Customizing Comparison

Use

This function shows you how the Consolidation Customizing settings differ from each other in two clients, systems, or consolidation areas. In particular, you can perform the Customizing comparison as an additional quality assurance method after transporting Customizing settings to make sure that the transport produced the expected results.

A final Customizing comparison is useful for control purposes if you want to use the settings in one system in other systems. This is the case, for example, if you want to transfer settings from a test client to a live client in the implementation phase, or if you want to completely or partially transfer the settings made at the group headquarters to the subsidiaries, which report to the parent company.

Differences in the Customizing of two consolidation areas do not necessarily indicate errors or problems. You can also use the function for information purposes, for example, to indicate differences in the Customizing of two consolidation areas: one for statutory consolidation and one for management consolidation.

Prerequisites

You have made Customizing settings in at least one system.

Features

Settings for the Comparison

The Customizing comparison is based on settings within one consolidation area. First you enter the consolidation area for which you want to perform the comparison. The system then dynamically determines the fields and parameters in this consolidation area and offers them for selection under Fields for Comparison . The system determines the differences between the source and target system for each field you included in the check.

You can decide what should be compared:

  • Compare Systems :

    This option compares the settings in two consolidation systems. The second consolidation system can be another client of the current system.

  • Local Comparison :

    This option compares two consolidation areas in the same client. After you have entered the name of the second consolidation area, the system determines which fields it contains and offers them for selection under Comparison (Local Only) (if you do not select this option, the group box remains empty).

Technical Settings

In the Technical Settings group box , you can make more detailed settings for the Customizing comparison to:

  • Modify the comparison between two consolidation areas

  • Analyze only one consolidation area or a single field

You can use Search Depth to control how detailed the system examines the internal structure of the fields you selected for the comparison. In this way, you can ensure that the system recognizes differences in complex objects such as tasks or data entry layouts, which are similar at first glance but differ in detail (for example, in the method selection or in the structure used in the layout) and displays them appropriately. Choose a larger value in order to determine such detail differences.

Recommendation Recommendation

We recommend that you extend the search depth in small steps only. Extending the search depth can result in considerably longer runtimes.

End of the recommendation.

You can specify that no comparison data should be selected. In this operation mode the system delivers a list of the Customizing settings you selected as the comparison result; the difference indicator “L” (data record only exists in the consolidation area of the source system) is reported for each entry.

You can also analyze fields that exist in the data basis but not in a consolidation area. To check these fields, enter the technical name of the field under Field Name for Comparison . In this case, the system ignores the settings under Fields for Comparison and Comparison (Local Only) and only checks the field you specified.

Performing Customizing Comparison in Background

When performing a comparison for many fields or when you specify a large search depth, you must expect very long processing times due to the large number of objects to be checked internally. When comparing two systems performance is influenced by your network infrastructure because every object must be checked using an RFC connection in the comparison system.

Therefore, it is advisable to save the parameters for extensive Customizing comparisons as a variant and schedule a background job with the tools of the Computing Center Management System . The results of a Customizing comparison performed in this way are stored in a special format in the system. To view the comparison results, start transaction UCCC1 and make the selections you want to see.

Comparison Results

The system presents the results of the Customizing comparison in a hierarchical list. For each field included in the comparison, the system displays different tables with the relevant comparison results in one row of the results list (for example, different check tables, text tables, hierarchy tables and so on for the Consolidation Group field).

Each row of the results list contains the number of all data records that were checked in the appropriate tables. This number is made up of several subtotals:

  • Number of Data Records in the Source System , Number of Data Records in the Comparison System

    If differences occur here then a number greater than zero will be reported in at least one of the two following subtotals.

  • Number of Missing Data Records in the Source System

    Data records that exist in the comparison system but not in the source system.

  • Number of Missing Data Records in the Comparison System

    Data records that exist in the source system but not in the comparison system.

  • Number of Data Records that Do Not Match

    Total of both preceding subtotals (= number of missing data records in the source system + number of missing data records in the comparison system).

  • Unequal Values

    Number of data records for which a corresponding data record was found in the comparison system but its individual values differ from those of the source system (or vice versa).

By double-clicking on the rows of the results list you can go to the detail view in which the system lists all data records for which differences were established during the comparison.

You can choose whether the results list only displays those data records for which differences were established during the comparison, or whether it should also display the matching data records.

Activities

  1. Start transaction UCCC0 .

    The Customizing Comparison screen appears.

  2. Enter the Consolidation Area that you want to check or compare with another consolidation area.

    The system determines the fields in the consolidation area specified and lists these in the Fields for Comparison group field. The same applies to Parameters .

  3. Select the fields that you want to include in the check.

  4. Decide how you want to perform the check:

    • To perform a comparison with a consolidation area with the same name in another system (or another client of the current system), choose Compare Systems and enter the appropriate RFC Destination .

    • To compare the specified consolidation area with another consolidation area in the current client, choose Local Comparison and enter the second Consolidation Area .

  5. Set the Do Not Select Comparison Data indicator to get an overview of the Customizing of the current consolidation area (without performing a comparison with another consolidation area).

  6. Make other entries under Field Name for Comparison and Search Depth , if needed .

  7. Choose Start of the navigation path Program Next navigation step Execute End of the navigation path .

    The system performs the check and presents the results in a hierarchical list.

  8. Expand the list down to the desired level. To see detailed information on a results row, double-click on the row.

    Note Note

    The Customizing Comparison function is also available in the Consolidation Workbench in the Tools view .

    End of the note.