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Programming

Can I adapt our in-house programs to PBS indexing?

There are different methods to adapt your own programs to PBS indexing. First of all, there are logical databases in every SAP module which are mostly used in the financial accounting component of the SAP standard. PBS has its own logical databases, which either replace the SAP standard or define their own. In the former example, it is normally sufficient to replace the name of the logical database with the PBS name in your in-house report. This automatically provides archive access using PBS indexing. In the second example, you program a report as if it were intended to access the database only. The archive is processed by the PBS logical database using the PBS indices.

The next option is the PBS Conversion Tool, which is used when programming with database selects. You can use this tool to copy your own report into a new one. In the copy process, the database selects are converted into a "select into table" and PBS function modules are generated to also retrieve the archive data in this table. Afterwards, the table's data is processed within a loop. This tool is useful in many common applications. More complex reports cannot be converted as easily, as this requires specific information about the data structures in use. PBS provides function modules and external subroutines that enable you to access and retrieve the archived data. Example programs are contained in the "Archive access tutorial" (transaction /PBS/UTIL_ACCESS_ARCH) from Release 4.6C. PBS can assist you in adapting your programs and reports at a reasonable additional cost.

In many cases, especially in the module CFI, PBS already provides enhanced SAP standard reports that automatically evaluate databases and archived data. If you have developed your own reports from SAP standard reports, you can use the PBS solution as a basis for your own modified reports.

 I want to add PBS archive access to a report. The report is based on a logical database.

PBS has its own logical databases, which either replace the SAP standard or define their own. In the former example, it is normally sufficient to replace the name of the logical database with the PBS name in your in-house report. This automatically provides archive access using PBS indexing. In the second example, you program a report as if it were intended to access the database only. The archive is processed by the PBS logical database using the PBS indices.

 I want to use PBS function modules directly to access an archive. Where can I find some examples of this?

Examples of using PBS function modules for accessing archived data are summarized in the Archive Access Tutorial. You can call up the Archive Access Tutorial in SAP Release 4.6C via the transaction /PBS/UTIL_ACCESS_ARCH.