Accessing Cluster Tables in SAP

Accessing Cluster Tables in SAP

Payroll Custer Tables
Cluster tables combine the data from several tables with identical (or almost identical) keys into one
physical record on the database.
Data is written to a database in compressed form.
Retrieval of data is very fast if the primary key is known.
Cluster tables are defined in the data dictionary as transparent tables.
External programs can NOT interpret the data in a cluster table.
Special language elements EXPORT TO DATABASE, IMPORT TO DATABASE and DELETE FROM
DATABASE are used to process data in the cluster tables.
PCL1 - Database for HR work area; (long text, etc)PCL2 - Accounting Results (time, travel expense
and payroll); (payroll results)PCL3 - Applicant tracking data; PCL4 - Documents, Payroll year-end
Tax data (change logs, etc)
Database Tables PCLn
PCLn database tables are divided into subareas known as data clusters.
Data Clusters are identified by a two-character code. e.g RU for US payroll result, B2 for time
evaluation result, TX for long text, LA for change logs.
Each HR subarea has its own cluster.
Each subarea has its own key.
Database Table PCL1
The database table PCL1 contains the following data areas:
B1 time events/PDC
G1 group incentive wages
L1 individual incentive wages
PC personal calendar
TE travel expenses/payroll results
TS travel expenses/master data
TX infotype texts
ZI PDC interface -> cost account
SRTFD (PSKEY) = pernr (8) info type (4) subtype (4) obj id (2) lock (1) endda (8) begda (8) seqnr (3)
Database Table PCL2
The database table PCL2 contains the following data areas:
B2 time accounting results
CD cluster directory of the CD manager
PS generated schemas
PT texts for generated schemas
RX payroll accounting results/international
Rn payroll accounting results/country-specific ( n = HR country indicator RU for US payroll result)
ZL personal work schedule
SRTFD (PC200) = pernr (8) sequence (5)
Database Table PCL3
The database table PCL3 contains the following data areas:
AP action log / time schedule
TY texts for applicant data infotypes
Database Table PCL4
The database table PCL4 contains the following data areas:
LA change logs (long term documents)
SA Short-Term Documents for HR Master Data
SB Short-Term Documents for Applicant Master
SRTFD (PC400) = trans class always A for master data (1) pernr (8) info type (4) modified date (8)

modified time (8) seqnr (4)

Data Management of PCLn
The ABAP commands IMPORT and EXPORT are used for management of read/write to database
tables PCLn.
A unique key has to be used when reading data from or writing data to the PCLn.
MANDT(3) client
RELID (2) cluster ID (RU,TX, LA..)
SRTFD (40) Work Area Key
SRTF2 (4) Sort key for dup. key
Cluster Definition
Naming convention for INCLUDES when defining clusters. These INCLUDES will define the work
area key above and the cluster data that is returned from an IMPORT: RPCnxxy0
n = 1, 2, 3 or 4 (for PCL1, PCL2, PCL3, PCL4) xx = cluster ID y = country grouping (0 for
international otherwise country indicator T500L)Description of Cluster Data using Cluster RX as an
Example The data description is stored in the include RPC2RX00 in accordance with the above
naming conventions.
RPC1TX00 - Long text cluster ID in table PCL1
RPC2RUU0 - Payroll results for the US cluster ID in table PCL2
RPC4LA00 - Change log cluster ID in table PCL4
Importing Data (I)
The IMPORT command causes data objects with the specified key values to be read from PCLn.
If the import is successful, SY-SUBRC is 0; if not, it is 4.
REPORT ZRPIMPORT. TABLES: PCLn. INCLUDE RPCnxxy0. "Cluster definition * Fill cluster Key *
Import record IMPORT TABLE1 FROM DATABASE PCLn(xx) ID xx-KEY. IF SY-SUBRC EQ 0. *
Display data object ENDIF.
See sample program for long text.
Importing data (II)
Import data using macro RP-IMP-Cn-xy.
Check return code SY-SUBRC. If 0, it is successful. If 4, error.
Need include buffer management routines RPPPXM00
REPORT ZRPIMPORT. *Buffer definition INCLUDE RPPPXD00. DATA: BEGIN OF COMMON PART
'BUFFER'. INCLUDE RPPPXD10. DATA: END OF COMMON PART 'BUFFER'. *import data to buffer
RP-IMP-Cn-xy. .... *Buffer management routines INCLUDE RPPPXM00.
Cluster Authorization
Simple EXPORT/IMPORT statement does not check for cluster authorization.
Use EXPORT/IMPORT via buffer, the buffer management routines check for cluster authorization.
rpcbdt00 - include needed for importing from database PCL4(la) (Change log cluster ID)
When we upgraded to ERP2005, we encountered a problem because a couple of our programs
tested the version (VERNR) number to determine which structure the detail used. The SAP include
program, RPCBDT00, indicates that VERNR 01 & 02 use the same structure which is PC404.
Therefore, we made our programs match SAP.
Payroll Results (I)
US Payroll results are stored in cluster RU of PCL2 as field string and internal tables.
Standard reports read the results from cluster RU.
Report RPCLSTRU lists all US payroll results;
Report RPCEDTU0 lists the US results on a payroll form.
Payroll Results (II)
The cluster definition of payroll results is stored in two INLCUDE reports:
include: RPC2RX09. "Definition Cluster Ru (I)
include: RPC2RUU0. "Definition Cluster Ru (II)
The first INCLUDE defines the country-independent part; The second INCLUDE defines the countryspecific part (US).
The cluster key is stored in the field string RX-KEY.

RX-KEY = (PC200) = pernr (8) sequence (5)

Payroll Results (III)
All the field string and internal tables stored in PCL2 are defined in the ABAP/4 dictionary. This
allows you to use the same structures in different definitions and nonetheless maintain data
consistency.
The structures for cluster definition comply with the name convention PCnnn. Unfortunately, 'nnn'
can be any set of alphanumeric characters.
To read payroll results, you need two keys: pernr and seqno
You can get SEQNO by importing the cluster directory (CD) for a pernr first. (see cluster directory)
*Key definition DATA: BEGIN OF RX-KEY. INCLUDE STRUCTURE PC200. DATA: END OF RXKEY.
*Payroll directory DATA: BEGIN OF RGDIR OCCURS 100. INCLUDE STRUCTURE PC261. DATA:
END OF RGDIR. Payroll Cluster Directory
REPORT ZHRIMPRT. TABLES: PERNR, PCL1, PCL2. INLCUDE: RPC2CD09. "definition cluster CD
PARAMETERS: PERSON LIKE PERNR-PERNR. ... RP-INIT-BUFFER. " macro to get one person at
a time based on single parameter for pernr*Import cluster Directory CD-KEY-PERNR = PERNRPERNR. RP-IMP-C2-CU. " defined in include file CHECK SY-SUBRC = 0. LOOP AT RGDIR. RXKEY-PERNR = PERSON. UNPACK RGDIR-SEQNR TO RX-KEY-SEQNO. " converts rgdir-seqnr
(numc 5) to packed and moves to char 5 *Import data from PCL2 RP-IMP-C2-RU. INLCUDE:
RPPPXM00. "PCL1/PCL2 BUFFER HANDLING
Function Module (I)
CD_EVALUATION_PERIODS
After importing the payroll directory, which record to read is up to the programmer.
Each payroll result has a status.
'P' - previous result
'A' - current (actual) result
'O' - old result
Function module CD_EVALUATION_PERIODS will restore the payroll result status for a period when
that payroll is initially run. It also will select all the relevant periods to be evaluated.
Function Module (II)
CD_EVALUATION_PERIODS
call function 'CD_EVALUATION_PERIODS' exporting bonus_date = ref_periods-bondt " Key Date for
Check (optional) inper_modif = pn-permo " Period parameters inper = ref_periods-inper " Payroll
Period pay_type = ref_periods-payty " Payroll category (optional) pay_ident = ref_periods-payid "
Payroll identifier (optional) tables rgdir = rgdir " Cluster Directory evpdir = evp " Periods to be
Evaluated iabkrs = pnpabkrs " Payroll Areas (optional) exceptions no_record_found = 1.
Authorization Check
Authorization for Persons
In the authorization check for persons, the system determines whether the user has the
authorizations required for the organizational features of the employees selected with GET PERNR.
Employees for which the user has no authorization are skipped and appear in a list at the end of the
report.
Authorization object: 'HR: Master data'
Authorization for Data
In the authorization check for data, the system determines whether the user is authorized to read the
infotypes specified in the report.
If the authorization for a particular infotype is missing, the evaluation is terminated and an error
message is displayed.
Deactivating the Authorization Check
In certain reports, it may be useful to deactivate the authorization check in order to improve
performance. (e.g. when running payroll)
You can store this information in the object 'HR: Reporting'.