Customer/Custom defined objects are developed in customer namespace and are thus not

affected or overwritten by upgrades. In the case of SAP objects, as part of an upgrade or

Support Package import, SAP may provide new versions of existing SAP objects. If customer
have modified SAP objects in a previous release, so it’s necessary to perform modification
adjustment in transaction SPDD and SPAU to retain these modifications.
Five types of SAP system changes are there:
Customizing : Involves setting system business parameters using special Customizing
transactions. Changes are scheduled and organized in advance. Customizing is mandatory
before using the SAP system in a live environment. Do not confuse with technical parameters
from transaction RZ10!
Customer developments : Creation of customer-specific objects according to naming
conventions.
Enhancements : Customer changes to SAP Repository objects without the need for
modifications.
Modification: Customer-specific changes to SAP Repository objects. When SAP objects are
changed, the customer version has to be modified to match the new SAP version.
Advanced correction : Apply bug fixes from SAP directly to the SAP system.
Below is the type of changes that required modification adjustment or not.
Modifications that need adjustment :
Manually implemented advanced correction in accordance with a SAP Note.
Adjustments of customer beyond customizing ( repair )
Customer transports ( <SID>K9* )
No Modifications required :
Advanced correction with SAP transport will probably be part of a new release
SAP Support Packages
SAP Add-ons
Classification of Modified objects to be adjusted :
–> Without modification adjustment, we would lose all modifications we made to objects
that conflict with SAP modifications when we upgrade the system. The modification
adjustment lets us make our modifications to the appropriate new objects in the upgrade.
–> We can identify modifications as repairs to the SAP standard or as imports of SAP objects.
Requests in the customer namespace (number range 900000 to 9ZZZZZ) “modify” the SAP
objects included in them. All other requests are dealt with as preliminary corrections.
–> The ABAP Dictionary objects (tables, data elements, domains, and so on) can be adjusted
during Productive operation before the activation of the ABAP Dictionary. The adjusted
objects are collected in a repair that is released to a transport request. We should not
release this transport request; instead it must be flagged for export in transaction SPDD.
Towards the end of the upgrade, SUM exports this transport request into the transport
directory /usr/sap/trans and then registers it for transport in the file
–> Repository objects (reports, screens, and so on) are adjusted toward the end of the
upgrade, during downtime. At this stage, the import of SAP objects has already been
completed. However, the old, modified version is still available in the versions database. As
with ABAP Dictionary objects, all adjustments are released to a transport request that is
noted and then exported and registered by SUM.
All ABAP Dictionary objects that have been modified by customers must be compared to the
new SAP standard during this upgrade process. To avoid loss of data and table fields that
customers may have created, conflicting structures must be merged before the mass
activation of ABAP Dictionary objects in the upgrade process.
If objects need to be adjusted, use the transactions SPDD and SPAU/SPAU_ENH. All
modifications made by customers are then merged with the new SAP object versions to
retain data; otherwise, the new SAP version will be activated and data may be lost. The
activation takes place on the shadow instance. When the upgrade is completed, the SAP
system is successfully running at the new release level. Customer-developed objects and
modifications have been preserved.
What is SPDD:
Transaction SPDD allows us to adjust modifications to ABAP Dictionary objects during an
upgrade or support package import. We must complete all modification adjustments before
continuing with the import. If we do not do this, modifications to dictionary objects will be
lost. This can lead to data loss. The following objects are handled in SPDD:

Domains
Data elements
Tables (structures, transparent tables, pooled and cluster tables including their technical
settings, indexes of transparent tables)

Changes to other ABAP Dictionary objects such as type groups, table types, views, search
helps and lock objects cannot result in the loss of data. These objects are not handled by
transaction SPDD, but by transaction SPAU in the post processing of the upgrade.
SPDD provides the following functions :

Display : Within individual packages or corrections, the objects are displayed according to
type. To view a changed object, select it with a double-click and we can automatically shown
an overview of all existing versions of the selected object.
Comparing old and new versions : Selecting an individual object lets us view all existing
versions of the object stored in version management. The display is the same as the one
with which it’s presented when we compare two objects in version management. The
information reflects the status of the objects after their activation. For example, a comment
in a table field indicating deletion means that the field will be deleted after activation,
provided no maintenance is carried out beforehand.

Maintenance : Transaction SPDD lets us compare the most important attributes of old
(modified) and new (SAP standard) versions of domains and data elements. This helps us to
decide how to proceed. Perform the adjustments required in transaction SE11, preferably in
a second window.
Reset to original : If, after comparing the results of the analysis, we conclude that if we do
not wish to retain previous modifications, choose Reset to original for the object in question.
For example, you may need this function if you have patched an object by hand. When SAP
delivers the same patch together with other corrections in the next upgrade, we can return
to the SAP standard because that no longer need our own modification.

Marking objects as processed : To facilitate work with the generated object list, we can
assign the status Completed to each object. Selecting the function changes the status of the
object and indicates this by highlighting it with a different color. The completed flag is meant
only to assist us in organizing our work and has no other internal function.

Marking for Transport : The Select for transport function helps us to adjust other SAP
systems.
What is SPAU:
Transaction SPAU allows us to adjust repository objects. The following objects are handled in
SPAU:

Notes
Programs
Function modules
Screens
Interfaces
Documentation
Text elements
Notes should be adjusted before adjusting the rest of the modification to avoid errors in
Note implementation due to modifications.
We have the following 2 options:
*Adjust all modifications before continuing with the import. This is recommended if we only
need to adjust a small number of objects.
*Perform the modification adjustment and the remaining phases in parallel. This is
recommended if we need to adjust a large number of objects.

Automatic adjustment : Customer modification can be automatically adopted. Clicking on

the icon causes the system to automatically adjust the object (only With Modification
Assistant category).

Semi-automatic adjustment : Semi-automatic means that each tool will individually offer us
support during the adjustment process. When adjusting programs, the split-screen editor is
called, whereas in the other tools any entries made in the collision dialog box lead to the
necessary adjustments being made automatically. As with the green traffic light, the semi-
automatic adjustment icon only appears in the With Modification Assistant category.

Manual adjustment : Objects in the Without Modification Assistant category have to be

adjusted manually by re-implementing the modifications in the corresponding ABAP
Workbench tool. Manual adjustment means that we have to make adjustment manually.
Please use the corresponding workbench tool to edit the object. We can also use Version
Management, to retrieve old versions. In rare cases, the red traffic light may also appear in
the With Modification Assistant category.
Unknown adjustment mode: The adjustment mode (manual, semi-automatic, automatic)
for at least one of the objects in question could not be determined for modification
adjustment with the
Modification Assistant. If this is the case and we can start transaction SPAU, a dialog box
informs us that we can start a background process by choosing the appropriate button,
which determines the adjustment modes for all objects.
Reset to original: If we choose Reset to original for an object displayed in the overview, no
modifications are adopted for this object. The original is the version that was last imported
into the