Using Report Variants in sap

Procedure

1. From the menu bar, choose System
® Services ® Reporting.
2. In the Program field, enter the report name. (If you do not know the name, see
Finding the Name of a Report You Want to Execute.)
3. Choose With variant.

The Execute program with variant dialog box appears:



4. In the Variant field, enter the desired variant. To obtain a list of available variants, choose the possible entries button.
5. To execute the report with the variant, choose Execute.

The system displays the selection screen filled with data.

6. Choose Execute.

The system executes the report and displays the resulting list.

Additional Information

Creating Report Variants

Displaying Available Report Variants

Displaying Available Report Variants in sap

Use

Many reports have variants. If you do not know which variants are available, you can display a list of variants attached to a report. You can also view the contents of a variant before you choose it.

Procedure

1. From the menu bar, choose System
® Services ® Reporting.
2. In the Program field, enter the report name. (If you do not know the name, see
Finding the Name of a Report You Want to Execute.)
3. From the application toolbar, choose Overview of variants.
4. All the variants attached to the report appear.
5. To view the contents of the variant, place the cursor on a variant and choose Variants
® Display values.
6. To use the variant, highlight the variant and choose Execute with variant.
7. The system displays the selection screen for the report, complete with data.

If a variant has not been created for this report, you receive the error message Variant for program does not exist.

Additional Information

Creating Report Variants

Using Report Variants

Creating Report Variants in sap

Use

Instead of entering the same values in selection criteria fields each time you execute a report, you can create a variant. Using variants reduces both data entry time and system processing time.

Prerequisites

You must have the proper authorization to create a variant. For information on authorizations, see your system administrator.

A report can have any number of variants attached to it.

Procedure

1. From the menu bar, choose System
® Services ® Reporting.
2. In the Program field, enter the name of the report that the variant will be attached to. If you do not know the name, see
Finding the Name of a Report You Want to Execute.
3. From the menu bar, choose Goto
® Variants.

The ABAP Variants initial screen appears, as shown here:



4. In the Variant field, enter a name for this variant, and choose Create. You can use any combination of characters to create the variant name except for special characters, such as the percent sign (%) or dollar sign ($).

The selection criteria screen for the report appears.

5. Enter values in the selection criteria input fields.

For information on entering or changing values, see Entering Values for Selection Criteria.

6. Choose Continue.

The Save variant screen appears. The name you entered for the variant is displayed in the Variant field.

7. In the Description field, enter a short description of the variant.
8. Choose any of the following environment options by selecting the checkbox to the left of the option. Your choices will affect the variant as a whole.

Only for background processing	To print the list using background processing. You should always print large lists in the background.
Protect variant	To protect the entire variant. Only the person who created the variant can change or delete it.
Only display in catalog	To reduce the number of variants displayed when using possible entries help.
System variant (automatic transport)	To make the variant a system variant.

9. Choose any of the following characteristics for the individual selection criteria by selecting the appropriate checkbox:

• Type protected
• Invisible
• Selection variable
• Without value SPA/GPA

1. Save the variant by choosing or pressing
CTRL+S.

The variant is saved and its values appear on the selection criteria screen.

Additional Information

Displaying Available Report Variants

Using Report Variants

Report Variants in sap

Definition

Group of selection criteria that has been saved. A report can have several different variants, with each variant retrieving different types of information. For example, a vendor report might have one variant for U.S. vendors and another variant for European vendors.

Use

Instead of entering the same values in the selection criteria input fields each time you execute a report, you can enter the values once and then save the selection criteria as a variant. The next time you execute the report, you only need to enter the variant name, not the selection criteria. If you use variants, the selection criteria screen is already filled with data.

To execute certain reports, you must use a variant. In this case, a system message prompts you to do so. Although you are not always required to use variants or selection criteria, it is a good idea to use them when possible. Your resulting lists will be smaller and take less time for the system to process.