Enhancements to the SAP System in the Area of PLM 
Enhancements to the SAP System in the Area of PLM
Purpose
To can optimize the work processes in your enterprise in the area of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), you can change and enhance the scope of functions for the standard SAP system. The enhancements are part of the standard SAP system and can be set up in your SAP System by means of enterprise-specific logic.
Enhancements
The following is an overview of the supported enhancements in the area of PDM.
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Enhancement |
Note |
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Customer exits See also:  Customer Exits
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Use The function process of the standard SAP system is changed by means of customer exits within the SAP system enhancement concept. The exits provided with the system do not have any functionality of their own. They simply represent a starting point for additional document distribution functions which you can develop using company-specific logic. Integration The customer exits are programmed as function module exits. You create an enhancement project by editing an enhancement that SAP has supplied. The enhancement contains the function module for the required function. The function module leads to an include program where you encode the enterprise-specific function requirements. Prerequisites If you use a function exit, you must create a company-specific include program that matches the programming logic of the function module. For example, the data that can be transferred from the include program to the standard program, and vice versa, is predefined here. Since each call for a customer-specific function module used contains both export and import parameters, the customer-specific function modules are also equipped with this predefined interface. |
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Business Add-In
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Use Business Add-Ins are defined parts within a source that can add coding for different software levels, such as branches, partners, or customers, without changing the original program itself. The coding of the standard SAP system allows you to add implementation where the methods for the enterprise-specific processing are set. Integration The coding of the standard SAP system contains the definitions of the interfaces as well as the calls for the application programs. This enhancement is made of an interface and a method. Each Business Add-In is made up of various methods that can be carried out in preset processing situations. The methods determine the operations for the documents or their original application files. The enterprise-specific coding is entered in Implementation. Prerequisites You must enter the enterprise-specific enhancements in an implementation. You must create an implementation for the Business Add-In you have chosen and enter the required coding for the method. After the implementation is active you can use it when executing the application program. |
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Business Transaction Events See also: Using Business Transaction Events |
You can use two types of interfaces for modifying and enhancing the standard SAP system:
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User exits in Customizing |
You determine in Customizing for the application which enterprise-specific changes you want to carry out. You can find detailed notes in the IMG. |
Use the ABAP Workbench for the customer exits as well as for Business Add Ins. Modification to SAP sources and ABAP Dictionary Objects are done within SAP Software Change Registration (SSCR).
These changes are upward compatible. This means that they remain effective even after an upgrade or installation of a hot package.
Enhancements for Objects from the Area of PDM
The following overview shows which enhancements are supported for which SAP objects from the PDM area.
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SAP Object |
Customer Exits |
Business Add-In |
Business Transaction Events |
User Exits |
| Document |
X |
X |
X |
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| Material |
X |
X |
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| Change master record |
X |
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| Bills of material |
X |
X |