Adding functions to events using CRMV_EVENT

Another great tool to influence the system is adding Callback Functions in

CRMV_EVENT. This is a totally different mechanism from last weeks' IC Event
mechanism.
The similarity between the two is that both enable you to add custom coding
to standard. The difference is that IC events occur because they are raised in
specific coding (can be anytime), while the events available in CRMV_EVENT
are always triggered from an operation on a oneorder object (where a
oneorder object can be a salesorder, activity, service order, etc etc.).
The transaction
Let's take a look at the transaction CRMV_EVENT.

In the top there is a 'Read This Information' button, which actually contains
valuable information.
In the next block, called Assignments, you can see 5 fields, where the last
field is the Callback field. This field contains the functionmodule to be called,
and the 4 fields above are the determination fields. So logically explained, if
the situation occurs where the 4 fields are true, the funtion in the callback
field is called.
In the next block, called Definitions, you can find the customizing of the
Events, Objects etc which are used for the determination. Under normal
circumstances, there is no need to adjust anything here, except in the
Object Function / Callback option. Here, you are able to add a custom Zfunction, which you can then use in the Assignments. I will show this later.

The last block called 'Checks' is a report that tells you which functions will be
called for a specific transaction type or item type. This basically is a report
that helps you determine which functions are raised.
Instead of adding entries to CRMV_EVENT as described here, it's probably
better to add the callback function in transaction SM30 -->
CRMV_EVENT_CUST, or via the IMG (SPRO-->CRM-->Transactions-->Basic
Settings-->Edit Event Handler Table). The result will be the same, but this is
probably a more upgrade-proof solution.
Example
Let's say you want a certain field to be occupied with a certain value based
on certain values in the transaction. You could then build a function where
you first do a CRM_ORDER_READ (reads from the buffer, so pretty quick),
followed by your logic and a CRM_ORDER_MAINTAIN to update the
document. It is not recommended to add a commit in a function that is
called by an event. Add this function to the object on event '78 Before
Saving'.
The Attribute field

The attribute field can be used to

filter on a specific attribute value. For instance, if you use object STATUS,
you can add value E0004 as a value in the attribute field, so the function is
only called if the status has been changed to 'E0004'. The attribute field
cannot be used on all processing times (for instance not on the save).
Be careful
Events in CRMV_EVENTS is a powerful tool. You can implement all kind of
logic. Be aware of performance though, because if you add a lot of logic on
for instance time 1 (immediately), your logic will be processed on every
change (not saved, but changed). Of course, there are examples where this
is needed (take a look at what standard SAP has on time Immediately), but
be cautious. Also, be aware of nesting your function (for instance if you
implement a change of the document in your function and schedule your
function on change of the document...).