ChaRM: A Boost to Your 7.20 Project After the Content Activation Is Done

Overview:

With SAP Solution Manager 7.20 Support Package Stack 3, the 7.20 release is general available.

One of the conceptual changes is that the new Solution Documentation function replaces the SOLAR transactions (SOLAR01, SOLAR02).

The big step from SAP Solution Manager 7.10 to 7.20 is performed by the so-called Content Activation.

If you used Change Request Management in SAP Solution Manager 7.10 already, you copied the standard transaction types, for example, the SMCR (Request for Change) or change documents such as the SMHF (Urgent Change), SMMJ (Normal Change) to the customer namespace.

When you perfromed the content activation, the existing open documents are reassigned from solar projects to solutions, branches and new change cycle types. All this happens automatically.

You might ask though if this is all that has to be done to get the standard process running. In general, SAP Solution Manager Configuration (SOLMAN_SETUP) provides good guidance for steps such as role update.

Yet, as it contains a lot of optional activities depending on what you have adjusted in the change management process, you might easily oversee and not plan some topics.

That’s why I created this blog. To give you an overview of what has to be done after the content activation. This is based on my experience as back office contact at SAP working with four ramp-up customers.

Certainly, I cannot make promises here but I am confident that this blog should will boost your project.

If you are not sure, please check the standard or Solman Setup. I would like to point out to you that the release info for SPS 3 is quite detailed for Change Request Management.

What I do not cover here:

I will concentrate on CRM WebClient UI and Change Request Management framework and not go into role updates, replaced transactions, e.g. ‘/TMWFLOW/PROJ’ which is replaced by the administration cockpit, RZ70, LMDB.

What you need to do after the content activation is finished

1. Adopt the UI configuration.
2. Integrate into Solution Documentation.
3. Adapt customer code for SOLAR functionalities for Solution Documentation

1. Adopt the UI configuration

Some SAP standard fields and assignment blocks are obsolete, some are new. Therefore, the UI configuration for your customer transaction type needs adaption.

Prerequisites

You copied the UI configuration in release 7.10 by adapting the object subtype to your copied customer (Z/Y) transaction type as shown in the screenshot below (the example illustrates a general change).

Strategy:

First rule: Never enhance the standard default UI configuration!!

If you enhance UI configurations, always copy a standard UI configuration and adapt the object subtype to your copied customer transaction type. Never enhance the standard default configuration, marked in the screenshot below. This could lead to the CRM Web UI taking the enhanced default configuration for each transaction type that doesn’t have a UI configuration with the transaction type as the object subtype. This can lead to unwanted side effects.

There are two ways to adopt the UI configuration:

• delete the existing customer specific UI configuration for the customer transaction type and copy the standard again. This is best if you have no additional not more than five customer fields added. You are finished then. If you have additional customer fields it depends how many. Most customers know these fields and are more familiar with adding them to the newly copied customer UI configuration.
• Delete the old standard fields from the copied UI configuration and add the new standard fields. Interesting if you have lots of customer fields added and it’s less work to delete the old and add the new SAP standard fields.

How do you get there?

Call transaction ‘BSP_WD_CMPWB’ (UI Component Workbench) and enter the relevant UI component. Go to the Views section. The relevant adaptions have to be done in the Header (the Details assignment block) and overview views (where it is defined which assignment blocks are visible). Follow the arrows in the screenshot above.

UI component for specific standard transaction types (and your specific customer transaction type):

Obsolete Fields and Assignment Blocks:

With the general concept being changed from SOLAR to Solution Documentation, some SAP standard fields in the header view are now obsolete for the UI:

– Project (//BTAICREQUESTCONTEXT/STRCT.PROJECT_ID)

– Solution (//BTAICREQUESTCONTEXT/STRCT.SOLUTION_ID) with the description (//BTAICREQUESTCONTEXT/STRCT.SOLUTION_DESC)

– Project Cycle (//BTAICREQUESTCONTEXT/STRCT.PROJECT_CYCLE_ID) with the description (//BTAICREQUESTCONTEXT/STRCT.PROJECT_CYCLE_DESC)

– Installed Base (//BTREFOBJMAIN//STRUCT.IB_BASE) with description (//BTREFOBJMAIN/IBIBASE)

– Component (//BTREFOBJMAIN/IBINSTANCE) with description (//BTREFOBJMAIN/IBINSTANCEDESC)

For the overview view the assignment blocks ‘Project’, ‘Solution’ and ‘Documents’ are obsolete.

Let’s take a look at an urgent change of a 7.10 release:

In the header view, you will see the following:

Remove those assignment blocks as they are out of interest if you want to check old closed documents of 7.10. Then set them to ‘Hidden’. Later, a user can display them in manually via personalization.

New Fields and Assignment Blocks:

New SAP standard fields in the header are:

– Change Cycle (//AICREQUESTCONTEXT/STRCT.PROJECT_TITLE)

-Phase (//AICREQUESTCONTEXT/STRCT.USER_STAT_DESC) has been relocated

– Type (//AICREQUESTCONTEXT/STRCT.RELEASE_TYPE)  with release no. (RELEASE_NUMBER)

– ID (//AICREQUESTCONTEXT/STRCT.RELEASE_CRM_ID)

– Landscape (//AICREQUESTCONTEXT/STRCT.SLAN_DESC)

– Branch (//AICREQUESTCONTEXT/STRCT.SBRA_NAME)

– Development Close (//AICREQUESTCONTEXT/STRCT.DEV_CLOSE_DATE)

– Go-Live Date (//AICREUQESTCONTEXT/STRCT.GO_LIVE_DATE)

New assignment blocks are:

– Solution Documentation (replacing the former ‘project’, ‘solution’ and ‘documents’ assignment block)

– Transport-related Checks

Because all new SAP standard fields and assignment blocks are relevant, they should be displayed.

2. Integrate into Solution Documentation

The new change recording feature for change request management brings significant benefits for release 7.20. Summarized documentation becomes visible in the productive branch when the change from the transport is imported into the production system, e.g., the change document reaches its productive status.

This integration has been implemented via Change Request Management framework actions and consistency checks. Starting with Support Package Stack 3,you find a description in SAP Solution Manager Configuration (SOLMAN_SETUP) in the Change Request Management area in 9.3.

We’ve tried to describe it in greater details so we hope that it provides sufficient support.

3. Adapt customer-specific code for SOLAR functions for Solution Documentation

A quick reminder that if you did customer enhancements depending on the PROJECT_ID field, these enhancements need to be re-implemented. As SAP cannot see what is enhanced, this has been done with the help of consultants and developers.