The report/report interface lets you call up receiver reports (ABAP reports, transactions, ABAP query, Report Writer reports and drilldown reports) from a sender report. The sender selection data is reproduced in the receiver selection data. The system performs the following steps to reproduce the sender fields in the receiver fields:

1. Firstly, the system performs transformation by data element equivalence. If the sender fields and the receiver fields have the same data element, and no other sender or receiver fields have the same data element (uniqueness) the sender value is taken over in the receiver field.
2. If transformation by data elements is not possible, the system carries out transformation in the same way by domain equivalence. You can control this procedure by defining virtual domains (see below).
3. If the system has still not found a sender value for a receiver field, it performs transformation by semantically equivalent domains. The domains in the sender and receiver fields which have not yet been transformed are replaced by equivalent domains, and processing is started as in 2. (see below).

You can influence how selection data is transformed in accordance with steps 2 and 3. In step 2, you can use virtual domains instead of real domains. A virtual domain is a definable name, which you can assign consistently to the data elements which you want to relate to one another. To do this, create a new data record in table TVIRTDOM for each affected data element, and enter the name of the data element and the virtual domain you want to use.. The system finds the correct data element assignment from the name equivalence of the virtual domains, when the report/report interface is called up.

Alternatively, you can enter the actual domain for data element A and enter the same domain for data element B, which you want to assign to data element A. In this case, the entry you make in data element B is a virtual domain, as a different technical domain is assigned to B's data element definition.

The graphic below illustrates the use of virtual domains:

The sender report provides the period with data element CFPERDE. However, the receiver report expects data element CO_PERIO. Due to the non-equivalence of data elements, the report/report interface now finds the virtual domain which CFPERDE is assigned to. Using the relevant data elements which are also assigned to this virtual domain, the system chooses the data element CO_PERIO, and it is now possible to make an entry in the receiver report's period field.

When attempting to find suitable data elements for the transfer of selection data, it might not be possible to find assignments to virtual domains. In this case, it is also possible to represent the "real" domains which are actually assigned to the data elements. These "real" domains are defined in the data dictionary, and form a component of the technical definition of the data elements in question. To define a relationship of equivalence between two domains, proceed as follows:

1. In table view maintenance (transaction SM31), open table TEQUIVDOM for editing.
2. Create a new data record for a pair which you want to flag as equivalent.
3. In the fields Domain and Equivalent Domain, enter the technical names of the two domains and, if required, add an explanatory note.

You can use the report/report interface to call up ABAP reports, ABAP queries and drilldown reports from many applications with variants. When assigning the report, both the name of the report and the required variant have to be entered. The system then sends on the sender selection data to the receiver report and fills the entry fields in the receiver report automatically, meaning that you do not normally have to make any entries yourself on the selection screen for the receiver report.

If you also call up the receiver report with a variant, the system takes into account both the sender selection data and the variant values of the receiver report. The relationship between the sender selection data and the variant values of the receiver report is decided as follows:

• The sender selection data normally overwrites the variant values.
• Entry fields which are marked as "protected" in the variant definition are an exception to this rule. Consequently, they are not overwritten.
• If the entry field was marked as a "mandatory field" when the variant was defined, the system will also treat this field as a mandatory field when it is called up with the report/report interface. This means: If neither a sender value nor a variant value exist for this field, the system will display the selection screen and require the user to make entries here.

This functionality allows you to reproduce sender selection data more precisely in receiver entry fields. In particular, you can check the display of the receiver selection screen to a large extent:

• However, if the receiver report contains more entry variables than the sender report, the selection screen is not displayed, as the variables are filled with variable values.
• Previously, if the receiver report had two variables with the same data element, it was not possible to assign a sender value to the variables, as the system requires data element equivalence between the sender and receiver report when making the assignment. Now, however, it is possible to mark a variable as protected in the variant definition. In this way, the variable is removed from the assignment, and it is possible again to assign a sender value unambiguously.

In a drilldown report, it is possible to define more than one variable for the same characteristic. In two columns of a form, for example, the variables PER1 and PER2 could be defined for the characteristic "period", to represent a start period and an end period. If you use the report/report interface to call up a report which uses this type of form, variables PER1 and PER2 cannot be filled at first, as data equivalence exists between the sender and receiver selection data, but not uniqueness (see above). A solution to this problem is to transform global variables.

Here, sender variables are reproduced in receiver variables if they both have the same global variable name. For example, if the sender report has global variable PER1, the receiver variable is entered as PER1. If the sender report still has global variable PER2, PER2 is also entered in the receiver report.

The report/report interface also lets you call up reports (ABAP reports, transactions, ABAP query, Report Writer reports and drilldown reports) from other systems. To do this, proceed as follows:

1. Choose Extras ® Report Assignment.
2. In the dialog box, choose Add External Report.

Another dialog box appears.

3. Enter the name of the RFC destination with which you want to set up a connection to the other system. If you set up the connection successfully, a dialog box appears in which you can choose a receiver report from the reports available in the other system.

You can also assign and call up queries from a BW system. To do this, however, BW-ADD-ON must be installed in the sender system. It is possible to carry out transformation between the sender selection data and the receiver selection data from the BW system provided that the data in the corresponding BW InfoCube originates from the sender system.