Technical Details on Correction Instructions

This section contains information on the following topics:

• The format of correction instructions
• The validity of correction instructions
• Prerequisites for correction instructions

Format

Correction instructions describe the changes that must be made to the source code of ABAP programs to correct errors. Correction instructions are located at the end of an SAP Note. You can use them to automatically correct the source code of ABAP programs, ABAP includes, function modules, method implementations, and screen flow logic.

Each change specifies the object (include, function module, and so on) and the modularization unit (FORM routine, for example). To identify the code that needs to be changed, a unique number of preceding unchanged lines is specified (context block). These are followed by the lines that need to be deleted (delete block) and then the new lines (insert block).

Correction instructions can consist of multiple context, delete and insert blocks.

When the system implements correction instructions automatically, it searches for the context blocks in the function module or include, checks whether the delete blocks follow and then replaces them with the insert block.

If the function module or include has been modified by the customer, the system sometimes cannot find the context blocks or delete blocks specified in the correction instructions, and it cannot implement all the corrections. If this is the case, you can adjust the corrections from the SAP Note to your modifications.

As of the end of 1998, correction instructions were standardized for automatic implementation. Some older SAP Notes may not be in this standardized format. In this case, the Note Assistant cannot implement the SAP Note completely automatically. However, you can edit the source code manually using the Split-Screen Editor. You must do this so that the Note Assistant can register the SAP Note in your system.

Validity

All correction instructions specify the releases and Support Package levels in which you can implement them. These release and Support Package levels are known as the validity range of the correction instructions.

For example, if Support Package 5 corrects and error in Release 4.0B, the validity range of the correction instructions is 4.0B Support Packages 1 – 4.

The Note Assistant checks this validity automatically, and only implements correction instructions if the system is consistent with the validity range specified in the SAP Note.

Prerequisites

In some cases, you can only implement correction instructions if certain other correction instructions have already been implemented. This is due to related changes made to the same part of the source code, or semantic dependencies.

These dependencies are described in the header area of the correction instructions. These dependencies (prerequisites) mean that you need to implement a sequence of SAP Notes, and not just one SAP Note.

Working with SAP Notes

If you want to use the Note Assistant to correct an error in the program, proceed as follows:

Prerequisites

You know the number of the SAP Note that contains the correction for the error.

You have created an RFC connection (for downloading SAP Notes).

You have informed the Note Assistant which SAP Notes have been implemented manually. (See also: Registering Manually Implemented SAP Notes )

Procedure

1. 
   
Load the SAP Note into your system.

When you do this, the Note Assistant checks whether the validities that are specified in the SAP Note (software component, release version, and Support Package level) correspond with those in the system. The Note Assistant indicates whether the corrections can be implemented.




Only SAP Notes that contain source code corrections ( Correction Instructions) can be implemented automatically.

2. Read the description of the SAP Note carefully.

The Note description may contain prerequisites, interactions, and references to postprocessing activities (making changes to a table, for example) that are not automatically recognized by the Note Assistant. If you do not take this information into consideration, fatal errors may occur. You must therefore read the SAP Note before you start to implement it.

3. Decide whether the SAP Note is relevant for you.
Classify the SAP Note according to the processing status.

4. 
   
Implement the corrections.
5. If postprocessing activities are specified in the SAP Note, perform them now.

5. Test whether the error has been corrected.

6. Set the processing status to Completed.
7. Release the transport request, and import the corrections into the receiving systems in your system landscape.

Classifying SAP Notes

Use

Use this function to specify the relevance or processing status of an SAP Note.

Procedure

...

1. Read the SAP Note carefully and decide whether its contents apply to the situation in your system.

2. Follow the procedure below:

¡ If the SAP Note is relevant for your situation, set its processing status to In process.

This informs other users that you are processing this SAP Note.

Follow the precise recommendations in the SAP Note. If the SAP Note contains correction instructions, implement them in your system.

¡ If you want to assign the SAP Note to another user, specify the name of the user.

Every action that you perform is recorded in a log file for the SAP Note. You can also enter your own comments there, for example for another user.

¡ If the SAP Note is not relevant for your situation, set its processing status to Not relevant.

The system will then indicate to you and all other users that this SAP Note can be ignored.

Working with SAP Notes

You can load SAP Notes into your system from the SAP Service Marketplace or SAPNet - R/3 Frontend. You can do this using an RFC connection (SAP Note download) or with the file transfer method (SAP Note upload).

The SAP Note download has the following advantages:

· When you download an SAP Note, you can use the Note Assistant to load it directly into your system from SAPNet - R/3 Frontend.

· If other SAP Notes are entered as prerequisites in an SAP Note, the Note Assistant automatically downloads the prerequisite SAP Notes during the implementation (Implementing Correction Instructions).

· You can download updated versions of SAP Notes at the press of a button (Updating an SAP Note).

To download an SAP Note, you must create an RFC connection to the SAPNet – R/3 Frontend.

Uploading an SAP Note does not require a permanent RFC connection to the SAPNet – R/3 Frontend. To upload the note, you first download the required SAP Note from the SAP Service Marketplace and save it locally on your front-end PC. You then use the Note Assistant to upload the SAP Note.

Prerequisites

· Note download: You have created an RFC connection to the SAPNet – R/3 Frontend. (See also: Activating the Note Assistant)

· Note upload: You have installed the SAP Download Manager, which enables you to load SAP Notes from the SAP Service Marketplace. You can find the SAP Download Manager in the SAP Service Marketplace, under service.sap.com/download-basket ® Get Download Manager.

Procedure

SAP Note Download

...

1. In the Note Assistant, choose SAP Note Download.

2. Specify the numbers of the SAP Notes that you want to download.

Use the selection function to load one SAP Note or a list of SAP Notes.

3. Confirm your selection.

The system loads the SAP Notes from SAPNet – R/3 Frontend into your database.

SAP Note Upload

...

1. Select the correct SAP Note in the SAP Service Marketplace under service.sap.com/notes.

2. Choose Download.

The SAP Note is added to your download basket. You can repeat this action for as many SAP Notes as you require.

3. To save the SAP Notes locally on your PC, start the SAP Download Manager. Choose Download.

The SAP Notes are loaded as files into the directory you have specified.

4. Use the upload function in the Note Assistant (Goto -> Upload SAP Note) to load the SAP Note files into your system.

Result

After you have successfully downloaded or uploaded an SAP Note that did not previously exist in your system, the processing status of this SAP Note is set as new in the SAP Note overview.

Registering Manually Implemented SAP Notes

If you implemented corrections contained in SAP Notes in your SAP System before you installed the Note Assistant, you can make this known to the Note Assistant retroactively. This is important since the Note Assistant cannot automatically recognize whether a correction was implemented manually in your system without using the Note Assistant.

Registration offers the following benefits:

• All the SAP Notes that have been implemented in your system are displayed in the Note Browser.

• If a manually implemented SAP Note is a prerequisite for an SAP Note that you want to implement using the Note Assistant, the Note Assistant recognizes that the prerequisite SAP Note has already been implemented and does not prompt you to implement it again.

• For future Support Packages or upgrades, the manually implemented SAP Notes are displayed during the modification adjustment in the category SAP Note Corrections. The system determines whether these SAP Notes have to be implemented again or reset to their original status.

Prerequisites

You have implemented SAP Notes manually without the Note Assistant.

Procedure

1. Call the SCWN_REGISTER_NOTES program with the ABAP Editor (transaction SE38).

2. On the input screen of the program, enter the numbers of the completely implemented SAP Notes that you want to register.
3. This may lead to the following situations:

• If you have created an
RFC connection to the SAPNet - R/3 Frontend, the program automatically loads the SAP Notes that are to be registered into the database of your system.
• If you have not created an RFC connection, first you must load the SAP Notes that are to be registered from the SAP Service Marketplace. Then perform an
Upload in the Note Assistant.

The program checks whether the SAP Notes are valid for your release and Support Package level. The system also checks whether the SAP Notes have already been registered in the Note Assistant as implemented.

The system displays the results of these checks in a list.

4. To register the SAP Note, choose Execute.

To register an SAP Note as implemented, the system must enter the SAP Note together with the objects that are corrected by this SAP Note in a change request. By transporting this request you also register the SAP Notes in your follow-on systems as implemented. If you cannot enter the SAP Note and its objects in a request (because some objects are locked by other requests, for example), the system terminates registration.

Result

The system registers the valid SAP Notes that have been implemented manually as completely implemented in your system, and automatically sets the processing status to Completed. Every SAP Note has a log entry in which the time and the user who triggered the registration are recorded. Invalid SAP Notes cannot be registered as implemented. This is not necessary since these corrections have already been imported into your system in the form of a Support Package. The processing status of these SAP Notes is automatically set to not relevant.

SAP Notes

SAP Notes give you instructions on how to remove known errors from SAP Systems. They include a description of the symptoms, the cause of the error, and the SAP Release and Support Package level in which the error occurs.

Depending on the type of error, an SAP Note may also include:

· Workarounds

· Descriptions of how to correct repository objects in the ABAP workbench, known as correction instructions

· Links to Support Packages that solve the problem

You can access SAP Notes both from the SAP Service Marketplace and SAPNet - R/3 Frontend.

The Note Assistant can automatically implement only SAP Notes that have correction instructions.

Read the SAP Note carefully before you use the Note Assistant to implement it. The SAP Note can contain prerequisites, interactions, and references to postprocessing activities (making changes to a table, for example) that you must take into consideration when you implement it.