Software Support and Maintenance: SAP OSS Notes Series

Software Support and Maintenance: SAP
OSS Notes Series - Applying SAP Notes
Posted by Fabio Pagoti 18-Mar-2014
After some time, we're back with "SAP OSS Notes Series" - a series of blog posts which aims to cover
everything you need to know about SAP OSS Notes.
If you haven't read the previous episodes, check out:
SAP OSS Notes Series - Part 1 - SAP Versioning and Five Ws about OSS Notes
SAP OSS Notes Series - Part 2 - Discovering and reading notes
In this episode we are not going to cook blue sky meth or escape from a prison filled with zombies but I hope
you get pretty excited about learning how to apply SAP Notes. Being honest, cooking meth, escaping from
"walkers" or applying SAP OSS notes are activities with a similar degree of risk. I'd say the last is the riskiest
one.
There are mainly two ways of implementing or applying SAP OSS Notes in your company's system: via support
package or manually.
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Software Support and Maintenance: SAP OSS Notes Series - Applying SAP Notes
Support Package
You might remember the concept of support packages described in the first episode of this blog series. They
are just a bunch of corrections or very small improvements (technically speaking) delivered all together related
to the same SAP component.
In other words, a support package (or SP) is a collection of SAP OSS Notes for a single SAP Component. As
SAP software is composed by many components, SP are delivered in "blocks". These blocks are referred to
Support Packages Stacks if you log into SAP Marketplace. To make things easier, let's just stick with the term
"Support Package" to represent a set of SAP OSS Notes.
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Software Support and Maintenance: SAP OSS Notes Series - Applying SAP Notes
As each system version (product + EHP) is different than each other, each support packages also diverse. It
means that SAP OSS notes contained in Support Package 1 from ECC 6.00 are completely different from the
OSS Notes contained in Support Package 1 from ECC 6.07.
Usually, the older the system version, the highest is the number of Support Packages for it. At the moment
this blog post is written, the last SP (stack) for SAP ECC 6.00 is SP24, which was released on October 2013.
On the other hand, the most recent SP (stack) for SAP ECC 6.07 is SP 3, which was released on the end of
last January (2014). It's also possible to check a planned schedule for the next support packages on SAP
Marketplace.
So if SAP finds a bug present in all EHP versions of SAP ECC 6, it will (or at least should) fix it in every system
version. Then, SAP delivers this fix in the next SP for each system version (for example SP 25 for ECC 6.00
and SP 4 of ECC 6.07). By the way, this fix is described by a single SAP OSS Note (that you know how to read
from part 2).
SAP recommends its customers to upgrade their systems to a newer SP at least once a year. As fixes are
delivered all at once, there is no need to test every single stuff and the upgrade process is almost automatic,
this should be followed as it represents a lower risk for IT departments.
BASIS professionals are the ones mainly involved during SP upgrades. Of course you might want to test if your
business processes are still working before upgrading production SP and you might have automated integrated
tests or not, but this is a different topic.
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Software Support and Maintenance: SAP OSS Notes Series - Applying SAP Notes
Manual Implementation
There are many situations on which you cannot wait until your company upgrade the SP level or even the EHP
of the system. These situations are often involved with a present or future issue in production environment.
Having already discovered a SAP OSS Note which fixes an issue, it's time to apply it. As you already know, an
OSS note which change repository objects and/or customizing data, meaning it will generate change requests
to be transported.
Please read with attention how notes are applied. You will realize that this activity should not be performed by
anyone. Risks of causing a system damage are high if no caution is taken.
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Software Support and Maintenance: SAP OSS Notes Series - Applying SAP Notes
Pre-implementation steps
Mainly, the implementation of a SAP OSS Note is done automatically by transaction SNOTE. However
sometimes there are a few steps you must follow before you implement the note itself. These steps are called
pre-implementation steps.
How do I know if there is any pre-implementation step inside a
SAP OSS Note?
The answer is simple: you have to read it. When there is any pre-implementation step, it will be said inside the
note body. The steps you have to take vary a lot according to the note. Common examples include
• Creation/Change of DDIC Objects (Domains, Data Element, Tables, Structures, Table Types, Views
etc)
• Creation/Change of other workbench objects as screens, table maintenance dialogs, PF-STATUS,
Titlebars, etc
• Validation of specific data in the database
Normally, pre-implementation steps involve stuff that SAP cannot do it automatically. So they are always done
manually.
Keep calm and apply the note successfully.
Who is the responsible for doing pre-implementation steps?
In most cases, an ABAP developer. Occasionally (then customizing stuff have to be checked of changed), a
functional professional might be involved as well. There is also the possibility to have a pre-implementation
step which involves the import of a change request directly into the system from a kind of .zip file. These files
are always attached to the SAP Note in SAP Martketplace. Tell your BASIS friend to help you on such cases
as you probably have no access to import a change request directly in the environment.
Things to remember when doing pre-implementation steps
As SAP tells you to create/change stuff under their name range (non-Z objects), you must register each
object to be changed in SAP Marketplace one by one. If you as an ABAP developer have no access to SAP
Marketplace, tell your BASIS friend to register the objects for you so will be able to apply SAP OSS Note
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Software Support and Maintenance: SAP OSS Notes Series - Applying SAP Notes
accordingly. DO NOT change any standard object without registering it and don't register any object in SAP
Marketplace if you don't have a SAP Note telling you to change it.
SAP OSS Notes are usually done by SAP using the English language as the original language of workbench
objects. To avoid any problems, be logged in English when applying a SAP Note
If you have to translate any object to your language, write that down. SAP Notes almost never tell you to do so
but you really should to (specially then the changes have an impact in the UI as data element texts).
If there are any pre-implementation steps and once they are all done, you will have a change request. Don't
release it in the first moment. You will have other changes to be done and you can (and should) use the same
change request to avoid missing objects in quality and production systems.
Note implementation
To implement changes contained inside a SAP OSS Note, you just have to open it using SNOTE transaction
and push "Implement note" button. If all pre-implementation steps are done, all pre-requisites (topic of the next
blog post) are done and sun is shining to you this process will change some objects and ask you to activate
them and include inside a change request. Remember: use the same if you have done pre-implementation
steps.
Open SNOTE transaction code
If you have downloaded a SAP Note, click on note browser and insert note(s) number(s)
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Double click on it to open or click on execute button to implement directly (always open and read the note
before applying it).
If note implementation is done successfully, its status will turn to "completely implemented". If not, something is
missing and there are hundreds of reasons for that happen. This will be covered in the next episode.
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Software Support and Maintenance: SAP OSS Notes Series - Applying SAP Notes
Post-implementation steps
In the same way you might have pre-implementation steps, you might have post-implementation steps as well.
The last is not as frequent but you should know it is always done manually too. Below are some common postimplementation steps:
• Run a specific report to do something
• Translate something to other language
• Activate objects or configurations
Code Search and Replacement
It's very important to understand how SNOTE transaction replaces broken source code by a fixed one. If a
specific report or include must be updated, SNOTE transaction does NOT replace the whole source code by a
new one. Instead, it replaces JUST the part of the source code which needs to be replaced.
What if there are more than one occurrences of this piece of code and not all must be replaced?
Great question and here is the answer.
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Software Support and Maintenance: SAP OSS Notes Series - Applying SAP Notes
Context Insert Delete sections
Once you have an OSS Note opened in SNOTE transaction, you will have a tree on the left side of the screen.
Basically it organizes each fix by each product version. You can expand the tree node according to your
system version and see which workbench objects are adjusted by this SAP Note. In the example below, 5
reports (Including LGUSLDTT) are adjusted. Clicking on "Change to Source Code" on the left tree, all changes
are displayed in the main area separated by three sections: Context, Insert and Delete.
You might correctly guess that what is under "insert" section is the source code which will be inserted once you
click on "Implement note" button. The same applies to "Delete" section. So what is the purpose of "Context"
section? It's to identify a unique piece of code inside the workbench object (report, include, function, method).
The source code inside context section is untouched. However what it comes next will be changed according
to the other two sections. This is what makes the OSS Note implementation be automated (when there are no
manual steps).
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Software Support and Maintenance: SAP OSS Notes Series - Applying SAP Notes
Conclusion
Well, now you should be very confident to implement many SAP notes. However be aware that most OSS
notes are dependent between each other. This will be the topic of the next and final episode of SAP OSS
Notes Series on AMC SCN.
5101 Views Tags: support_package, oss_notes
Brian Umbarger
31-Mar-2014 8:49 PM
Hi Frank,
Wanted to see if you would have any information that would help myself, review my companies Solution
manager configuration in regards to System Recommendations? So as that I can be sure I we are pulling in the
correct information for each of our systems.
You guidance is greatly appreciated,
thanks,
Brian
Fabio Pagoti in response to Frank Buchholz on page 10
20-Mar-2014 12:47 PM
OMG I didn't know that. Thank you for this valuable info Frank!
Frank Buchholz
20-Mar-2014 10:17 AM
By the way: Applying SAP Security Notes is somehow different even if these are ordinary notes which - in case
of ABAP - can be implemented via the Note Assistant, transaction SNOTE.
see:
Security Patch Process FAQ
http://scn.sap.com/community/security/blog/2012/03/27/security-patch-process-faq
This FAQ features the application System Recommendations of the SAP Solution Manager, too, which
supports you in finding relevant notes - not only Security Notes, but HotNews, Performance Notes, Legal
Change Notes, and correction notes in general.
https://service.sap.com/SysRec
Kind Regards
Frank
Raquel Pereira da Cunha in response to Eduardo Hartmann on page 11
19-Mar-2014 9:51 PM
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Software Support and Maintenance: SAP OSS Notes Series - Applying SAP Notes
Let's not forget that it's not only ABAPers that apply notes. I saw more than once non-developers applying
notes and ignoring the pre or post-implementation steps because it's too technical. And not informing anyone
about it.
I totally understand your frustration about people not reading documentation. I hate when I give all the
documents that someone requests, and instead of reading, the person just keeps asking me everything, and all
the answers were in the docs. I think the person doesn't realise that it makes us stop our work to do his/her job.
But I think this is a subject for a new blog..
Eduardo Hartmann in response to Fabio Pagoti on page 11
19-Mar-2014 5:53 PM
Indeed!
It's so annoying to give materials to someone to read, and when you talk about it he/she doesn't know what
you're talking about and screws things up.
In the "real life" it's ok, as anyone should do whatever he/she wants, but in projects its "not nice".
I am handling with a customer that had it's developers to apply some notes, then asked us to test. Several
errors made us review the notes, and there were lots of errors: missing steps, incorrect steps, etc..
They were also able to apply some notes, their manual steps, and then revert the application - but they left the
manual steps there
If you're an abaper, please consider not to do this, other people from the projects will be very thankful
regards!
Eduardo Chagas
19-Mar-2014 5:40 PM
Nice Fabio! You should post more in the portuguese space!
Use google translator!
hahaha
Fabio Pagoti in response to Etore Santos on page 11
19-Mar-2014 4:26 PM
Thank you Etore.
Etore Santos
19-Mar-2014 3:35 PM
Nice material. Probably the most light and delightful document about SAP notes ever written. Shot the next
episode.
Fabio Pagoti in response to Raquel Pereira da Cunha on page 12
19-Mar-2014 3:15 PM
Raquel, after reading your comment :-P I must say that I totally agree with guy.
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Software Support and Maintenance: SAP OSS Notes Series - Applying SAP Notes
If I were to describe how to identify a bad proffessional I would say his/her laziness to read any stuff.
Raquel Pereira da Cunha
19-Mar-2014 1:40 PM
Great blog.
What I see not only implementing SAP notes but in any other activity is the main problem that you mentioned:
you have to read. And many people I've known during all these years simply don't read. Many problems would
be avoided.
Jelena Perfiljeva in response to Martin Maruskin on page 13
18-Mar-2014 12:26 AM
I like pictures too but Fabio, you might want to make sure that the images have been licensed for re-use. We
wouldn't want SCN to get sued by major Hollywood companies. Please also make sure to provide attribution
for the images unless they are your own.
Fabio Pagoti in response to Shai Sinai on page 12
17-Mar-2014 2:39 AM
Hi Shai. You are absolutely right. I feel your pain.
I believe SAP is way more worried about HANA than solving these daily issues with customers.
Fabio Pagoti in response to Andrea Olivieri on page 12
17-Mar-2014 2:38 AM
Thank you Andrea
Shai Sinai
16-Mar-2014 8:16 AM
Must mention that these manual steps can be sometimes real drudge work (with tens of DDIC objects to be
updated manually).
I've Always wondered why doesn't SAP notes implementation process (SNOTE) support automatic creation/
change of DDIC objects and special workbench objects.
Didn't find any explanation yet...
Andrea Olivieri
15-Mar-2014 10:08 PM
Hi Fabio,
I really enjoyed this blog: simple words and beautiful images to explain such a technical topic.
Here I'm definitely recommending this blog to my fellowsCheers,
Andrea
Fabio Pagoti in response to Martin Maruskin on page 13
15-Mar-2014 6:21 PM
Hi Martin!
As the topic is heavy for many, I decided to make things less formal this time :-)
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Software Support and Maintenance: SAP OSS Notes Series - Applying SAP Notes
Thanks a lot
Fabio Pagoti in response to Mark Hallett on page 13
15-Mar-2014 6:17 PM
Hi Mark!
I am not a BASIS guru but I believe all SP application is done by importing change requests directly into the
environment. So basically SAP develops all objects on its systems, extract all of them into a kind of zip file
which is imported by your BASIS friend (not using SNOTE tcode).
On such way even all the stuff you would have to create manually on pre-implementation steps are directly
loaded in the environment and you don't have to worry about them. The same applies for customizing data:
SAP might have a change request, load program or more recently BCSets to load data in customer's systems.
I hope that helps.
Fabio Pagoti in response to SAP BI on page 14
15-Mar-2014 6:13 PM
Thank ou Aparajit! After applying so many OSS notes manually, I had to write about the topic.
Fabio Pagoti in response to Sudheendra Puthuraya on page 14
15-Mar-2014 6:12 PM
Thanks! I cannot wait to write the final post.
Fabio Pagoti in response to Samuli Kaski on page 14
15-Mar-2014 6:12 PM
Hi Samuli.
I was not aware of such space. I have just alerted the moderation to do that. That's for the hint.
Cheers,
Martin Maruskin
15-Mar-2014 4:23 PM
Hi Fabio,
I like pictures in your blog very much :-)
cheers
m./
Mark Hallett
15-Mar-2014 2:19 PM
One question my colleagues always ask is that when performing pre or post implementation steps how are
these done when a SPS or EHP is applied as no human intervention is required during that time when all of the
combined Notes are applied? How are the manual pre or post steps handled in a SPS or EHP?
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Thanks
Mark
SAP BI
15-Mar-2014 1:36 PM
Hello Fabio Pagoti ,
Two words for this document... Absolutely Fantastic
Thanks for such knowledge sharing..
Sudheendra Puthuraya
15-Mar-2014 12:44 PM
Nice and Well composed blog!
Samuli Kaski
14-Mar-2014 9:29 PM
Wouldn't the Software Support and Maintenance space be more appropriate for your blogs? You can ask the
moderators to move the blogs.
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