An important area of use for SAP EH&S is creating and managing documents. As a result of the international marketing of products, SAP EH&S documents (reports) and the data they contain are often required in many languages. Examples are safety data sheets that are to be printed in numerous EU languages, tremcards that may be needed in all ADR languages, and labels that include data in several languages.

In SAP EH&S, these reports are generated using data from the SAP System. It must therefore be possible to enter the required data in any language and display it at the front end or print it on reports. You can use EH&S Native Language Support (EH&S NLS) to do this, regardless of whether or not you are using an SAP System with Unicode character sets (Unicode system).

Furthermore, you can use EH&S NLS without these solutions in a Unicode system.

The following standard solutions are not supported in SAP EH&S for non-Unicode systems:

• Multiple National Language Support (MNLS)

• Multi Display / Single Processing Code Pages (MDSP)

With EH&S NLS, all EH&S data is stored in the database in SAP(ISO) code page format (non-Unicode systems) or in the Unicode format used by SAP (Unicode systems). You can thus also access EH&S data without restriction from other SAP components.

You must have set up EH&S NLS in Customizing for Product Safety. To do this, edit the IMG activity Set Up EH&S Native Language Support and set the MULTI_CODEPAGE_SUPPORT parameter in the IMG activity Specify Environment Parameters.

For more prerequisites, see the Features section.

In SAP EH&S, data records may have to be transferred via Remote Function Call (RFC). These data records may have to be displayed in a non-Unicode system using different code pages (such as phrase texts or identifiers in different languages). As data that is transferred via RFC can only be converted as a whole in the standard SAP System and not on a record-by-record basis, additional conversion programs have been set up with EH&S NLS. In a Unicode system, these also ensure, for example, that all data is converted correctly to the code page used by the application to which the data records are transferred via RFC.

The following graphic illustrates the points at which data is converted in accordance with the SAP standard (yellow) and the points at which conversions are performed that were set up in addition with EH&S NLS (pink). A non-Unicode system is portrayed in which MDMP was installed with the SAP(ISO) code pages 1100, 1401, and 8000. Microsoft Windows NT is used on the front ends as the operating system. The conversions run in the same way in a non-Unicode system with a blended code page.

• Layout test
• Report generation
• Secondary data determination via EH&S Expert
• Import of data in Microsoft code page format
• Export of data in Microsoft code page format

The following sections are detailed descriptions of how data is correctly converted at the appropriate points by the SAP standard or by separate conversions from EH&S NLS.

The Business Application Programming Interfaces and Application Programming Interfaces (BAPIs and APIs) used in SAP EH&S can read and process data both in Unicode format and in SAP(ISO) code page and Microsoft code page format. The BAPI and API calls contain a parameter that controls the conversion in accordance with the environment parameter MULTI_CODEPAGE_SUPPORT. If the parameter is set, the conversion is activated during the BAPI or API call and deactivated at the end of the call.

During communication between the SAP GUI and the application server, EH&S data is entered, output, and thus converted in the SAP System in accordance with the SAP standard. Additional conversion via EH&S NLS is therefore not necessary.

When outputting data with Microsoft Excel in the specification information system, data is sent to the Windows front end using the function module GUI_DOWNLOAD and then converted according to the following criteria in accordance with the SAP standard:

• Data in the Excel template

• Data file

Additional conversion via EH&S NLS is therefore not necessary.

You can import and export language-dependent EH&S data for phrases, specifications, and sources in the code page format used in the SAP System and Microsoft code page format. Conversion programs in the API modules ensure that data is stored correctly in SAP(ISO) code page format (non-Unicode systems) or in Unicode format (Unicode systems) in the database when importing and that data is exported in the format required.

When importing, the +SC parameter contains the formatting information in the administration part of the transfer file:

When exporting, the environment parameter EXPORT_CHARACTER_NORM controls the format in which data is exported. You assign values to the parameter in the IMG activity Specify Environment Parameters in Customizing for Product Safety. The value of this parameter is transferred to the API modules for reading the data.

In the administration part of the export transfer file, the +SC parameter is automatically set in accordance with the value determined for the EXPORT_CHARACTER_NORM parameter so that the conversions will be performed correctly when this file is imported in the future.

When distributing data via Application Link Enabling (ALE), data is transferred via RFC communication in the code page format used in the SAP System from one SAP System to other SAP Systems. The system is set up so that no conversion is necessary.

Generally, data is not converted in RFC communication if the active code pages in the recipient and sending systems are the same. This is achieved through the following:

• In an ALE distribution model, one code page must be selected as the code page for the transfer (SAP(ISO) code page 1100, for example). This code page must be set up on all SAP Systems involved in the distribution.

• Using the parameter ALE_TRANSFER_LANGUAGE in the IMG activity Specify Environment Parameters in Customizing for Product Safety in the sending system, you must specify a language that can be displayed by this code page as the transfer language. This language controls which code page is active in the sending system when transferring data.
• You must define the RFC destinations of the recipient systems with the logon language that you specified in the ALE_TRANSFER_LANGUAGE parameter in Customizing for Product Safety.
• If data is to be transferred that must be displayed using different SAP(ISO) code pages, the operating systems of the sending and recipient systems must use the same ASCII character sets.

When editing report templates, data is loaded from the SAP System to the Windows front end using the function module GUI_DOWNLOAD and then converted in accordance with the SAP standard according to the following criteria:

• Word document (contains the report template)

• Structure file (contains the symbols and repeating groups)

• Language-dependent data such as descriptions for symbols and phrase texts for displaying in WWI dialog boxes

Additional conversion via EH&S NLS is not necessary.

When generating a report, data from the SAP component Product Safety and from other SAP components is merged. Data is sent by the WWI work process to the generation server via RFC communication and converted beforehand by EH&S NLS conversion programs according to the following criteria:

• Word document (contains the report template or the report)

• Structure file (contains the symbols and repeating groups)

• Value file

In layout control for reports, data is loaded from the SAP System to the Windows front end using the function module GUI_DOWNLOAD and converted beforehand by the EH&S NLS conversion programs according to the following criteria:

• Word document (contains the report template)

• Value file

In EH&S Expert secondary data determination, EH&S data is read using BAPI modules, processed on the Expert server and the results are written to the database. The Expert server is a self-registering server with a Microsoft Windows operating system. The EH&S Expert program is based on ASCII character sets. For this reason, data must be converted from the code page format used in the SAP System to Microsoft code page format when being read, and then back to the SAP code page format when being written. In this case, data can be read or written that has to be displayed in a non-Unicode system using several code pages or using a code page that is different from the active code page on the application server.

The rule editor is currently only available in English. If you log on in another language, the property tree and the phrase sets are shown in that language, provided the locale on your front end allows this language-dependent data to be displayed in the format of the correct Microsoft code page. The data for this is converted by the RFC communication if necessary.

If you want to read or write language-dependent data (an identifier or user-defined text in a certain language, for example) via sets of rules, when creating the set of rules you must make sure that the locale on your front end allows you to enter this language-dependent data in the format of the correct Microsoft code page. A conversion to the code page format used in the SAP System is not necessary here because the sets of rules are used only on the Expert server.

A SAPscript document and therefore also a dangerous goods document must generally contain only language-dependent data in languages that can be displayed using one SAP(ISO) code page or blended code page because data is not converted on a record-by-record basis. The language specified in the Language key field in the header data of the SAPscript form (form language) determines the code page for the form and thus the languages that can be output using the form. For this reason, for each code page you need at least one separate SAPscript form in the corresponding form language for dangerous goods documents in languages that required several code pages.