Report Group Execution 

Use

The final step in defining a report group is executing the report group.

When you execute a report group, the system selects the data for the report group’s reports according to the selection criteria you enter. The system selects the data from either the original database or from an extract file.

When the system selects data from the original database, it must first select and then format the relevant data records. Depending on the volume of data, the selection process can be very time-consuming, especially for the analysis of larger data volumes.

To improve processing times, we recommend that you save your reports periodically in extracts. An extract only contains the report data (including the structure information) needed to display the report. When you call up an extract, the system only accesses the extract file and therefore reads fewer data records. When you call up a report using an extract, the system only accesses the extract file and therefore reads fewer data records. As a result, processing time improves considerably.

Features

You can either execute a report group directly or execute a report group in the background. When you execute a report group, the system determines whether data extracts already exist for the selection criteria you enter. If data extracts already exist, the system displays a dialog box, listing the existing extracts. Additionally, you can choose the option Display Newest Extract. You can then then choose the extract that you want to display.

If there are no extracts for the selection criteria you enter, the system selects the data from the database and displays the report.

You can retrieve and analyze the data stored in an extract file at any time without impairing the system load.

When you perform a release upgrade, all reports that you saved as extracts are deleted because the Report Writer regenerates all report groups. However, the extracts are not deleted when you upgrade the maintenance level of your R/3 System.

At a release upgrade, the only way to save the report list is to archive the spool list using the print function. In the Print dialog box, you must change the archiving mode to Archive only or Print and archive. A spool file is then archived. You can later retrieve the archived spool file to print your report list.

You can also execute a report group in the following ways:

You should only use multiple selection when absolutely necessary, for example for variation over a controlling area in Overhead Cost Controlling).

The reports in your report groups should usually all contain the same variables, so that the input parameters are used for all reports in the report group.

For more information, see varying report data.

To improve performance, you should use background processing to execute reports that analyze larger volumes of data. For more information, see executing a report group in the background.

For more information on processing report output, see functions in the report output.