SAP R/3 for Everyone: Step-by-Step Instructions, Practical Advice, and Other Tips and Tricks for Working with SAP

The filtering function edits the contents of line-item reports and shortens them by removing rows that contain certain data values, or filtering criteria, in specified columns.

You can filter a report whenever you see the Threshold button (also called the Set filter button on some screens) in the application toolbar of the output screen of a report (Figure 14.9). To start this procedure, click the header of the column that contains the filtering criteria to select and highlight it, then click this button.

Figure 14.9. Click the Threshold button to start the process of filtering line-item reports.

This action calls up the Determine values for filter criteria screen (Figure 14.10), which contains data entry fields for each filtering criteria that you want to apply to the report. You can search for and enter codes and texts in these fields, attach selection options to them, and enter multiple codes and ranges, by following the procedures that were described in Part III of this book.

Figure 14.10. Enter your filter criteria on the Determine values for filter criteria screen as you would enter them on any initial screen.

The base of the filter screen contains a row of command buttons, including the Enter button (A), which has the same effect as hitting the Enter key on your keyboard, and the Cancel button (B), which erases the screen and returns you to the main screen. You can delete one filtering criterion by clicking inside one of its data entry fields and then clicking the Delete row button (C), or you can delete all the filtering criteria on the screen by simply clicking the Delete button (D).

Don't see the Threshold button on your screen? Follow the menu path Settings > Options to call up the Options screen (Figure 14.11), select the Expert mode option (A) and hit the Enter key on your keyboard.

Figure 14.11. You must select the Expert mode option on the Options screen in order to see the Threshold button on the output screen.

We now illustrate the filtering of line-item reports with two examples.

Example 1: Filtering the Line-item Report of the IH08 Transaction

Once again, we use the output of the IH08 transaction, which displays data about equipment, to demonstrate the procedure for filtering a line-item report. The report is generated by a list-display transaction, and it was originally set up to display data on every pump operated and maintained by a physical plant (Figure 14.12).

Figure 14.12. The unfiltered output of the IH08 transaction.

Suppose we want to limit this line-item report to all those pumps in our plant that cost between $1,000 and $2,000. We can edit it along those lines by following this next procedure.

Procedure: Filtering a Line-item Report

Step 1.

Click the header of the Acquisition value column (A) to select and highlight it, then click the Threshold button (B).

Step 2.

The Determine values for filter criteria screen appears with data entry fields for the acquisition value (Figure 14.13).

  • Enter 1000 in the first field and 2000 in the second field. Do not use commas or dollar signs.

  • Hit the Enter key on your keyboard.

Figure 14.13. Filtering the report to limit it to pumps with acquisition values of $1,000 to $2,000.

Step 3.

The line-item report returns, and now displays only the data for pumps with an acquisition value of $1,000 to $2,000 (Figure 14.14). A small icon also appears in the header of the Acquisition value column (A) to indicate that the report is filtered according to the contents of that column.

Figure 14.14. The filtered output of the IH08 transaction.

Suppose we want to further limit this report to all pumps that were constructed after 2001. We would continue in this way:

Step 4.

Click the header of the Construction year column (Figure 14.14B) to select and highlight it, then click the Threshold button (C).

Step 5.

The Determine values for filter criteria screen returns with a second set of data entry fields for the construction year (Figure 14.15A).

  • Double-click inside the first of the two Construction year fields to call up the Maintain Selection Option screen (see Figure 12.3 on page 144), and double-click the green greater than (>) option to attach it to the Construction year fields (B).

  • Enter 2001 in the first Construction year field.

  • Hit the Enter key on your keyboard.

    Figure 14.15. Adding a second filter to the output of the IH08 transaction, this time using a selection option.

Step 6.

The line-item report returns, and now displays only the data for those pumps that were acquired after 2001 at a cost of $1,000 to $2,000 (Figure 14.16).

Figure 14.16. The twice-filtered output of the IH08 transaction.

Example 2: Filtering the Line-item Report of the Cost Center A/P/V Transaction

We return to the output of the Cost Center Actual/Plan/Variance (A/P/V) transaction (Figure 14.17) to demonstrate the use of a second filtering screen that you may encounter in some modules.

Figure 14.17. The default output of the Cost Center Actual/Plan/Variance transaction. Notice that there are positive and negative dollar values in the Abs var column.

We filter this line-item report according to the contents of the Abs variance column (A), which shows the numerical differences between the actual and planned costs of cost elements. Notice that some of the values in this column are positive, and some are negative. We can apply a filter to the report that removes those line items with variance values less than $5,000, regardless of whether they are positive or negative, by following this next procedure.

Procedure: Filtering Positive and Negative Values in a Line-item Report 1

Step 1.

Click the header of the Abs var column to select and highlight it (Figure 14.17A), then click the Threshold button (B).

Step 2.

The Maintain Threshold Value Conditions for Selection 001 screen appears (Figure 14.18). It contains two sets of identical field areas in which you can apply one or two filters. We use the first set of field areas in the top half of the screen to apply one filter in this procedure.

Figure 14.18. The Maintain Threshold Value Conditions screen contains field areas for two separate filters. We use it to apply one filter to the report.

  • Select the Active option (A) to activate the top filter.

Step 3.

Enter the greater than or equal to (>=) condition code in the Condition field (B) by doing the following.

  • Click inside the field to call up the Threshold value condition search screen (Figure 14.19).

    Figure 14.19. Select a condition code from this screen.

  • Double-click the greater than or equal to condition code (A), and it is entered in the Condition field (Figure 14.18B).

Step 4.

Enter 5000 (again, without a dollar sign or comma) in the Threshold value field (Figure 14.18C).

Step 5.

Verify that the correct filtering column is entered in the Ref column field (D). If it is not, click its search button to call up a list of columns, and double-click the correct one to enter it there.

Step 6.

Select the Ignore +/- sign option (E). This action sets the filter to remove all line items with variances less than $5,000 whether they are positive or negative.

Step 7.

Hit the Enter key on your keyboard to return to the output screen, where the filter is now applied to the line-item report (Figure 14.20). Notice that a filter icon (A) is attached to the header of the Abs var column.

Figure 14.20. The filtered output of the Cost Center Actual/Plan/Variance transaction, with all line items with variances less than $5,000 removed.

Once you apply a filter by this procedure, you can remove it by recalling the Maintain Threshold Value Conditions screen and deselecting the Active option (Figure 14.18A).

Example 3: Filtering Positive and Negative Values on the Usual Filter Screen

The Maintain Threshold Value Conditions for Selection 001 screen (Figure 14.18) is associated with only a few output screens in SAP. However, it is quite convenient for filtering numerical data with both positive and negative values, thanks to the Ignore +/- option.

You may encounter positive and negative numerical values on other line-item reports where you have the usual Determine values for filter criteria screen at your disposal for filtering them. In these cases, filtering positive and negative numerical values is a little more cumbersome.

For example, consider the example of the line-item report on the Display Actual Cost Line Items for Orders screen (Figure 14.21). This report contains the Val in rep cur column (A), which displays both positive (credit) and negative (debit) dollar values. If you want to filter this report according to the contents of this column, you will find that the Determine values for filter criteria screen contains data entry fields for these dollar values, but no handy Ignore +/- option (Figure 14.22).

Figure 14.21. The line-item report of the Display Actual Cost Line Items for Order screen contains the Val in rep cur column, where you will find positive and negative dollar values.

Figure 14.22. Use the multiple selection screen of the Val in rep cur fields to filter a data column of positive and negative values.

To apply a filter to these dollar values that takes into account their positive and negative values, you must use the multiple selection option on the Determine values for filter criteria screen.

For example, if we wanted to apply the same filter that we used in the previous example, we could click the multiple selection button for the Val in rep cur fields on the filter screen (Figure 14.22A) to call up a multiple selection screen (Figure 14.23), and then do the following.

  • Click the green Single vals tab (Figure 14.23A).

  • Enter 5000 in the first field of that screen, and attach a greater than or equal to selection option to it. This action filters out all positive values less than $5,000.

  • Enter -5000 in the second field of that screen, and attach a less than or equal to selection option to it. This action filters out all negative values greater than $5,000 (that is, between 0 and -5000).

  • Hit the Copy button (B) to save your entries and return to the Determine values for filter criteria screen.

  • Hit the Enter key on your keyboard to save your filter and return to the output screen, where the data would be filtered.

Figure 14.23. Setting up the multiple selection screen to filter out dollar values less than $5,000, whether they are positive or negative.

We could also set up the multiple selection screen in this way (Figure 14.24):

  • Click the red Interval tab (A).

  • Enter -5000 and 5000 in the first line of paired fields. This action filters out all values within this range.

  • Hit the Copy button (B) to save your entries and return to the Determine values for filter criteria screen.

  • Hit the Enter key on your keyboard to save your filter and return to the output screen, where the data would be filtered.

Figure 14.24. Setting up the multiple selection screen to filter out dollar values between -$5,000 and $5,000.

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