There is a growing trend nowadays to transfer stored data from paper/microfiche to external "content servers" (for example, archives). Companies are obliged by law and/or internal standards to keep documents for a certain length of time. Traditionally, paper archives or microfilms have been used, but these methods are very expensive, either due to copying costs or the large amount of space required by such archives. By contrast, electronic storing methods are a much cheaper option and represent an important part of the "paperless office" concept.

SAP’s R/3 System supports a variety of business processes, which can involve documents both in paper form and in electronic form. The documents either serve to trigger all kinds of processing steps in FI, SD, HR and so on, or they are documents relating to processes in one of these application areas.

When linked to SAP applications, content servers and the SAP ArchiveLink interface allow flexible access to all document searches available in the SAP System and can therefore lead to considerable time savings. In addition, a combination of the SAP System and SAP ArchiveLink allows users multiple access (parallel and direct) to stored documents from their work center without the need for time-consuming searches, which guarantees faster access to documents.

The subsequent sections of this documentation describe the integration of SAP ArchiveLink in the functions of various application components within the SAP System.

SAP ArchiveLink provides the following interfaces:

• User interface

• Interface between SAP and external components and general desktop applications

SAP ArchiveLink enables

• Incoming documents to be stored in the SAP System

• Information from the SAP System (for example, outgoing documents and print lists) to be stored

• Direct access from SAP application components to stored documents

• Integration of external content servers with the SAP System

Links from documents to business objects are created by the generation of a link table entry, which contains both a unique identification for each business object using the object type and object key and a reference to a stored document using the content server ID and a unique key for each document stored in this content server. It is therefore possible to create a link between a business object and any number of documents using a simple 1:n relationship in a table. No entry is required in the application tables in which the business objects are managed. If the link table entry for an stored document is deleted, all references in the SAP System to this stored document are also deleted. This technique allows the options for accessing stored documents to be integrated flexibly into the SAP System.

The interface to the SAP applications contains the following functions:

• Linking business objects with stored documents

• Linking business objects with stored outgoing documents

• Storing print lists

Many applications in the SAP System are linked directly or indirectly with SAP ArchiveLink:

• Direct link

• FI
• MM
• SD
• ...

• Indirect link

• Via the DMS (document management system): MM, PP,...

• Via MC (Message Control): MM, SD,...

• Via SAPconnect and the Business Workplace: Faxes

From the business objects implemented in the SAP applications, four SAP ArchiveLink functions can be executed in all applications and independently of which application is involved:

• You can display the hit list of stored documents

• You can assign stored documents subsequently to a business object.

• You can store documents in dialog

• You can create a bar code for a business object

The following documents relating to purchasing in MM can be stored:

• Outgoing purchasing documents

• Requests for quotation
• Purchase orders
• Scheduling agreements
• Forecast delivery schedules
• Contracts

• Incoming purchasing documents

• Quotations
• Order confirmations

• Incoming invoices and credit memos

• Incoming delivery notes

• Print lists

The following are examples of sales documents that can be stored:

• Incoming customer inquiries and customer inquiry changes

• Outgoing customer quotations

• Incoming purchase orders and purchase order changes

• Outgoing order confirmations

The following personnel administration and payroll documents can be stored:

• Incoming HR master data documents

• Incoming recruitment documents

• Incoming travel management documents

The following QM documents can be stored:

• Incoming documents for quality notifications (for example, customer complaints)

• Outgoing documents for quality notifications (for example, letter of complaint to vendor)

• Outgoing quality certificates

In the DMS and in applications that are connected with the DMS (often MM and PP), the following documents can be stored:

• Incoming documents

• Originals managed in the DMS (PC files)