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PART I Introduction to SAP Query
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SAP Query is used to create analyses in real time without any great effort. Such analyses are used to optimize processes and master data, and to support corporate management. In your SAP ERP system, you can use the SAP Query functions without the need for any additional installations or license fees.
1 Introduction to SAP ERP Reporting
For enterprises, quickly and accurately accessing business information is vital. To this end, SAP provides an extensive portfolio of tools for report creation. The most important tools are as follows:
The term query reporting tools comprises the following tools:
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SAP Query
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QuickViewer
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InfoSet Query
This chapter introduces you to SAP Query, Report Painter, and Drilldown Reporting, and distinguishes among these three tools and SAP NetWeaver BW. In addition, you will learn about frequently used standard SAP reports. After obtaining an overview of the basic requirements for report creation in Section 1.1, ABAP Report Generators, we will compare the three aforementioned query tools in Section 1.2, Query Reporting Tools. Here, you will learn when it is advisable to use the query reporting tools to query information directly in the SAP ERP system. In Section 1.3, Comparing Analysis Tools: SAP Query and SAP NetWeaver BW, we will highlight the advantages of SAP Query over SAP NetWeaver BW.
If you need reports with summarized figures (totals), which is often the case in Financial Accounting (FI), we recommend that you use the following tools: Report Painter/Report Writer and Drilldown Reporting. In Section 1.4, Cumulated Analyses with Multilevel Hierarchies, you will see how SAP ERP is used in different enterprises with different business requirements. For the most important reporting requirements, which are often the same for many customers, a standard report is frequently available in SAP ERP. Before you create a new report, you should always check whether an existing report already covers your requirements (see Section 1.5, Using Standard Reports).
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1.1 ABAP Report Generators
At the start of every report, there is a specific requirements specification. After the data basis has been clarified, the user decides how to format the data and answers the following questions:
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What does the selection screen look like?
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Which field contents do you want to output?
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Which report jumps (drilldown) are useful?
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How do you want the data to be formatted?
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How do you want to summarize or display the data?
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Summation levels
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Excel display
For example, a developer can use an ABAP report to format the data. However, a good ABAP developer requires time to output structured data. He needs not only technical expertise but also business knowledge, in particular.
Because the business requirements of an enterprise are often challenging, both detailed technical knowledge and industry knowledge are essential. In addition to technical knowledge, a good consultant, key user, user, or developer must have some business knowledge to create the best analyses.
If you have a good level of technical knowledge, you must acquire the relevant business expertise. Because the analysis requirement is based on many years of real-life experiences, the question of simplified technical analysis options arises. Is it always necessary to create an analysis program from scratch? Are there easy ways to create ABAP code? The goal is to generate a good report and to access a simple report generator, either to accelerate the implementation speed or simply due to a lack of programming knowledge. Table 1.1 provides an overview of the most important report generators for you.
Table 1.1 Overview of the Most Important Report Generators for You
SAP provides different utilities for creating ABAP code for an analysis. We already mentioned the most important reporting tools in the introduction, namely Report Painter/Report Writer, Drilldown Reporting, and SAP NetWeaver BW. The Logistics Information System (LIS) is another tool. The term query reporting tools is often used in different contexts, both in literature and in real life. Frequently, the term SAP query reporting is also used to describe the SAP NetWeaver BW reporting tools. However, this book concerns only those query reporting tools within the SAP ERP system.
In the next section, we will explain which query reporting tools are available to you.
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1.2 Query Reporting Tools
This section provides a first impression of the functional scope of query reporting tools. We will compare the various options and application areas of SAP Query , InfoSet Query, and QuickViewer agai...
