Generation Variant

Use

This function controls report creation. The control depends on whether the report contains specification data.

Reports with Reference to a Specification

For reports with reference to a specification, the generation variant controls the generation and the process flow in Report Management.

  • Generation control

    In Specification Management, you enter the specification data (identifiers and value assignments) and can specify different usages, that is different validity areas and ratings. The specifications intended for the addressees must be determined from these specification data. For this purpose, the generation variant (report generation variant, RGV) forms the connection between the Report Template (SBV) and the usage. You specify the usage both for the individual value assignments and identifiers and for the generation variant. The corresponding data will be generated and output to the report only if the usage of a value assignment or identifier matches the usage of the generation variant.

    You use the Change Marks indicator in the header of the generation variant to set the marking of relevant specification data changes compared to previously generated reports on reports (see Change Marks).

    Note Note

    Identifiers are selected on a language-dependent basis, as follows: Identifiers will be selected for which the report language is specified. If the system does not find any identifiers for the language, it selects the identifiers for which no language is specified. The same applies for user-defined text selection.

    Validity areas of different validity area categories (e.g. REGION, PLANT etc.) can be defined in Customizing. In this way you can, for example, output data specific to certain plants on a report. Additional validity areas can be assigned to a validity area in Customizing, but it is not possible to assign additional validity areas to an already assigned validity area.

    End of the note.

  • Controlling Report Management

    You use the Generation Variant Indicators to control which stations of the Report Management status network have to be edited for a newly created report.

Reports Without Reference to a Specification

After assigning the generation variant to a released report template that does not contain any symbols from the report application Specification Master, the report is treated like a released report and is immediately available in the Report Information System for report shipping. The report therefore does not appear in Report Management.

For reports without reference to a specification, generation variant rating and validity area have no significance.

Features

  • Rating

    The rating protects specification data from unauthorized access. For example, you can specify that data is only accessible internally and other data are generally accessible to customers.

  • Validity area

    A validity area can group together multiple jurisdictions in which specification data have the same validity.

    A distinction is made between the following:

    • Leading validity area

      This is defined when creating a generation variant.

    • Discrete validity areas

      If the report is intended for multiple validity area/language combinations, such as a multilingual hazardous substance label for example, these assignments are also part of the generation variant.

      To enable the system to select the required data on the report according to validity area and language, a repeating group of type Validity Area and Language also has to be defined (see Example: Repeating Group of Type G).

  • Usage check

    You use the usage check to define how you want the SAP system to compare usages for the generation variant in the header and for the individual discrete validity areas. You can define whether an intersection, subset, superset, or match is to be present for usages of the same rating for the comparison to apply for the validity areas. For more information about comparing usages, see Generation Not Permitted.

  • Status check

    You can use the Status Check indicator in the generation variant header to specify whether the specification and phrase status is to be checked in report generation.

    Note Note

    If you call the Report from Template function from the specification management hit list, you can override the indicator if required.

    End of the note.

    If there is no status entry preventing generation for the corresponding specification, the status is taken into account in the following way:

    • Taking into account of specification status (see also Generation Not Permitted)

      The SAP System checks the usage records for the selected data records that lead to the selection of the data records. If there is a status for the relevant specification that does not permit output on reports, the data record is not output on the report.

    • Taking into account of phrase status

      Depending on the status of the phrase item, you can specify whether the phrase item is expanded on the report, or whether the symbol of type Descriptor is not expanded and the additional information for the phrase status is output on the report.

  • Report category

    The report category is linked directly to the generation variant. The report category specifically identifies a report, for example, as a tremcard or safety datasheet. In the standard system, only reports of category Material Safety Data Sheet are sent for material safety data sheet shipping. This is controlled using business process Material Safety Data Sheet Shipping, which has to be assigned to the report category in Customizing for Product Safety under Specify Report Categories and to the shipping reason under Specify Shipping Reasons (see Report Selection).

  • Assignment of report applications

    Once you have assigned a report template to a generation variant, the SAP system automatically determines all report applications for which symbols have been created on the report template. You cannot delete these report applications. You can also assign additional report applications. You must have created these in Customizing for Product Safety under Specify Report Applications.

    You cannot manually assign report application Specification Master. This is only assigned by the usage of specification symbols in the corresponding report template.

    The symbols are assigned uniquely to a report application for the following reasons:

    • Each symbol belongs to one symbol group.

    • Each symbol group is assigned to one report application.

      Note Note

      For each report application, you can define your own symbols, which are then available on the report template. In Customizing for Basic Data and Tools, function modules, which determine the overwritable default values for the parameter symbols of the report template, are defined for each symbol group under Specify Report Symbol Groups. You can adjust these function modules. A report application can also use multiple symbol groups.

      End of the note.

    You can restrict use of the generation variant by assigning individual object keys to the report applications. If no object key is entered, the generation variant applies to all objects of the report application (see Defining Application Objects).

    Note Note

    If a report is already assigned to specific objects, it does not make sense to restrict usage of the generation variant to other objects of the same report application. The SAP system therefore ignores these object assignments. Example: If a report is assigned to a specific material by means of material-specification assignment, the assignment of the generation variant to another material is ignored.

    End of the note.

    When accessing Report Management or the Report Information System, the generation variants and related reports are selected using the Search Criteria.