Audit Trail (BC-SRV-ASF-AT)

The Audit Trail (Logging) component enables you to log and evaluate changed data in the system. Audit Trail facilitates a detailed, consistent and traceable description of your production processes.

You can change logging settings simply and without technical modification and carry out an evaluation of the changed data that conforms with Federal Drug Administration (FDA) requirements. See also: Background Information on Audit Trail

The Audit Trail component offers the following functions:

• You can activate and deactivate logging for the desired data elements, tables, and long texts on a targeted basis and without technical modifications.

• In the case of corrections or a system upgrade, you can decide for each object whether you want to retain the logging settings that currently exist in the system, or adopt any different logging settings that may have been made for the newly imported data.

• You can use the evaluation function (transaction S_AUT10) to find and display the changed objects according to certain criteria, thereby carrying out a GMP-conforming evaluation of the changed data.

• You can archive long text logs and include the archived data in your evaluation. See also: Archiving Long Text Logs (BC-SRV-ASF-AT)

• You can use the new Audit Trail functions only in conjunction with SAP NetWeaver 7.0 EHP2 and ERP 6.0 Enhancement Package 5 or higher. Or you can use SAP NetWeaver 7.0 EHP2 without the software component SAP_APPL.

• You will find the Customizing settings for the Audit Trail functions in the Implementation Guide for SAP NetWeaver under  Application Server  Basis Services  Audit Trail. 

• You will find the Audit Trail menu in the SAP Easy Access menu under  Cross-Application Components  Change Management  Audit Trail (Logging) .

You can use the Audit Trail evaluations as follows:

• Audit Trail evaluation (without ILM)

  You can use the Audit Trail component without the Information Lifecycle Management component. In this case, you can invoke the basis functions of Audit Trail in an ERP system. You can then read the table entries that the system has written to the database. In addition, you can archive long text logs and table logs and later evaluate this archived data in S_AUT10.

• Audit Trail evaluation (with ILM)

  If you use the Audit Trail component together with Information Lifecycle Management, you can evaluate the archived change documents in addition to the archived long text logs and table logs. In the process, it makes no difference whether the change documents were archived with the archiving object CHANGEDOCU or together with the superordinate application document. You can call up the evaluation of the archived data in ILM with the transaction IWP01 Handling of Audit Packages by carrying out the transaction and choosing the Audit Trail function key on the Handling of Audit Packages screen. This function key invokes the transaction S_AUT10.

  For more information on SAP Netweaver Information Lifecycle Management (ILM), refer to the SAP Library under  SAP ERP  SAP ERP Central Component  SAP ERP Enhancement Package  ERP Central Component Enhancement Package 5  Cross-Application Functions in SAP ERP  Cross-Application Components  Information Lifecycle Management. 

• Logging of Change Documents

  Most ERP transactions feature change documents. A change document covers changes in fields within a transaction and writes this information to a single, unique data record.

  This data record has a date and time stamp and contains the new and old values for each field that was changed. In addition, the user name of the person making the change is recorded.

  In order for the data changes to be logged in table fields in change documents, the following prerequisites must be fulfilled:

  • The transaction in which the content of the table field can be changed is must be connected to change document creation

    ·

  • The table containing the table field must exist in the connected change document object

  • Logging must be active for the data element in the relevant change document

    Note

    Because not all data is relevant to each application, it does not make sense to activate logging for all data elements from the outset.

    For more information about change documents, refer to the SAP Library under Change Documents: Concept.

• Table Logging

  You always use table logging if the transaction that uses the changed data element is not connected to change document creation. The system cannot log the change in a single table field (data element), but only the table as a whole.

  The main difference between the change document and table logging is that the change document records all changes to all tables ( meaning that all changes that occur within a transaction are recorded). The data record of table logging always records just the changes made to a certain table. In the case of table logging, therefore, a data record is always written with all table fields, even if you have only changed a few such fields.

  To be able to use table logging, you must set the system profile parameter rec/client to active in each client in which you want to carry out table logging. To use the logging in transports, you must enter r3transoptions = recclient="XXX" in the transport control profile. The entry XXX can have the same value as the profile parameter rec/client. For more information about client-dependent logging, see Client-Dependent Logging.

  Note

  Only system administrators can activate or deactivate the system profile parameter rec/client.

  In the SAP system, many transactions are connected to change document creation - but by no means all of them. Also from the performance and memory capacity perspective, it makes little sense to log every single change in data. You should only log such changes that need to be covered by subsequent evaluations. It must thus be possible to change the logging of the data elements or tables on a targeted basis.