InfoSets
InfoSets are special views of data sources. An InfoSet describes which fields of a data source can be reported on in queries.
InfoSets are assigned to user groups, that is, when a system administrator creates InfoSets and assigns them to roles/user groups, he or she determines the scope within which individual departments or users can perform analyses. An InfoSet can be assigned to several roles or user groups.
Vendor master data can be important in purchasing as well as in accountancy. The relevant InfoSet is assigned to both roles/user groups. This means that queries based on this InfoSet can be copied and executed by both groups.
InfoSets as the Data Basis for SAP Queries
SAP Query allows you to evaluate data in the SAP system. The SAP system includes multiple hundred thousand fields alone in logical databases, tables, and sequential components. It would therefore not be practical to offer all fields for selection when creating queries. Therefore, both in temporal and content terms, before starting to create queries, you create InfoSets. Functional areas provide the user with a framework for defining a query quickly and without difficulty.
When you create an InfoSet, you select a logical database from an application system. However, since one logical database can still contain a very large number of fields, you combine fields together in logical units known as field groups.
An InfoSet not only allows you to restrict the number of fields and group them together in meaningful units, but also to define auxiliary fields and then process them like database fields. You can also read the long texts in additional tables (for example the long text of an airline carrier in the table SCARR) and perform any necessary preliminary work. This means that you can evaluate sequential data sets just as easily as SAP databases. For more information, see Creating and Changing InfoSets.