Most reports allow entering selections before report execution. Selections limit the result set of the report to extract only records that match the selection.

In SAP a selection variant can be created in the input screen of an ABAP report. The purpose of a variant is to save selection settings on your input screen. The purpose of a variant is to minimize the necessity to enter selections when running a report.

Note: Manual selections and variants can be combined. Manual selections overwrite any selections in the variant.

Choose a Variant #

Choose a variant from the drop-down-list Variant (1). If you create a new variant in SAP after the report extraction was created, click the [Refresh] button next to the drop-down list to access the new variant.

Report-Variants-Section

Note: The selections of the variant are not displayed in the Selection Screen section of the window. To see the definition of a variant, take a look at the report’s variant in SAP.

Edit Selections #

This section corresponds to the report’s input screen in SAP. Some selection fields only have a technical name and no description. To understand which field corresponds to a field in SAP, compare it to report’s input screen in SAP. Click on a selection field and press function key F1. This displays the technical name of a selection field.

  1. Click [Edit] next to the selection you want to edit (2). The window “Edit Selection” opens.
  2. Click [Add Selection] to add a new filter criterion.
    ODP Fields
  3. Select Include in the Sign (3) column to only include the filtered data to the output.
    Select Exclude in the Sign (3) column to exclude the filtered data from the output.
  4. Select an operator in the Option (4) column. The operator filters data according to the table below.

    Operator Meaning
    (Not)Equal True if data is (not)equal to the content of operand 1.
    GreaterOrEqual True if data is greater than or equal to the content of operand 1.
    GreaterThan True if data is greater than the content of operand 1.
    LessOrEqual True if data is less than or equal to the content of operand 1.
    LessThan True if data is less than the content of operand 1.
    (Not)Between True if data values do (not) lie between the values of operand 1 and operand 2.
    In True if data is part of the content of operand 1. This operator is only available for List parameters.
  5. Enter static values or select runtime parameters for filtering.
    • Static values: Enter values directly into the Low and High input fields. If runtime parameters are available, make sure that the static-value icon is displayed next to the input field. Clicking on the icon switches between static input values and runtime parameters.
    • Runtime Parameters: Click static-value to change the input type to parameters dynamic-value. If no icons are displayed, open the Edit Runtime Parameters menu and create runtime parameters. Select a runtime parameter from the drop-down list.
  6. Click [OK] to confirm your input.
  7. Click [Load Preview] in the main window of the component to check the result of your selection.
    If runtime parameters are defined, you are prompted to populate the parameters with actual values.

Tip: If you use multiple selection parameters, create a variant in SAP. Use the variant instead of entering selections.

Data Format #

Use the following internal SAP representation for input:

  • Date: The date 01.01.1999 has the internal representation 19990101 (YYYYMMDD).
  • Year period: The year period 001.1999 has the internal representation 1999001 (YYYYPPP).
  • Numbers: Numbers must contain the leading zeros, e.g., customer number 1000 has the internal representation 0000001000.

Warning! Values must use the internal SAP representation. Input that does not use the internal SAP representation results in error messages e.g.:
ERPConnect.ABAPProgramException: RfcInvoke failed(RFC_ABAP_MESSAGE): Enter date in the format \_.\_.\_


Report variants in SAP