you to schedule and run postprocessing programs. Postprocessing programs carry out operations following an archiving
session, such as updating statistics. See Scheduling Postprocessing .

Read

Enables you to schedule and run a program that reads and analyzes archived data. See Reading Archive Files .

Index

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Enables an index to be built or deleted for existing archive les. The index is required to display individual documents belonging to
several archiving objects. See Building an Index and Deleting an Index .

Storage System

Enables archive les to be transferred to a connected storage system and enables stored archive les to be retrieved from a
storage system. See Storing Archive Files and Retrieving Stored Archive Files .

Management

Offers an overview of archiving sessions for one archiving object. From here, you can display and analyze object-speci c
management information. See Archive Administration: Overview of Archiving Sessions and Calling Archive Session Management .

Further Functions

Depending on the action you have selected, you can use Goto and Environment on the menu to access the following menu
options, or you can access them directly from the application bar:

( documentation ): Access to the archiving-object-speci c documentation in the SAP Library

Network Graphic

Reload

Customizing

Job Overview: Offers an overview of all archiving jobs and the functions available for processing them.

Logs

Management

Stored Files: Enables you to search for stored archive les according to various selection criteria

Database Tables

Infosystem

Statistics

Interrupting and Continuing

Check/Delete : Cross-archiving-object check and delete function - available via Environment .

Activities
You can call the Archive Administration:

By entering the transaction SARA in the command eld

By choosingTools Administration Management Data Archiving

Directly from the application

If you choose an archiving function in the application, the relevant archiving object is automatically speci ed in Archive
Administration. Otherwise, you must specify it manually.

Archive Development Kit

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De nition
The Archive Development Kit (ADK) is a tool for developing archiving solutions. It also prepares the runtime environment for
archiving. From a technical viewpoint, it is an intermediate layer between the application program and the archive that provides all
the functions required for archiving data.

Use
The ADK functions are required for archiving and for subsequent access to archived data. The ADK automatically performs the
hardware-dependent adjustments (such as codepage and number format) and structural changes that are required when archive
les are created. When the archive les are accessed later, the ADK temporarily converts data that was archived using earlier
releases of the respective SAP Business Suite application (in the case of SAP R/3, this applies to releases back to and including
2.1).

Integration
The following graphic illustrates the ADK’s role in the archiving concept.

More information:

Archive Development Kit (Extended Function Library Applications)

Content Management Service (CMS)

Authorization Check
De nition
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The authorization to carry out various archiving object programs is checked by the authorization object S_ARCHIVE. The Archive
Development Kit (ADK) performs the check when an archive le is opened for one of the following actions:

Write

Delete

Read

Restore

Use
The following authorizations can be given per archiving object and solution (such as SAP ERP Financials or SAP ERP Human
Capital Management):

Everything is allowed

Write, read, and reload archives; execute delete programs; change mode in archive management (notes)

Change mode in archive management

Maintain notes

Read and analyze archives and display mode in archive management

There may also be additional access authorization checks for speci c application components.

More information:

Authorization Check in Archiving Programs

Tables and Archiving Objects

Use
Transaction DB15 enables you to determine which archiving objects archive the data records from a speci c table, or enables you
to display all of the tables for a speci c archiving object. You can also call various statistics for the amount of used database
space.

Integration
This function is integrated into data archiving. Therefore you can also call it from Archive Administration (Transaction SARA ) via
Database Tables .

Features
Archiving Objects

This pushbutton takes you to the part of the screen where you can determine archiving objects. To display the archiving objects
that apply to a speci c table, enter the table name under Objects for Table and choose Display Table .

Tables from which you want to archive data

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This pushbutton takes you to the part of the screen where you can determine tables. To display the tables that belong to a speci c
archiving object, enter the archiving object under Tables for Object and choose Display Objects .

In the display, some archiving object types are not shown. These are all archiving objects that

Read, but do not delete

Archive using a view or a structure

Archive using an archiving class for which no table information is maintained (transaction ACLA )

By default, the system displays only tables whose data records are deleted during Data Archiving. By selecting All Tables, you can,
however, display all tables that are linked to the archiving object (with the exception of those mentioned above).

For more information about how to determine tables and archiving objects see Displaying Archiving Objects and Tables

Storage Space (Statistics)

This transaction provides information from SAP tables that are lled by statistics determination runs. This also provides further
information, such as the time and number of the last archiving session and various details on the client used.

For database-speci c information see the following documentation:

Determining Space Information (Oracle)

Determining Space Information (Informix)

Determining Space Information (MaxDB)

Displaying Archiving Objects and Tables

Use
Each archiving object archives speci c tables as set in the de nition of the archiving object in transaction AOBJ . If you do not
know which tables are archived using which archiving object or vice versa, you can use this procedure to determine:

The archiving object that archives a particular table

Which archiving objects can be used to archive the tables in question

There are number of export, lter, and search functions that you can use here.For more information about the SAP List Viewer
(ALV) functions available here, see SAP List Viewer (ALV) Grid Control (BC-SRV-ALV)

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Procedure
Choose Administration → CCMS → DB Administration → Data Archiving (transaction DB15). Alternatively, go to transaction
SARA and choose Database Tables

The Tables and Archiving Objects screen appears with the cursor in the lower section of the screen in the area Tables from
which data is archived.

Tables

To display the tables archived by a particular archiving object, enter the archiving object in theTables in object eld and
chooseEnter

By default, only the tables from which data is deleted after archiving are displayed. To display all tables processed by the
archiving object, choose All Tables

To display all the archiving objects for one of the tables listed, choose a table and thenShow objects

The list of archiving objects appears in the upper part of the screen.

Archiving Objects

Choose Archiving Objects .

To display the archiving objects that archive a speci c table, enter the table in the Objects for table eld and choose Enter .

In addition to transparent tables, you can also enter pool and cluster tables. DB15 determines the transparent tables for the pool
or cluster table.

To display all the tables for one of the archiving objects listed, choose an archiving object and then Show tables .

The list of tables appears in the lower part of the screen.

DB15 does not output archiving objects that:

Only read data and do not delete it from the table

Archive data from the table indirectly using a view or a structure

Determining Space Information (Oracle)

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Use
You can determine information about space and space parameters online or use existing statistics. For more information, see DB
Tables .

Procedure
1. Choose Administration CCMS DB administration Data archiving , or enter transaction DB15 in the command eld.

2. Enter an archiving object and then display the corresponding tables.

 Note
Intermediate result

Online space provides you with information obtained from the Oracle system table DBA_TABLES. This includes the
number of records, the space used, and the date the last time statistics were created by Oracle. The system also
displays general information about the time and the number of the last archiving session as well as its client–
dependence.

Space statistics displays the corresponding information from the SAP tables DBSTATTORA and DBSTATIORA that
are lled using update statistics with BRCONNECT.

See Update Statistics for the Cost-Based Optimizer in CCMS (Oracle) .

For more details about the space and space parameters of a particular table, continue as below.

3. Select a table.

4. Choose Online space or Space statistics .

5. Alternatively, you can select a table from the display and then choose Space details.

Result
You can use the information displayed to determine what to archive. Choose Archive management to go to archive
management directly, where you can plan and execute data archiving.

Determining Space Information (MaxDB)

You can determine information on the memory space and memory parameters online, or to read from existing statistics.

Prerequisites
You have selected the role of the database administrator for the database system:

SAP_BC_DB_ADMIN_SDB.

The system displays the database administrator user menu.

Procedure
Choose Database: Archiving Data Archiving: DB Tables (transaction DB15 ).

Enter an archiving object and then display the corresponding tables ( Displaying Archiving Objects and Tables ).

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Space (Online) : The system displays information from the database system about the number of records, the utilized storage
space, and the data of the last statistics creation.

The system also displays general information about the time and the number of the last archiving run and its client dependency.

Space Statistics : The system displays relevant information from the SAP tables DBSTATTADA and DBSTATIADA. These tables are
lled by UPDATE STATISTICS runs scheduled using the DBA Planning Calendar (transaction DB13 ).

Additional Information for a Speci c Table : If you want detailed information about the space and space parameters of a speci c
table, select the table and choose Online Space or Space Statistics. Alternatively, you can select a table from the display and then
choose Space Details.

Result
You can use Archive Management to activate or plan data archiving.

Network Graphic
Use
You can use the network graphic to show any existing dependencies between archiving objects. It shows business process ows
and contexts that can in uence the archiving sequence. In particular, at the start of an archiving object, you can use the network
graphic to obtain a good overview of related documents.

 Caution
As with a map, the network graphic is only for orientation purposes. It is not intended to show all the available document types
and dependencies that exist in the system. For this reason, the network graphic cannot be used as a programming model for
business processes.

Features
In an archiving session, you must take into account any dependencies between archiving objects that require a speci c archiving
sequence. In general, you cannot archive data for an archiving object that has preceding objects until these preceding objects have
been archived.

You can use the network graphic to determine whether the archiving object that you want to use has preceding objects. If so, the
preceding objects should be implemented before the current archiving object. The nodes in the network graphic represent the
archiving objects. A node displays the following information:

Archiving object name

Application name

Short description

Date of last archiving

The date is displayed in three “traffic light” colors.

– Green: Archiving and deletion successful

– Yellow: Successfully archived, but not yet deleted , or Archiving still running , or Delete in progress or Delete canceled

– Red: Not yet archived , or Archiving canceled

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The network graphic is a standard tool for creating and displaying network plans and hierarchies.

Activities
You can use the network graphic to call Archive Management (transaction SARA ) at the same time as the required object name:

1. Double-click the archiving object for which you want to perform to carry out an action (such as write or delete).

You access Archive Administration. The name of the archiving object is copied automatically.

2. You can now select the action that you want to carry out and schedule the relevant background job.

See also:

Calling the Network Graphic

Archive Administration

Calling the Network Graphic

Prerequisites
You are on the Archive Administration: Entry Screen (transaction SARA).

Procedure
1. If you want to display the network graphic for all archiving objects, leave the archiving object name eld empty.

2. If you want to display all the predecessors of a particular object, enter the name of the archiving object in the archiving O
bject Name eld.

3. To call the network graphic: Choose Goto Network Graphic .

The network graphic is displayed for the speci ed archiving object or all registered archiving objects.

 Note

If you have called the network graphic for all archiving objects, you can increase the display area by enlarging the rectangle in
the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. Use the mouse to change the rectangle.

See also:

Network Graphic

Accessing Archived Data

Use
Data that was archived using SAP Data Archiving has been relocated from the database but not placed beyond the application.
Data is still available for read access and analysis. In some cases, archived data can even be reloaded into the database.

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Prerequisites
A prerequisite of read access and reload access, is that the le can be found in the le system. You can check this in Archive
Administration.

Features

 Note
The uses of archived data described here are technically possible, but are not currently implemented in all application
components. For more information, refer to the application-speci c sections of the documentation on Data Archiving in the
SAP Library.

Three types of access are possible:

(Read) access to a single data object, such as an accounting document

Direct access or single document access requires an index that can be built either during archiving or at a later point. A
complex search of the documents stored in the archive les, in which all orders of an article in a particular batch are
required for a product recall action, is not possible.

The Archive Information System (AS) supports direct access using archive information structures that can be generated
automatically either when the archive les are being written, or at a later point.

Analysis of an archive le (sequential read)

It is possible to run an analysis for one or several archiving sessions. The results of the analyzed data objects are displayed
in a list. Furthermore, some archiving objects offer the option of a combined analysis. With this option, you can link current
data in the database and archived data.

Reloading into the database

Archived data does not usually need to be reloaded because it remains accessible by the applications. There is also a lot of
data that cannot be reloaded or for which reloading is problematic. For this reason, reload programs do not exist for all
archiving objects.

Archive Administration: Archiving Session

Overview
Use
On this screen, you can display and edit management information on archiving sessions.

Features
Within a status area, archiving sessions are, by default, organized in groups of 20. The sessions are ordered according to the
following statuses:

Archiving Sessions with Errors : The write process terminated before the rst archive le was created.

Incomplete Archiving Sessions : The write process has not been completed, the deletion program did not run for all
archive les, or a write process was terminated.

Completed Archiving Sessions : Both the write process and the delete phase were completed successfully.

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Archiving Sessions to be Reloaded : The content of the archiving session is to be reloaded into the database.

Archiving Sessions Created During Reload : The archiving session contains data that could not be reloaded into the
database during the reload. The archiving session is not accessible again until the reload program has been run
successfully.

Replaced Sessions : The archiving session was reloaded or converted.

Invalid Archiving Session : The archiving session has been marked as invalid.

Archiving Sessions to be Archived : The management data for the archiving session can be archived and deleted using
archiving object BC_ARCHIVE.

Interrupted : The archiving session was interrupted. This was done either manually by the user or because the interruption
parameters were reached (for example, the maximum runtime or a total number of data).

For more information, see:

Archiving Session Detail

Archiving File Detail

 Note
The Goto menu offers access to the following:

Customizing

Job Overview: Offers an overview of all archiving jobs and the functions available for processing them. For more information
on the job overview, refer to Managing Jobs in the Job Overview .

Logs

Stored Files: Enables you to search for stored archive les according to various selection criteria

Retrieved les: Allows you to search for archive les that were retrieved into the le system, for a comprehensive analysis
for example. These archive les are no longer needed and can be deleted after they have been used. See Deleting Retrieved
Archive Files .

Database Tables

Infosystem

Statistics

Interrupting and Continuing

See also:

Calling Archiving Session Management

Deleting Retrieved Archive Files

Use
This function enables you to delete copies of archive les that were retrieved from an external storage system to the le system.
This function is usually required if these copies are no longer needed and you want to access the stored archive les again directly

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from the storage system.

Features
Overview of Retrieved Archive Files

The program RSARCH_LIST_RETRIEVED returns a list of the retrieved archive les. You can restrict the selection to archiving
objects, archiving runs, archive les, and content repositories. The list contains the following information about the retrieved
archive les:

Name of the archive le

Relevant logical le path

Generation date

Name of the content repository

Document ID in the storage system

Status of the stored le in the storage system

Storage date and time

Deleting the Archive Files

To delete copies of stored archive les, select the relevant entries in the list and then choose Delete Retrieved File. The program
deletes the le on the operating system level and automatically adjusts the administration entries in the archive management.
You can then access the archive les again directly in the storage system.

Retrieved les are only deleted if the original archive les in the storage system have the status „ONLINE“ and if the access
check for the stored archive le was successful. The program also checks if the header information of the archive le match
the administration data in the archive management. If they do not match, the le is not deleted.

For les whose status in the storage system is not „ONLINE“, you can display additional information about the cause of the
problem by double-clicking on the Status eld or by selecting theError pushbutton - if there is no additional information, there
is no output.

Activities
You can execute the program RSARCH_LIST_RETRIEVED either from the screen ABAP: Execute Program (transaction SA38) or
from the archive management via Goto Retrieved Files .

Calling Archiving Session Management

Prerequisites
You are in the Archive Administration: Initial Screen (transaction SARA ). You have entered the name of the archiving object in the
Object Name eld.

Procedure
Choose Management .

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The Archive Management: Archiving Session Overview screen appears.

You can now perform the following activities:

Display Archiving Session Details

Display Archive File Details

Transfer Files to ArchiveLink or Retrieve Files from ArchiveLink provided that a storage system is connected.

Furthermore, the tool bar offers the following functions:

Spool list: Overview of the current spool requests for the archiving session

Storage system: Functions for storing and retrieving archive les

Customizing

Job Overview: Overview of all archiving jobs and the functions available for processing them. For more information on the
job overview, refer to Managing Jobs in the Job Overview .

Database Tables

Infosystem

Statistics

You can access more functions using the Goto menu item.

Displaying Archiving Session Details

Prerequisites
You are in the Archive Administration: Initial Screen (transaction SARA ). You have entered the name of the archiving object in the
Object Name eld.

Procedure
1. Choose Management .

2. The Archive Management: Archiving Session Overview screen appears.

3. Place the cursor on the list of archiving sessions with the relevant status and expand the list.

4. Position the cursor on the session.

5. Choose Choose .

A dialog box appears that gives Details of the selected archiving session.

See also:

Display Archive File Details

Archiving Session Details

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Use
You can display detailed information for each archiving session.

Features
General Information

System ID for the system used for the archiving session

Archiving session number

Date, time, and user for the session

Number of the spool assigned to the session

Current Jobs for the Session

This area only appears if there are still active read or write jobs for the current session. To go to the job overview, choose Display
Job. Here you can release, cancel, or delete individual jobs.

For the current job, the following job activities can be indicated:

Active: The job has status "ready", "scheduled", or "active".

Terminated: The job was terminated.

Changeable Settings

You can create a note and a long text for the session or mark it for archiving or as invalid. You should mark a session as invalid if,
for example. you discover after archiving that the data selection was incorrect. Invalid sessions are no longer offered for archive
selection.

Mark Several Archiving Sessions for Archiving or as Invalid

You can use the report RSARCH_FLAG_SESSIONS to mark several archiving sessions

For archiving

As invalid

When selecting the archiving sessions, you can also differentiate between sessions whose archive les are in a storage system,
and sessions for which no accessible archive les exist.

You can use this report, for example, to mark all the archiving sessions created prior to a speci ed date for archiving or as invalid.
This can be useful, for example, as an initial run when archiving archive administration data using the archiving object
BC_ARCHIVE.

See also:

Displaying Archiving Session Details

Displaying Archive File Details

Prerequisites
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You are in the Archive Administration: Initial Screen (transaction SARA ). You have entered the name of the archiving object in the
Object Name eld.

Procedure
1. Choose Management .

2. The Archive Management: Archiving Session Overview screen appears.

3. Position the cursor on the session.

4. Expand the archiving session.

5. Position the cursor on the required archive le.

6. Choose Choose .

A dialog box appears that gives Details of the selected archive le.

See also:

Display Details of an Archiving Session

Archive File Details

Use
You can display an archive le status dialog box for all archiving sessions except for incomplete sessions where no archive les
have been created.

Features
General Information

Archive le name

Date and time or archiving

Number of data objects

Size of archiving le in MB

Status of the archive le

Information for storing the le in a storage system

Index status

Archiving Status

An archive le can have the following statuses:

Write Complete: The archive les have been written, but the data objects in the database have not been (completely)
deleted.

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Delete complete: Previously archived data objects have been deleted from the database.

Reloaded: Data objects in the archive le have been reloaded into the database.

Converted: The contents of the archive les have been written to a new archive le with conversion programs delivered by
SAP.

Saved: The content of the archive le is a backup copy of the data in the database.

Storage Status

An archive le can have the following storage statuses:

Not stored: The archive le is still in the le system.

Storage in Progress: The request to store the archive le in a storage system is running.

Stored: The archive le has been successfully stored in a storage system.

Storage Error: The archive le was not successfully stored.

Retrieval in Progress: The request to reload the archive le in the le system has been issued.

Retrieval error:: The le could not be reloaded into the le system.

Storage Incomplete: The archive le could not be completely stored in a storage system.

Index

An index for an archive le can have the following statuses:

Index Built: The index for this archive le was successfully built.

Index Deleted: The index for this archive le was deleted.

No Index Exists: No index exists for the archive le.

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Accessibility Status

An archive le can have the following accessibility statuses:

Accessible: The archive le can be accessed in Archive Administration.

Not Accessible: The archive le cannot be accessed in Archive Administration.

Changeable Settings

The dialog box can also contain the following changeable information:

Note written by the user

File name of the archive le

Platform-independent path speci ed during archiving in archiving object-speci c Customizing

The physical le name

Activities
Displaying Archive File Details

Interrupting and Continuing Archiving

Sessions
Use
In order that Data Archiving can be seemlessly integrated into the production system, you can interrupt an archiving session
during the write phase and contine it at a later time. This enables you to react, during archiving, to speci c time constraints or
hard-disk space shortages. You can continue and complete interrupted archiving sessions when you have more time or more
storage space.

Integration
This function is a part of the Archive Administration (transaction SARA ) and requires the support of the write program.

Prerequisites
To interrupt an archiving session:

The archiving object must be registered in transaction AOBJ as interruptible , otherwise the Archive Development Kit
(ADK) is unable to inform the write program of the interruption request.

The write program must be able to process the interruption request.

The archiving session must be run in production mode (not test mode) and be in process.

The delete phase must be able to start before the write phase has nished (setting in transaction AOBJ ).

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To continue an archiving session:

The session must have been interrupted within the context of the interrupution concept. Archiving sessions that were
interrupted for other reasons or that were terminated by archive management cannot be continued.

The delete phase must have completed for the data that was archivied up to the point of interruption, that is, the archiving
session must have the status completed .

Features
The write phase of an interruptible archiving session can be interrupted either implicitly (on account of the values that are
speci ed in Cross-Archiving Object Customizing )or explicitly (manually by an Application Programming Interface (API) ).

Activities
Explicitly Interrupting an Archiving Session

Implicitly Interrupting an Archiving Session

Continuing an Interrupted Archiving Session

Automatic Interruption of an Archiving

Session
Purpose
When scheduling an archiving session, you realize that the time slot available or the amount of storage space is not going to be
enough. However, you want to start the archiving session, interrupt it, and continue it later.

Prerequisites
The archiving object supports interruption.

In cross-archiving object Customizing, you have speci ed the running time in hours or the storage space in MB, or both.

Process Flow
1. Start the archiving session as usual.

2. For each data object that function module ARCHIVE_SAVE_OBJECT writes, the ADK determines whether it is necessary to
interrupt the archiving session.

The ADK calculates the following:

The time that has elapsed since the write job was released.

The storage space – by adding the size of already closed archive les to the size of the archive le that is currently being
written.

3. As soon as one of these values is reached, the ADK triggers the interruption by raising the exception
TERMINATED_REQUESTED.

 Note

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The write program must be able to process the exception and call function module ARCHIVE_CLOSE_FILE.

4. The ADK sets the incomplete status, as usual, but marks it additionally as interrupted .

Result
The archiving session was interrupted and can be continued later. To continue an interrupted archiving session, see Continuing an
Interrupted Archiving Session .

Explicitly Interrupting an Archiving Session

Use
You want to interrupt an active archiving session manually and continue it later.

Prerequisites
The archiving object supports interruption.

The archiving session to be interrupted is in the write phase.

You are in the Archive Administration: Initial Screen (transaction SARA ). You have entered the name of the archiving
object in the Object Name eld.

Alternatively, you can interrupt an archiving session from archive management. Choose Goto Interrupt .

Procedure
1. Choose Goto Interrupt.

2. Select the archiving session(s) to be interrupted.

You have the following options:

1. All interruptible archiving sessions for all interruptible archiving objects.

2. All interruptible archiving sessions for the speci ed archiving object.

3. Speci c archiving sessions that you can select in Archive Selection

 Note

The selection of the archiving sessions is always cross-client if the archiving objects used are cross-client.

1. After you have selected the relevant archiving session, con rm your interruption request by choosing Execute .

Result
The archiving session is interrupted before the system starts writing the next data object. In archive management, the session is
marked as interrupted .

See also:

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Implicitly Interrupting an Archiving Session

Continuing an Interrupted Archiving Session

Continuing an Interrupted Archiving Session

Use
You can use this function to continue archiving sessions that you interrupted earlier.

Prerequisites
The delete jobs have been run for the archive les in the archiving sessions that was interrupted (the archiving session has
the status completed ).

You are in the Archive Administration: Initial Screen (transaction SARA ). You have entered the name of the archiving
object in the Object Name eld.

Alternatively, you can continue an archiving session from archive management. Choose Goto Continue .

Procedure
1. Choose Goto Continue.

2. Select the archiving session(s) to be continued.

You have the following options:

1. All interrupted archiving sessions for all interruptible archiving objects

2. All interrupted archiving sessions for the speci ed archiving object

3. Speci c archiving sessions that you can select in Archive Selection

 Note

The selection of the archiving sessions is always cross-client if the archiving objects used are cross-client.

1. Once you have maintained the Start Time and Spool Parameters , schedule the continuation job by choosing Execute .

Result
The archiving session is continued at the speci ed time – that is, the data objects that still have to be archived (in accordance with
your selection criteria) are written to archive les.

See also:

Interrupting and Continuing Archiving Sessions

Explicitly Interrupting an Archiving Session

Implicitly Interrupting an Archiving Session

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Database Actions Before and After Archiving

Purpose
Archiving uses application software that depends on and affects the organization of the database data. You should therefore
organize the database before and after archiving.

Process Flow
1. Database Actions Before Archiving

2. Database Actions to Take Effect After Archiving or Deleting Data

Database Actions Before Archiving

Archiving application data helps to prevent storage and performance bottlenecks. Since relocating data can, in some
circumstances, in itself, impair performance – this is the case if you need to access archived data – you need to consider carefully
what data to archive.

To determine whether or not you should archive data, consider the following questions:

If there are memory problems, can more memory be assigned to the table (MAXEXTENT, Tablespace)?

If the answer is yes, and if you will need to access the archived data and you have no performance problems, you should
consider enlarging the table.This procedure is described in the SAP NetWeaver AS document SAP Database Guide: Oracle
and Informix (BRSPACE for Oracle and SAPDBA for Informix) and the ABAP Dictionary , section Tablespaces and Extents
(database-independent parameterization, MaxDB).

How likely is it that you will need to access the archived data again? How often?

If you need to access the archived data often and there are no performance problems, assign more memory to the tables in
question (see above).

Is the data accessed using an optimal index?

An appropriate index may exist, but may not be used. This depends on the database optimizer.

You can check which index is actually used to access data by Performing an SQL Trace . For more information on indexes, refer to
the SAP NetWeaver AS document ABAP Dictionary and search for appropriate sections using “index” as your search term.

Does the application perform a full table scan on the tables that contain the data to be archived?

If the answer is yes and the table is fragmented, it may help to reorganize the table before archiving so that new records
and any records that remain in the database are physically contiguous.

 Caution
Reorganization takes a long time and may need to be repeated after archiving.

Throughput during a reorganization:

With export/import: approximately. 60-100 MByte/hour.

With unload/load: approximately. 250-300 MByte/hour.

See also:
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Oracle:

Space Management with BR*Tools

Segment Management with BR*Tools

Database Actions to Take Effect After

Archiving or Deleting
Oracle and Informix: Reorganize index
If data has been archived or simply deleted and the associated tables were accessed via an index, the index should be reorganized.
Deleting table entries leaves holes in the table which are still indexed. Reorganization can shorten the access paths, reducing
response times.

For databases with a cost-based optimizer: Update the database statistics

If your database uses a cost-based optimizer, you must choose Update Statistics to recalculate the access paths.

Oracle and Informix: Reorganize tablespace or database space

Whether you should reorganize the tablespace depends on the reason for archiving.

Do you expect a lot of new data for the archived tables?

If so, you should not reorganize.

If, on the other hand, you archived data that is no longer needed in the system and the table is otherwise rarely changed,
you should reorganize.

Do you want to make space for other tables?

If so, you should reorganize the tablespaces/database space of both the tables and the indices.

This procedure is described in the SAP NetWeaver AS document SAP Database Guide: Oracle and Informix (BRSPACE for
Oracle and SAPDB for Informix databases) and the ABAP Dictionary , section Tablespaces and Extents (database-
independent parameterization, MaxDB).

See also:

Oracle:

Space Management with BR*Tools

Segment Management with BR*Tools

Performing an SQL Trace

1. Open a new window and choose System Utilities SQL Trace .

2. The Trace Requests screen appears.

3. Choose Trace On to activate the trace.

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4. Perform a typical database access in the rst window (for example, an application transaction or the transaction SE16 ).

5. To turn the trace off, choose Trace Off and examine the SQL statement with List Trace .

6. Position the cursor on one of the PREPARE, OPEN, or REOPEN statements, and choose Explain SQL .

The system displays detail information. The index used is speci ed in the line beginning with Index .

Archive Selection
Use
For some archiving actions it is necessary to select individual archive les or whole archive sessions and make them available for
the relevant action. You do this in the Archive Selection screen, which is accessible from the initial screen of the relevant action.

Archive selection is relevant for the following actions:

Delete

Read

Build index

Reload

Postprocessing

Prerequisites
Depending on the action, there are four different criteria for whether archiving sessions and archive les are displayed in the
archive selection:

Criterion 1

Archive le status

Action Criterion

Delete Archive le status

Archived or

Stored (if sequence "Store before deletion" has been selected in

Customizing)

Read Archive le status Archived

or

Deleted

or

Saved

Build index Archive le has the status Deleted and the le is in the le system

Reload Archive le is in le system and the session has the corresponding

status (see criterion 5)

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Postprocessing All archive les have status Deleted

Criterion 2

The archive le must contain at least one data object. If you have performed an archiving session and maintained the variants so
that no data objects were archived, the archive le is automatically deleted and no longer offered for selection.

Criterion 3

If a le is not accessible in the le system, the le is not offered for selection. A le is only offered for read if all the les in a session
are accessible.

While checking the accessibility of a le, the system performs a read access for each le. This check process can take a long time
if there are a lot of les. To optimize this process the access check can be de-/activated according to archive les in le system
and archive les in an optical archive in archiving object-speci c Customizing .

Criterion 4

For client-dependent archiving objects only the sessions for the current client are offered.

Criterion 5

An archiving session can only be reloaded if it has the status Complete or Archiving session is reloaded .

Features
In the Archive Selection screen, which you can access by choosing Archive Selection from the initial screen of the archiving
action, you can either select complete archive sessions or individual archive les.

Activities
Selecting Archive Files

Selecting Archive Files

Prerequisites
You have chosen one of the following activities. You are now in the screen where you can execute the chosen activity:

– Delete

– Read

– Build index

– Reload

– Postprocessing

At least one of the archiving selection criteria (see Archive Selection ) is valid for this action.

Procedure
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1. Choose Archive Selection.

2. The archive selection screen appears for the selected action.

3. To select all les belonging to an archiving session, mark the appropriate checkbox.

4. As a con rmation, the small rectangle to the right of the checkbox is lled.

5. To select individual les belonging to an archiving session, expand the desired node, and mark the relevant checkbox.

6. As a con rmation, the small rectangle to the right of the checkbox is only half lled.

You can select all sessions or cancel the selection by choosing Select All or Deselect All .

The reload program can only ever process complete archiving sessions. For this reason, you cannot select individual les
for reloading.

7. Con rm your le selection by choosing Continue .

You return to the initial screen.

Result
You have selected the archive le(s) for processing If you have also maintained the start date and spool parameters, you can
schedule the required archiving action.

See also:

Maintaining Spool Parameters

Maintaining the Start Date

Statistics
Use
When writing, deleting, reading, or reloading, statistical data on each archiving run (such as the storage space that has been freed
in the database by deletions or the number of deleted data objects) is automatically generated and is persistently stored in the
database The data archiving administrators can analyze these gures so that they can better plan future archiving projects and
request the necessary resources. Statistics also provided pertinent information on the role of data archiving in reducing the data
volume in the database.

Features
The statistics are collected by the Archive Development Kit (ADK). This occurs during the write, deleted, and reload processes. In
other archiving contexts, such preprocessing, postprocessing or conversion programs, no statistics are collected.

You can call the analysis transaction, either directly from the initial screen of Archive Administration (transaction SARA ), or from
the management part of Archive Administration: To do so, choose Statistics . Alternatively, you can use transaction
SAR_DA_STAT_ANALYSIS.

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In addition to the analysis transaction, in which the statistics can be directly displayed, the statistics are also sent to the standard
log for the write, delete, read and reload programs, from where they can also be analyzed. As a prerequisite, the relevant
application must call the standard log. The standard log can be run in both test mode and production mode in the write program
only. In all other programs it can be run in production mode only. In other archiving contexts, such preprocessing, postprocessing
or conversion programs, no standard log is issued.

Selection

The statistical information is displayed on the basis of the selection data entered here. Selection data includes the client in which
the archiving session was run, the name of the archiving object , the date on which the archiving session data was run, and the
status of the archiving session. Multiple selection is also possible.

Archiving Session Number

When selecting the archiving sessions for reporting, you can choose between archiving sessions with the following statuses:

Incomplete

Complete

Replaced

To select a status, enter the corresponding code. You can mark one indicator, or a combination of several.

The status used here is the same as the archiving status in the management part of Archive Administration. For more information,
see Details on the Archiving Session .

Displaying Statistical Information

To display statistical information, choose Display Statistics .

The display uses the SAP List Viewer functions (formerly the ABAP List Viewer ALV ). For a general description of the
comprehensive functions of the SAP List Viewer and how to use this tool, see SAP List Viewer (ALV) Grid Control (BC-SRV-ALV) .

 Note

To make settings that affect how the statistics are displayed, choose Select Layout . Here, you can, for example, set the
column width, the column sequence, or column selection and then save the changed display as a user-speci c layout variant.
For a display that is easier to use, you can also hide columns that do not interest you.

In the full display (that is, if a user-layout has not been de ned), the following information is displayed:

Column Notes

Archiving Session number Archiving session number

Object Archiving object name

Client Client in which the archiving session was carried out

Date Date on which the archiving session was carried out

Status Status of the session number

Incomplete

Complete

Replaced

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Disk Space Space on the (hard) disk occupied by the archiving session

Header data Proportion of header data in the archiving session. In addition to the
actual data, an archive le also contains header data that classi es
and describes the business data. An archiving session’s header data
should be as small as possible.

DB Space (Write) "Virtual" storage space in MB that is occupied by an incomplete

archiving session in the database

Occupied table storage spec in the database in MB;

DB Space (Write)
Storage Space Category

Occupied index storage space in the database in MB, storage space

DB Index Space (Write)
category "Indexes" in the column DB Space (Write)

Occupied cluster storage space in the database in MB, storage

DB Cluster Space (Write)
space category "Cluster" in the column DB Space (Write)

Occupied structure storage space in the database in MB, storage

DB Structure Space (Write)
space category "Structures" in the column DB Space (Write)

DB Storage Space (Delete) "Virtual" storage space in MB that is occupied by an incomplete

archiving session in the database

Deleted table storage space in the database in MB. Storage space

DB Table Space (Delete)
category " Tables" in the column DB Space (Delete)

Deleted table storage space in the database in MB. Storage space

DB Space (Write)
category "Tables " in the column DB Space (Delete)

Deleted cluster storage space in the database in MB, storage space

DB Table Space (Delete)
category "Cluster" in the column DB Space (Delete)

Deleted structure storage space in the database in MB. Storage

DB Table Space (Delete)
space category "Structures " in the column DB Space (Delete)

DB Space (Reload) "Virtual" storage space in MB that is occupied by a reloaded

archiving session in the database

Reloaded table storage space in the database in MB. Storage space

DB Space (Reload)
category "Tables" in the column DB Space (Reload)

Reloaded index storage space in the database in MB. Storage space

DB Index Space (Reload)
category "Indexes" in the column DB Space (Reload)

Reloaded cluster storage space in the database in MB, storage

DB Cluster Space (Reload)
space category "Cluster" in the column DB Space (Reload)

Reloaded structure storage space in the database in MB. Storage

DB Space (Reload)
space category "Structures" in the column DB Space (Reload)

Written Data Objects Number of data objects that were written to an incomplete archiving
session

Deleted Data Objects Number of data objects that were deleted for an complete archiving
session in the database

Reloaded Data Objects Number of data objects that were reloaded for a replaced archiving
session in the database

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Number of delete jobs Number of delete jobs that have run for an archiving session

Write job duration Duration of a write job for an archiving session in hours

Delete job duration Average duration of an archiving session in hours

Reload job duration Duration of a reload job for an archiving session in hours

 Caution

To calculate database storage space, the system uses the length of the relevant object types as de ned in the ABAP Dictionary.
The value that is determined in this way can therefore only be seen as an approximation for the actual storage space in the
database.

For more information on the calculation of database storage space and the storage space categories, see How Is Database
Storage Space Calculated? .

Archiving Statistical Information

Statistical information is stored persistently in database table ADMI_STATS and can be archived together with the Archive
Administration data using archiving object BC_ARCHIVE. For more information on BC_ARCHIVE, see Archiving Administration
(BC-CCM-ADK) .

Activities
Creating Statistics

See also:

How Is Database Storage Space Calculated?

Creating Statistics
Use
You can display statistical information that was automatically generated by the archiving programs (write, delete, read, reload).
Statistical information provides useful data on the individual archiving sessions for the database administrator.

Prerequisites
You are in the Archive Administration: Initial Screen (transaction SARA ). You have entered the name of the archiving object in the
Object Name eld.

 Note

Alternatively, you can call the statistics function from the archive management in Archive Administration, or in transaction
SAR_DA_STAT_ANALYSIS. If you use this transaction, you must enter client and archiving object manually.

Procedure
1. Choose: Statistics .

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2. The Display Statistics for Data Archiving screen appears.

3. In the Selection area, enter the date on which the archiving session was carried out.

4. The client and archiving object are already entered by the system. You can, however, change these values.

5. In the Archiving Status area, mark the required status for the archiving sessions for which you want to call statistics.

6. You can mark one indicator, or a combination of several.

7. Choose: Display Statistics .

Result
The statistics are displayed in the integrated ALV window (SAP List Viewer) in line with the entries made in the selection and
status parameters. For more information on the meaning of the column headings, see Statistics .

Logs
Use
This function provides a central access to the logs generated during data archiving. You can call this function from within Archive
Administration by choosing Logs or Goto Logs as well as from Archive Administration.

Features
The following logs are written when an archiving program, such as a preprocessing, write, or delete program, is executed, and can
be displayed in this function:

Job Overview

Information on the background jobs of the archiving program

Job Log

Log of the different steps of an individual background job

Spool List

List generated by the archiving program and stored in the spool

Application Log

Log of all processed objects (summarized and detailed)

Job overview, job log, and spool list are generated only by programs that are executed in the background. The application log can
be generated for programs that run in the background and in dialog mode.

Whether or not the log of the processed objects is to be updated in the application log, meaning that an application log is
generated, can be set in the variant maintenance of the corresponding program in the entry eld Log Output. See Variant

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Maintenance for Archiving Jobs.

Note that not all archiving objects offer the updating of an object log (entry eld Detailed Log in variant maintenance).

Log Display

In the log function, the left area of the screen shows the available logs, organized by archiving object, action (for example,
preprocessing, write, delete, and so on) date and time. The newest log is highlighted.

Under Process Control, you can see whether the process was started in the test or the productive mode. If the process control
could not be determined, the eld remains empty.

In the Archiving Session column, you can see the number of the archiving session that was generated by the corresponding
program (for write programs) or processed (for example by delete programs). If the session number could not be determined (for
example, in preprocessing programs), the eld remains empty. In case of reload programs, the Original Session column contains
the number of the reloaded session.

Due to technical reasons, the job overview, the job log, and the spool lists can only be displayed as fullscreen.

The Application Log is displayed directly on the right-hand side of the screen. It is used to inform the user about the results of
processing the business objects he or she has selected. For example, in the write program the user learns which business objects
have been archived and which could not be archived and why.

You use the two tab pages to choose between a summarized and a detailed application log (if available). If detailed information is
available for an object, you can display it by using the magnifying glass icon in the Detail column. Click on the question mark icon
in the Long Text column to view the message long text. If no application log was created, the relevant message text is displayed.
Possible reasons for this are, for example, that the relevant archiving program does not support this function or the user wanted
the log output in the list (spool) and not in the application log.

Note that, due to technical reasons, the Logs function cannot be used to display the logs of the archivability checks. You can
display these logs using the Check/Delete function; see Cross-Archiving-Object Check and Delete.

Activities
You can limit the display of the logs to one speci c archiving object by entering the object in the initial screen of Archive
Administration. If you want to access the logs of all archiving objects, you must leave this eld empty.

To display the log for a speci c log entry, select the entry in the log entries list and with a right mouse click choose the
corresponding log, for example, the job log or the application log.

You can delete selected application logs from the system by choosing Environment → Delete Application Logs.

See also:

Variant Maintenance for Archiving Jobs

Standard Log
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Standard Log
De nition
During the write, delete, read, or reload phases of archiving, the relevant program generates a log, either in the form of a standard
log or an application-speci c log. The latter is described in the archiving-object-speci c documentation.

Structure
Depending on the archiving action that was carried out, the standard log can contain statistical information about the archiving
session or archive le, as well as information about the processed business objects:

Archiving session- or archive le-speci c log

Archiving session number

Number of data objects for processing

Archiving session size in megabytes

Total header data in %

Table space in MB occupied for:

Tables

Indexes

Number of table entries processed

This information is only written to the spool list.

Business object-speci c log

This log provides information about the processing outcome of all business objects that were selected by a user. For the write
program, for example, you can see which business objects were archived and which were not archived and why.

First the summarized log is displayed, and if so requested on the selection screen of each archiving program (see Variant
Maintenance for Archiving Jobs ), a detailed log is displayed later. If detailed information is available for an object, you can display
this information by double clicking the desired object. If available, you can also display detail information for a message in the
same manner.

If the system did not generate an application log, a corresponding message appears. Possible reasons for this could be that the
archiving program in question does not support this function, or that you indicated that the log should be output into the
application log and not into the spool list.

You can call the standard log from the screen Archive Administration: Overview of Archiving Sessions . Choose Spool List. If you
indicated in the variant screen that the business-object-speci c information should be output in the application log, you can
display this information in Archive Administration by choosing Logs .

Cross-Archiving-Object Check and Delete

Use

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You can use this function to schedule the cross-archiving-object check and delete program. The program allows you to perform an
archivability check or delete application data from the database for several archiving objects at the same time.

The program provides for a stricter separation of the time of the archivability check and the write phase. Furthermore, it allows you
to simply mark successfully archived data for deletion instead of actually deleting it from the database immediately. The cross-
object delete program then deletes this data at a later stage (see below).

Separating the archiving phases gives you greater control of the archiving process and enables the archiving process to be
optimally integrated in production operation. Time-consuming program runs such as the archivability check or the physical
deletion of data can be separated from the write phase and performed at times when the system workload is low. The concept is
therefore particularly suited to archiving large volumes of data.

Prerequisites

 Note
The cross-object check and delete functions can be used for all archiving objects that support these functions. To check if this
is the case for a speci c archiving object of an application, see the documentation for that application, available in the SAP
Library.

Before you schedule one of these two programs you must activate and con gure the archiving objects you want to use in the
Customizing for Cross-Archiving-Object Programs view. See Check and Delete .

Features
Check

Here you schedule the cross-archiving-object check program , which you use to perform an archivability check for several
archiving objects. During the check, the program marks all business objects that ful ll the archivability criteria and can therefore
be removed from the database, with a speci c status.

 Note
Different applications use different statuses to mark data for archiving. The statuses used can therefore differ from one
archiving object to another. In SAP Customer Relationship Management, for example, the status is Archivable and has the
technical IDI1100. For more information about whether a speci c archiving object uses this status and its name, see the
relevant documentation in the SAP Library.

A business object such as a CRM sales order can generally be considered archivable if it ful lls the following criteria:

It is closed (has the status Complete ) . This means that it is no longer changed in the application.

It has reached the speci ed residence time.

 Recommendation
The residence timeshould be chosen in such a way that it only covers data that is very rarely accessed.

In addition to these general criteria, there may also be further object-dependent criteria to determine the archivability of business
objects. These are described in the documentation for the respective archiving object.

The business objects marked for archiving can be archived in a second step using an archiving object-speci c write program. An
object-speci c delete program or – if supported by the archiving object – a cross-object delete program (see below) then deletes
the data archived in this way.

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Delete

Here you schedule the cross-object delete program. This selects the business objects that have been archived and marked for
deletion and deletes them from the database. If this function is not supported by any archiving object, the Delete pushbutton is
not displayed.

 Note
The status used by the delete program for the selection of the data is application speci c and can therefore differ from one
archiving object to another. In SAP Customer Relationship Management, for example, the Deletable status has the technical ID
I1102 and the Archived status has the technical ID I1101. For more information about whether a speci c archiving object uses
this status and its name, see the relevant documentation in the SAP Library.

Displaying the Application Log

The Application Log function allows you to display the application log generated during the cross-archiving-object check and
delete processes. Please note that the Logs function that is available on the initial screen of Archive Administration cannot be
used to display the logs of the archivability check for technical reasons.

This program is based on transaction SLG1. However, in comparison to this transaction, it is easier to manage and offers a display
speci cally tailored to data archiving. It is therefore no longer necessary to specify a log object, for example. Instead, you can
simply enter the archiving object for which you want to display the application log.

Otherwise, the way the program is managed and the display is analyzed is the same as it is in transaction SLG1 and is described in
the documentation Display Logs .

Activities
You con gure the cross-archiving-object check and delete programs in Archive Administration by choosing Cross-Archiving-
Object Customizing Check and Delete . See Check and Delete .

You schedule the cross-archiving-object check and delete programs in Archive Administration by choosing Check/Delete . This
requires you to enter a variant in which you can make the following settings:

In the Server Group eld, enter the group of application servers where the processes are to run. If no server group is
available, you can create one using the Computing Center Management System (CCMS).

In the Number of Parallel Processes eld, enter the number of processes that are to be started in parallel.

Under Process Control, you determine whether the process is to run in test mode or productive mode. In test mode, the
check or deletion is only simulated. The database is not changed.

The mode selected (test or productive) in this variant overrides the settings in the Customizing variant. See Check and
Delete and Variant Maintenance for Archiving Jobs .

Both programs support parallel processing, meaning that it is possible to divide the data volume to be processed among
several work processes and application servers. This results in a signi cant increase in performance, but also leads to a
higher system workload due to the larger volume of tasks performed at the same time.

If you do not specify a server group, the parallel processing option cannot be used.

More information:

Delete Log

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Cross-Archiving-Object Check Program

The cross-archiving-object check program is used for the following purposes:

1. Selection of the data objects to be checked

2. Running the check

3. Setting the check status

The Check Process

First the data objects to be checked are selected using a special function module. The purpose of the preselection function
module is to select the business objects based on the speci cations entered in the Customizing variant, as well as the residence
time and the resubmission date.

Through the preselection it is possible to exclude irrelevant data objects from the actual check. The result is a list of relevant
objects that are transferred to the check program.

The check program then calls the check function module of the application to check the preselected data objects and if applicable,
set their status to Archivable . The list generated by the preselection module is grouped into packages for parallel processing.

To prevent an object from being checked again and again, for every checked object the program enters the date of the last
archivability check in a eld in the corresponding header table. This date and the resubmission date, which can be speci ed in
Customizing, are then used during the next program run to calculate whether the object can be checked again. Objects with the
Archivable status are not checked again.

For mySAP Customer Relationship Management archiving objects, the check function module initiates the sending of BDocs
(Business Documents), after the check status has been set. BDocs contain change information about the archived business
objects that are to be considered by the connected mobile systems.

The advantage of the background check is that it facilitates a more automated and therefore faster archiving of business objects.
This type of check, however, also means a higher use of resources. Generally, SAP development decides whether the archivability
check is executed via a cross-archiving-object check program or through an archiving-object-speci c preprocessing program. In
some cases both are offered.

Activities
The Customizing settings of the cross-archiving-object check program are made in Cross-Archiving-Object Customizing in the
Check and Delete function. The scheduling of the program takes place in Archive Administration via the Check/Delete function.

Customizing
Purpose
Customizing for Archiving enables you to set parameters that affect the archiving process.

Prerequisites
You have customizing authorization.

Data types are maintained.

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Organizational data is maintained.

Process Flow
Archiving Customizing can be divided into the following areas:

Cross-Archiving-Object Customizing

Archiving-Object-Speci c Customizing

Basis Customizing

Application-Speci c Customizing

Some applications provide the option of specifying archivability criteria for application data, to be used during data
archiving. Examples would be the residence time for sales documents or the account type life and document type life for
accounting documents. If it is possible to enter archivability criteria, this function appears in the Customizing of the
application in question and in Archiving Customizing of the corresponding archiving object.

 Note
For more information on archiving-object-speci c and application-speci c Customizing, see the application-speci c
sections of the archiving documentation available in the SAP Library.

Archiving Procedure
Purpose
This process describes the basic procedures when performing an archiving session.

Process

When archiving data, ensure that you adhere to the detailed Archiving Checklist.

Call data archiving. You can call archiving in two ways:

From the application

The system transfers the archiving object to the Archive Administration (transaction SARA) and branches automatically to the
corresponding initial screen, for example, Archive Administration: Create Archive File, if documents are to be archived. Here, you
can schedule the relevant job.

Not all applications enable you to call archiving in this way.

From system administration

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Call the Archive Administration transaction from system administration and enter the object name (see Archive Administration).
You can display all available archiving objects using input help.

Choose Enter to display the actions available for the object.

Alternatively, you can go to the network graphic for an overview of the available archiving objects, their status, any dependencies,
and so on. From the network graphic, you can access the initial screen of Archive Administration by double-clicking an archiving
object. The archiving object that you select appears in the input eld Object Name.

The system manager usually calls data archiving when database tables have become too big. For more information, see System
Manager.

You choose one of the activities available for the archiving object, for example Write or Delete.

After you have chosen an action, the system access the screen in which you can schedule the job for the chosen function.

Choose Goto → Program Documentation to display background technical information about the program. Advice, is often also
offered, and provides general information about the use of the program. If Advice is available for the current program, an "i" icon
appears. You can also call Advice by choosing Goto → Advice.

In the selection screen, schedule your job by maintaining the variant, the start date and the spool parameters, and so on. For more
information, refer to Maintaining the Start Date and Maintaining Spool Parameters.

Finally, execute the archiving job.

To prevent the program from terminating due to time-outs, sessions in the production mode should be scheduled to run in the
background. Programs should only be run online for test purposes.

If you use an external storage system, you can, in Archiving Object-Speci c Customizing, specify whether archive les are
transferred automatically to the storage system using the SAP Content Management Infrastructure. See Storing Archive Files and
Retrieving Stored Archive Files.

Archiving Checklist
Purpose
This checklist helps to ensure that you complete the necessary archiving steps and that you perform them in the correct order.

Process Flow
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Before the rst archiving session

Check the Basis Customizing settings. Are the logical le names maintained?

Check cross-archiving object Customizing. Is the Central Repository for storage maintained using the SAP Content Management
Infrastructure?

Check the application-speci c Customizing settings. Are residence times maintained?

Before using an archiving object for the rst time

Check archiving object-speci c Customizing settings:

Was the le name is correctly assigned?

Are the deletion program variants maintained? (Note that the variants are client-speci c)

Is the maximum archive le size correctly set?

Is the deletion program to run automatically?

Is the index to be created?

For each archiving session

Ensure that the user department and system management coordinate their activities.

Check the network graphic to determine whether interdependencies exist (do other data objects have to be archived rst?)

Schedule the archiving session (maintain variant).

If the deletion program is not to be run automatically, run the delete program manually.

If the archive les are not to be stored automatically by the Content Management Infrastructure, carry out the storage manually.

...

Copy the les to tape.

Note the name of the tape in archive management.

Scheduling Preprocessing Programs

Prerequisites
You are in the Archive Administration: Initial Screen (transaction SARA ). You have entered the name of the archiving object in the
Object Name eld.

 Note

Preprocessing programs prepare the data in the database for archiving, for example by marking records for archiving. Archive
les are not created. Preprocessing is not usually necessary.

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Procedure
1. Choose Preprocessing .

2. The Archive Administration: Preprocessing screen appears in which you can schedule a background job for the program.

3. Choose a variant using input help. If there are no existing variants, choose Variants to maintain the desired variant.

4.

You can only use a variant in one job. Otherwise, data could be archived more than once. If you use a variant again, a dialog
box noti es of this. Choose Jobs with Selected Variant to access the overview of all jobs that already have variants
created. In the job overview, you can delete jobs using a speci c variant.

5. Maintain the Start Date and the Spool Parameters .

 Note

The Archive Directory function enables you to establish how much free space there is in the current object-speci c archive
directory.

Result
You have now entered all the data needed for the background job. Choose Create Job to create the job.

Creating Archive Files

Prerequisites
You are in the Archive Administration: Initial Screen (transaction SARA ). You have entered the name of the archiving object in the
Object Name eld.

Procedure
Choose Write.

This takes you to a screen, with which you can schedule a background job for the write program.

If archiving has already taken place for the archiving object and there are still unprocessed archive les for the archiving session, a
dialog box warns you of this. The same applies to interrupted archiving sessions.

If you archive the same data more than once you may run into problems. Therefore, some archiving objects require that data only
exists once in the archive, because duplicate data can lead to erroneous results in the totals of archived data, for example.

Make sure that

The job that is to be newly scheduled does not select the same data contained in the archive les that have not yet been processed
by the delete program.
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You do not use variants with overlapping selection values.

If the variant that you have selected is already being used for other jobs, you can display these jobs by choosing Jobs with
Selected Variant , and if required, delete them.

Select a variant using input help. If there are no existing variants, choose Variants to maintain the required variant.For more
information see Variant Maintenance for Archiving Jobs

If Start Automatically is set for the delete program in Archiving-Object-Speci c Customizing and a production write program
variant is chosen, the delete program is also executed with its production variant. In other words, database deletions are made
after the archiving session.

Maintain the Start Date and the Spool Parameters .

Archive Directory enables you to establish how much free memory space there is in the current object-speci c archive directory.
However, this function is not suitable for HSM systems.

Result
You have now entered all the data needed for the background job. To create the job, choose Execute .

After all archive les have been completely written for a session, the system event SAP_ARCHIVING_WRITE_FINISHED is started
by ADK. This triggers subsequent processes, such as le backup using external tools.

The Goto menu offers access to the following:

Customizing

Job Overview: Offers an overview of all archiving jobs and the functions available for processing them. For more information on the
job overview, refer to Managing Jobs in the Job Overview .

Management

Database Tables

Infosystem

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You can view the logs for the started process from the initial screen of Archive Administration via Logs

Storing Archive Files

Use
If you have not speci ed in archiving object-speci c Customizing that archive les are to be transferred automatically after their
creation to a connected storage system, you can store the archive les afterwards using the SAP Content Management
Infrastructure (which also contains the ArchiveLink/CMS interface).

Prerequisites
An external storage system is linked to your SAP System.

The content repository, to which you want to transfer the le, has been maintained in archiving object-speci c Customizing
for the archiving object.

You are in the Archive Administration of the archiving object for which you want to store archive les.

Procedure
1. Choose Storage System.

The Store/Retrieve Archive Files menu box appears.

2. Choose Store Files.

The Store/Retrieve Archive Files menu box appears.

3. Using Archive Selection , choose the archive les you want to store and specify the Start Date .

4. Con rm your storage request by choosing Execute .

The selected archive les will be transferred to the storage system at the speci ed time.

 Note
The Storage System function is also available in Archive Administration.

See also:

Retrieving Stored Archive Files

Retrieving Stored Archive Files

Use
You use SAP Content Management Infrastructure (also contains the ArchiveLink/CMS interface), to retrieve archive les stored in
a storage system into the SAP system for further processing such as evaluation.

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Prerequisites
You are in Archive Administration of the archiving object from which you want to retrieve les.

The archive les for retrieval are accessible from Archive Administration.

Procedure
1. Choose Storage System.

The Store/Retrieve Archive Files menu selection screen appears.

2. Choose Retrieve Files.

This takes you to the Archive Administration: Retrieve Files screen.

3. Use Archive Selection, to select the archive les you want to retrieve and specify the Start Date for the retrieval.

4. Con rm the retrieval by choosing Execute.

Result
The selected archive les will be retrieved into the SAP system at the speci ed time for further processing.

See also:

Storing Archive Files

Deleting Archived Data from the Database

Prerequisites
In Archive Management, there are still archiving sessions for which the delete phase is not yet been completed.

 Note
If the delete program is not called automatically after the read action has completed (see Delete Program Settings ),
you must wait until the archiving has completed. Only then can you schedule this step.

You then have the option of editing a whole archiving session with all archive les or of selecting individual archive les
for editing.

You are in the Archive Administration: Initial Screen (transaction SARA ). You have entered the name of the archiving
object in the Object Name eld.

Procedure
1. Choose Delete.

This takes you to a screen, in which you can schedule a background job.

 Note
If you only want to run the delete program for test purposes (so that the data is not deleted from the database), choose
the option Test Mode .

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2. Choose Archive Selection.

You access a dialog box with the archiving sessions that are available for the archiving object. Usually, this is only the latest
session that was run.

3. If you want to edit a complete archiving session, select an archiving session and choose Continue . You return to the initial
screen.

If you want to edit one or several speci c archive les, expand the archiving session. Mark the required archive les and
choose Continue .

4. Maintain the Start Date and the Spool Parameters .

Result
You have now entered all the data needed for the background job. To create the job, choose Execute .

 Note
When all the deletion jobs are completed for the run, the system event SAP_ARCHIVING_DELETE_FINISHED is started by the
ADK. This triggers subsequent processes, such as le backup using external tools.

The Goto menu offers access to the following:

Customizing

Job Overview: Offers an overview of all archiving jobs and the functions available for processing them.

Management

Database Tables

Infosystem

 Note
You can view the logs for the started process from the initial screen of Archive Administration via Logs .

See also:

Archive Selection

Scheduling Postprocessing
Prerequisites
A postprocessing program exists for the archiving object (not all archiving objects have a postprocessing program).

 Note

The postprocessing program processes the data after the archiving session in the database, for example, by deleting log data
that is no longer required or by updating statistics. For this, no access to the archive les is required. Postprocessing is not
usually necessary.

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You are in the Archive Administration: Initial Screen (transaction SARA ). You have entered the name of the archiving
object in the Object Name eld.

Procedure
1. Select Postprocessing . This takes you to the Archive Administration: Postprocessing screen, in which you can schedule a
background job for the program.

2. Choose a variant using input help. If there are no existing variants, choose Variants to maintain the desired variant.

3. Maintain the Start Date and the Spool Parameters .

 Note

The Archive Directory function enables you to establish how much free memory space there is in the current object-speci c
archive directory.

Result
You have now entered all the data needed for the background job. To create the job, choose Execute .

See also:

Archive Selection

Reloading Data
Prerequisites

 Note
The reloading function is only meant for emergency cases, in which the wrong data was archived due to errors in Customizing
or during document selection. Therefore, data should only be reloaded immediately after the erroneous archiving session. If
you reload the data later you may end up with inconsistencies in your database.

You are in the Archive Administration; Initial Screen (transaction SARA ). You have entered the name of the archiving
object in the Object Name eld.

Archive administration has access to the archive les you want to reload.

 Note
When reloading data, the system can only process complete archiving sessions. Archive les can be reloaded
completely or partially. In either case the archive le is marked as reloaded . Objects that were not reloaded are written
to a new archive le.

Procedure
1. Choose Goto Reload.

This takes you to the Archive Administration: Reload Archive screen, where you can schedule a background job.

2. Choose Archive Selection.

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A dialog box containing the archiving sessions that have already been processed by the delete program appears.

3. Mark the desired archiving session and choose Continue .

This takes you back to the original screen.

4. Maintain the Start Date and the Spool Parameters .

Result
You have now entered all the data needed for the background job. Choose Create Job to create the job.

See also:

Creating Archive Files

Archive Selection

Building Indexes
Prerequisites
You are in the Archive Administration: Initial Screen (transaction SARA ). You have entered the name of the archiving object in the
Object Name eld.

Procedure
1. Choose Index.

2. The Build/Delete Index dialog box appears.

3. Choose Build Index .

4. The Archive Administration: Build Index screen appears.

5. Maintain the variant, the Archive Selection , the Start Date and the Spool Parameters .

6. Choose Execute .

See also:

Deleting Indexes

Deleting Indexes
Prerequisites
There is an index for deletion – otherwise the Delete Index function is not offered.

You are in the Archive Administration: Initial Screen (transaction SARA ). You have entered the name of the archiving
object in the Object Name eld.

Procedure

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1. Choose Index.

2. The Build/Delete Index dialog box appears.

3. Choose Delete Index .

4. The Archive Administration: Delete Index screen appears.

5. Maintain the variants, the Start Date and the Spool Parameters .

6. Choose Execute .

See also:

Building an Index

Reading Archive Files

Use
In addition to the data in the online database, archived data can also be read or analyzed. When data is analyzed, it is read
sequentially and elementary information such as item number, customer and order date is displayed in list form. It is possible to
run an analysis for one or several archiving sessions. Not all archiving objects offer an analysis program.

Prerequisites
The archive les to be read are accessible from Archive Administration.

There is at least one read program for the archiving object used.

You are in the Archive Administration: Initial Screen (transaction SARA ). You have entered the name of the archiving
object in the Object Name eld.

Procedure
Choose Read .

You access the screen Archive Administration: Start Read Program , where you can schedule your job.

In the Batch/Dialog eld, specify whether the analysis program is to run in the background (batch) or online (dialog).

In the Read Program eld, select a read or analysis program and choose Execute .

Depending on the selected archiving object, you access a speci c selection screen. For more information, refer to the
documentation on the speci c archiving object.

Enter your selection, and choose Execute .

You access the dialog box Archive Management: Select Files to Read . For more information on le selection, refer to Archive
Selection .

Select the archive le that you want to read or analyze and con rm the selection by choosing Continue .

The Goto menu offers access to the following:

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Customizing

Job Overview: Offers an overview of all archiving jobs and the functions available for processing them. For more information
on the job overview, refer to Managing Jobs in the Job Overview .

Management

Database Tables

Infosystem

See also:

Archive Information System

Reporting Information Structures

Variant Maintenance for Archiving Jobs

Use
When you schedule jobs for the execution of archiving programs, such as the preprocessing, write or delete programs, you must
enter a variant. The purpose of this variant is to de ne which data is to be processed and to allow the user to make other settings
that are necessary for the processing of the data.

These variant settings can be made when you are scheduling jobs, using the Maintain function.

Features
Variant maintenance is always dependent on the corresponding archiving object. Therefore, the variants may vary considerably
depending on the archiving object. These differences, however, occur mainly in the section of the variant maintenance, in which
the data selection takes place. For more information about the variant maintenance for a speci c archiving object, see the
corresponding documentation for the archiving object in the SAP Library.

The rest of the variant maintenance is the same for most archiving objects. The following settings are possible (depending on the
type of program to be scheduled - write, delete, etc.).

Under Processing Options you can determine, whether the program is to run in the test or the production mode.

Test mode

In the test mode, the program is only simulated, meaning that no actual changes take place on the database (for example,
no data is written or deleted from the database).

Production mode

In this mode the data is physically processed, according to your selection criteria and if applicable, additional archiving-
object-speci c criteria. For example, during the delete phase data is actually removed from the database by the delete
program.

Additional settings you can make in the variant maintenance function:

Detail log

In this eld you can decide whether a detail log ( Complete option) is to be generated in addition to the summarized log
during the execution of the program. The summarized log contains each message only once. For each message the number

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of affected objects is listed as well as an example of an object.

The detail log contains all processed objects including the corresponding messages. If you choose Without success
messages , no success messages are written to the detail log.

 Recommendation
Detail logs should only be generated if you are processing a small number of objects, or for example in the test mode.
Otherwise the program may terminate, due to a memory over ow.

Log Output

Here you can determine, whether the log should be output into the List (spool for background programs), to the
application log , or to both.

The advantage of the application log output is that the log messages are displayed during the program runtime. (With
background programs this occurs every 30 minutes and with dialog programs, every 10 seconds). Logs that were output to
the list can only be viewed after the program has nished.

With the list output you have the option to automatically store the log in a storage system (see Spool Parameter under job
scheduling). Logs that were written to the application log can only be stored manually from within the display view.
Moreover, logs that were output to the list, are automatically removed when the corresponding background job is deleted.
Logs written to the application log must be deleted manually.

All logs can be displayed from within Archive Administration via Goto Logs . For more information see Logs .

Archiving Session Note

Here you can enter a short text which helps you identify and better nd the archiving session in Archive Management .

See also:

Logs

Maintaining Start Date and Spool

Parameters
Use
To schedule archiving jobs, you must maintain the start date and the spool parameters. To do this, you must maintain settings for
the following actions in the initial screen:

Write

Delete

Read

Building/Deleting Indexes

Storing/Retrieving Archive Files

Scheduling Preprocessing Program

Scheduling Postprocessing

Reload

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Features
The Start Date and Spool Parameters pushbuttons are followed by a traffic light icon and a note. The table lists the three
possibilities.

Traffic Light Note text Meaning

Not maintained The values are not maintained

Maintained The values have already been maintained in

this session, for the current action or the
values for the spool parameters were taken
from the user settings of from the user-
speci c print parameters.

Maintained The values are maintained.

Activities
Maintaining Spool Parameters

Maintaining the Start Date

Maintaining Spool Parameters

Prerequisites
You are in Archive Administration (Transaction SARA ) and you have selected one of the following actions: Write, delete, or reload.

 Note
If the spool parameters are already maintained in the user-speci c print parameters, these values are automatically copied.
Otherwise, you only have to maintain the spool parameters once after entering the Archive Administration transaction. The
settings remain valid until you leave the Archive Administration transaction. The next time you enter the transaction, you will
have to enter the parameters again.

Procedure
Choose Spool Parameters .

The Background Print Parameters screen is displayed. Here, you can maintain the settings for the printing the archiving log.

First, maintain the general parameters for the printer, number of printouts, and number of pages.

Under Attributes , you can maintain a range of further attributes for spool requests. These attributes are not, however, applied to
all spool requests.

Save your entries with Save .

Result
The spool parameters for printing the archiving log are maintained. If you have also made your archive selection and entered the
start date, you can now schedule the required archiving action.

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See also:

Maintaining the Start Date

Maintaining Spool Parameters

Maintaining the Start Date

Prerequisites
You are in Archive Administration (transaction SARA ) and you have selected one of the following actions: Write, delete, or reload.

 Note

The start data only needs to be maintained once when you execute the rst action. The settings remain valid until you leave the
Archive Administration transaction. The next time you enter the transaction, you will have to enter the parameters again.

Procedure
1. Choose the Start Date function .

2. The Start Time screen is displayed where you can maintain the start date values.

3. Choose one of the buttons for xing the desired start date, and maintain the parameters in the elds available.

4. To schedule periodic jobs, use the Period Values function.

The Restrictions function allows you to restrict the start date.

5. Choose: Continue .

Result
The start date for the archiving action is maintained. If you have also made your archive selection and spool parameters, you can
now schedule the required archiving action.

See also:

Maintaining Spool Parameters

Selecting Archive Files

System Manager
The system manager monitors the size and lling level of the database. For an Oracle or Informix database, you must rst examine
the Tablespaces or DBSpaces, respectively, and then the tables. You only need to check the tables for ADABAS/D or Microsoft
SQL Server.

When the system nds a table that must be archived, you must determine the archiving objects that contain data objects from
this table. These archiving objects are removed from the database by archiving.

See also:

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Archiving Procedure

Archive Information System

Use
The Archive Information System (AS) is a generic tool for indexing data archives and is fully integrated into the SAP Data Archiving
environment. The indexes created with this tool, which are called Archive Information Structures , are used to display archived
data.

 Note
In this documentation, the terms archive information structure, information structure and infostructure are used
synonymously.

Features
The archive information system includes the following components:

Archive Retrieval Con gurator (ARC)

The ARC enables you to create archive information structures with the help of eld catalogs, and to ll the structures with data
from the archive. The archive information structure, which represents a kind of archive index, provides the basis for archive data
reporting.

Archive Explorer

The Archive Explorer enables fast searches of archived data. It does this by accessing the archive information structures that have
been created and stored in transparent database tables using the Archive Retrieval Con gurator. Furthermore, the Archive
Explorer allows direct accesses of individual data objects in the archive, which can then be displayed in both technical and
application-speci c views.

See also:

Using the Archive Information System

Using the Archive Information System

Purpose
This process describes the step-by-step procedures for using the Archive Information System (AS). The individual steps are in
introduced the order in which the user would normally execute them.

 Note

Reloading archived data can lead to problems with the Archive Information System, as the available information structures are
not updated automatically. For more information, see Procedure for Reloaded Archives .

Process Flow

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1. Check available information structures

2. First you should check if an information structure already exists that you could use for reporting. You can then change this
information structure to suit your needs. If there is no information structure available that you can use, you can create a
new one.

3. Create the information structure

4. You de ne the information structure to be used for archive reporting. In doing this, you specify which source elds from the
archive are copied to which elds in the information structure. You do this with the help of application-speci c eld
catalogs, which are included in the features of the Archive Information System.

An information structure is only ever valid for one archiving object. Several information structures can be de ned for one
archiving object. For more information, see Creating Information Structures

5. Activate the Information Structure

6. After you have created an information structure, you need to activate it. Alternatively you can use a standard information
structure, provided that it ts your requirements.

At this stage, the system generates a transparent database table and the reporting program. For more information, see
Activating Information Structures

7. Fill the Information Structure

8. During an archiving delete run all (activated) archive information structures belonging to an archiving object are lled
automatically. Also the Archive Development Kit (ADK) transfers all data records found in the archive to the AS interface.
From the de ned infostructure, the AS lters the data from the data records transferred and enters it in a transparent
database table together with an access key. This table serves as the basis for later searches.

As well as the automatic ll using the delete program, an information structure can also be lled later for already available
archives. This can be useful if you want to report data that was already archived or if you have changed the elds of an
information structure. For more information, see Filling Information Structures .

9. Report Information Structures

Use the Archive Explorer function to specify the archiving object and the information structure from which you want to report. In
the selection screen, where necessary, specify the display parameters for the archived data. Select a data object from the list of
data objects and, where possible, specify the view in which it is to be displayed. For more information, see Reporting Information
Structures .

 Note

As well as standard reporting, there is also a special ad-hoc reporting function available that enables direct reporting from
archives. Here, there is no need to ll the archive information structure with data from the archive.

Creating Information Structures

To create a new information structure, proceed as follows:

1. In the Archive Retrieval Con gurator (ARC) initial screen, choose Archive Info Structure Create .

2. This takes you to the dialog box Archive Retrieval Con gurator .

3. Enter the required information.

4. This should include the name of the new archive information structure, the name of the archiving object for which the
information structure is intended and a eld catalog, which you can select from a list using input help. In the eld on the

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right you can also enter a short text for the information structure

5. Choose Create .

6. This takes you to the dialog box Archive Retrieval Con gurator .

7. In the right frame, select all the elds that you want to include in the information structure.

8. Choose: Include Selected Fields .

9. The selected elds are included in the information structure in the left frame.

10. Save your entries Choose Return to go back to the ARC entry screen

See also:

Activating and Deactivating Information Structures

Activating and Deactivating Information

Structures
Prerequisites
You are in the initial screen of the Archive Retrieval Con gurator (ARC).

Activate
To activate an information structure, choose Archive Information Structure Activate . The information structure is activated.
This structure will be lled automatically during the next delete phase for this archiving object.

You can also ll an activated information structure retrospectively for already existing archives, see Fill Information Structures .

Additional consequences of activating are:

The archive info structure can be reported in the Archive Explorer.

You can display status information on this information structure.

You cannot make any changes to the information structure.

Deactivate
To deactivate an information structure, choose Archive Information Structure Deactivate .

You have deactivated the information structure. This ensures that, this information structure will be ignored during the next delete
phase for the archiving object or if the archive information structure is lled retrospectively.

 Note

You can make changes to an inactive information structure. However, if you make changes, be aware that you might also have
to regenerate the table. When doing this, you must delete the data in it. Finally, you must re ll the information structure.

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Filling and Emptying Information Structures

Prerequisites
You are in the initial screen of the Archive Information System (transaction SARI ).

You have already created and activated the information structure to be lled.

 Note

An information structure can only be lled for archive les that have already been processed by the delete program.

Fill
1. Choose Status .

2. This takes you to status management.

3. Enter the name of an archiving object for which you want to ll an information structure.

4. Choose Status per Info Structure .

5. This takes you to the selection screen for archive information structures. To nd out which status information is displayed
there, see under Status per Info Structure .

When lling the info structure, you can also select individual archiving sessions. Choose Status per Archive .

6. Select the archive info structures that are to be lled with data from the archive.

7. Choose Fill Structures and enter your chosen processing type in the dialog box that appears. Con rm your entry. The
system will ll the information structure.

 Note

Alternatively you can trigger the lling of an info structure from the Archive Retrieval Con gurator entry screen. Enter the
relevant information structure and then select Environment Fill Structur e. This takes you to the Status per Info Structure
screen.

Empty
1. Select the archive information structures or archiving sessions that you want to empty.

2. Choose Empty Structures .

The system empties the information structures.

Reporting Information Structures

Prerequisites

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You have created and lled the information structure on which the reporting is based.

You are in the initial screen of the Archive Explorer.

Procedure
1. Enter the name of the information structure. This must be active.

2. To select an information structure, you can also enter the name of an archiving object and use input help to display all
active information structures belonging to the object.

3. Choose Archive Info Structure Reporting .

4. This takes you to the Archive Explorer selection screen.

5. Enter selection criteria to establish which data you want the reporting to read.

6. If you do not want to restrict the selection, choose Execute .

7. Choose Execute .

8. The system displays the information structure list. It contains all of the data that the reporting program has read from the
elds contained in the information structure.

9. Double click on the entry you want to access the archive directly. If more than one view is de ned for this object, a dialog
appears with a choice of views.

10.

Depending on the archiving object, the dialog box offers a technical view or a business view or both. Several business views
are also possible.

11. Select the view you want and choose Continue .

12. This takes you to the table overview for the selected data object.

13. To display the table contents, click on the magnifying glass symbol for a table (similar to the display function in transaction
SE16 ).

Result
You are now at the lowest level of data, that is the eld level for the archived object. You can take the information directly from the
table.

See also:

Ad-Hoc Reporting

Procedure for Reloaded Archives

Use
After archived data has been reloaded, the system does not automatically update the archive information structures, so the
Archive Information System status display will show an error. You must therefore carry out the update manually.

Prerequisite

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Archived data has been reloaded into your system.

You are in the status management function of the Archive Information System.

Procedure
Use the Status per Archive view .

Mark all of the archiving sessions whose les were reloaded (these sessions have the status Reloaded ).

Empty the information structures for the reloaded archive les via Empty Structures . You can usually do this online - scheduling
as a background job is not necessary.

Result
The reloaded les have now disappeared from the display. If new archive les have been created during the reload, proceed as
follows:

Continue to use the Status per Archive view .

Mark the archiving sessions which were created by the reload (these sessions carry the remark " Created by reload from <session
> ").

Fill the information structures for the newly created archive les.

For more information, see Filling and Emptying Information Structures .

 Note
If you approach this sequence in reverse order, in certain circumstances, the ll status of the newly created archive les can
appear as incorrect . If this occurs, empty all of the information structures for which the ll status is incorrect. Finally, repeat
the steps in the standard sequence.

Status
Use
The Status function allows you to check whether an information structure has already been lled. Using this information, you can
then ll or empty speci c information structures. Furthermore, you can check the actual indexing as well as the retention of
archive les.

Integration
You can branch from the entry screen of the Archive Information System as well as from the Archive Retrieval Con gurator
(choose Environment Fill Information Structures ) to the status screen.

Prerequisites
There must be at least one activated information structure for the archiving object.

Features
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Status per Archive

This function provides a list of the available archiving sessions and the information structures assigned to them. You can see from
the list for which archiving sessions the activated structures have been completely lled.

For more information on the data displayed, refer to Status per Archive .

Status per Info Structure

This function provides a list of the statuses of the activated information structures. From this, you can see whether an information
structure has been completely lled with all archived data or data otherwise removed from the database. To see the information
displayed in detail, see Status per Info Structure .

Checking Indexing

This function checks the actual indexing of an archive le, that is, it checks whether data has been passed from the source elds
to the information structure. The affected archive les are marked accordingly.

You can call the Check Indexing function from the Extras menu.

Display File Residence

This function checks the residence of an archive le, that is, it checks whether a le is accessible by the Archive Administration.
The affected archive les are marked accordingly. A le can only be used to ll an information structure if is accessible by the ADK.
Otherwise direct access to the data object is only possible via the Archive Explorer.

You can call the File Residence function from the Extras menu.

Activities
You can use Fill Structures to ll information structures with data from the archive.

Use Empty Structures to delete the contents of information structures.

For more information, see Filling and Emptying Information Structures .

If you want to reload archives, read the relevant Notes .

Status per Archive

The following status information is displayed:

Archiving session identi cation, date, and status

Information structure ll status per archive le

Name of information structure

Name and status of the archive le

 Note

You can restrict the display to the archiving sessions by executing the "Compress" function. This gives you a better overview
when you want to select individual sessions. This function cannot be applied to individual archiving sessions.

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The traffic light displays the following statuses:

GREEN: The system has already lled an information structure for this session.

YELLOW: The system has lled an information structure for this session, however all of the archive les could not be fully
reported

RED: The system has not yet lled an information structure (shown by "-") or has only partially lled an information
structure.

An archive le can have the following statuses:

Complete

This archive le has been completely incorporated into the given archive information structure.

Errors

This archive le has not been completely incorporated into the given archive information structure.

This archive le was not selected when the archive information structure was lled.

The Complete status tells you that these archive les have been completely searched by source elds. However, it does not tell
you anything about the indexing of the les, that is, whether data has actually been moved from the source elds to the
information structure. You can check the indexing with the help of the Check Indexing function in the Extras menu.

See also:

Status per Info Structure

Status per Info Structure

The following status information is displayed:

Name of information structure

Archiving object name

Archiving session identi cation, date and status

Information structure ll status per archive le

Name and status of archive les

 Note

Choose Expand to display the complete list of status information. In addition to the build status for the information structure,
the name and status of the archive le are also displayed. This function cannot be applied to individual information structures.

The traffic light displays the following statuses:

GREEN: The system has fully reported all archiving sessions for this information structure.

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YELLOW: The system cannot report, or can only partially report, some of the archiving sessions for this information
structure.

RED: The system has not yet reported any archiving sessions for this information structure (shown as "_").

An archive le can have the following statuses:

Complete

This archive le was completely incorporated when the archive info structure was lled.

Errors

This archive le was not completely incorporated when the archive info structure was lled.

This archive le was not selected when the archive info structure was lled.

 Note

The Complete status tells you that these archive les have been completely searched by source elds. However, it does not tell
you anything about the indexing of the les, that is, whether data has actually been moved from the source elds to the
information structure. You can check the indexing with the help of the Check Indexing function in the Extras menu.

See also:

Status per Archive

Creating Database Indexes

Use
To avoid long runtimes when archive information structures are accessed, we recommend that you create a database index for
every infostructure. The index helps speed up accesses to the database table of the infostructure. If you are using an infostructure
that does not have a database index, you can use this function to create an index.

 Recommendation
Do not create your own database indexes for SAP infostructures, because this may create problems during the transport of the
infostructures, due to naming conventions. Instead, copy the relevant SAP infostructure into your own namespace and then
create an index for the new infostructure.

Integration
The data of the infostructure is saved in the database table, which is generated when the infostructure is activated, that is, directly
in the production system. Because production systems generally have protections against changes to cross-client objects
(settings in system change option), it is not possible to create database indexes for generated Archive Information System tables.
Instead, you can use the function described below, provided by the Archive Information System, to do so.

Features

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To create a database index for an infostructure simply de ne it. The index will then be generated when you activate its
infostructure in the database. The index de nition is stored in table AIND_STR8.

To use the function for the de nition of a database index from the Archive Information System choose
Customizing Goto Database Index .

You will see a table whose rows correspond to the elds of the index you want to de ne. The columns of the table have the
following meaning:

Column Meaning

Index Name Name under which the index is saved in the ABAP dictionary

Position Position of a eld in the index

Field Name Technical name of the led in the infostructure

Incorporate the elds you want into the table. If you need the eld MANDT (Client), then you must incorporate it manually.

Keep in mind the following considerations when you are working with database indexes for archive information structures:

Entries in table AIND_STR8 are transported automatically together with the infostructure. You only need to manually
trigger the transport if the infostructure itself is not to be transported.

If you delete an infostructure, the corresponding entries in table AIND_STR8 are also deleted.

If you remove a eld that is also part of an archive index from an infostructure, you must adapt table AIND_STR8 manually,
otherwise you will encounter problems when you try to activate the infostructure.

The system only recognizes index de nition entries if no database table exists yet for the infostructure. Therefore, you may
have to delete the database table of the infostructure. You can nd this function in the Archive Information System under
Customizing Utilities Delete Table.

 Note
Creating or changing a database index for an already existing infostructure generally means long runtimes, because you
must deactivate the infostructure, delete the corresponding tables, activate the infostructure and then re ll it. You can
use program ASCORRINDX to make changes to database indexes without having to delete the corresponding
infostructures and ll them again. For more information about how to use this program see the corresponding program
documentation.

Example
The index de nition for the standard infostructure SAP_FI_DOC_002 contains the following rows:

Index Name Position Field Name

LIF 10 MANDT

LIF 20 LIFNR

LIF 30 BUKRS

REF 10 MANDT

REF 20 AWKEY

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When you activate the infostructure a database table with two indexes is creates: The index LIF contains the elds MANDT, LIFNR,
and BUKRS (in that order), and the index REF contains the elds MANDT and AWKEY.

Partitioning
Use
The database tables that are generated when you create new archive information structures can grow large over time with the use
of these infostructures. As a result, the load on the database increases and the handling of the infostructures and tables becomes
more difficult. To combat this effect, you can use partitioning to divide up the infostructures in such a way that the system
distributes the data across several tables instead of writing it into one single table. This facilitates the administration of the
database, which is more difficult with large data volumes.

Features
Con guration of Partitioning

You can call partitioning from the Archive Retrieval Con gurator (transaction SARJ), by entering an infostructure and choosing
Goto Partitioning.

To con gure the partitioning function specify in the From Date eld the date as of which the system is supposed to write the
entries for the infostructure into a new table. The date refers to the creation date of the archiving session . In the Table Name
eld you can enter the name of the table that is to be generated. If you do not want to specify a name, the system automatically
generates a table name that corresponds to the infostructure. The tables are not generated until the rst data record is being
written, which would be either during the delete phase or during the subsequent lling of the infostructure.

 Example
The following con guration data has been entered for partitioning:

From Date Table Name

01.01.0001

02.01.2005

04.14.2005

Based on these entries, the system would generate a separate database table for the following time periods: Until 01.31.2005,
02.01.2005 until 04.13.2005 and as of 04.14.2005 .

For a detailed example of a partitioning scenario, see Example: Partitioning of an Infostructure .

 Caution
The con guration entries for partitioning logically belong to the infostructure. This means it is cross-client and is transported
and shipped together with the infostructure. Changing the con guration settings means a modi cation of the infostructure.
Therefore never change the partitioning of infostructures that are not part of your namespace. This particularly applies to the
SAP infostructures (those shipped by SAP) in customer systems. For more information see Copying Infostructure Data .

The partitioning concept is so exible that you do not have to specify that partitioning is to take place right at the beginning. With
large data volumes rebuilding the infostructure would be very resource intensive. It would make sense, therefore, to leave already

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built data as is. All accesses to the Archive Information System remain intact. This applies to the Archive Explorer and to
programmed accesses with the function module AS_API_READ or other interfaces to the Archive Information System.

Prede ning Tables

In addition to partitioning you also have the option of prede ning a table or several tables for a speci c infostructure. This has the
following advantages:

The name of the prede ned table is determined at the time con guration takes place. You can choose a name from within
your namespace - a name that matches your requirements. If you do not specify a table name the system automatically
generates a name, which you cannot in uence.

The table you specify is generated in the development or Customizing system and is then transported to the production
system. This allows you to still make changes to the table, such as other technical settings or a different short text. In
addition, the table has the same name in all systems, which is not the case for the automatically generated AS tables
(ZARIX tables). This facilitates the administration of the system landscape.

When you specify a table in the con guration, the system checks whether this table already exists. If so, it checks whether the
table matches the infostructure and possibly rejects the entry you made. If the table does not yet exist, the system sends a
message asking whether or not you want to generate the table. If you say yes, the table is generated in such a way that it
corresponds to the infostructure.

 Note
We recommend that you always let the system generate these tables. In this way you can be sure that the structure of the table
always matches the infostructure. We also recommend that for the object directory entry you enter the same data as that of
the infostructure. This is particularly important for package assignments.

Displaying Partitioning

You can use the display function to view the current settings of the partitioning of an infostructure. You can call up the display
function from within the status management of the Archive Information System by choosing Goto Partitioning or from within
the display of an infostructure in Customizing by choosing Technical Data .

Partitioning Con guration

This area on the display screen shows how partitioning was con gured.

Current Partitioning

This area shows which tables the system used during which time periods so far. For the time periods that were entered in
the con guration and that appear in this area, the system will use the assigned table also in the future. When the rst
record for the corresponding interval is written to the infostructure, the system sets the Change On date for that particular
table. The entry that does not have a change date contains the table that was generated when the infostructure was rst
activated (normal AS table). This table only serves as a reference structure for partitioned infostructures.

Tables that have the G (Table Generated) indicator, have been generated.

If an entry only has the R (Read only) indicator, it means that the Archive Information System does not write any more
entries to this table. It only reads from this table. This happens when you change partitioning, by, for example, grouping
several time periods together. If this is the case, the system sets the tables used up until then for the individual tables to
read only mode.

Assignment of Tables and Files

This area shows all the archive les that have entries in the infostructure. It lists the corresponding tables where the entries
can be found. This relationship is unique. A table always contains the complete set of entries of an archive le. The system
uses this information especially for the deletion of infostructure contents.

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See also:

Example: Partitioning of an Infostructure

Copying of Infostructure Data

Use
You can use this function to copy data from one infostructure to another.

Similar to other standard objects in the SAP system, SAP infostructures cannot be changed without running the risk of a
modi cation. This also includes changes to the partitioning of SAP Infostructures. If, however, a SAP Infostructure contains data
that you want to copy, you must delete all that data and rebuild it, in order for the data to be copied to one of your own
infostructures. This procedure is possible, but, depending on the amount of data to be copied, can take very long.

A good alternative for your purpose is the function for copying infostructure data.

Prerequisites
The following prerequisites must be ful lled for you to be able to copy data from one infostructure to another:

The target infostructure already exists. The system only copies the data from source infostructure, not the de nitions of
the data.

Both infostructures are consistent. This applies to the de nition of the infostructures and for their ll status. The copying
of infostructure data is not a correction program.

The source infostructure may not have a prede ned table in the partition con guration. If the source infostructure lies
within your own namespace (such as a customer-speci c infostructure), you can remove this table rst from the
con guration of the source infostructure. After you have copied the data you can enter this table in the con guration of the
target infostructure.

The source infostructure contains all the elds of the target infostructure. In addition, all the key elds of the target
infostructure must also be key elds of the source infostructure. Note that the target infostructure may have fewer elds
than the source infostructure.

The eld types of the target infostructure correspond to the eld types of the source infostructure. This only applies to the
technical eld types. The data elements may be different, but not the eld length.

The target infostructure should be empty.

 Recommendation
To avoid functional changes or problems when using the AS modules, we recommend that you ll the target
infostructure on the basis of the same eld catalog as that of the standard infostructure that you want to copy.

Features
You can call this function from within the Archive Retrieval Con gurator (transaction SARJ) using Utilities Copy Data or by
executing the program AS_DATA_MOVE.

To copy the data you need to enter a source and a target infostructure.

Executing this function only takes a few seconds. It may, however, take longer, if the infostructures contain several thousand
archive les, for example. The runtime, however, does not depend on the number of entries in the infostructures. After you have
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executed the program, the source infostructure is empty and inactive. The target infostructure contains the data of the source
infostructure and is active if it was active before, or if the source infostructure was active.

The data transfer does not actually take place through copying, but rather through a simple “move” of the tables. The system
simply assigns the tables of the source infostructure to the target infostructure by entering the tables of the source infostructure
into the current partitioning of the target infostructure and adjusting the status management. For this simple moving of data to
take place, however, the above prerequisites must be ful lled.

Example
You have an active SAP infostructure that already contains a large amount of data. This infostructure does not use partitioning and
does not have any prede ned tables. You want to copy the data of an SAP infostructure to one of your own infostructures. You
proceed as follows:

1. In the development or Customizing system (the system in which you make the developments and changes that are not
permitted in the production system) you create your own infostructure. The new infostructure should look exactly like the
infostructure to be copied.

2. You make the desired changes to the new infostructure, particularly the partitioning con guration , if you need to.

3. You transport the new infostructure into the production system and leave it as inactive.

 Note
Make sure that during the next step no archiving session, delete session or lling of an infostructure takes place for the
archiving object in question.

4. In the production system you copy the data of the SAP infostructure to the new infostructure (see above).

As a result of this procedure the infostructures now have the following characteristics:

The SAP infostructure is The new infostructure is

inactive. active.

deleted and without references to any tables. lled for those archive les for which the SAP infostructure was
built.

See also:

Example: Partitioning of an Infostructure

Example: Partitioning of an Infostructure

You have an infostructure that already contain many entries and the corresponding ZARIX table is getting too large. The
infostructure has not been partitioned, and you want to do so now.

You want to change the infostructure in such a way that no more data is written to the current table. You also want to con gure
partitioning so that the data for the current year (2005), the past two years and the coming three years is written to separate
corresponding tables.

To do so, you use the following procedure:

1. You con gure partitioning in the development or Customizing system (the system in which you make the developments
and changes that are not permitted in the production system) in the following manner:

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From Date Table Name

01.01.0001

01.01.2003

01.01.2004

01.01.2005

01.01.2006

01.01.2007

01.01.2008

2. You transport these settings to the production system. It does not matter whether you enter the changes from the
con guration of partitioning in a transport request, or transport the infostructure from a different place. It is always the
complete de nition of the infostructure that is sent to the target system.

3. You continue to archive as usual in the production system.

After the transport of the con guration settings into the production system, the partitioning of the infostructure looks as follows:

From Date To Date Table Name Change Date G R

01.01.0001 12.31.9999 ZARIXBC62 X

The infostructure is still not partitioned. Table ZARIXBC62 is the already very large database table for the infostructure. As long as
no new entries are included in the infostructure read accesses only take place from this table. The system generates and then lls
the new table only when the infostructure is lled again. You are certain that the system does not insert any data into the "old"
table, because the partitioning con guration covers the entire time available period. After another archiving session the
partitioning could look as follows:

From Date To Date Table Name Change Date G R

01.01.2005 12.31.2005 ZARIXBC64 06.28.2005 X

01.01.0001 12.31.9999 ZARIXBC62 X

The system has now generated the table ZARIXBC64 for the time period between 01.01.2005 and 12.31.2005 speci ed in the
partitioning con guration. In 2006 the system would create the next table. Read accesses occur from both tables.

You now have two options for proceeding: You either use partitioning only for new entries in the infostructure or you use
partitioning also for older entries.

Partitioning only for new entries

In this case you do not need to do anything else. New entries are automatically written to the infostructure based on your
partitioning con guration. When you delete older data from the infostructure the system recognizes that these entries are
still in the old table ZARIXBC62. After the infostructure no longer serves any of the old les, table ZARIXBC62 is empty and
the partitioning is exactly as con gured.

The con guration information concerning the time periods before 2005 are not needed in this scenario.

Partitioning for all entries

If you want that partitioning corresponds exactly to the con guration settings also in the case of older les, you must
delete and rebuild the infostructure for all old sessions. In this case the system also uses the con guration entries for the

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periods before 2005 and generates the corresponding tables.

This procedure is not necessary and we do not recommend it. It is only necessary if you notice that the old table is too large
to handle, even when no new entries are added to it.

It is possible for you to combine both methods all at once, or implement them in partial steps.

You can remove empty tables after you have switched to partitioning by deactivating the infostructure and reactivating it
immediately. As a result the system deletes any extra tables that are not needed.

Archive Retrieval Con gurator

Use
The ARC allows you to create and con gure information structures that are required by the Archive Information System (AS) to
execute archive searches.

Features
Creating Archive Information Structure

With this function, you create a new information structure based on application-speci c eld catalogs. For more information, see
Creating Information Structures

Activating Archive Information Structures

With this, you can activate an available information structure so that during a subsequent archiving program delete phase of the
archiving object it automatically lls with data from the archive. For more information, see Activating Information Structures

Fill Information Structures

This function allows you to ll an information structure with data from the available archives if the delete program has already
processed those archives. Normally this is not necessary because activated information structures are lled automatically during
the archiving program delete run For more information, see Filling Information Structures .

Field Catalogs

This function enables you to create new eld catalogs or change customer-speci c eld catalogs. For more information, see Field
Catalogs .

Additional ARC functions allow you to empty, deactivate, change, display, and delete archive information structures.

Field Catalogs
Use
With this function, you can create new eld catalogs and work with existing eld catalogs. Archiving information structures are
de ned on the basis of Field Catalogs .

 Note
Standard eld catalogs, which are designed to cover most application requirements, are supplied with the Archive Information
System. You should therefore only create your own eld catalogs if the elds contained in the standard eld catalogs do not

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meet your requirements.

 Caution
If a standard transaction of an application only allows for standard eld catalogs, customer speci c eld catalogs are not
recognized by the system.

Prerequisites
You need to have some expert knowledge to use this function. For example, you should be familiar with the data model of the
archiving object up to table level.

Features
Working With Existing Field Catalogs

You can change the de nition of the existing eld catalogs, for example, by adding further source elds or changing the allocation
of data- and key elds. When working with existing eld catalogs, you basically use t he same procedures you would use for
creating eld catalogs (see below).

 Note
You must copy a standard eld catalog from the SAP namespace into your own namespace—that is, make it a customer-
speci c eld catalog—before you make any changes to it. All entries that begin with "SAP" belong to the SAP namespace and
may no be changed.

Creating New Field Catalogs

When you create a new eld catalog, you have the options of using elds from:

one source table

more than one source table

For information on procedures, see Creating Field Catalogs (One Source Table) .

To create eld catalogs from more than one source table, refer to the additional Notes , which you must observe.

Deleting Field Catalogs

Before you delete a eld catalog, you must rst delete all of the archive information structures that use this eld catalog. The
deletion of catalogs that are still being used is prevented by a deletability check. If you try to delete an SAP standard eld catalog,
the system issues a warning message to this effect.

Creating Field Catalogs (One Source Table)

1. In the Archive Retrieval Con gurator (ARC) initial screen choose Environment Field Catalogs and then New Entries .

2. Enter the name of the eld catalog (it must not begin with "SAP"), a description, and the archiving object for which the eld
catalog is intended.

In the elds File in Inde x and Offset in Index , you can specify how the name of the archiving le and the offset of the data object
are included in the information structure.

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You can use the following values for the le names:

'D' - Includes the le name as a data eld. This is the minimum value. It causes the archive le name to be entered in the
data area of the structure table.

'K' - Includes the le name as a key eld. Select this value if the entries in the table would otherwise not be unique.

You can use the following values for the offset:

'D' - Includes the name of the offset as a data eld. This value is sufficient for a direct access to archived data.

'K' - Includes the name of the offset as a key eld. Select this value if the entries in the table would otherwise not be unique.

' ' - (No value) The offset is not included in the structure table. Choose this setting if you do not want direct access. This
allows you to reduce the size of the structure table.

 Note

If you include the offset as a key eld, you must also include the archive le as a key eld, otherwise a clear distinction between
archived objects by the offset cannot be guaranteed. If an archived object, such as a sales document, has already been clearly
identi ed by the document number in the eld catalog key, then you do not need to include the offset in the key.

1. To carry out the eld assignment, rst select the catalog and then the Field Selection function in the navigation area.
Choose New Entries and enter the required data.

 Note

The use of additional elds from other source tables requires a logical link between these elds by means of a join. Read the
relevant Notes .

You can choose the eld number and target eld. The name of the target eld appears in the generated table and this name
should have a meaning related to the reporting. The eld number describes its position in the information structure and
serves as a sort criteria.

The source eld must correspond with the actual eld name from the source table.

The source eld entered directly in the eld selection is also the reference eld. The data type of the relevant eld in the
information structure is derived from this reference eld.

The source table must be a table for which the archiving object in the information structure writes data to the archive.
These tables are maintained in the transaction AOBJ for the archiving objects.

If you mark a eld Key , that eld is included in the key to the structure table. A table's key elds must come at the
beginning, that is, the eld numbers of the key elds must be smaller than the eld numbers of the data elds.
Furthermore, the key elds must be connected, that is, no non-key elds are allowed to come between key elds.

The indicator Mandatory Key Field is only valid for key elds. If you mark this indicator, the data record will only be
included if the relevant eld in the source table is not empty.

 Note

Tables that are processed by archiving classes can also be used as source tables. However, here, you must create a normed
read function module for each archiving class used.

1. Save your entries.

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Creating Field Catalogs (More than one

Source Table)
 Note

Before you enter additional source elds, read the Notes . The term "additional source elds" has the following meaning:

For key elds, the system establishes eld similarities between the join conditions of the different source tables.

The system can ll data elds with data from different source tables in an archive information structure.

Prerequisites
You have created a eld catalog with at least one eld.

You are at the eld selection for the eld catalog.

Procedure
1. Select the eld to which you want to add further source elds.

2. In the navigation space, select the node Additional Source Fields .

3. Choose New entries and enter the source table and the source eld that you want to link with the target eld.

4. Save your entries.

Result
There is now a logical link (join) for key elds between the target eld and the additional source eld. When the system lls the
information structure, it moves the contents of the source elds assigned to the target eld to the data elds.

Field Catalog
A eld catalog includes all of the elds that can be selected when creating or maintaining an archive information structure.

You can use it to specify which elds are incorporated in the information structure, and whether they should be key elds or data
elds. You can decide whether key- or data elds should be incorporated into the info structure. The elds contained in a eld
catalog are always archiving object-speci c.

Notes on Field Catalogs with More than One

Source Table
The information for eld catalogs based on one source table is also valid for eld catalogs based on more than one table. You
should also pay attention to the following notes:

For each source table, there must be a unique combination of elds in the key of the information structure. This means that
there can never be two data records with the same value combination within one data object.

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For each key eld, the system establishes the eld similarity between the reference eld and the additional source elds.

The system lls the information structure with archive data using an "outer join" based on the eld combination. The
system writes a record for the data object if at least one of the source tables contains data.

When the system is lling an information structure, an incorrectly de ned eld catalog can cause a program termination.
Read the long text in the error message Q6234. Here you can also nd a detailed example of how to create eld catalogs.

The source eld entered directly in the eld selection is also the reference eld. The data type of the relevant eld in the
information structure is derived from this reference eld. The elds entered under Additional Source Fields must be
compatible with this type of reference eld.

Archive Explorer
Use
The Archive Explorer enables you to search for archived data and allows individual objects to be displayed from the archive.

Integration
You can go to the Archive Explorer from the initial screen of the Archive Information System directly from the Archive Retrieval
Con gurator (choose Environment Archive Explorer .)

Prerequisites
Before you can use the Archive Explorer functions you must:

Create a suitable archive information structure

Activate the information structure

Fill the information structure

Features
The Archive Explorer uses the SAP List Viewer functions (formerly the ABAP List Viewer ALV ). The elds appear in the selection
screen according to how they are stored in the archive information structure.

In the selection screen, you can set which archived data should be read by the Archive Explorer reporting program. An object list
from the set information structure is displayed as a result of this selection, from which you can access single data objects in the
archive.

A standard viewer is available to display the data objects. Independent of the underlying archiving object, there are also
application-speci c viewers. The interface used can also be used for customer-speci c extensions.

Activities
Reporting Information Structures

See also:

Creating Information Structures

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Activating and Deactivating Information Structures

Filling and Emptying Information Structures

Reporting
Use
You can use this function to report from the archive information structure that was created for the selected archiving object.

Prerequisites
You have created and activated the archive information structure to be reported.

Features
Depending on the selection criteria entered in the selection screen, an object is displayed for the set archive information structure.
The standard functions of the SAP List Viewer (ALV, formerly ABAP List Viewer) is used to do this.

To display a data object, the system accesses the archive directly. If an application-speci c view is realized for the archiving object
used, a dialog box appears in which you can choose between the technical or the application-speci c presentation of the data
object.

Activities
Reporting Information Structures

See also:

Ad-Hoc Reporting

Ad-Hoc Reporting
Use
You can use this function to report from the archive information structure, which was created for the selected archiving object,
without this structure having to be lled rst .

Prerequisites
You have created and activated the archive information structure to be reported.

Features
Depending on the selection criteria entered in the selection screen, an object is displayed for the set archive information structure.
The standard functions of the SAP List Viewer (ALV, formerly ABAP List Viewer) is used to do this.

To display a data object, the system accesses the archive directly. If an application-speci c view is available for the archiving
object used, a dialog box appears in which you can choose between the technical or the application-speci c presentation of the
data object.
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Unlike the standard reporting function, which requires that the archive information structure is lled with data from the archive,
the ad hoc reporting function reads directly from the archive. This enables you test archiving and report archived data that has not
yet been deleted from the database.

Activities
Reporting Information Structures

See also:

Reporting

Use of List Variants

Use
In the Archive Explorer, you can save list variants. You can use list variants to specify the elds that are to be used when a
particular list is displayed.

Integration
You can operate the variant functions using the standard menu entries and function buttons of the SAP List Viewer (formerly
ABAP List Viewer, ALV ).

Features
You can create both user-speci c and common list variants. You can do this where lists are implemented using the SAP List
Viewer, that is, for displaying:

Data belonging to an archive information structure

Table contents for the technical view

List Variants for Archive Information Structures

In the display of information structure data (the rst list in the Archive Explorer), list variants are stored per archive information
structure. A list variant is only valid for the archive information structure for which it was created and cannot be used for other
archive information structures.

Once an archive information structure has been changed (but has kept the same name), the accompanying list variants can still be
used. However, a list variant can be invalid is invalidated by the change, for example where the eld displayed in the list variant has
been deleted from the archive information structure. You should therefore modify the list variants accordingly. Example:

 Example

When you display the archive information structure CO_ORDER_001 , use the list variant MY_VARIANT to specify that the
elds AUFNR (Order Number) and KTEXT (Short Text) are to be displayed. You cannot use these variants for the archive
information structure CO_ORDER_002 , even if both archive information structures have identical structures.

If the archive information structure CO_ORDER_001 is changed so that the elds AUFK and KTEXT no longer appear, then the
list variant MY_VARIANT can still be used, but this would be pointless as no elds will be displayed. You can therefore modify
these variants using the relevant function of the ALV to t the changed archive information structure.

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For the archive information structure CO_ORDER_002 you can also create a list variant called MY_VARIANT ; however this is
not identical to the list variant of the same name for CO_ORDER_001 .

List Variants for Tables

The technical view for single document display is used to display the table contents for the selected data objects. You can save list
variants per table here, which are independent of the archive information structure used. A list variant created for a speci c table
is only valid for this table and cannot be used for other tables. However, a list variant for a speci c table is always independent of
the archive information structure used. This is also valid where the archive information structure belongs to different archiving
objects. It therefore does not matter which archiving object was used to archive the table entries. Example:

 Example

You are using the archiving objects SD_VBAK and PP_ORDER and the accompanying archive information structures
SD_VBAK_001 or PP_ORDER_001 . Both archiving objects contain the table COEP . To display the table COEP , save the list
variant MY_VARIANT in the Archive Explorer. In contrast to the above list variants, this variant is only assigned to the COEP
table.

You can then use MY_VARIANT to display the COEP table, and it does not matter whether you enter the Archive Explorer via
the archive information structure SD_VBAK_001 or PP_ORDER_001 .

Activities

In the Archive Explorer list display, you can access the list variant functions. Choose Settings Display Variants .

For more information on the use of list variants, see the documentation on the SAP List Viewer.

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