The Archiving Object 

Definition

Archiving objects are the core of the SAP Data Archiving concept. The archiving object specifies which data is archived and how. It also describes which database objects must be handled together as a single business object and which must be interpreted independently.

Use

An archiving object has a name of up to ten characters in length. You need this name to access archiving for the object in archiving management. However, the function for calling archiving management is often integrated in the application menu, where the archiving object name is set as the default so that you do not need to enter it yourself.

Structure

The following programs must (or can) be assigned to an archiving object. (Archiving objects are defined using transaction AOBJ)

The SAP System contains programs (some of which are optional) for the following actions:

  1. Preprocessing (optional)

    2. Some archiving objects require a program that prepares the data for archiving. This program marks data to be archived, but it does not delete any data from the database.

    Preprocessing programs must always be scheduled manually and are run from archive administration.

  2. Write

    3. This program creates archive files and writes data to them. It does not delete the data from the database.

    You can specify in archiving object-specific Customizing whether the next phase (deletion) is to take place automatically after the archive files have been created. Delete jobs can also be event-triggered. To do this, you set up the trigger event in archiving object-specific Customizing.

  3. Delete

This function can include several processes. The processes are always dependent on the existing archive files.

The data is usually deleted from the database, but in some circumstances, the archived data is only marked for deletion in the database.
In archiving object-specific Customizing, you can specify that archive files, after successful processing, are to be transferred to an external storage system using the Content Management Service.

The Postprocessing function can be performed asynchronously with the Delete program. This function is not available for all archiving objects. If the data has not yet been deleted from the database by the delete program, it is deleted by the postprocessing program. The postprocessing program can also perform other tasks. For more information, see the documentation for the specific object.

You can reload archived data from the archive files into the database using this function. It is not available for all archiving objects. To access this function, choose Goto à Reload.

This function constructs (or deconstructs) an index that allows individual access. It is not included in every archiving object.

For more information on the definition of archiving objects, refer to Defining the Archiving Object