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Maintain
Self-Defined Field Catalogs
In this IMG activity, you can create, change,
delete and display field catalogs.
Requirements
If you want to create a field catalog which is
to contain fields from several different applications, you can either create a
self-defined application or use application 41 (Logistics
General).
Standard
settings
SAP provides some sample field catalogs for
each application.
You cannot change these field
catalogs, however you can extend them by adding your own field
catalogs.
Activities
1. Specify a
name and a description for the field catalog you want to create in the field
Field catalog .
2. Assign the
field catalog to an application.
3. Define the
catalog category.
4. Press
ENTER.
You branch to the
maintenance screen of the individual fields of the catalogs.
5. Depending on
the catalog category you have chosen, select Edit ->
Characteristics or Key figures or
Date.
Two dialog boxes are
displayed for selecting the fields.
One dialog box lists
the fields you have already selected. Choose Selection list to select
further fields.
If you have not yet
selected any fields, the second dialog box is displayed at the same
time.
The second dialog
box consists of two lists. The list on the right contains all source tables
from which you can select fields for the field catalogs. In this case, only
the source tables valid for the selected application are
displayed.
6. If you want
to display the fields of a certain source table, you can select this by
double-clicking on it.
The list on the left
shows the fields of the selected source table.
7. If you want
to copy a field from the list into your field catalog, position the cursor on
the corresponding field name and choose Copy.
The selected field
is marked and copied into the list of the already selected
fields.
Note
When you select the
source tables and fields, the respective descriptions are
displayed.
You can use the
Switch display function to display the technical names (table and field
names from the Data Dictionary).
1. Press
Copy + close to branch to the list of the selected fields.
You can now also
edit this list, i.e. you can change the sequence in which the fields appear,
delete fields from the list or add new fields from the source
tables.
2. The sequence
of the selected characteristics can be changed as follows:
a) Select the
characteristic, or a block of characteristics that is to be moved. The
selection can be made using the icon Select/Deselect or Select
block, or with a double click. The icon move is
displayed.
b) Position
your cursor on a different characteristic and choose the icon
Move.
The characteristic or block of characteristics you initially selected will now
be inserted above the second selected characteristic.
3. To copy the
selected fields to your field catalog, choose
Copy.
4. Save the
field catalog.
Additional
information
When you copy fields, two different types of
information are proposed:
- Source table / source
field
This information is
primarily required to update statistical data.
When you define the
update rules, this information is proposed as source fields.
Note
It is not absolutely
essential that you specify a source field.
If you are using
fields in the field catalogs that are to be derived from a formula during the
update, then you are not recommended to specify a source field, as it does not
make sense. The same applies if you want to include counters (for example, the
number of order items) in the field catalog.
Please refer to the
chapter
- Reference table / reference
field
The reference field
specifies the technical attributes of a field. When information structures are
generated, the reference field is used as a template for the technical
attributes of the new Data Dictionary field.
Source field and
reference field are usually identical.
Note
An different
reference field is always required if the field in an information structure
must have different technical attributes to those of the source
field.
This is often the
case for key figures, for example. The aggregation of many pieces of
information from documents to one piece of cumulated information in the
information structure means that a larger field is required to contain longer
numbers. In this case, the technical attributes of the field to be generated
in the information structure must be different to those of the source field
from document processing.
Another example is
if you wish to use your own texts. Here, too, you need a reference field that
is different from the source field.
Please refer to the
chapter on