Archiving Process in SAP Sales &

Distribution

Prepared by
Geetanjali Deshmukh
SAP SD Associate Consultant
Employee id : 424455

Table of Contents

1.

Introduction
1.1
1.2

Archiving Overview
Archiving in ECC

2.

Archiving Benefits

3.

Archiving Objects

4.

Archiving Pre-Requisites

5.

Archiving Process

6.

How to view Archived document

7.

Retrieval of Archiving Document

1. Introduction

1.1 Archiving Overview

As a company grows, its databases also grow exponentially. This
huge data on live system causes performance issue. In addition,
maintenance of this huge data on live system increases the cost
of maintaining database. Hence, once a document is processed,
completed, closed and the mandatory residence period has
elapsed, you will want to get it off the live system by archiving it.

Archiving is required to have a faster and clean system.

Data Archiving, in general means deleting the huge volumes of
the data that is no longer required in the database to some file
system or any third party storage system. It is also a service
provided by SAP for the consistent removal of data objects from
tables of the SAP database. In addition, you can set the system
to read the data from the storage system and not from the file
system.

1.2 Archiving in ECC

The archiving procedure is divided into three main steps-:
1) Create the archive files
In this step, a new archive file is been created by write program
S3VBRKWRS
and data to be archived is sequentially written in it.
2) Delete from the database
In this step, the delete program S3VBRKDLS read the data from
archive files and deletes it from SAP database.
3) Storage of archive files
Here, the archive file with the archived data is moved to the third
party storage system or copied to disk, etc. This can also be
triggered manually or automatically. It is also possible to store the
data before the delete phase.

2. Archiving Benefits
Resolves memory space and performance problems caused by
large volumes of transaction data.
Reduces the costs of memory, disk and also administration costs.
Ensures that data growth remains moderate so that the database
remains manageable in the long term.
Ensures that data can be reused at a later date, for example, in
new product development.

3. Archiving Objects
Archiving Object is the central component of SAP Data Archiving.
Archiving Object specifies which master and transactional data is
to be archived and how.
Archiving Objects directs the SAP Archiving system to get the
correct tables associate with the specific Business Object.
Archiving Object can be maintained by AOBJ transaction.
DB15 transaction can be used to check the Archiving object with
associated tables in object.

4. Archiving Configuration
Transaction SARA->Customizing
It has four main sections:
Cross-Archiving Object Customizing
Archiving Object-Specific Customizing
Basis Customizing
Application-Specific Customizing.

1)

Cross-Archiving Object Customizing

Accept all the defaults and appropriate selections in the area within
any default selection or values.
For example -: You may want the system to check for files in the file system
or for stored files, have the system verify the archive file existence.

2)

Archiving Object-Specific Customizing

You can choose to set up a test variant along with the production
variant. The test mode variant does a simulated run and shows the
results. The production variant does the actual write job for archive.

3)

Basis Customizing

Define the logical file path in the Cross-Client File Names/Paths.

4) Application-Specific Customizing
You can specify sales organization, billing type, residence (number
of days from the date of creation of that document to the date of
archive), or Check acc. and standard 001 routine program.
The * in the SOrg and BillT fields denotes that the archive job will
archive the documents for all sales organization and billing types.

4. Archiving Process
Archiving process generally consists of four steps.

Step 1 Pre processing

Some archiving objects require a preprocessing program that prepares

the data for archiving. This preprocessing program marks data to be
archived, but it does not delete any data from the database.

Step 2 Write

This program creates archive files and writes data to them. At this
point, however, no data is being deleted from the database.

Step 3 Delete

The activities are always dependent on the existing archive files.

Written records will be deleted.

Step 4 Post processing

This function is usually carried out after deletion has taken place. It is
not available for all archiving objects. If the data has not yet been
deleted from the database by the delete program, it is deleted by the
post processing program.

 Use SARA transaction for Archiving Administration

1)

Enter Archiving object in SARA and will get below screen.

Preprocessing Step

Create and save variant for the selection.

 Maintain start date and spool parameters. Status should be green.

Start Date

Spool Params.(Enter Printer)

 Execute the above screen. It will trigger Background job.

Spool for preprocessing batch job

Pre-processing step successful for the selection.

2)

Write step

Create and save variant for the selection via Maintain button (should
be same as maintained in preprocessing step).

 Enter Billing document number, select Production mode and Log

outputs.

Maintain start date and spool parameters. Status should be green.

 Execute the variant and check the Jobs.

Spool for write batch job

Write step successfully completed.

3)

Delete Step

Click on Archive Selection. Select the files to be deleted.

Maintain Output device for spool parameters. Status should be green for
all

 Check the Batch job.

Spool for deletion batch job. File is successfully deleted.

4)

Read Step

 Execute the above program

Select the files for read purpose and enter it.

5) Management step

We can see a Green signal light for the last archiving session. This
means that the Info structure is updated successfully.

5. Archived Billing Document

Now check the archived billing document in VF03. You will get the message
Billing document does not exist.

You can check at table level for archived document. You will not get
any entry in table once document is archived.

6. How to view Archived Document

You can view the Archived Billing document from transactions VF07
directly or VF03->Display Archive Document

Similarly, you can view sales order via VA03 and deliveries via VL03N.

Pre-requisite for using these transactions for displaying archived data

is that you must have activated the corresponding archive info
structures.

7. Retrieval of Archived Document

You can retrieve the Archived documents via SARI transaction.
You should activate info structure and fill that info structure and then
you retrieve the archived Delivery document.
There are three steps for retrieval in SARI.
1) Customizing
2) Status
3) Archive Explorer

Go to SARI >> Customizing >> In the drop down box select SAP
standard info structure for SD_VBRK archiving object then activate it.

 Repeat the steps for each info structure (SAP_SD_VBRK_001,

SAP_SD_VBRK_01 and SD_VBRK) of SD_VBRK object.
Come back to SARI transaction and Click on Status >> select Per Info
structure >> select

Info structure and click on Fill info structure

Come back to SARI transaction and Click on Archive Explorer >

Mention Archiving object as RV_LIKP >> Select info structure that you
have activated and execute.

 Execute it after entering Billing document.

Do this for all archiving info structures.

Now see the billing document in VF03