This post will help you determine the Table-Field or Table-Technical Name equivalent in SAP. This information is particularly useful when writing functional specifications and doing further analysis. This post will also include quick tips that answer related questions.
Throughout this post, you will notice that we will be using several approaches. This is good information [especially for beginners] that will (hopefully) help you understand the SAP system in other perspectives.
Overview
- A. How do I derive the table and logic arrangement for my functional specification?
- B. How do I come up with the Table and Technical Names?
- C. Can I search for other related tables in SE16N?
- D. Is there another way to view technical field names while on SE16N Search Result?
- E. How do you find the technical name and table from an SAP Transaction?
- F. Is there a way to find all tables involved for a certain field?
- Summary
I will be explaining mainly in context of writing a functional specification. Let us consider that we have an extremely simplified requirement from the business and that we need to come up with the functional specification details.
It would be ideal practice to clearly specify SAP related objects or include some technical aspects that will help the developer understand what needs to be done. This is where the basic “table-field” information can be useful.
I will start the discussion by sharing a question that was raised to me by a student.
A. How do I derive the table and logic arrangement for my functional specification?
Overall, the table and logic arrangement would primarily depend on the requirements / functionality that the business would need. It helps to list down the requirements / expected process in layman’s terms (simple terms) and then work your way to add some SAP terminologies as needed.
Extremely simple example: Business needs a custom report where the list of vendors, total purchase orders (PO), and field denoting the total amount of those PO’s.
1. You can start with the question “where is the data coming from? Is it already available in SAP?”
Most likely it is available because the business can already see the data, they just want it “organized”.
You can do a search of the 3 items to come up with the tables below.
A quick google search can also work “Vendor SAP Table” and “Purchase Order SAP Table”.
| Data | Table |
| Vendor | LFA1 / LFB1 / EKKO |
| PO | EKKO |
| Total Amount | EKKO |
LFA1 and LFB1 seems to have the vendor master data but the same number is also found in table EKKO. Because of that, I will just use EKKO. You will also notice that the same technical name is found for Vendor Number in tables LFA1, LFB1, and EKKO.
Now that you know where the data is coming from, you can think about how the flow should work.
2. Think about the simple / high-level process flow and logic
Example of “process” in layman’s terms:
- Get Vendor Number and Company Code
- Get linked Purchase Orders or PO’s to a Vendor Number for the specified month and fiscal year
- Count the linked PO results
- Compute the total amount of the linked PO results
3. You can now start adding necessary SAP terminologies to the flow and logic
Example of a more “in-depth” process:
- Get Vendor Number (EKKO-LIFNR) and Company Code (EKKO-BUKRS)
- Get linked Purchase Orders or PO’s (EKKO-EBELN) to a Vendor Number (EKKO-LIFNR) for the specified month and fiscal year* (EKKO-AEDAT)
- Consider Creation Date of the Purchase Order is in DD.MM.YYYY
- The custom report will cover MM and YYYY
- Count the linked PO results
- Store result in the custom field result
- Compute the total amount of the linked PO results (EKKO-RLWRT)
*Special logic needed to consider the specified month and fiscal year. When searching for the data, take note of the date parameters. Custom Report focuses on MM.YYYY while Standard SAP will consider DD.MM.YYYY range.
Feel free to add more insights such as the custom report name, expected transaction code, field / column names etc.
4. By now you can start thinking of more “business-centric” functionalities that they might need.
For example: To arrive with the data / results they need, they need to key in some search criteria.
- You can start to add fields that they need to arrive at the results
- Month
- Fiscal Year
- Vendor Number
- Company Code
- Etc.
This general explanation may vary for different scenarios, but it is a simple overview on how to get started. You may prefer different approaches or methods on how to come up with the logic.
This should simply give you an example and not necessarily restrict you from working with what’s best suited for you.
B. How did I come up with the Table and Technical Names?
SE16N is my friend. I look at the field name and refer to the Technical Name.
C. Can I search for other related tables in SE16N?
Yes, you can do a wildcard (*) search in SE16N. For example, I entered “EK*” and clicked on the double boxes or Extended Search Button (with binoculars).
Double box search result:
Extended Search Result (button with binoculars) as another option:
D. Is there another way to view technical field names while on SE16N Search Result?
Yes. Before clicking execute on SE16N, go to Extras > Change Settings
Select Technical Name as Column Heading then click on the Check button. Click Execute to proceed to the results.
Here you will find that the search results now show the Technical Field Names as heading.
E. How do you find the technical name and table from an SAP Transaction?
Go to the SAP Screen in concern, click on the specific field, and press F1 on your keyboard. You will see a Performance Assistance popup where you can click on the “tools” button / technical information.
My example below shows transaction code FB01 where I want to know where the Company Code field saves the data. What table and field?
After clicking on technical information, you will see the Table Name and Field Name. You now have your Table-Field mapping.
F. Is there a way to find all tables involved for a certain field?
This is a slightly more “technical” approach because we will be using Transaction Code SE84 “Object Navigator” to come up with the search result. Overall, this is tcode has multiple use cases where you can search for several SAP Objects.
In the screenshot below, I have clicked on ABAP Dictionary > Fields > Table Fields. By double-clicking on Table Fields folder, you should see the selection view on the right-hand side.
Simply key in the values you are looking for (more than one field is possible) and click Execute.
You should see a similar result below.
Summary
- A. How do I derive the table and logic arrangement for my functional specification?
- You can start with the question “where is the data coming from? Is it already available in SAP?”
- Think about the simple / high-level process flow and logic
- You can now start adding necessary SAP terminologies to the flow and logic
- By now you can start thinking of more “business-centric” functionalities that they might need.
- B. How do I come up with the Table and Technical Names? SE16N
- C. Can I search for other related tables in SE16N? Wildcard (*) Search
- D. Is there another way to view technical field names while on SE16N Search Result?
- SE16N, go to Extras > Change Settings then Select Technical Name as Column Heading
- E. How do you find the technical name and table from an SAP Transaction?
- Go to the transaction, position your cursor on the field (click on the field), then press F1 on your keyboard.
- In the popup screen, click on the “tools” button / technical information.
- F. Is there a way to find all tables involved for a certain field? SE84
I hope this helps. Good luck! 🙂
Techlorean. 