SAP Note 19574 - CC-ADMIN: Controlling data selection during client copy

Symptom:

For which copy scenarios are there client copies?

Can Customizing data be copied into a target client that already contains data? Can clients be mixed?

Cause and prerequisites

Usually special scenarios for copying.

Solution

See also Note 24853.

The following scenarios are supported by the tools for copying clients:

a) Copying a complete client including all master and transaction data.

b) Copying the complete Customizing and deleting the existing master and transaction data.

c) Copying user masters along with all profiles and, as of Release 4.5A, all activity groups.

d) Another mode was implemented before Release 4.x as a special mode, which completely copies Customizing without deleting master data and transaction data. This mode is not recommended because it leads to data inconsistencies between master data, transaction data and Customizing.

e) It is not possible to mix clients (insert a client into an existing one) with the client copy tools (see below). Mixing clients is only possible through a consulting project- which involves a great deal of work.

The above described copying procedures are supported in the R/3 Releases as follows:
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• As of Release 3.0: Choose the profiles that correspond to your copy preferences. SAP does not deliver a profile without initialization. It must be newly created. You can find additional information on the delivered profile in Note 24853.

Importang If you copy customizing without application data in Release 3.x, the address data is partially lost. For more information please see Note 25181.

• As of Release 4.0: Essentially like Release 3.0, however, the initializating of master and transaction data can no longer be deselected for a profile.

Also deactivating the corresponding flag for a program run - in the menu - has no effect. This functionality had to be removed because of technical problems in particular with addresses. At the time, a change in the menu was not possible.

1. Which data belongs to a client?
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Three different data levels can be distinguished that are based on one another:

a) client-dependent application data, that is, data which is created during the application system operation.

b) client-dependent Customizing data on which the application data is based.

c) client-independent Customizing data and system data which are only mentioned here for reasons of completeness but which are of no relevance to the client copy.

Application data is created when you run application transactions. In this case, a large number of plausibility and consistency checks are executed. These checks are based primarily on the Customizing data of level (b), and in some rare cases on (c). This creates dependencies between application data (a) and Customizing data (b). Since the Customizing data does not refer to the application data, there is only one state of dependence from (a) to (b) with the meaning "(a) dependent on (b)".

2. What is a consistent data environment of a client?
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Consistency is maintained if all dependencies between (a) and (b) are met. When you enter application data online, this is provided by the checks that are part of the maintenance screens. When you copy clients, you have to follow certain rules.

3. Which rules apply to copying clients?
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4. Note that you may not work in the source client while copying. Otherwise inconsistencies, particularly in the number range can occur.

To make sure consistency is maintained when copying, only the following two copying procedures are supported:

• All Customizing data and all application data is copied. When copying, the tables in question are switched completely. This means that data that existed in the target client but not in the source client before the copying procedure is deleted by the switch procedure. So, the table is set up again consistently. This ensures the consistency between (a) and (b).

• Only Customizing data is copied. At the same time the contents of all application tables that are not copied are reset. This is a simple way to make sure (a) and (b) are consistent.

The central statement of the two previously decribed procedures is the following: If the target client contains application data before the copying, this data is reset during copying.

When testing the quality, there are requirements whose purpose it is to test the consistency of a changed Customizing environment against an existing (productive) client. For this reason, it is desirable to combine a Customizing environment with an application environment. The subsequent test tries to verify the consistency of the two environments or to detect inconsistencies.

Only in these scenarios is it acceptable to retain the application data of the target client because a possible inconsistency might be part of the plan. In general, however, the target client data must always be reset to guarantee consistency.

This scenario should be typically constructed in such a way that transport requests are imported with the Customizing changes in the test client. This then corresponds to the supply of the production system and, in doing so, offers more security.

The special mode of client copying should only be used in extreme cases. SAP can offer no support for the inconsistencies resulting from its use. As of Release 4.x, the functions were removed due to technical problems, particularly with user and address management.

5. Number ranges:

Number ranges have to be reset if the target client does not contain any application data after the copying. This applies, for example, if you only copy Customizing data. Otherwise, the number range statuses remain unchanged or are copied from the source client. The reset decision is implicitly derived from the copy parameters and does not need to be, or cannot be defined externally. The following table

illustrates the processing of number ranges:
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Customizing Master & Delete and Number ranges
Data Transaction Create of target clients
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x ' ' ' ' are retained
x ' ' x number ranges are reset
x x x copy from the source client

Note that you may not work in the source client while copying.
Otherwise inconsistencies, particularly in the number range can occur.

6. Variants:

Information for processing variants can be found in Note 24853.
Addresses:
Up to Release 3.1I: Please see Note 25181.
Release 4.0B: Please see Note 130540.
Release 4.5B: Please see Note 350101.

Additional key words

Number ranges, client copy, SCC0, SCCL, SCC2, SCC8, SCC9, delivery class