Transaction SPDD 

Processing in transaction SPDD is based on a Release upgrade that is stopped by the R3up upgrade control program. SPDD provides the following functions:

Display

The first screen presents you with a hierarchical list of objects that have been changed by you and SAP. You can arrange the display by development class or by correction. Switch to a different display with Settings ® Switch view.

Within individual development classes or corrections, the objects are displayed according to type. To view a changed object, select it with a double-click. You are automatically shown an overview of all existing versions of the selected object.

Objects in the hierarchical list are highlighted with different colors that reflect their status. To find out the meaning of the colors, choose Utilities ® Color key.

Comparing Old and New Versions

Selecting an individual object lets you view all existing versions of the object stored in Version Management. The display is the same as the one you are presented with when you compare two objects in version management. The information reflects the status of the objects after their activation. For example, a comment in a table field indicating deletion means that the field will be deleted after activation, provided no maintenance is carried out beforehand.

It shows you:

The last version has just been created by user R3trans or SAP, whereas the second to last version was created by a developer working in your SAP System.

Maintenance

Transaction SPDD lets you compare the most important attributes of old (customer) and new (SAP) versions of domains and data elements. This helps you to decide how to proceed. Perform the adjustments required in the ABAP Dictionary maintenance transaction (SE11), preferably in a second window.

If you adjust data elements that have been changed with the Modification Assistant in an earlier release, the changes are copied automatically.

To assist you in selecting tables, SPDD not only presents you with a comparison but also recommends the sequence of the fields that need to be maintained. You can automatically accept the recommendation, which takes all new features of the ABAP Dictionary introduced in the new Release into account. When you adjust tables and structures, SPDD recommends that you place inserted fields in an append structure to ensure that your changes are not overwritten by SAP in the future. Newly created append structures are in the customer namespace.

To correctly handle table includes, you need to adhere to the sequence of the objects given for each object type. Existing includes are always displayed before the tables themselves.

At this point it is imperative to adjust the include structures, otherwise you could lose data.

Make sure that you just save your activities in the ABAP Dictionary (SE11). Do not activate the objects. Activation is carried out automatically after the adjustment.

Returning to SAP Standard

If after comparing the results of the analysis, you conclude that you do not wish to retain previous modifications, choose Return SAP stand. for the object in question. For example, you may need this function if you have patched an object by hand. When SAP delivers the same patch, together with other corrections in the next upgrade, you can revert to the SAP standard because you no longer need your own modification.

The Return to SAP standard. function lets you indicate that you no longer wish to retain the changes made to the object and want to revert to the SAP standard. An object marked in this way is no longer displayed in future upgrades by transaction SPDD, even though it was included in a repair.

If you have defined a customer append structure for a table and consequently not altered the table itself, it is essential that you afterwards select the function Return to SAP Standard. This ensures that transaction SPDD will not present the table for adjustment during one of the next upgrades.

After an object has been reset to original, it is treated as an unmodified object during the next upgrade and can be overwritten without its previous form being saved.

Marking Objects as Processed

To facilitate work with the generated object list, you can assign the status Completed to each object. Selecting the function changes the status of the object and indicates this by highlighting it with a different color. The completed flag is only meant to assist you in organizing your work and has no other internal function.

Refresh

When you select this function, the information in the database is reread and the display updated. Only the status of objects indicated by various colors is changed. The number of objects displayed remains the same.

Marking for Transport

This function is only active for the upgrade and not when applying patches.

The Select for transport function helps you to adjust other SAP Systems. For further information, please refer to the section on Adjusting Other SAP Systems.