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OBJECT COMPARISON TOOL

Object Comparison tool is used for the comparison of objects between different SAP Servers such as Sandbox, Development, Quality and Production.

Introduction:

There is a very good way of comparing objects between Servers. This kind of tool is important while you are going for an version upgrade of SAP, where we need to keep track of objects which are undergoing development and which have gone live so that only live objects are considered for transportation to the new version. For Example from 4.0, 4.5B, 4.6 to 4.7 Enterprise. For each and every object to be transferred from one server to another we require a Transport Request Number most popularly known as CTS (Correction and Transport System). It is possible to track each object based on this request number. Before going for the details of tracking a request, where it is exactly (in Development, Quality or Production), I'd like to share some information regarding CTS.

Correction and Repair :

A correction is a change to an Object in a system.
Every time you go for a change of an object, whether it is a new one or an already released one, the system asks for a Change Request and this Change Request becomes the basis for transferring this changed Object from one system to another.

A Repair is a modification to an object that was not created or originated in the Current System. For example: Changes to Standard SAP Objects are called repairs so it is evident from this definition that Standard SAP Objects are never originals in the Customer System. While going for Repair of a Standard SAP Object you require an Object Access key from OSS (Online Support System). It is very important to know that repairs can not be done directly in the Production Environment; it is through the sequential movement of the repaired SAP Object from Development to Quality and from Quality to Production.

Object Types:

When you are going for an Object Comparison we need to first know object type and object name. Every Object is associated with an Object type like CUAD for Transactions, REPS for Reports, FUNC for function modules and so on. It is very important to note that we are going only for the comparison of objects which have a CTS.

Steps Involved in Tracking a Request Number:

       1) Get Object Name and Object Type of an object. Here the object may be a Standard SAP Object or an Object written as a part of customization, but the important thing is that a CTS should exist for that object.

       2) Use the Function Module SVRS_GET_VERSION_DIRECTORY to get the version history of an object including the Current Status of the object in case the object is under development, by passing the object name and object type.

       3) Take the latest request from the version list and check the status of it by passing the request number as input to the function module TR_READ_GLOBAL_INFO_OF_REQUEST.

Since the function module TR_READ_GLOBAL_INFO_OF_REQUEST gives the exact status of the request, a question arises how does this function module can keep track of each and every request and what is the exact basis for tracking that request? Every time a request is created its entry and its history is maintained in the directory /usr/sap/trans/cofiles/ on the application server, Each request number will have a file associated with it. Using this file we can track the status of the request. However, how many systems the SAP system is collaborated with will be depicted in the control file /usr/sap/trans/bin/TPPARAM.

All the possible exceptions have to be handled by the developer for the tool to be more reliable and reachable.