Interaction of Application Forms with SAPscript Forms, Smart Forms, PDF-Based Forms 

Purpose

In the Print Workbench, you can use the form classes delivered in different ways. As standard, SAPscript is used for print preparation. Alternatively, you can use Smart Forms for the print output. Since both components are very different, the integration in the Print Workbench is also different.

Prerequisites:

To use Smart Forms in an application form, you have to activate the relevant form class for using Smart Forms (see documentation for the indicator Smart Forms in the attributes of the form class).

Process Flow

In the SAPscript scenario, the Print Workbench provides the global data areas of the form levels and 1:1 levels defined in the form classes by the application; these can be accessed in texts with the usual symbol logic for SAPscript. The texts are inserted in the hierarchy of the application form and are called up at runtime in accordance with their position in the hierarchy. The SAPscript form assigned to the application form contains settings for the layout such as pages, window, font, paragraph formats. In the generated print program the print transaction consists of alternative calls for data procurement and calls of the SAPscript form processor (for example, OPEN_FORM, START_FORM, WRITE_FORM_LINES). This means that the form is created interactively between the Print Workbench and SAPscript.
In Smart Forms and PDF-based forms, the data is read from the database and placed in the global data areas in accordance with the form class definition as for SAPscript, but the data is no longer valuated for immediate output in the form. It is firstly saved in a complex data structure also provided by the form class. The data is transferred from the global data areas to the complex data structure when the text is output for SAPscript. The complex data type of the form class agrees with the hierarchy of the form class. The nesting of the data is reflected implicitly by a complex data structure for each form level.
The data written in the complex type is controlled by selecting or deactivating form levels and 1:1 levels.
The name of the complex data type for the data transfer to the Smart Form corresponds to the assigned complex data type of the document level. The name of the parameter in the form interface must be PWB_DATA.

 For Smart Forms and PDF-based forms, the system can create the corresponding form object for an application form automatically. The interface is created appropriate to the application form or the form class; the standard variables PWB_DATA and C are added to the form interface.

You can also adjust the form elements automatically later using a corresponding help function in the application form.