SAP Notes, Support Pack, Patches

Courtsey: SAP Press

SAP provides several methods to correct errors that have occurred in your SAP system - Support Packs and SAP Notes. Support Packages correct all errors that have been identified within a specific time period in a system, whereas SAP Notes correct individual errors as they occur.

Main factors causing difficulties in Support Package Implementation are the:

• Downtime

• The time and effort necessary for testing, and

• Code freeze.

SAP Notes

If a specific problem occurs with the SAP ERP software and this problem is corrected, details of the correction are published in an SAP Note. The correction is also included in the next Support Package.

If the problem is particularly urgent, you may not be able to wait for the Support Package and will have to manually make the correction with the help of an SAP Note. SAP provides the SAP Note Assistant to enable customers to import SAP Notes. This tool considerably reduces the amount of manual work required to implement the Note and make modification adjustments later on.

Particularly important Notes—such as those about faults with serious consequences including system downtime and data inconsistencies— are classified as HotNews and are published on the SAP Service Marketplace.

SAP HotNews items are SAP customer Notes with Priority 1 (very high). These Notes contain the solutions to problems that could cause a system breakdown or data loss in the SAP system.

Support Pack

A Support Package contains a collection of error corrections. Support Packages can be imported only in their entirety and only in the specified order. Every correction in a Support Package is documented in a Note.

When a Support Package is imported, the system automatically checks whether you have previously implemented individual corrections from this Support Package in the form of Notes.

a. The system checks whether corrections that you have previously implemented via a Note have been overwritten by a Support Package that did not contain these corrections.

b. The system checks whether you have previously implemented individual corrections from the Support Package into your system via Notes.

Support packs are available for ABAP as well as JAVA. SAP provides a range of tools that make it easy and convenient for you to obtain Support Packages and import them automatically.

In contrast to ABAP, a Support Package does not just contain the changed objects, but all objects of a software component. Therefore, in Java, you only have to import the last Support Package; in ABAP, you have to import all predecessors in the correct sequence. This means that Java Support Packages are cumulative. The common file format is SCA, which is implemented using the Java Support Package Manager (JSPM).

Fixes

Fixes are full deliveries of a development component. In other words, they contain all objects of this particular development component. A fix is the smallest delivery unit of corrections and usually solves one specific problem. Fixes are provided only in emergency cases if an urgent preliminary correction is required before the next Support Package is available.

Patches

A patch is a modified Support Package. It contains the last regular Support Package and also all important and generally valid fixes that have been compiled since the release of the last Support Package. Just like a Support Package, a patch is a full delivery of a complete software component. The common file format is SCA. Patches are created by SAP on request and are published in the SAP Service Marketplace.