SAP QUERY TOOLS

The SAP R/3 Query Reporting Tools


In addition to these four main avenues, SAP comes preinstalled with the following end-user reporting tools:

• SAP Query
• InfoSet (Ad Hoc) Query
• QuickViewer

Note
The SAP R/3 Query tools are SAP Query, QuickViewer, and InfoSet (Ad Hoc) Query. When refer to the SAP Query tool,  referring to the individual SAP Query tool, and when we  refer to all three of the tools,  use the term SAP R/3 Query tools. This may appear a bit confusing at first, but you will get the hang of it as you move along.

The SAP Query Tool

The SAP Query tool, known as the ABAP Query tool in earlier versions of SAP, is delivered with the SAP R/3 system. End users can use this tool to quickly and easily create reports from data stored in the SAP R/3 database. This tool can be used in any application module in SAP. Its easy-to-use format simplifies the report creation process. The SAP Query tool includes basic and advanced features for every level of end user. The SAP Query tool offers a broad range of ways to define output and create different types of reports, such as basic lists, statistics, and ranked lists. This tool can be used in a basic or graphical mode.
The InfoSet (Ad Hoc) Query Tool

Unlike the SAP Query tool, which is a complete reporting solution, the InfoSet Query tool is designed for basic users to retrieve simple, single-use lists of SAP R/3 data. In SAP 4.6, the Human Capital Management module reporting tool called the Ad Hoc Query tool was combined with the technology of the SAP Query tool and made available for all modules; its new name is the InfoSet Query tool (although it is still referred to as the Ad Hoc Query tool when executed for human resources reporting). This book refers to it as the InfoSet (Ad Hoc) Query tool.

Unlike with the SAP Query tool, all query information, including the selection criteria, for InfoSet Query tool reporting is available on a single screen. You can use the InfoSet (Ad Hoc) Query tool to quickly answer simple questions or to create a comprehensive report for printing or downloading to your PC. A user can use the InfoSet (Ad Hoc) Query tool to pose questions to the SAP system and receive real-time answers.
The QuickViewer Tool

The QuickViewer tool that is delivered with a SAP 4.6 system is a WYSIWYG ("what you see is what you get") utility for quickly collecting data from an R/3 system. The QuickViewer tool is actually a variant of the robust SAP Query tool that is designed for new or occasional users or for single-use data inquiry reports. You can use this tool to create reports referred to as QuickViews. To define a report with the QuickViewer tool, you simply enter texts (titles) and select the fields and options that define the QuickView. QuickViews cannot be exchanged among users, but they can be converted to reports to be used with the SAP Query tool.


How the SAP R/3 Query Tools Work

Query tools are based on the foundation of the SAP R/3 database. Historically, the primary method of creating reports in SAP was by using the ABAP Workbench and writing code in the language of ABAP. Specially trained programmers could write a long series of lines of code in an ABAP editor to retrieve information from the database, compute relationships, configure security, design selection screens, and present data in a particular arrangement. The skill set for ABAP programming is challenging to learn and usually requires experience in each application area of SAP for which programming will occur. For example, an ABAP programmer with experience in the Financials module would require special training to change functions and create reports in the Sales and Distribution area. Because these programming skills are substantial, SAP created the Query family of tools so that end users could pick and choose the fields they want to include in their reports and, behind the scenes, SAP would handle all the technical details. Figure 1.1 is a diagram that shows the foundation of the SAP Query tools.

Figure 1.1. An overview of the technical aspects of the SAP R/3 Query tools.

As described in the following sections, the SAP R/3 Query toolsSAP Query, InfoSet (Ad Hoc) Query, and QuickViewerare built on the foundation of four main components:

• Query areas
• Query groups
• InfoSets
• Administrative decisions (which are company-specific)

Query Areas
Query areas (known as application areas in versions of SAP earlier than 4.6) contain SAP Query elements, queries, InfoSets, and query groups. SAP has two distinct query areas:

• Standard Standard query areas are client-specific. That is, by default, they are available only within the client in which they were created. For example, if they were created in the live production client, they would exist only in the production client. Transport of query objects created in the standard area can be accomplished between multiple clients on the same application server.
• Global Queries designed in the global query area are used throughout the entire system and are client-independent. In version 4.6, SAP delivers many of its standard reports in the SAP Query global query area. These queries are also intended for transport into other systems and are connected to the ABAP Workbench.

Query Groups
Query groups were known as user groups in versions of SAP prior to version 4.6. A query group is a collection of SAP users who are grouped. A user's assignment to a query group determines which queries he or she is allowed to execute or maintain. In addition, it designates which InfoSets (that is, data sources) the user has access to work with. Basically, query groups give a user access to create, modify, and execute reports in a certain area within R/3. For example, you could create a query group for the Finance department that would house your financial users, or you could create a query group for the Human Resources department that only members of the Human Resources department would belong to. Using query groups is an easy way to group and segregate reports and users.
Query groups, which are often maintained by a system administrator, are created on the User Groups: Initial screen, which you can find by using the transaction code /nSQ03.
Users can belong to multiple query groups and might, under certain circumstances, copy and execute queries from other query groups (if the permissions are the same). Any user within a query group has authority to execute queries that are assigned to it, but only users with the appropriate authorization can modify queries or define new ones. Users are not permitted to modify queries from other query groups.
InfoSets
InfoSets, known as functional areas in earlier versions of SAP, are areas that provide special views of logical databases and determine which fields of a logical database or data source can be evaluated in queries. That is, an InfoSet is basically the data source, from which you get data to use in reports.
InfoSets can be built on a variety of different sources, but the most common is the use of an SAP logical database. Remember that writing reports without Query tools requires a programmer to write code that goes into the main R/3 database and retrieves the records it needs, and that is no easy skill. SAP delivers logical databases, which are rational prearranged groupings of data from multiple related indexed tables. SAP places all the fields you want to report from in a nice container from which you simply select the fields you want to include in your report.