6/1/2021 Use of authorization group in materials management master data | SAP Blogs

Community

Ask a Question Write a Blog Post Login

Brian Atkinson
November 17, 2015 6 minute read

Use of authorization group in materials management master

data
Follow RSS feed Like

11 Likes 18,014 Views 0 Comments

Authorization Group

The four-character authorization group provides another level of protection to objects beyond permitted
activities (e.g., create, change, display, delete). To carry out an action against an object with authorization
group requires a user to have a role with maintained values for the combination of activity and authorization
group.

While authorization group functionality is the same in retail, terminology can di er. Di erences are
shown in brackets [ ]. E.g., material [article].

Use

In materials [articles] management master data, authorization group is checked with ve (5) authorization
objects:

1. M_MATE_MAR (Material [Article] Types)

2. M_MATE_WGR (Material Groups [Merchandise Categories])
3. M_MATE_MAT (Materials [Articles])
4. M_MATE_CHG (Batches/Trading Units)
5. M_MATE_CHP (Batch Record)

https://blogs.sap.com/2015/11/17/use-of-authorization-group-in-materials-management-master-data/ 1/12
6/1/2021 Use of authorization group in materials management master data | SAP Blogs

When performing authority checks against the above authorization objects, a value for data element BEGRU
(Authorization Group) is found in the below locations:

Authorization Object Table Field

M_MATE_MAR T134 BEGRU

M_MATE_WGR T023 BEGRU

M_MATE_MAT MARA BEGRU

M_MATE_CHG MARA BEGRU

M_MATE_CHP MARA BEGRU

Table 1: Authorization object to table/ eld mapping

Prerequisites

1. Gather information from the business on their security requirement(s) with regards to material [article]
master and/or batch records
2. Determine if authorization groups will be a solution for the requirement(s). If yes, then proceed.
3. Work with your SAP security administrator to understand existing activities that users have access to
with regard to material [article] master and/or batch records
4. Based on the business requirements and input from the security admin, put together a design that
covers the following, as needed:

Con guration
Development
Master data
Role maintenance / authorization objects

Appendix A shows a simple example of a matrix that might be used for authorization groups at a
material [article] type level. A similar matrix could be used for material groups [merchandise categories] or
materials [articles].

Setup
Authorization groups can be directly assigned to material [article] types and material groups [merchandise
categories] through con guration, and materials [articles] through maintenance of the material [article] master.
https://blogs.sap.com/2015/11/17/use-of-authorization-group-in-materials-management-master-data/ 2/12
6/1/2021 Use of authorization group in materials management master data | SAP Blogs

Batches rely on the authorization group assigned to the material [article] master.

One-time con guration may be needed to make authorization group visible on the material [article] master
screen. This is covered in the Materials [Articles] section.

Setup Option 1: Material [Article] Type

A required eld in material [article] creation that groups materials [articles] together. Its con gured
attributes control how a [an] material [article] assigned to it is used. E.g., whether a [an] material [article]
will have internal or external number assignment, if the material [article] is con gurable, what sections
(“user departments”) will be shown, how valuation will be determined, etc.

Authorization Group Assignment

Assignment of an authorization group to material [article] type is done through con guration

Con guration options

Transaction OMS2 – double-click on material [article] type

Transaction SM34 – View cluster MTART (Maintain material [article] types)

IMG: Logistics – General > Material Master > Basic Settings > Material Types > De ne Attributes of
Material [Article] Types

Data dictionary information

Table T134 (Material [Article] types)
Field BEGRU (Authorization group in the material [article] master)
Data element BEGRM
Domain BEGRM

Domain BEGRM includes value table TMBG (Material [Article] Master: Authorization Groups).
This is a customizing table; however, it plays no role in the ve authorization objects listed above.
In addition, it is not used to provide a list of allowed values on screens where authorization group is
used. See Appendix B for more information on this topic.

Step 1

Enter an authorization group for the material [article] type in the Authorization group eld

https://blogs.sap.com/2015/11/17/use-of-authorization-group-in-materials-management-master-data/ 3/12
6/1/2021 Use of authorization group in materials management master data | SAP Blogs

     Screenshot 1: Material [article] type con guration

Step 2

Repeat Step 1, as needed

Determine if unused material [article] types should be left blank or assigned an authorization group
(e.g., Z999) that will not be used in role maintenance. (See Caution below for further information.)

Step 3

Save this con guration

Step 4

Update authorizations for authorization group M_MATE_MAR

Here is an example of a role that has only display access to material [article] types with authorization group
Z001, but full access to material [article] types with authorization group Z002.

     Screenshot 2: Role maintenance – setting values for M_MATE_MAR authorization object

Caution: Material [Article] types with no authorization group will skip the M_MATE_MAR authority
check. (The highlighted code below shows the authority check function only being called if BEGRU is
provided.) The same is true for the others… A material group [merchandise category] with no authorization
group will skip M_MATE_WGR. A material [article] with no authorization group will skip M_MATE_MAT,
M_MATE_CHG, and M_MATE_CHP.

https://blogs.sap.com/2015/11/17/use-of-authorization-group-in-materials-management-master-data/ 4/12
6/1/2021 Use of authorization group in materials management master data | SAP Blogs

     Screenshot 3: READ_MATERIALTYPE

Setup Option 2: Material Group [Merchandise Category]

A eld in material [article] creation that allows for the grouping of materials [articles] with similar attributes. E.g.,
software, hardware, etc.

Authorization Group Assignment

Assignment of an authorization group to a material group [merchandise category] is done through con guration

Con guration options

Transaction OMSF
Transaction SM30 – Maintenance view V023 (Material groups [Merchandise Categories])
IMG: Logistics – General > Material Master > Settings for Key Fields > De ne Material Groups
[De ne Merchandise Categories]

Data dictionary information

Table T023 (Material groups [Merchandise categories)
Field BEGRU (Authorization group in the material [article] master)
Data element BEGRU
Domain BEGRU

Step 1

Enter an authorization group for the material group [merchandise category] in the Authorization group eld

https://blogs.sap.com/2015/11/17/use-of-authorization-group-in-materials-management-master-data/ 5/12
6/1/2021 Use of authorization group in materials management master data | SAP Blogs

     Screenshot 4: Material group [Merchandise category] con guration

Step 2

Repeat Step 1, as needed

Determine if unused material groups [merchandise categories] should be left blank or assigned an
authorization group (e.g., Z999) that will not be used in role maintenance.

Step 3

Save this con guration

Step 4

Update authorizations for authorization group M_MATE_WGR

Setup Option 3: Materials [Articles]

Alphanumeric key uniquely identifying a [an] material [article]

Authorization Group Assignment

Assignment of an authorization group to materials [articles] is done through the material [article] master.

A new SAP install has Authorization Group hidden on the material [article] master Basic Data 1 screen. If the
eld is not visible, then follow the steps in the Con guration section below.

Con guration
Transaction OMSR
IMG: Logistics – General > Material Master > Field Selection > Assign Fields to Field Selection
Groups
Click on the Field Name eld selection button
Type MARA-BEGRU
Click Field Selection Maintenance icon to the right of the selection group number
Find Field Reference MM01 and MM02, and set to Required or Optional

https://blogs.sap.com/2015/11/17/use-of-authorization-group-in-materials-management-master-data/ 6/12
6/1/2021 Use of authorization group in materials management master data | SAP Blogs

     Screenshot 5: Field selection maintenance

Data dictionary information

Table MARA (General Material [Article] Data)
Field BEGRU (Authorization group in the material [article] master)
Data element BEGRU
Domain BEGRU

Step 1

Enter an authorization group for the material [article] in the Authorization group eld of the Basic Data 1 screen

Step 2

Save material [article] master

Step 3

Repeat Steps 1 and 2, as needed

Step 4

Update authorizations for authorization group M_MATE_MAT

Setup Option 4: Various combinations of options above

Using more than one option outlined above is allowed; however, this adds complexity. Be sure that the design
is well documented and maintained as changes are made.

Appendix A: Sample matrix for material [article] type

authorization groups

https://blogs.sap.com/2015/11/17/use-of-authorization-group-in-materials-management-master-data/ 7/12
6/1/2021 Use of authorization group in materials management master data | SAP Blogs

     Table 2: Sample matrix for authorization groups by material [article] type

Appendix B: Table TMBG

As described above, “Domain BEGRM includes value table TMBG (Material [Article] Master: Authorization
Groups). This is a customizing table; however, it plays no role in the ve authorization objects listed above. In
addition, it is not used to provide a list of allowed values on screens where authorization group is used.”

All ve authorization groups described in this document use the same authorization elds: ACTVT (Activity) and
BEGRU (Authorization Group). As shown in the Screenshot 6 below, the BEGRU authorization eld uses the
BEGRU data element, and has no linkage to table TMBG. In addition, notice that there is no search help; therefore,
clicking on the drop-down icon when adding values to the authorization group eld when maintaining an
authorization object will not show any values from TMBG or any other area (see Screenshot 7).

Modi cations to standard SAP are possible to change this behavior. If this is required, then proceed with
caution.

https://blogs.sap.com/2015/11/17/use-of-authorization-group-in-materials-management-master-data/ 8/12
6/1/2021 Use of authorization group in materials management master data | SAP Blogs

Table TMBG is accessed from function module TMBG_SINGLE_READ, which is then accessed from function
module MARA_BEGRU. Notice in Screenshot 8 the EXIT statement in MARA_BEGRU. This EXIT statement is
always hit; therefore, the call to TMBG_SINGLE_READ (further down in MARA_BEGRU) will never be called.

     Screenshot 6: Authorization eld setup for eld BEGRU

     Screenshot 7: Adding values to eld BEGRU; drop-down will not show any values

https://blogs.sap.com/2015/11/17/use-of-authorization-group-in-materials-management-master-data/ 9/12
6/1/2021 Use of authorization group in materials management master data | SAP Blogs

     Screenshot 8: EXIT in function module MARA_BEGRU

Information provided is based on IDES install of ECC 6.0 EhP 7

https://blogs.sap.com/2015/11/17/use-of-authorization-group-in-materials-management-master-data/ 10/12
6/1/2021 Use of authorization group in materials management master data | SAP Blogs

Alert Moderator

Assigned tags

MM (Materials Management) |

Related Blog Posts

MM Related Authorization Objects – How to Find out & Assign

By Sudeep A , Oct 21, 2013

Authorization in material master related with material types

By Mehmet Ozgur Unal , Sep 28, 2013

SAP Material Master

By Vivek Ghulaxe , May 05, 2020

Related Questions

Authorization role - Purchase Order by Material Groups

By Former Member , Jun 14, 2011

Feild Group in vendor master,authorization management

By Former Member , Jul 18, 2008
How to Allow Multiple Department to Record Result and Usage Decision for Non-Stock Item from QA32
By Waqar Danish , Dec 27, 2019

No comments

Comments are closed.

Find us on

Privacy Terms of Use

Legal Disclosure Copyright

Trademark Cookie Preferences

https://blogs.sap.com/2015/11/17/use-of-authorization-group-in-materials-management-master-data/ 11/12
6/1/2021 Use of authorization group in materials management master data | SAP Blogs

Newsletter Support

https://blogs.sap.com/2015/11/17/use-of-authorization-group-in-materials-management-master-data/ 12/12