Cross-Archiving-Object Check and Delete

Use

This function is used to schedule the cross-archiving object check or delete programs. These programs enable you to execute an archivability check or to delete application data from the database for several archiving objects at once.

Using these programs allows for a more pronounced separation between the moment of the archivability check and the actual write phase. It also allows you to merely mark data that has been archived for deletion from the database, instead of executing a delete session immediately. The data is later deleted with the cross-archiving-object delete program (see below).

By de-coupling the archiving phases, you can better control the archiving process and integrate it in the running system. Time-consuming program runs such as the archivability check or the physical deletion of data can be separated from the write phase, and be executed when the system is not busy. This concept is therefore particularly suitable for archiving large volumes of data.

Prerequisites

The cross-archiving-object check and delete functions can be used for all archiving objects that support these functions. To check if this is the case for a specific archiving object, see the archiving documentation for that application, available in the SAP Library.

Before you schedule either of these two programs you must activate the archiving objects to be considered in the Customizing for Cross-Archiving-Object Programs view.

More information: Check and Delete

Features

Check

Here you schedule the cross-archiving-object check program, with which you want to execute an archivability check for several archiving objects at once. During the check the program marks all business objects that fulfill the archivability criteria and are therefore ready to be removed from the database, with a specific status.

Different applications use different statuses to mark data for archiving. The statuses used can therefore change from one archiving object to another. SAP Customer Relationship Management, for example, uses the status Archivable and has the technical ID I1100. A business object, such as a CRM sales order, is considered to be archivable if it fulfills the following criteria:

It is closed, meaning that it has the status Completed. This means that it is no longer changed in the application.
It has reached its set residence time. The residence time should be chosen in such a way that it only covers data that is very seldomly accessed for reading.

In addition to these general criteria, there may be additional, object-specific criteria for determining the archivability of business objects. These are described in the corresponding documentation available for the archiving object in question.

The business objects marked for archiving can then be archived in a second step using an archiving-object-specific write program. The deletion of the archived data then takes place via an archiving-object-specific delete program, or a cross-archiving-object delete program, if supported by the archiving object (see below).

Deletion

Here you schedule the cross-archiving object delete program. The program selects the business objects that were already archived and those only marked for deletion, and deletes them from the database. If this function is not supported by the archiving object, the Delete pushbutton is not offered.

The status used by the delete program for the selection of the data is application specific and can therefore differ from one archiving object to another. In SAP Customer Relationship Management, for example, the Deletable status has the technical ID I1102 and the Archived status the ID I1101. More information on whether a specific archiving object uses this status and what it is called is available in the corresponding documentation in the SAP Library.

Displaying the Log

The Logs function is used to display the application logs generated during the cross-archiving-object check and delete functions. For more information, see Logs.

Activities

You make the cross-archiving-object check and delete program settings in Archive Administration in Start of the navigation path Cross-Archiving-Object Customizing Next navigation step Check and Delete End of the navigation path .

You schedule the cross-archiving-object check and delete program in Archive Administration. To do so you must enter a variant, where you can make the following settings:

In the Server Groups field, enter the group of application servers on which the processes are to run. If no server group is available, you can create one using Computing Center Management System (CCMS).
In the Number of Parallel Processes field, enter the number of processes that are to be started in parallel.
Under Process Control, you determine whether the process is to run in the test or production mode. In test mode the check or deletion process is only simulated and no actual changes occur on the database. The test or production mode settings you make in this variant override the settings in the Customizing variant. See Check and Delete and Variant Maintenance for Archiving Jobs.

Note
Both programs support parallel processing, meaning that it is possible to divide their processes among several jobs and application servers. This is generally positive in terms of performance, but also generates a greater system load, as several tasks are being executed concurrently. Parallel processing cannot be used if no server group is specified.