TIPPS TO REMEMBER

A release strategy cannot be used WITHOUT classification and WITH classification at the same time. If there is any entry present in Release Group table (T16FG-FRGOT), only releases WITH classification can be used. Do not use hyphens for class names, instead, it is better to use an underscore. When setting up the release indicators on the 'status' screen, the sequence should start with a BLOCKED status and end with 'RELEASED for ORDER'. If there is no 'RELEASED for ORDER' as last status, the user will be prompted the warning message ME167: 'Please check release statuses'.

Cost centers (CEBAN-KOSTL) and vendors (CEBAN-LIFNR) in a release strategy should be entered with leading zeros, even though they are defined as CHAR fields. This holds for structures CEKKO & CESSR as well. (see note 52225 which despite its limited validity - is still fully relevant for higher releases, too)

In the case of contracts, the target value is used for the release strategy determination instead of the contract net value. With note 116685, this logic has been enhanced considerably: If you maintain a target value in the contract header, this value is set in field CEKKO-GNETW to determine a possible release strategy. If no target value exists on header level, an aggregation of the target values of the items is carried out instead.

Since most purchasing documents (except for requisitions) are evaluated on header level, the release strategy is not assigned until the document is saved. There is a check function which can be used to determine the strategy before the document is saved.

Once a release strategy has been determined for purchasing documents (other than requisitions) without any approval yet, any output conditions assigned to the document will not be displayed on the message screen until the release is approved. This is due to the fact that these documents are blocked for printing intentionally.

If the error message ME179 is prompted by the system ('error in classification class XXXXX class type 032'), the strategy is already assigned to another class. The user therefore has to remove this strategy from the old class before it can be assigned to another class.

For purchasing documents other than requisitions, item level fields such as plant and material group which are used for strategy determination, will be aggregated to the header level. E.g., for a certain release scenario, the user wants to use the plant as one of the characteristics. If all items do NOT belong to the same plant, one has to have a blank value as one of the allowed values for a strategy to be selected. In addition, if all items belong to the SAME plant, then this plant will aggregate to the header, if they are not identical, a blank value will be passed to the header (please cf. note 47089 for further information).

If the customer exits EXIT_SAPLEBND_001 or EXIT_SAPLEBND_004 are used, at least the following statement must be included in the code: E_CEBAN = I_CEBAN. Similarly, for customer exit EXIT_SAPLEBND_002, the statement E_CEKKO = I_CEKKO has to be added.

If interval values shall be used for a certain characteristics, the 'multiple value' flag must be set accordingly. Regarding releases, there are differences between transaction ME54N & ME55: ME54N is meant to be used for the interactive release OR change of a requisition within the same one-screen-transaction environment as for ME51N/ME52N/ME53N, while ME55 is meant for release purposes only. If you only want to see requisitions which are subject to a particular release, please use ME55.

Regarding the transport of release strategies / classes, please refer to notes 86900 and 45951. Note 116685 contains an advance correction for lower mature releases (<45A) to allow the system to use the total item value of a contract or scheduling agreement for the determination of a release strategy if the target value is blank. Note 70009 - removal of a release strategy. Note 117391 and 326380 - release strategy not found (random occurrence). Note 329898 - Customer exit revised for purchase order release process. Note 303426 - Release strategy wrongly determined for purchasing documents. Note 186809 - OMGQ/CL24: Inconsistency for release strategy class Note 200204 - Release of purchasing documents: Problem with customer exit Note 209470 - Purchasing documents: Release strategy for exchange rate chances Note 365604 - FAQ note: release strategies in purchasing

Note 493900 - FAQ note: release strategy