Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Report Painter Ini
Report Painter Ini
Contents
In this chapter you will learn:
Overview .................................................................................................................. 8–2
The basics of Report
Where is Report Painter/Report Writer Used? ..................................................... 8–3 Painter/Report Writer
How to Access Report Painter/Report Writer? .................................................... 8–4 How the Report
Painter/Report Writer
How Is Report Painter/Report Writer Organized? ............................................... 8–5
tools are organized
How Does Report Painter Differ from Other Reporting Tools? ......................... 8–5 Answers to some of the
Output and Format of Report Painter/Report Writer ........................................... 8–6 most frequently asked
questions about the tool
Frequently Asked Questions ................................................................................. 8–7
Where to Learn More .............................................................................................. 8–9
Fundamentals of Reporting
8–1
Chapter 8: Report Painter/Report Writer
Overview
Overview
Report Painter and Report Writer can be
used to easily create currency- or
quantity-type reports in R/3. Examples of ABAP
Query
these reports include financial statements,
sales reports, and inventory reports. Since
both tools work with the same reporting
Rep
control tables, you can use either tool to
ort P
lyse
create reports on the configured tables.
Fl
aint r
LIS
R/3 Report
te
With the Report Painter you can report on
er
Development
data from multiple applications. It uses a Tools
Report Writer
+ Graphical
Graphical
Interface
Interface = Report Painter
Note: Report Writer has been available since the early (Release 2.x and earlier) releases
of the R/3 System. Users could access Report Painter via a transaction code in Release
2.2. However, Report Painter was formally made available in Release 3.x.
Fundamentals of Reporting
8–3
Chapter 8: Report Painter/Report Writer
How to Access Report Painter/Report Writer?
Fundamentals of Reporting
8–5
Chapter 8: Report Painter/Report Writer
Output and Format of Report Painter/Report Writer
Desktop Integration
Q: What sort of integration with spreadsheet applications (for example, Microsoft Excel or Lotus
123) does this tool provide?
A: The integration with Microsoft Excel includes a download in a special file format (*.RPW), which
requires the desktop component Report Writer: MS Excel Link. It provides an Excel add-in for
navigation and drilldown.
Report Painter/Writer reports can be downloaded/exported in the ASCII format.
Q: What integration is supported for Extended Export of Lists (XXL)?
A: None.
Q: Is an external system or special interface required to use this report development tool?
A: No.
Q: Does this reporting tool create reports that offer real-time processing of data?
A: The reports are real-time so long as the data is real-time. Most data used by Report
Painter/Report Writer is real-time. Extract management establishes a kind of cache to the
database (offline selection).
Q: How does the speed of report execution change as the data load increases? That is, do reports
created with this tool get very slow as system data increases?
A: No, Report Writer/Report Painter is designed for mass production of reports and is especially
well suited for batch processing.
Q: Are there any methods (for example, OSS notes, configuration, or others) which users can
employ to optimize or enhance report execution speed?
A: Performance depends on a number of factors. Fine tuning performance often requires a sound
understanding of Report Painter/Report Writer and the databases.
Fundamentals of Reporting
8–7
Chapter 8: Report Painter/Report Writer
Frequently Asked Questions
A: Report Writer/Report Painter primarily supports Financial accounting and Controlling modules
(financial controlling, treasury, controlling, investment management, enterprise controlling, and
some industry solutions). However, refer to book 2, Report Development Tools for more
information on how to integrate LIS data with Report Painter/Report Writer.
Q: What is the availability of reports created with this tool as delivered with standard R/3?
A: Largely, the availability of standard reports created with this tool depends on the application
area. For example, there are standard reports for CO-OM but there are no standard FI-SL reports
that were delivered with the Report Painter/Writer.
A: Defining a report with the Report Writer requires a longer time to learn, whereas the Report
Painter is much easier to use. However, the Report Painter only covers approximately 80-90% of
Report Writer’s functionality.
Report Painter/Report Writer also offer flexibility in designing title page and header lines with
text variables (including customer-defined ones).
Q: Is there an adequate number of characteristics (key figures) and drilldown levels available for
programming with this tool?
A: In general, the technical limitations for this tool are:
100 characteristics
100 levels/characteristics
1000 sections
500 columns/section
However, it is possible to add (virtual) characteristics/key figures.
Q: If meta data is used by the reports developed with this tool, is it difficult to integrate or
program new data structures for use with this tool? (Note: Meta data refers to information
about the data)
A: There is no special meta data programmed. In configuration, you can determine which data are
read, including meta data (such as LIS info structures).
Q: How flexible is this tool for modifying reports (developed with this tool)?
A: Extremely flexible. However, reporting structures should be properly configured before “going
live” (perhaps most important with General Ledger (G/L) and Profit Center Accounting).
User Friendliness
Q: Is there a common look and feel among reports developed with this tool?
A: Yes.
A: Yes.
Execution Management
Q: Does this tool offer batch job processing and background report execution?
A: Yes.
Fundamentals of Reporting
8–9
Chapter 8: Report Painter/Report Writer
Where to Learn More
The R/3 online documentation for Report Painter and Report Writer: In the R/3 Library
for Release 4.0B, go to: AC-Financials FI Financial Accounting FI Special Purpose
Ledger, then follow the links for Report Writer.
SAP training courses offered by SAP Education and Training:
CA705 for Report Painter
CA710 for Report Writer