Archive for the ‘Forms’ Category
Application Area – BC
Overview
SAP Interactive Forms by Adobe is the lastest form technology which is rendered by SAP and Adobe. It aims to automate and streamline forms-based communication to support customers who create reusable forms for their business processes. This solution uses Portable Document Format (PDF) and software from Adobe Systems Inc. that has been integrated into the SAP environment.
You can create interactive forms in PDF format that allow users to fill out the form on the screen and save their entries in XML format in the form. When the SAP system receives the PDF form, it extracts the data saved in the form, and can process it further. You can also merge a form template with current system data to generate a PDF document that can then be printed or sent by e-mail. If the form is not interactive, it can also be called PDF-Based Print Forms.
You want to send your form to an output medium. This can be a printer, a fax, e-mail, or even output as an XML document. For these output medium, SAP provides different output formats, such as OTF, XSF, and HTML.
1. OTF (Output Text Format)
In classical form output, you print forms on the printer. SAP Smart Forms provides the form in the Output Text Format (OTF). The Output Text Format (OTF) is the established SAP output format for printing forms. It consists of a number of simple, device-independent commands, thus allowing output to be directed to different output devices such as line printers and laser printers, or as an on-screen print preview. OTF is an explicit output format, which means that once SAP Smart Forms has generated an OTF output, no modifications can be made.
OTF is set as the default in the Form Builder. OTF is usually output using spool processing. For this output, a printer must be set up in the system with a device type that understands OTF.
If we need to print the ALV report out with certain font size and some decorate requirement, I think we need to utilize smartform to achieve this. I recorded some important steps in this post.
1. Create a new GUI status.
A new GUI status is needed as I need to a button in the toolbar to support print ALV out. You can copy the standard ALV GUI status out and add a new function code like ‘Print’ or something like that.
Message control is amother name for SAP output control.The output or follow up processing of partner-dependent messages is automated via Message Control. The application then calls the Message Control via the specified interfaces.
You can use these interfaces to describe various data combinations along with the required processing. If one of these data combinations appears during processing, the appropriate processing is started (synchronously or asynchronously). You can define processing with several different methods, for example as a workflow, print output or as an IDoc dispatch for EDI.
This is a brief post about how to print an smartform without print preview.
