Hierarchy
EA-FIN (Software Component) EA-FIN⤷
RE-FX (Application Component) Flexible Real Estate Management⤷
RE_CA_CU (Package) RE: Customizing (IMG) and Area Menu
IMG Activity
| ID | REFX_KO | Correspondence |
| Transaction Code | S_ALN_01000692 | (empty) |
| Created on | 20020125 | |
| Customizing Attributes | REFX_KO | Correspondence |
| Customizing Activity |
Document
| Document Class | SIMG | Hypertext: Object Class - Class to which a document belongs. |
| Document Name | REFX_KO |
Use
In Flexible Real Estate Management, two different types of correspondence are supported. Depending on your needs, you can use these two types together or separately.
- Correspondence using PDF-based forms is the more powerful of the two types, and the only one which allows mass printing.
- Correspondence using an office application enables you to create single documents using your accustomed word processing software (such as Microsoft Word).
In addition to the output of documents related to contracts, both types of correspondence support document output for real estate objects, such as business entity, rental object and architectural object.
Both types allow you to store and retrieve documents in the system with a link to the business object (contract or real estate object).
The following brief explanation of the basic functions of these two correspondence types is intended to help you decide which better suits your needs.
1. Correspondence Using PDF-Based Forms
PDF-based forms do not provide word processing in the usual sense. Instead they define the layout, output characteristics, and so on, of templates. During the output activity, documents are generated based on these templates, but documents are not directly edited. PDF-based forms are cross-client transport objects.
Advantages:
- PDF-based forms enable high-performance mass printing (also as batch processing) with optional document archiving using the SAP ArchiveLink interface.
- Within the range of typical real estate correspondence, there are almost no limitations on retrieval and output of application data. Output of data in table form is directly supported. Enhancements (without needing to write program code) are also supported for determining, calculating and outputting your own user-defined data.
- You have flexible, automatic control of the documents that are created for each business partner (role). (These are known as correspondence activities.)
- E-mail and fax are supported, dependent on the settings of the business partner.
- There is excellent integration in the development landscape, such as transport connection, translation tools, and so on.
Disadvantages:
- You cannot change a document once it is created. However, this is reduced somewhat by the fact that before you create a document you can copy any section of the text into a text editor. This text is then output in the correct place in the template. This procedure is suitable for short pieces of correspondence such as a general letter, but not for a complicated contract with many unique text passages.
SAP provides PDF-based sample forms in Flexible Real Estate Management starting in ERP 2005. PDF-based forms are the type of form now recommended. They replace the functions previously covered by SAP Smart Forms, which were used up to now. If you created your own Smart Forms in earlier releases, you can continue to use your existing Smart Forms without making any changes to them. However, if you want to set up new forms, you have to use PDF-based forms. The sample forms for Smart Forms that were delivered in Flexible Real Estate Management up to and including ERP 2004 are frozen at the level of Release ERP 2004, and will not be developed further.
2. Correspondence Using an Office Application
The office applications supported are Microsoft ® Word (starting with the Word 97 version) and Ami Pro ®. The office application has to be installed on the desktop. Using the SAP GUI for Windows is required, since communication with the office application is not supported in the SAP GUI for HTML and SAP GUI for the Java Environment. Due to the attributes of the standard content model, the templates are client-dependent and have to be transported manually.
The main limitation of this correspondence type is that the options for transferring application data to the office application are limited. It is only possible to transfer a flat structure of individual fields for each document, so that tables with a flexible number of lines are not supported. For example, it is not possible to display invoice items or to show the service charge keys in the attachment for service charge settlement. The number of potential fields that can be output is limited to 1024.
Advantages:
- Since you use standard word processing, you need less time and energy for setting up and learning to use the correspondence functions.
- You can use your existing sample letters directly as templates. Flexible text modules are replaced by Mail Merge fields.
- Immediately after you create a document, you can change it using the functions of the word processing program before it is printed or stored. This is especially useful for individual contract forms that need to be changed considerably.
- You can change stored documents at a later date and store the new version under a new number.
Disadvantages:
- Data transfer to the office applications is technically limited (see above).
- Batch processing and automatic creation of multiple documents is not possible. Only single print is possible, and you have to execute it from the RE Navigator.
- The office application (Microsoft Word or Ami Pro) has to be installed locally. SAP GUI for Windows is mandatory.
For more information on correspondence using an office application, see Basic Settings and Document Templates
Business Attributes
| ASAP Roadmap ID | 203 | Establish Master Data |
| Mandatory / Optional | 3 | Nonrequired activity |
| Critical / Non-Critical | 2 | Non-critical |
| Country-Dependency | A | Valid for all countries |
Assigned Application Components
| Documentation Object Class | Documentation Object Name | Current line number | Application Component | Application Component Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SIMG | REFX_KO | 0 | ALN0000038 | Correspondence |
Maintenance Objects
| Maintenance object type |
History
| Last changed by/on | SAP | 20101217 |
| SAP Release Created in | 110 |
