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Choosing the Right Reporting Tool: The Big Picture .........................................12 Organization of Report Development Tools.........................................................13 Using the Application Hierarchy ...........................................................................17 Using the Tools Summary Matrix ........................................................................111 Using the Tool Summaries...................................................................................113 Learning More About Report Development Tools.............................................114 Review....................................................................................................................115

In this chapter you will learn how to: Choose the right report development tool for your needs Identify report development tools that support application areas in Release 4.0B Use the Tools Summary Matrix to evaluate different report development tools

Report Development Tools

11

Chapter 1: Choosing the Right Report Development Tool Choosing the Right Reporting Tool: The Big Picture

In Fundamentals of Reporting, the first book of this three-volume guidebook series, we presented a methodology to help you choose a report development tool that fits your reporting needs. Chapter 6 (book 1) showed how the process of selecting the right report development tool is an integral part of the tactical approach to reporting. 1RWH Although the tactical approach to reporting is not discussed here, we recommend that you give it consideration. The tactical approach can save implementation teams much time and expense as it explains how to make best use of reporting functionality in R/3. For more information on the tactical approach, review chapter 2 (book 1). In this chapter we review the material covered in chapter 6 of book 1. If you have already read chapter 6 in book 1and understand how to select a report development tool using the tools summary matrix and the application hierarchyyou may want to skip ahead to the other chapters for tool-specific information.

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Follow these steps to help you choose the reporting tool that best fits your needs: 1. Use the Application Hierarchy to Identify the Tools: Starting from the R/3 applications in which you work, you can determine which reporting tools can be used for your business process. The application hierarchy matrix helps determine the appropriate R/3 report development tools for a particular application area. For more information on the application hierarchy, see page 17. 2. Use the Tools Summary Matrix to Help you Decide: For a quick comparison of the features of the reporting tools available for your application area, use the tools summary matrix. The tools summary matrix provides a high-level view of the functionality available with different tools. For more information on the tools summary matrix, see page 111. 3. Review the Tool Summaries: Before finalizing your decision to use a particular tool, you may want to review the tool summaries (chapters 7 through 11 of book 1) to better understand the relative strengths of each tool. 4. Learn More About Report Development Tools: For more information on how to get started with the reporting tools, see chapters 26 of this guidebook. In addition to stepby-step examples, you will also find tips and tricks for efficient report development. If you conclude that none of the tools fit your needs, and you want to use ABAP to develop your report, review chapter 12 for information on using ABAP for developing reports. Additionally, you will find templates to speed up ABAP report development.

12

Reporting Made Easy

Chapter 1: Choosing the Right Report Development Tool Organization of Report Development Tools
Read Using the Application Hierarchy in chapter 1

Use the Application Hierarchy Use the Application Hierarchy to Identify the Tools to Identify the Tools Use the Tools Summary Matrix Use the Tools Summary Matrix to Help You Decide to Help You Decide

Read Using the Tools Summary Matrix in chapter 1

Review Tool Summaries Review Tool Summaries

See book 1 (chapters 7 through 11) for an overview of reporting tools For in-depth information on reporting tools, see chapters 2 through 6

Learn More About Report Learn More About Report Development Tools Development Tools

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Before getting started with the step-by-step approach to choosing the right tool, it is useful to understand the overall report development landscape in the R/3 System. There are several report development tools (for example, Report Painter, ABAP Query, and more) in the R/3 System. While many methods can be used to create reports, the tool comparison in this chapter focuses only on the core set of reporting tools. Core tools may be defined as tools that are used exclusively to create reports. What is a core report development tool? Which reporting tools are part of this core set? What are the factors that determine if a tool belongs to the core set of report development tools? For purposes of this guidebook, the core set of reporting tools is defined as tools which are used exclusively for report development. If the tool has alternate uses, it will not be compared here. The core set of report development tools being compared in this guidebook includes the following: < < < < < ABAP Query Report Painter/Report Writer Drilldown Reporting Logistics Information SystemStandard Analyses Logistics Information SystemFlexible Analyses

We selected a core set of report development tools to achieve a more focused tool comparison. Consequently, certain tools, or tools by other names, are excluded from this list.

Report Development Tools

13

Chapter 1: Choosing the Right Report Development Tool Organization of Report Development Tools

Which reporting tools do not belong to this core set?

Several tools are not listed in the core set of report development tools. Two notable exclusions are: < ABAP (the programming language of R/3) < Business Information Warehouse (for more information, see chapters 7 through 11) There are specific reasons why non-core tools were excluded from the application hierarchy and the overall comparison you find in this guidebook. ABAP is not considered a core report development tool because it is not exclusively used for report development. While ABAP can be quite useful in developing reports, it includes much functionality (especially the capability to allow users to manipulate data in the database) that extends far beyond information retrieval. However, chapter 12 presents tips on creating ABAP reports, including templates to help you get started. The Business Information Warehouse also is not used exclusively for report development. The BW is a data warehouse which can be used to store data from many systems, including the R/3 database. The front-end of the BW (the Business Explorer) includes powerful functionality that takes advantage of its environment, Microsoft Excel. However, because of the separate environment and the added data warehousing capability, the BW is not considered in this core set.

What about the other reporting tools I have heard about?

The core report development tools listed in this chapter are often known by other names within application areas of R/3. The names of the tools are usually customized to applications because of the data presented. For example, the Sales Information System (SIS) is part of the Logistics Information System. Similarly, the Executive Information System (EIS) is part of the Drilldown reporting tool. Particular names are used within certain application areas, but the core set of the tools is the same. As mentioned, it is important to have a clear core set of report development tools in order to effectively compare the relative strengths of each tool. As the goal of this chapter is to help you decide which report development tool is most appropriate for your needs, we refine the core set to make the comparison easier. The table on the next page presents a quick overview of the core report development tools. With the help of this table you can: < < < Learn some of the commonly used names for the core report development tools Identify the access points for the core report development tools Find the application areas each core report development tool supports 1RWH The table shown on the following page is also available as a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet (Core development tools.xls) on the companion CD supplied with the Reporting Made Easy guidebook series. In the spreadsheet, you will also find application-specific menu paths you can use to access report creation environments in R/3 System for each tool.

14

Reporting Made Easy

Chapter 1: Choosing the Right Report Development Tool Organization of Report Development Tools

Core Report Development Tools ABAP Query Report Painter

Some Commonly Used Names/ Access Points for Report Tools ABAP Query Adhoc query Report Painter or Report Writer Report Painter or Report Writer Report Painter or Report Writer Report Painter or Report Writer Report Painter or Report Writer Report Painter or Report Writer Report Painter or Report Writer Report Painter or Report Writer Report Painter or Report Writer Report Painter or Report Writer

Application Areas Supported by Report Tool

All application areas Human Resources (HR) Cost Center Accounting (CO-CCA) and Internal Orders (CO-OPA) Functional area reporting in Cost-of-Sales Accounting Profit Center Accounting (CO-PCA/EC-PCA) Legal Consolidations (FI-LC) Controlling Reconciliation Ledger (CO-CEL) Special Purpose Ledger (FI-SL) Enterprise Controlling module (EC-LC) Financial Accounting (General Ledger) reports by account, company, and business area (FI-GL) Project Systems (PS) Controlling Product Costing module (CO-Costing) Materials Management-Inventory Management (MM-IM) Materials Management-Purchasing (MM-PUR) (includes External Services Management) Sales and Distribution (SD) Production Planning (PP) Plant Maintenance (PM) Quality Management (QM) SAP Retail (IS-Retail) Materials Management-Warehouse Management (MM-WM) Service Management (SM) Same as LIS Standard Analyses (see above) Controlling and Profitability Analysis (CO-PA) Executive Information System (EIS) Profit Center Accounting (EC-PCA) General Ledger (Financial versions) Project Systems (PS) Consolidations (EC-CS) Accounts Payable (FI-AP) Accounts Receivables (FI-AR) Special Ledger (FI-SL) Real Estate (IS-RE) Funds Management (FI-FM) Treasury Management (TR) Investment Management (IM)

LIS Standard Analyses Inventory Controlling (INVCO) Purchasing Information System (PURCHIS) Sales Information System (SIS) Shop Floor Information System (SFIS) Plant Maintenance Information System (PMIS) Quality Management Information System (QMIS) Retail Information System (RIS) Warehouse Management Information System (WMIS) Service Management Information System (SMIS) LIS Flexible Analyses Drilldown Reporting Same as LIS Standard Analyses (see above) Profitability Analysis Reporting Executive Information System Executive Information System Drilldown Reporting Drilldown Reporting Drilldown Reporting Drilldown Reporting Drilldown Reporting Drilldown Reporting Drilldown Reporting Drilldown Reporting Drilldown Reporting Drilldown Reporting

Report Development Tools

15

Chapter 1: Choosing the Right Report Development Tool Using the Application Hierarchy

On page 12, we introduced the idea of using of a step-by-step approach to help you choose the right report development tool for your needs. The table on the previous page is intended to help you get acquainted with the core reporting tools and some of the common names associated with the core tools. Next, you will see an application-centric view of the reporting tools comparison. You will start the comparison by first looking at the application areas and the tools available for the application.

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While the table on the previous page offers a tools-centric view, the application hierarchy presented in this section is centered around application areas and subcomponents. The application hierarchy shown on the next two pages is a complete list of all R/3 applications, organized by functional areas. Most application modules in the hierarchy are subdivided to show individual areas in the application (for example, shipping and billing are two areas within the sales and distribution [SD] application, and accounts payable is an area within the financial accounting [FI] application).

Use the Application Hierarchy Use the Application Hierarchy to Identify the Tools to Identify the Tools Use the Tools Summary Matrix Use the Tools Summary Matrix to Help You Decide to Help You Decide

Review Tools Summaries Review Tools Summaries

Learn More About Report Learn More About Report Example: If you are interested in choosing the 4 Development Tools appropriate tool for a cash management (CM) Development Tools report in the Treasury (TR) area, then find TRCM in the application hierarchy. Next, review the report development tools available for TR-CM. From the application hierarchy you can see that ABAP Query and Drilldown reporting are the tools you can choose from.
More on the SAP application hierarchy R/3s application areas are divided among business applications, such as financial accounting (FI), sales and distribution (SD), and human resources (HR). To access the complete list of applications in the SAP application hierarchy, choose Tools ABAP Workbench Overview Application hierarchy SAP from the SAP main menu. If you are not familiar with the concept of different applications in R/3, or are unsure of which applications you might be using, we suggest you view the application hierarchy within the R/3 System. If needed, ask your system administrator for assistance. 1RWH Since both LIS Standard Analyses and LIS Flexible Analyses use the same applications for report development, they have been combined into a single column in the application hierarchy matrix.

16

Reporting Made Easy

Chapter 1: Choosing the Right Report Development Tool Using the Application Hierarchy

LIS Standard & Flexible Analyses

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

1. Pick the desired application area from the application hierarchy. 2. Note the available reporting tools that support the application area. 3. Review the Tools Summary Matrix to compare the relative strengths of each tool. 4. Select a report development tool based on your requirements. FI Financial Accounting
GL LC AP AR BL AA SL FM TV General Ledger Accounting Legal Consolidation Accounts Payable Accounts Receivable Bank Accounting Asset Accounting Special Purpose Ledger Funds Management Travel Management Cash Management Cash Budget Management Treasury Management Loans Business Risk Management Overhead Cost Controlling Product Cost Controlling Profitability Analysis Capital Investments Profit Center Accounting Business Planning Consolidation Enterprise Information System Real Estate Management Banking Public Sector Retail Information System Logistics Basic Data Product Data Management Batches Environmental Management Forecast Variant Configuration Engineering Change Management Logistics Information System (LIS) Supply Chain Planning Interfaces (SCPI) Additionals Management Retail Information System (RIS) Master Data Basic Functions Sales Shipping Transportation Foreign Trade Billing Sales Support Information System Electronic Data Interchange Point-of-Sale Interface Consumption-Based Planning Purchasing External Services Management Inventory Management Warehouse Management Invoice Verification Information System Electronic Data Interchange

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

X Rel. 4.5A Rel. 4.5A

X X

TR

Treasury
CM CB TM LO MRM X X X X X X

CO

Controlling
OM PC PA X X X Rel. 4.5A X X X X X X X

IM EC

Investment Management
FA PCA BP CS EIS

Enterprise Controlling

IS

Industry Solutions
RE B PS Retail X X

LO

Logistics: General
MD PDM BM EHS PR VC ECH LIS SCI ADM RIS

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Sales and Distribution

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MM

Materials Management
CBP PUR SRV IM WM IV IS EDI

Report Development Tools

Report Painter/ Report Writer

X X X X X X X

Reporting Tools and R/3 System Application Hierarchy

ABAP Query Drilldown Reporting

17

Chapter 1: Choosing the Right Report Development Tool Using the Application Hierarchy

LIS Standard & Flexible Analyses

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X*

1. Pick the desired application area from the application hierarchy. 2. Note the available reporting tools that support the application area. 3. Review the Tools Summary Matrix to compare the relative strengths of each tool. 4. Select a report development tool based on your requirements. QM Quality Management
PT IM QC CA QN IT Quality Planning Quality Inspection Quality Control Quality Certificates Quality Notifications Test Equipment Management Equipment and Technical Objects Preventive Maintenance Maintenance Order Management Maintenance Projects Service Management Information System Basic Data Sales and Operations Planning Master Planning Capacity Requirements Planning Material Requirements Planning Production Orders KANBAN Repetitive Manufacturing Assembly Processing Production Planning for Process Industries Plant Data Collection Flow Manufacturing Information System Structures Document Production Resources/Tools Costs Revenues and Earnings Payments Dates Capacities Material Confirmation Simulation Versions Progress SAP Business Workflow Connection Information System Includes all areas of Personnel Management, such as recruitment, personnel administration, benefits, HR information system, personnel development, organizational structure, compensation management, and travel management.

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

PM

Plant Maintenance
EQM PRM WOC PRO SMA IS

PP

Production Planning and Control

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Project Systems
ST DOC PRT COS REV CAF DAT CRP MAT CON SIM VER PRG WFL IS

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Personnel Management
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PT

Personnel Time Management

Includes all areas of Personnel Time Management, such as work schedule, time data recording and management, shift planning, time evaluation, information system, tools, and integration with other applications. X

PY PE

Payroll Accounting
Includes all specific countries as well as general Payroll Accounting. X

Training and Event Management

Includes all areas of Training and Event Management, such as resource management, correspondence, connection to time management, connection to cost accounting, connection to billing, and connection to materials management. X

BC

Basis Components
All components X* Reports only; no information structures X

18

Reporting Made Easy

Report Painter/ Report Writer

X X X

Reporting Tools and R/3 System Application Hierarchy (cont.)

ABAP Query Drilldown Reporting

Chapter 1: Choosing the Right Report Development Tool Using the Tools Summary Matrix

Note that within this application hierarchy, several tools can be used for most application areas. Therefore, it is up to you to decide which reporting tools are best matched to the reports to you want to develop. The report development tool summary matrix covered in the next two pages will give you a quick comparison of tool features.

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The tools summary matrix provides a quick comparative analysis of the core report development tools. As shown on the next page, the tools summary matrix lets you evaluate each tool using a set of features users typically consider. It is important to note that the matrix only presents a high-level overview of each tool. The aim of this matrix is simply to help users jumpstart the process of comparing different tools. Using the information available in the tools matrix, you can then review the tool summaries presented in chapters 711 of book 1, Fundamentals of Reporting. You can also refer to chapters 2 through 6 of this book for more detailed information on using the report development tools.

Use the Application Hierarchy Use the Application Hierarchy to Identify the Tools to Identify the Tools Use the Tools Summary Matrix Use the Tools Summary Matrix to Help You Decide to Help You Decide

Review Tools Summaries Review Tools Summaries

Learn More About Report Learn More About Report Development Tools Development Tools

Used as a guide, the tools summary matrix can help you narrow your choices down to one or two reporting tools. While this matrix is designed to help you find the right tool, it is by no means intended to make a decision for you. The relative importance of each feature is likely to vary among users. For example, ease-of-use may be important to one user but another user may be primarily concerned with the coverage of applications. When using this matrix, you must assign your own weighting to the criteria.

Report Development Tools

19

Chapter 1: Choosing the Right Report Development Tool Using the Tools Summary Matrix

Reporting Tools Summary Matrix

Report Painter Report Writer LIS Standard Analyses LIS Flexible Analyses

Desktop Integration

Drilldown Reporting

ABAP Query

Integration with spreadsheet programs? Special requirements of external systems?

Speed vs. Performance

Uses MS Excel as a front-end tool Simple downloads and use of XXL with manipulation None required External system required

Speed with heavy data load? Tools to optimize performance?

Delivered Integration

Minimal impact Somewhat slowed Significant impact Yes No

Views "live" data? Coverage of applications Availability of standard reports?

Requirements for Development

Online transaction protocol data Meta data plus external data Meta data only All applications Less than all, greater than 50% Less than 50% More than 100 Less than 100 but more than 0

Difficult to learn to program with tool? Adequate number of characteristics and drilldown levels? If meta data is used, is it difficult to program? Flexibility for modifying reports? (for example, adding fieldsbeyond basic format changes)
Ease of Use
Not Applicable

Less than 2 hours 24 hours; course suggested At least one day or course required Yes No Slight changes in configuration Moderately difficult to program Rarely requires reprogramming Somewhat difficult to modify reports Reports should not be modified once created

How easily can a user learn to use the reports? Can a query be created from scratch? (without reconfiguration) Drag and drop capability? All tools offer: Sorting by rows and columns, column/row resizing, summations, use of selection screen variants, saved results (in cached queries), and a common look and feel among reports
Execution Management

Very easy Somewhat difficult; some training suggested Yes Yes, with some effort Not possible Yes No All features supported

Authorization control programmable? Alert and monitoring capability? Background or batch job execution?

Run-time, data control, plus can program more Auth. control for run, plus data field control Control authorization to run only Yes No Yes No

110

Reporting Made Easy

Chapter 1: Choosing the Right Report Development Tool Using the Tool Summaries

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After reviewing the tools summary matrix you are now ready to familiarize yourself with the report development tools that meet your needs. To help you get started with the report development tools, we have provided tool summaries in chapters 7 through 11 of book 1, Fundamentals of Reporting. The tool summaries cover basic information and answers questions related to the features shown in the tools summary matrix. The tools summaries are by no means meant to provide the definitive answer to which report development tool(s) you should use. We suggest that you use tool summaries in conjunction with other information about the report development tools to help you make an informed decision.

Use the Application Hierarchy Use the Application Hierarchy to Identify the Tools to Identify the Tools Use the Tools Summary Matrix Use the Tools Summary Matrix to Help You Decide to Help You Decide

Review Tools Summaries Review Tools Summaries

Learn More About Report Learn More About Report Development Tools Development Tools

1RWH You may have heard about other report development tools such as the Open Information Warehouse (OIW) and the Extended Export of Lists (XXL) which have not been included in the tool comparison. XXL has been excluded from the reporting tools comparison because it is a supplement to other R/3 reporting tools, not a tool used exclusively to create reports. The OIW has not been included in the comparison because it was a predecessor to the Business Information Warehouse and is no longer being developed. For more information on XXL and OIW, see appendix B and C respectively in this book.

Report Development Tools

111

Chapter 1: Choosing the Right Report Development Tool Learning More About Report Development Tools

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Subsequent chapters in this guidebook provide overview information about each of the report development tools considered in this chapter. If you are new to reporting tools, you may want to look through the tools summaries (book 1, chapters 711) to learn more. In this guide, you will find information on the following reporting tools: Chapter Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapters 711 Reporting Tool Covered ABAP Query Report Painter/Report Writer Drilldown Reporting Logistics Information SystemStandard Analyses Logistics Information SystemFlexible Analyses Business Information Warehouse

ABAP Query

ter Pain er ort t Rep ort Wri Rep

LIS Fl Ana exible lyse s

R/3 Report Development Tools

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This book presents in-depth information on the tools. In chapters 2 through 6 of this book, you will find more information about the core set of report development tools, including: < < < < Information on how to create a report with the report development tools Step-by-step examples of creating reports with each tool Tips and tricks on further report development with each tool Guidance on where to find additional information on the tools

112

Reporting Made Easy

Chapter 1: Choosing the Right Report Development Tool Review

Beyond the tools specifically intended for report development, this book also provides: < < < < Templates for programming in ABAP (chapter 12) Hints on using the ABAP List Viewer (ALV) (appendix A) Information on the use of the XXL interface (appendix B) Information on the use of web reporting (appendix D)

Future editions of this guidebook series will contain more information on reporting and report development.

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This chapter presents a step-by-step approach to choosing the right report development tool The following steps are recommended: 1. Use the application hierarchy matrix to determine which report development tool(s) can be used within the application component(s) of your interest. 2. Use the tools summary matrix to gain an overview of the features available within the report development tools. 3. Read chapters 711 of book 1, Fundamentals of Reporting, to learn summary information about each of the report development tools. 4. Read chapters 2 through 6 of this book for more detailed information on the core set of report development tools. Users should be familiar with the applications they are responsible for in an R/3 implementation. The application hierarchy matrix helps users determine which report development tool(s) are intended for use in their component areas. The features outlined in the tools summary matrix were identified by customers, consultants and developers as being the most important in choosing a report development tool. The summary matrix is intended to be a guide rather than an absolute decision tool.

Report Development Tools

113

Chapter 1: Choosing the Right Report Development Tool Review

114

Reporting Made Easy