New
Developments in Basis Functions for Data Archiving for Release
4.6C. 
Use
In Release 4.6C, Basis data archiving functions (ADK and transaction SARA) have been added to as follows:
Storage through Content Management Service instead of SAP ArchiveLink
As of this release, the Content Management Service (CMS) is used for moving archive files to an external storage system instead of SAP ArchiveLink. Archive files can now be created in any directory you specify and are no longer restricted to the basic path of the storage system.
File storage before deletion
Using CMS, you can move archive files to an external storage system before the data contained in the files is deleted from the database. Archive files can also be read from the storage system during the delete phase. This allows the system to identify any transfer or storage errors in the storage system in time.
Archive management redesign
Archive management was redesigned to provide a clearer overview of archiving sessions and archive files. You can also display any existing jobs for an archiving session or archive file and can go directly from the archiving session or archive file detail screen to a job overview including the corresponding jobs.
Verification of archive files
You can specify whether the system should store verification information with the archive files when they are written; this does not change the size of the archive files.
The system uses this verification information to check archive files during delete, read, and reload sessions. This allows the system to recognize corrupt files in time and notify the user. The data is then not deleted from the database.
In cross-archiving-object Customizing you can specify whether the system is to store verification information and whether the system is to analyze this information during delete, read, and reload sessions.
In addition, after the archive files are written and before they are opened, the system checks their file size and end mark. Errors that occurred while writing the archive files can be recognized immediately.
Existence of file checked in archive selection
In earlier releases, the archive selection for reading, deletion, and so on, only included files that were stored using ArchiveLink or were available in the file system. Using cross-archiving-object Customizing you can now separately activate and deactivate the time-intensive file existence check for stored files and files in the file system.
Files for which the existence check came back "negative" are marked as "not accessible" on the selection screen.
Preset spool parameters
Spool parameters are preset in archive administration; this means they do not need to be maintained for every call. The spool parameters are preset according to the print parameters (if any) set by the user in the user master (user defaults).
Archiving jobs can now be scheduled from outside archive administration
As of this release, archiving programs can be executed in the background without having to schedule them using transaction SARA. You will recognize this in that these "externally-planned" jobs are displayed in the job overview in archive administration. However, the user or job scheduling program must check whether the write program was already executed (or scheduled) using the selected variant, or whether this data may be archived multiple times due to delete jobs that have not yet been executed. This external control increases archiving automation.
Events that occur when writes and deletes are finished
After all archive files in a session are written, the ADK triggers the system event SAP_ARCHIVING_WRITE_FINISHED. Similarly, after all delete jobs in a session are completed, the system event SAP_ARCHIVING_DELETE_FINISHED is triggered. In both cases, the event parameter is the number of the archiving session. These events can be used to trigger post-archiving processes. This can be used, for example, to automate file backup by external tools.
Function module for determining the archive files for a session
The new function module ARCHIVE_GET_FILES_OF_SESSION reports (platform-dependent) names and paths of archive files written during an archiving session. This supports automation based on the new system events.
Event-triggered starts of delete jobs
As of this release, automatically scheduled delete jobs can be started by event triggers. You set the events the delete jobs react to in the archiving-object-specific Customizing.
Reloading archive data
- The "Reload" pushbutton on the initial screen of transaction SARA was removed. To start the reload process, choose "Goto" -> "Reload".
- During the reload, the archiving sessions involved are highlighted in archive management. The new archiving sessions created are only available for read access after the reload process has successfully completed.
Displaying job variants that have already been used
You can display blocking jobs (jobs with variants that have already been used) in job management and delete them (if necessary).
Expanded data archiving monitoring
The dedicated data archiving monitor "Data Archiving" was added to the "SAP CCMS Monitor Templates" monitor set. You can also use this monitor by calling transaction SAR_SHOW_MONITOR.
In addition to the states already reported, this monitors the storing of archive files and reports a success message or, in the event of an error, triggers an alert.
As of this release, you can activate and deactivate data archiving monitoring in the cross-archiving-object Customizing.
Marking multiple archiving sessions as invalid or selecting them for archiving
The new report RSARCH_FLAG_SESSIONS is used to mark selected sessions. You can use the report to set the invalid indicator or preselect sessions for archiving, for example, sessions created before a specific date. This report is useful as a report to run before archiving object BC_ARCHIVE (archiving of archive administration data).
Data archiving administrator role
A dedicated single role, SAP_BC_CCM_DATA_ARCHIVING, was created for the data archiving administrator.