#1 - SAP Workflow: A Comprehensive Guide to Troubleshooting and Debugging by Thomas Nittmann, Dataxstream, LLC
  (863 downloads)
This article focuses on practical techniques to assist in the debugging and resolving of workflow issues during the development and production support phases of SAP implementations. The SAP workflow application incorporates the use of several components: a graphical editing tool (Workflow Builder), some object-oriented concepts (using the Business Object Repository), ABAP, and a hook/trigger mechanism into the SAP application modules (FI, CO, MM, etc). As business requirements are mapped into a workflow process definition and prototyping starts, debugging becomes an essential tool to expedite the implementation of workflow processes.
4/1/2003

#2 - QuickViewer and SAP Query: Creating Standard SAP Reports w/o ABAP Knowledge by Matthias Liebich, MLI Solutions, LLC
  (711 downloads)
This paper explains how to use QuickViewer & SAP Query to generate SAP reports and how they can be utilized without ABAP programming. The author presents a screen-by-screen look at the techniques needed to use these tools & explains how they evolved. He contrastsQuickViewer for beginning users to SAP Query for more advanced users. Then he describes how to develop a QuickViewer report in SD, how to create a User Group, how to develop an SAP Query, & how to create the InfoSets on which SAP Queries are based.
6/8/2004

#3 - Netweaver - FAQs About The SAP Technology Platform of the Future by Axel Angeli, logosworld.com
  (665 downloads)
“NetWeaver” has become one of those dreaded SAP buzzwords that users are scratching their heads about. One thing we do know: whatever NetWeaver is, it's a vital part of SAP's product strategy going forward. But it sure would be nice if we understood what NetWeaver really is, so we gathered up all of our burning questions about NetWeaver and fired them off to our resident mySAP technical expert Axel Angeli. The result is Axel's first article on NetWeaver, where he breaks down all of our questions and outlines the components of the NetWeaver solution, such as Web Application Server, the Exchange Infrastructure (XI), and Enterprise Portals.
2/15/2004

#4 - Making Sense of Variant Configuration and Product Modeling by Steven Horner, Variant Configuration Specialist
  (589 downloads)
As Variant Configuration (VC) expert Steven Horner has learned firsthand, you're not going to have a successful VC rollout if you haven't tackled the challenge of designing the right product models for your company. Steven walks the reader through the two main modeling techniques: rules and constraint-based modeling. Along the way, Steven ties the theory into the practice, noting how the modeling design can then be tied into R/3 tables. Whether you're trying to develop a VC plan for core R/3, or whether you're going for the "big enchilada" with CRM and APO tie-ins, you'll find Steven's walk-through of product modeling of value to your team.
10/1/2003

#5 - Defining A Data Archiving Strategy for SAP by Breck Whitten, SAP Data Archiving Project Manager
  (582 downloads)
After we published Breck Whitten's first two data archiving articles, we couldn’t imagine how he could top them - but he did. In this twenty page classic, Breck takes us back to the roots of Halliburton's data archiving project, and tells us how Halliburton has reached a real archiving "return on investment." The article culminates with the most important discussion of all: how to measure the impact of archiving on the financial bottom line.
8/1/2003

#6 - Building a High-Performance Business Warehouse: Part One by Arthur “Pat” Pesa
  (560 downloads)
So you installed your BW system, and there were high fives all around. But then the complaints started rolling in: BW was hogging systems resources; users could not execute their queries in a timely manner. Like so many other data-related issues, BW always comes back to performance. Our BW Associate Editor Pat Pesa has seen (and resolved) these frustrations firsthand, and fortunately for us, he took some notes. In the first part of a two-part series, Pat tells us how to achieve the “high performance” BW system we all had in mind in the first place.
2/1/2003

#7 - SAP®'s Best Advanced Pricing Techniques by Jim O’Day, Nassau Technology Group
  (553 downloads)
Editor's Note: In this article, Jim starts out by answering a reader's question about how he sees the hot-button topic of offshore outsourcing impacting SAP Logistics teams. Then, he moves into a handy collection of advanced pricing tips that he has used to help SAP users fine tune their pricing functionality. One such tip? How to make an “internal” price of a product equal to the cost plus some type of percentage markup. For details on that tip and more, read on.
2/1/2004

#8 - SAP Security: A Framework For A Successful Implementation by Joey Hirao, Jotech LLC
  (550 downloads)
In today’s SAP environment, security is not about locking the door behind us. It’s about developing and implementing an overall strategy that protects the system from misuse and provides the right level of access to the right users. To get us on the right track, Basis Editor Joey Hirao has developed a step-by-step guide to the proper implementation of SAP security. This article is a great outline for those who are mounting or revamping their SAP security strategy, but it will also be of interest to those readers who are already up and running and want to compare their own installation to Joey’s “best security practices.”
2/1/2003

#9 - Taking the Surprise Out Of SAP® Programs by Krishna Kumar, Enterprise Horizons Inc.
  (548 downloads)
Using real-life project examples, ABAP/Java Editor Krishna Kumar explains how to approach debugging across the SAP product line with a well thought-out methodology instead of just scrambling from crisis to crisis. The key aspects to Krishna's methodology: understand the range of SAP debugging tools at your disposal (ABAP trace, SQL trace, etc.), and apply a careful process to eliminate possible factors until the culprit is found. To illustrate his points, Krishna uses debugging examples he has faced with SAP and mySAP systems, such as lack of configuration, BW data extraction errors, and EAI integration snafus.
2/1/2004

#10 - mySAP.com Enterprise Portals: A Manager's Guide by Lou Papagiannis, Heck and Partners Consulting
  (516 downloads)
For most SAP Managers, the nuts and bolts of Enterprise Portals remain a mystery shrouded in glowing press releases. But no longer! In this outstanding overview of the Portals product, Lou Papagiannis guides us through all the key factors involving Enterprise Portals, including the architecture, the product components, and the installation process. Lou also de-mystifies the process of acquiring content for Portals and he details the options for customization. Most importantly, he tells us what our team-skills requirements are for a Portals project, so that when we pull the trigger, we'll be ready.
4/1/2003