ATC - Exemption Part3 PDF

9/19/2019 Know Every Aspect of the ATC Transport Block Scenario and Exemption Workflow: Part 3
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Know Every Aspect of the ATC Transport Block Scenario and

Exemption Workflow: Part 3
by Sapna Modi, SAP Practice Unit & Key Accounts Automation Champion, L&T Infotech Ltd (LTI)
April 27, 2017

See how to use the transport block and exemption workflow features of the SAP NetWeaver ABAP Test Cockpit (ATC). Obtain insight
into the applicability of these features in different project scenarios.
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The SAP NetWeaver ABAP Test Cockpit (ATC) enables the control of the quality of the ABAP portfolio so that it is secure, safe,
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and compliant with SAP best practices. The intent is to ensure the safety of the production system from any unseen downtime or
performance issues due to custom programs. ATC is an SAP NetWeaver feature available from enhancement package 2 for
SAP NetWeaver 7.0 with Support Package Stack 12. Wednesday, November 13
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This is part 3 of my three-article series on ATC. Part 1 covers details of the ATC setup, usage scenarios, and insight from my
to SAP S/4HANA - Milan
experiences. Part 2 covers customization of an ATC check variant and its transport, ATC reporting, and the feature of mass
deletion for ATC results. In this part, I explain the transport-block and exemption-workflow features in depth.
Wednesday, November 20
Automatic Transport-Block Scenario
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In ATC, you can automatically block a transport request if it contains a program with ATC errors. To do so, follow the steps
Core and Intelligent Platform Built on
outlined in the next section.
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1. In the development system, go to transaction code ATC by using admin access. Click Setup > Configure ATC and go into
change mode by clicking the edit (pencil) icon, which takes you to Figure 1. After this setup, ATC checks transports moving out Tuesday, December 10
of the development system.
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See more »
Figure 1
Transport-block setup option
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have ABAP objects with ATC errors in them. To proceed, go to the Behavior on Release
Read more drop-down menu shown in the
https://sapinsider.wispubs.com/Assets/Articles/2017/April/SPJ-Know-Every-Aspect-of-the-ATC-Transport-Block-Scenario-and-Exemption-Workflow-Part-3 1/11
9/19/2019 Transport Tool Integration section in Figure 1. Select
KnowtheEvery
BlockAspect
on anyof the ATC
error Transport
(priority Block
1 and 2)Scenario and option.
drop-down Exemption Workflow:
This means Part
the 3
release of a transport request is blocked from transporting objects that have priority 1 or 2 ATC errors.
When the transport-block option is selected as shown in Figure 1, in the next drop-down select the option Code Inspector
Behavior on Release with the value Disable “Code Inspector” as test driver, as shown in Figure 2. This is the preferred
combination of values for the transport-block scenario.
Figure 2
Transport-block option with the Code Inspector setting
3. An additional setting is required in the global transport settings of the system to implement the transport-block scenario in the
ATC setup. For that, go to transaction code SE03. Follow menu path Transport Organizer Tools > Administration > Global
Customizing (Transport Organizer). That takes you to Figure 3.
Figure 3
Setting for checking options on transport release
4. Select the Globally Activated radio button under the Check Objects when Request Released section as shown in Figure 3.
Click the save icon to save this setting. This is a mandatory setting for the ATC transport-block scenario to work.
(Note: The ATC automatic transport-block scenario works well even in the case of a project setup when Change Request
Management [ChaRM] is active. In this case, ChaRM must have been implemented via Solution Manager for those managed
systems to have this ATC transport-block scenario active. However, the ATC transport block doesn’t work for the transport of
copies. A large-scale implementation project, which generally uses transports of copies, is not able to leverage the automatic or
manual blocking options for transporting copies. ATC functionality is available only for transport requests.)
5. Now you can test the transport-block scenario. To do so, in the development system go to transaction code SE09 as shown in
Figure 4. Give the user name for the user-specific transport check. Select the appropriate Request Type check box(es) (e.g., in
this case,
Please note Customizing
that we Requests
use cookies and Workbench
to enhance Requests).
your browsing Click the
experience. By Display button.
continuing to use this site, you agree to our use of cookies and our Privacy Policy. I accept
Read more
Figure 4
Transaction code SE09 for transports
6. For the given user, the transport requests are shown on the next screen in Figure 5. Select the transport request that requires
release. First release its task by clicking the release directly truck icon. Then select the transport of this task and click the
release directly truck icon as shown in Figure 5.
Figure 5
Transport release
7. A pop-up appears for the objects of the requests that have ATC run issues, as shown in Figure 6. This pop-up shows that
objects have errors and hence the transport can’t be released. Click the Display button to see the error details.
Figure 6
ATC transport block pop-up with error
8. The error summary table opens as shown in Figure 7. Click the continue icon to continue.
Figure 7
ATC errors in transport objects
9. As there are errors, the transport is not released. The system allows release once all the objects under the transport are
rectified either by ABAP code changes or by pseudo-comments.
See the section “Applicability of the Automatic ATC Transport-Block Scenario” at the end of this article for scenarios showing the
applicability of a transport-block scenario in different kinds of SAP projects.
Manual Transport-Block Scenario

In the case of a manual transport-block scenario, no additional setting is required in the development system. It works based on
the local setup of basic ATC configuration. It is mentioned in detail in “Local Setup in the Development System” in part 1 of this
article series.
10. To perform a manual transport-block scenario, execute step 5. In the next screen, select the transport task that requires an
ATC check. Click the Check Objects button as shown in Figure 8.
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Read more
Figure 8
Manual ATC check on transport objects
11. An ATC check is performed on the objects of the transport request and the results are shown in the pop-up in Figure 9. As
there are ATC errors reported, the technical lead or quality lead can opt to stop the release of the transport request. In this case,
this blocking of the transport request is manual and it is up to the technical lead or quality lead to either hold or allow the
transport release.
Figure 9
ATC results screen
Exemption-Workflow Scenario
There is a provision for approval workflow in ATC features. This workflow is for ATC errors exemptions by technical leads or
managers. There can be genuine reasons why ATC errors in the programs cannot be removed. In such cases, program
rectification or use of pseudo-comments for ATC errors may not be required.
In such situations, the program quality team can either allow the manual ignoring of such errors during manual review of the ATC
errors or these errors can be ignored via the system using exemption workflows.
In this workflow, once an ATC error is approved by the predefined approver, then the ATC run is scheduled for those programs.
In this case, those approved errors don’t appear in the error list. On the contrary, if an ATC error is rejected by an approver then
that error continues to be part of the ATC errors’ list.
To enable the exemption workflow in the system (either for local development system errors or for central quality or test system
errors), enable the exemption option in the ATC setup. Select the appropriate ATC results to be used in the exemption workflow
(either local or central). For this, follow menu path ATC transaction > Configure ATC option. These settings are present under
the Exemption section. For the central results exemption workflow, information about the master system (system ID and Remote
Function Call [RFC]) are mandatory in this setup. Details of these steps are explained in part 1 of this series.
12. Once the prerequisite steps are done, then you can maintain the list of approvers in the ATC setup. This article discusses
workflow specific to local results (the development system). In the development system, go to transaction code ATC using admin
access. Click the Maintain Approvers node under Exemptions.
13. That takes you to a pop-up for maintaining a list of approvers as shown in Figure 10. Press search help (F4) in the Approver
column on a new line.
Figure 10
List of approvers
14. From the search help pop-up, find the approver so that it can be added to list. In this example, enter the search term and
click the start search checkmark icon as shown in Figure 11.
Read more
Figure 11
Find the exemption approvers
15. The results appear (Figure 12). Select the User Name and click the continue icon.
Figure 12
The approver user is displayed after the search
16. The user is added to the list of approvers. Press Enter and the system adds the other details, such as Name and Authority
Check information. Click the continue icon as shown in Figure 13. This adds an approver to the exemption workflow feature.
Figure 13
An approver is added to the list
17. To test this workflow on a program, go to transaction code SE38. Give the name of the program you want to test for an ATC
quality check (in this case, ZSOLMAN_INCLIST, as shown in Figure 14).
Figure 14
Please note
SE38that we use cookies
transaction withtotest
enhance your browsing
program name experience. By continuing to use this site, you agree to our use of cookies and our Privacy Policy. I accept
Read Read more

more
18. Click the Program menu item in Figure 14 and then click the Check > ABAP Test Cockpit (ATC) option.
9/19/2019 19. In the results screen, all the ATC errors for thisKnow Every
program Aspect
are of the
shown. ATC
You Transport
can Block Scenario
see in Figure 15 thatand Exemption
there Workflow:
are many priorityPart
2 3
and 3 errors. Double-click one of the errors, which opens the error Details screen at the bottom (Figure 16).
Figure 15
ATC results screen
Figure 16
ATC error detail screen
20. To apply an exemption for this error, click the Apply for an Exemption link at the bottom of the screen as shown in Figure 16.
There are other details such as error Check Title, Check Message, and Line Number where the error occurred in the program. It
also mentions a pseudo-comment, which if inserted into a program at the end of the mentioned line number suppresses this ATC
error.
A regular comment in an ABAP program is used to write an informative statement on what that part of the code is doing,
whereas a pseudo-comment is used for suppressing an ABAP program error without any review or rectification. A pseudo-
comment is bypassed by ATC checks. However, the use of a pseudo-comment is not recommended by SAP technical experts.
Rather SAP encourages the development team to either rectify the ABAP program, manually ignore it based on the right
justification, or ignore it based on ATC exemption workflow functionality.
21. An exemption pop-up opens. Change the exemption restriction values if required in this screen. Click the Continue button as
shown in Figure 17.
Read more
Figure 17
ATC errors request exemption window
22. In the next screen, to select the approver, click the search help icon (or F4 help) as shown in Figure 18.
Figure 18
Approver selection in the request exemption screen
23. In the output, the earlier added approver appears. Select this approver by double-clicking it as shown in Figure 19.
Figure 19
Select the approver from the F4 help output list
24. Give the reason and then enter the justification for that reason. Select the On Approval or On Rejection notification option for
email and click the Complete button as shown in Figure 20.
Please note that20

Figure we use cookies to enhance your browsing experience. By continuing to use this site, you agree to our use of cookies and our Privacy Policy. I accept
Approval request reason and justification Read more
9/19/2019 25. Once the Complete button is clicked, an error message
Know Every Aspectisofshown
pop-up the ATC(Figure
Transport Block
21). Scenario
It says andthe
as per Exemption
four-eyeWorkflow: Part 3
principle,
the same user cannot be both the developer and the approver. Governance is built in the exemption workflow. Click the continue
icon in this pop-up.
Figure 21
Four-eye principle violation error
Go back to steps 12 through 16 to add another user as an approver in another session.
26. Once another approver is added in the ATC system, select the approver for this error exemption. In the approver selection
search help output, now two approvers are shown in Figure 22. Select the newly added approver by double-clicking it.
Figure 22
Approver selection pop-up
27. In the next screen, add the Reason and Justification and select the On Approval or On Rejection notification option for email
as shown in Figure 23. Click the Complete button. This time the system allows this exemption request.
Figure 23
ATC approval request pop-up details
28. In this way an exemption has been requested by a developer for a priority 2 error. Now, the approver needs to either approve
or reject this exemption request. To do so, go to transaction code ATC of the development system and select the Exemption
Browser node. In this example, a local request is covered (refer to step 12). Hence, the approver goes to the ATC transaction of
the development system.
29. In the next screen, click the execute icon as shown in Figure 24 to see the list of all the exemption requests shown in Figure
25.
Read more
Figure 24
ATC exemption browser selection screen
30. In the next screen, click the display/change (pencil) icon as shown in Figure 25.
Figure 25
Approval/Rejection exemption screen
31. In change mode, the Approve and Reject buttons are enabled. If the justification provided in the ATC error looks genuine,
then approval can be given. In this example, click the Approve button to approve this error exemption as shown in Figure 26.
Figure 26
Approve the exemption request
32. Once approval is given, the error is suppressed by the system. To verify this, once again run the ATC check for the same
program following steps 17, 18, 19, and 20. In the output screen, the priority 2Read more
errors do not appear as shown in Figure 27. This
9/19/2019 was the error that was approved in the exemption steps.
Know Every Aspect of the ATC Transport Block Scenario and Exemption Workflow: Part 3
Figure 27
ATC exempted error has disappeared in the new ATC run post-approval step
Applicability of the Automatic ATC Transport-Block Scenario
The ATC transport-block scenario has the following use cases for different kinds of projects. It also depends on the ABAP
programming standards and governance decided by project governance and leadership teams.
A greenfield implementation project involves a first-time SAP production environment setup, which offers a perfect situation
for the use of the transport-block scenario. In this case, if the project governance team decides to carry only ATC error-free
objects in production, then it can leverage the automated transport-block scenario. This decision and the enablement of the
ATC setup should be up and running before the start of any kind of ABAP development objects.
An implementation project for an existing live SAP production, involving brand-new Reports, Interface, Conversion,
Enhancements, Forms and Workflow (RICEFW) developments, can leverage the transport-block feature. In this case, if the
governance body decides on a zero tolerance on priorities 1 and 2 ATC errors, then the ATC transport-block scenario works
perfectly. If such projects involve enhancement of existing old development objects, then those objects can be managed
under a particular package. This way it won’t burden the existing team with rectification of older ATC errors from such objects.
Any reused programs among brand-new development objects and the existing old programs would need clarity on
responsibility for their correction. The project governance team and project managers can decide who should do the
corrections in reused objects.
If the programming guidelines and skills of the team require a project not to consider such a zero-tolerance policy, then the
transport-block scenario is a hurdle. It unnecessarily adds a burden to the transport-release team as transports will never be
allowed due to the setup. For successful transport of such ATC erroneous objects, the ATC setup would need to change to relax
the related settings of the transport-block option.
In the case of production support, it is generally observed that the implementation team and support teams are different and
may even involve different IT vendors. In such a case, a transport-block scenario in ATC is not applicable. Support team
members are only responsible for the changes that they do in the ABAP programs. Hence this team is not responsible for
ATC errors that may already exist in these programs, although custom development could work out in this situation. Here the
requirement is that ATC should only show errors for the program versions after the date of support handover. SAP has shared
multiple constructors to meet such specific requirements in ATC. In conjunction with this custom development and suitable
ATC check variant customization specific to project needs, the transport-block scenario can be considered for production
support.
Concerned teams can be informed about the errors found as part of the transport block scenario for their review. They can either
rectify them or send them for exemption requests. The transport block scenario works successfully after their rectification or
exemption approval.
Sapna Modi
Sapna N. Modi has 13+ years of experience in the software
industry including SAP software in the areas of solution
architecture, consulting, presales, and project management.
Sapna has multiple SAP and non-SAP certifications. She is
an integral part of the team in setting up the SAP Solution
Manager practice at L&T Infotech (www.lntinfotech.com) and
has participated in consulting and advisory roles for multiple projects. She has
global exposure with experience in the US, Canada, Denmark, Sweden,
Germany, the Netherlands, and Kuwait. She is instrumental in and is dedicated
to an extreme automation initiative of SAP projects across verticals at L&T
Infotech (LTI). Her goal is to accomplish automation-driven efficient operations
and to formulate an automation platform for optimized TCO for customers as well
as for her organization. Her focus is on innovation to leverage SAP products and
non-SAP products involving Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Artificial
Intelligence (AI), and Machine Learning (ML) to help customers standardize their
portfolio so that it is simplified, automation ready, and able to easily migrate to
the SAP S/4HANA platform.
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9/19/2019 Know Every Aspect of the ATC Transport Block Scenario and Exemption Workflow: Part 3

FINANCIALS GRC HR SCM CRM BI HANA CLOUD ADMIN/DEV EMERGING TECH

Know Every Aspect of the ATC Transport Block Scenario and

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