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  Symbol

Definition

A placeholder in a document template by means of which data can be printed on reports.

The data originates from the following SAP components:

Specification management (specification symbols)

Phrase management (descriptor symbols)

Other SAP components (parameter symbols)

Symbols contain key information that the SAP system uses to access the specification database or other SAP tables automatically and to output the corresponding values on the report.

Symbols for the Recipe Management component belong to the symbol type Specification for technical reasons.

Structure

Customizing

All symbols are contained in the IMG activity Check and Specify Report Symbols in Customizing for Basic Data and Tools. Depending on the symbol type and report symbol group, the symbols are used in a document template as placeholders for certain data. These symbols belong to the following symbol types:

Symbol Type

Name

Use

01

Specification

Placeholder for:

Graphic, phrase, or code of a phrase-enabled characteristic (symbol group Phrase )

Non-phrase-enabled characteristic or table field (symbol group Symbol )

Table field of the Recipe Management component (symbol group Formula or Scope of Application )

02

Parameter

Placeholder for values from table fields of other SAP components (see also Report Symbol Group )

03

Descriptor

Placeholder for phrase texts and phrase-related fields (phrase codes, graphics, and so on) of the phrase management component

Automatic Generation of Symbols

When you match up the master data, the system automatically generates symbols for the following entries in Customizing for Basic Data and Tools :

For the entries in the IMG activity Specify Tables for Report Symbol Generation. For each table you can specify explicitly for which fields you want the system to generate symbols.

For all defined value assignment types and characteristics in IMG activity Specify Value Assignment Types

If you have created new value assignment types and characteristics and want to use these in your reports, you need to match up the master data again to generate the relevant symbols.

In the detailed information for the IMG activity Check and Specify Report Symbols you can check the assignment of the symbols to value assignment types and their characteristics. Here you also store the assignment of symbols to table fields.

Symbol Keys

The generated symbol keys have a unique nomenclature .

Mandatory Symbols

Certain values must exist on a report for it to be considered complete from a technical point of view. You have the following options for setting up such mandatory report symbols:

In Customizing for Basic Data and Tools:

You can define a symbol as a general mandatory symbol by assigning the symbol a message type in the Message field in the IMG activity Check and Specify Report Symbols . If no value exists for the symbol during generation, an appropriate message appears on the report and in the report log. For more information, see the documentation for the Message field.

In the report template:

When editing a symbol with the Windows Wordprocessor Integration program, you can enter a message type in the Message for Mandat. Sym. field on the Symbol tab page. When the report is generated, the system then checks whether the value exists for the symbol at the relevant position. If the value does not exist, a message informing you of this appears on the report and in the report log as you defined in Customizing.

Currently only the message type W (warning) is supported.