SAP Library - Find your answers

The Audit Information System (AIS) has been developed to provide internal and external auditors, Security Administrators and those with data protection and controlling responsibilities with a tool to assist in understanding and completing required tasks in the complex SAP environment. The SAP Audit Information System (AIS) provides a centralized repository for reports, queries, and views of data that have a control implication. AIS was first available for SAP R/3 Version 3.0D, and is delivered as standard in SAP R/3 Versions 4.6 and above. AIS is provided at no additional cost from SAP, and allows an auditor or manager to work online in the production system on a real time basis..

You can use the Entire System monitor to obtain a complete overview of the status of an SAP system. Many of the subtrees of this monitor are also contained in the specialized monitors in the CCMS Monitor Templates monitor set:

Features

Dialog Subtree

Like the Dialog Overview monitor, this subtree contains attributes for the SAP dialog system. However, you can find a significantly more detailed breakdown of the response time and additional attributes for this topic here.

The following table provides information about the monitoring tree elements (MTEs) of this subtree:

EnqueueSubtree

The enqueue service allows applications to lock data so that only they can use it. Locking the data prevents parallel changes to the same data, which would lead to data inconsistency (see Functions of the SAP Lock Concept).

For a more precise overview of the enqueue service, use the Enqueue Monitor.

UpdateSubtree

For general information about updates, see Update Management and Update Administration (Transaction SM14).

TraceSwitches Monitoring Object

You can use the trace functions to follow the process of various operations in your SAP system. This allows you to monitor the system and to isolate problems that occur. You should only use the trace information in exceptional circumstances, as it is extremely performance-critical (see also Trace Functions). In the following MTEs, the trace level rather than the trace information itself is displayed.

R3Abap Monitoring Object

Errors in the execution of ABAP programs are displayed here in the status attribute Shortdumps. The system has created a dump and reported this to the monitoring architecture. Analyze the error using transaction ST22 (ABAP Runtime Errors). For more information about this topic, see Program Checks.

Activities

To start the monitor, follow the procedure below:

...

1. Start the Alert Monitor using transaction RZ20 or choose CCMS ® Control/Monitoring ® Alert Monitor.

2. On the CCMS Monitor Sets screen, expand the SAP CCMS Monitor Templates set.

3. Start the Entire System monitor from the list by double clicking it.

Procedure if an Alert Is Triggered

DialogSubtree

If an alert occurs in this subtree, you should first check whether the dialog response time (ResponseTime) has also been affected. A long dispatcher wait queue (QueueLength) can be a sign that the application server has too few work processes or too high a CPU workload. Response times that are too long, on the other hand, can be a sign that you have too many work processes that must share the instance’s resources and therefore cause more paging.

There are many potential causes of bad dialog performance. You should first check whether the problem is due to a general overload of the server. To do this, check the statistics for CPU performance and paging (Operating System monitor). Another possible bottleneck is the database: ensure that the performance of your database is sufficient.

A combination of long wait queues (QueueLength), long wait times (QueueTime), and high utilization of the work processes (Utilization) indicates that the dialog system is overloaded or that there are problems with the database. Are there too many users in the system? Are users running long queries or other long-running transactions? Is a job using the server’s parallel background processing dialog work processes?

Possible corrective measures are:

· Distribute users onto another (additional) application server

· Encourage users to schedule long-running reports or other actions as jobs in times outside the peak workload times

· Add work processes (preferably through operation mode switching)

· Move parallel background processing jobs to times outside the peak workload times

An alert for FrontendResponseTime when there are normal values for the ResponseTime means that the problem must be at the front end or with at connection to the application server.

EnqueueSubtree

An alert in the EnqueueFreq attribute is unlikely, since the enqueue service is able to cope with even high operation rates. If an alert does occur here, it suggests that the wait times for the lock operation are having a negative effect on the entire dialog response time. Problems of this kind are normally only temporary and should resolve themselves. They occur only in extremely unusual circumstances, such as with massive parallel execution of RFC calls to a particular server.

If an alert occurs in the QueueLength attribute, analyze the problem by starting transaction SM12 and choosing Extras ®Diagnosis or Extras ® Diagnosis in Update (see also Analyzing and Correcting Errors).

Auditing Information System (AIS)

SAP Audit Information System (AIS) serves as a centralized repository for reports, queries, and views of interest to auditors. It is designed to address the overall system configuration as well as SAP business processes and their related control features, providing audit and security practitioners with the critical information they need to conduct effective reviews of their SAP systems. SAP administrators can use AIS for security auditing. The AIS plays a supportive role in providing security services for SAP systems. The primary function of AIS is auditing but auditing features can derive the measures that help in developing the security policy for SAP systems.

A successful security set up of a SAP system concludes with proper management and administration of user IDs, password resetting, audit trails, audit logs, access control list, and personnel responsibilities.

Security administration in SAP includes maintenance of the overall SAP security environment using the SAP Profile Generator, creating user-level activity groups and creating user master records.

The concept of SAP security is flexible as well as complex. SAP has a multi-layered integrated framework. To ensure adequate protection, security measures must be factored into all layers of the SAP infrastructure. With client/server architecture, SAP systems include many components that exchange information, each of which constitutes a layer of the SAP security infrastructure. Security is often not a priority in an implementation and as a result, the default security is not strong. SAP security functionality could be enhanced using various measures as discussed above.

Enterprises must develop a security strategy to ensure a secure and functional SAP system. A business critical application like SAP needs continuous monitoring and improvement of its security features.

Authorizations

1. Program code that calls an authorization check using the authority-check statement. This will look something like:

   authority-check object id field

2. Authorization fields (corresponding to the in the above code) that define a scope of possible values. Examples of authorization fields would be:

   ACTIVITY: defines the type of activity the user is doing with the data. Possible values are 'DISPLAY', 'MODIFY', 'DELETE', etc.

   
   

   COMPANY_CODE: possible values are any single value, or any range of values, or any combination thereof (such as '0438' and '0600' thru '1100')

3. Authorization objects that define a group of fields. For example, an authorization object called 'CO_MDATA', containing our above fields ACTIVITY and COMPANY_CODE, might used to control access to the company master data tables.

4. Authorizations, each of which belong to exactly one authorization object, that define authorization values (within the scopes defined by the authorization objects) to be granted to users. Note that an authorization is different from an authorization object!! Extending our previous examples, we might have an authorization, belonging to the authorization object 'CO_MDATA', called 'CO_MDATA_ALL', that grants all access to all company master data. Then 'CO_MDATA_ALL' would have the following values:

   FIELD	VALUE
   ACTIVITY	*
   COMPANY_CODE	*

5. Profiles, each of which may contain several authorizations or profiles. A simple profile contains a group of authorizations. A composite profile contains a group of profiles (simple or composite). [Profiles can be conceptualized as forming the structure of a tree, in which end nodes (leaves) are authorizations, and all other nodes are profiles. Simple profiles are nodes whose children are all end nodes, and composite profiles are nodes, other than end nodes, who have no end nodes for children.]

   Profiles are designed to define set or one or more functions or positions. For example, a functional profile might define all the authorizations that are required for doing a goods receipt, or for making a payment in the AP module. A position profile, on the other hand, might define all of the authorizations that are granted to an accountant, or to a warehouse supervisor. Often, a position profile is a composite profile consisting of several functional profiles.

6. Users, to whom profiles are assigned. A user is assigned one or more profiles by the system administrator. These profiles define all of the user's system authorizations.

Tcodes used for Daily System Monitoring

After running daily system monitoring transaction, what should we check for:

In st22 look for the core dumps if any and report to the respective consultants and try to know why it happened.

In sm21 try to check for errors.

In sp01 try to see if any spool jobs have failed.

In st02 look if any swaps are happening, swaps are not good for performance.

In st04 look for Database alert logs and Performance.

In st03 look for ratio hits.

In sm59 look for connectivety tesing if there are other systems also connected to your SAP R/3 system

In db13 look if the jobs have run successfully.

In sm37 look for any cancelled scheduled job and take action appropriately.

In sm12 look for any pending locks from the previous days.

In sm13 look for any hanged updates, or updates pending for long or updates in PRIV mode.

After running daily system monitoring transaction, what should we check for:

In st22 look for the core dumps if any and report to the respective consultants and try to know why it happened.

In sm21 try to check for errors.

In sp01 try to see if any spool jobs have failed.

In st02 look if any swaps are happening, swaps are not good for performance.

In st04 look for Database alert logs and Performance.

In st03 look for ratio hits.

In sm59 look for connectivety tesing if there are other systems also connected to your SAP R/3 system

In db13 look if the jobs have run successfully.

In sm37 look for any cancelled scheduled job and take action appropriately.

In sm12 look for any pending locks from the previous days.

In sm13 look for any hanged updates, or updates pending for long or updates in PRIV mode.

Configure System Messages

For example, when a user blocks himself out and receives a message :

"User blocked. Contact system administrator"

You can open a repair and change the message in Message class 00.

This can be done in transaction SE91 - Message Maintenance.

Messages allow you to communicate with the users from your programs.

They are mainly used when the user has made an invalid entry on a screen.

To send messages from a program, you must link it to a message class.

Each message class has an ID, and usually contains a whole set of message. Each message has a single line of text, and may contain placeholders for variables (e.g. & & & - three variables).

All messages are stored in table T100.

If you have more than one application server, use AL08 instead of SM04.

or

It is because they are at the logon screen which has established a connection.

You will notice that the transaction code shown when there is no user name is SESSION_MANAGER.

This shows you which workstations out there have the login screen up but have not yet entered a user name and password.

The transaction column shows the Last executed transaction code.

Sometimes your users will have multiple sessions open. If they do, to the system, it is the same as multiple logins as it relates to the resources used etc.

So the user name will show up more than once in AL08.

Under the application server they are logged into, each instance of that user name on that application server represents a session open.

For instance if you run AL08, you will have your name show up at least twice on the application server you are logged into.

One will show AL08 and the other will not have a transaction next to it.

Copy a Client into a Stand Alone System

How to copy a client into a stand alone system?

The scenario is I have a 2 system landscape. I want to copy an existing client from DEV to a standalone system for some demo purposes.

There is an option for Client TRANSPORT which will help you perhaps:

A client transport differs from a remote client copy in that it does not use RFC. Like a remote client copy, however, a client transport is used to copy data between different R/3 Systems.

A client transport consists of two steps. First, a client export extracts client data from the source client to files at the operating system level. Second, the data is imported from the operating systemfiles into the target client.

To perform a client export, proceed as follows:

Log on to the source client. From the R/3 initial screen, choose:

*Tools *(r) *Administration *(r) *Administration *(r) *Client Admin. *(r) *Client Transport*(r) *Client Export*. Select the data to be copied using a profile.

Indicate the target system to which the client will be copied. (The target system must be defined in TMS as part of the transport domain.)

Begin the client export. As copying is a lengthy process, use scheduled background processing. The client export performed in the source system , exports the client data asynchronously bycalling the transport program tp at the operating system level. This export process will generate up to

3 data files at operating system level:

. RT<>; this file contains client-specific data

. RO<>; this file contains Cross-client data

. RX<>; this file contains SAPscript texts

Depending on the type of data selected through the client transport profile, the client copy command

files added to the buffer of the target system are

KO; this file is for cross-client data

KT; this file is for client-specific data

KX; this file is also for client-specific data

The client export change requests are not imported when an Import all takes place. Therefore, you must import these requests into the target client using TMS. You must import the data in the following order: first cross-client data, then client- specific data.

After the import process has completed, post-import activities are required possible for object generation steps. After completing the import, log on to the target client. From the R/3 initial screen, choose:
*Tools *(r) *Administration *(r) *Administration *(r) *Client Admin. *(r) *Client Transport *(r) *ImportEditing*

To display client transport logs, use the Transport Organizer.During client transport, a Repository consistency check can be performed by clicking the RFC system check button in Transaction SCC8. If inconsistencies are detected, a list of the ABAP Dictionary tables definitions missing in the target system is generated. This will help your recognize in advance formal problems that may occur during the import of the source data.

AL01  SAP Alert Monitor
AL02  Database alert monitor
AL03  Operating system alert monitor
AL04  Monitor call distribution
AL05  Monitor current workload
AL06  Performance: Upload/Download
AL07  EarlyWatch Report
AL08  Users Logged On
AL09  Data for database expertise
AL10  Download to Early Watch
AL11  Display SAP Directories
AL12  Display table buffer (Exp. session)
AL13  Display Shared Memory (Expert mode)
AL15  Customize SAPOSCOL destination
AL16  Local Alert Monitor for Operat.Syst.
AL17  Remote Alert Monitor for Operat. Syst.
AL18  Local File System Monitor
AL19  Remote File System Monitor
AL20  EarlyWatch Data Collector List
AL21  ABAP Program analysis
AL22  Dependent objects display
CREF  Cross-reference
BD64
BSVW  Linkage Status Update-Workflow Event
CMOD  Enhancements
DB01  Analyze exclusive lock waits
DB02  Analyze tables and indexes
DB03  Parameter changes in database
DB11  Early Watch Profile Maintenance
DB12  Overview of Backup Logs
DB13  Database administration calendar
DB14  Show SAPDBA Action Logs
DB15  Data Archiving: Database Tables
DB16  DB System Check: Monitor
DB17  DB System Check: Configuration
DMIG  Start Transaction for Data Migration
DB2   Select Database Activities
DB20  DB Cost-Based Optimizer: Tab. Stats
DB21  DB Cost-Based Optimizer: Config.
DB24  Database Operations Monitor
DB26  DB Profile:Monitor and Configuration
DB2J  Manage JCL jobs for OS/390
DBCO  Database Connection Maintenance
FILE  Cross-Client File Names/Paths
NACE  WFMC: Initial Customizing Screen
OAA1  SAP ArchiveLink: Maint.user st.syst
OAA3  SAP ArchiveLink protocols
OAA4  SAP ArchiveLink applic.maintenance
OAAD  ArchiveLink Administration Documents
OAC2  SAP ArchiveLink: Globaldoc. types
OAC5  SAP ArchiveLink: Bar code entry
OACA  SAP ArchiveLink workflow parameters
OAD0  SAP ArchiveLink: Objectlinks
OAD2  SAP ArchiveLink document classes
OAD3  SAP ArchiveLink: Link tables
OAD4  SAP ArchiveLink: Bar code types
OAD5  SAP ArchiveLink: Customizing Wizard
OADR  SAP ArchiveLink: Print list search
OAM1  SAP ArchiveLink: Monitoring
OAOR  SAP ArchiveLink: Storeddocuments
OARE  SAP ArchiveLink:St.syst.return codes
OS01  LAN check with ping
OS03  O/S Parameter changes
OS04  Local System Configuration
OS05  Remote System Cconfiguration
OS06  Local Operating System Activity
OS07  Remote Operating SystemActivity
OSS1  Logon to Online ServiceSystem
OY18  Table history
OY08  Development Class Overview
PFCG  Activity Group
PFUD  Authorization Profile comparison
RLOG  Data migration logging
RZ01  Job Scheduling Monitor
RZ02  Network Graphics for SAP Instances
RZ03  Presentation, Control SAP Instances
RZ04  Maintain SAP Instances
RZ06  Alerts Thresholds Maintenance
RZ08  SAP Alert Monitor
RZ10  Maintenance of profile parameters
RZ11  Profile parameter maintenance
RZ12  Maintain RFC Server Group Assignment
RZ20  CCMS Monitoring
RZ21  Customize CCMS Alert Monitor
SA38  ABAP/4 Reporting
SAD0  Address Management call
SADC  Address: Maint. communication types
SALE  Display ALE Customizing
SAINT Plug-in Installation
SARI  Archive Information System
SAR3  Customizing Archiving
SAR4  Define Archiving Class
SAR5  Assign Archiving Class
SAR6  Archiving Time Generator
SARA  Archive management
SARL  Call of ArchiveLink Monitor
SARP  Reporting (Tree Structure): Execute
SART  Display Reporting Tree
SB01  Business Navigator - Component View
SB02  Business Navigator - Process flow vw
SBAS  Assignments to Process Model Elemts
SC38  Start Report Immediately
SCAT  Computer Aided Test Tool
SCC0  Client Copy
SCC1  Client Copy - Special Selections
SCC2  Client transport
SCC3  Client Copy Log
SCC4  Client administration
SCC5  Client Delete
SCC6  Client Import
SCC7  Client Import – Post Processing
SCC8  Client Export
SCC9  Remote Client Copy
SCCL  Local Client Copy
SCDO  Display Change DocumentObjects
SCMP  View / Table Comparison
SCOM  SAPcomm: Configuration
SCON  SAPconnect - Administration
SCPF  Generate enterprise IMG
SCPR1 Customizing Profiles : Maintenance Tool
SCPR2 Comparing Customizing profiles
SCUA  Central User Administration : Distribution Model Assigment
SCUG  Central User Administration Structure Display
SCUL
SCUM  Central User Administration Field Selection
SCU0  Table Analyses And Comparison
SCU1  Table Comparison - Export to Tape
SCU2  Table Comparison Against Tape
SCU3  Table History
SD11  Data Modeler
SDBE  Explain an SQL Statement
SECR  Audit Information System
SE01  Transport and Correction System
SE02  Environment Analyzer
SE03  Transport Utilities
SE06  Set up Workbench Organizer
SE07  Transport System Status Display
SE09  Workbench Organizer (Initial Screen)
SE10  Customizing Organizer
SE11  Data Dictionary Maintenance
SE12  Data Dictionary Display
SE13  Maintain Technical Settings (Tables)
SE14  Convert Data Dictionary tables on Database Level
SE15  Repository Info System
SE16  Display Table Content
SE17  Generate Table Display
SE30  ABAP Objects Runtime Analysis
SE32  ABAP Text Element Maintenance
SE33  Context Builder
SE35  ABAP/4 Dialog Modules
SE36  Logical database

What is a Logical system?

-----Original Message-----
Subject: Logical system

Hello !

Does anybody know what "logical system" is ??? I have read help in =
transaction SCC4 already, but I'm confused more than before ... :-))) =
What it is good for ? What is the reason for defining it ?

Give me an explanation, please ...
Thanks !

-----Reply Message-----
Subject: RE: Logical system

Hi,

'logical system' is used to identify an individual client in a system, for ALE
communication between SAP systems. That's why you see a field for 'logical
system' in the client master data in SCC4 (table T000). You use logical systems
in ALE config - this should be documented further in the IMG guide, or SALE and
BALE transactions.

cheers,

-----Reply Message-----
Subject: RE: Logical system

Just a note of warning regarding choosing the Logical System name.

I know of one site where it was chosen such that it depended on the actual
system name and, therefore, had to be changed after copying production back to
acceptance. The process ran for two to three days! I have not examined how the
logical system name is used but it would appear that selection should be made
carefully to avoid the need for this if the architecture can support it.

Perhaps someone with more experience of this object could comment on its usage
and name selection.

-----Reply Message-----
Subject: RE: Logical system

yes - you should use a naming convention for the logical system names which
includes distinct IDs depending on:
System ID (SID), and client number, and maybe also system number if you have
more than one instance per host machine. Hostname would be useful too, but I
think there's only 10 characters in v3.1x (maybe more with long name
functionality in 4.x ??).

eg., in DEV box , sys no 00, client 100, choose something like 'DEV00_100'.

cheers,

-----Reply Message-----
Subject: RE: Logical system

You state that a logical system appears to be nothing more than another label
for a client. I think (certainly cannot say I know!) that it is a little more
than that: I think it is an externally visible label for a client within a
system.

-----Reply Message-----
Subject: RE: Logical system

Thanks,

I had interpreted the term "logical" as meaning it had no relationship to a
specific instance. That's how I would use the term anyway. I take it from your
remarks and others on this thread that it is, in fact, a very instance and
client specific label - really very physical and not at all virtual/logical.

-----Reply Message-----
Subject: RE: Logical system

I know from experience that the logical system must be defined or you get
error messages all over the place during order processing stating the
logical system has not been defined.
The logical system is defined in the IMG. Don't know the transaction
identifier, but in 4.* it is found in the IMG > Cross Application Components
> Distribution ALE > Basic settings > Logical systems > Define logical
systems. Here the entry is just an identifier and a text entry.
As you stated, it is assigned to the Client in Tx SCC4. (The next step in
the IMG)
I went to the IMG for help. Here is the extract at "Logical systems" level:
"Logical Systems.
The distribution of systems ( ALE ) makes it necessary to be able to
identify every system individually within a network. The "logical system" is
used to do this.
A logical system is an application system within which the applications are
coordinated to work in one database. In the SAP sense of the word, a logical
system corresponds to a client.
In the following steps, you must define every client as a logical system by
first of all defining logical systems and then assigning the clients in
question to the corresponding logical systems.
Note:
Assignments must be unique (that is, a client may only be assigned to one
logical system.
Several clients must never be assigned to the same logical system."

Reading this it does seem that it is nothing more than another identifier
for a "Client".

Hope it helps,

Before doing a client copy, you need to prepare the following :-

1. Find the source client space with the client size custom program which can be implemented using the rel. note:
Find the space of the client - '0118823'. This will give you the size of the source client.

2. If your are on Unix OS, adjust all the file systems according to PRD file system to fit the PRD client in DEV
client based on space requirements also.

3. You can do the client copy by remote or export/import client.
Remote method is not preferred if you are doing a large client copy.
Do a client export/import.

4. To speed up the export/import, use R3trans export/import for the clustered tables.
Please find the rel. notes related to performance improvements for cluster tables in OSS.

5. Do import and post processing.
Note: Export may take 10 to 20 hr. for 50gb of data
import may take 4 days and post import will take 8 to 15 hr. for 50gb of data. And it all depends on
your system performance.

Please refer OSS rel. notes for the few RZ10 parameters which needs to be set for cluster tables to speed up the process.

Note :-

If it is a fresh installation, do this --

1. SCC4 --> Create client no. and fill other details.
2. Logon to the newly created client with SAP* and PASS as password.
3. SCCL --> choose any profile (preferably SAP_ALL), source client 000 and target client .
4. Preferably do a test run initially to check if it can go well.
5. As a care check space in databases.

What are step and procedure to create a client & to take a client copy from source to target.

By: Kavitha.G

If you are copying from same system then flow the below steps:

1. Create the client in Tcode scc4.
2. Before that create a logical System in BD54.
3. Login in the newly created client with
user Name : sap* and password : pass
4. Use the Tcode sccl to copy the client.if you are not familiar with the client copy. Try a test run and then schedule it in background.
5. You can select the needed profile.
6. To view the log files use the tcode scc3.

If you are using different system then create a rfc connection in sm59.test the connection and then continue from the 1st step
You can also import and export a client. Use scc7 for importing from the client and scc8 fro exporting from the source client

What is system refresh when and why it is done?

The system refersh is nothing but the deletion of the client and replacing the data from other client. For example : you have clients 100, 200 and 300. Suppose when you want to refresh the client 100 you remove the client 100 and replace it with 200 0r 300 as per your reqiurement. Mostly the refresh of clients will be happen at the time of development stage.

System Refresh is a simplified term to Client Copy. Client Copy means copying the production client on to the quality to test the real data. As recommend by SAP this need to carried out every 3 months.

The process to carry out the same is as follows:
1. Create a client on quality system using txn scc4
2. Create a RFC between Production system and Quality System (need to create on quality system)
3. Login to the newly created client using sap* and pass as a password
4. Txn sccl to start the client copy. You can test the client copy by selecting the test run option. (test run will estimate the time taken for the activity).

What SPRO stands for?

SPRO stands for SAP Project Reference Object
.
It is used to configure the setting as per your client requirement by using the standard setting present in the system. This where you can do all the SAP configuration work. It is also known as the Configuration Menu.

What is full form IMG and SPRO? How are they different from each other?

IMG :- Implementation Guide.
SPRO :- SAP Project Reference Object.

SPRO------>IMG.

Type in the T-Code SPRO under That got to Main Menu which is IMG.

SPRO is basically used to organize the consultant customizing during the SAP Project Phrase.

How to close a window?

If we want to stop a transaction in the middle, Right click on the end button (X) on the top right corner of the window. Then select "stop transaction".
As we dont have STOP icon as we have in WINDOWS, this will help in the same way.

Its a very small tip, but will help a lot.

Tips by : Bhaskar

Name two ways to start a transaction.
- Dynamic Menu
- Command Field

Why do you create user-specific parameters?
They supply defaults to R/3 fields. If a field is indicated, the system automatically fills in default value. Depending on the field definition, the entry can also be replaced with a value entered by the user. (Concept of PARAMETER ID)

Name the three different kinds of messages in the R/3 system. What is the difference between them?
A message can have five different types. These message types have the following effects during list processing:

A (=Abend):
The system displays a message of this message type in a dialog window. After the user confirms the message using ENTER, the system terminates the entire transaction (for example SE38).

E (=Error) or W (=Warning):
The system displays a message of this message type in the status line. After the user chooses ENTER, the system acts as follows:
While creating the basic list, the system terminates the report.
While creating a secondary list, the system terminates the corresponding processing block and keeps displaying the previous list level.

I (=Information):
The system displays a message of this message type in a dialog window. After the user chooses ENTER , the system resumes processing at the current program position.

S (=Success):
The system displays a message of this message type on the output screen in the status line of the currently created list.

What is a data dictionary or repository?
Central catalog that contains the descriptions of an organization's data and provides information about the relationships between the data and its use in programs and screens.
The data descriptions in a Data Dictionary is also called metadata, i.e., data that describes other data.

The ABAP/4 Dictionary stores system-wide data definitions. When you create a new data definition, the Dictionary tool does all the processing necessary to create the definition. You can use the Dictionary tool to look up the "definition" of objects in your R/3 System.

What is a matchcode?
Comparsion key. A matchcode allows you to locate the key of a particular database record (e.g. account number) by entering any field value contained in the record. The system then displays a list of records matching the specifications.

If you want an end user to see a specific menu after logging on the R/3 system, how could you do that?
User maintenance transactions allow the system administrator to create and maintain user master records. This includes the generation and assignment of authorizations and authorization profiles.

Our development system is way out of sync, both configuration- and data-wise. We would like to refresh our development system from the production system. How can this be accomplished? What things we need to be aware of? I know we can restore the production system (PRD) from from tape to the development system (DEV,) but that will wipe out everything including transports, notes history, etc

The system copy guides can be found at http://service.sap.com/instguides*. Different backup/restore procedures exist for the different databases supported by SAP.

If you restore PRD over DEV, it will wipe out everything. You should therefore find a point in time in which development projects finish and are brought into production. You should only re-create DEV from a backup of PRD if both systems are more or less in sync or if your development teams agree that certain developments are lost.
* User authorization needed to access the service marketplace.

How can I clone an SAP system for a sandbox purpose? For example, our Enterprise production environment runs on 4 application servers and an Oracle database all on AIX OS. I can restore a copy of the database from a backup and copy the /usr and /sapmnt directories from one of the app server to the target sandbox, but what files should be edited/deleted to have the new system run on its own?

Congratulations -- restoring your database and getting it up and running is the hard part.

The rest should be easy.

The following needs to be changed after restoring the SAP file systems:
• The instance, default and start profiles (they reside in the profile directory).
• You need to copy the environment files from the adm homedirectory from your source system. The environment variables values should be changed accordingly.
• Copy and modify the database configuration files (init.ora, init.dba … )
• Don't forget to set the port names and numbers in the services file

Keyword: BASIS
Title : Monitoring the System Work Processes (SM50)

System number: System number is the number which differentiates between multiple instances in a single host. System nr varies from 00 -99 (75 and 99 are reserved for TCP/IP use)

Using the transaction code SSM2, you can change the system wide User Menu, i.e., this change will applied to all the users. If they are using their personalized menu, it will not be modified.

Symptom: Error messages in the trace files dev_disp, dev_w, where the texts ShmCreate, not enough core, PXA_NO_MEMORY, etc. appear.

Help: Preventing Swap Space Bottlenecks (only UNIX /NT) or decrease extended memory and/or increase main memory.

We can verify whether a system is Unicode or non-Unicode by using the command JCMON . This provides you with the version information similar to the following:

E:\usr\sap\EP7\JC01\exe>jcmon

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jcmon information
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kernel release 700
kernel make variant 700_REL
DBMS client library
compiled on NT 5.0 2195 Service Pack 4 x86 MS VC++ 13.10
compilation mode UNICODE
compile time Nov 21 2005 20:42:48
update level 0
patch number 0
source id 0.033

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supported environment
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database (SAP, table SVERS) 700

operating system
Windows NT 5.0
Windows NT 5.1
Windows NT 5.2