marcellourbani/sap-customizing

SAP Customizing — Tracing SPRO to Data

Critical Warning

Your training data about SAP customizing is almost certainly wrong. Do NOT guess which tables store which customizing data. Follow the lookup procedures below to discover the truth from the system itself.

Always read table structures with get_object_lines before querying. Never hardcode field names from memory.

Text fields are case-sensitive. Use aggressive wildcards: %aterial%ype% finds "Material Types", "material type", etc.

Minimize SQL round-trips. Use JOINs to combine lookups into single queries.

Present only useful information to the user. Internal IDs like activity IDs (SIMG_CFMENUOLMSOMS2), tree GUIDs (368DDFAB...), and node IDs are technical plumbing — never include them in your answer. Only show the user: SPRO menu path, table names, view/cluster names, transaction codes, and descriptions.

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Metadata Tables

IMG Activity Layer (SPRO tree → activity)

| Table | Purpose | Key Fields | |-------|---------|------------| | CUS_IMGACH | IMG activity header | activity, c_activity (links to CUS_ACTH), tcode | | CUS_IMGACT | IMG activity texts (language-dependent) | spras, activity, text |

Customizing Activity Layer (activity → objects)

| Table | Purpose | Key Fields | |-------|---------|------------| | CUS_ACTH | Activity header | act_id, act_type, tcode | | CUS_ACTT | Activity texts (language-dependent) | spras, act_id, text | | CUS_ACTOBJ | Core — links activities to maintenance objects | act_id, objecttype, objectname, tcode |

CUS_ACTH.act_type: C = customizing (most common), E = BAdI definition, I = BAdI implementation. Note: filtering by act_type = 'E' is unreliable — many BAdI activities use act_type = 'C'. To find BAdIs, search CUS_IMGACT text for %BAdI% or %Business Add-In%. This mainly works for IS solutions (IS-Retail, IS-Utilities, HR). Core modules (MM, FI, SD, PP) often do not register BAdIs in the IMG at all — for those, use SE18 directly with patterns like MB_*, ME_*, MM_*.

CUS_ACTOBJ.objecttype (domain OB_TYP):

| Value | Meaning | What objectname contains | |-------|---------|---------------------------| | V | View | Maintenance view name (e.g., V_T001W). Via SM30 or dedicated tcode | | C | View Cluster | Cluster name (e.g., MTART). Via SM34 or dedicated tcode | | S | Table with Text Table | Table name directly. Via SM30 | | T | Individual Transaction | Logical object (often SNUM). The tcode field has the transaction | | L | Logical Transport Object | Transport object type. The tcode field has the transaction | | D | Dummy Object | Usually IMGDUMMY. The tcode field has the transaction |

View Cluster Resolution

| Table | Purpose | Key Fields | |-------|---------|------------| | VCLDIR | Cluster directory | vclname, exitprog | | VCLSTRUC | Cluster structure — views inside a cluster | vclname, object, objpos, dependency, startobj |

VCLSTRUC.dependency (domain OBJDEP): R = root/header, S = dependent on one parent, M = dependent on multiple parents. startobj X = initial object shown.

View → Base Table Resolution

| Table | Purpose | Key Fields | |-------|---------|------------| | DD26S | View base tables | viewname, tabname, as4local (use A), tabpos (1 = primary) |

ABAP FS cannot read view structures, but can read tables. Always resolve views to their base tables via DD26S, then use get_object_lines on the table.

Transaction Resolution

| Table | Purpose | Key Fields | |-------|---------|------------| | TSTC | Tcode → program | tcode, pgmna | | TSTCT | Tcode descriptions | sprsl, tcode, ttext | | TSTCP | Tcode parameters | tcode, param |

TSTCP.param for SM30 wrappers: /*SM30 VIEWNAME=<view>;UPDATE=X; — extract VIEWNAME to find the maintained view.

SPRO Tree Hierarchy

The SPRO tree is stored across multiple linked sub-trees:

| Table | Purpose | Key Fields | |-------|---------|------------| | TNODEIMG | Tree nodes (folders + activity leaves) | tree_id, node_id, parent_id, node_type, reftree_id | | TNODEIMGT | Node texts — holds folder/section names, NOT activity names | tree_id, node_id, spras, text | | TNODEIMGR | Node references — links leaf nodes to IMG activities | node_id, ext_key, ref_type, ref_object |

CRITICAL: TNODEIMGR has NO tree_id column — it only has node_id, ext_key, ref_type, ref_object. Never try to JOIN it with TNODEIMG/TNODEIMGT on tree_id.

CRITICAL: TNODEIMGT contains folder labels ("Material Types", "Basic Settings"), NOT activity names ("Define Attributes of Material Types"). Activity names live in CUS_IMGACT. To find a leaf node for a known activity, use TNODEIMGR (see Procedure 3).

node_type values: IMG0 = folder node, IMG = activity leaf (text in CUS_IMGACT, not TNODEIMGT), REF = reference to a sub-tree (follow reftree_id).

TNODEIMGR.ref_type: COBJ = customizing activity ID (matches CUS_ACTOBJ.act_id), ACTI = IMG activity ID (matches CUS_IMGACH.activity, prefixed with SIMG).

Main SPRO tree ID is 368DDFAB3AB96CCFE10000009B38F976 ("SAP Customizing Implementation Guide") — this is SAP-delivered and consistent across systems. If unsure, look it up:

SELECT t~id FROM ttree AS t INNER JOIN ttreet AS n ON t~id = n~id
  WHERE n~spras = 'E' AND t~type = 'IMG' AND n~text LIKE '%AP Customizing Implementation Guide'

Its top-level children (Logistics - General, Materials Management, FI, etc.) are REF nodes pointing to component sub-trees via reftree_id.

Domain Value Lookup

DD07T decodes any coded field: query with domname, ddlanguage = 'E', as4local = 'A' to get domvalue_l → ddtext.

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Lookup Procedures

1. Find activity by description + get storage objects (combined)

SELECT a~activity, t~text, a~c_activity, o~objecttype, o~objectname, o~tcode
  FROM cus_imgach AS a
  INNER JOIN cus_imgact AS t ON a~activity = t~activity
  INNER JOIN cus_actobj AS o ON a~c_activity = o~act_id
  WHERE t~spras = 'E'
    AND t~text LIKE '%your search%'

Then branch by objecttype:

V (View) → resolve to base table:

SELECT d~viewname, d~tabname, d~tabpos FROM dd26s AS d
  WHERE d~viewname = '<objectname>' AND d~as4local = 'A'
  ORDER BY d~tabpos ASCENDING

The tabpos = 1 row is the primary base table. Run get_object_lines on it and query directly.

C (View Cluster) → get constituent views, then resolve each:

SELECT v~vclname, v~exitprog, s~object, s~objpos, s~dependency, s~startobj
  FROM vcldir AS v
  INNER JOIN vclstruc AS s ON v~vclname = s~vclname
  WHERE v~vclname = '<objectname>'
  ORDER BY s~objpos ASCENDING

Each s~object is a view — resolve via DD26S as above.

S (Table with Text Table) → objectname IS the table. Read with get_object_lines directly. Text table is usually <table>T.

T / D / L → the tcode is key. When objectname = 'SNUM', this is a number range activity — data is in table NRIV (number range intervals), not a normal config table. The tcode (e.g., OMH6, MMNR) opens the number range maintenance screen. For other standalone tcodes, check TSTCP to see if it wraps SM30:

SELECT t~tcode, t~param FROM tstcp AS t WHERE t~tcode = '<tcode>'

If param contains VIEWNAME=, extract it and resolve via DD26S. If TSTCP has no entry (standalone transaction), look up the tcode in TSTC for its program — but note that for standalone transactions (objecttype T/D), the underlying table often cannot be determined from metadata alone. You may need to search the program's source code or ask the user.

2. Reverse lookup: table/view → SPRO activity

Often faster than forward text search (Procedure 1) when you know the table/view name, especially when forward search returns noisy results from many modules.

SELECT o~act_id, o~objecttype, o~objectname, o~tcode, t~text
  FROM cus_actobj AS o
  INNER JOIN cus_actt AS t ON o~act_id = t~act_id
  WHERE t~spras = 'E'
    AND o~objectname LIKE '%<table_or_view>%'

If this returns 0 rows, the table may be a secondary member inside a view cluster (CUS_ACTOBJ stores only the cluster name, not individual member tables). Find the cluster via VCLSTRUC + DD26S:

SELECT s~vclname, s~object FROM vclstruc AS s
  INNER JOIN dd26s AS d ON d~viewname = s~object
  WHERE d~tabname = '<your_table>' AND d~as4local = 'A'

Then search CUS_ACTOBJ for the vclname value with objecttype = 'C'.

3. Find SPRO menu path for an activity

The SPRO tree is split into sub-trees linked by REF nodes. Building the full path requires walking upward through multiple sub-trees. Expect 3-4 queries per tree level, and 3-5 tree levels — so roughly 10-15 queries total.

Step A — Find the tree node for a known activity ID (from Procedure 1). Use TNODEIMGR — do NOT search TNODEIMGT by activity name (it only has folder labels).

Step A.1 — Get all node_ids for the activity from TNODEIMGR:

SELECT r~node_id FROM tnodeimgr AS r
  WHERE r~ref_type = 'COBJ' AND r~ref_object = '<activity_id>'

This often returns multiple rows — the same activity appears in several SPRO locations.

Step A.2 — For each node_id, look it up in TNODEIMG to get tree_id and parent_id. Some node_ids from TNODEIMGR are orphans (they exist in TNODEIMGR but not TNODEIMG) — skip any that return 0 rows:

SELECT n~node_id, n~parent_id, n~tree_id, n~node_type
  FROM tnodeimg AS n WHERE n~node_id = '<node_id_from_A1>'

Pick the node that resolves successfully and belongs to a module-relevant sub-tree. If unsure which, try each until one produces a complete path to the SPRO root.

To search by folder name instead (not activity name), search TNODEIMGT:

SELECT n~node_id, n~parent_id, n~tree_id, t~text
  FROM tnodeimg AS n
  INNER JOIN tnodeimgt AS t ON n~node_id = t~node_id AND n~tree_id = t~tree_id
  WHERE t~spras = 'E' AND t~text LIKE '%folder name%'

Step B — Walk up parent_id within the same tree_id, collecting folder texts from TNODEIMGT:

SELECT n~node_id, n~parent_id, t~text
  FROM tnodeimg AS n
  INNER JOIN tnodeimgt AS t ON n~node_id = t~node_id AND n~tree_id = t~tree_id
  WHERE t~spras = 'E' AND n~tree_id = '<tree_id>' AND n~node_id = '<parent_id>'

Repeat until parent_id is empty (you've hit the sub-tree root).

Step C — Jump to the parent tree. Find which REF node references this sub-tree. First try without text JOIN (some REF nodes lack TNODEIMGT text):

SELECT n~node_id, n~parent_id, n~tree_id
  FROM tnodeimg AS n
  WHERE n~reftree_id = '<current_tree_id>' AND n~node_type = 'REF'

If this returns multiple rows, they are different SPRO locations linking to the same sub-tree — pick the one whose tree_id traces back to the main SPRO root. If this returns 0 rows, the sub-tree is an orphaned copy with no parent link — go back to Step A and try a different node_id for the same activity.

Once you have the REF node, continue walking up parent_id in THAT tree (Step B again). Get the REF node's parent folder text from TNODEIMGT to add to your path.

Step D — Repeat Steps B-C until you reach the main SPRO tree root (368DDFAB3AB96CCFE10000009B38F976).

Assemble the collected texts in reverse order: SAP Customizing Implementation Guide > Logistics - General > Material Master > Basic Settings > Material Types > Define Attributes of Material Types.

4. Look up domain coded values

SELECT d~domvalue_l, d~ddtext FROM dd07t AS d
  WHERE d~domname = '<DOMAIN_NAME>' AND d~ddlanguage = 'E' AND d~as4local = 'A'

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Worked Example: Material Types

User asks: "Where is material type customizing stored?"

Find activity + storage:

SELECT a~activity, a~c_activity, t~text, o~objecttype, o~objectname, o~tcode
  FROM cus_imgach AS a
  INNER JOIN cus_imgact AS t ON a~activity = t~activity
  INNER JOIN cus_actobj AS o ON a~c_activity = o~act_id
  WHERE t~spras = 'E' AND t~text LIKE '%aterial%ype%'

Result: objecttype=C, objectname=MTART — a view cluster.

Get cluster views:

SELECT v~vclname, v~exitprog, s~object, s~objpos, s~dependency, s~startobj
  FROM vcldir AS v INNER JOIN vclstruc AS s ON v~vclname = s~vclname
  WHERE v~vclname = 'MTART' ORDER BY s~objpos ASCENDING

Result: T134 (R=root, Material types) and VT134M (S=child, Quantity/value updating). Exit program: MMMTARTEXIT.

Resolve to base tables:

SELECT d~viewname, d~tabname, d~tabpos FROM dd26s AS d
  WHERE d~viewname IN ('VT134M', 'T134') AND d~as4local = 'A'

Result: T134 → T134 (tabpos=1), VT134M → T134M (tabpos=1). Read with get_object_lines and query directly.

Note: a reverse lookup on CUS_ACTOBJ for objectname LIKE '%T134M%' returns 0 rows — because CUS_ACTOBJ stores the cluster name MTART, not individual member tables. To find T134M's SPRO entry, search VCLSTRUC+DD26S as shown in Procedure 2.

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Tips

• objecttype V is the most common (~43k entries). Most customizing is SM30-based view maintenance.
• When tcode = SM30 in CUS_ACTOBJ, it's generic. A different tcode may be an SM30 wrapper (check TSTCP) or standalone.
• Some SPRO activities have multiple CUS_ACTOBJ entries — the activity maintains data in multiple places.
• For objecttype = S, text tables conventionally follow <table>T (e.g., T134 → T134T), but verify.
• View cluster exit programs (VCLDIR.exitprog) contain validation logic worth reading.
• The SPRO tree walk (Procedure 3) requires ~3-4 queries per tree level (TNODEIMGR lookup, TNODEIMG, TNODEIMGT, then REF hop). Typical depth is 3-5 tree levels = 10-15 queries total.
• Forward text search (Procedure 1) can be noisy — common terms like "payment terms" match HR, payroll, and industry solutions. If you get too many results, switch to reverse lookup (Procedure 2) with a known table/view name.
• Activities frequently appear in multiple SPRO locations (e.g., "Define Plant" appears in 7 places). The canonical path is usually under Enterprise Structure for org-level settings, or under the module-specific tree for functional settings.
• Forward text search (Procedure 1) can be noisy for common terms — if it returns too many results from unrelated modules, try reverse lookup (Procedure 2) with the table/view name instead.