Output Managment - OTP
Output Managment - OTP
Output Managment - OTP
SAP S/4HANA
2020-09-17
1 Purpose. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2 Prerequisites. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5 Appendix. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
5.1 Defining Table Settings for Output Determination. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
5.2 Output with Attachments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Printing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47
Emailing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Merging of Documents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48
This document provides details on setting up and using SAP S/4HANA output management.
Many business applications use the SAP S/4HANA output control reuse service to provide output functionality
within their application. Nearly all features described in this document are only offered within applications using
this reuse service. If a section of the document is generally available, it is mentioned accordingly.
Printing in SAP S/4HANA involves the usage of spool devices as known from the Business Suite. However, SAP S/
4HANA output control currently works only with spool devices which have the device type PDF or similar. Find more
details in the Setting Up Printers section under Setting Up Output Management [page 10]. Also note that front-
end printing is not supported.
Sending emails requires to define allowed email domains and sender and recipient email addresses. With SAP S/
4HANA output control, you can create custom email templates, consisting of a custom email subject and body. The
custom templates are based on the SAP-delivered templates and allow you to flexibly define multiple recipients as
TO, CC and BCC. See Setting Up Email [page 11].
All applications using SAP S/4HANA output control use SAP Cloud Platform Forms by Adobe as the standard form
technology. In addition, they might also still offer the existing form templates from Business Suite which are
implemented via SAPScript, SmartForms, or SAP Interactive Forms By Adobe (SIFbA). Please check within the
business application for more information about the different options. Also check if these form technologies are
enabled for SAP S/4HANA output control. For all applications previously using NAST output control, SAP S/4HANA
output control has a built-in support for these form technologies.
By default, all business applications using SAP S/4HANA output control with form processing requirements
leverage the new SAP Cloud Platform Forms by Adobe, and SAP provides default form templates. A template can
be either of type Master, Content (referencing a master form), or a Standalone (no master is used). A master
template defines the generic page layout and includes content such as headers and footers that have logos and
contact information. A content template can be embedded within a master template and contains unique
information such as invoice data. A standalone template has all content in one form template. Customers can
modify predelivered form templates or create their own forms from scratch using Adobe LiveCycle Designer. More
details can be found under Customizing Form Templates [page 15].
● It's mandatory that the Output Management (1LQ) scope item is active.
● In the SAP S/4HANA system, your key user needs the authorizations to enable the related app in the SAP Fiori
launchpad.
● You've installed the Adobe LiveCycle Designer in your local system.
Note
Make sure that the Adobe LiveCycle Designer version is 10.4 or higher.
● For the purpose of verification, use billing documents with the status To Be Posted. Make sure that your system
contains some transactional data.
Output Management is not a standalone functionality but always embedded in a business process or a specific
business application. So when looking at this topic, you should start with the Fit-To-Standard analyses of the
business scenarios of your selected scope.
During these analyses, you identify several requirements for communication with your business partners. Note
them down and structure them as you will need them later for the setup of output management.
The following sections give you some guidance on what you should focus on and which information is necessary to
complete the setup.
The purpose of this task is to define the communication channels with your customers. As a result, you should have
a list of channels with detailed information for each channel. Currently, you can use printing, e-mailing, and
electronic data interchange (EDI) for communicating with your customers.
3.1.1 Print
Printing can be divided into unattended printing (back-end printing) – usually performed via batch jobs – and
attended printing (browser-based printing).
Back-end printing means that you trigger the output to a predefined printer and the system automatically sends it
to this printer without any further user interaction. This method requires more customizing of the system but
allows automated output.
Browser-based printing means that the user selects each document to be printed in the browser and then either
directly prints it from a built-in reader application (for example, PDF reader), or downloads it. In both cases, the
printers connected to the user’s system can be used without any further setup. However, the printing in this
scenario is then not integrated anymore with the system and tracking of the print process is not possible.
Procedure
Define your use cases for unattended and attended printing respectively. Consider your existing printer landscape
and business requirements, such as using printer servers, direct connections, and printing with restricted access.
Emails are sent using the e-mail server provided with your system. The purpose of this task is to define the
technical setup for sending emails. This includes defining the sender domains, sender email addresses, and email
addresses for testing.
Procedure
3.1.3 EDI
There are multiple (application-specific) communication scenarios, which include electronic data interchange
(EDI). These scenarios are described in the scope item of the corresponding business scenario.
Procedure
Once you know which communication channels you are going to use, you need to define how the documents you
send should look like. The term documents here covers form templates and email templates. The latter is of course
only relevant if you use emails. Form templates are used for printing and emailing but cannot be used for electronic
data interchange (EDI).
The purpose of this task is to define the documents for communication including branding. You need to be clear
about how the documents should look like.
Form templates are usually divided into a layout part (which elements are shown, their position, size, etc.) and a
content part (which data is used).
Procedure
Email templates allow you to define the email subject and the email body of your emails. Both can be a combination
of static texts with placeholders (variables). The email body can be set as plain text or as HTML.
When choosing HTML, you can use any external HTML editor to design the email body and copy the HTML source
code into the email template. Hence, HTML expertise is necessary to complete this task.
Note
To set up SAP S/4HANA output control, complete the following tasks before continuing with the steps described in
the following SAP Help Portal:
You can print documents using the SAP spool system, an application server process for managing sequential data
streams that are sent to a printer.
Every time a spool request is printed, the system creates a record called an output request. The output request
contains information about the printer or output device and stores the output parameters as well as the output
status.
Each form technology that is used in SAP Business Suite requires a print program to assemble the data and
perform the rendering of the form. For these print programs, conditions apply in SAP S/4HANA. Check your
existing print programs against these conditions with the help of SAP Note. 2294198 .
SAP S/4HANA output control uses the short name of the printer, for example LP01, as defined in the Spool
Administration transaction (SPAD).
The system always creates a PDF for all types of forms. PDF format is a prerequisite for the PRINT channel and
necessary for processing the output. It has the following impact:
● Previewing the document from the spool request is possible only when the device type is set to PDF1 or
PDFUC.
● Using another device type can lead to alignment issues for SAPscript and Smart Forms.
● Printer tray handling is not supported.
● Fronted output is not supported, as the output processed via bgRFC.
.
Note
SAP S/4HANA output control offers a preview function for all forms by default. For form templates used in
another output control framework, the preview may not have been available before. In such cases, the preview
function is not guaranteed and a refresh of the transactional buffer (for example, by calling
RV_INVOICE_REFRESH in Billing) leads to an exception causing the system to raise a dump.
Procedure
1. Start transaction OPD (Output Parameter Determination) or navigate via the IMG: SAP Customizing
Implementation Guide Cross-Application Components Output Control Define Business Rules for Output
Determination .
2. On the Output Parameter Determination screen, on the Select Business Rules tab, select a rule under Show
Roles for.
3. Under Determination Step, select Printer Settings via the value help icon.
In this example, Billing Document is selected as a business rule. You can select any other option.
4. On the Maintain Business Rules tab, choose Edit.
5. On the Table Contents tab, enter the queue name in the PRINT_QUEUE_NAME field.
6. Choose the content of the PRINT_QUEUE_NAME field.
7. In the dialog box, select the queue from the options.
8. Choose OK. To save your changes, choose Activate.
9. Make sure that the activation has been successful.
Result
You've successfully modified the print rule. A specific business rule can output to the print queue that you've
assigned.
With the SAP S/4HANA Output Control framework, you can send configured application documents automatically
to business partners in PDF format via email. SAP provides you with predelivered email templates for several
application objects. You can customize the e-mail templates by cloning the generic ones and populating the subject
line and body of the email.
For the setup of the email server, please refer to the standard documentation of SAPconnect (BC-SRV-COM) on
help.sap.com.
● You have the necessary authorization to create email templates via the Maintain Email Templates app or the
ABAP workbench (SE80).
● You have the necessary authorization to maintain rules via the transaction OPD (Output Parameter
Determination).
In business communication, it's expected that the readable email header contains addresses from a customer's
email domain or domains. In this setting, you can define which domain is allowed in the readable email header. You
may also specify a list of domains if multiple domains are allowed.
Examples:
● company.com would allow all email addresses in this domain such as John.Doe@company.com
● *.company.com would allow all email addresses in company.com subdomains such as
John@sales.company.com or Doe@service.company.com
Procedure
Refer to the standard documentation of SAPconnect (BC-SRV-COM) on help.sap.com on how to define allowed
email domains.
Generally, the output control functionality determines a sender email address and adds it to the email header.
Within this setting, you may define a default sender address if no sender address has been determined.
Example:
● do.not.reply@company.com
Procedure
Refer to the standard documentation of SAPconnect (BC-SRV-COM) on help.sap.com on how to define a default
sender address.
Within test systems, it's necessary to control which receivers are allowed within email communication. For
example, you don't want dunning runs in the test system to send emails to your real-world business partners. To
avoid this, you must maintain a white list.
Receivers can be explicitly listed with their email addresses, or pattern expressions may be used.
Examples:
Note
This setting is effective in test systems only. Production systems don't execute this test.
Procedure
Refer to the standard documentation of SAPconnect (BC-SRV-COM) on help.sap.com on how to define allowed
recipient addresses.
The default email address of the sender (of the output item) is set by the business application. The business
application decides the source of this email address. For example, it could be read from a master data address or
from a document address.
Output Control offers the Email Settings determination step (within Output Parameter Determination) to
individually configure the sender email address in a more flexible way using business rules. The settings in this
determination step overwrite the default sender email address from the business application.
A user is able to see the determined email address in the output details screen within the business application. If no
sender email address can be determined from these two sources, it can still be added manually by the user there.
The default email address of the recipient (receiver of the output item) is set by the business application. The
business application decides the source of this email address. For example, it could be read from a master data
address or from a document address. Output Control uses this email address always as TO address. You can't
define this address as CC or BCC. Currently, only one email address is possible.
In addition to this default behavior, you can mix both sources. Output Control offers a special constant that can be
used in the Email Recipient determination step to retrieve the default email address of the business application. It's
available for all applications in Output Parameter Determination and allows you to:
● Define the usage of the default email address as TO, CC, or BCC.
● Use the default email address and additional email addresses for one recipient.
Use
In this step, you're defining the usage of the default email address and one additional email address for the output.
Procedure
1. Start transaction OPD (Output Parameter Determination) or navigate via the IMG: SAP Customizing
Implementation Guide Cross-Application Components Output Control Define Business Rules for Output
Determination .
2. On the Output Parameter Determination screen, on the Select Business Rules tab, select an application.
Note
In this example, Billing Document is selected as application. You can select any other option.
The purpose of this task is to create customer-specific form templates, based on the templates provided by SAP,
using Adobe LiveCycle Designer. Activities include downloading the form template, modifying and testing it locally,
and uploading it back to the system for further testing.
SAP delivers standard form templates for many business applications as well as for different layout definitions.
Master form templates define the page layout (paper size, orientation) and contain placeholders for static data, for
example, a logo, and a footer text. This data is displayed on each form page.
Note
The predelivered templates with the name SOMU_DEMO_FORM_MASTER* contain static content. Don't copy
them. They are only for demonstration purposes. When creating your own master form template, copy one of
the predelivered templates with the name SOMU_FORM_MASTER*. There is a variant for paper size A4 and one
for paper size US letter.
If you want to make minor changes (for example: to change logos, footers, or sender addresses) to your form
template, refer to the following steps.
Procedure
Result
Procedure
Result
Procedure
Result
If you want to make minor changes (for example: customized fields) to your form template, refer to the following
steps.
The Maintain Form Templates SAP Fiori app provides you with a list of predelivered templates. In this section, you're
downloading a standard master form template.
Note
Procedure
1. Log on to the SAP Fiori launchpad as a key user with the output management role.
2. Choose Maintain Form Templates.
Result
In this section, you're using the Adobe LiveCycle Designer to modify the standard master form.
Note
This is for demonstration purposes only. If you want to use it in a productive system, contact an expert.
Procedure
Result
In the SAP Fiori app Maintain Form Templates, you're uploading the modified template to use it later on.
Procedure
Field Value
Language English
Note
The YY1 prefix in the form template name has been added automatically to indicate that this is a custom
template.
Result
In this step, you're defining rules that determine the master form template in the corresponding customizing
activity.
1. Start transaction OPD (Output Parameter Determination) or navigate via the IMG: SAP Customizing
Implementation Guide Cross-Application Components Output Control Define Rules Business Rules for
Determination of Master Form Template .
2. Choose New Entries.
3. On the Define Rules for Determination of Master Form Template panel, enter the following form attributes:
Example:
Field Value
Rule ID FRDS_DEMO_RULE_GENERIC
Number 1
Result
You've defined a business rule to determine your custom master form template.
In the following sections, you download the standard form template, modify it, and add a new field to it.
Additionally, you upload the custom template and assign it to the output type. Last but not least, you create
business rules to define how a custom form will be used.
The Maintain Form Templates SAP Fiori app provides you with a series of predelivered templates. In this section,
you're reusing the standard form template and modifying it.
Note
Procedure
Result
In this section, you're using the Adobe LiveCycle Designer to modify the standard form template to include the
custom field that you've created before.
Note
This is for demonstration purposes only. If you want to use it in a productive system, contact an expert.
Procedure
Note
Alternatively, to add a text field (or other field forms), go to Object Library and drag and drop a text field to
the Design View tab.
To make sure that the relevant content is displayed, modify the attributes on the Object tab. Here's an example:
○ On the Field tab, you can adapt the caption of the field, or modify the appearance.
○ On the Value tab, you can enter the respective type.
○ On the Binding tab, you can enter the data binding for the field. Choose Select Data Binding and go to
Use Data Connection Billing Document Node . Select the desired data binding. In the Binding
Properties dialog box, choose Update all related properties. Choose OK. $.ReferenceSDDocumentCategory
is automatically inserted.
8. To save your changes, press Ctrl + S .
Result
In the Maintain Form Templates SAP Fiori app, you're uploading the custom template to use it later on.
Procedure
Field Value
Language English
Note
The YY1 prefix in the form template name has been added automatically to indicate that this is a custom
template.
When creating and uploading your custom form template, you can define the language of the form template. This
language is called Original Language. All modifications (layout or content changes) to the form template need to be
done in this language variant.
If you need additional translations of this form template, you can create them with the app Maintain Form
Templates. This app allows you to translate all static texts in the form template. Dynamic texts (added at runtime)
cannot be translated here.
This section is only relevant for business applications using SAP S/4HANA output control.
In the customizing activity Assign Form Templates, you assign an output type to the new form template.
Procedure
1. Navigate via the IMG: SAP Customizing Implementation Guide Cross-Application Components Output
Control Assign Form Templates .
2. Start the activity.
3. Press New Entries and enter the following information:
Field Value
Note
This is the name of the form you've created in the previ
ous section.
Result
You've assigned the custom form template to the billing document output type. You can now use it for further
customizing of billing documents.
In the customizing activity Output Parameter Determination, you're creating business rules to define how a custom
form should be used in general.
Note
For more details and information, refer to the Appendix [page 46].
Procedure
1. Start transaction OPD (Output Parameter Determination) or choose navigation via IMG via SAP Customizing
Implementation Guide Cross-Application Components Output Control Define Business Rules for Output
Determination .
2. From the Show Rules for dropdown list, select Billing Document.
3. From the Determination Step dropdown list, select Form Template.
4. To switch to the Edit mode, choose Edit.
5. In the Table Contents window, select the checkbox of the first table entry.
6. To add a new row to Decision Table, choose Add.
7. You receive a new number 1 entry. You need this entry to display your adapted forms.
Note
The Decision Table is processed sequentially. This is why the table entry list starts with the most specific
entries, which are followed by more general ones.
Result
You've updated the business rule to define how a custom form template should be used.
In this section, you add a custom field to a content form template. In this example, a comment field is created in the
Manage Purchase Contracts app. This field is included in the content form template in Adobe LiveCycle Designer
and printed on the purchase contract.
Prerequisites
● You have the necessary authorization to download the predelivered standard content form template for
purchase contracts via the Maintain Form Templates app.
● You've installed Adobe LiveCycle Designer locally.
● The necessary (key user and purchaser) authorizations and roles have been assigned to your user. This
ensures that you can access the Manage Purchase Contracts app and the Custom Fields and Logic app.
In this section, you create a custom text field that is added to an SAP Fiori app. In this example, we use the
Purchasing Document as business context.
Procedure
Field Value
Identifier YY1_QuickNote_PDH
Type Text
Length 20
Note
Before you continue, make sure that the custom field has the status Published.
In this step, you add the custom text field to an SAP Fiori app. In this example, you use the Manage Purchase
Contracts app. First of all, you create a new purchase contract. Afterwards, you add the field to the maintenance
view.
Field Value
Valid To Date
Field Value
Material TG10
7. Choose Add.
8. Save your changes.
9. In the Quantity Contract that you've created previously, go to the General Information tab.
10. To display the left pane, choose the user icon in the top left corner of the screen.
11. To launch the UI adaptation mode, choose Adapt UI.
12. Hover over the Supplier field. Once the field is highlighted in grey, right-click it.
13. Choose Add Field.
14. In the Available Fields dialog box, you find the custom field that you've created previously. Select the Quick Note
checkbox and choose OK.
Note
An alternative way to create a custom field is to choose Create Custom Field. This button redirects you to
the Custom Field and Logic app. The advantage is that by using the app itself, the business context is
automatically selected.
Prerequisites
● You've downloaded the predelivered standard content form template for purchase contracts
(MM_PUR_PURCHASE_CONTRACT; English language) via the Maintain Form Templates app.
● You've extracted the downloaded entity.zip file locally.
Procedure
6. To add a field to the standard form template, drag and drop the field from the Data View tab on the left side of
the screen to the Design View. Place it according to your needs. Here's an example of the YY1_QuickNote_PDH
field:
Alternatively, to add a text field (or other field forms), go to the Object Library on the right side of the
screen. Drag and drop a text field to the Design View. To make sure that the relevant content is displayed,
modify the attributes on the Object tab. Refer to the example below.
7. Make sure that you maintain the attributes for the custom field appropriately to display data. Refer to the
following example for attributes that are maintained on the Object tab:
○ On the Field tab, you can adapt the caption of the field or modify the appearance. Enter, for example,
Quick Note, and maintain None for Appearance.
○ On the Value tab, you can provide the respective type, for example, User Entered – Optional.
○ On the Binding tab, you can provide the name of the data binding for the field, for example,
YY1_QuickNote_PDH.
1. Choose the Data Binding icon.
2. Go to Use "Data Connection" ContractHeaderNode .
3. Select the desired data binding (in this case YY1_QuickNote_PDH).
4. In the Binding Properties dialog window, do not choose Update all related properties.
5. Choose OK.
6. The data binding shows now as $.YY1_QuickNote_PDH.
8. Save your changes.
Use
In this section, you display the custom field on a PDF file using the example of the Manage Purchase Contracts app.
Prerequisites
You might have to create another purchase contract and maintain a text for the new custom field (enter a quick
note) to make sure that the new form template is assigned to your business rules.
Procedure
Result
You've successfully extended a standard form template and added a custom field which is output in a PDF.
The purpose of this task is to create customer-specific email templates based on the templates provided by SAP.
Activities include copying an SAP email template, modifying its content, and defining business rules for its usage.
SAP delivers standard email templates for many business applications.
You can create a new email template and adapt it using the Maintain Email Templates app. In the next step, you
assign this email template to a business rule.
Note
There is also an integration of email templates into the ABAP workbench (SE80) with the same capabilities for
creating a custom email template.
Procedure
Result
Procedure
Field Value
Note
This is the name of the email template you created in
the previous section.
Result
You've assigned the custom email template to the billing document output type. You can now use it for further
customizing of billing documents.
This section is only relevant for business applications using SAP S/4HANA output control.
Use
In this step, you assign an email template to a business rule. This allows you to send application documents
automatically to business partners using the assigned email template.
Procedure
1. Start transaction OPD (Output Parameter Determination) or choose navigation via IMG via SAP Customizing
Implementation Guide Cross-Application Components Output Control Define Business Rules for Output
Determination .
2. From the Show Rules for dropdown list, select Billing Document.
3. Under Determination Step, select Channel via the value help icon.
In this example, Billing Document is selected as a business rule. You can select any other option.
4. On the Maintain Business Rules tab, choose Edit.
5. Create a new line at the top.
6. Enter value EMAIL for column CHANNEL.
7. Enter value false for column Exclusive Indicator.
8. Activate your changes by choosing button Activate
9. Make sure that the activation has run successfully.
10. Go back to the Select Business Rules tab.
11. Under Determination Step, select Email Settings.
12. Create a new line at the top.
13. Enter a value for column Sender Email.
14. Enter the email template you defined in the previous step as value for column Email Template.
You can only enter email templates that you have assigned to the application in activity Assign Email Templates.
For example, if you use the purchase order email template for the billing document, an error occurs when you
try to activate the changes.
15. Choose OK. To save your changes, choose Activate.
16. Make sure that the activation has run successfully.
Result
This section provides you with more details on how to define rules for the determination of content forms.
You can define default output settings for specific business objects, for example, for billing documents or purchase
orders. The business rules are created and defined in BRFplus decision tables. The rules are used to determine the
output parameters of specific business objects. An output parameter is, for example, an output channel, a
recipient, or a form template.
Example
The example is based on a purchase order (PO) context. The output is created in the Manage Purchase Orders SAP
Fiori app, transaction ME22N.
● The company-wide content form template for purchase orders (default layout). Alternatively, you can use the
predelivered standard output form template.
● Custom content form templates with specific layouts/content for purchase orders.
For example, if output for purchase orders is created, you want to use custom templates that are used when
the following rules are applied:
○ POs with certain sender country
○ POs with certain supplier
○ POs without any specific criteria
Procedure
1. Start transaction OPD (Output Parameter Determination) or choose navigation via IMG via SAP Customizing
Implementation Guide Cross-Application Components Output Control Define Business Rules for Output
Determination .
2. Select Purchase Order from the Show Rules for dropdown list.
3. Select Form Template from the Determination Step dropdown list.
4. One entry is displayed with the PURCHASE_ORDER output type (Purchase Order). Scroll to the right.
In the FORM_TEMPLATE_NAME column, the standard form template for purchase orders
(MM_PUR_PURCHASE_ORDER) is maintained.
5. To switch to the Edit mode, choose Edit.
Note
10. Once you've successfully created the rules, leave the Edit mode.
11. To check object consistency and to activate the object for productive use, choose Activate.
12. In the Confirm Activation window, choose YES to activate it.
A success message is displayed.
Result
For testing purposes, you can now select a purchase order whose attributes match a certain rule within the Manage
Purchase Order SAP Fiori app / ME22N. Go to the Output section and choose the icon in the Preview column.
A PDF document is displayed in a new window. It contains your corresponding custom content form.
Note
The determination of rules is only processed once while the document is being created. If you change the rule,
existing documents aren't affected by it. The changes apply only to new documents.
This section provides you with more details on how to add a column to the decision table used for the
determination of the output channel. The shown principle applies to all decision tables. Adding a column to existing
rules is safe, as the default value for the new column is always Any Value (empty). Only if you mark the new column
as mandatory, you need to adjust the existing rules.
Applications provide a set of default attributes from which new columns can be selected. It’s also possible to
extend this list with custom fields, if the business application enabled standard extensibility for the underlying CDS
view. If in doubt, please check the application-specific documentation.
Example
Procedure
1. Start transaction OPD (Output Parameter Determination) or choose navigation via IMG via SAP Customizing
Implementation Guide Cross-Application Components Output Control Define Business Rules for Output
Determination .
2. From the Show Rules for dropdown list, select Billing Document.
3. Choose Output Parameter Determination.
4. Select Purchase Order from the Show Rules for dropdown list.
5. Select Channel from the Determination Step dropdown list.
6. Switch to edit mode by choosing Edit.
7. Choose Table Settings to open the table settings dialog.
8. Under section Condition Columns, choose Insert Column.
9. From the dropdown, choose From Context Data Objects.
Note
The option From Expression is technically not supported. Do not use it.
10. A popup appears, and lists all available data objects for this decision table.
You can decide to move it to another position or to mark it as mandatory. In this example, we leave it at the end
as an optional parameter.
13. Choose OK to apply the changes and to get back to the decision table.
Result
You've successfully enhanced the business rules for output determination with a new parameter.
For testing purposes, you can now select a purchase order whose attributes match a certain rule within transaction
ME22N or ME23N. Go to the Output section and check the output channel.
This section provides you with more details on how to remove a column from a decision table used for the
determination of the output channel. However, the shown principle applies to all decision tables. Removing a
Example
Procedure
1. Start transaction OPD (Output Parameter Determination) or choose navigation via IMG via SAP Customizing
Implementation Guide Cross-Application Components Output Control Define Business Rules for Output
Determination .
2. Choose Output Parameter Determination.
3. Select Purchase Order from the Show Rules for dropdown list.
4. Select Channel from the Determination Step dropdown list.
5. Switch to edit mode by choosing Edit.
6. Choose Table Settings to open the table settings dialog.
7. Select the Output Type column.
8. Choose Remove Colum.
9. Choose OK to apply the changes and to get back to the decision table.
10. Choose Activate to activate the changes.
Result
You've successfully removed a parameter from existing business rules for output determination.
For testing purposes, you can now select a purchase order whose attributes that match a certain rule within
transaction ME22N or ME23N. Go to the Output section and check the output settings.
The change shouldn't lead to different results as there's only one output type for purchase order. With this change,
we simplified the existing rules but did not change the business logic behind it.
This section provides you with more details on how to extend the structure Condition Parameters of Application
with additional fields.
The structure Condition Parameters of Application in output parameter determination is technically bound to a CDS
view. This section shows you how to identify the name of the underlying CDS view and check whether it’s
extensible.
Example
Procedure
1. Start transaction OPD (Output Parameter Determination) or choose navigation via IMG via SAP Customizing
Implementation Guide Cross-Application Components Output Control Define Business Rules for Output
Determination .
2. Choose app Output Parameter Determination.
3. Select Billing Document from the Show Rules for dropdown list.
4. Right-Click next to the dropdown list.
Note
When no context menu is shown on right-click, please check the settings for Optimized for Touch Input on
your Fiori launchpad. This option has to be disabled. You can change the setting via Settings
Apperance Display Settings .
5. Select option Get technical details for Condition Parameters of Application from the context menu.
6. The system shows you that the CDS view is extensible.
7. Note down the name of the CDS view (C_BILLINGDOCUMENTOMPARAMDET).
Result
You’ve identified the name of the underlying CDS view for structure Condition Parameters of Application and know
that you can extend it.
When the CDS view is extensible, you can use the standard extensibility features (app Custom Fields & Logic) to
enhance it.
When the underlying CDS view of structure Condition Parameters of Application is extensible, you can add
additional fields. Afterwards, you need to refresh the structure Condition Parameters of Application in Output
Parameter Determination in order to sync with the newly created fields. This section, shows you how to perform the
update and verify that it was successful.
Example
Procedure
1. Start transaction OPD (Output Parameter Determination) or choose navigation via IMG via SAP Customizing
Implementation Guide Cross-Application Components Output Control Define Business Rules for Output
Determination .
2. Choose the Output Parameter Determination app.
3. Select Billing Document from the Show Rules for dropdown list.
4. Right-Click next to the dropdown list.
Note
When no context menu is shown on right-click, please check the settings for Optimized for Touch Input on
your Fiori launchpad. This option has to be disabled. You can change the setting via Settings
Apperance Display Settings .
5. Select the Refresh Condition Parameters of Application option from the context menu.
6. Confirm the dialog box.
7. The system notifies you about the success of the update.
8. Select Output Type from the Determination Step dropdown list.
9. Switch to edit mode by choosing Edit.
10. Choose Table Settings to open the table settings dialog.
11. Under Condition Columns, choose Insert Column.
12. From the dropdown, choose From Context Data Objects.
13. A dialog box appears, listing all available data objects for this decision table.
14. Under Condition Parameters of Application, your newly added fields appear.
You’ve successfully updated the Condition Parameters of Application structure, and verified that the newly added
fields are available for usage.
Note
You currently have to perform the updates of the structure in each system separately. There's no transport
from quality sysem to productive system.
This section is only relevant for business applications using SAP S/4HANA output control.
This is a general description of the process you use to define rules that determine the master form template. Each
time a document (using a form template of the Content type) is output by the end user in an application, these
rules identify the master form template that is to be used.
This section provides you with more details on how the logical framework is used to resolve to a master form
template when, for example, a purchase order has certain business attributes that match one of the rules.
Example
The example is based on a purchase order (PO) context. The output is created in the Manage Purchase Orders
app / transaction ME22N.
Procedure
○ POs with certain Org. Unit type + Org. unit ID (Rules ZRULE_ORG_1010 and ZRULE_ORG_3010).
In the following example, you're specifying that the master form template is used for Org. Unit Type : EKORG
and Org. Unit ID: 1010.
You can also create another document with the same ordinal number (for example, with Org. Unit Type :
EKORGand Org. Unit ID: 3010).
○ POs with certain Org. Unit Type(Org ID is, for example, 1710) (Rule ZRULE_ORGID_1710)
○ POs with certain Country, for example Australia (AU).(Rule ZRULE_COUNTRY_AU)
○ Rules without specific criteria (Rule ZRULE_GENERAL)
Since the company-wide rule should be generic, most of the parameters are left blank.
For testing purposes, you can now select a purchase order whose attributes match a certain rule within the Manage
Purchase Order SAP Fiori app or ME22N. Go to the Output section and choose the icon in the Preview column.
A PDF document is displayed in a new window. It contains your corresponding custom master form.
Some business applications, like billing documents, allow you to select attachments for output along with the main
document (rendered form).
Depending on your use cases and the selected output channels, the file types of the attachments are important.
4.7.1 Printing
If you want to send the main document and attachments to a printer, you can select only file types which can be
natively understood by a printer (currently PDF only). The system would then merge the selected files to one PDF
which gets saves in the spool request.
Note that the merge for the spool request is an implicit one and not related to the merging of attachments with the
main document described later in this section.
4.7.2 Emailing
For the channel EMAIL, there is no restriction on the file type. All selected files are added to the generated email
along with the main document.
However, there can be restrictions on the receiving side about the accepted file types and file sizes.
When selecting an attachment for the output, you can also decide whether the selected documented should be
merged with the main document.
After the output, the merged document is treated as the final main output document (auditable document). This
means that while issuing an output for a duplicate item, the merge option is not available as this could create a
document that differs from the original document. It also means that you are not able to unmerge the document
once the final document is saved.
This section provides you with more information on business rules for master form templates, the output
parameter determination, and output with attachments.
This chapter is only relevant for business applications using SAP S/4HANA output control.
Each determination step within the Output Parameter Determination is technically represented by a decision table.
This table consists of a table definition and the content (the business rules). This section gives you an overview of
possible changes of the table definition.
You reach the table definition from within the dialog where you maintain the business rules for a determination
step. Select Table Settings to show the current settings. When you are in edit mode, you can also change the
settings.
The only relevant setting here is Return all matches found. This indicates whether the table returns a single match
(when unchecked) or all matches (when checked) when processing the business rules. All other settings can be
ignored.
Each condition column represents a single parameter of your business rules. SAP predelivers a set of columns. You
can change this default by adding or deleting columns.
The result columns represent the output parameters that are determined from this table. They’re defined by SAP
and you cannot change them.
This section is only relevant for business applications using SAP S/4HANA output control.
Some business applications, like billing documents, allow you to select attachments for output along with the main
document (rendered form).
Depending on your use cases and the selected output channels, the file types of the attachments are important.
5.2.1 Printing
If you want to send the main document and attachments to a printer, you can select only file types that can be
natively understood by a printer (currently PDF only). The system would then merge the selected files to one PDF,
which gets saves in the spool request.
Note
The merge for the spool request is an implicit one and not related to the merging of attachments with the main
document described later in this section.
For the channel EMAIL, there’s no restriction on the file type. All selected files are added to the generated email
along with the main document.
Note
There can be restrictions on the receiving side about the accepted file types and file sizes.
When selecting an attachment for the output, you can also decide whether the selected documented should be
merged with the main document.
Moving an attachment from the section Available Attachments to the section Merge with Form Template results in
merging the chosen attachment along with the main output document. The attachments selected for merge are
not attached separately to the output.
The merging of documents occurs during rendering, so a preview shows the newly merged document as well.
Merging is done in the order of the selected attachments in the list.
After the output, the merged document is treated as the final main output document (auditable document). This
means that while issuing an output for a duplicate item, the merge option is not available as this could create a
document that differs from the original document. It also means that you are not able to unmerge the document
once the final document is saved.
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