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Table of Contents
Before you begin ......................................................................................................................... 1
How to get help ............................................................................................................................ 3
An overview of Rev-Trac............................................................................................................. 4
The Rev-Trac request.................................................................................................................... 4
Life cycle of a Rev-Trac request.................................................................................................... 5
A request may include multiple transports..................................................................................... 7
Each request type may have its own 'rules'................................................................................... 8
Life cycle of a Rev-Trac request in pictures .................................................................................. 9
Creating a request .................................................................................................................. 10
Adding an attachment............................................................................................................. 11
Signing a request.................................................................................................................... 13
Adding a transport while making an SAP change .................................................................. 17
Viewing workflow messages .................................................................................................. 18
Triggering automigration activities.......................................................................................... 19
Common tasks ........................................................................................................................... 20
Accessing Rev-Trac from your system........................................................................................ 20
Creating a request ....................................................................................................................... 21
Finding and displaying a request................................................................................................. 26
Signing a request......................................................................................................................... 28
Deleting a request........................................................................................................................ 29
Updating a request ...................................................................................................................... 30
Adding a note to a requests history log ................................................................................. 30
Adding special migration instructions ..................................................................................... 31
Changing a field that does not affect the status of a request ................................................. 32
Altering the status of a request directly .................................................................................. 32
Making a change that results in an indirect change of request status ................................... 33
Displaying change history of a request........................................................................................ 34
Transports.................................................................................................................................... 34
Inserting a new transport into a Rev-Trac request using the Rev-Trac enforcement popup . 34
Adding new or existing transports to a Rev-Trac request ...................................................... 35
Detaching a transport from a request..................................................................................... 37
Drilldown to transport components......................................................................................... 37
Defining transport dependencies............................................................................................ 38
Attachments................................................................................................................................. 42
Attaching a file or SAPscript document to a request.............................................................. 42
Editing a request attachment.................................................................................................. 44
Displaying a request attachment ............................................................................................ 45
Display Rev-Trac migration history for a single request......................................................... 45
Display current locations of transports on a single Rev-Trac request.................................... 46
Frequently asked questions ..................................................................................................... 47
Migration ...................................................................................................................................... 47
After implementing Rev-Trac, can we perform migrations using tp or transaction STMS? ... 47
What factors control the sequence in which Rev-Trac migrates transports?......................... 47
Why is the sent indicator for a transport green when migration to this target group failed? .. 47
How can I re-migrate a transport if a migration fails?............................................................. 47
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Prerequisites
This guide assumes that the reader:
Has been set up as a Rev-Trac user by his or her Rev-Trac
administrator, and has a suitable SAP user profile
Understands the meaning of terms such as transport and migration
as these apply in the world of SAP configuration and development
This guide does not assume the reader has prior knowledge of Rev-Trac,
or that the reader has been trained in its use.
Intended audience
This guide is intended to be used by people who need to work with
Rev-Trac regularly or occasionally, but who do not need a detailed
understanding of how to configure or administer Rev-Trac, or how to use
its advanced reporting capabilities or other advanced tools.
You may find this guide useful if you ever need to:
Create a Rev-Trac request
Create a transport under Rev-Trac control (for example, if you are
working in an environment where Rev-Trac enforcement is turned on)
Attach documentation to a Rev-Trac request, or read such
documentation
Approve (sign) a Rev-Trac request
Common tasks
Provides step-by-step instructions in how to perform common Rev-Trac
tasks.
You may find a topic in this chapter useful if you need to check on the
significance of a particular Rev-Trac field or option that is not immediately
obvious.
Frequently asked questions
Answers a range of questions that new Rev-Trac users frequently ask.
Glossary
Contains brief explanations of some technical terms used in this
document.
An overview of Rev-Trac
Rev-Trac is an add-on to SAP business intelligence systems that helps
you develop your system more safely and easily.
Rev-Trac lives inside SAP, like an SAP module, and continuously monitors
all changes in your SAP landscape. Rev-Trac intercepts every change and
requires the change maker to relate it to a business issue. Rev-Trac then
progresses each issue using a predefined approval and migration process.
Rev-Trac can use its intimate knowledge of your systems to intercept and
prevent development and migration errors. In addition, Rev-Trac
automates many error-prone human processes, including migration of
changes across your landscape.
Rev-Trac users have a transparent view of the whole development effort.
A range of powerful reports are available, including reports that identify
any discrepancies between what is in each of your systems and what is
intended to be there.
An overview of Rev-Trac
Figure 2-2: Typical life cycle of a Rev-Trac request. The status of the request
changes as work progresses. Statuses and approval rules may vary in your own
workplace.
An overview of Rev-Trac
When a project member first creates a Rev-Trac request (at step 2), its
status is set automatically to New.
When a developer starts work on this business requirement in DEV, he or
she signs the request to indicate that work is In development.
(Alternatively, your system may be configured so that Rev-Trac sets the
status to In development automatically as soon as a developer adds a
transport to the request.)
When development is complete, the developer signs the request to
approve the status Development complete.
In our example, this causes Rev-Trac to migrate the change automatically
to TST, and then to change the status of the request to In TST.
Automigration is an optional but very useful feature in Rev-Trac. After
performing automigration, Rev-Trac changes the status of the request to
In TST only if the migration succeeds.
Following migration, members of the project team test and review the work
in TST. In this example, the approval of both a tester and a business
representative is required before the work can be migrated to PRD. As
soon as both have given their approval by signing the request online,
Rev-Trac changes the status of the request to Approved for PRD.
In this example, Rev-Trac now automatically migrates the changes to
PRD, and changes the status of the request to In production (provided the
migration succeeds).
Any SAP user can see the full approval history of the Rev-Trac request by
displaying it on the Rev-Trac Workbench and expanding the appropriate
nodes, as shown in Figure 2-3 below.
An overview of Rev-Trac
Figure 2-4: Life cycle of a Rev-Trac request where user added a second transport
after testing revealed problems with the initial solution.
In this example, testing reveals problems with the ABAP program being
developed to meet the business requirement.
An overview of Rev-Trac
The developer sets about fixing the problem, and creates a new transport.
The developer adds the new transport to the existing Rev-Trac request,
because both transports relate to the same business requirement
(associating all transports relating to a business requirement with a single
Rev-Trac request makes it easier to track overall progress for that
business requirement).
In this example, Rev-Trac is configured to set the status of any request to
In development automatically if a new transport is added to a request. This
is a standard way of configuring Rev-Trac that helps to ensure reports on
the overall status of the work remain meaningful at all times.
The request then progresses through the same steps as previously, until it
is finally In production. Figure 2-5 below shows the full approval history of
such a request.
Figure 2-5: Approval history of a Rev-Trac request to which a second transport has
been added after testing. Adding a second transport set back the status of the
request, so some approvals were required twice.
Some request statuses in Figure 2-5 above are displayed with a plain
background colour, while others are yellow. The yellow nodes relate to the
latest iteration of a change, while nodes with a plain background represent
statuses that were approved a part of a previous iteration.
An overview of Rev-Trac
Figure 2-6: Together, a request's project and request type determine the sequence
of statuses, approval rules and migration behaviour that will apply to this request
An overview of Rev-Trac
Creating a request
Transaction /n/rsc/rt displays the Rev-Trac Console (see Figure 2-7
below). You can access most Rev-Trac functions from here.
Figure 2-7: You can reach most Rev-Trac functions from the Rev-Trac Console
(transaction /n/rsc/rt )
To create a new Rev-Trac request from the Rev-Trac Console, you click
the Create request button. This displays the Create request details
screen (see Figure 2-8 below).
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An overview of Rev-Trac
You use this screen to create what is, in effect, a request header.
As described above, the Project and Req type play a major role in
determining what process will be used to manage the request through its
life cycle. The Team, Owner, Programmer and Customizer field may
determine who approves the request at some points.
You can add running notes to the request at any time in the History Log.
Adding an attachment
At various points in the request life cycle you may find it helpful to attach
copies of documents such as specifications, SAP Notes or reviews for use
by others working on the request.
Rev-Trac stores compressed copies of such documents internally as
attachments.
In the example shown below, the user has chosen to attach a specification
to the request. The first step when adding an attachment to a request is to
display the request on the Rev-Trac Workbench, then create an
attachment header via the menu (see Figure 2-9 below).
An overview of Rev-Trac
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The user supplies some attachment header details and then, in this
example, selects a specification document on the LAN (see Figure 2-10
below).
Figure 2-10: Adding an attachment to a Rev-Trac request. Rev-Trac will store its
own copy of the attached file in its database.
Figure 2-11 below shows the appearance of the request on the Rev-Trac
Workbench at this point.
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An overview of Rev-Trac
Figure 2-11: New Rev-Trac request after an attachment has been added. The red
"traffic lights" indicate that no-one has yet approved this request.
Signing a request
In this example illustrated below, the approval rules for a request of type
ABAP/4 Development in project Xenophon specify that only the Team
leader of the ABAP/4 Development Team, or someone standing in for that
position, can approve the status In development.
The leader of the ABAP/4 Development Team is Andy Jones.
When Andy is satisfied that work has started on a particular Rev-Trac
request, he displays the Rev-Trac Console and selects the Signatory tab
(see Figure 2-12 below).
An overview of Rev-Trac
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Figure 2-12: Andy Jones can see on the Signatory tab of the Rev-Trac Console
how many requests are waiting for his signature
Andy can see there are currently ten requests waiting for his signature.
To learn more about these, Andy clicks the Total button to display the
Executive matrix screen (see Figure 2-13 below).
Figure 2-13: Executive matrix screen shows the request type and status of each
request waiting for this users approval.
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An overview of Rev-Trac
Andy wants to approve the second of these requests into the status
In development. He selects and expands this request until he can see the
type of approval that needs to be given (see Figure 2-15 below).
Figure 2-16: Rev-Trac displays a dialog that lists all the people who can give this
approval
An overview of Rev-Trac
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In this example, there are only two potential approvers. One is Andy
himself. The other is Anselm Pereira, who can act as a stand-in for the
ABAP/4 Development Team leader position.
Andy clicks his own name to display the Sign a document screen
(see Figure 2-17 below).
Figure 2-17: Sign a document screen. To sign a request, an approver types his or
her SAP password, then clicks the Sign button.
To give this request ABAP/4 approval for the status In development, Andy
Jones types his SAP password in the open field, then clicks the Sign
button.
Some organisations activate Rev-Trac's one-click approval feature. This
allows users to approve requests in their own name simply by clicking the
Sign button, without first typing their SAP password.
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An overview of Rev-Trac
Figure 2-18: User is prompted to save SAP change on a new or existing transport.
Here the user chooses to create a new transport.
An overview of Rev-Trac
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In this case, the developer chooses the first option. After selecting an
existing Rev-Trac request from a dropdown list, the user clicks the top
button (see Figure 2-20 below).
Figure 2-20: Rev-Trac enforcement popup after user has selected an existing
Rev-Trac request.
The Rev-Trac enforcement popup closes, and the number and text of the
new transport are displayed on the standard SAP dialog (see Figure 2-21
below).
Figure 2-21: After the Rev-Trac enforcement popup is closed, the number and text
of the new transport are displayed
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An overview of Rev-Trac
An overview of Rev-Trac
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Common tasks
This chapter provides step-by-step instructions in how to perform
everyday tasks using Rev-Trac.
It explains how to:
Create, modify and approve Rev-Trac requests
Search for and display requests
Add a transport to a request, or detach a transport
Create and edit attachments to requests
Add transports to a request, or detach them
Figure 31: This screen is displayed when user starts transaction /n/rsc/rt on any
system other than the Rev-Trac master
To display the Rev-Trac Console on the Rev-Trac master, click the Click
this button to log onto... button.
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Common tasks
Creating a request
Use this procedure to create a new Rev-Trac request.
Be careful not to create unnecessary Rev-Trac requests. One of
Rev-Trac's purposes is to help your organisation manage related
transports as a single unit. This is not possible if users create a new
Rev-Trac request for each transport.
Prerequisites
Only SAP users who have been defined as Rev-Trac users by a Rev-Trac
administrator may create Rev-Trac requests.
Steps
1.
2.
3.
Description
Title
Title of request.
This title will appear on many Rev-Trac screens
and reports, and by default will be included in the
texts of transports created under Rev-Trac control
and associated with this request.
Project
Req type
Request type.
The request type you choose may also help
determine this request's approval process and
migration path
Team
Module
Common tasks
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Proj. rel.
Project release.
Some sites release SAP changes in sub-projects or
clusters which may be known as phases, rollouts or
waves. In Rev-Trac these are known as "project
releases".
Select a suitable Project release only if the
dropdown list for this field is populated.
Owner
Programmer
Customizer
Actor
User status
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Common tasks
Class
Severity
Priority
Test date
Prod date
Estimated
Taken
Remaining
Keywords
SAP Rel.
History Log
Common tasks
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4.
[Optional]
To add a reference, do the following:
Select a reference type from the dropdown list, then complete the
following fields:
Field
Description
Reference
Reference
description
[Optional]
If the Special approvers button is displayed, you can assign one or
more special approvers to this request. A special approver might be,
for example, a tester with special expertise who you want to review
and approve this request at a later time.
To add one or more special approvers:
Complete the Special approver and Text fields, then click the OK
button to close the dialog.
One or more special approvers are displayed on the Special
approvers button.
6.
[Optional]
If your organisation has defined custom Rev-Trac request fields, do
one of the following:
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If the custom fields have been placed on one or more tabs inside
the request details screen, display these tabs and complete the
relevant fields
Common tasks
7.
8.
9.
Common tasks
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2.
3.
In the area at the top left corner of the tab, immediately beneath
your name, click one of the buttons that displays a total or subtotal.
The Executive matrix screen lists a summary of the requests you
have selected.
4.
2.
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Common tasks
3.
4.
5.
Common tasks
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Signing a request
Use this procedure to sign a Rev-Trac request.
The most common reason for signing a request is to approve its next
status.
In some cases, you may also sign a request to reject it, as a way of
indicating that further work is needed. In this case, the result of signing the
request will be to set the status of the request backward.
What requests am I eligible to sign?
Rev-Trac typically notifies you by email of each request you are
responsible for approving.
To list all requests you are currently due to approve in any capacity, see
To find and display a request for which you are an interested party on
page 26.
To list all requests you are eligible to sign as a stand-in approver, see To
find a request by specifying search parameters explicitly on page 26.
You may be eligible to sign a request for any of the following reasons:
Because your name appears in a request field (eg, as Owner,
Programmer or Customizer)
Because you hold a position in a team whose name appears in the
request Team field
Because you hold a position in a team that is named explicitly in the
strategy used to manage this request
Because you are defined in Rev-Trac as a stand-in position holder (eg,
as "stand-in team leader for the Tech team")
Because someone has temporarily nominated you as their "delegate"
for approval purposes
Steps
1.
2.
Expand the request nodes until the type of approval you will give is
displayed beneath a Next approval marker, as shown in Figure 2-15
on page 15.
3.
4.
5.
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Common tasks
6.
If you are happy to proceed, type your SAP password in the open
field, then do one of the following:
Deleting a request
Use this procedure to delete a Rev-Trac request.
Deleting a request changes the status of the request to DELT (Deleted).
A deleted request continues to be displayed on the Rev-Trac Workbench.
Once deleted, its status can never be changed.
Deleting a request does not:
Physically remove the request from the system
Exempt transports attached to the request from overtake checking by
the Rev-Trac Overtake and Overwrite Protection System (OOPS)
If you want to prevent OOPS from displaying overtake warnings relating to
transports attached to the deleted Rev-Trac request, ask your Rev-Trac
administrator to quarantine these transports (that is, to remove their data
files from your transport directory).
Prerequisites
Only a Rev-Trac administrator or the request owner may delete a request.
The request owner is the user whose ID appears in the Owner field for the
request (and is not necessarily the person who created the request).
Steps
1.
2.
Common tasks
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3.
Enter your SAP password in the open field, then select Request >
Sign document.
Note: At some sites, the password field is suppressed for
users when deleting requests. See "Activating
one-click approval" in the Rev-Trac Administrator
Guide.
A message box confirms that the status of the request has been
changed to Deleted.
Updating a request
You can update many of the fields in a Rev-Trac request after the request
has been created.
Any Rev-Trac user may set the status of a request backward by editing
the value in the Status field. A Rev-Trac administrator may also advance
the status of a request the same way.
Altering other fields may, in some circumstances, result in changing the
status of a request. In such cases, Rev-Trac always issues an alert before
the change is made, giving the user the opportunity not to make the
change.
It is possible to alter many fields without affecting the status of a request at
all.
The following topics describe the relevant procedures.
2.
3.
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Common tasks
4.
Copy to the Windows clipboard the text you want to insert, place
your cursor in the History Log area, then select Edit > Paste
clipboard
Note: Rev-Trac automatically adds your name and a date
stamp to your note. There is no need to add this
information manually.
5.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Common tasks
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7.
2.
3.
4.
5.
2.
3.
4.
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Common tasks
5.
6.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
To confirm that the request Status is valid and consistent with the
changed request details, select Request > Change status, then
select a Status from the available list of options.
Note: If you do not have the appropriate authorisation,
you may have to skip this step.
8.
Common tasks
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2.
Select the request, then select Extras > Show Change Log.
The Change documents" screen is displayed. The screen
summarises changes that have occurred to the request since it was
first created.
Transports
A key function of Rev-Trac is to help your organisation manage the
deployment of transportable changes to your SAP systems safely and
easily.
Part of how Rev-Trac does this is by ensuring that each new transport is
linked to a Rev-Trac request that explains the context, purpose and history
of the associated changes.
The following topics describe how to:
Create a new transport and insert it into a Rev-Trac request using the
Rev-Trac enforcement popup
Insert new or existing transports into a Rev-Trac request from the
Rev-Trac Workbench
Detach a transport from a Rev-Trac request
Note that it is helpful to place all transports relating to a business issue in
the same Rev-Trac request, rather than creating a new Rev-Trac request
for each transport. This makes it easier to track overall progress for a
given business requirement, and helps prevent migration sequencing
errors. For a discussion of this approach, see A request may include
multiple transports on page 7.
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Common tasks
Using the dropdown list, select a request into the field at the right of
the dialog.
2.
Create a new Rev-Trac request, then link the new transport to this
request
1.
2.
Create and save the new request. For more details, see Creating a
request on page 21.
After the "Create request details" screen is closed, the standard
SAP "Prompt for << transport type >> request" dialog is populated
with the number and text of the newly created transport.
Common tasks
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2.
3.
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Common tasks
2.
3.
4.
5.
Click the Change button on the dialog box to put the dialog box into
change mode.
6.
7.
2.
3.
4.
Common tasks
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Figure 3-3: To display the Dependencies icon for a transport, double-click the
transport on the Rev-Trac Workbench
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Common tasks
Figure 3-4: To display the Dependencies screen for a transport, select the Change
icon, followed by the Dependencies iconon the transport details screen.
Note! For customers with the Rev-Trac xDeploy add-on it is also possible
to configure a dependency between a package and a transport by
selecting the P xDeploy Package option on the popup.
Common tasks
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Figure 3-5: Entering Transport source system and Transport number on the
Transport dependency details screen.
Figure 3-6: The Dependencies screen for transport UA2K900610 showing prerequisite transport UA2K900608 that has just been added.
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Common tasks
Figure 3-7: The Rev-Trac workbench screen with icon indicating transport
dependencies exist for transport UA2K900610
Common tasks
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Attachments
Using Rev-Trac's attachments feature, you can attach files such as
specifications, screenshots, SAP Notes, email messages or reviews to a
Rev-Trac request for use by others working on the request.
Using Rev-Trac's attachments feature, you can also add to a Rev-Trac
request files or documents that you create on-the-fly, based on templates
stored within Rev-Trac. For example, you might store a template for
functional specifications or test results in Rev-Trac, then ask users to
create specification or test result attachments to Rev-Trac requests based
on these templates.
Rev-Trac compresses attachments before storing them internally in a table
in the SAP database.
Once attached to a Rev-Trac request, an attachment can be:
Edited using whatever application it was first created with
Deleted
Exported as a file
Copied into another Rev-Trac request
The following topics describe how to:
Attach a file or SAPscript document to a request
Edit a request attachment
Display a request attachment
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Common tasks
Steps
1.
2.
3.
4.
Description
Type
Title
Rev-Trac adds the attachment to the request. The type and title of
the attachment you entered in the previous step are displayed in the
Rev-Trac Workbench.
Common tasks
43
2.
3.
Select the attachment you want to edit, then click the Change
attachment button.
4.
5.
6.
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Common tasks
2.
3.
Select the attachment you want to display, then click the Display
attachment button.
4.
If the file is a PC-based file, close the file, then switch back to
SAP.
The Launch PC application instructions dialog box is displayed.
Click the Continue button on this dialog.
5.
Common tasks
45
Steps
1.
2.
Select the request, then select Transport > Show Migration Log.
The RSC - Migration log screen is displayed. It lists details of all
migrations that Rev-Trac has performed for transports currently
attached to this request.
2.
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Common tasks
Migration
After implementing Rev-Trac, can we perform migrations using tp or
transaction STMS?
After implementing Rev-Trac, organisations typically limit the use of tp or
transaction STMS in order to provide a more robust and intelligible audit
trail for the progression of SAP changes.
However, Rev-Trac itself does not block the use of tp or transaction
STMS.
What factors control the sequence in which Rev-Trac migrates
transports?
If a Rev-Trac request contains multiple transports, and if these are sent for
migration at the same time, then Rev-Trac is usually configured to migrate
these transports in the same order they appear on the Rev-Trac
Workbench.
However, other methods for controlling the migration sequence are also
available. For example, if it possible to fix (that is, freeze) the migration
sequence in any desired order. It is also possible to ensure that transports
are migrated to PRD in exactly the same order they were migrated to TST,
say.
To learn more about how Rev-Trac sequences transports for migration in
your organisation, contact your Rev-Trac administrator or review the topics
dealing with this issue in the Rev-Trac Administrator Guide.
Why is the sent indicator for a transport green when migration to this
target group failed?
A green sent indicator for a transport on the Rev-Trac Workbench does
not indicate that a migration actually occurred, or that a migration
succeeded.
A green sent indicator signifies that:
The transport was migrated (sent) to this target group in the
foreground, or
The transport was sent to the Rev-Trac migration queue, and is no
longer in the queue
A sent indicator does not convey reliable information about the migration
history of a transport. To learn the Rev-Trac migration history of a
Rev-Trac request, select the request on the Rev-Trac Workbench, then
select Transport > Show Migration Log.
How can I re-migrate a transport if a migration fails?
Eligible Rev-Trac users can re-send to the Rev-Trac migration queue
transports that have been sent previously by selecting the request on the
Rev-Trac Workbench, then selecting Request > Re-queue transports
47
This facility may be useful in a situation where a migration has failed, the
underlying cause of the failure has been addressed, and the migration
needs to be repeated.
Users who are logged into Rev-Trac from a system other than the
Rev-Trac master may re-queue transports only if they are defined as
approvers of the status immediately following the migration-triggering
status.
Users who are logged into the Rev-Trac master directly may re-queue
transports if they are defined as approvers of the status immediately
following the migration-triggering status, or if they hold appropriate
Rev-Trac administrator privileges.
A Rev-Trac request must still be in a migration-triggering status when
users re-queue transports. Users may re-queue only transports that were
previously sent to the queue when the request's current status was
approved.
Can I change the order of transports on a Rev-Trac request?
Yes. To do so, double-click a transport on the Rev-Trac Workbench, click
the Change button on the "Display transport details" dialog, change the
value in the Sequence field, then save your changes.
A transport with a low sequence number appears on the Rev-Trac
Workbench before a transport with a higher sequence number.
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Attachments
What is the difference between a reference and an attachment?
When you add a reference to a Rev-Trac request, you do not save the
referenced item as part of the Rev-Trac request. You save only an
identifier (such as a help desk record number) that points to a resource
held outside Rev-Trac.
By contrast, when you include an attachment in a Rev-Trac request, you
store inside Rev-Trac (in compressed form) all the data that makes up that
attachment.
Approval
Do I always have to type my SAP password to approve Rev-Trac
requests?
Not necessarily. Some organisations configure Rev-Trac so users don't
have to type an SAP password when approving requests in their own
name.
Ask you Rev-Trac administrator to consider activating "one-click approval".
Why is No approvers found displayed alongside a request status?
Rev-Trac is unable to identify any approver for this status.
This can occur if the strategy used for this project and request type
specifies that approval will be given by:
The request owner, programmer or customizer but the Owner,
Programmer or Customizer field for the request has not been
completed
A position holder in the request team but either the Team field has
not been completed, or your Rev-Trac organisation does not include
anyone in this position for the request team
A position holder in a fixed team but your Rev-Trac organisation does
not include anyone in this position for this team
Ask your Rev-Trac administrator to review your organisation's current
strategy settings for this project and request type.
Why does my mouse pointer change to an hourglass after I approve
a request?
If your Rev-Trac system is configured to automigrate requests once they
reach a certain status, one of the following may occur after you approve a
request into a status that causes migration to occur:
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Other
Rev-Trac says it is sending me workflow messages, but I am not
receiving them
There are a number of reasons why workflow messages may not arrive.
Ask your Rev-Trac administrator to contact support@xrsc-trac.com and
request a guide to troubleshooting workflow problems.
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Glossary
Actor
An SAP user who is likely to have an interest in the progress of a
Rev-Trac request, but who is not the request owner or programmer.
Whenever the contents of a request's Actor field change and the request is
saved, Rev-Trac sends a workflow message to this user asking them to
action the request.
From the Rev-Trac Console, actors can quickly identify and review all
requests in which they have an interest.
An actor is not required to be a Rev-Trac user.
Approval
During its life-cycle, a Rev-Trac request passes through many different
statuses. For example, it may start off with the status New, then pass to
the status In development.
Each forward-moving change of status must be approved beforehand.
Usually this requires a user to perform an electronic signoff, although in
some cases Rev-Trac itself may approve a status change automatically
(for example, after successfully automigrating transports associated with a
Rev-Trac request).
Attachment
A file from a users PC (for example, spreadsheet, screen shot or email
message) or a SAPscript document that has been stored in compressed
form in Rev-Trac and associated with a particular Rev-Trac request.
After being attached to a Rev-Trac request, a file may be edited using the
application in which it was originally created and then re-saved in
Rev-Trac.
Attaching documents such as specifications, email messages and test
results to a Rev-Trac request makes it easier for those working on the
request to find all the information relevant to this business issue in one
place.
Automigration
Rev-Trac can migrate SAP changes associated with Rev-Trac requests to
other systems automatically after a request has received the appropriate
approvals. Automigration may occur immediately following approval, or at
set intervals.
Following a successful migration, Rev-Trac can automatically approve a
further status change for the request to indicate that it is now, for example,
In TST or In PRD.
Enforcement
By using an appropriate configuration setting, your Rev-Trac administrator
can force SAP users to associate new transports they create with a new or
existing Rev-Trac request.
Applying such a restriction is called enforcement.
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Glossary
You Rev-Trac administrator can turn on enforcement for all users, or for
selected users. If enforcement is turned on for all users, your Rev-Trac
administrator can exempt specific users from this requirement.
When Rev-Trac enforcement is turned on, Rev-Trac displays the Rev-Trac
enforcement popup whenever a user seeks to create a new transport.
Enforcement popup
A dialog box that Rev-Trac displays whenever a SAP user attempts to
create a transport while Rev-Trac enforcement is turned on.
The dialog box gives the user two options:
Create a new transport linked to an existing Rev-Trac request
Create a new Rev-Trac request, then create a new transport linked to
the new Rev-Trac request
For details on how to work with the Rev-Trac enforcement popup, see
Inserting a new transport into a Rev-Trac request using the Rev-Trac
enforcement popup on page 34.
Foreign overwrite
If a user is proposing to migrate ZZ_SOME_OBJECT to a target system,
and if Rev-Trac detects that the most recent change to
ZZ_SOME_OBJECT in the target system is in a transport that is not also
present in the system from which ZZ_SOME_OBJECT is about to be
migrated, Rev-Trac issues a "will overwrite foreign" warning.
This migration is potentially unsafe, as Rev-Trac is unable to determine
which version of ZZ_SOME_OBJECT is the earlier. It is even possible that
the object about to be migrated, and the object with the same name in the
target system, and two different objects that happen to share the same
name in which case proceeding with the migration could lead to very
unfortunate consequences.
Master system
Rev-Trac is installed on multiple SAP systems.
One Rev-Trac system (usually your primary development system) is
designated as the master system. This system controls and co-ordinates
Rev-Trac functions that run on the other systems.
Other development systems under the control of the Rev-Trac master
system are known as "slave systems". All other system under the control
of the Rev-Trac master are known as "monitored systems".
Monitored system
See glossary entry for Master system above.
Orphan transport
A transport that has not been attached to a Rev-Trac request.
Overtake
An overtake occurs where two versions of a software object or
configuration setting have been saved to a transport, and a user migrates
Glossary
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the later version to a test or production system without first migrating the
earlier version.
This situation presents several risks. One is that the second version of the
change may depend on the presence of the first version. Another is that
the earlier version of the object or configuration setting may subsequently
be migrated to the test or production system, perhaps accidentally, and
may potentially reverse the change contained in the second version.
Overwrite
An overwrite occurs when a recent version of a software object or
configuration setting has been imported into a system, and an earlier
version of the same object or setting is subsequently imported.
The effect of an overwrite is typically to undo a later version of a change,
and replace it with an earlier version.
Owner
When creating or changing a Rev-Trac request, you can nominate a
Rev-Trac user as the request owner.
The request owner is not necessarily the person who created a request,
but is the person with primary responsibility for overseeing the work.
Some organisations configure Rev-Trac so that the request owner is
responsible for approving some statuses of a request.
Only the request owner may delete a request.
Project
Each Rev-Trac installation defines one or more projects.
A Rev-Trac request's project and request type jointly determine what
approval strategy will be used to manage a request, and what migration
actions will occur as the request progresses.
Dividing the total work effort into different projects makes it easier to report
on the progress of different major groupings of work.
There is no connection between Rev-Trac projects and projects defined in
the SAP Project System (PS) module.
Programmer
When creating or changing a Rev-Trac request, you can nominate a
Rev-Trac user as the request programmer.
The request programmer is normally the person who is responsible for
implementing the work at a technical level by writing code or making
configuration changes.
Some organisations configure Rev-Trac so the request programmer is
responsible for approving some statuses of a request.
Reference number
A Rev-Trac request may include references to external documents or
records (for example, to SAP Notes or help desk records).
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Glossary
Such references are stored in Rev-Trac using brief codes which may be
purely numeric or which may also contain alphabetical characters. In
Rev-Trac, these codes are known as reference numbers.
You may search for Rev-Trac requests by reference number.
Request
A Rev-Trac request is a collection of resources used to address a specific
business requirement. These may include:
Documentation such as specifications, reviews or SAP Notes relating
to the requirement
One or more SAP transports carrying workbench objects or
customising changes
Reference to other resources, such as records created in other
systems
An online approval sheet that records the full approval history of the
work, including any backward steps through the approval cycle
A Rev-Trac request should not be confused with an SAP transport
request. However, a Rev-Trac request does typically contains links to one
or more SAP transport requests.
Rev-Trac
An add-on to SAP business intelligence systems that helps you develop
your system more safely and easily.
Rev-Trac lives inside SAP, like an SAP module, and continuously monitors
all changes in your SAP landscape. Rev-Trac intercepts every change and
requires the change maker to relate it to a business issue. Rev-Trac then
progresses each issue using a predefined approval and migration process.
Rev-Trac migration queue
Two different migration methods are available in Rev-Trac.
One method migrates transports immediately using a foreground (dialog)
process.
The other method, known as queued migration, migrates transports in a
two-step process.
In the first step, users add transports to a list maintained in Rev-Trac
known as the Rev-Trac migration queue.
In the second step, Rev-Trac's batch migration utility migrates items in the
Rev-Trac migration queue to their destinations. This utility is usually
scheduled to run in the background.
The Rev-Trac migration queue should not be confused with the SAP
import buffer.
Rev-Trac user
An SAP user who has been defined as in Rev-Trac configuration as a
Rev-Trac user, and who has adequate authorisation to perform this role.
All SAP users may view Rev-Trac requests, but only Rev-Trac users may
create, change or sign such requests.
Glossary
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Glossary
Glossary
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