Conceptional Preprocessing

Use

Before using LSMW, you are advised to perform a number of conceptual tasks.

The following should be taken into account:

Make sure that SAP Customizing has been completed.
Analyze the data in your legacy system (LS) and which of it (from a business point of view) will be required in the future.
Identify the transaction(s) that you want to use to transfer the data into the SAP system.
Process the respective transaction in the SAP system manually using test data from the legacy system and note which fields must be filled. There may be mandatory fields that do not correspond to a data field in the legacy system. In this case, assigning a fixed value or constant or setting up a field as an optional field could be useful for the data transfer.
Map the fields on paper by allocating the source fields and SAP fields to each other. You can do this using the object overview once you have defined the object.
Determine the conversion rule according to which the field contents of the source fields are to be converted into SAP fields.
Define the way in which the data is to be extracted from the non-SAP system. (Note: The LSMW does not extract any data itself).
Which format is the legacy data in? Decide which standard import technique you want to use, or if you should define an extra "object class" by means of recording.
In case only a part of your legacy system is to be replaced with the SAP system, you have to determine the functions that are to be covered by the SAP system and those to be covered by the legacy system. If necessary, a concept of the data flows and interface architecture has to be created.