All About Actions in Transactions: SAP CRM

Introduction

• Within SAP CRM, Actions refer to the Post Processing Framework (PPF) Basic Components
• Actions can automatically trigger output, follow-up activities or workflows
• Action processing can be used by different applications such as transaction processing (CRMD_ORDER), billing (BILLING), case management (CRM_CASE), etc. in SAP CRM
• Actions replace Output Determination of the SAP ERP System
• Actions can be determined for the whole transaction (Transaction Type) at header level and also for an individual item (Item Category)

• With actions, predefined processes can be implemented in SAP CRM transaction processing.

• For a particular ‘Action’, ‘Schedule Condition’ can be defined.
  • This schedule condition is checked before making this action available for execution.
• At execution time, these processes get scheduled based on user defined conditions which define particular situation in the transaction processing.
• An Action is a planned activity, or task and schedule condition is the situation under which this action is to be executed.
• For a scheduled action different processing type are possible:
  • Processing type defines how an action executes.
  • From this processing type, SAP WorkFlow, BAdI Method Call, SmartForm or Alert can be triggered.
• It is possible to specify Processing Time within an Action Definition (t-code SPPFC or SPPFCADM), which specifies where in the transaction processing execution this action is to be executed.
• Action can be partner function dependent.
• Partner function can be assigned in the Action Definition.
• Actions are linked to SAP CRM transaction with Action Profile.
• An Action Profile can have multiple Action Definitions with it.
• Based on configuration and implementation for the Action Definitions and respective conditions (Schedule Condition and Start Condition), these actions execute for the corresponding SAP CRM transaction.
• For a transaction that supports actions, action log can be analyzed in GUI using transaction CRMD_ORDER, or within Web UI if access is provided to the corresponding assignment block.

• You can display a list of actions scheduled and executed for the transaction with following information for individual action as in Fig. 3 and 4:
  • Status (action scheduled, action processed)
  • Description (purpose of action)
  • Processing Type
  • Creator, creation date
• Example: A month before a contract expires, the responsible sales employee receives an activity with the category ‘e-mail’ in his inbox to remind him to write to the customer and find out whether they wish to renew their contract.Conditions
• Two conditions are checked before an action executes:
  • Schedule Condition: An action is scheduled for execution only if schedule condition defined for this action is satisfied. Also schedule condition can be evaluated within the implementation of
  • SAP standard BAdI EVAL_SCHEDCOND_PPF.
    Start Condition: For the scheduled actions, start condition is checked before it is executed. Thus scheduled action is executed once the start condition is satisfied.
• These conditions for an action are defined while configuring it in t-code SPPFCADM.
• Conditions can be time dependent using dates and date rules.
• Conditions can be implemented with expressions on the container attributes from a business object or a class and constants.
• Conditions can be checked for proper syntax and tested.
• There are two modes for defining conditions:
  • Mouse-oriented PC mode
  • Direct text entry mode (traditional)Create Parameter Condition:

Set Parameter Condition:

Changing Parameter Condition values:

Personal Settings for Condition Editor:

Processing Time
Processing Times defines when an action for which start condition has been satisfied will be executed in the transaction processing. Thus, once the start condition for a scheduled action is satisfied, it can execute according to the Processing Time maintained. Following are the possible options for Processing Time:

• Processing Using Selection Report:
  • In the case, action will execute after the execution of the selection report. This processing type is particularly useful for actions that are used for deadline monitoring such as monitoring the SLA.
• Immediate Processing:
  • The action is started as soon as the start condition is fulfilled.
• Processing When Saving Document:
  • The action is started when the transaction is saved. Thus, even though the start condition for action is met, execution of action will trigger during transaction save only.Setting Processing Time in Action Definition:

Processing Types
In the Action Definition, processing type is specified. Processing types specifies how the action is processed at the Processing Time. There are different Processing Types available:

• Smart Forms
• WorkFlow
• MethodsMethods are BAdI implementations of the SAP standard BAdI EXEC_METHODCALL_PPF. There are many standard implementations provided by SAP that are used in the standard transactions, for e.g.:

• COPY_DOCUMENT (to create a follow-up document)
• COMPLETE-DOCUMENT (set status completed within document)
• CREDIT_MEMO (create credit memo item)
• 1O_EVENT_CREATE (create a workflow event)

Transaction SPPFCADM
This transaction is for PPF customizing:

It can be used to define the Action Profile and Action Definitions. Also, it is possible to configure the Actions defined in the Action Profile. Actions defined within an Action Profile are available for configuring so that Conditions can be maintained using the SAP provided wizards and screens.

Other useful transaction codes:

• CRMC_ACTION_CONF – Action Configuration
• CRMC_ACTION_DEF – Action Definition
• CRMC_ACTION_WIZARD – Action for Definition via WizardAction Monitor
  The program RSPPFPROCESS, responsible for action monitor originates from the Post Processing Framework (PPF) and can be used to check the processing of the actions. Thus, action monitor can be used to monitor and trigger the processing of actions for several transactions.

Transaction code for Action Monitor is CRMC_ACTION_JOB.

With action monitor, it is possible to list the actions which have processing time set to Processing using selection report and initiate the processing of these actions. Thus, it is particularly useful for actions that are used for deadline monitoring such as SLA.

It could also be used to process actions with the processing time When Saving. In case, time-dependent conditions were fulfilled after a certain time without any changes to the transactions the program could be executed so that actions are also started in these cases. Thus, for test purposes or for repeating actions, this report can also be used to select and process actions with the processing time ‘Immediate’ or ‘When Document is Saved’.

Action Profiles
Actions are configured for CRM transaction using Action profile. Actions are created in action profile which can be assigned to different CRM transactions. Within an action profile, multiple actions can be defined with sort order and status (Active or Inactive). Active actions can be scheduled and scheduled actions are executed following the sort order as maintained in the customizing. For individual action in the Action Profile, Action Definition and Action Configuration can be maintained.

During the transaction processing, all the allowed actions are identified using the Action Profile. For this, actions not marked as inactive in the action profile are considered for execution. Sort order maintained in Action Profile for individual action used to identify the sequence of execution of the actions. Further processing of these actions is done based upon the Action Definition and Action Configuration of individual action identified.

It is possible to assign an action profile directly to a transaction type or item category. Also condition technique, i.e. Action Profile Determination can be defined same as pricing.

In SPRO goto “Define Action Profiles and Actions”

1. Select an action profile
2. Click View

You will see properties of an action profile

1. Select Action Definition
2. Click View