SAP ADOBE FORM BASICS

© 2005 IBM Corporation

IBM India Pvt. Ltd.

Confidential | 24.06.07 © 2006 IBM Corporation

ADOBE PRINT FORMS

Hemant Sharma

SAP ABAP - E61

IBM India Private Limited

Adobe Print Forms | Confidential | Hemant Sharma © 2006 IBM Corporation 2

ABAP Programming Background

Knowledge of SAPscript / SmartForms (Recommended)

Adobe Live Cycle Designer

SAP ECC5.0 (or higher)

Adobe Reader (7.0 or above)

Required and Reccommended :



Transaction SFP



Tools Involved :

Interface

Form Template (Context and

Layout)



Interface

Defines which data a program can possibly pass on to a form.

Contains Global data and initialization coding

Is reusable (a repository object)



Interface



Interface

Import and Export Parameters

Import parameters can be passed

from the application program to the

form at runtime, and vice versa for

Export parameters.

Exceptions

These can be raised in ABAP

Coding of the form.

(The exception is actually raised in

the generated Function Module)



Interface

Global definitions

Global Fields (Data)

Field Symbols

Global Types



Interface

Initialization

Initialization is the ONLY time when ABAP coding can be executed.

Both input and output parameters are passed by reference, therefore the changes are

permanent.

The system fields need not be declared but can be used directly.



Interface

Form Routines

Here, we define the subroutines declared in the Code Initialization part.



Interface

Currency and Quantity Fields

ABAP distinguishes between the internal and external representation of

currencies and quantities.

Whether or not decimals are included in the output format depends upon the

Reference field of the amount.

Since SAP Netweaver’04, a reference field should explicitly be given for all

currency and quantity fields which are to be printed in the form.

1000 10.00 USD ?

1000 JPY ??



Form Template

Properties

Context

Layout



Form Template : Properties Tab

Description of the form

Name of the interface to be used

(Double click to display / change)



Form Template : Context

The context area

contains those

elements which will

be available in the

layout.

These fields are a

subset of the interface

and can include

additional elements

like graphics and

texts.




Drag and drop the

required fields

Create folders

Add Text nodes,

Graphics, Address

nodes and

Alternate Nodes

etc.

Set various nodes

to Active or

Deactivate state.




Creating Text

Modules

Create a Text Module

using transaction

SMARTFORMS

Include in the context

by creating a text node

and assigning the Text

module to the node.



Form Template : Layout

On choosing the

Layout tab ,

Designer is called

up.

Designer workspace

consists of 4 main

areas :

Layout Editor

Palette Window (2)

Script Editor




Data View and Hierarchy

Palettes

Data View palette displays all

active context nodes .

The Hierarchy palette shows in a

tree everything that has been

included in the layout.




Library palette lists all the various objects which can be included (by dragging and dropping) on the form pages, like Date and Time fields, Page number, Geometric objects like rectangles, lines etc.

Font and Paragraph palettes allow adjustments to text fields or static objects.

Border palette helps determine the edges and/or background fills. Layout palette allows to position and resize the object. For dynamic texts, the Expand to Fit option prevents truncation of

dynamic text. Object palette includes the Field, Value and Binding tabs.




Master Page Every form layout

contains at least one master page.

Static objects are

usually put on a master page, which appear on the resulting page at runtime

Page orientation and size is decided in the Object palette of the master page.




Master Page : Content Area

The Content Area defines the size

to be used for dynamic output.

Content areas can be included

ONLY on the Master Page.




Master Page : Multiple Master Pages




Body Pages

Dynamic Content is wrapped up in

Body pages.

It uses the space provided by a

content area.

The content can flow to the next

page (In the next content area), if

at runtime, the space in a body

page is not sufficient.




Body Pages : When should you insert a new body page?

When you want to make clear that a new page starts here (make

sure to say so!)

When you want to make sure you want to lay down a Subform on a

particular master page




Subforms They are placeholders for grouping several objects. Can be laid down only in the content area of a master

page. If of type Position Content, objects of subforms can

be laid down at their exact position at runtime. (Hierarchy position of objects not relevant for layout position)

If of type Flow Content, the objects will follow each

other, depending on which space they require at runtime.

Contents of subform can be protected against page

break. Two consecutive subforms can be protected against

page break.




When to include Subforms ??

if you want to output the element

repeatedly (type Flow Content)

if you want to visually group

objects

if you want to keep objects

together (protect them against

page break)

if you want to hide several

elements at once (scripting

required)




Including Tables

The Body Page main subform

Content property must be set

to Flowed.

If this is not done, we will not

have multiple pages print out!




Creating Tables

Drag and drop a table (an internal table) from the Data View to the Layout Editor.

Deactivate the fields which are not be used in the Form Context.

2 subforms are created : outer and inner subforms.




Tables : Creating Header

In the Hierarchy, mark the outer subform and choose the Insert Subform option from the context menu.

Set the subform type to Flow Content and set Flow Direction to Header.

Insert one static text into subform for every column Enter text and set details like height, shading and frames etc.

Deselect Repeat Subform for header.

Set same margins as for the table.




Table : Body Rows

Table body rows are bound to the data in the table.




Necessary steps to make sure internal table is printed as a form table :

Check that the outer subform is of type Flow Content with Flow Direction

set to Table.

Deselect Repeat Subform for each data Item.

If all the content should be printed one page, deselect Allow Page Breaks

within Content option. In case of insufficient space on current page, an

automatic page break is inserted and table starts on the next page.

Make sure that the inner subform is of type Flow Content with Flow

Direction set to Table Row.

Deselect Allow Page Breaks within Content option.




Scripting

Scripts can be attached with all kind of non-static objects (i.e. apart form content areas, static texts and images and graphical elements).

Scripting can access ALL objects of form including the static ones.

Can be done either in Java Script or in Adobe’s FormCalc.

We can choose between different events to determine when the coding will be executed.

Goto C:\Program Files\Adobe\Designer 7.0\Documentation\EN\FormCalc.pdf for a reference to FormCalc language reference.




Suggested Approach

Create the master page first.

Look for data that belongs to the background of the page

Set your content area

Divide the form information / data into

Header (master page)

Form content (body page)

Footer (master page)



Online help

http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw04/helpdata/en/c8/4adf7ba13c4ac1b460

0d4df15f8b84/content.htm

http://help.sap.com/saphelp_erp2005vp/helpdata/en/9e/f9cc9f942a4359

91f4f9e08cce1876/frameset.htm

C:\Program Files\Adobe\Designer 7.0\Documentation\EN\Designer.chm

http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw04/helpdata/en/c8/4adf7ba13c4ac1b4600d4df15f8b84/content.htm

http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw04/helpdata/en/c8/4adf7ba13c4ac1b4600d4df15f8b84/content.htm

http://help.sap.com/saphelp_erp2005vp/helpdata/en/9e/f9cc9f942a435991f4f9e08cce1876/frameset.htm

http://help.sap.com/saphelp_erp2005vp/helpdata/en/9e/f9cc9f942a435991f4f9e08cce1876/frameset.htm



THAT’S IT !!



QUESTIONS ??



THANKS A LOT !!

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SAP ADOBE FORM BASICS