Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Further down, since SAP implementations could be undertaken in waves or phases, the
Enterprise IMG is specified for each of these projects separately resulting in the corresponding
Project IMG for each of these projects. All configurations for a particular project are executed on
the corresponding Project IMG. The access to Reference IMG and Enterprise IMG is restricted so
as to avoid inadvertent changes being effected on them. Whenever required, the scope of the Project
IMG can be increased at any time, and, hence, such architecture rather than being a hindrance is
very helpful in the management of the customization effort. We will refer only to the Project IMG
for the rest of this section.
7.3.3.4 Features of Project IMG
A Project IMG contains multiple configuration transactions. Configuration transactions are the
means for configuring the various processes or functionality delivered by the SAP system. A par-
ticular business process could be configured in terms of more than one configuration transaction.
In conventional terms, each configuration transaction is one of 8000 parameter tables existing
within SAP. They could be parameters like company code, type of G/L accounts, ranges of account
numbers, A/P and A/R control account codes, posting codes, location codes, vendor or customer
categories, tax codes, fiscal calendar, currencies and conversion factors to the base currency, and
accounting transaction number ranges.
For each configuration transaction, the configuration help text provides explanation on a par-
ticular configuration transaction, why it is needed, and how it affects the functionality for a par-
ticular process.
The configuration status can be maintained at every level of the Project IMG hierarchy. It
helps in the visual tracking of the customizing effort. The status flag can be configured to represent
user-defined statuses. SAP provides standard status values like complete and In Process. Statuses
have to be maintained manually.
The configuration Documentation provides facility for recording annotations, notes, issues,
problems, etc., on the various configuration settings for each configuration transaction. It is
usually in the freeform text but could be standardized based on the requirements of different
projects.
7.3.3.5 Using Project IMG for Customizing SAP
The basic structure of Project IMG is hierarchical. The various configuration transactions are
grouped in a hierarchy of folders that are broadly arranged in the order that the customizations are
undertaken within a SAP module. Among the various SAP modules, the IMG folders are arranged
in the order that the modules get implemented in real life. However, there are some parameters
or configuration transactions that are independent of any specific modules and are relevant to all
modules and functionality of the system. All such configuration transactions are arranged within
the topmost IMG folder termed as Global Settings. Obviously, further down the hierarchy, it
becomes fairly difficult to maintain strictly the order in which the transactions may be required to
be configured. And, therefore, this ordering is only a general guidance; otherwise, it could degen-
erate into a huge list of configuration transactions at a single level that would certainly become
unmanageable.
For a typical SAP implementation, a small selection of the initial parameters or configuration
transactions that need to be defined is as follows:
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