User Guide
Document Version: 1.04.09 – 2017-01-30
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
Content
1
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
1.1
Getting Started. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Understanding the User Interface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Workbench Personalization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Typical Workflow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Workflow for Analytical Functions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Quick Start Tutorial. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
1.2
Concepts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Storage Types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34
Naming Conventions for BRFplus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Administrative Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Context and Result. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Creating Objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Searching Objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Deleting Objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Data Objects and Types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Comparison Operations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Expressions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Expression Type. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .122
Actions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Dynamic Database View (DDBV). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Function. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Partner Module Integration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Rule. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Ruleset. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Catalog. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Object Filter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .163
Versioning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Authorizations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
1.3
Tasks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Modelling Applications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Building Functions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Creating Expressions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Creating an Expression Type. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Creating Data Objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .221
2
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Content
Creating a Rule. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Creating a Rule Set. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .231
Working with Catalogs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Creating Action Types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
Configuring the User Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
Transporting Objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Setting Versions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Adding Current Objects to Favorites. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
Checking Usage of Objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
Deleting Objects in an Application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Working with Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Content
PUBLIC
3
1
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Use
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus) provides a comprehensive application programming interface (API)
and user interface (UI) for defining and processing business rules. It allows you to model rules in an intuitive
way and to reuse these rules in different applications.
Here are some examples of scenarios in which applications use BRFplus:
● Validation of data and detection of invalid data and states
● Matching responsibilities, suitable products, and locations
● Calculation of costs, overhead, and risks
● BRFplus as a technical configuration engine
Major BRFplus components include application, function, catalog, expression, action, data object.
The interface between a business rule modeled with BRFplus and an application using that rule is provided by
a BRFplus function. The function serves as a container for the entire business logic of a rule, no matter how
complex it may be. Rules are implemented as expressions which are assigned to a function. The rule input is
known as context and the rule output is called result. Context and result consist of data objects of one of the
following types: element, structure, and table.
BRFplus supports features such as simulation, trace, transport, XML export and import.
4
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Figure 1: BRFplus Overview
Implementation Considerations
BRFplus is an ABAP-based framework and is therefore best suited for integration into an ABAP-based system
environment, for example, as an extension to an existing component of the SAP Business Suite. However, if
your system environment is mainly Java-based, or if you plan to implement business rules for a system
landscape based on service-oriented architecture (SOA), you may consider using the Java-based SAP
Business Rules Management (BRM). SAP BRM is available with SAP NetWeaver 7.1 EhP1 or higher.
It is also possible to implement a scenario where both components are used simultaneously: In a mixed
environment with ABAP as well as Java parts, both engines may be used in their respective area. BRFplus and
SAP BRM can call each other. This means that, for example, you can maintain rules in SAP BRM and call them
via remote calls to be used in BRFplus and vice versa.
Finally, even in an SOA environment it may be a good idea to use the web services of BRFplus. This is true for
scenarios where the major part of the data to be processed is stored in an ABAP backend system. Here, using
BRFplus brings advantages in terms of performance, sizing, and the availability of the integrated workbench.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
5
1.1
Getting Started
Use
In order to use the extended BRFplus capabilities provided by SAP NetWeaver Decision Service Management
(DSM), ensure that DSM is installed and set up. For information, see:
● SAP NetWeaver Decision Service Management Installation Guide
.
●
This section provides introductory information to help you get started with BRFplus.
Understanding the User Interface [page 7]
Introduces the user interface (UI) of the BRFplus workbench.
Typical Workflow [page 18]
Provides an overview of all the stages involved to model and implement business rules in BRFplus.
Workflow for Analytical Functions [page 20]
Provides an overview of the tasks required to model and implement analytical functions in BRFplus.
Quick Start Tutorials [page 28]
Provides step-by-step lessons that guide you through the process of modeling an application, from start to
finish, to get you quickly up and running with BRFplus.
Note
Before you begin working with BRFplus, ensure that the following SICF core services are active:
● /sap/public/bc/icons
● /sap/public/bc/icons_rtl
● /sap/public/bc/its/mimes
● /sap/public/bc/pictograms
● /sap/public/bc/ur
● /sap/public/bc/webdynpro/*
● /sap/public/bc/webicons
● /sap/public/icman
● /sap/public/myssocntl
● /sap/public/ping
● /sap/bc/echo/*
● /sap/bc/error/*
6
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
1.1.1 Understanding the User Interface
Use
The BRFplus user interface (UI) consists of a workbench that enables you to maintain your business rules. You
can create, modify, and delete objects. The workbench provides access to all the BRFplus objects available in a
system. While the workbench enables you to model all the BRFplus-specific rules content, it also provides
some tools for integrating a BRFplus application into your host application from which you want to call
BRFplus. To accomplish this, you need to implement the respective calls in the source code of your
application. The workbench can help you with that task by generating web services, function modules, and
code snippets that you can use to connect your ABAP code to a particular BRFplus function.
You can start the BRFplus workbench in one of the following ways:
● In the backend system with transaction BRFPLUS.
● In the web browser with the BRFplus workbench URL that is specific for your system landscape.
Note
The BRFplus workbench is based on SAP Netweaver's WebDynpro ABAP technology. Therefore, you can
apply generic modifiers and parameters to the browser URL to fine-tune the workbench behavior. For
example, you could add the sap-accessibility=X switch to the URL to provide screen reader support to
the UI.
Prerequisites
The role BRFplus Administrator ( SAP_BC_FDT_ADMINISTRATOR) has been added to your user profile. Of
course, you can as well use a custom role with a subset of the authorizations contained in
SAP_BC_FDT_ADMINISTRATOR.
Features
The BRFplus workbench consists of two main panels, the Navigation Panel on the left and the Work Area panel
on the right. The workbench also provides a couple of general features through the Menu Bar. The System
Status dialog that is available from the Help menu shows the backend system and client where you are
currently logged on, the logon user and language, and the current UI mode.
The workbench has the following two UI modes:
● Simple Mode
This UI mode is recommended for the business user. It concentrates on business-relevant settings and
hides most of the technical details that are only needed for administrative tasks.
● Expert Mode
This UI mode is for the business expert or developer. In Expert Mode, you have access to a number of
additional tools needed for administrative or cleanup tasks. Besides, some of the more technical functions
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
7
are only available in Expert Mode (for example, the Return to active version function used to discard
changes that have been made to an inactive object).
You can switch between the two modes using the Personalization dialog.
Menu
The Menu consists of the following:
● Workbench
You can perform workbench operations such as create an application, show the current objects in the
repository, synchronize the object that is currently loaded into the workbench with the repository tree, and
add the current object as favorites [page 246].
● Tools
The availability of tools depends on the UI mode you choose. The simple mode activates only the
simulation tool. The other tool components are available only in expert mode.
○ Application Administration
You can delete unused objects [page 254] from the application using the application administration
tool. You can also discard old versions of objects that are no longer needed, delete objects that have
been marked for deletion, and reorganize objects.
○ Application Usage
You can use the application usage tool to query the applications that are being used by the selected
application or query other applications using the selected application.
○ Lean Trace
This tool lets you review and analyze the runtime behavior of a BRFplus function on a general level.
The name "lean trace" indicates that this tool works on a relaxed granularity level so that certain
execution steps are aggregated or completely hidden.
○ Mass Change
8
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
With this tool [page 262], you can create a selection of BRFplus objects based on different criteria
and then apply a particular change to all selected objects at once.
○ Simulation
You can provide input for the context data objects of a function and simulate the execution for test
and debugging purposes. Simulation [page 255] is similar to function module testing.
○ Transport Analysis
You can analyze and check the consistency of all the BRFplus objects in a transport request [page
245].
○ Web Service Generation and RFC Generation
A third party user can process the rules defined in BRFplus using the web service generation tool
[page 257]. A similar approach is possible when you have an SAP system landscape installed and
want to access a BRFplus application from a system, but the application resides in a different system.
For this, you can use the RFC Generation tool to set up the necessary environment.
○ XML Export and XML Import
You can easily transport active versions of the BRFplus objects from one system to another with the
help of the BRFplus-specific XML conversion (provided both systems support BRFplus). For more
information, see Export and Import of XML Data [page 259].
● Help
The Help menu lets you directly access the context-specific Application Help that is attached to the
particular type of object you are currently working on.
You can also open the Help Center pane at the right border of the window. Here, you find a link that leads
you to the entry page of the BRFplus application help from which you can explore the various help topics.
In addition, the menu offers a legend that explains the most important icons used in the workbench as well
as the meaning of the typographic conventions used in the user interface. Finally, you can find the System
Information here.
Recommendation
If you are new to the BRFplus workbench, we recommend you right-click on the UI background and
choose Display Quick Help from the context menu. You will then be provided with additional help texts
on the UI (either static texts, or texts that are only visible when you hover the mouse on a text with a
green underline) meant to help you understand the purpose of a particular screen element, or the idea
behind a particular feature on that screen. Once you are accustomed to the workbench, you can let
these explanation texts disappear by choosing Hide Quick Help from the same context menu.
Navigation Panel
You can browse through the BRFplus object repository using the Navigation Panel on the left hand side of the
workbench window. In the Personalization settings, you can decide whether the objects shall be displayed with
their technical name or with their short text.
The objects shown in the navigation panel are not simple entries in a flat list. Rather, each object is the entry
point to a hierarchy of subelements and usages. You can drill down through the object hierarchy by clicking on
the triangle sign to the left of each object.
An application entry in the navigation panel serves as an entry point to the different object types of which the
application consists, all the object instances for each type, their usages in other objects, which again serve as
the starting point for a new drilldown.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
9
For each object, the system provides a visual indication of the object's status:
● Object type: The symbol to the left of an object's name indicates what type of object it is (application,
various expression types, functions, and so on)
● Typeface: Objects shown in bold characters are transportable (otherwise, they are local to the current
system).
Note
This setting is inherited from the application to which an object belongs. Whether an application is
transportable or not depends on the development package to which the application is assigned.
● Traffic light: Objects with a green traffic light are active and can be used in an application.
The BRFplus objects presented in the Navigation Panel can be arranged in different views. In the
Personalization settings, you can define for each view whether it shall be displayed or not. In addition, you can
define which of the different views shall be active when the system starts up. The following views are available:
● Repository
You can access all objects of all applications in the repository. The Repository view allows for an in-depth
analysis of an object via a recursive drilldown into the object's subobjects as well as into the object's
where-used list.
● Recently Used
You can easily access those objects that you have recently been working on. This list can hold up to 20
objects. Its content is automatically maintained by the system, following the “first in, first out” approach.
● Favorites
You can view all the objects that you have added as your favorites. This is useful if you want to keep a
permanent list of objects you are interested in but do not work with every day. To add an object to the
Favorites view, first locate the desired object in the Repository view and then choose Add to Favorites from
the object's context menu.
● Catalog
You can define catalogs that serve as a container for a subset of objects and access it from the repository.
Note
The Recently Used and Favorites views present a flat list of objects without the additional drilldown
capabilities of the Repository view. However, you can easily access the drilldown function by choosing Show
in Repository View from each object's context menu.
Work Area
The work area panel is the place where you can display and edit objects. On top of the screen, the system
displays the General section with the header data of the object. This section is generic and is available for all
types of objects supported by BRFplus. The settings that are specific for a particular object type are shown in
the Details section below the General section.
Check Results
Under certain conditions, the work area may contain a third section, namely Check Results. For each object
type available in BRFplus, the system offers type-specific consistency checks that are implicitly run upon
object activation. You can also start the checks manually by clicking the Check button in the workbench.
Whenever the checks find any kind of problem (be it serious or not), the system displays the Check Results
section on top of the work area and lists all messages that have arisen during the check. You can then start
10
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
investigating the problems. The message list stays visible on the screen until you explicitly close the Check
Results section with the Close button.
Sometimes, the checks return a great number of messages, depending on the complexity of the checked
object and its relationships to other objects. In such a case, navigating through those many messages in the
relatively small section can be cumbersome. To overcome this problem, the Check Results section offers a
download facility that lets you save the entire message list in a Microsoft Excel file. With that, getting an
overview is much easier, and you may want to use the spreadsheet as a worklist that helps you keep track of all
the issues that you have already solved and those that are still to be done.
System Info
The System Info dialog available from the Help menu provides the following administrative data related to the
running session:
● System
○ System ID
○ System client to which you are logged on
○ System mode (either regular or deployable; deployable mode is relevant only for Business ByDesign
systems)
● User
○ User name
○ Logon language
○ Current UI mode ( Simple vs. Expert, see section above)
○ Timezone used for object timestamps (local time of the logged on user, or UTC). This setting can be
changed in the Personalization dialog.
Keyboard Support
Using the mouse is not always the fastest way to interact with the workbench. You can access the Workbench
as well as the Tools menu via the keyboard by typing Alt + W or Alt + T , respectively. Also, a list of standard
user actions is available that you can execute with the help of keyboard shortcuts. These shortcuts can be
customized in the Workbench Personalization dialog.
More Information
Workbench Personalization [page 11]
1.1.2 Workbench Personalization
Definition
The BRFplus workbench is the central place for modeling and testing business rules. BRFplus offers many
opportunities to configure the look and feel of the workbench so that it best suits your individual requirements.
To access the personalization settings, choose
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
in the upper right corner of the workbench window.
PUBLIC
11
Note
Most of the changes that you make to the personalization settings are effective immediately after closing
the Personalization dialog and navigating to another object. However, some of the personalization settings
require that you restart the workbench before changes take effect.
Features
User Mode
BRFplus addresses business users as well as business experts and developers. Since both types of users have
different requirements concerning their working environment, and since sometimes the same person has to
act in both roles, BRFplus lets you customize the BRFplus workbench according to your needs. This includes
the possibility to differentiate the look and feel of the workbench between two role-oriented modes per user,
simple mode and expert mode.
The user mode setting has two aspects:
● Scope for personalization settings
The changes that you make to the personalization settings are recorded by the system with respect to the
currently selected user mode. That is, if you change for example the Views settings in simple mode, this
does not affect the Views settings for expert mode and vice versa.
● User mode selection
When you open the personalization dialog, the system displays the user mode that is currently in effect in
the workbench. To change the user mode, make the desired selection and choose Save. The system
adapts the workbench rendering according to the settings that have been defined for the newly selected
user mode.
Note
As a system administrator, you can create additional modes tailored to the needs of different users or roles
in your company. By default, these custom UI modes inherit their settings from simple mode unless you
explicitly change a particular setting. In addition, custom UI modes can be used to integrate additional tools,
web services, or Web pages into the BRFplus workbench.
Categories
The personalization settings are grouped into the following categories:
● General
Settings for cross-area aspects and the system startup behavior
● Views
Settings for controlling the availability of the different workbench views
● Repository
Settings for controlling the behavior of the Repository view
● Catalogs
Settings for controlling the behavior of the Catalog view
● Expression
Settings for specific expression types
12
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
● Filters
Settings for defining object filters
The system has predefined default values for all of the personalization settings. If you should ever run into
problems because of changed settings, you can simply click the Restore Default Settings button to return to
the system defaults.
General
● Maximum Number of Query Results
With this setting, you can define an upper limit for the number of matching items that the system displays
in response to a query. Reducing this number can be helpful if your system contains very many objects
and you are experiencing slow system performance. This setting affects the object lists presented by the
system when you search for an existing object. If the number of matching objects for a query is higher
than the setting that you define here, the system notifies you accordingly. You can then decide either to
increase this value or to refine your search criteria.
Default: 200.
Note
The number of objects listed in the Repository view is not affected by this setting. Here, the system
always displays all objects that were found as the result of the last search action that you have
performed.
● Show Technical Names
With this setting, you can define whether the system shall use the technical name or the short text for
displaying objects. Using the short text is normally more convenient since this text is in natural language
and may be translated into different languages. The technical name, however, has the advantage of
remaining the same, regardless of the logon language. This can ease communication between persons
who use to log on to the system with different languages.
This setting affects the display behavior in the workbench navigation panel as well as in the work area
header for an object that you are currently working on, and also for all references to dependent objects
(for example, all rules in a ruleset, the data objects used by an expression, and so on).
● Show Technical Aspects
With this setting, you can control whether or not the system shall display those tools in the Tools menu
that are more technical in nature and meant for system administrators and programmers, like Application
Administration or XML Export. For business users, we recommend that you keep this setting off to avoid
confusion.
● Show Technical Attributes
With this setting, you can define whether the system shall display additional technical data for some of the
BRFplus objects. For example, you can see the internal IDs of a decision tree node or of a catalog node.
This data is mostly needed for technical investigations and debugging and not necessary for business
users.
In addition, this setting controls whether the number of decimal places of an elementary data object with
subtype Amount is visible. This information is ignored anyway because at runtime, the number of decimals
for an amount is automatically derived from the central settings in the currency tables. In other words,
displaying the number of decimals for an amount data object or not does not make any difference for the
system behavior.
Note
The common nature of all the data that is controlled by the Show Technical Attributes flag is that setting
this flag or not does not impose any functional restrictions on the user. This is the major difference to
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
13
the Show Technical Aspects setting discussed in the earlier section, which is used to hide major parts of
the tool functionality from the user.
● Show XML Schema
With this setting, you can define whether during XML export, the user can decide which XML schema shall
be used for the data to be exported. If you leave this setting switched off, the user cannot influence the
schema selection. In that case, the system uses the internal schema by default.
● Object Timestamps Based on UTC Reference Time
With this setting, you can decide how the system shall render the object-related timestamps. This setting
affects the creation date and time as well as the change date and time of an object, the timestamps of
object versions, and the validity period of rule objects. It has the following effect:
○ On
All displayed timestamps are transformed into their UTC equivalent (UTC = Universal Time
Coordinated). This provides you with a standardized time base for all BRFplus objects in the system,
regardless of where, when, and by whom they have been created or changed. This setting is
recommended whenever you have to compare, or operate on, objects based on their timestamps.
○ Off
All displayed timestamps are shown according to the timezone settings of the user who has created or
saved an object. This setting is normally considered convenient from a user's perspective, but can
lead to confusion if different users in different timezones are working on objects in the same system
and you need an overview over different objects based on their timestamp.
In summary, using UTC timestamps is advisable for administrative tasks with lots of objects to be
processed, while local timestamps help the user to better understand when a particular object has been
created or changed.
Note
The timestamp setting has no effect on date and time values that you use in data objects of type
timepoint, nor on date and time functions in formula expressions. Here, the system always expects UTC
timestamps.
● General Section Expanded
With this setting you decide whether the system shall display an object's administrative data by default or
not. If you switch this setting on, the system expands the General section on top of the work area
whenever you navigate to a BRFplus object. This gives you a comprehensive overview of all the data
recorded for an object, but displaying the data consumes some space on the UI. Switching this setting off
hides this information and grants you considerably more space for effective work with the object settings.
Views
On this tab, you can define which of the different views shall be offered in the workbench navigation panel, and
which one of the selected views shall be presented when the workbench is started. This setting provides some
built-in consistency checks to make sure that at least one view is selected, and that the default view is among
the selected ones.
Repository
● Include in Repository
With this setting, you can define which objects shall be presented in the Repository view of the workbench,
depending on their storage type. You can, for example, decide that system objects shall be hidden as you
would not change these anyway.
14
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
You can also control whether you want to see a dedicated column for the transport behavior of each single
object in the navigation panel (Display Transport Column). However, since the transport behavior of an
object depends on application-wide settings you may decide that you rather hide this column so that
additional space is available to show the object names.
The same holds for the Display Change Date Column. If you decide to have this column displayed in the
repository tree, the system does the following:
○ A Change Date column is added to the tree, showing when the current object has last been changed.
○ When you expand an object's node, an additional category Last changed (<number of changed
objects>) is displayed. This category is then broken down by different predefined period categories
(for example, Today, Last Week, and so on) where you can find the depending objects of the top level
object grouped by the date of their last change. Note that the period names (last week, last month,
and so on) should be understood as indicators of the period duration, not as calendar dates. For
example, the period category Last Week means "changed within the last 7 days", not "changed in the
previous calendar week".
○ In the Display Last Changed Objects dropdown list, you can specify the number of objects that you
want to see in the Last Changed category. Keeping this number small can improve the system
performance. If, however, the number that you specify is lower than the number of objects that exist in
that category, the system makes you aware of that by changing the display style to Last changed
(<number of changed objects>/<total number of objects>).
● Deleted Objects
BRFplus provides a multilevel deletion strategy that is used to keep objects in the system available for a
defined period of time although, from a business perspective, they are considered obsolete or no longer
needed. With this setting, you can decide whether such objects shall be displayed in the Repository view or
not.
● Object Grouping in Applications
You can decide how the system presents the objects that belong to an application. You can choose from
the following alternatives:
○ Types and Subtypes: Objects are grouped by their type and subtype, if applicable. With this setting,
within an application, you find, for example, an entry Expressions (= object type), followed by the
different Expression types (= subtype), followed by the objects of this type. This setting is useful for
applications that contain a high number of objects as it provides you a better overview and can
improve the system performance because the number of objects to read from the database is
reduced. On the other hand, navigating to an object requires more mouse clicks and the additional
tree levels lead to a higher likelihood of cut-off object names.
○ Types: Provides a one-level grouping of objects and serves as a compromise between the Types and
Subtypes and the Flat List setting.
○ Flat List: All objects within an application are listed in alphabetical order, regardless of the object type.
This setting is suitable for giving you a quick overview of small applications but can lead to significant
performance issues when used with applications containing a high number of objects.
Catalogs
With this setting, you can define which of the object catalogs in the system shall be available in the Catalog
view of the workbench navigation panel, and which one of these shall be presented by default.
Catalogs are a means to reduce complexity and to protect the user from getting lost in the multitude of objects
that may exist in the system. This principle of complexity reduction is further enforced by the concept of
catalog personalization. As opposed to the Repository view, where all objects belonging to an application or
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
15
being part of a search result are presented, the system does not present all existing catalogs in the Catalog
view. Rather, using the Catalog view requires that you choose one of the following options:
● In the Repository view, choose Display in Catalog View from the context menu of a catalog object.
● Configure the view in the Personalization dialog. This configuration is done in a two-step procedure:
1. Click the Add button and select from the list of all catalogs in the system the ones that you want to
make available in the Catalog view.
2. From the catalogs that you have selected in the previous step, make one the default catalog by
clicking the Is Default column.
Once you are done with the view configuration, you can use the Catalog view. When you open the Catalog
view, the system presents the default catalog. All other catalogs that you have selected as your personal
catalog list are available via Switch To Other Catalog in the Catalog view.
Note
It is possible to bypass the preparatory steps for catalog use outlined above. In the Repository view, choose
Display in Catalog View from the context menu of a catalog object. The system then swaps from Repository
view into Catalog view, with the selected catalog ready for use. Although this mechanism is not
recommended for daily use, it is definitely helpful for test purposes when you are about to define a new
catalog and want to have a quick look at the result.
In contrast to all other settings in the Personalization dialog, the system does not make a difference
between the user modes with respect to catalogs. In other words, there is only one set of catalog settings
that is effective both for Simple Mode and Expert Mode.
Expression
On this tab, you find additional settings for some of the more complex object types available with BRFplus.
Decision Table
● Show Table Settings
When you are editing a decision table expression, the system initially hides the detailed definition screen
for column and row settings. If you want to change this definition, you first have to click the
button at
the rightmost border of the Detail section toolbar. With the Show Table Settings setting, you can define
whether this button shall be displayed or not. If you decide to hide the
button, a user has no access
whatsoever to the row and column definition, but can still create and maintain rules in the table. This
setting can be useful to protect very complex decision tables from unwanted changes.
● Display Row Numbers
Indicates whether the system displays an additional column for the row numbers. Displaying row numbers
is helpful for orientation in tables with many rows, and even inevitable when it comes to discussions on
certain table content between different persons. On the other hand, displaying a row number column
occupies space that could otherwise be available for data columns.
Note
If you decide to let the system display the row number column, you can still move that column via
drag&drop to any desired position. It is not designed to always occupy column number 1. Dragging it to
a position more to the right can free some space for data columns but still gives you a chance to always
find out the current row number.
● Number of Visible Rows
16
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
With this setting, you limit the number of rows that are shown for a decision table at once to a particular
amount. This is useful in case of large decision tables with several thousands of rows that otherwise would
lead to performance problems. Of course, you can scroll down to see the other rows. The system then
reads the required table rows from the database and displays them accordingly.
● Minimum Columns for Horizontal Scrollbar
With this setting, you define the lowest number of columns in a decision table that lets the system display
a horizontal scroll bar. Tables with a complex structure and many fields tend to have a wide horizontal
scroll range, so that it is impossible for a user to have a complete overview of the entire table row. When
you increase this setting, the system reduces the width of all columns so that the given number of
columns is displayed. Only if there are still more columns beyond that limit, the system displays a scroll
bar. Increasing the number of columns reduces the column width and can sometimes lead to cropped cell
content (though still accessible via the cell tooltip), but lets you benefit from a better overview of the table
content.
Note
The system takes all table columns into account that are actually displayed when it calculates the
column width. This includes result data columns as well as the row number column that can be
displayed on demand, whereas columns that have been hidden in the table settings are ignored.
Ruleset
● Number of Rules Expanded
With this setting, you limit the number of rules that are shown for a ruleset in expanded form to a
particular amount. This is useful in case of large rulesets with dozens of rules inside that otherwise would
lead to performance problems. The rules that are beyond the value that you enter here are initially
displayed with only one line per rule. You have to expand them manually to see their details.
● Show Ruleset Header
This setting lets you control whether a ruleset object that you load into the workbench is displayed with
the ruleset header data section expanded or not. The header section contains some administrative data
describing the ruleset, plus information on the ruleset variables. Depending on the complexity of the
ruleset, especially the variables listing can consume a lot of space on the screen. It can therefore be
preferable to leave this option unchecked so that the available space can be used for displaying the rules
without having to scroll. By default, this option is not set.
Show
Filters
On this tab, you can maintain the assignment of object filters to applications. With the Add button, you create a
new filter assignment. For each assignment, you can choose whether the filter shall be applied to all
applications in the system or not. If not, you can create additional lines per filter to define the individual
applications for which a given filter is in effect. If you switch the All Applications setting from No to Yes, all
individual assignments that you may have defined are lost.
Note
Maintaining filter assignments is an administrative task and should normally be done in a system-wide
consistent manner rather than being seen as an individual preference of single users. Therefore, this tab is
mainly meant for information purposes and presented in read-only mode for most of the users.
Hotkeys
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
17
On this tab, you find a predefined list of user actions that are commonly used across all kinds of BRFplus
object types, like saving, deleting, checking, and so on. For each of these actions, you can define a custom
hotkey out of a list of possible hotkeys that encompasses the following ranges:
●
CTRL + 0 ... CTRL + 9
●
CTRL + A ... CTRL + Z
●
CTRL + F2 ... CTRL + F12
Note
If a user action that is associated with a hotkey is unavailable (for example, the Back button is disabled if
there has been no previous navigation step yet), then the hotkey is propagated to the web browser and
might trigger an action that has been associated with that hotkey by the browser manufacturer. For
example, the Back action is by default associated with the CTRL + B hotkey. If the Back button is disabled,
pressing CTRL + B would instead trigger the Organize Favorites function defined in Microsoft Internet
Explorer, or open the Bookmarks sidebar in Mozilla Firefox.
In contrast to the aforementioned behavior, the CTRL + F4 hotkey is handled directly by the operating
system. Pressing this key always leads to the current browser tab closing immediately, without giving a user
the chance to decide whether this is wanted or not. Since BRFplus cannot override this behavior, the CTRL +
F4 hotkey is not offered in the list of assignable hotkeys.
1.1.3 Typical Workflow
Use
The following steps describe the typical workflow of integrating BRFplus functionality into your application.
Note
Note that in the following overview, the term "application" which is used in the first as well as in the last step
refers to two different, but related concepts:
● In the first step, Create an Application, "application" refers to the BRFplus element type Application
which serves as a super-ordinate object for collecting all objects used to model the business logic that
you want to integrate into your solution.
● In the last step, Integrate with Application, "application" refers to your solution which you want to
enhance by the business logic encapsulated in the BRFplus rules.
18
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Procedure
Figure 2: Business Rule Workflow
1. Create an application.
For more information, see Creating an Application [page 175]
2. Create a function.
For more information, see Creating a Function [page 179]
○ Assign context and result to the function.
For more information, see Assigning Context and Result to a Function [page 181]
○ Assign top expression to the function.
For more information, see Assigning Top Expression to a Function [page 182]
3. Activate the objects.
4. Simulate the function.
For more information, see Simulating a Function [page 255]
5. Integrate the BRFplus function with your application.
More Information
Quick Start Tutorial [page 28]
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
19
1.1.4 Workflow for Analytical Functions
Use BRFplus to create analytical functions with rules that are based on persisted data in CDS Views. These
analytical functions use a database context for the query and a table object for the results.
Prerequisites
To use all the functionality described in this workflow, the following landscape is required:
● SAP S/4HANA Cloud 1705
● SAP Decision Service Management 1.0 SP04. For information about DSM installation, see the DSM
Installation Guide.
● SAP HANA Rules Framework 1.0 SP10 or higher. For more information, see SAP HANA Rules Framework
Installation Guide
.
Note
For information about available functionality when working with earlier SP releases of SAP NetWeaver 7.51
or SAP S/4HANA , and SAP HANA Rules Framework, see Landscapes for Working with Analytical Rules
[page 26].
For information about the setup configuration that is required to work with analytical functions, see Setup for
Working with Analytical Mode [page 24].
Before you begin to create analytical functions ensure that you can connect to the CDS Views that you want to
use.
20
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Workflow
● #unique_8/unique_8_Connect_42_subsection-im1 [page 22]
● #unique_8/unique_8_Connect_42_subsection-im2 [page 22]
● #unique_8/unique_8_Connect_42_subsection-im3 [page 22]
● #unique_8/unique_8_Connect_42_subsection-im4 [page 22]
● #unique_8/unique_8_Connect_42_subsection-im5 [page 23]
● #unique_8/unique_8_Connect_42_subsection-im6 [page 23]
Click each tile for more information.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
21
Create an Application
A BRFplus application serves as a super-ordinate object for collecting all objects used to model the business
logic that you want to integrate into your solution.
Create an application and choose Create and navigate to object.
For more information, see Creating an Application [page 175].
Create Structure Data Objects
In the application, create structure data objects.
● To use persisted data, bind the structure to a CDS View using the Bind to CDS View option.
● When you bind to a CDS view, BRFplus creates an element for each attribute in the CDS View based on the
attribute definition. These elements can be used in rules in BRFplus. You do not need to add more data
objects to the structure.
● In some cases, you can refer the element to a value list that was provided by an OData service.
● When the CDS view contains parameters, all the parameters are added to the data object.
● It is recommended to maintain descriptions in all your data object definitions. The descriptions are used in
the rule expression language to enable user-friendly language in rules.
For more information, see:
● Creating an Element Data Object [page 222]
● Creating a Structure Data Object [page 227]
Create a Result Data Object
In the application, create a result data object. You can create a structure data object or a table data object for
the results.
You do not need to define binding for the result object. The result object can use existing elements or you can
add data objects, if required.
Alternatively, you can create and add the result data object when you create the function.
For more information, see Creating a Table Data Object [page 228].
Create an Analytical Function
Create the function and assign context and result to the function.
1. Create a new function and choose Create and navigate to object.
2. Set the function properties.
In the Mode field, choose Analytical Mode to define an analytical function, which will contain rules based on
persisted data,.
3. Add the context for the analytical function.
○ In the Database Context tab, add the required structure data objects that you created for the
analytical function.
Only data objects that are bound to a CDS view can be added to the database context.
When the data object is bound to a CDS view that contains parameters, the parameters are added to
the Signature tab.
○ You can add data objects from other applications subject to access levels.
4. Assign a result for the function.
○ In the Signature tab, assign the result data object.
22
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
The result data object for an analytical function must be a table as it collects the results of all the
assigned decision tables. In the Result Data Object section, choose the required option from the Data
Object drop-down list.
○ You can add data objects from other applications subject to access levels.
5. Save and activate the function.
For more information, see Creating a Function [page 179].
Create a Ruleset and Decision Table
1. In the Assigned Rulesets tab, create a new ruleset without rules.
2. Add a decision table to the ruleset.
1. Open the ruleset
2. In the Decision Tables section, choose Create from the drop-down list.
3. Define a decision table and choose Create and navigate to object.
The decision table for an analytical function is defined in an embedded SAPUI5 Rule Builder control,
based on OData services and OData interfaces.
3. Define the decision table's settings.
1. Choose Settings.
2. Choose the hit policy - First Match or All Matches .
3. Define the conditions columns of the decision table by adding attributes from the vocabulary and
optionally, an operator. Each row in the settings defines a column in the decision table. Choose + to
add a row.
The auto-complete functionality filters your choices as you enter values.
The decision table automatically uses the result table (also known as signature) that was defined for
the function.
4. Click Apply.
4. Define conditions in the decision table.
1. In each row, set values for the condition columns and the result columns.
2. Save and activate the decision table.
5. Activate the ruleset.
Tip
Alternative ways to define and edit a decision table:
● Create an SAP Fiori app and embed the Rule Builder control in which you can define and edit the rules.
● Use OData APIs for analytical rules. For more information, see .
For information about using the SAP rule expression language in decision tables, see Rule Expression
Language in Decision Tables in the SAP Rule Expression Language Guide.
Generate and Simulate the Function
1. In the function's Code Generation tab, choose
Generate Function
Without Trace .
2. Simulate the function:
1. Choose Simulation.
2. Choose Continue.
3. Choose Execute.
For more information, see Simulating a Function [page 255].
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
23
1.1.4.1
Setup for Working with Analytical Mode
You can work with analytical mode in BRFplus to perform a business rules evaluation of a large set of data
persisted in a SAP HANA database.
Prerequisites
● SAP NetWeaver 7.51 SP00 and higher, or SAP NetWeaver 7.65 and higher
● SAP Decision Service Management 1.0 SP04
● SAP HANA Rules Framework 1.0 SP08 or higher. For more information, see the relevant version of the
SAP HANA Rules Framework Installation Guide on the SAP Help Portal at https://help.sap.com/viewer/p/
SAP_HANA_RULES_FRAMEWORK.
Context
The following steps are required before you can use analytical rules in BRFplus workbench.
Setup for Using BRFplus with SAP HANA Rules Framework
Procedure
1. Create a SAP HANA user.
2. Assign the role HRF_TECH_ROLE_ABAP_ONLY.hdbrole to the SAP HANA user.
3. Create an RFC connection to the SAP HANA XS server using transaction code SM59.
4. Create a new entry under HTTP Connections to External Server with the following settings.
Table 1:
Setting
Tab
RFC Destination
Description
Name of the RFC destination to the
external server
Target Host
Technical Settings
SAP HANA XS server host name
Service No.
Technical Settings
Service number in the format 80<IN­
STANCE>, for example, 8000
User Name
24
PUBLIC
Logon & Security
SAP HANA user that you created
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Setting
Tab
Description
Password
Logon & Security
SAP HANA user password
Status of Secure Protocol
Logon & Security
Security settings
5. Create and run a report to register the RFC connection to BRFplus that you created. (You can use the
following code sample.)
Sample Code
"set connection for client
cl_fdt_setting=>set_xs_compiler_rfc_conn(
EXPORTING
iv_rfc_connection = '<RFC Connection Name>'
(Specified in Function Call)
iv_client
= '<client number>' ).
" Logical Destination
6. Test the connection by running transaction FDT_TEST_HRF_CMP_CON.
On successful setup, the following message is displayed:
HRF server communication using RFC destination <RFC_name> is valid.
Activating OData Services
Context
These steps are only relevant for on-premise installations and should be performed in the back-end server.
Procedure
1. Activate the Rule OData service.
a. Start transaction /IWFND/MAINT_SERVICE.
b. Choose Add Service and set the following parameters:
○ System Alias - LOCAL, or the name of your system alias
○ Technical Service Name - RULE_SRV
○ External Service Name - RULE_SRV
c. Choose Get Services.
d. In the Select Backend Services list, select the service you just created and choose Add Selected
Services.
e. In the Add Service dialog, set Package Assignment as $TMP or choose Local Object.
f. Choose Confirm.
2. Activate the Vocabulary OData service.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
25
a. Start transaction /IWFND/MAINT_SERVICE.
b. Choose Add Service and set the following parameters:
○ System Alias - LOCAL, or the name of your system alias
○ Technical Service Name - VOCABULARY_SRV
○ External Service Name - VOCABULARY_SRV
c. Choose Get Services.
d. In the Select Backend Services list, select the service you just created and choose Add Selected
Services.
e. In the Add Service dialog, set Package Assignment as $TMP or choose Local Object.
f. Choose Confirm.
Related Information
Workflow for Analytical Functions [page 20]
1.1.4.2
Landscapes for Working with Analytical Rules
This table describes the landscapes required to work with analytical rules and the changes in documentation
for updated functionality for each landscape.
26
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Table 2:
Landscape
●
S/4HANA Cloud 1705
●
SAP Decision Service Management 1.0 SP04
●
SAP HANA Rules Framework 1.0 SP10
Changes
May 5, 2017
The following new functionality is available when working
with analytical functions:
●
When a structure is bound to a CDS view, you can refer
to existing value help lists and you can create a new list
of values using OData services.
●
The descriptions that are defined in your data objects
are used in the rule expression language to enable userfriendly language in rules. It is recommended to main­
tain descriptions in all your data object definitions.
●
When a data object is bound to a CDS view that con­
tains parameters, all the parameters are added to the
data object.
●
Additional OData APIs for managing rules in an analyti­
cal workflow.
For more information, see:
●
SAP NetWeaver 7.51 SP01 or SP02, or S/4HANA Cloud
1611
●
SAP Decision Service Management 1.0 SP04
●
SAP HANA Rules Framework 1.0 SP09
●
Workflow for Analytical Functions [page 20]
●
Data Binding [page 61]
●
Creating an Element Data Object [page 222]
January 30, 2017
The following new functionality is available:
When working with analytical functions, you can add data
objects from other applications subject to access levels. See
Workflow for Analytical Functions [page 20].
●
SAP NetWeaver 7.51 SP00 or S/4HANA Cloud 1608
●
SAP Decision Service Management 1.0 SP04
●
SAP HANA Rules Framework 1.0 SP08
November 14, 2016
The following new options are now available when working
with analytical functions:
Bind to CDS View:
●
Creating a Structure Data Object [page 227]
●
Data Binding [page 61]
Analytical mode of operation:
●
Setting Properties [page 180]
●
Modes of Operation [page 141]
A new section was added about working with analytical
functions. See Workflow for Analytical Functions [page 20].
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
27
1.1.5 Quick Start Tutorial
Use
This section gives access to a tutorial that will help you learn to use BRFplus. The tutorial gives a quick
introduction to the different features so that you can learn the basics of working with BRFplus objects and how
to model applications. At the same time, the tutorial highlights the integration of BRFplus with SAP Decision
Service Management, a separately licensed add-on that extends the functional capabilities of BRFplus and
makes business rules management easy even in complex and distributed system landscapes.
In the tutorial, we show how to set up a managed system and assign a sample application to it (exercise 1).
This application derives the price of a product (exercises 2 and 3), adds shipping costs of 5% (but at least $2 if
the price is under $100) (exercise 4), and sends a notification mail if a product is not found in the price list
(exercise 4). Then we simulate the application on the managed system (exercise 5) before we deploy it and
call it from the managed system (exercise 6). Finally, we make a delta deployment using an activation time
stamp in the future (exercise 7). We offer this tutorial in two different flavors on the SAP Community Network
(SCN):
● Script (with many screenshots)
● Video
Note
SAP Decision Service Management is an add-on to SAP NetWeaver and has to be licensed separately. It is
not included in a standard SAP NetWeaver license.
1.2
Concepts
Use
This section explains the basic concepts involved in defining and processing of rules. Among others, the
following topics are covered:
● Applications [page 29]
● Storage Types [page 34]
● Naming Conventions for BRFplus [page 35]
● Administrative Data [page 37]
● Context and Result [page 44]
● Data Objects And Types [page 58]
● Binding [page 61]
● Comparison Operations [page 66]
● Expressions [page 75]
● Action Types [page 124]
● Function [page 136]
28
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
● Modes of Operation [page 124]
● Rule [page 156]
● Rule Set [page 157]
● Catalog [page 160]
● Object Filter [page 163]
● Versioning [page 165]
● Creating Objects [page 45]
● Deleting Objects [page 55]
● Export and Import of XML Data [page 259]
1.2.1 Application
Use
A BRFplus application object is a container of different BRFplus objects. You can think of the BRFplus
application as a reflection of a particular system functionality that you want to enhance by some business
rules modeled with BRFplus. It is then recommended to collect all the BRFplus objects that contribute to a
given system functionality in one BRFplus application.
Features
Object Hierarchy and Application Assignment
The application object type is located at the highest level in the classification hierarchy for objects.
Nevertheless, you can define as many applications as you like. All objects must be assigned to an application.
The system supports you to accomplish this by offering two ways of assigning an application to an object:
● You can create new objects out of the context of a given application by choosing Create Object on the
Contained Objects tab of the application. All objects created this way are automatically assigned to the
application from which you started.
● You can create new objects from the navigation panel of the BRFplus workbench. In this case, you have to
create the new object with the help of the context menu of one of the already existing objects. The new
object is then assigned automatically to the same application as the object from which you started.
Note
In case of a system that is completely empty with no BRFplus objects inside at all, you would start working
in the BRFplus workbench by choosing
Workbench
Create Application .
Storage Types
There are three types of application referred to as storage types:
● System application (default)
● Master data application
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
29
● Customizing application
Depending on the storage type, the system behaves differently when it comes to system transports. System
and customizing applications can be local while master data applications are always local. The storage type as
well as the locality setting of an application is inherited by all objects that are assigned to that application. All
three types of application can be assigned to a development package.
Customizing applications delivered by SAP are always installed in client 000 in systems located at the
customer site. If you need to copy such an application into a system client that is used for development, you
can accomplish this with the help of a transport request of type Customizing. For further details, refer to SAP
note 1908227 .
Note
The storage type must be defined when you create an application. Once the new application has been
created, this setting cannot be changed anymore.
Versioning
Like all other types of objects, you can decide whether the system should keep the previous versions of an
application in the system database after the application has been modified. In addition, you can also define a
default versioning setting for objects that you newly create and add to the Contained Objects list of the
application. The newly created objects inherit the versioning setting that has been defined by the application.
Note
The inherited versioning setting of an object is a default setting only and can be changed individually for
each object at any time.
Keep in mind that the versioning default setting for objects assigned to the application does not affect the
versioning behavior of the application itself. The versioning setting for an application object is controlled in
the same way as for all other object types.
Note
Under certain circumstances, using object versions can lead to potential side-effects, which can lead to
error situations that are difficult to resolve. This is why SAP has decided to qualify the default versioning
modes Versioning On as well as Versioning Enforced as "not recommended". For more information, see
Versioning: Pros and Cons [page 170].
Further Settings
An application also offers attributes for the application component and the software component. The
application component and software component have to be the same as defined for the development package.
The application and software component are automatically derived from the development package if they are
not set explicitly.
An application also helps you control reuse, changeability, and visibility with access levels.
Recommendation
For the definition of the development package, application component, and software component, we
recommend that you choose the same values that are in effect for the software solution that you want to
30
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
enhance by a new BRFplus application. This simplifies all activities related to the software infrastructure,
especially transports.
Restrictions and Interdependencies
The settings for development package, application component, and software component of an application
(and the objects belonging to an application) are partially dependent on each other. The following restrictions
apply:
● The development package assigned to an application determines whether the application is either
transportable or local.
● The definition of an application as transportable or local is irreversible. Once the application has been
saved for the first time, this setting cannot be changed anymore. If you try to reassign a local application
to a transportable package or vice versa, the system rejects this and sends an error message.
● For a local application, defining a software component is not needed. As opposed to that, for a
transportable application it is essential to define the software component because the SAP transport
system is based on this attribute.
Application Exit Class
If your application requires special processing routines (for example, for auxiliary calculations, validations,
etc.), you can implement such additional functionality with methods of an ABAP class. These methods can
then be used, for example, to extend the functionality of a formula expression in the form of additional formula
functions. The exit class must be registered for the application to which it belongs. To accomplish this, fill in
the name of the class in the Application Exit Class field.
For an application exit class, the following applies:
● For a BRFplus application, you can define no more than one exit class.
● An application exit class must implement the IF_FDT_APPLICATION_SETTINGS interface.
● Once you have started to use the functionality provided by an exit class, we highly recommend not to
change the exit class assignment from that point in time. If changes to the functionality are needed, try to
implement this within the scope of the already assigned class.
Note
If, for whatever reason, you cannot avoid changing or deleting the exit class assignment of an
application, you have to check manually where the implemented functionality has already been used.
For each usage, you are responsible for either providing a workaround or canceling the using object. Be
aware that these usages may be hard to find (for example, a formula expression using a function that
used to be provided by the exit class to be changed).
Object Type-Specific Settings
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
31
While all of the aforementioned settings directly affect the application itself, there is another set of settings
used to control the properties and behavior of particular object types that are created inside of the
application's scope. The following application-wide settings can be made on the Miscellaneous tab:
Table 3:
Setting
Comment
Restart Rule Set Enabled
Processing rule sets can be done in two different modes:
●
Standard mode: All rules in a rule set are executed one
after another. Processing stops either after the last rule
in the rule set has been processed or if an exit condition
is met.
●
Deferred mode: Like standard mode, but with the pos­
sibility to restart the rule set processing at the point
where it had stopped due to an exit condition.
With this setting switched on, rule set processing in deferred
mode is supported.
Secondary Database Connection
Expressions of type Procedure Call (subtype Database
Procedure) and Dynamic Database View can operate on da­
tabase objects not only in the local database, but also in an
alternative database belonging to a different system, or
even in a stand-alone database that is not part of an SAP
system. With this setting, you can choose a database from
the database connections that have been defined in the lo­
cal system. The system offers all entries that have been
maintained in backend transaction DBCO. If a secondary da­
tabase has been maintained for an application, the
Procedure Call and Dynamic Database View expressions in
that application automatically refer to the secondary data­
base.
Default Settings for New Objects
All BRFplus objects have a number of administrative data fields in common. For some of these fields, it is very
likely that for the majority of objects in an application, the respective settings are identical. Therefore, it is
possible to define default values for these fields on application level so that newly created objects carry these
default values. The values can of course be changed if need be.
Table 4:
Setting
Comment
Application Log Object, Application Log Sub Object
Defines the application log objects used for recording the
log entries that are created by objects belonging to the ap­
plication (for example, actions of type Log Message). For
more information, see Log Message Action [page 125].
32
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Setting
Comment
Save Log Data
Controls whether the log data shall be permanently stored
in the database or not. If not, log data is only kept in memory
during runtime and is lost after the session.
Default Enforcement
Controls if and to what degree of compulsion the objects of
the application have to follow the application-wide default
setting concerning application log.
Allowed Message Types
Controls which message types you can use in an application
when you define a Log Message action.
Versioning Mode
Controls whether newly created objects are put under ver­
sion control by default or not.
Note
This setting affects objects of all types except for cata­
logs. Catalogs are always created with versioning off.
Language Settings
Controls whether texts and documentation of newly created
objects shall be maintained dependent on language, version,
both, or none of all. Object names, however, are treated as
technical names and are therefore not affected by these
settings.
More Information
Storage Types [page 34]
Versioning [page 165]
Creating an Application [page 175]
Setting Properties [page 176]
Adding Objects [page 176]
Setting an Access Level [page 177]
Setting Versions [page 245]
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
33
1.2.2 Storage Types
Use
BRFplus provides a number of different storage types for objects to be stored. The storage category is
selected on the basis of how the application objects are intended to be used. The storage type is defined as a
property of a BRFplus application. When creating an object, the new object inherits its storage type from the
application to which it belongs. There is no way for an object to override this inherited setting.
Note
You set the storage type of an application when you create an application. This setting is irreversible after
the application has been saved for the first time. It cannot be changed at a later point in time.
Features
● System Data
Objects defined as system objects should not be changed. The metadata for system objects is stored in
client-independent tables of delivery class S. This metadata can only be transported via a workbench
transport. All system object database table names end with S. System objects cannot refer to
Customizing or master data objects. However, system objects can be referred to by Customizing and
master data objects.
● Customizing Data
Customizing objects are objects that allow you to create or make changes in your system environment.
The metadata for customizing objects is always stored in client-dependent tables of delivery class C.
Customizing objects can only refer to system objects.
● Master Data
Master data objects are client-dependent objects, local by default and cannot be transported. The
metadata for master data object is stored in client-dependent tables of delivery class A. Master data
objects can refer to system and customizing objects.
The following table summarizes how the storage type of an application affects the usage of objects that belong
to it:
Table 5:
Storage Type
Client
Transport
Cross-Application Usage
System
client-independent
transportable or local
Can use system objects.
Customizing
client-dependent
transportable or local
Can use system and custom­
izing objects.
Master Data
client-dependent
local
Can use system, customiz­
ing, and master data objects.
34
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
More Information
Application [page 29]
1.2.3 Naming Conventions for BRFplus
Use
The names of the objects that you create and work with in BRFplus are used in the sense of technical names.
As opposed to the Text and Short Text properties of an object, the Name property is always languageindependent. Referring to an object by its name is therefore a good practice for global companies where
employees with different mother languages have to communicate. Here, the language-independent name can
help to overcome misunderstandings.
The following naming conventions apply for BRFplus objects:
● The name of an application must be unique within the scope of a system.
Note
If the system in question is set up as a customer system, it is sufficient for an application name to be
unique within the scope of the system client.
● The name of a function must be unique within the scope of an application.
● A valid name can contain any character from the following set of characters: "
0123456789ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ_/"
● BRFplus does not differentiate between lower and upper case. All object names are automatically
converted to upper case.
● Blank characters or hyphens are not allowed in object names. BRFplus automatically replaces blanks and
hyphens (" ", "-") with underscores ("_").
● The first character must be a letter or a slash (but not a number). Slashes are allowed only for the purpose
of assigning an object to a namespace. For more information, see section Using Prefix Namespaces below.
● BRFplus objects created by customers have to start with one of the reserved letters Y or Z as it is common
practice for customer objects in the ABAP Dictionary.
● The name TABLE_LINE is not permitted for all kinds of BRFplus objects as it is a reserved word.
Note
You can also create unnamed objects in BRFplus. However, this is possible only for objects that depend on
another object (for example, a new data object that you create as an expression's result data object).
Unnamed objects cannot be reused.
As an exception to the rules listed above, the name of a node in a catalog can be defined freely. For these
non-technical elements, there is no check against the set of allowed characters mentioned above.
Using Prefix Namespaces
BRFplus supports an informal approach to use object names qualified by namespaces. Informal means that in
BRFplus, a namespace is not a distinct element type of its own. Rather, it is just a prefix preceding the name of
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
35
the object itself, thereby assigning that object to the given namespace. Although this is a very simple concept,
you can still take advantage of it by using it for grouping objects semantically, thereby reducing complexity in
case of large projects.
If an object name starts with a slash, the system interprets this as the beginning of a namespace designation.
This leads to additional requirements for formal correctness of the object name:
● The first character of the name must be a slash (indicating that a namespace is being used).
● There must be at least one more slash as part of the name string (indicating the end either of the
namespace or of a particular level in case of a multi-level namespace).
● An empty string is not allowed as a namespace ("//").
● The last slash in the object name must be followed by at least one more character (indicating the name of
the object itself, without the namespace).
Note
Using prefix namespaces can be restricted depending on your system settings. If you encounter problems
when trying to use prefix namespaces, see SAP note 150451.
Example
Here are some examples of valid and invalid object names:
Table 6:
Name
Valid
MY_OBJECT
yes
ZMY_OBJECT_1
yes
Comment
Object name in customer namespace
Z.
1_MY_OBJECT
no
/APP/MY_OBJECT
yes
APP/MY/OBJECT
no
Name must not start with a number.
If namespaces are used, the first char­
acter must be a slash.
/APP/MY/OBJECT
yes
/APP_MY_OBJECT
no
If namespaces are used, at least two
slashes are required.
/APP/FINANCIALS/COSTING/
yes
A valid three-level namespace.
MY_OBJECT
Renaming Objects
You define an object's name during the creation of that object. Due to the technical character of the Name
property, it is good practice to keep this name. Adhering to this principle may save you many problems that
may be hard to track. In the BRFplus workbench, keeping an object's name is supported by displaying the
name always in read-only mode.
36
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
However, it is still possible to change a name because BRFplus identifies its objects by their ID, not by name.
Changing the technical name of an object is therefore uncritical within the scope of BRFplus. However, it is
possible that an object is directly referenced by name from an ABAP backend program calling the BRFplus
framework. It is up to you to ensure that all external name-based references to BRFplus objects are kept in
sync with the changes made inside BRFplus.
If you still decide that an object's name must be changed, the system offers the following ways to accomplish
this:
● Renaming an individual object
To rename an individual BRFplus object, make sure the administrative data of that object is displayed in
the workbench's General section. On the General tab, click Rename to open a dialog where you can
redefine the object name.
● Renaming multiple objects
To rename multiple objects, start the Mass Change tool. Select the objects to be renamed and click
Rename. In the dialog that appears, define the prefix or suffix to be added to the existing names.
More Information
Administrative Data [page 37]
Mass Change [page 262]
1.2.4 Administrative Data
Definition
All of the objects you can create in BRFplus have, in addition to their type-specific properties, a common set of
properties that are independent of the particular object type. These properties are referred to as
administrative data.
Use
You use these properties for identifying, searching, or grouping the BRFplus objects that are available in the
system. In the BRFplus workbench, the administrative data can be found in the General section at the top of
the maintenance screen for each object. You can decide whether you want this section be expanded or not by
clicking
at the right border of the section header. Displaying the section content gives you a quick overview
of an object's administrative data, while hiding it gives you additional screen space for defining an object's
settings.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
37
Features
Overview
When you open a BRFplus object for viewing or editing, the system populates the work area of the UI with the
respective object data. Whether the object's administrative data are initially displayed or hidden is subject to
the respective setting in the Personalization settings.
Details
The detailed view of the administrative data is divided into the following tabs:
General
Here, the system displays a group of settings that have either been defined at creation time of an object (for
example, the application to which an object belongs) or are automatically derived from activities in the system
(such as the creation or change date). These settings are therefore presented in read-only mode, with the
exception of the object's Access Level, which can be changed by the user. For more information about access
levels, see Setting an Access Level [page 177].
Texts
With the text settings, you can control how the descriptive name (not the technical name) of an object is
presented in the user interface. The different options offered by the system depend on the Source that you
select for the object texts:
● Free text input
With this option, the short and long text have to be entered manually by the user.
● Text symbol
With this option, the text defined for a given text symbol (also known as text element) of a given ABAP
report in the backend system is used as the object's text.
Unlike the other options, the Text symbol option supports only one text field and therefore cannot be used
to differentiate between short and long texts.
● Exit class
With this option, the short and long text provided by the given exit class are used as the object's text.
The following section describes the text options depending on the Source that you select:
● Free text input
○ Dependency
For object texts to be entered manually, you can specify whether these texts remain constant across
all versions and languages, or if the texts shall be distinguished by language, version, or both.
○ Language dependency
For language-dependent texts, the system displays an additional field where you can select the
desired language. This field offers all the languages that are available in the system. Once you
have chosen the desired language, you can maintain the texts for this language. This option is
useful and it can even be legally required if you plan to use a BRFplus application in countries with
different languages.
○ Version dependency
For objects that are under version control, you can define that the texts shall also be versiondependent. With this setting, each new version of an object contains a copy of the object texts that
are carried over from the previous version. These texts can then be overwritten in the new version
without affecting the texts that were in place in the previous version. This can be useful if a
complex object like a formula expression has been changed substantially from one version to
38
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
another, or if an object text must properly reflect the name of an external entity that has been
renamed in the course of time.
○ Language
From the available languages, choose one and maintain the short and long text for this language. This
field is available only if you have defined the object texts as language-dependent.
○ Short Text, Text
Enter the texts for the current object. Short texts can hold up to 20 characters, texts up to 80
characters. The short text that you enter is used by the BRFplus workbench for displaying the object
unless you decide that you want to see technical names only. To control the display behavior, choose
and then
General
Display Technical Names .
Note
The system has a fallback mechanism in case the text to be used according to the personalization
settings is not available (for example, because the required text has not been maintained for the current
logon language, or the object in question is unnamed). The system then tries to display a text according
to the following order of precedence:
1. Short text
2. Long text
3. Dynamic string representation of significant elements of the object definition (for example, the
value of a constant as a string)
● Text Symbol
○ Program Name
Enter the technical name of the ABAP report for which a text symbol is defined that you want to use as
the current object's text.
○ Key
Enter the ID of the text symbol defined for the above report that you want to use. Once you have
entered the symbol ID and press Enter , the string maintained for the text symbol is displayed as
Text.
○ Language
From the list of languages available in the system, choose one to check which text is displayed if a user
is logged on in that language.
Note
Be aware that the Language list is only meant to help you find out which different language versions
of the selected text symbol exist. As opposed to this, it cannot be used to maintain additional
language versions. This can only be accomplished by using the appropriate translation tools for the
text elements assigned to the referenced report.
● Exit class
With this option, the short and long text provided by the given exit class is used as the object's texts.
Note
The exit class that you enter here must implement the IF_FDT_TEXT_DOCU_EXIT interface. The
workbench uses the methods provided by this interface to retrieve the texts for the object. The
workbench supports you in finding a suitable class by restricting the classes shown in the value help to
those that fulfill this prerequisite.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
39
Note that this class setting is not related to the application exit class.
Documentation
BRFplus offers you the possibility to maintain a documentation for each single object you create, like
functions, expressions, data objects, etc. This is especially useful for complex objects like formulas or decision
trees that have an immediate influence on how the system handles a particular business case but can
sometimes be difficult to understand.
The options available for object documentation are very similar to those offered for texts. Therefore, the
following part only describes the documentation-specific features, while those features that text and
documentation have in common are left out. Please refer to the Texts section above.
● Free text input
With this option, you can manually enter a documentation text of any length.
● SAPscript object
With this option, the text contained in the specified SAPscript document is referenced as the object's
documentation.
● Exit class
With this option, the documentation provided by the given exit class is used as the object's
documentation.
The following section describes the text options depending on the Source that you select:
● Free text input
○ Dependency, Language
Same as described above in Texts section.
● SAPscript object
○ ID
Document class ID of the SAPscript document you want to use for the object's documentation.
Examples of possible values are TX for general texts, RE for report documentation, DT for dialog texts,
etc.
○ Object
Technical name of the SAPscript document you want to use for the object's documentation.
● Exit class
○ Exit Class
Enter the name of the exit class you want to use for providing the object's documentation.
Note
The exit class that you enter here must implement the IF_FDT_TEXT_DOCU_EXIT interface. The
workbench uses the methods provided by this interface to retrieve the documentation for the
object. The workbench supports you in finding a suitable class by restricting the classes shown in
the value help to those that fulfill this prerequisite.
Note that this class setting is not related to the application exit class.
○ Documentation
In this field, the BRFplus workbench displays the documentation text provided by the exit class you
have entered in the Exit Class field.
If the predefined functionality of dynamically providing object documentation with the help of an exit class
is still not flexible enough for you, you might want to develop individual extensions to this concept. For
example, if you have a user license for SAP Knowledge Warehouse, it would be possible to create
40
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
additional documentation in the Knowledge Warehouse and have the interface method implemented by
the exit class display the topic related to a particular BRFplus object. However, such extensions are
completely customer-specific and are not supported by SAP.
Note
For data objects that have been bound to a DDIC object, the Text and Documentation parts of the
administrative data automatically inherit the respective data stored in the DDIC for the bound object. This
does also comprise all the different language versions that may be available in the DDIC. Text and
documentation are treated differently by the system in the following respect:
● The inherited texts are imported into the BRFplus repository as default values for a bound data object
but can be overwritten if desired.
● The inherited documentation is imported into the BRFplus repository by reference and cannot be
changed.
For more information, see Data Binding [page 61].
Versions
You can access all versions of a given object that are stored in the system. The version list always contains at
least one entry (the current version). For each version, the system displays the following information:
Table 7:
Property
Description
Version
Version number. In case of complex object types, this col­
umn does also contain a triangle icon that you can use to ex­
pand the object structure in the Object Type column (see
below).
User Name
Logon name of the user who saved the object version
Time Stamp
Date and time when the object version was saved
Processing-relevant changes
Gives access to the list of changes made in a version that
are relevant for processing and may influence the process
flow. Here are some examples for this kind of change:
Non Processing-relevant changes
●
Constant value changed
●
Formula expression modified
●
Constant expression replaced by decision table
Gives access to the list of changes made in a version that
are not relevant for processing and have no influence on the
process flow. Here are some examples for this kind of
change:
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
●
Short text changed
●
Versioning switched off
●
Dependency type changed for object documentation
PUBLIC
41
Property
Description
Versioning
Indicates whether versioning is switched on, and if so, which
versioning mode is in effect. This setting is either On,
Transported by <transport ID>, or Not transported for ver­
sions preceding the current version and may be either on or
off for the current version.
Object Type
Type of the current object. In case of complex objects, this
column displays the expanded object structure. For exam­
ple, a table data object version can be expanded to show its
structure and elements that were present in a particular ver­
sion.
Depending on the definition of a particular object, the object name displayed in the Name column may be
preceded by a small triangular icon. This indicates that the object version contains nested objects that are also
versioned. After expanding the list of nested objects, you can directly access the nested objects' version.
Additional Information
With the additional information presented on this tab, the system helps you to identify the origin of a BRFplus
object. Here you can find out the name of the system where an object has originally been created, the ID of the
transport request used to import the object into the current system, and the client number in the source
system from which the object has been exported.
If a non-local object has been changed and therefore been recorded in a transport request waiting for release,
the respective transport request is displayed. In that case, the transport ID displayed serves as a link. When
you click it, the system opens the transport analysis tool with detailed information on that transport request.
The degree to which the fields are populated with values gives you a hint of the current system's nature with
respect to the current object: If your current system is the same as the object's original system, then only the
system field contains a value while the other fields remain empty (because there was no transport needed).
More Information
Versioning [page 165]
42
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
1.2.4.1
Custom Attributes
Explains how you can provide customer-specific metadata for the objects of a BRFplus application (in addition
to the predefined set of administrative data fields).
Use
BRFplus offers a lot of metadata fields for each object that you create in a BRFplus application. Some of these
fields are automatically maintained by the system, whereas others are available for you to maintain. Despite of
the amount of information that can be stored in these fields, it is obvious that each different project or usage
scenario may call for a specific set of object attributes that SAP cannot foresee.
Example
In a rules development project, the leader of the department that has requested the new rules application
has defined a requirement that in the new application, it shall be possible to assign a person responsible for
each single BRFplus object belonging to the application. However, the standard metadata of BRFplus
objects do only keep track of the person who has created the object, or made the last change to it. With
custom attributes, it is easy to refer to one of the text data objects in your application as a dedicated
custom attribute that can be used to extend the metadata of each object by one additional field that holds
the name, or user ID, of the person responsible for that object.
With custom attributes, you can define any number of attributes that you can use within an application to
further specify the objects in that application (in addition to the standard attributes as described in the
Administrative Data [page 37] section).
Custom attributes are technically realized by assigning a set of element data objects of type text to an
application, which are then automatically available for all objects belonging to this particular application.
Procedure
To work with custom attributes, proceed as follows:
1. In the BRFplus workbench, open the application for which you want to define custom attributes.
2. In the Details section, choose Custom Attributes.
3. Decide whether you want to Add Existing Data Objects as custom attributes or if you prefer to Create New
Data Objects. The system ensures that only text data objects can be used or created for this purpose.
4. Save and activate the data objects as well as the application.
As soon as you have defined one or more custom attributes for an application, you can find an additional
Custom Attributes tab in the Details section of each object in that application. You can now proceed with
populating the custom attributes of all the objects with applicable values.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
43
1.2.5 Context and Result
Use
Context and result define the input and output parameter interface. In BRFplus, input parameters are referred
to as context while output parameters are referred to as result. Context and result are data carriers.
Features
General
Both context and result are a set of data objects, such as an element, structure, or a table. A context or a result
of type element can be a text, number, Boolean, quantity, amount, and timepoint.
Functions as well as expressions, actions, and rules have a context. A set of attributes defined by the context is
used as input values to be processed by a function or an expression. The context can consist of one or many
elements, structures, or tables, each of which is addressed by its name.
The context data of a function can be used by all subexpressions that belong to the function's top expression
or ruleset. The input parameters of the expressions are filled either with the function's context or with the
result of other expressions.
In contrast to this, a function or expression can always have only one result data object. Given that, if a
business rule is to return more than one value at once, this can only be accomplished by assigning a structure
or a table as a result data object.
When you create a function with execution mode Event Mode, the system assigns the predefined Actions
table as the function's result data object. However, you can overwrite this default assignment with any data
object that may suit better.
Context Overview
For each object that has a context, you can easily inform yourself of the available context data objects. To
accomplish this, navigate to the object in question in the BRFplus workbench and choose Context Overview.
The system then displays a list with all data objects that are available via the object's context. For each context
data object, the system displays its origin (function context or result). Likewise, in the same dialog you can
inform yourself of potential other context data objects that are currently not available for use by the
expression.
Note
If a function is run in event mode [page 141] instead of functional mode, the context can be changed and
can be a part of the result. In this case, the result parameter is not relevant.
If an expression, action, or rule is assigned to more than one function, the list of available context data
objects represents the intersection of the context data objects of all involved functions. This is necessary to
ensure that the expression, action, or rule can be processed properly, regardless by which function it is
called.
44
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Example
A decision table expression DT is used by three different functions F1, F2, and F3, either directly as the
function's top expression or indirectly as a nested expression. The following table shows the context data
objects for each of these functions:
Table 8:
Function
Parameters
F1
NUM1, TXT1, BOOL1
F2
NUM1, TXT1
F3
NUM1, BOOL1
In this scenario, there is only one context data object that all three functions have in common, namely NUM1.
Consequently, an expression like decision table DT that is used in all three functions can only access this
one common context data object. Using any of the other context data objects would lead to a situation
where the expression's context would be partially undefined for at least one of the three function, which is
not permitted.
If, in the scenario described, you would decide to assign DT to a fourth function F4, and if F4 has only one
number data object NUM2 in the context that is not available in any of the three other functions, then the
intersection of context data objects that can be used in DT would be empty.
Implicit Result Type Conversion
The result data object of a BRFplus object must be compatible to the context data object to which the result is
passed as input data. For example, if a decision table cell contains a value range expression, then the range
parameters must be populated by direct values, data objects, or expressions of the same type as the value
range parameters. However, there is one exception to this rule: For a function with a result data object of type
text, you can assign any expression as its top expression, regardless of the result data object type of that
expression. If the result data object type of the expression differs from the text data object defined for the
function, BRFplus performs an implicit type conversion of the expression's result value into text. The
conversion logic is the same as the one that is used for the ToString function that is available for formula
expressions. For the details of this logic, see the formula function documentation that is available in the
BRFplus workbench.
1.2.6 Creating Objects
Definition
In BRFplus, you create objects of all kinds to model the business rules that shall support your decision making
in the use cases of your everyday business. You can create objects in different ways. Depending on the
situation, different implications may apply.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
45
Concept
General
All BRFplus object types provide a set of administrative data that consists of the same attributes. Most of
these attributes are specific for each individual object, but some of them depend on the application object to
which an object belongs. These dependent attributes are:
● Strict dependency
The following application attributes are inherited by all objects that you create in the context of an
application and cannot be changed on object level:
○ Storage type
With the storage type, you control whether an object is treated as a system object, a customizing
object, or a master data object. You define the storage type of an application and all of its objects
when you create the application. There is no way to change this setting afterwards, neither for the
application itself nor for the objects that belong to the application.
○ Local vs. transportable objects
For an application, you must define the package to which the application belongs. The transport
behavior of the application and its objects is determined by the transport settings of the assigned
package. Theoretically, you could change the transport behavior of the BRFplus objects by assigning a
different package to an application. However, in most cases, such a change has far-reaching effects
and is therefore not recommended.
● Loose dependency
The following application attributes are inherited by all objects that you create in the context of an
application, but can be changed for each object individually:
○ Application log settings
○ Versioning behavior
○ Language and version dependency of object texts and documentation
Save, check, activate
Once you have maintained and saved the mandatory data for a newly created object, you can continue your
work. It is not necessary to maintain all possible settings at once. However, keep in mind that many object
types require detailed settings to make them ready for productive use. The system helps you to detect any
missing or incomplete settings with the built-in check routines for each object type.
Example
You create a decision table expression with 10 condition columns and hundreds of rows for the different
combinations of condition values. At first sight, the table seems to cover perfectly the business case that
you have in mind. However, the check may remind you that the data objects you have used in the condition
columns have been taken deliberately from the repository rather than from a function context that is
needed for proper operation. Therefore, the decision table may be consistent and complete in itself but still
cannot be activated as long as the table is not connected to a function providing all the data objects used.
You can check an object either explicitly with the Check button or implicitly with the Activate button. The
system then runs all the check routines defined for the object type in question. If the checks detect any errors
or inconsistencies, the system displays a message. Many of these check messages have a long text attached
with detailed explanations of the problem and possible solutions.
Many object types in BRFplus contain references to other objects. If you try to activate an object containing
such references, the system determines whether there are any inactive objects among the hierarchy of used
46
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
objects. If so, the system offers to recursively drill down the object hierarchy and activate all inactive objects it
may find. This is a prerequisite for the top level object to be activated successfully.
If any of the subordinate objects cannot be activated, the process stops with an error message. If this
happens, we recommend that you thoroughly read the message explanation text to find out where exactly the
problem occurred, since this is not always obvious.
Usage Consistency Check
In addition to those checks that are defined to detect any inconsistencies in the object definition, there is
another check type available, namely Usage Consistency Check. With this check, you can let the system check
whether an object that you are currently maintaining is used by any other objects, and if there are any
problems with respect to these usage relationships, or with respect to the using objects. Of course, this check
only makes sense for objects that are used by other objects and is therefore normally not relevant upon object
creation time.
To perform this check, open the desired object in the work area of the BRFplus workbench and choose
More
Usage Consistency Check .
Example
An element data object of type text has been defined with a maximum text length of 20 characters. This
data object is used as the result data object of a decision table expression, where a number of different
result strings has already been defined. If you reduce the maximum text length of the data object to only 10
characters, and if there are result values in the decision table exceeding this reduced maximum text length,
the usage consistency check would make you aware of this potential problem.
Note
When the usage consistency check traverses the data model, it may also find objects that are using the
current object, but reside in a different system client. For using objects of this kind, the system cannot
perform any further checks. However, the system makes you aware of the fact that there are affected
objects in other clients and leaves it up to the user to run the same check in these clients.
Manual Creation vs. Programmatic Creation
Creating objects manually
The usual way to create BRFplus objects is to create them one after another in the BRFplus workbench. You
can accomplish this in any of the following ways:
● Repository view
In the Repository view, right-click any category node or object type node. In the context menu, choose
Create. The system then presents the types of objects that you can create in the context of the node
where you opened the menu.
Note
In the context menu of an application object, the Create menu offers subitems for creating BRFplus
objects of all types, including application.
● Catalog view
If you have a catalog defined, you can create new objects from the catalog's context menu. In this case,
the newly created objects are at the same time assigned to the catalog node from where you started.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
47
● Favorites or Recently Used view
In these two views, you can create new objects from the context menu of an application object. If there is
no application object listed in these views, you cannot create new objects here.
Creating objects programmatically
You can of course also create objects programmatically through the interfaces (APIs) offered by BRFplus, with
the CL_FDT_FACTORY class as a starting point. This is especially helpful if you have to create a large number of
objects, for example, if you want to test the system performance with many thousands of objects before you
actually start a development project of such a dimension. In that case you have to take care that those objects
that are connected by a usage relationship must be activated from the bottom up. For more information, see
the tutorials on the BRFplus pages in SAP Developers Network (SDN).
Single vs. Multiple Objects
As outlined above, the most common way to create single BRFplus objects is using the BRFplus workbench,
and the most efficient way to handle large amounts of objects is via programming. However, there is a third
alternative that may serve as a good compromise between these two approaches.
Experience shows that in a rules project, the highest number of objects is of type element data object. Here,
the BRFplus workbench offers a mass creation tool with a table-like layout where you can enter the basic
attribute values for any number of objects in a row. Once you are done, you choose OK and the system creates
all the data objects at once. This is much faster than creating single objects. To start the mass creation tool,
open a view in the BRFplus workbench where you can create objects and choose
Elements (Mass Creation)
Create
Data Object
from the object tree context menu.
Note
Mass creation is available for element data objects only.
Reusability
In many situations, it is desirable to use the same BRFplus object at different places in an application or even in
different applications. Reusing objects can reduce the complexity and improve the consistency of an
application. BRFplus therefore encourages you to create reusable objects. This is accomplished by setting the
Is reusable flag that is available in most object creation dialogs by default. With this setting, defining a name for
the new object is mandatory, which in turn is the prerequisite for object reuse.
Making an object reusable has no drawbacks whatsoever. Therefore, in the BRFplus workbench, the Is
reusable flag is not only set by default, it is even impossible to unset it in most cases. There are only rare cases
where you can decide to create an object that is not reusable. The prerequisites for this are the following:
● Only expressions can be defined as non-reusable.
● This is only possible when you create an expression from the context of another object rather than from
the object tree in the Repository view. For example, you can create an unnamed (and therefore nonreusable) expression in the context of a function by assigning a top expression with the help of the Create
command from the Top Expression field's object menu.
Object Nesting and Unnamed Objects
Instead of creating objects from the object tree in the workbench navigation pane, there are some situations
where you can directly embed a new object into another object. This is possible for the following tasks:
● Assigning a new expression to a superordinate object (for example, assigning a top expression to a
function, a range expression to the cell of a decision table, and so on)
48
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
● Assigning a new rule to a ruleset
Creating objects by nesting them into a container object is comfortable because you do not have to leave the
context where you are currently working in. Besides, this is the only way to create objects without having to
define an object name. The consequences of working with unnamed objects are the following:
● Unnamed objects can only be used by the container object for which they have been created.
● Unnamed objects are neither listed in the repository object tree nor in the object query dialogs nor in the
hit list of the advanced search.
● As a consequence, unnamed objects are not reusable.
● If the container object is deleted, its nested unnamed objects remain in the system. Since these objects
are invisible, you cannot access and delete them like other objects. To remove unused unnamed objects
from the system, choose
operation.
Tools
Application Administration
and execute the Delete unused objects
Implicit Object Creation via Data Binding
You can create data objects of all kinds (element, structure, table) not only by manually defining all their
attributes but also by defining a reference to an existing object in the data dictionary of the backend system.
This kind of object creation is called data binding. When you use this option, the system determines the
dependencies of the referenced dictionary object and automatically tries to reflect the dictionary object as
good as possible on BRFplus side. Depending on the situation in the dictionary, this feature can help you save
significant amounts of time. The system can do the following for you:
● Element data objects
When you bind an elementary data object to a data element in the dictionary, the system determines if the
data element itself is bound to a domain. If so, the system automatically populates the BRFplus data
object with all the domain values defined in the dictionary.
● Structures and tables
When you bind a structure or a table data object to a dictionary structure or table, the system
automatically creates an element data object for each field in the structure or table. In addition, the
system establishes a binding relationship to the corresponding dictionary data element. Again, for each
element data object, the system imports the domain values that are defined in the dictionary for that field.
More Information
Administrative Data [page 37]
Naming Conventions for BRFplus [page 35]
Data Binding [page 61]
Deleting Objects [page 55]
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
49
1.2.7 Searching Objects
Use
It is a common experience that the BRFplus object repository can grow rapidly. This can lead to situations
where it is difficult to find a particular object. To make it easier for you to always find the objects that you are
looking for, the BRFplus workbench offers a number of different methods and tools for this purpose:
● Catalogs
With catalogs, you can define a subset of objects that belong to a particular business domain, thereby
hiding the multitude of objects that exist in the repository but do not contribute to that business domain.
You can also set up different catalogs for the same domain and fill them with objects related to different
tasks, for example, one catalog for end users and another catalog with objects needed for rule
administration. For more information, see Catalog [page 160].
● Workbench Views
The workbench views My Applications, Search Result, Favorites, and Recently Used help you organize the
objects to be presented according to different strategies. For more information, see Understanding the
User Interface [page 7].
● Object Search
BRFplus comes with a powerful object search supporting you to easily find the objects you are looking for.
The following sections in this topic explain in detail the BRFplus object search.
Features
Starting a Search
You can start a search in different ways. Depending on the current working context, the search dialog is
displayed in slightly different forms of appearance that are designed to support you best in getting your
current task accomplished:
● Search button in navigation panel
This is the most obvious way to start a search. The search dialog is displayed in its standard layout, and
you can specify the search criteria as desired. The search result is displayed in the navigation panel of the
BRFplus workbench.
● Searching for an object ID
Each BRFplus object that you create is automatically assigned a unique ID that is stored in the object's ID
property. Addressing an object by its ID is the only reliable way because even the technical name of an
object can be ambiguous when it comes to cross-application scenarios. When you know an object's ID, you
can use an easy abbreviation to look it up by choosing Workbench Open Object from the workbench
menu. The system then displays the search dialog with the first search criterion set to Object ID is equal to.
All you have to do is to insert the ID into the entry field and start the search. If an object with the given ID
exists, it is loaded directly into the work area of the workbench.
● Searching for objects to be assigned to an object under maintenance
Setting up a rules model with BRFplus means reuse of existing objects to the highest possible degree.
Therefore, it is a very common situation for rule modelers to search for existing objects they can assign to
the object they are currently working on, for example as a context data object, a result data object, or a
nested expression. In all these situations, the BRFplus workbench presents an object menu near the
50
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
position of the object to be assigned. When you choose the Select option from that menu, the system
displays the search dialog and automatically inserts sensible values into some of the search criteria fields,
starts the search, and displays the result in a result list underneath the search criteria. You can then either
choose one of the objects offered in the search result or modify the search criteria and repeat the search
until the desired object appears in the result list.
Customizing the Search Criteria
The BRFplus object search is flexible not only with respect to the freely defined search terms that you may
enter, but also to the layout and predefined restrictions of the search itself. You can take advantage of the
following options:
● Number of search criteria
By default, the search dialog is displayed with three lines for your search criteria. In each line, you can
choose the desired search criterion from a list, the comparison operator, and the value you want to search
for. If you use more than one criterion, the effect on the search process depends on whether you define
different criteria, or multiple occurrences of the same criterion, but with different values: If you define two
or more different criteria, these criteria are internally connected with a logical AND operator. In other
words, the more search criteria you define, the more specific are your search results.
○ Different criteria: If you define two or more different criteria, these criteria are internally connected
with a logical AND operator. In other words, the more search criteria you define, the more specific are
your search results.
○ Same criterion, but different values: If you define two or more lines for the same criterion, but with
different values, these criteria are internally connected with a logical OR operator. In other words, the
more search criteria you define, the more hits can be collected in the search result.
If you need more than three search criteria for a search, you can simply click the "+" button at the end of a
criterion line. The system then provides an additional line, for which by default the same criterion is
preselected as in the previous line where you clicked the button. If you prefer to see less criterion lines,
click the "-" button instead. The system takes care, however, that at least one criterion line remains visible
in the search dialog.
● Mutual relationship of search criteria
In principle, the search criteria that you use in a search are independent of each other and can be
combined as needed. The only thing to keep in mind is that adding search criteria means refining the
search result.
Despite of their independence, some of the available search criteria are related. The main purpose of such
related criteria is to help you define a search with fewer parameters. Here is an example of a search using
different parameter sets:
Example
You want to search the database for table data objects whose name starts with "ZTBL_CRM_" in all
applications you have set up for CRM-related use cases. As a first approach, you define the search
using generic criteria that all BRFplus object types have in common:
○ Application Name is equal to *CRM*
○ Object Type is equal to Data Object
○ Name is equal to ZTBL_CRM_*
With this parameter set, a possible problem might occur if the name prefix ZTBL_CRM_ has not only
been used for tables, but also for structures or elements. You can refine the search result by taking
advantage of one of the more specific criteria:
○ Application Name is equal to *CRM*
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
51
○ Data Object Type is equal to Table
○ Name is equal to ZTBL_CRM_*
Here, the generic Object Type criterion has been replaced by the Data Object Type criterion. With this
criterion, the system implicitly assumes that the search is dealing with data objects only, while all other
object types are not taken into account. It is not necessary to keep the Object Type is equal to Data
Object criterion in the search.
● Inclusion of BRFplus default objects
When you define BRFplus expressions or rules, it is an important task to assign different objects to the one
you are currently editing. For example, each expression needs a result data object assigned, and nearly all
expressions need context data objects. The usual way to make such an assignment is to choose Select
from the object menu near to the position where the object to be assigned is displayed. The system
displays the search dialog with the proper object type preselected and the result list of the search with that
selection. That is, if an expression needs a result data object of type number, all number data objects are
shown in the result list that are available for the assignment.
If you prefer to use any of the predefined data objects shipped with BRFplus instead of assigning your own
objects, you can accomplish this by choosing Also include objects from default BRFplus application. The
system then includes the possible predefined objects in the search result, in addition to your own objects.
● Maximum number of results
If you expect that a particular search might yield much more hits than needed, you may limit the number
of objects displayed in the result list. If the number of search results exceeds the maximum number that is
currently in effect, the system notifies you accordingly.
The number of objects that is displayed initially in the search dialog is subject to customization. You can
preset this value in the workbench personalization settings. The lowest allowed value is 10.
● Hide/Display the search criteria
If you have defined many search criteria, you may find that the criteria occupy too much space in the
search dialog, while the result list is pretty short. In that case, you can expand the height of the result list
by hiding the search criteria, which gives all the space available to the list.
Special Selection Criteria
52
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Most of the selection criteria offered in the search dialog are self-explanatory. However, the following may
deserve an additional discussion:
Table 9:
Search Criterion
Description
Application Name
It is a common mistake that a user searching for a particular
application enters the application name in the Application
Name field and starts the search. However, instead of pre­
senting the desired application object, the result list is popu­
lated with all objects contained in that application, including
the desired application object itself. This is because the
Application Name is one of the administrative data fields
that are common to all BRFplus objects. It is not restricted
to objects of type application.
To search for an application object, define the search as fol­
lows:
Action Type
●
Object Type is equal to Application
●
Name is equal to <your application name>
These three criteria help you simplify the search definition.
They all make an implicit assumption with respect to the
Expression Type
type of objects to be searched, namely action, expression,
Data Object Type
and data object. Therefore, if you use any of these criteria, it
is not necessary to define an additional Object Type search
criterion.
Element Type
This is a further refinement of the Data Object Type criterion
mentioned above. With this criterion, you can directly ex­
press that you want to search, for example, for text or num­
ber data objects. It is not necessary to explicitly restrict the
Object Type to Data Object, and the Data Object crite­
rion to Element.
Example
In the course of a rules implementation project, you need to find out whether all formula expressions in a
specified BRFplus application have been named according to the naming conventions set forth for that project.
You want to concentrate on formula expressions that have been created before the year 2012. To accomplish
this, proceed as follows:
1. In the BRFplus workbench, choose
.
2. In the Personalization dialog, on the General tab, make sure the Show Technical Names option is in effect.
3. In the workbench, make sure that the navigation panel is in Repository mode.
4. Choose Search.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
53
5. In the Search dialog, define the following search criteria:
○ Application Name is equal to <your application name>
○ Object type is equal to Expression
○ Expression Type is equal to Formula
○ Created on is less than 01.01.2012
The search dialog should now look as shown in the following graphic:
Figure 3: Search dialog showing the criteria described above
6. Choose Search to start the search.
The system determines the objects matching the criteria that you have entered and displays the objects in the
navigation panel. Since you have made sure in the first steps that objects shall be displayed using their
technical names, the hit list contains the technical names so that you can see at one glance whether the
naming conventions have been observed or not.
More Information
Catalog [page 160]
Workbench Personalization [page 11]
Understanding the User Interface [page 7]
54
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
1.2.8 Deleting Objects
Use
Deleting objects from the BRFplus database is a well-defined, multiple-step process that helps you to clean up
your work environment without any risk of unwanted loss of data. This process encompasses different predeletion and deletion stages with an ever-decreasing degree of object availability and visibility. Only after an
object has run through most of these stages (if not all) can it be deleted physically and irretrievably. With this
delayed and stepwise approach, BRFplus helps you to keep control over your objects even after, at first glance,
they have been deleted. As long as an object has not been physically deleted, an administrator can still
reactivate it and make it available for auditing or check purposes, or even for productive use.
Features
Technically, the different steps to bring an object to its final, physical deletion are implemented as an internal
status assignment rather than a real deletion. This makes it possible to let an object appear to be in different
"degrees of deletion", where each degree corresponds with a set of restrictions that apply to an object in that
particular status. Only for the last step in this process (physical deletion), the internal processing turns from a
status assignment to a real physical deletion of an object from the system database. After that, an object is
irretrievably lost. The following sections describe the different steps of an object from productive use to its
physical deletion.
Marking Objects as Obsolete
When you check your business rules, you may notice that from time to time, certain objects do not reflect the
business case in question properly anymore. There may be nothing wrong with these objects at the moment,
but you may foresee that future changes in the business environment might lead to a need for a change of the
rule object.
Example
In a business rules application for calculating income taxes, you have modeled the income/tax relationship
with a decision table where each row represents a certain income range and yields the proper tax that is due
for that income. However, the government in your country has announced that the taxation system shall be
changed in principle, with a number of complex calculation steps needed to determine the legally
prescribed tax for a given income.
In such a situation, it is pretty clear that the decision table approach that used to be appropriate in the past
will not be suitable to meet the future requirements. Given that, you mark the decision table as obsolete to
remind yourself that there is no use in trying to make the decision table fit for the new taxation system.
Rather, you would have to think of a different approach using more powerful expression types, such as
formula expressions.
Marking an object as obsolete has the following effects:
● An obsolete object cannot be changed.
● Marking an object as obsolete does not affect its activation status.
● Rules and expressions already using an obsolete but active object remain functional and are still available
for productive use.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
55
● Inactive rules and expressions already using an obsolete object cannot be activated.
● An obsolete object cannot be assigned to another object anew. The system enforces this restriction by
hiding obsolete objects in all kinds of object selection lists.
● The obsolescence flag of an object can be removed at any time. Once removed, the object is reverted to its
original state in which it was before it was marked as obsolete.
Note
Marking an object as obsolete is not a prerequisite for deleting an object. There is no workflow or state
transition connection in the system that would force you to always declare an object as obsolete before you
delete it. However, looking at an object as obsolete is in many cases the first step of a process that ends
with deleting the object. In addition, the effects for an object marked as obsolete are similar to those that
apply for objects marked for deletion. This is why the two aspects of marking an object as obsolete, or
marking it for deletion, are covered together in this topic.
Marking Objects for Deletion
You mark an object for deletion to make it clear that this object is outdated or no longer up-to-date and shall
no longer be used. Marking an object for deletion has the same effects as the ones that have been listed above
for obsolete objects, plus one important additional effect:
● Objects marked for deletion can be centrally removed from the system either with the application
administration tool (logical deletion, see section below) or with report FDT_DELETE that is executed either
on demand or periodically based on a user-defined schedule. This report can be used for deleting all
objects that are marked for deletion since, or for longer than, a given retention time.
As a consequence of this additional effect, it is clear that after an object has been marked for deletion, you
should replace it as soon as possible wherever it is used. This is true even though an object marked for deletion
still remains functional in all contexts where it is already in use.
Deleting Objects (Logical Deletion)
Logically deleting a BRFplus object is most similar to any delete operation you may know from other
applications. When you delete an object, the object disappears from all object lists like the repository tree, the
list of recently used or favorite objects. There is no way for a user to undelete a logically deleted object. For
deleting an object, the following rules apply:
● You can delete an object only if it is not used by any other object. Keep in mind that in case of versioned
objects, usage relationships may exist between the object that you want to delete and historical versions
of another object. In this case, you must first remove the out-of-date usage before you can delete the
referenced object.
● It is good practice to delete an object only after it has been marked as obsolete or marked for deletion
before. However, this is not a technical prerequisite. If necessary, you can also delete any object
regardless of its current status, provided it is not used by any other object.
● You can logically delete objects in the following ways:
○ Manually by navigating to the particular object and using the Delete command for that object.
○ Automatically by using the Delete Objects Marked for Deletion command in the application
administration tool. This command does of course only operate on objects that have been marked for
deletion. Also, the objects to be deleted must have been marked for deletion for the defined retention
time or longer (default: 90 days).
● Once an object has been logically deleted, it is removed from all kinds of object lists in BRFplus.
56
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
● BRFplus offers no tools whatsoever to recover an object that has been deleted. However, this can still be
accomplished by system administrators because even deleted objects are not physically removed from
the system immediately. For details, see the following section Deleting Objects (Physical Deletion).
Deleting Objects (Physical Deletion)
Once an object has been logically deleted, it is no longer available in BRFplus. However, this logical deletion
does not lead to an immediate physical destruction of that object. Rather, the deleted object still exists in the
system but is hidden such that there is no way to retrieve it within BRFplus.
There are different ways to physically remove a deleted object from the database:
● In the BRFplus workbench, choose
choose Clean up Database.
Tools
Application Administration . From the list of Operations,
● In the backend system, run report FDT_DELETE.
● Let the system clean up the database with an automatic cleanup run. This cleanup run is carried out
without manual intervention. It removes objects from the database that have been logically deleted for 180
days or more.
As long as the physical deletion has not taken place, the object is kept in the system and can be restored by a
system administrator in case inevitable reasons should arise that force you to do so (for example, a forensic
investigation).
Activities
You can carry out the activities related to object deletion in two different ways, either individually for a single
object or as a mass activity.
● Single objects
To mark a single object as obsolete, proceed as follows:
1. Open the object to be deleted in the BRFplus workbench.
2. Choose
More
Mark as obsolete .
To mark a single object for deletion, proceed as follows:
1. Open the object to be deleted in the BRFplus workbench.
2. Choose
Delete
Mark for Deletion .
To delete a single object, proceed as follows:
1. Open the object to be deleted in the BRFplus workbench.
2. Choose
objects.
More
3. Choose
Delete
Display Where Used List
to make sure that the object is not used by any other
Delete .
● Multiple objects
To perform any of the activities related to deletion for multiple objects at once, proceed as follows:
1. Choose
Tools
Mass Change .
2. In the mass change tool, select the objects that you want to change.
3. Choose (Perform actions on marked items: Set as obsolete, mark for deletion, delete), followed by the
desired menu option.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
57
More Information
Mass Change [page 262]
1.2.9 Data Objects and Types
Use
A data object describes data and serves as a data carrier in the context or the result of an expression or an
action. Data objects can be further described by their type, namely element, structure, or table.
For an elementary data object, you can define the set of comparison operations that is supported by a
particular data object. This is helpful when a data object is used in a comparison against a range expression. If
the data object does not support the comparison type in question, the system can determine this mismatch
already at design time and thus prevent you from running into problems at runtime.
An elementary data object must have one of the following subtypes:
Table 10:
Element Type
Text (Description)
Text
Character string (maximum length 255 characters)
Note
The maximum length of text data objects refers to the
maximum string length that can be stored in the data­
base. In contrast to this limitation for persistent strings,
you can use much longer strings as long as they are only
used for internal calculations during a BRFplus session.
For example, you can concatenate a number of strings to
one very large string in a BRFplus formula, then search
this large string for a particular string pattern and finally
return a formula result (for example, the number of oc­
currences of the pattern in the large string).
Number
Number with decimals
If a data object is bound to a DDIC data element of type
NUMC, the BRFplus data object is automatically set to type
text, not number. For more information, see the Type Deri­
vation section in Data Binding [page 61].
Boolean
58
PUBLIC
Boolean value
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Element Type
Text (Description)
Amount
Number and currency
Note
The number of decimal places of an Amount element is
always set to 10 and cannot be changed by the user. This
is because this setting is only for formal reasons. At run­
time, the actual number of decimals to be used is derived
from the central currency tables in the backend, that is,
the number of decimals is currency-dependent. Conse­
quently, you can completely hide the formal setting in the
BRFplus workbench with the help of the Personalization
by choosing
Attributes
Quantity
General
Display
Show Technical
.
Number and unit of measure
In addition to the mandatory definition of the unit of meas­
ure at runtime, you can optionally specify the quantity di­
mension at design time (for example, length, mass, time).
This additional specification has the following effects:
●
At runtime, the system checks if the unit of measure
●
If data objects with a specified quantity dimension are
provided is valid for the specified dimension.
used in calculations of a formula expression, the sys­
tem performs additional formula consistency checks to
detect semantic errors that could lead to an error at
runtime.
Note
Even if there is a predefined number of decimals to be
displayed for a particular unit of measure in the central
dimension tables, the number of decimals defined by the
user for the data object takes precedence over the sys­
tem default. This is to ensure the transparency of deci­
sions based on quantities. Otherwise, situations could
occur where two values that are only slightly different are
displayed with the same decimals after being rounded. In
such a situation, a user could be confused why the sys­
tem uses one value and not another one during rule eval­
uation. To prevent such ambiguities, and based on the
fact that BRFplus is a generic tool that is not tailored to
the needs of a specific business scenario, BRFplus al­
ways displays quantities with the user-defined number of
decimals.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
59
Element Type
Timepoint
Text (Description)
●
Local date
●
Local time
●
Local date and time
●
Universal time (UTC) timestamp
●
Local date and time with offset to universal time (UTC)
Note
The first three subtypes listed above are abstract values,
i.e., there is no explicit time zone information stored
along with values of that type. If you need precise and un­
ambiguous date and time information in your application,
you have to use the two UTC-based timepoint subtypes.
For a timepoint data object, it is not required to set the
object's subtype at design time. You can leave this part
of the object definition open so that the object can hold
any valid kind of date and time data. This is useful in sce­
narios where the particular subtype of an incoming date
and time value is not known. However, if you decide to
leave the type setting undefined, you have to pay extra
attention to objects using the timepoint element because
the type-specific consistency checks cannot be applied
to a timepoint element without a specified subtype.
Rather than explicitly defining the type of an elementary data object, you can also let an object inherit its type
and properties from another object. The other object may either reside in the BRFplus repository or in another
repository in the backend system. For more information, see Data Binding [page 61].
Structure
The structural relationships between the different types of data objects are shown in the following table:
Table 11:
Data Object Type
Consists of
Element
Predefined data types (see table above)
Structure
Element (0..n)
Structure (0..n)
Table (0..n)
60
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Data Object Type
Consists of
Table
Element (0..1)
Structure (0..1)
According to the relationships shown in the table above, it is useful to know how the different data object types
are built upon each other:
● An element represents a predefined, elementary data type that can neither be reduced to smaller parts
nor extended in any way.
● A structure is a combination of an arbitrary number of elements, of structures, or a combination of both.
Especially the fact that a structure can consist of other structures (which again may consist of structures)
enables you to model data structures of almost any desired degree of hierarchical complexity.
Note
Although from an architectural point of view there is no theoretical limit to structure complexity, the
following limitation must be observed for practical use: In case of deeply nested, multi-level structures,
addressing a particular field via its name may result in a long sequence of concatenated strings needed
to represent the fully qualified name of that field. If such a name consists of more than 255 characters,
it can no longer be handled by the tool infrastructure of the ABAP backend system. If this limit is
exceeded, code generation is no longer possible for such an object.
● The fields in a table are defined by either assigning exactly one element or one structure to the table. In
other words, the field structure of a table is not implicitly built up by adding one field after another to the
table. Rather, the table can only adopt the fields of a structure data object that has been created before. If
you choose, however, to assign an element rather than a structure data object to a table, this results in a
one-column table (that is, a simple list).
More Information
Creating Data Objects [page 221]
Data Binding [page 61]
Comparison Operations [page 66]
1.2.9.1
Data Binding
Use
Data objects can be bound to elements in the ABAP Data Dictionary (DDIC) or to the global data types (GDT)
in Enterprise Service Repository (ESR). In addition, you can also bind an elementary data object to an already
existing BRFplus data object. This enables you to implicitly define a data object's settings, as opposed to
explicitly assigning a data type to a data object, manually creating a value list for it and so on.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
61
In simple use cases where you just need a field that, for example, can hold a string for an intermediate result
during rule processing, it is normally the easiest way to define the data object manually. However, when you
have to handle complex data structures that are already defined in a different repository, then binding a
BRFplus data object to such an already existing element is an effective way to accomplish this in a consistent
and fast manner.
The advantages of using data binding are not restricted to complex structures. There are also use cases where
binding a data object to a simple DDIC data element can save you a lot of work. For example, if you need to
access a list of ISO country codes, you would just look up a data element in the DDIC that is used for the same
purpose and has the country codes already assigned as a list of domain values. After binding the BRFplus data
object to that data element, you are done: The data object has the same data type and field length as the
bound data element, and all the domain values are made available to the data object.
Data binding can also help you keep your system consistent in cases where you have one or more fields that
are reused at many places throughout your application. The following example shows what binding can do for
you in such a scenario:
Example
The name of customer company Akron Heating Inc. shall be used in your BRFplus application at a
number of different places. If you have to change the name from Akron Heating Inc. to Akron
Heating Ltd., this change has to be done at all these places for reasons of consistency. By binding the
data object, you can avoid such repetitive and error-prone tasks.
1. Create an element data object Company_Name of type text with a length of 30 characters.
2. On the Domain Values tab, choose Create Value.
The system displays a dialog for defining a constant expression for the name string.
3. Define a name for the constant and enter the company name Akron Heating Inc. into the Value
field.
4. Click the Create button.
The system navigates back to the Company_Name data object and displays the newly defined company
name in the Value List on the data object's Domain Values tab.
5. Create another element data object named Customer_Name.
6. From the Binding Type list, choose Bind to existing BRFplus element.
The system presents the Object Query dialog.
7. In the Object Query dialog, look up and select the previously defined Company_Name.
The system navigates back to the Customer_Name data object that is now bound to the
Company_Name data object.
8. Click Create and Navigate to Object.
The system navigates to the newly created Customer_Name data object. On the data object's Domain
Values tab, you can see the company name Akron Heating Inc. that is inherited from the definition
of the bound data object.
You can now start populating your application with the Customer_Name data object wherever this entity is
needed. Once you are done, change the associated text constant's value from Akron Heating Inc. to
Akron Heating Ltd.. The new name is visible at all places where you have used the Customer_Name
data object.
62
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Prerequisites
The object you want to bind to a BRFplus data object must be active. This does not only apply to the bound
Data Dictionary objects but also to BW master data (see section BRFplus data objects and SAP BW information
objects below).
Features
Supported Binding Types
Depending on the type of the BRFplus data object that you want to bind to another element, you have different
possibilities. This is explained in the following table:
Table 12:
Data Object Type
Supported Binding Types
Element
DDIC object
Comment
GDT
BRFplus element
Table
DDIC table type
Table type structure with all contained
fields is imported automatically into
BRFplus
Structure
DDIC structure
GDT structure
CDS View
DDIC structure with all contained fields
is imported automatically into BRFplus
Binding to CDS Views is available for
analytical functions from SAP NetWea­
ver 7.51 SP00 or S/4HANA Cloud
1608. For more information, see Work­
flow for Analytical Functions [page 20].
Note
● Client/MANDT is filtered out in data objects that are bound to DDIC structures and tables. Raw / binary
fields are also filtered out, when not UUIDs.
● As an alternative to binding a BRFplus table data object to a DDIC table type, you can also associate a
BRFplus table with a database table in the backend system. To accomplish this, leave the Binding Type
setting as No Binding and choose Create Structure from DB Table instead. The system then reads the
table line type of the given database table, creates a new BRFplus structure including the structure
elements, binds the new BRFplus structure to the database table structure and assigns the BRFplus
structure to the current BRFplus table data object.
● Binding BRFplus objects to GDTs is currently only supported for a limited scope of SAP-internal
development projects. This feature is not supported for external applications.
● For analytical functions, when a structure is bound to a CDS view, you can define a Value Help list using
a corresponding OData service. For more information, see Value Help Conditions in the SAP Rules
Expression Language Guide.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
63
Type Derivation
When you bind an elementary data object to a dictionary type, the system determines the dictionary type and
adjusts the subtype of the BRFplus data object such that it matches best the bound dictionary type. While this
sounds trivial for basic dictionary types likeCHAR orINT1, there are also some more sophisticated cases. For
example, the BRFplus elementary type Boolean has no direct corresponding elementary type in the data
dictionary. Here, data elements used for Boolean purposes are set up by referencing a one-character domain
of type CHAR with two, sometimes three, fixed values. For a derivation of a BRFplus data object of type
Boolean, the bound dictionary element must fulfill the following conditions:
● Elementary type:CHAR1
● Domain: Exactly two values defined: 'X' (True) and ' ' (False).
These two conditions are fulfilled by the standard domain BOOLE.
● As an alternative, BRFplus does also accept the standard data element SYBATCH as a valid binding
reference for a Boolean data object.
Another example of a type derivation that may be surprising at first sight is the handling of the widely used
built-in typeNUMC. Although this type accepts only digits from 0 to 9, it is still technically designed as a string of
number literals. Therefore, aNUMC field in the dictionary is always converted to an elementary data object of
type text (not number) during data binding. this would normally lead to the consequence that within BRFplus,
such fields cannot be used for mathematical operations like SUM or AVERAGE in a formula or table operation
expression. However, you can still control whether such a data object shall be treated as numeric or
alphanumeric. You can accomplish this on application level with the Numeric Comparison for NUMC Fields
setting located on the Default Settings tab.
Domain Value Lists
Most of the business-specific data elements in the dictionary have a domain object assigned. The domain is
then used to define the data type of the referencing data element and a number of technical settings. In
addition, a domain can provide a predefined list of values for the referencing data elements. Value lists can be
defined in different ways:
● Single Values: A list of single fixed values (for example, 1, 2, 3, 10, 20, 30, ...).
● Intervals: A list of value ranges (for example, 'a'..'f', 'h'..'m', 'x'..'z', ...).
● Value Table: A reference to a dictionary table where each table entry serves as a value for the referencing
domain.
In addition to the domain values itself, the system lets the developer maintain a descriptive text for each value.
An application can take advantage of this by using unique technical values stored in the value field while
presenting the business-oriented descriptive text to the user.
When you bind a BRFplus data object to a data element in the dictionary, the system imports the domain
values and presents them on the Domain Values tab in the BRFplus workbench. In addition, the system tries to
import the descriptive texts associated with the values. Here, the system behavior differs with respect to the
different ways of defining the texts:
● Single Values:
The system imports the descriptive texts as defined in the domain definition.
● Intervals:
For intervals, the system does not import any descriptive texts. This is because in this case, descriptions
can only be associated with each defined interval as a whole, but not with the individual values within each
interval.
64
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
● Value Table:
The system analyzes the associated table in order to determine a field that is likely to be meant as the
description field for the values. Among others, the following criteria are tested by the system to find out if
a particular field is a candidate for descriptions:
○ Field type is Text.
○ Field length is 15 characters or more.
○ Field name contains 'DESC', 'DSCR', 'NAME', 'TEXT', or 'TXT' as a substring.
The first field that matches all of the above criteria is considered to be a value description field, and the
system imports the field contents as value descriptions for the BRFplus data object. If none of the table
fields matches the criteria, no value descriptions are associated with the data object's domain values.
Note
In the BRFplus workbench, only the first 500 domain values are displayed. This is to avoid performance
problems in case of very large value lists. At runtime, however, you can of course access all the domain
values that have been defined in the dictionary for the referenced data element.
Inheritance
Data objects inherit their attributes such as data type, allowed comparisons, or field length from the bound
type. Value help for data objects is implemented by binding a data object to the data dictionary (DDIC) or a
BRFplus data object with a defined list of domain values. Binding an elementary data object to the DDIC or to
ESR enables you to reuse a list of values that has been defined in the distant repository.
Of course, a data object can only inherit attributes that are available in the bound data object. For example, a
data object inherits the type of a bound DDIC object whereas the setting for allowed comparisons of the data
object is not inherited and can still be defined for the inheriting data object directly. This is evident because a
DDIC object does not support the concept of allowed or restricted comparison operations.
If you bind a data object to another BRFplus data object, be sure that the other data object has explicitly
defined attributes rather than being bound to a third data object itself. This kind of cascading inheritance over
more than one level is not supported and leads to an error message.
In contrast to this, however, it is possible to bind one BRFplus data object to another data object that is bound
to a DDIC object. In this case, the attributes of the DDIC object are inherited by the involved BRFplus data
objects on both levels.
BRFplus data objects and SAP BW information objects
A topic related to data binding is the association of BRFplus element data objects with data elements in the
Data Dictionary that are referenced by information objects (especially characteristics) modeled in SAP
Business Information Warehouse (SAP BW). In nearly all cases, these objects are accompanied by
comprehensive master data tables as well as text tables. At the same time, the data element associated with a
BW characteristic has normally no domain values maintained (because the already existing tables serve the
same purpose). Therefore, when you establish a binding relationship between a BRFplus element data object
and a data element, the system applies the following processing steps:
1. Check if the data element is referenced by a BW characteristic. If yes, determine the related master data
table and text table (otherwise, establish a standard data binding as described in this chapter above).
2. Use the related tables as a source for domain values and texts for the BRFplus data object.
With that, from your BRFplus application, you can take advantage of the data modeling that has already been
done in SAP BW.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
65
Constraints
Binding data objects to GDT structures is only supported for systems that have been defined as AP
(Application Platform) systems using the Switch Framework. This kind of system is used for running SAP
Business ByDesign. For more information, see the Switch Framework documentation in the SAP NetWeaver
Library on SAP Help Portal.
More Information
Creating Data Objects [page 221]
1.2.10 Comparison Operations
Definition
Comparison operations are used to define how the system shall perform a comparison between an incoming
value that has been passed to an expression as context parameter and a predefined value or value range. The
test parameter may also be supplied as the result of a nested expression, rather than by a context parameter.
Use
You can use comparison operations mainly to discriminate between different processing paths in a business
rule. For example, in a decision table, the predefined values in the condition columns serve as the comparison
parameters against which an incoming value is compared.
Structure
All types of comparison operations supported by BRFplus are used to compare one incoming elementary data
object (the test parameter) to a predefined value or value range (the comparison parameter). The formal
description of a comparison operation is therefore:
<test parameter> <comparison operator> <comparison parameter>
Example
You want to determine whether an incoming value lies within a predefined value range.
Test parameter: tp = 24
Comparison operator: is between
66
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Comparison parameter: cp = [18..25]
Comparison: tp is between cp (that is, "24 is between [18..25]")
Result: true
The formal description given above is also valid for operators that, from a user's perspective, have no
comparison parameter ( is initial and is not initial). The operators belonging to this group (group 3 in the
following table) compare the test parameter against an implicit comparison parameter that the system derives
internally. Therefore, it is not needed (and not possible) to manually provide a comparison parameter for these
types of operations.
Groups of Operators
Whether a particular operator can be used or not depends on the type of the parameters involved. In order to
reduce the complexity of possible combinations of operators and parameter types, the comparison operators
provided by BRFplus can be grouped by their allowed usages. For each of the groups explained below it is
possible to say which parameter types can be combined with the operators of that group.
Note
In this section, all comparison operators supported by BRFplus are described. However, it depends on the
definition of an elementary data object whether all of the comparison operators can be used or not. This
behavior is controlled by the Allowed Comparisons setting on the Element Properties tab of the data object.
For more information, see Creating an Element Data Object [page 222].
Table 13:
Group
Description
Operators
Constant
ID
1
Ordinal comparisons
is equal to
GC_OPTION_EQUAL
EQ
is not equal to
GC_OPTION_NOT_EQU
NE
is less than
is less than or equal to
is greater than
is greater than or
equal to
is between
is not between
AL
GC_OPTION_LESS
GC_OPTION_LESS_EQ
UAL
GC_OPTION_GREATER
GC_OPTION_GREATER
_EQUAL
LT
LE
GT
GE
BT
NB
GC_OPTION_BETWEEN
GC_OPTION_NOT_BET
WEEN
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
67
Group
Description
Operators
Constant
ID
2
String comparisons
contains any
GC_OPTION_CONTAIN
CA
does not contain any
contains only
does not contain only
contains string
S_ANY
NA
GC_OPTION_CONTAIN
S_NOT_ANY
GC_OPTION_CONTAIN
does not match pat­
tern
starts with
CN
CS
S_ONLY
does not contain string GC_OPTION_CONTAIN
matches pattern
CO
S_NOT_ONLY
NS
CP
GC_OPTION_CONTAIN
S_STRING
GC_OPTION_CONTAIN
NP
SW
S_NO_STRING
US
GC_OPTION_CONTAIN
EW
ends with
S_PATTERN
DE
dos not end with
GC_OPTION_NOT_CON
does not start with
TAINS_PATTERN
GC_OPTION_STARTS_
WITH
GC_OPTION_NOT_STA
RTS_WITH
GC_OPTION_ENDS_WI
TH
GC_OPTION_NOT_END
S_WITH
3
Implicit comparisons
is initial
GC_OPTION_INITIAL
I1
is not initial
GC_OPTION_NOT_INI
I2
is valid
is not valid
TIAL
IV
GC_OPTION_VALID
NV
GC_OPTION_IS_NOT_
VALID
68
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Group
Description
Operators
Constant
ID
4
Special comparisons
currency equals
GC_OPTION_CURRENC
CE
currency differs
Y_EQUALS
CD
unit equals
GC_OPTION_CURRENC
Y_DIFFERS
UE
unit differs
GC_OPTION_UNIT_EQ
UD
UALS
GC_OPTION_UNIT_DI
FFERS
Note
The implicit comparison operations "is valid" and "is not valid" (group 3) are defined for the following data
types only:
● Amount
● Quantity
● Timepoint
For amount and quantity, the system checks whether the supplied currency or unit of measure is defined in
the central customizing tables of the backend system. For timepoint data objects, the system checks
whether the supplied date and time values can be translated into a valid date (for example, no "April 31st").
The operators "is supplied" and "is not supplied" (technical IDs S1, S2) are no longer supported. Legacy
objects referring to these operators must be adapted.
The operators are all represented internally by constants that are defined for the affected interfaces (for
example, IF_FDT_RANGE).
The operator IDs given in the last column of the above table are the technical names used internally. Mostly,
they are referring to the corresponding comparison operators as defined in ABAP. Actually, BRFplus passes
the execution of comparison operations to the equivalent ABAP expressions. Therefore, the detailed
processing behavior of the BRFplus comparison parameters is identical to the respective ABAP expressions.
Data Type Combinations For Comparisons
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
69
The way how the system actually performs a comparison depends on the operator and the test parameter
type. The following table presents an overview of the different comparison approaches, grouped by the
involved data types:
Table 14:
Data Type
Comments
Text
Alphanumeric comparison of values. In order to reduce
complexity, text parameters are internally converted into a
sortable byte sequence according to the ABAP command
CONVERT TEXT. This normalization helps to avoid prob­
lems that can occur if characters belonging to different co­
depages are compared. At the same time, this approach
may lead to results that differ from what you would expect.
Number
Numeric comparison of values
Amount, Quantity
If the parameters have different currencies or units, the pa­
rameters are first internally converted into one of the in­
volved currencies or units. Then, the system performs a nu­
meric comparison of the values.
Timepoint
Date and time values are compared numerically. If the val­
ues to be compared have different subtypes, then only the
matching parts of both values are taken into account for the
comparison. For example, if you want to compare a time­
stamp with date and time given against a mere date (with­
out time), the system ignores the time part of the time­
stamp and concentrates on the date only.
Boolean
Equality check
As a general rule, it is correct to say that a comparison can only be performed by the system if both involved
parameters are of the same type. However, as an exception to this general rule, the system supports some
additional comparison operations under the following conditions:
● Ordinal comparisons (group 1) can be performed if both involved parameters can be converted into a valid
number. In this case, the system performs a numeric comparison. Otherwise, both parameters are treated
as text and a string comparison is performed.
● String comparisons (group 2) can be performed with parameters of different types. To accomplish this,
the system carries out an implicit type conversion so that both parameters are treated as text.
The following tables present the various combinations grouped by the question whether the comparison is
possible at all (with or without a previous internal type conversion) or not. The tables are of course only dealing
with operator groups 1 and 2, because in group 3, a type conflict is by definition impossible.
70
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
The following table shows all sorts of comparison operations that the system can perform without having to
make any implicit type conversions:
Table 15:
Test Parameter Type
Comparison Parameter
Comparison Operator
Comparison Type
Type
Number
Number
Group 1
Numeric
Text
Text
Group 1
Text
Text
Text
Group 2
Text
Amount
Amount
Group 1
Amount
Quantity
Quantity
Group 1
Quantity
Timepoint
Timepoint
Group 1
Timepoint
Boolean
Boolean
Equal to, Not equal to
Boolean
The following table shows all sorts of comparison operations that the system can perform, but only after an
implicit type conversion of at least one of the involved parameters:
Table 16:
Test Parameter Type
Comparison Parame­
Comparison Operator Comparison Type
Comments
Group 2
Numbers are con­
ter Type
Number
Number
Text
verted to text inter­
nally
Number
Text
Group 1
Numeric or Text
1. The comparison pa­
rameter of type text is
converted to number
and a numeric com­
parison is performed.
2. If this is not possi­
ble, then the test pa­
rameter is converted
to text and a text com­
parison is performed.
Number
Text
Group 2
Text
Test parameter is con­
verted to text.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
71
Test Parameter Type
Comparison Parame­
Comparison Operator Comparison Type
Comments
Group 1
1. The test parameter
ter Type
Text
Number
Numeric or Text
of type text is con­
verted to number and
a numeric comparison
is performed.
2. If this is not possi­
ble, then the compari­
son parameter is con­
verted to text and a
text comparison is
performed.
Text
Number
Group 2
Text
Comparison parame­
ter is converted to text
Amount
Number
Group 2
Text
Both parameters are
converted to text
Amount
Text
Group 2, Group 4
Text
Test parameter is con­
verted to text
Quantity
Number
Group 2
Text
Both parameters are
converted to text
Quantity
Text
Group 2, Group 4
Text
Test parameter is con­
verted to text
Timepoint
Number
Group 2
Text
Both parameters are
converted to text
Timepoint
Text
Group 2
Text
Test parameter is con­
verted to text
The following table shows all sorts of comparison operations that the system cannot perform:
Table 17:
Test Parameter Type
Comparison Parameter Type
Comparison Operator
Number
Amount
Group 1, Group 2
Number
Quantity
Group 1, Group 2
Number
Timepoint
Group 1, Group 2
Number
Boolean
Group 1, Group 2
Text
Amount
Group 1, Group 2
72
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Test Parameter Type
Comparison Parameter Type
Comparison Operator
Text
Quantity
Group 1, Group 2
Text
Timepoint
Group 1, Group 2
Text
Boolean
Group 1, Group 2
Amount
Amount
Group 2
Amount
Number
Group 1
Amount
Text
Group 1
Amount
Quantity
Group 1, Group 2
Amount
Timepoint
Group 1, Group 2
Amount
Boolean
Group 1, Group 2
Quantity
Quantity
Group 2
Quantity
Number
Group 1
Quantity
Text
Group 1
Quantity
Amount
Group 1, Group 2
Quantity
Timepoint
Group 1, Group 2
Quantity
Boolean
Group 1, Group 2
Timepoint
Timepoint
Group 2
Timepoint
Number
Group 1
Timepoint
Text
Group 1
Timepoint
Amount
Group 1, Group 2
Timepoint
Quantity
Group 1, Group 2
Timepoint
Boolean
Group 1, Group 2
Boolean
Number
Group 1, Group 2
Boolean
Text
Group 1, Group 2
Boolean
Amount
Group 1, Group 2
Boolean
Quantity
Group 1, Group 2
Boolean
Timepoint
Group 1, Group 2
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
73
Test Parameter Type
Comparison Parameter Type
Comparison Operator
Boolean
Boolean
Group 1 (however, is equal to and is not
equal to are allowed), Group 2
Additional Information on Selected Comparison Operators
The following table provides some more detailed information on how exactly the comparison operators work.
The table mentions only those operators whose behavior is not self-evident.
In addition to the detailed information given in the table below, the following general rules apply:
● For string comparisons, case-sensitivity is controlled via the respective setting of the value range
expression that is used as comparison parameter.
● As opposed to the previous rule, pattern matching comparisons are performed case-insensitive.
● For string comparisons, leading and trailing whitespace is removed from the test parameter before the
comparison is executed. Whitespace inside of a string, however, is retained.
● For ordinal comparisons of strings (for example, is less than), case-sensitivity is not taken into account.
For example, 'a' is less than 'B' is evaluated as true although 'a' has a higher ASCII code value
than 'B'.
● As opposed to the previous rule, equality checks ( is equal to) of text parameters are performed like string
comparisons, that is, the system respects the case-sensitivity setting during evaluation.
Table 18:
Comparison Operator
Comment
is between
Returns true if the test parameter value lies between the
low and high value of a range, including these values (that
is, value >= low AND value <= high).
contains any
Returns true if the test parameter contains at least one
character that is also contained in the comparison parame­
ter. The character sequence, however, can be different, as
well as the number of occurrences of matching characters.
contains only
Returns true if the test parameter contains only charac­
ters that are also contained in the comparison parameter.
The character sequence, however, can be different, as well
as the number of occurrences of matching characters.
contains string
Returns true if the string contained in the comparison pa­
rameter is also contained in the test parameter. The charac­
ter sequence must be identical in both parameters.
is equal to
Returns true if the test parameter value is identical to the
comparison parameter value.
74
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Comparison Operator
Comment
matches pattern
Returns true if the supplied test parameter matches the
starts with
ends with
pattern used in the comparison parameter. The following
wildcard characters are supported:
●
+ - matches exactly one character
●
* - matches any number of characters
Example
Wildcard = '*':
Test parameter: tp = 'Hello'
Comparison parameter: cp = 'He*o'
Comparison: tp matches pattern cp
Result: true
Wildcard = '+':
Test parameter: tp = 'Hero'
Comparison parameter: cp = 'He+o'
Comparison: tp matches pattern cp
Result: true
More Information
Value Range Expression [page 119]
1.2.11 Expressions
Use
Expression types define the computational power of BRFplus. Each expression type defines a self-contained
computational unit with a well-defined logic. Expressions use a context or nest other expressions to calculate,
determine, or derive a result. An expression can be considered to be an instance of an expression type
behaving according to the expression type's logic. An expression can be reused as a nested building block for a
rule, starting with a function as its assigned top expression.
BRFplus comes with a set of common expression types and is regularly enhanced by new expression types.
You can create your own expression types and use it in rules.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
75
The predefined types of expression are:
● Boolean Expression [page 76]
● BRMS Connector Expression [page 77]
● Case Expression [page 78]
● Constant Expression [page 79]
● DB Lookup Expression [page 80]
● Decision Table Expression [page 84]
● Decision Tree Expression [page 97]
● Dynamic Expression [page 99]
● Formula Expression [page 100]
● Function Call Expression [page 105]
● Loop Expression [page 105]
● Procedure Call Expression [page 111]
● Random Number Expression [page 107]
● Search Tree Expression [page 109]
● Table Operation Expression [page 117]
● Value Range Expression [page 119]
Note
The following expression types that were part of earlier BRFplus releases are now deprecated. They are no
longer supported by SAP:
● Step Sequence
● XSL Transformation
For further details, see SAP Notes 1845412
or 1904368
.
1.2.11.1 Boolean Expression
Use
The Boolean expression is used to test a logical condition according to the rules of boolean logic. For your
convenience, BRFplus offers a number of predefined expression templates with two or three operands that
cover many use cases. When defining a boolean expression, you replace the formal operands ( <1>, <2> etc.)
by BRFplus objects that can be evaluated to a boolean value (context data objects of type boolean or
expressions with a boolean result data object).
Predefined Templates
The predefined templates for frequently used logical conditions are:
● Any operand is true
● All operands are true
● <1> and <2>
● <1> or <2> or <3>
76
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
● (<1> and <2>) or <3>
● (<1> or <2>) and <3>
● <1> and <2> and <3>
The formal structure of the predefined templates is fixed. The only modification you can make is to invert each
of the operators (that is, add a logical Not to the operator, or remove it if already added).
User-defined Logic Schema
If you have to solve more complex scenarios that are not covered by the predefined templates listed above,
you can define your own logical condition by choosing the User-defined menu option. Here, you are free to
define as many operands as you may need. Supported operators are And, Or, and Not. You can control the
logical precedence by enclosing parts of the expression in brackets.
Once you have defined and checked the structure of a user-defined boolean expression, you apply the formal
structure to the expression and assign objects or expressions to the operands. Should you feel the need to
modify the user-defined structure of your expression at a later point in time, you can easily accomplish this by
simply adding more operands or selectively remove some of them. Changing the structure of a boolean
expression is supported only for user-defined expressions.
Note
The definition of a user-defined logic schema might lead you to the idea that a schema that you have
defined for a user-defined boolean expression could be reused to instantiate more boolean expressions with
the same schema. However, this is not possible. If you need to instantiate multiple boolean expressions
with the same structure, you can accomplish this by copying the entire boolean expression and assigning a
new name to it.
More Information
Creating a Boolean Expression [page 185]
1.2.11.2 BRMS Connector Expression
Use
The BRMS (Business Rule Management System) connector enables you to use SAP BRM or any other external
rule engine with BRFplus.
Depending on the connection type (SAP NetWeaver BRM or External) the expression uses the appropriate
function module to invoke the external rule engine. The expression allows you to specify the signature for the
call based on the available vocabulary. Once the signature is defined, you can export metadata associated with
the call as an XML schema.
The XML schema includes information about the input data objects, texts, and documentation associated with
the data objects and return parameters that the rule engine should populate.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
77
When defining the expression, you can also specify any parameters specific to the rules engine being used. For
a call to SAP NetWeaver BRM the two parameters, project and rule set, should be populated. While the call is
being executed, BRFplus creates an XML document corresponding to the above XML schema and passes it to
the other rules engine.
More Information
Creating a BRMS Connector Expression [page 187]
1.2.11.3 Case Expression
Use
The Case expression is used for modeling use cases where you want to compare an incoming value against a
predefined list of discrete values that you already know in advance. Examples of such a closed list of known
values could be values indicating different country or region codes, means of transportation, tax codes, and so
on. If an input value occurs that has not been foreseen, you can deal with that with an optional Otherwise
branch, covering all the values that are not explicitly treated by the expression.
Structure
The BRFplus Case expression is similar to the ABAP CASE statement. The expression takes an input
parameter from the context (the case parameter) and checks its value against a number of test parameters.
For each of these test parameters, a corresponding return parameter is specified in the When table. As soon
as one of the test parameters matches the case parameter, the corresponding return parameter is evaluated
and a result is returned. If none of the specific test parameters matches the case parameter then a generic
parameter is evaluated in order to specify the result.
All parameters can be context data objects or nested expressions. Typically, the case parameter is a context
data object, the test parameters are constants and the result parameters are nested expressions.
Features
Result Type
You can decide whether a case expression shall return a value or perform an action:
● Return Value: In this mode, you have to take care that all comparison values have a return value or
expression assigned with the same type as the result data object of the case expression.
78
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Note
When defining a case expression in the BRFplus workbench, first assign a result data object to the
expression before you start to define the results for the comparison values. Only under this condition
the system gives you access to suitable expressions, default objects (like the current user or the logon
language), or lets you enter result values directly. With no result data object defined, you can only
assign element data objects to a comparison value as a result.
● Perform Action: In this mode, the case expression triggers the action assigned to the return value that
matches the input. The result data object is automatically set to the predefined Actions table that
returns the list of IDs of the actions (result action plus follow-up actions that may be associated with that
action) that are executed.
Once the result type settings have been made and the expression has been saved, the system displays these
settings in the Detail section of the UI by default.
Note
Changing the result type settings leads in most cases to the need for a complete reassignment of objects to
the comparison values of the expression. We therefore recommend to take extra care before you decide to
change the result type settings of an already defined case expression.
Case-Sensitivity
If you assign a context data object of type text as the expressions case parameter, the system lets you define
whether the value comparisons shall be done in case-sensitive mode or not.
More Information
Creating a Case Expression [page 189]
1.2.11.4 Constant Expression
Use
A constant expression is the simplest of all expression types. It allows you to create an expression and set a
constant value that is returned after processing. A constant expression can be used for various purposes:
● Define result values for other expressions
● Define test parameters for comparison operations.
● Define a value list for elementary data objects
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
79
There are six types of Constant expressions:
Table 19:
Constant Expression Type
Text (Description)
Text
Character
A text constant can hold a string with a maximum length of
255 characters.
Number
Number with decimals
A number constant can have a maximum length of 46. The
length represents the number of digits without exponent or
sign.
Boolean
Boolean value
Amount
Number and currency
Quantity
Number and unit of measure
Timepoint
You can set abstract Date, abstract Time, abstract Data
Time, Global Date Time, Local DateTime Offset
Note
The type of a constant expression can only be defined upon creation. Once the expression has been saved,
the constant type cannot be changed anymore.
More Information
Creating a Constant Expression [page 192]
1.2.11.5 DB Lookup Expression
Use
The DB lookup expression performs a database lookup from within BRFplus. It is used to access the records
stored in a data dictionary (DDIC) table or to retrieve information about a table.
Features
Modes of Operation
80
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
● Data Retrieval Mode
In this mode, the data is retrieved from a database table. The expression performs a simple selection
operation in the specified table. The selection is defined by the following settings:
○ Selection Flag
Specifies whether a multiple select ( All Entries) or a single select ( Single Entry) should be performed.
Note
If you choose All Entries for the selection, the result data object assigned to the DB lookup
expression must be of table type.
○ Table Name
Specifies the database table from which data is read. You can access any table available in the data
dictionary of the backend system. It is not necessary to bind the database table to a BRFplus table
data object.
○ Field Conditions
Specifies the conditions applied to the different table fields for refining the search result. Based on the
field conditions, the WHERE clause of the performed selection is built.
The value that is actually selected from the table depends on the result data object type:
○ If the result data object is an element with a name corresponding to one of the table fields, the
expression only selects that one value.
○ If the result data object is a structure, then the database fields corresponding to the structure fields
are read.
○ If the result data object is a table, then the source table fields corresponding to the result table fields
are read. As opposed to using an elementary or structure data object, multiple entries can be read.
Note
The system tries to map the context data object fields to the fields of the result data object, based on
the field type and name. However, there is no guarantee that the mappings are complete or adequate
for the given use case. You should therefore always check the field mappings and adjust them where
necessary. For more information, see the Field Mapping section below.
● Aggregation Mode
In this mode, the result of an aggregation function applied to a database table is returned. The following
aggregation functions are supported:
○ Maximum
○ Minimum
○ Sum
○ Average
○ Count
The aggregation functions can be applied on distinct fields or on entire table records (all fields in a row).
The following example illustrates the effects of changing this setting:
Example
You create a DB lookup expression that reads from DDIC table T100, which is used for storing message
short texts in an SAP system. The expression shall return the number of records (aggregation function
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
81
Count) with German short texts ( SPRSL = DE). In a given system, the expression may yield the
following results, depending on the distinction setting:
Table 20:
Setting
Result
Comment
Select Count of Records
110650
Total of table rows with the language
field (SPRSL) set to DE
From T100 With SPRSL = DE
Select Count of ARBGB
1615
Total of message classes (ARBGB)
with at least one message in lan­
From T100 With SPRSL = DE
guage DE
Select Count of SPRSL
1
Total of unique table rows with the
SPRSL field set to DE. Though there
From T100 With SPRSL = DE
are more than 100000 rows in the
table that satisfy the condition, the
distinct selection for the SPRSL field
lets the search stop after the first
match because the second match
would already yield a duplicate.
It depends on the type of an elementary data object to determine which aggregation functions are
supported:
Table 21:
Type
Supported Aggregation Functions
Number, Amount, Quantity
All aggregation functions
Boolean, Text
Maximum, Minimum, Count
Timepoint
Count
● Existence Check Mode
In this mode, the result data object yields either true or false depending on whether a line exists in the
DDIC table that satisfies the WHERE condition.
Field Mapping
When you are working with a DB lookup expression in data retrieval mode, this means that you want to collect
a particular subset of records from the database table used as the context data object, and that you want to
transfer the selected records into a BRFplus table data object used as the expression's result data object.
Generally, the two table data objects involved are not identical (because otherwise, you would overwrite the
original table content with the result of the selection). As a consequence, you need to define a mapping
relationship between the fields from the source table to the fields in the target table. The maximum number of
possible relationships is determined by the number of fields available in the target table. To define the field
mapping, you can use the following features:
● Automatic mapping
82
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
As soon as you have defined both the source and the target table, the system automatically scans the
source table for fields with the same name and type as the fields in the target table. Each matching source
field is assigned to the corresponding target field. If you are familiar with the ABAP programming
language, you may already know this mechanism that is available with the MOVE-CORRESPONDING
statement. The automatic field mapping is just a proposal and can be overwritten manually.
● Manual mapping
You can manually associate source fields to the target fields. This is useful to map fields that have the
same semantic but different names, so that the automatic mapping mechanism cannot recognize their
correspondence. You can also manually choose from the source fields for already existing automatic
mappings.
For manual mapping, the system offers you the list of source fields in a menu. However, this menu is
restricted to the first nine fields of the table. If the source table contains more fields, you can access these
fields by choosing Select other element from the menu.
● Field aggregation and grouping
You can define that a target field receives an aggregated value derived from the values found in the
corresponding source field. For this, the system offers the same aggregation functions that are also
available in aggregation mode of operation (maximum, minimum, average, count, sum). For an overview
of the supported aggregation functions for different data types, see the respective table in the Modes of
Operation section above.
If you use field aggregation, all other target fields that are currently not using aggregation are
automatically assigned the Group By flag. This is to make sure that only the set of unique tuples of these
fields is written to the target table, rather than repeating the value of the aggregated field for each single
record in the selection.
Note
If an aggregated source field is of type amount or quantity, the system automatically adds a grouping
by the currencies or units of measure that appear in the source field. This additional grouping is not
visualized in the DB lookup UI in the BRFplus workbench, but you can check it in the SQL view of the
selection criteria.
● SQL view
All the settings that you make with respect to field mapping, aggregation, and grouping have an impact on
the way how the system accesses the table used as the expression's context data object. If you are a
programmer, you may find it helpful to see the SQL code that the system generates in order to reflect the
settings that you make in the UI. For this, the system offers you an insight into the SQL representation of
the current settings. You can have a look at the SQL statement by choosing View SQL.
● Restoring default settings
After having applied different manual modifications to the default field mapping, it may sometimes turn
out that the expression behavior changes into an undesired direction. In such a situation, it can be helpful
to undo all the changes and start right from the beginning. For that purpose, you can choose Restore
Default Mapping. This function reverts all manual mappings and restores the automatic mapping based on
the MOVE-CORRESPONDING logic.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
83
Constraints
The DB lookup expression is subject to limitations with respect to the complexity of the database access
command ( WHERE clause) that the system generates depending on the given fields and conditions. The
following limitations apply:
● Maximum number of fields: 255
● Maximum number of conditions: 255
More Information
Creating a DB Lookup Expression [page 193]
Data Binding [page 61]
Table Operation Expression [page 117]
1.2.11.6 Decision Table Expression
Definition
A decision table expression is used to compare a given input against a list of predefined combinations of
conditions. Each combination has an individual result assigned which is returned as the expression result when
the input data matches the particular combination.
Structure
The decision table is built up as a table with the following elements and settings:
● One or more columns representing the different conditions against which the input data is compared
● One or more columns used to hold the result that is returned by the expression if all the conditions in a row
are satisfied
● One or more rows that are unique in terms of their combined conditions
Features
General Concept
A decision table expression sequentially processes business rules based on a set of inputs. At runtime, the
input data that is supplied to the decision table is compared against the defined conditions, starting with the
first row. All cells are evaluated by checking the column value against a number of range comparisons. For
84
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
each cell, a boolean result is returned. If all cells in a row are evaluated as true, the evaluation stops and the
expression returns the result associated with the current conditions. Otherwise, processing continues with the
next table row until either a matching set of conditions is found or the end of the table is reached.
Note
Due to the sequential processing of the rules defined in the table from top to bottom, we recommend that
you define the rules starting with the most specific condition in the first row, followed by rules with a
decreasingly specific set of conditions assigned. Otherwise, situations could occur where a given input that
satisfies an unspecific condition would lead to the expression result defined for that condition, without
giving the system a chance to test whether there is a more specific condition that would match the input
data even better.
The check functions of BRFplus can detect many of this kind of sequential arrangement errors and make
you aware of the problem. Also, with the Rearrange function you can let the system correct at least the
most obvious misarrangements automatically (cells with unspecified values are moved to the bottom of the
table).
Example
A decision table consists of two condition columns, Region and Country, and a result column Payment
Target. For region Europe alone, the payment target is defined as 60 days, while for region Europe and
country Germany the payment target is 30 days. The input data is Region= Europe and Country= Germany.
If the condition for region only is evaluated before the combination of region and country, then the
unspecific region check would already yield a result, and the more specific condition for country and region
would never be tested. That is, the payment target for the input with Country= Germany would be
erroneously evaluated as 60 days although it should be 30 days.
The decision table data consists of a set of nested expressions for each table cell. With the cells in condition
columns, the expressions are typically value ranges or constants, and they use the corresponding column data
object as a test parameter. Normally, a condition column is defined by assigning a data object to it. However,
condition columns can also be derived from nested expressions. Each cell in a row can be either a single value,
an enumeration of distinct values, or a range of values against which the inputs are checked.
Result Columns and Result Data Object
The data structure of the result column is derived from the result data object. A decision table can also have
multiple result columns. This can be achieved either by assigning a structure data object as the result data
object, or simply by providing several elementary data objects as result columns. In the latter case, the system
offers to create a new structure data object containing the selected elements. This structure is then
automatically assigned as the decision table's result data object.
For special purposes, it is also possible to define the result column as Action Column. In this case, you define
an action for each combination of conditions that shall be triggered if the input data matches the condition
defined in a table row.
Note
You can use a combination of an action and a data object value in the result column of a decision table.
However, there can be no more than one action assigned to the result column.
Modifying Technical Settings
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
85
The following sections deal with the various technical settings that you can fine-tune to adapt a decision table's
behavior to your use case. These settings include the definition of condition and result columns, as well as
many other details that are not needed in everyday's use. To avoid confusion, these settings are therefore
hidden by default when you maintain a decision table. You can access the technical settings as follows:
● When you create a new decision table, the system presents you the technical settings screen so that you
can define the necessary features like condition and result columns.
● When you maintain an already existing decision table, you can access the technical settings by clicking
at the rightmost border of the Detail section toolbar.
Note
Access to the technical settings of a decision table is subject to the personalization settings in effect. For
more information, see Workbench Personalization [page 11], section Expression - Decision Table.
In addition, changing the technical settings is disabled as long as a filter restricting the decision table's
content is active. This is to prevent unexpected and ambiguous system behavior: For example, if a filter is
active so that only rows 5 and 12 are visible out of a total of 25, inserting a new row between rows 5 and 12
would leave the question open where exactly to insert the new row. Therefore, the system consequently
disables features that could cause confusion in filter mode.
Single vs. Multiple Match Mode
A decision table can be run in two different modes of operation, depending on the setting of the Return all
matches found indicator:
● Single match mode ( Return all matches found= false)
In single match mode, the input data is tested against the conditions defined in a table row. If the input
satisfies all the conditions, the associated result is returned and processing of the decision table stops. In
other words, the system returns the result associated with the first matching row. This is the default
mode.
● Multiple match mode ( Return all matches found= true)
In multiple match mode, the input data is tested against the conditions defined in all of the table rows. All
matching results are collected in the result data object and returned as the result of the evaluation.
Note
Since multiple match mode is designed for delivering more than one value as the expression's result,
the result data object for a decision table in multiple match mode must always be a data object of type
table.
Handling of Partial Matches
Both single match mode as well as multiple match mode follow the basic principle that only if the input data
passed to a decision table matches all of the specific condition values in a row this is considered a match.
However, use cases may exist where the input does not match any of the decision table rows, but simply
raising an exception is not sufficient. This is where partial match handling comes into play. This processing
mode is used to address the following scenario:
● Context data passed to the decision table does not match any of the condition rows defined in the table.
● You want to continue processing not only based on the fact that there is no match, but on the information
about how near the context data came to a matching result (but still failed to match a condition
completely).
86
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
For this purpose, you can set the Return exception for partial match flag. Setting this flag has the following
effect: While processing the decision table, the system keeps track of the maximum number of matched
conditions per row. If the last row in the table has been processed and there is still no matching row, the
system raises exception CX_FDT_PARTIAL_MATCH with the highest observed match count passed to attribute
CX_FDT_PARTIAL_MATCH->MV_MAX_COND_MATCHED. It is then up to the calling application to handle this
exception and implement the desired system behavior based on the maximum number of matched conditions
for the given input.
Note
Setting the Return exception for partial match flag has a negative impact on system performance. This is
due not only to the necessary counter comparison for each row but also to the fact that certain optimization
measures cannot be applied during code generation. We therefore recommend to set this flag only if you
definitely need to access the maximum number of matched conditions for your use case.
Initial Value
If no matching condition is found for a given input, the decision table raises an exception instead of returning a
result. You can override this default behavior by setting the Return initial value if no match is found indicator. If
this indicator is set, the decision table returns the initial value that is defined for the type of the result data
object. With this setting, it is possible for you to consider the unsuccessful processing as a defined result
rather than an error and continue with processing.
Note
If you use this option, it may be necessary to take additional measures in order to make sure that further
processing steps do not confuse an initial value with a well-defined result. For example, the initial value for a
result data object of type number is 0, which could of course be the intended result for a satisfied condition
as well.
Table Content Checks
In addition to the standard checks for technical consistency, you can carry out additional checks to ensure
that the decision table data is error-free and yields the expected results from a business perspective. For more
Information, see Decision Table Content Checks [page 90].
Table Optimization
BRFplus offers some tools that help you condense the table content and optimize the table arrangement for
better performance. For more information, see Decision Table Optimization [page 92].
Optional vs. Mandatory Entry of Condition Data
The default behavior for evaluating a decision table is as follows:
● The value of an input data field is compared to the value in the corresponding condition column of the
table.
● If the two values match, the condition cell is evaluated as true.
● This process is repeated for each condition in the table row until either all the conditions are satisfied (row
is a match) or until a condition is not satisfied (processing continues with the next table row).
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
87
If this default behavior does not fulfill your needs, you can modify it for each condition column individually in
the following way:
● Mandatory input
With this indicator set, the system forces you to provide a condition value at design time for the
respective column in each row that you enter in the table definition. Such a condition can therefore not be
used for providing an unspecific empty condition that would be evaluated as true regardless of the input
data.
Example
In the example outlined above with the two condition columns Region and Country, the Region column
would be defined as a mandatory entry to make sure that an input must at least match one of the
regions provided by the decision table to be further evaluated. As opposed to this, the Country column
is not mandatory so that an input with a matching region but an unknown country can still be
processed. To accomplish this, you need to provide an additional table row for each region combined
with an undefined country.
Retrieving Table Content
Depending on the use case, decision tables can contain a high number of cells (many thousands of rows,
dozens or hundreds of columns). This can make it sometimes difficult to retrieve a particular cell you are
interested in. For this purpose, BRFplus offers the following tools that help you navigate through the content of
a decision table:
Row Filter
You can define filter criteria that a table row must match to be displayed. For each column, you can define a
separate filter that applies to that particular column only. If filters are defined for more than one column, the
filter criteria are combined with a logical AND operator before they are evaluated. That is, a row is only
displayed if all filter criteria that are currently in effect are satisfied by the affected columns of a row at the
same time.
Filter conditions remain in effect either until you explicitly change or reset the conditions, or until you navigate
to a different object. It is not possible to permanently associate certain filter conditions to a decision table.
To define a filter for a column, move the mouse cursor over the header cell of the desired column and click on
the small triangle in the lower right corner. If a filter is already defined for a column, the system displays a filter
symbol on the column header cell.
Find
With this tool, you can search the table content for a string. If the search string exists in the table, the row
containing the searched string is highlighted. With the Next and Previous buttons, you can navigate to further
occurrences of the search string.
Note
For both tools, the following applies: The comparison between the filter condition, or search string, and the
actual cell content is done via an implicit content conversion into text form. This means that everything that
is displayed in a cell must be taken into account when you define the filter condition. For example, if a cell
contains a value range that is displayed as [10..20] and you want to include this cell in a filter, you have to
mention the square brackets explicitly in the filter criterion, like [10*. Using 10* as a filter criterion (without
the bracket) instead would exclude the cell although the square brackets are not really part of the cell
content and only displayed for the sake of giving a visual hint on the fact that the cell contains a value range.
88
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Both tools support wildcards (' +' matches any single character, ' *' matches any string). All searches and
string comparisons are case-insensitive.
If a search is performed while a filter condition is in effect, the search is restricted to those rows that are
included in the folder and therefore visible.
Table Data Export And Import
You can exchange the condition and result data of a decision table with Microsoft Excel. This enables you to
share your table data with people who may not have access to BRFplus but might give input from a business
perspective. The necessary steps for exporting and importing data are described in Exchanging Decision Table
Data With Microsoft Excel [page 94].
Column Protection
One of the big advantages of BRFplus is that it makes the criteria for the business decisions in your company
transparent and easy to change. While such transparency can be counted as an asset in itself, it can still be
inappropriate for certain parts of your business. Here, you may want to decide that the decision criteria for a
particular business case shall be protected against unauthorized change or even be completely invisible. You
can accomplish this with the help of the Column Accessibility setting, both for condition columns and result
columns of a decision table:
● Full Access (Changes Allowed)
With this setting, a user can deliberately change the values of the column cells. This is the default.
● Display Only (No Changes)
With this setting, a user can see the values in the column cells without being able to make any changes.
● Hidden
With this setting, the column is hidden completely in the BRFplus workbench at design time as well as at
runtime. Without checking the table settings, a user does not receive any visual indication that the column
exists.
Example
The following table illustrates the decision table example given above to determine the payment target for a
customer invoice:
Table 22:
Region *
Country
Company
Payment Target (Days)
Americas
USA
Miller Inc.
90
Americas
USA
75
Europe
Germany
30
Europe
France
45
Europe
60
In this table, you see a list of different payment targets being defined to match the different business habits in
different places in the world. The Region, Country, and Company columns represent the condition criteria
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
89
(context data) while the Payment Target (Days) column holds the resulting value to be returned for each of the
conditions (result data object). The table reflects the common experience that in Germany customers usually
pay their invoices in relatively short time upon invoice receipt, while in other regions or countries this time can
be longer. It may also be useful to define special payment targets for individual customers, depending on their
assumed financial strength or on your company's experiences with these customers in the past.
Note that the entries in the table are sorted by the amount of specific information available, starting with the
most specific entry for an individual company in the USA and ending with a generic entry for all customers
based in Europe who do not satisfy the conditions in the more specific rows.
Note
Do not confuse this sort order with the alphanumeric sort function known from most table controls. Rather,
sorting the entries of a decision table means that you have to manually arrange the entries such that they
best match the business case you want to cover. So this is a semantic sort order based on business
decisions, not an alphanumeric sorting based on names.
The asterisk ("*") in the Region * column header indicates that an entry in this column is always required - in
other words, at least the customer's region information is needed for the decision table to determine a
payment target for a customer.
The decision table entries for the Americas region define only payment targets for customers based in the
USA. If, for example, you would supply a customer from Canada or Brazil as input data at runtime, the decision
table would raise an exception because neither a specific condition for these countries nor a generic condition
for all countries in the Americas region (except USA) has been defined.
More Information
Creating a Decision Table Expression [page 195]
Decision Table Content Checks [page 90]
Decision Table Optimization [page 92]
Exchanging Decision Table Data With Microsoft Excel [page 94]
1.2.11.6.1 Decision Table Content Checks
Definition
In addition to the checks for technical correctness that are available for all BRFplus object types, you can
perform some content-oriented checks for a decision table. These checks are used to ensure that the decision
table definition is error-free and yields the expected results from a business perspective. Unlike the more
technical checks, you can explicitly perform these checks with the respective commands assembled under the
Additional Actions menu. These checks are:
● Completeness Check
90
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
With the completeness check, or gap check, the system verifies that the values of a particular condition
column are defined as a continuous sequence of values with no gaps in between. With gaps in the
sequence of values, it could happen that an input value could not be processed although, from a business
point of view, all possible values within a given range must be processed by the decision table.
Once the check has finished and value gaps have been determined, the system tries to make a suggestion
for additional table rows that would close the gaps. This is an easy way for you to make sure that the table
returns a defined result for the value combinations that are not yet covered. However, in certain situations,
these row suggestions lead to a state of formal completeness only that may still need further manual
refinement to meet your business requirements.
Example
A decision table has, among others, a Travel Class condition column with a data object assigned that is
bound to a list of three domain values, namely Economy Class, Business Class, First Class. During the
completeness check, the system detects that for a particular combination of conditions, only Business
Class and First Class are taken into consideration, but there is no table row for Economy Class. The
check would then notify you of this potential gap so that you can decide whether the missing value has
been omitted intentionally or not.
● Overlap Check
With the overlap check, the system detects whether the value ranges assigned to the condition columns
are distinct and free of overlappings. With overlapping ranges, the system would not be able to handle
correctly an input value that falls into the overlapping zone.
Example
A decision table has an Invoice Total condition column with value ranges defined as 500...1000 in one
row and 750...1500 in another row. With an invoice total of 900 as input, it would be impossible for
the decision table to determine which of the two rows is the correct one. The system would simply
choose the first matching row, regardless of whether this is, from a business point of view, the intended
decision or not.
The checks described above are always carried out by the system when you explicitly force the system to do
the check, or as an implicit check when you activate the decision table. However, since these checks are
focused on correctness in terms of business adequacy, not on technical consistency, you can decide how the
system shall behave if one of the checks detects a problem. In the Table Settings dialog, you can choose from
the following options:
● System Default
In case of a problem, the system sends the corresponding message with the message type as defined in
the backend system (in most cases, message type 'warning' is used).
● Show Messages as Error
This forces you to solve the problem in the table definition. Otherwise, the decision table cannot be
activated.
● Show Messages as Warning
The system makes you aware of the problem but still lets you activate the decision table.
● Do not show any messages
Although the problem was detected, the system does not make you aware of it. Activation of the decision
table is possible.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
91
Note
The table content checks are performance-critical because they partially imply operations where each cell
in the table must be compared with all other cells. To avoid overloading the system, the checks can only be
executed as long as certain fixed limitations are not exceeded. For example, the completeness check can
only be performed with tables that have no more than 10000 rows.
1.2.11.6.2 Decision Table Optimization
Definition
The decision table is the most popular and frequently used of all the expression types offered by BRFplus, and
experience shows that customers tend to build up very complex tables with dozens of columns and thousands
(sometimes tens of thousands) of rows. Complexity is of course a threat to performance. Therefore, BRFplus
offers some tools that help you condense the table content and optimize the table arrangement for better
performance. These tools are available in the Additional Actions menu:
● Rearrange
The purpose of this function is to help you shift all table rows containing unspecified cells to the bottom of
the table. This is to make sure that the more specific conditions in a table are processed first.
When you execute this function, you are first prompted to define a sort priority for the table columns. By
default, the system processes the columns from left to right. For each column, the system determines the
unspecified cells and moves the corresponding rows to the bottom of the table. Rows that have already
been shifted remain at their position, whereas rows that are shifted due to unspecified cells in lower
priority columns are shifted on top of the already shifted rows, but underneath the rows with specified
cells.
Example
In this example, you can see the effect of the Rearrange function. The table to be rearranged has
unspecified cells at position A5 and B3.
Table 23:
92
#
A
B
1
P100
1
2
P300
0..2
3
P100
<...>
4
P300
2
5
<...>
3
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
#
A
B
6
P200
3
#
A
B
1
P100
1
2
P300
0..2
4
P300
2
6
P200
3
3
P100
<...>
5
<...>
3
Table 24:
In the first stage, the system analyzes column A and finds an unspecified cell in row 5, so row 5 is
moved to the table bottom. After column A has been processed, the system continues with column B.
Here, an unspecified cell is found in row 3. The system moves row 3 down, but one row above row 5 that
has already been moved to the bottom. All other rows remain at their original position.
Table 25:
#
A
B
1
P100
1
2
P300
0..2
4
P300
2
6
P200
3
5
<...>
3
3
P100
<...>
With the changed sort order, the system starts with column B. Consequently, row 3 is now moved to the
table bottom, and row 5 is moved to the position one row above the already moved row 3.
● Merge Rows
With this function, you let the system analyze a set of rows to find out whether it is possible to cover the
conditions defined in different rows by one single row. If the system finds a suitable solution, it creates a
new row containing the combined conditions and deletes those rows whose conditions have been joined in
the new row. This function requires that all selected rows have the same result data value assigned, and
that at least two rows are selected.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
93
Example
You want to condense a table as much as possible. For this, you select all rows of the following table and
choose
Additional Actions
Merge Rows .
Table 26:
#
A
B
Result
1
P100
1
high
2
P100
2
low
3
P100
<...>
high
4
P100
3
high
5
P100
4
high
6
P200
3
high
#
A
B
Result
1
P100
1; 3..4
high
2
P100
2
low
3
P100
<...>
high
6
P200
3
high
Table 27:
After the merge, table rows 1, 4, and 5 have been condensed into row 1. Rows 4 and 5 have been
deleted. The remaining rows cannot be merged for the following reasons:
○ Row 2 has a different result than the other rows.
○ Row 3 has an unspecified cell that cannot be combined with specific values.
○ Row 6 has a different value in column A.
1.2.11.6.3 Exchanging Decision Table Data With Microsoft
Excel
Use
You can exchange the condition and result data of a decision table with Microsoft Excel. You can take
advantage of this function in the following situations:
● You can share your table data with people who may not have access to BRFplus but might give input from
a business perspective.
94
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
● The use case that you want to address with the decision table has already been dealt with in your
department, so a lot of well-defined rules for the decision table may already exist and only need to be
adapted to BRFplus.
● You can export the decision table data to a spreadsheet so that you can continue working on the
conditions while you are offline or while the system is not available.
● You can use the export function for creating an additional backup of the table data that can easily be
retrieved.
Recommendation
During the import of data from an Excel spreadsheet, BRFplus tries to match the data to be imported with
the columns of the decision table. To clearly understand what the spreadsheet data must look like for a
successful import into a particular decision table, we recommend that you start by exporting some data
from the decision table to the spreadsheet file. The spreadsheet file then contains the columns and data
formats that are required for an error-free import.
When you choose to export decision table data to an Excel file, the exported file contains three worksheets:
● Data: In this worksheet, you find all the condition and result data that you have maintained for the decision
table in BRFplus.
● Help: In this worksheet, you find detailed information on the correct data format for values and operators
as expected by the BRFplus import function. This information worksheet is part of every Excel file that you
create with the BRFplus export function.
● Column Details: In this worksheet, you find technical information on the respective elementary data object
referenced by each table column. This helps you to decide whether a manually entered value can be
imported without problems or not. Again, this information worksheet is part of every Excel file that you
create with the BRFplus export function.
Handling of unsupported data types
Data exchange between BRFplus decision tables and Excel files is only supported for discrete values and range
expressions. If a cell contains any other type of data (for example, a boolean expression), the system handles
this situation according to the following rules, depending on the transfer direction and the setting of the
Override Expressions With Fixed Values indicator (only relevant for import):
Table 28:
Override Expressions
Export
Import
false (default)
Expression text is written into XLS cell
Cell data other than single values or
for reference reasons.
ranges are skipped during import; cor­
responding cell in decision table re­
mains unchanged.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
95
Override Expressions
Export
Import
Cell data other than single values or
true
ranges raises an error message, and
import is stopped.
If the receiving cell in the decision table
contains an expression, but the XLS
cell contains a single value or range, the
expression is overwritten by the im­
ported value.
Prerequisites
Exchanging data with Microsoft Excel is done with the help of the XML-based file format (file extension .XLSX)
introduced with Microsoft Excel 2007. If you are using an older version of Microsoft Office, you can download
the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack to upgrade the supported file formats from the Microsoft Download
Center ( http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=3 ). Once you have downloaded the
Compatibility Pack, you have to install it on every workstation that has an older version of Microsoft Office
installed.
Note
Installing the Compatibility Pack on your workstation requires administrator authorizations.
Activities
Exporting Decision Table Data to Microsoft Excel
1. In the BRFplus Workbench, open the decision table whose data you want to export in the Object Manager
panel.
2. Choose Additional Actions Export to Excel .
The system prompts you to either open or save the Excel file. Depending on your choice, the system
performs the following actions:
○ Open: The exported data is written to an Excel file in a folder for temporary files on your local machine,
and the file is loaded for reviewing in Microsoft Excel.
○ Save: The system displays a Save As ... dialog where you can enter the desired file name and storage
location. By default, the system suggests <name of the decision table>.xlsx.
Note
Text cells in a decision table containing a space only (that is, one single ASCII-32 character) are treated in a
special way during export and import: For compatibility reasons, spaces are encoded as a sequence of
three characters where the space is enclosed by double quotes (" "; or ASCII-34 ASCII-32 ASCII-34). This
three-characters sequence is written into the Excel file during the export.
96
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
During import, the three character sequence is restored to the original state, that is, a cell that contains one
space character (ASCII-32). It is especially important to be aware of this system behavior when you want to
import already existing Excel files. Here, you have to check if there are any spreadsheet cells containing a
single space character. If so, use the Replace function of Microsoft Excel to globally replace any single
space cell by the three-characters sequence mentioned above. Make sure that you have the Match entire
cell contents option activated during the replace operation.
Importing Decision Table Data from Microsoft Excel
1. In the BRFplus Workbench, open the decision table into which you want to import data from an Excel file in
the Object Manager panel.
2. Choose
Additional Actions
Import from Excel .
3. In the Excel File Import dialog, enter the name of the Excel file you want to import.
4. Decide how the system shall proceed in case the Excel file contains data that does not fulfill the
requirements for proper import.
For details, see section "Handling of unsupported data types" above.
5. Once the data has been imported, save the decision table.
Note
Keep in mind that BRFplus data objects of type text can hold a maximum of 255 characters. If a
spreadsheet cell contains alphanumeric data exceeding this threshold, the imported cell content will be
truncated after character 255.
1.2.11.7 Decision Tree Expression
Use
A decision tree expression allows the definition of a binary tree of expressions. The non-leaf nodes are called
condition nodes. These nodes return a result of type Boolean. Depending on the result, the left or the right
node is processed. Once a leaf node is reached, the assigned expression is processed and the corresponding
result is returned as the result of the whole expression.
Structure
The decision tree structure is a concatenated list of yes/no decisions. Each condition node is broken up into
two branches representing the true or the false alternative for that condition. Each branch can either lead to
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
97
another condition for further refinement or to a leaf node with an assigned result. The following picture
illustrates the basic principle:
Figure 4: Decision Tree Schema
Features
Result Types
You can decide whether a decision tree expression shall return a value or perform an action:
● Return Value: In this mode, you have to take care that all leaf nodes have a value or expression assigned
with the same type as the result data object of the decision tree expression.
Note
When defining a decision tree in the BRFplus workbench, first assign a result data object to the tree
expression before you start to define the results for the different leaf nodes. Only under this condition
the system gives you access to suitable expressions or lets you enter result values directly. With no
result data object defined, you can only assign element data objects to a node as a result.
● Perform Action: In this mode, the decision tree expression triggers the action assigned to the leaf node
that matches the input. The result data object is automatically set to the predefined Actions table that
returns the list of IDs of the actions (result action plus follow-up actions that may be associated with that
action) that are executed.
Once the result type settings have been made and the decision tree has been saved, the system displays these
settings in the Detail section of the UI by default.
98
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Note
Changing the result type settings leads in most cases to the need for a complete reassignment of objects to
the leaf nodes of the decision tree. We therefore recommend to take extra care before you decide to change
the result type settings of an already defined decision tree.
More Information
Creating a Decision Tree Expression [page 197]
Search Tree Expression [page 109]
Action Types [page 124]
1.2.11.8 Dynamic Expression
Use
The dynamic expression is used to call another expression dynamically. The called expression is not statically
defined at runtime. Rather, it is dynamically determined at runtime based on the evaluation result of a nested
expression that is assigned to the dynamic expression at design time. This can be useful if you have a set of
specialized expressions that are optimized to handle specific use cases that are different in certain details but
similar in nature. With the help of the dynamic expression, it is possible to determine the most suitable
expression at runtime.
Features
Context Mapping
The dynamic expression offers the following modes for the context mapping:
● Complete context but not expression variable
All available context data objects of the dynamic expression are supplied to the called expression.
● Matching context
Only those context data objects of the dynamic expression that can be matched to the context data
objects of the called expression are supplied to the called expression.
Called Expression
You choose one expression and assign it to the dynamic expression. The assigned expression is called by the
dynamic expression at runtime. The called expression must be configured such that it handles the context
data provided by the dynamic expression, and returns a text data object as result. The result must contain the
ID of a particular expression to be processed, depending on the context data. The result of this secondary
expression is then passed back to the dynamic expression.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
99
Result Data Object
For the result data object, you can use any kind of data object. However, it is important to make sure that the
result data object of the dynamic expression and the result data objects of all the secondary expressions must
be compatible.
Constraints
The flexibility that you gain with dynamic expressions also has a logical drawback. Due to the dynamic nature
of this expression type, a number of checks that BRFplus can perform for most other expression types at
design time are not supported for dynamic expressions. It is therefore possible that any potential design flaw
remains hidden until it becomes effective at runtime.
Unlike most other object types in BRFplus, there is no code generation support for dynamic expressions.
Therefore, this expression type is not recommended for time-critical tasks, or scenarios where high data load
is expected. Another consequence of the fact that dynamic expressions cannot be generated is that they are
not supported in service deployment scenarios that you may want to set up with SAP Decision Service
Management (DSM).
Example
In a rule system for a social services authority, you want to handle application forms for different types of
services such that they can be entered into the system with the help of an expression serving as a single point
of entry for the business user. Then, you use a dynamic expression to determine the type of the application
form to be processed. In the dynamic expression, you use a decision table as nested expression. By passing
the application form type information to the decision table as context data, the decision table determines the
expression associated to the application form type in question and hands the form over to that expression for
further processing.
More Information
Creating a Dynamic Expression [page 200]
1.2.11.9 Formula Expression
Use
A formula expression allows you to perform a wide range of calculations. The formula expression offers the
basic mathematical operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division), more advanced operations
(such as exponentiation or binary AND), comparisons (greater than, less than, etc.), and a wide variety of
100
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
formula functions for different purposes and data types (date and time calculation, string handling and
manipulation, conversion functions, system functions, etc.). You can also enter comments into a formula to
help others better understand the purpose of a particular calculation step.
Features
Editing Mode
The system offers two different editing modes for maintaining a formula expression, Normal Mode and Expert
Mode:
● Normal Mode
In Normal Mode, the system tries to preserve the formula integrity by preventing the user from directly
editing the formula text. Rather, a user would make use of the various predefined options offered in the
BRFplus workbench by clicking the respective function buttons or choosing an option from a list. This is
true even for constant values you might want to enter as a formula operand. To accomplish this, you have
to use the buttons provided for entering a Number or a String value. Expressions and data objects that are
used as formula operands are displayed with their technical name.
● Expert Mode
In Expert Mode, the system allows the user to manually edit the formula text. This can speed up formula
maintenance significantly, but the user is completely responsible for the syntactical correctness of the
formula text. Expressions and data objects that are used as formula operands are displayed with their ID.
Operands
In a formula expression, you can use elementary data objects and expressions as operands. In addition,
structure or table data objects may also be used in a formula if the formula contains a function that expects a
data object of these complex types as a parameter (for example, all table functions expect a table data object
as a parameter).
Context Data
In the BRFplus workbench, the system presents a list of data objects that can be used as formula operands.
The data objects in the list are inherited from the context of the function to which the formula expression is
assigned. In other words, a stand-alone formula expression that has not yet been assigned to a function
cannot offer any context data objects.
Note
If a formula expression is assigned to more than one function, the list of context data objects available as
formula operands represents the intersection of the context data objects of all involved functions. This is
necessary to ensure that the formula can be calculated properly, regardless by which function it is called.
Formula Functions
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
101
In a formula expression, you can choose from a large number of formula functions that help you retrieve,
transform, and analyze data. For a better overview, the functions are grouped into categories as follows:
Table 29:
Function Category
Examples
Date and Time
Calculation of difference between two points in time, in dif­
ferent units of measures; determination of leap years; ex­
traction of different parts from a given point in time; etc.
String Functions
Concatenation and extraction of strings; string length; string
similarity; etc.
Mathematical Functions
Logarithms; exponentiation; trigonometric functions; etc.
Note
Parameters passed to the trigonometric functions must
be given in radians (one full circle = 2 Pi).
System Functions
Retrieval of system-specific information like factory calen­
dar, operating system, logon language, etc.
Table Functions
Retrieval of information about, or stored in, a BRFplus table
data object like maximum or minimum value, sum, average,
row count, etc.
Miscellaneous Functions
Conversion of quantities and amounts; number rounding;
check for initial values; etc.
In addition to the function grouping, the system offers another way of finding a function: In the Filter by Text
field, you can enter the name of a function (or a part of it) and let the system display all function names that
match the search string. This is helpful if you know the function name already. Combined with the Show All
Functions function category, this gives you the fastest access to the desired function.
For the details of each function, there is online documentation available. There you find all the information
about parameters, types, calling conventions, examples, and more for each function. To display the function
documentation, navigate to the respective function in the list and click the Show link in the Documentation
column.
Customer-defined Functions
You can extend the functional scope of the formula expression type by defining additional functions according
to the individual requirements of your use case. You can accomplish this by defining methods in the exit class
assigned to the application and registering these methods as formula functions. For an in-depth
documentation of customer-defined formula functions, see the How to Create Formula Functions paper on
SDN ( http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/go/portal/prtroot/docs/library/uuid/10e9c96f-0c8b-2b10-6885f00adbeb314b ).
Rounding Behavior for Amount Data
Internally, BRFplus uses always maximum precision for all calculations where numeric values are involved,
according to the number of decimals defined for the involved data objects. However, there is a special case
102
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
where the maximum precision of a calculation is not reflected in the result, namely if the result data object of a
formula expression is a data object of type Amount. In this case, BRFplus uses the number of decimals that
has been defined for the currency of the result data object, while the number of decimals defined in BRFplus is
ignored.
Example
In a formula expression, the following calculation is processed:
25 € / 8
Although the internally calculated result of 3.125 € is precise, the result data object of the formula
expression yields a rounded value of 3.13 € because for European Euros, only two decimals are defined in
the Customizing tables.
Quantity Dimension Checks
In addition to the standard consistency checks that are available for all types of BRFplus objects, the system
performs some specific checks for formula expressions containing calculations with data objects of type
quantity that have a quantity dimension assigned. The challenge here is that each unit of measure belongs to a
particular quantity dimension (time, length, speed, and so on), but there is only a limited number of
combinations of operands and result data objects with different dimensions that make sense. Here are some
examples:
Table 30:
Formula
Result Data Object
Valid
Length / Time
Speed
yes
Length / Mass
Number
no
Note
In the first example given in the above table, do not confuse the Time operand with the BRFplus data object
type Timepoint. The Time operand is in fact a data object of type Quantity with dimension Time. This is used
for expressing time durations, whereas the Timepoint object type is used to refer to a particular point in
time.
The system performs quantity dimension checks only for formula expressions with data objects of type
quantity where the Dimension property has been maintained. If there is no dimension information available,
this part of the check is omitted. In case of an undetected dimension mismatch, an error occurs at runtime.
Examples
The following formula shows the usage of one of the system functions embedded in a simple IF statement. The
formula returns a numeric value of 10 if the current logon language is English ("EN"), otherwise the result is 0.
instead:
NUMBER = IF ( SYS_INFO_LANGUAGE ( ) = 'EN' , 10 , 0 )
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
103
Note
For complex If Then Else scenarios, we recommend using the Boolean expression.
The following formula demonstrates how the trigonometric functions can be used to calculate the air-line
distance between two locations on Earth. To keep things simple, we assume that the shape of the Earth is a
perfect sphere.
Context
The context of the function to which the formula belongs consists of quite a number of data objects that are
partially filled by the user (Departing Town, Destination Town), partially by a decision table (Longitude,
Latitude), and partially calculated by the formula (Distance).
Table 31:
Name
Description
Coordinates
Structure (Longitude, Latitude). Values are determined with
the help of a decision table, depending on the chosen depar­
ture and destination location.
Departure Town, Destination Town
Text data objects filled in by the user interactively.
Distance
Number data object that serves as the formula's result data
object.
Longitude Start, Longitude End, Latitude Start, Latitude End Helper variables used for the calculation.
Pi
Constant value
Formula
6378.137 * ARCCOS ( SIN ( Latitude Start * Pi / 180 ) * SIN ( Latitude End *
Pi / 180 ) + COS ( Latitude Start * Pi / 180 ) * COS ( Latitude End * Pi / 180 )
* COS ( ( Longitude End - Longitude Start ) * Pi / 180 ) )
More Information
Context and Result [page 44]
Application [page 29]
Creating a Formula Expression [page 202]
104
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
1.2.11.10 Function Call Expression
Use
A function call expression calls a BRFplus function, maps the expression context to the function context, and
returns a result. A function call expression can call different functions based on the input.
For example, a function call expression can be used to calculate the tax for different countries. The function
call expression calls the respective functions based on the country and passes the context data.
More Information
Creating a Function Call Expression [page 205]
Procedure Call Expression [page 111]
1.2.11.11 Loop Expression
Use
A loop expression processes a set of rules on a given context for a number of times. The number of repetitions
for executing the rules is defined by a numeric constant, a condition, or by iterating over the rows of a table.
The expression can also contain exit conditions as well as continue conditions for the rules. The loop
expression can either return a result that can be used for further processing or trigger actions.
Features
Processing Mode
A loop expression can be executed in either of the following processing modes:
● Perform Action
In this processing mode, the system automatically assigns the predefined Actions table object as result
data object. After loop processing has finished, this table returns the list of all actions that have been
triggered by the loop expression.
● Return Value
In this processing mode, you can assign any kind of data objects as the expression's result data object. If
you use this setting, it is up to you to make sure that the rules processed at runtime make changes to the
value of the selected data object.
Loop Mode
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
105
You can choose between the following loop modes to further specify how exactly the loop expression shall
operate:
● Repeat ... Times
For this mode, you must specify a number indicating the number of iterations that the loop shall run
through. You choose this loop mode for use cases where you know in advance the exact number of
iterations needed. The only way for a so-defined loop expression to run through less iterations than
defined is that an optional exit condition is fulfilled.
Example
You need to calculate a one-year-ahead forecast of sales numbers for a particular product. This
forecast shall be broken down by month. To accomplish this, you define a loop expression of type
Repeat ... Times with a fixed iteration number of 12 to calculate the numbers for each month of the year
ahead from now.
● Do ... Until ...
For this mode, you have to define a cancellation criterion that must be fulfilled to make the loop expression
stop processing. The cancellation criterion is tested after each iteration. This means that in a Do ... Until ...
loop, the rules that have been defined for the expression are processed at least once.
● While ... Do ...
For this mode, you have to define a continue criterion that must be fulfilled for the loop expression to
continue processing. The continue criterion is tested before each iteration. This means that in a While ...
Do ... loop, the rules that have been defined for the expression may not be processed at all.
● For Each Entry In ...
In this mode, the number of iterations depends on the number of entries in a table that shall be used as the
loop iteration controller. The object that you select as a controller must be either a table data object or an
expression that has a table data object assigned as its result data object. This is the case, for example, for
several of the table operation subtypes, or for a decision table or search tree expression in multiple match
mode. The number of iterations can be further restricted by additional selection criteria that you may
define for the table.
The iteration controller object can be freely selected from all suitable objects in the system. It is not
necessary to include that object in the expression context.
Caution
For the Do ... Until ... and the While ... Do ... loop mode, it is up to you to make sure that the cancellation or
continue criterion is updated and evaluated during each iteration. Otherwise, the system might be caught in
an infinite loop, which must be terminated manually.
Note
If you have defined the loop control conditions and decide to change the loop mode afterwards, the
reference to the involved objects as well as the additional selection criteria you may have defined are
deleted immediately from the loop expression. Once you have saved the expression with the new loop
mode, the only way to recover the previous settings is to revert to an older version. This is possible, of
course, only under the condition that versioning is turned on for the loop expression.
Loop Conditions
For all loop modes, you can define additional exit or continue conditions for each of the rules to be processed
during one iteration. By doing so, you can override the loop behavior as defined by the loop mode. Conditions
106
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
enable you to make the loop processing dependent not only on the iteration counter but on any kind of
additional test criteria, as long as the test result is expressed in a boolean value. For example, you may test in a
condition if the current user is authorized to perform a particular rule, if the current date and time lies within a
predefined validity period, if the number of articles passed to the loop context qualifies for additional discount
calculations, and so on.
● Exit condition
With an exit condition, you can perform any additional tests. If the test result is True, processing of the
entire loop expression is cancelled.
● Continue condition
With a continue condition, you can perform any additional tests. If the test result is True, the current loop
iteration is cancelled. Expression processing continues by increasing the iteration counter by 1 and
executing the first rule in the rule sequence.
More Information
Creating a Loop Expression [page 207]
1.2.11.12 Random Number Expression
Use
You use the random number expression to intentionally integrate an unpredictable element into your
application. This can be useful for test purposes when you want to check how an application behaves through
many iterations with permanently changing input parameters. Another possible use case could be to let this
expression calculate a value that you might assign automatically to mass objects in your application (provided
that no systematic numbering is needed for that), like customer ID, order number, and so on.
The random number expression is based on the standard ABAP pseudo-random number generator. Whenever
the expression is evaluated, this number generator is started in the backend with a new seed value to ensure
that the generated number sequence is different.
Note
Keep in mind that the algorithm used for generating random numbers is made for normal business use
cases only. This is because the generated number sequences are identical as long as the same seed value is
used. Therefore, the random number expression is neither intended nor sufficient for security-relevant
purposes like password encryption, access codes, or any other kind of cryptographic use cases.
Features
Modes of Operation
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
107
The random number expression offers two modes of operation: The expression can either return a random
number between two boundaries (minimum and maximum) or return a boolean value with a user-defined
probability between 0 and 1.
● Number
In this mode, the expression returns a random number between two borders (minimum and maximum).
You can influence the range of possible results not only by these two borders, but also by setting the
number of decimals. Here, the maximum number of decimals depends on the definition of the result data
object that is assigned to the expression.
● Probability
In this mode, the expression returns a boolean value. You can fine-tune the expression behavior by setting
the statistical probability for the expression to return the value TRUE. The probability value is given as a
decimal fraction between 0 and 1, with a maximum of three decimals. A probability of 1 means that the
expression returns always TRUE.
Note
You can take a look behind the scenes by simulating a random number expression. Here, you see that
even in probability mode, the expression internally still calculates a random number. However, this
number is not used as the expression result but as an operand of an internal comparison operation: The
expression checks whether the calculated number is less than or equal to the value passed as context
to the expression. If so, the expression returns TRUE, otherwise FALSE.
Value Assignment
If you have set the mode of operation to Number, you can choose between the following ways of defining
values for the sample space:
● Direct Input
In direct input mode, you define the values for the lower and upper boundaries of the sample space
directly. As a consequence, there is no need for context data objects in this mode. For the system, this
static value assignment is easy to check so that potential errors can already be detected at design time.
● Reference
In reference mode, you define the values for the lower and upper boundaries of the sample space
indirectly by assigning a context data object or an expression to each of the boundaries, rather than
defining a fixed static value. This dynamic value assignment gives you more flexibility at runtime. However,
it also increases the risk of formal errors (like a minimum value higher than the maximum value) that can
lead to an exception.
Automatic Adjustments
BRFplus helps you defining a random number expression with several checks that are either running in the
background or that you trigger with the Check button:
● When you create the expression in number mode, BRFplus automatically assigns the built-in data object
NUMBER to it as the result data object. In most cases, this is exactly what you need since the result of a
random number expression is always a numeric value. However, you are still free to choose a user-defined
data object of type number.
If you create the expression in probability mode, the same applies, but with the built-in data object
BOOLEAN.
● In direct input mode for numbers, the system automatically swaps the values for minimum and maximum
if the minimum value is greater than the maximum value.
108
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
More Information
Creating a Random Number Expression [page 209]
1.2.11.13 Search Tree Expression
Use
The search tree expression is a non-binary tree structure with conditions and results. It is used for assigning
different business-relevant conditions to different tree branches. The system checks the input and compares
it to the conditions defined for each node. Search tree nodes have always a condition assigned, and they can
have a result assigned. A condition has to be assigned to each node, except for the root node. A node can have
several child nodes or subnodes. All the subnodes in one level (that is, with the same parent node) are called
sibling nodes. A node without any subnodes assigned is called leaf node.
The search tree searches in a top-down approach, according to the rules of the selected match mode. If the
condition assigned to a search tree node is evaluated as true and the expression is in First Match or Multiple
Match mode, the expression returns the result assigned to the current node.
In Multiple Match mode, the rule evaluation then branches down to the lower subnode and continues the
search in a similar fashion. If the condition node returns false then the search jumps to the next sibling node
from left to right. It continues with the search in this node and its subnodes.
Note
Due to the sequential processing order of the search tree expression, it is necessary to clearly analyze the
use case that you want to model with the search tree and distribute the conditions properly over the tree
nodes. Otherwise, it might happen that a particular combination of conditions is never tested because of its
position inside the tree structure - even if that combination would result in a match of higher quality.
Features
Mode of Operation
You can decide whether the search tree shall yield a result data object upon an input value matching a node
condition, or whether an action shall be triggered.
Match Mode
The search tree expression supports different modes of operation to control the way how the expression
processes a given input value and decides whether a particular value is matched by one of the tree nodes. You
can choose between the following match modes:
● First Match: In First Match mode, the search proceeds until the first node whose condition matches the
input value and returns the corresponding result, if there is one assigned to that node. Any further
processing down the tree is stopped.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
109
● Multiple Match: In Multiple Match mode, the search is carried out across the entire tree (all levels, all
branches). All result values assigned to nodes whose conditions are evaluated as true are collected during
the search and stored in the expression's result data object. If the condition of a node is evaluated as false,
processing continues with the next sibling of the parent node or the next yet unprocessed branch. This
goes on either until the tree has been completely processed or until a node in the last branch is evaluated
as false.
Note
In Multiple Match mode, the result data object must be of type table.
● Qualified Match: In Qualified Match mode, an input value is tested against a chain of semantically
independent conditions associated to the different tree nodes. As opposed to First Match mode,
processing does not stop at the first matching node but continues until a node condition is not met. An
input that satisfies best the different conditions in a particular search tree branch is referred to as a
qualified match. The result assigned to the last node of the matching branch is returned as the
expression's result data object.
More Information on Qualified Match Mode
In contrast to many other tree constructs, climbing down the search tree branches does not necessarily mean
to start with a general condition which would then be refined with each level of the tree (for example, "region =
EMEA" -> "subregion = Eastern Europe" -> "member of European Community = yes" -> "country = Poland").
Rather, each level can have a condition assigned which is semantically completely independent from the
condition on the previous level (e.g., "region = EMEA" -> "industry = banking" -> "revenue >= 50 billion Euro" > "is listed at NYSE" etc.; but this path could as well be defined in reverse order, starting with the NYSE listing
and finishing with EMEA - this only depends on the nature of the business case to be modeled).
Drilling down through such lists of conditions stops at a point where a condition is not met anymore. Once the
evaluation has reached this point, it is correct to say that the current input matches all the different previous
conditions up to this point. The expression then returns the result value (or trigger the action) associated to
the last matching node as a qualified match.
Additional Settings
Context Data Object
In contrast to most other expression types, the search tree expression does not have one central context data
object. Rather, each single node of the tree can have a different data object or expression assigned which is
used as input value to be tested against the node condition.
Result Data Object
For the result data object of a search tree expression, the following rules apply:
● You have to make sure that all result values used in the tree are type-compatible with the result data
object so that the node result can be properly assigned to the result data object.
● In Multiple Match mode, the result data object must be a table data object because in this mode, the result
is typically a list of values.
● If the search tree expression is defined to trigger an action rather than returning a result value, the result
data object is automatically set to the predefined Actions table.
Allow Results Only at Leaf Node
110
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
With this flag set, the search tree expression only yields a result if all the conditions in a complete tree branch
from the root node down to one of the leaf nodes (with no further subnodes) are satisfied. Setting this flag has
the following consequences regarding the assignment of results to the nodes of the tree:
● Nodes that have subnodes must not have a result assigned.
● Leaf nodes with no further subnodes must have a result assigned.
Return Initial Value If No Match Is Found
With this flag set, the search tree expression returns the initial value defined for the type of the result data
object if none of the conditions defined in the tree matches the input value. Otherwise, the rule evaluation
stops and an exception is raised.
Note
If you decide to use this option, be very careful that you can make a clear distinction between a well-defined
result value that was returned by a node with a matching condition and the type-specific initial value that
was returned as the result of an unsuccessful rule evaluation. For example, if the result data object of a
search tree expression is a data object of type number, you should make sure that none of the tree nodes
carrying a result has the value 0 assigned because for the system it would be impossible to decide if this is
meant as a valid numeric value or as an indicator for a failed rule evaluation.
More Information
Creating a Search Tree Expression [page 211]
Decision Tree Expression [page 97]
1.2.11.14 Procedure Call Expression
Definition
A procedure call expression enables the execution of function modules as well as of methods of an ABAP OO
class in the backend system. You can also use this expression directly to execute procedures that are stored in
a database.
Note
The procedure call expression type is the renamed and extended successor expression type of the static
method call expression that was offered in previous releases of BRFplus. The procedure call expression
covers the full scope of the former static method call so that all existing static method call expressions from
migrated legacy applications remain fully functional. However, it is not possible to create new static method
call expressions.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
111
Use
You use this expression to take advantage of the full functional power offered by the ABAP programming
language when processing BRFplus business rules. You can do so in order to access routines for data
validation, data conversion, or any other kind of data manipulation regardless of the degree of complexity of
such routines.
Values can be passed to the parameters of the called procedure by using a list of parameter mappings that are
maintained for the expression. Once the called procedure has determined a result, it is returned to the result
data object of the procedure call expression.
If the procedure that you want to execute is stored in a database (stored procedure), you can directly access
this kind of procedure without having to define a wrapper method manually in an ABAP OO class. This saves
you programming effort and the number of steps in the execution path is reduced, thereby improving
performance.
Features
Supported Procedure Types
You can assign the following types of procedures to a procedure call expression:
● Function modules
● Methods of ABAP classes
● Database procedures
Interface Methods
It is not only possible to assign a class method to a procedure call expression, but also to assign methods of a
class interface that has been implemented by the selected class. To do so, proceed as follows:
1. Choose a class.
2. Select the Use Interface Method checkbox.
The Interface Name entry field is changed to edit mode.
3. To select from the interfaces that are implemented by the class, use the value help.
4. To select from the implemented interface methods suitable for the procedure call expression, use the
value help in the Method Name field.
Automatic Filtering of Suitable Methods
When using the BRFplus workbench for modeling a procedure call expression, the system automatically
determines which methods of a given class can be used for the expression at all. Only these suitable methods
are then offered for selection using the value help.
Example
You can use only methods declared as public and static. However, this type of method is still not sufficiently
qualified. For example, if the method signature contains a mandatory parameter whose type is determined
dynamically or defined via indirection (for example, with theTYPE REF statement), it cannot be used for a
procedure call expression because the exact type of that parameter can only be determined at runtime and
is therefore unknown in the modeling environment.
112
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
However, if the same parameter is optional rather than mandatory, the method itself can be used for the
procedure call expression. If this is the case, the optional parameter remains unusable and is presented in a
list of Unsupported Parameters that you can check.
You can still enter a method that is not offered by the value help. In this case, using the check function for the
expression makes the system trigger error messages that inform you about the reasons why the method
cannot be used. It is then up to you to decide whether the method can be modified so that the system
requirements are met. To see an overview of all methods of the selected class or interface that are currently
not supported for a procedure call, choose Unsupported Methods.
Parameter Mapping
Once you have assigned a method, function module, or database procedure to the expression, the system
presents a list of the method parameters. The list contains all of the parameters that are either mandatory or
not and have a type that can be determined at design time assigned to them. At the same time, this means:
● Non-mandatory parameters whose type can only be determined at runtime are omitted because no
mapping can be done for these at design time. These types of parameters are logged in the list of
Supported Parameters below.
● Mandatory parameters, for which the type can only be determined at runtime, lead to the system
qualifying the entire method as not suitable for the procedure call expression as described above in the
Automatic Filtering of Suitable Methods section.
From the list of parameters, you choose the ones for which you want to provide a value and associate them
with a static value assignment or an expression of the appropriate data type.
Providing Values for Different Parameter Types
Depending on the parameter type (element, structure, or table), you have to take specific steps to map the
context parameters to a BRFplus data object.
● Elements
○ You can map an elementary parameter to a BRFplus element data object (or to an expression with
result data object of type element). To accomplish this, assign the relevant element data object to the
parameter and choose Move Value as Move Type.
○ As an alternative, you can also decide to define a value at design time to be passed to the parameter
as Direct Input.
● Structures
○ To map a structure parameter to a BRFplus structure data object (or to an expression with result data
object of type structure) as a whole, assign the desired structure data object to the parameter and
choose Move Corresponding as Move Type.
○ To map individual components of a structure parameter, expand the structure element tree. For each
element parameter, proceed as described above for element parameters.
Note
Mapping individual components of structure parameters is not supported for parameters defined
as Exporting or Returning.
● Tables
○ To map a table parameter to a BRFplus table data object (or to an expression with result data object of
type table) as a whole, assign the desired table data object to the parameter and choose Move
Corresponding as Move Type.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
113
○ You can define a Source Table for Column Update. Once you have assigned a source table to the
procedure call expression, you can define for each table structure element whether the source table
content is mapped line by line to the table passed as context parameter (Map Element to Source Table
= True) or whether the values found in the currently selected source table line is passed to each line
of the table passed as context parameter (Map Element to Source Table = False).
○ To map individual components of a table parameter, expand the table structure element tree. For
each element parameter, proceed as described above for element parameters.
Note
Mapping individual components of table structure parameters is not supported for parameters
defined as Changing, Exporting, or Returning.
Automatic Parameter Mapping
If the method or function module contains any of the following parameters, BRFplus automatically maps them
to the corresponding internal BRFplus objects:
Table 32:
Name
Type
IV_TIMESTAMP
IF_FDT_TYPES=>TIMESTAMP
IV_EXPRESSION_ID
IF_FDT_TYPES=>ID
IO_TRACE
REF TO IF_FDT_TRACE
IV_IN_UPDATE_TASK
ABAP_BOOL
Note
Automatic mapping can be done only if the parameter names and types of the method or function module
are exactly the same as given in the table above. In addition, the importing parameter for the trace object
(IO_TRACE) must be declared as optional.
For the same reason, there is no automatic parameter mapping for an assigned database procedure. This is
because the internal representation of the data types used in the database differs substantially from the
data types available in BRFplus. The system can therefore only offer a technical description of the database
type in the Description field of the parameter. Automatic mapping is not supported for procedure call
expressions that have a database procedure assigned to them.
The IV_IN_UPDATE_TASK parameter lets you define whether the actions that are triggered by an
associated function module shall be executed directly (false) or appended to the internal update task
queue (true). Note that, depending on the parameter value, the function module owner is responsible for
taking the necessary actions in the function module source code. In simulation mode, this parameter is
always treated as true, regardless of the parameter value. This is to avoid unwanted side effects during
simulation. Automatic mapping of this parameter is only supported for procedure call type Function
Module.
The following table lists the supported parameters:
114
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Table 33: Supported Parameters
Parameter Type
Import
Change
Export
Return
Tables (FM only)
'Simple' Type
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Only tables
Reference
No
No
No
No
No
NUMERIC
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
N/A
ANY TABLE
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
INDEX TABLE
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
CLIKE
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
N/A
CSEQUENCE
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
N/A
ANY
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
HEX
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
N/A
Other Generic Type
No
No
No
No
No
RAW16
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
N/A
Raw Fields
No
No
No
No
No
Database Procedures
In a procedure call expression, you can directly call a stored procedure that resides in the database. This helps
you saving additional programming effort, as well as improving the performance of database accesses
because there are fewer execution steps.
A procedure is always assigned to one of the various database schemas that may exist in the database.
Therefore, a fully qualified definition of the procedure to be used consists of the procedure's name plus the
containing database schema. In the BRFplus workbench, the value help supports you in retrieving the desired
procedure by offering matching procedures across the different schemas. In other words, although the
schema is needed for identifying the database procedure, you do not need to delve too deeply into the
database to find the object you are searching for.
The database where the procedure to be called resides can either be the database that is associated with the
system in which you execute the expression, or it can be a database that runs in a different system within your
landscape. In the latter case, you have to set up a secondary database connection. This can be accomplished
in the scope of the application to which the procedure call expression belongs.
Note
Procedure call expressions of type Database Procedure are currently supported only for the SAP HANA
database. In addition, there is another difference between calling a database procedure and the other types
of procedure calls. While you can access the interfaces of an assigned function module or class method
directly with a procedure call expression, calling a database procedure requires an additional step.
You first need to generate a proxy that acts as an interface between the ABAP layer and the database
procedure to be called. Automatic proxy generation, however, requires that the types of the parameters of
the database procedure are included in a well-defined set of supported field types that can be transformed
into ABAP types. You can find information on the supported type mappings in the ABAP Keyword
Documentation on SAP Help Portal:
External Views for SAP HANA Views
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
115
With SAP NetWeaver 740 SP05, the ABAP Managed Database Procedure (AMDP) framework has been
introduced. With this framework, you do not need to set up a proxy anymore. Rather, you can now create a
special type of an ABAP OO class to access the HANA database. An AMDP can be called in the same way as
a normal ABAP OO method and can therefore be assigned directly to a procedure call expression of call
type Static Method. Again, you can find information on the AMDP framework on SAP Help Portal:
AMDP - ABAP Managed Database Procedures
We recommend using ABAP Managed Database Procedures whenever you want to execute procedures
directly from an ABAP program. If, in special cases, this is not possible (for example, in a stand-alone HANA
database, or for procedures generated by another HANA process) you can still use call type Database
Procedure.
Exception Handling
It is common programming practice to define exception handlers to ensure safe and controlled system
behavior if errors occur at runtime. If a procedure that you have assigned to a BRFplus procedure call
expression contains one or more code lines in which an exception is raised, the system presents these
exceptions in the BRFplus workbench. It is then up to you to decide what BRFplus should do if an exception
actually occurs at runtime:
● Propagated Exceptions
If any of the exceptions in this list occurs at runtime, the corresponding exception instance is propagated
to the application that has called the BRFplus application. The calling application is then responsible for
proper exception handling. By default, the system adds all exceptions that may be raised by a called
procedure to this list.
● Ignored Exceptions
If any of the exceptions in this list occur at runtime, the corresponding exception instance is not
propagated to the application that has called the BRFplus application. In other words, the exception is
suppressed and BRFplus tries to continue processing as if nothing had happened. In this scenario, it is the
responsibility of the BRFplus application designer to make sure that exceptions are ignored only if this is
safe with respect to the processing flow.
Caution
Whenever a called procedure raises an exception, this means that the processing is aborted
immediately. There is no way to influence this elementary system behavior with the BRFplus exception
handling options. From a BRFplus perspective, this means that the result value of the procedure call
expression is initial, and the expression context remains unchanged.
You control the system behavior by assigning the available exceptions to either of the two lists with the help of
the buttons (Ignore Exception and Propagate Exception).
More Information
Creating a Static Method Call Expression [page 213]
Function Call Expression [page 105]
116
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
1.2.11.15 Table Operation Expression
Definition
The table operation expression provides numerous functions for accessing and maintaining the data stored in
a BRFplus data object of type table.
Use
With this expression type, you can carry out a number of different administrative tasks as well as retrieve
statistical data about a table data object. The available features resemble those offered by the aggregation and
existence check modes of the DB lookup expression, but the scope is slightly different. The following table
aims at clarifying the differences between the two expression types:
Table 34:
Criterion
Table Operation
DB Lookup
Context data object
BRFplus table data object
DDIC table
Usage
Business-oriented approach
Database-oriented approach
Access style
read/write (various delete operations
read only
available)
Features
Supported Table Functions
The following table shows the different functions provided by the table operation expression for accessing
table data objects:
Table 35:
Name
Comment
Has at least
Returns True if the specified table contains at least the
given number of rows matching the given condition.
Has exactly
Returns True if the specified table contains exactly the
given number of rows matching the given condition.
Has not exactly
Returns True if the specified table contains either more or
less than the given number of rows matching the given con­
dition.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
117
Name
Comment
Has less than
Returns True if the specified table contains less than the
given number of rows matching the given condition.
Has more than
Returns True if the specified table contains more than the
given number of rows matching the given condition.
Has no more than
Returns True if the specified table contains no more than
the given number of rows matching the given condition.
Count
Returns the number of rows matching the given condition in
the specified table.
Minimum
Returns the lowest value found in the specified table column
matching the given condition.
Maximum
Returns the highest value found in the specified table col­
umn matching the given condition.
Total
Returns the total of all values found in the specified table
column matching the given condition.
Average
Returns the average of all values found in the specified table
column matching the given condition.
First line
Returns the first row matching the given condition in the
specified table.
Last line
Returns the last row matching the given condition in the
specified table.
All lines
Returns all rows matching the given condition in the speci­
fied table.
Sort
Sorts the rows of the specified table by the values in the
given columns and sort order.
Note
Unlike most other table operations, the Sort operation
does not return a value. Rather, the sorting is done di­
rectly on the table data object specified in the expression
context.
The sorting result is kept in memory only and not perma­
nently stored in the database.
You can sort a table by a maximum of five different col­
umns.
118
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Name
Comment
Delete first line
Removes the first row in the specified table matching the
given condition. The changed table (without the removed
row) is returned as the result.
Delete last line
Removes the last row matching the given condition in the
specified table. The changed table (without the removed
row) is returned as the result.
Delete all lines
Removes all rows matching the given condition in the speci­
fied table. The changed table (without the removed rows) is
returned as the result.
Note
For all operations, it is also possible not to provide a selection condition. In that case, the operation is
applied to all the rows in the specified table.
Of the operations listed above, the following can only be used together with a numeric table field:
● Minimum
● Maximum
● Total
● Average
The BRFplus workbench supports you in finding the appropriate columns of a given table by only offering
those fields that match the requirements of a particular operation.
More Information
Data Object [page 58]
DB Lookup Expression [page 80]
1.2.11.16 Value Range Expression
Use
You use value range expressions to check if the value of a test parameter lies within a certain range. The result
of a value range expression is always of type boolean. The expression returns the value as true or false
depending on whether the value falls within the defined range.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
119
Structure
Static vs. Dynamic Range Boundaries
Defining fixed boundaries for a range comparison at design time is a good starting point and easy to be done.
At runtime, the system compares the values passed to the expression context with the values defined for the
range and returns the appropriate result. However, in certain use cases it may be necessary to evaluate the
range boundaries dynamically, as the following scenario illustrates.
Example
For an insurance company, you want to classify the tobacco consumption of a customer. You may define
the following value range expressions for this:
● Cigarettes per day = 0
● Cigarettes per day between [1..10]
● Cigarettes per day between [11..20]
● Cigarettes per day between [21..50]
● Cigarettes per day greater than [50]
The ranges listed above are ready for insertion into the rows of a decision table where you can assign a
classification result to each degree of tobacco consumption.
However, in the course of time it may turn out that the assumed threshold (> 50) for the highest risk class
seems to be unreliable and must be adapted by taking additional factors into account that influence the risk
of physical affection. You can then decide to redesign the first approach as follows:
For the fourth and fifth of the ranges defined above, replace the static boundary value of 50 by a reference
to a formula expression that dynamically calculates a more reliable value by considering additional
influencing factors. For example, smoking 50 cigarettes per day may have different effects depending on a
person's age or whether a person lives in the mountains or in an industrial town, and so on.
With this modification, the threshold between the highest and the second-highest risk class turns from a
static value into a dynamic value, which is more adequate to properly reflect real-world conditions.
Explicit vs. Implicit Ranges
In BRFplus, ranges can be maintained either explicitly by defining a value range expression that can be reused
by other objects, or implicitly by defining the range condition directly inside of a superordinate object where
the range is needed. Implicit ranges are often used, for example, to test the context data passed to a decision
table expression.
The decision whether you use explicit or implicit ranges is based on the need for reusability:
● If certain value comparisons exist that are typical for your use cases and important for the flow control of
your business processes (for example, clustering of ages, income, product groups, countries, and so on),
and if these comparisons are needed at many different places in your application, you use explicit,
reusable value range expressions.
● If the comparisons that you want to model are mostly created in an ad-hoc manner and are rarely
recurring elsewhere in your scenarios, it may be more convenient to use implicit ranges, thus accepting
the loss of reusability.
120
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Constraints
Although theoretically, you can define value range expressions consisting of a virtually infinite number of range
comparisons combined in one expression, there are practical limits to the complexity that the system can
handle. This is true regardless of whether you use explicit or implicit ranges. The following constraints apply:
● Backend
In the backend, the system can handle value range expressions that consist of several thousands of
comparisons. However, the higher the complexity, the higher the system workload when it comes to code
generation. Under extreme circumstances, it could even happen that the generated class methods would
exceed the maximum code size limit that can be handled by the ABAP code engine. Therefore, we
recommend to limit the maximum value range complexity to approximately 1000 comparisons per value
range expression.
● Frontend
Rendering complex value range definitions using ABAP Web Dynpro technology imposes high workload on
the system, especially in terms of high memory consumption. System overload can already occur at a
degree of complexity that is significantly lower compared to the processing capacity of the backend.
Therefore, displaying value range definitions in the UI is limited to a maximum of 99 comparisons per value
range expression.
Note
If you need to define value range expressions with 100 value comparisons or more, you can only
accomplish this programmatically. Due to the frontend limitation, there is no way of interactively
defining value ranges with that degree of complexity in the BRFplus workbench.
Example
In the tariff table for a courier company shown below, the rates are calculated based on the region and weight
of the consignment. In the table, each cell in the weight column can be represented as value range
expressions. The cell values become the value range parameters and the column becomes the test parameter.
Each cell in the weight column returns a boolean value depending on the input and the condition described in
the table.
Table 36:
Region
Weight
Tariff
Asia-Pacific
Less than 10 kg
$40
Asia-Pacific
Between 10 kg and 50 kg
$55
Asia-Pacific
Above 50 kg
$70
Europe
Less than 10 kg
$30
Europe
Between 10 kg and 50 kg
$45
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
121
Region
Weight
Tariff
Europe
Above 50 kg
$60
More Information
Creating a Value Range Expression [page 218]
Comparison Operations [page 66]
1.2.12 Expression Type
Definition
User-defined expression types can be used to enhance the functional scope of BRFplus by features that are
not supported by the built-in expression types.
Concept
BRFplus comes with a number of predefined powerful expression types like decision table, search tree, or
formula. While these predefined expression types cover a broad range of business rule usage scenarios, it can
still happen that for a particular use case, the predefined expression types are not sufficient or not easy to use.
To overcome such potential shortcomings, BRFplus offers you the option of creating your own companyspecific expression types completely on your own.
The conceptual approach of user-defined expression types is exactly the same as for the built-in expression
types. This means, the built-in expression types are set up by SAP using exactly the same technical
infrastructure that you can make use of for your own expression types. Therefore, you can expect that your
own expression types behave just like the built-in ones in terms of performance, access control, etc. because
they are treated as a horizontal scope extension of the BRFplus concept rather than as a vertical add-on.
Features
Settings and Objects
With the BRFplus element Expression Type being a completely generic vehicle for any kind of processing
behavior whatsoever, it is necessary for you to provide a set of ABAP OO classes and interfaces that
122
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
implement the desired system behavior. The following settings and objects have to be provided for a userdefined expression type:
Table 37:
Name
Status
Comment
Action Type
mandatory
Indicates whether the expression type
is used to perform an action or to re­
turn a result data object.
Class
mandatory
ABAP OO class used to implement the
business logic of the expression type.
Interface
mandatory
ABAP OO interface used to access the
public methods of the class.
Query Class
optional
ABAP OO class used to search the
BRFplus database for instances of the
expression type and their attribute val­
ues.
UI Class
optional
ABAP OO class used to access the Web
Dynpro application associated with the
expression type.
Data Exchange Class
optional
ABAP OO class used to define a docu­
ment type definition (DTD) and data
conversion routines for XML-based
data import and export related to the
expression type.
Transport Objects
For each user-defined expression type in a transportable application, it is normally necessary to define
individual transport objects that take care of collecting all the required parts when it comes to transporting the
expression from one system to another. The required information is stored in the following transport objects:
● Customizing data (mandatory)
● System data (mandatory)
● Deployable data (optional)
For the built-in standard expression types shipped by SAP, BRFplus uses the transport objects FDT0000
(Customizing), FDT0001 (system), and FDT0002 (deployment). These transport objects are reserved for the
standard expression types. You can only use them for your own expression types under the following
condition: The new expression type must be an exact copy of one of the standard expression types, with no
extensions or changes whatsoever. Such a cloned expression type can be useful if you want to build your own
non-standard UI for an expression type, or if you want to associate the expression type with specialized check
routines that are not part of the standard shipment.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
123
Note
For a user-defined expression type that does not perform any data manipulation whatsoever, it is not
required to assign transport objects. For example, this would be true for an expression type designed to
read some input data and to visualize them in a graphics control.
If you create user-defined expression types in a local application, there is no need to make any transport
object settings. Consequently, the corresponding tab is not offered in the BRFplus workbench in that case.
For more information about transport objects, see the BC - Central Maintenance and Transport Objects
documentation in the SAP NetWeaver Library on SAP Help Portal.
1.2.13 Actions
Use
Actions can be seen as a special flavor of expression types that you can use to define the interactive part of
BRFplus. Under certain conditions, actions can be used as an alternative to expressions. For example, in a
decision table you can define that for a condition row, the system shall perform an action rather than returning
a result value. Here is a list of possible usages for actions:
● Action triggered by a rule
● Action triggered as a result of a matching condition in a decision table, decision tree, search tree, or case
expression
● Action triggered as a followup action of another action
However, actions do not have any output. As a consequence, you can only use them as an element for the final
step in each processing branch. Here, an action can be used to respond to the results of the rule calculation so
far. But there is no way of, and no sense in, performing any rule calculations as a response to an action that
has been previously triggered.
Depending on the action type, it is still possible to use an action as the trigger for system activities of
considerable complexity. This is true, for example, for action types Workflow or Call Procedure. But still, once
an action has been carried out, it is not possible to define any further processing as a specific response to any
kind of changes that may have been made by that action.
Some of the action types correspond to a related expression type. To avoid confusion whether a given object is
an action or an expression, the action type names are all marked by a trailing (Act) in the system. In addition,
the action type names follow the linguistic pattern 'verb - object' (for example, as in Call Procedure (Act), as
opposed to the Procedure Call expression type), where possible.
BRFplus supports the following action types:
● Call Procedure Action [page 125]
● Log Message Action [page 125]
● Send Email Action [page 127]
● Start Workflow Action [page 130]
● Workflow Event Action [page 132]
124
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
More Information
Creating Action Types [page 238]
1.2.13.1 Call Procedure Action
Use
A Call Procedure action allows the execution of function modules as well as of methods of an ABAP OO class in
the backend system. This action type is functionally equivalent to the procedure call expression, with only the
following object type-related differences:
● Like all action types, the Call Procedure action does not return any result data.
● Like all action types, you can define followup actions that are automatically triggered after the Call
Procedure action has been executed.
More Information
Procedure Call Expression [page 111]
1.2.13.2 Log Message Action
Use
With a log message action, you can define system messages that the system writes into the application log
during rule processing under certain circumstances. This can be useful for documenting the flow of processing
in an application, and may even be legally required for auditing purposes, depending on your business case,
region, and legislation.
Whether messages shall be logged at all, and if so, to what extent, depends largely on the respective settings
for the application object to which a log message action belongs. All of these settings on application level are
inherited by the log message actions. It is also on application level where you can define whether the default
settings for log handling may be individually adapted by an action, or whether these settings represent a fixed
guidance that must be followed.
Note
You can use report FDT_DEPLOYMENT_LOG to analyze the application logs of BRFplus.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
125
Features
The following table lists the features related to the logging details:
Table 38:
Setting
Comment
Application Log Object, Application Log Sub Object
Defines the application log objects used for recording the
log entries that are created by objects belonging to the ap­
plication (for example, actions of type Log Message). For
more information, see the Application Log Guidelines for
Developers (BC-SRV-BAL) documentation in the SAP
NetWeaver Library on SAP Help Portal.
External Identification Mode
Defines whether an additional tag shall be added to the log
entries, and if so, how this shall be accomplished. You can
choose from the following options:
●
None
No external identification is written to the log.
●
Free Text Input
Enter any text string that may help you identify the rele­
vant log entries. The maximum length is 100 charac­
ters.
●
By Reference Object
Assign a data object or expression to the action. At run­
time, the value of this reference object is written to the
log when the action is triggered.
Persist
Controls whether the log data shall be permanently stored
in the database or not. If not, log data is only kept in memory
during runtime and is lost after the session.
Messages
Number of Messages
In the Log Messages area, you define which messages shall be written to the log when the action is triggered.
You can assign any number of messages to each log message action.
Free Text versus Message Reuse
You can decide either to enter a free message text or to make use of any of the messages that already exist in
the system. If you use an existing message, you have to enter the message class and number. Also, if the
message contains parameters, the workbench prompts you to provide values for these parameters. Here, you
can choose again between either providing a freely defined text for the parameter, or to assign a data object or
expression that is evaluated at runtime.
Message Type
126
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Regardless of whether you define a free text message or reuse an existing message, you must define the
message type. The following message types are available:
● Abort
● Error
● Exit
● Information
● Status
● Warning
Note
Should any of the message types listed above not be available for an action, this is due to a message type
restriction that has been defined on application level.
More Information
Application [page 29]
1.2.13.3 Send Email Action
Use
You use the Send Email action to notify a person about a particular situation in the system. It is then up to the
person who receives the mail to decide whether specific measures have to be taken to cope with the situation.
The situation itself may be critical or not, depending on what you think is useful for your business. It is always a
good idea to notify a responsible person when a critical situation occurs. However, there may also be
situations or activities that do not indicate a problem but simply occur infrequently and on an irregular basis.
Here, an automatic notification sent to you by the system helps you to get rid of routine checks and lets you
spend your time on more useful tasks.
Prerequisites
The SAPconnect component (BC-SRV-COM) has been set up for internet services. You must create an
appropriate node in the SAPconnect administration and enter an RFC destination of the type TCP/IP
connection with which you establish a connection to a mail server. For more information, see the SAPconnect
(BC-SRV-COM) documentation in the SAP NetWeaver Library on SAP Help Portal.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
127
Features
General
You use the Send Email action to enable the system to send an email with a predefined text using the standard
SMTP protocol. This is useful when your rule processing flow contains points at which critical situations that
need user experience may arise. The same holds for workflow scenarios in which different workflow agents are
assigned and processing can only continue after a specific role owner has taken the necessary action.
Recipients
You can either enter a static email address or use expression to determine the recipient dynamically. You can
also combine both ways of addressing recipients in the same action. This enables you to make sure that a
particular person is always notified (for example, the quality manager), as well as the person who is currently
in charge of reacting to the notification (for example, the responsible employee in the current shift of a threeshift operation company).
You can enter any number of static email addresses into the Direct Email entry field, separated by semicolons.
Note that you may enter a string of addresses that exceeds the visible length of the entry field.
If you choose to let the recipients be determined dynamically, make sure that you choose an expression, a
constant, or a context data object of the text type. The string returned by the chosen object must follow the
same syntactic rules as in the To field. You can define up to four different expressions for recipient
determination in one action.
Note
If you have to send different emails to a distribution list, you can model this use case by assigning a table
data object as a dynamic recipient that has previously been filled with the email addresses. To accomplish
this, make sure that the table structure consists of only one text field to hold one address per entry. You
can, for example, fill the table data object with the help of a decision table expression in multiple match
mode.
Mail Body
In the Body field, you can, again, enter either a predefined static text, a text that is dynamically put together at
runtime with the help of message placeholders, or a combination of both. You may define up to eight
placeholders per Send Email action, each of which may be replaced at runtime by a constant, the result of an
expression, or an elementary context data object.
Formatting the Mail Body
By default, the system creates a plain-text email that looks like an exact copy of what you type into the Body
entry field at design time. However, it is also possible to send emails in HTML format so that you can use all
kinds of HTML features in your mail, such as text formatting (font family, font size, bold, italics, and so on),
tables, graphics, and so on. To accomplish this, enter the following document type declaration as the first line
into the Body field:
<!DOCTYPE HTML>
With this declaration, the system interprets the entire remainder of the mail content no longer as plain text,
but as an HTML document. This has the following consequences:
● Implicit line feeds and paragraphs of any mail content that was previously meant for plain text format are
lost. The same applies for text indentations that have been realized with the help of spaces or tabs. To
restore the line feeds, you have to explicitly use the respective HTML tags for that (that is, <BR> or <P>).
128
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
● To use the various HTML features, you have to enter the respective HTML tags directly into the mail body,
just the way you would edit an HTML file for a website.
● BRFplus cannot validate the HTML tags that you enter. It is therefore up to you to ensure the correctness
and validity of the tags you enter.
Note
Editing HTML source code without tool support can be tedious and error-prone. Therefore, if you want to
use HTML support for Send Email actions, we recommend setting up the mail body with the help of an
external stand-alone HTML editor of your choice, so that you can take advantage of syntax checks, code
completion, validation, and so on. Once you are done setting up the mail body, you copy the underlying
HTML source code from the external editor and paste it into BRFplus.
Example
In the ruleset that you use to manage customer requests for an insurance contract, you differentiate between
standard incoming requests and other requests that need special handling for a variety of reasons, such as:
● Unusually high insurance amount
● Requestor is located in a different country
● Inconsistent request form data
All of these reasons would have to be considered as exceptions to the standard request handling and need
intervention. To accomplish this, you create an additional processing path in the ruleset in which a Send Email
action is triggered. In this action, you enter a predefined text describing the issue and enrich this text with
dynamic content such as the contract request ID or the requested insurance amount, both taken from the
ruleset context. You can also use an expression to determine the employee in your company who is currently
in charge of resolving issues of the type in question and assign this employee as the email recipient.
Here is a code example that makes use of the HTML option:
<!DOCTYPE HTML><html> <head><title>[Decision needed:] Insurance amount exceeded</
title> </head> <body> <p>Dear colleague:</p> <p>This is to inform you of a pending
workflow issue that needs your decision:</p> <p>A customer has applied for a
modification of his or her existing life insurance contract. The requested change
includes an increased amount insured from previously <font:color="#000000">20.000 €
to <font-color:"#ff0000"><font color="#ff0000">200.000 €</font>. </fontcolor:"#ff0000"></font:color="#000000"></p> <p>This would exceed our standard
maximum amount of <font color="#3333ff">50.000</font> €. Please check this case and
decide how to proceed.</p> <p>Best regards</p> <p>Contract management workflow</p>
</body> </html>
The mail receiver would receive this mail as follows (with the new amount rendered in red, and the standard
maximum amount in blue):
Dear colleague:
This is to inform you of a pending workflow issue that needs your decision:
A customer has applied for a modification of his or her existing life insurance contract. The requested change
includes an increased amount insured from previously 20.000 € to 200.000 €.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
129
This would exceed our standard maximum amount of 50.000 €. Please check this case and decide how to
proceed.
Best regards
Contract management workflow
1.2.13.4 Start Workflow Action
Use
With a Start Workflow action, you can integrate workflow processing into BRFplus. You can access each of the
workflows that have been defined in the backend system, assign it to a Start Workflow action and let the
system perform the predefined steps once the action is triggered by a BRFplus expression.
For a discussion of the differences between the Start Workflow action and the workflow event action, see
Workflow Event Action [page 132].
Prerequisites
Your backend system contains software component SAP_BASIS with a release lower than 800. In SAP_BASIS
800 or higher, the underlying workflow functionality of this action type is not supported.
You have created a workflow definition with the Workflow Builder (transaction SWDD) in the backend system.
Features
After having entered the desired workflow ID, click Update Workflow Container. The system analyzes all the
data dictionary elements that are used in the workflow definition. For each of these data dictionary elements,
the system automatically creates a BRFplus data object in the current application and defines a binding
relationship to the corresponding element.
You can provide input data to all of the workflow container elements. Depending on the element, you can either
directly enter a value or insert a reference to a context data element or an expression that is evaluated
dynamically at runtime.
In case of complex container elements (structure or table), you can provide the data for such elements by
assigning a decision table expression as input source for such elements. Each of the structure or table fields
would have to be covered by a corresponding result data object of the decision table. With the help of
additional context data objects for the decision table, you can control which of the predefined results shall be
used for populating the workflow container.
You can define that the workflow shall not start immediately after the Start Workflow action has been
triggered. Rather, you can define an execution delay of up to 9999 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes, and 59
seconds.
130
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Note
When you check or activate a Start Workflow action, the system does not only check whether the BRFplusspecific settings are correct. Moreover, it also detects any inconsistent or incomplete settings that must be
corrected in the definition of the underlying workflow definition, for example, a missing assignment of
workflow agents.
Example
You are running an application designed for managing insurance contracts for household belongings. While
the major factor for calculating the insurance rate is the value of the household belongings, your application
contains a value-dependent discriminator that ensures that contract values exceeding a certain threshold
cannot be entered in the system directly. Rather, with an initial case expression, the system separates the
allowed values from the exceeding ones. While the allowed values are immediately passed over to a decision
table used for the value/rate assignment, the contract values exceeding the threshold are sorted into a
processing branch where a Start Workflow action is triggered. This workflow is defined such that additional
approval steps have to be performed first before the contract can be further processed. With this scenario,
you can make sure that the appropriate risk mitigation steps are taken to protect your company from having
to pay amounts insured that are not covered by your company's overall risk calculation.
Integrating BRFplus into an existing workflow
Both workflow-related action types offered by BRFplus take a BRFplus rule application as the starting point
from which you may decide to make use of the SAP Business Workflow functionality. However, it is also
possible to turn this scenario and start from the other side. That is,you already have a workflow implemented
and want to enhance it by calling a particular BRFplus function. If you are interested in this usage scenario,
please refer to the "Integration between SAP Business Workflow and BRFplus" whitepaper on the BRFplus
pages of the SAP Community Network (see Related Links section below).
More Information
Workflow Event Action [page 132]
Data Binding [page 61]
Decision Table Expression [page 84]
See also the SAP Business Workflow: Reference Documentation in the SAP NetWeaver Library on SAP Help
Portal.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
131
Related Information
Integration between SAP Business Workflow and BRFplus
1.2.13.5 Workflow Event Action
Use
With a workflow event action, you can integrate workflow processing into BRFplus. In contrast to a Start
Workflow action, you do not have to specify a particular workflow to be triggered. Rather, you specify an event
that has been defined for an object in the backend system. Whenever the event is raised, all the workflows that
have been registered for that event are triggered.
Prerequisites
Your backend system contains software component SAP_BASIS with a release lower than 800. In SAP_BASIS
800 or higher, the underlying workflow functionality of this action type is not supported.
Features
General
BRFplus supports the following types of objects that you can use for referring to an event:
● ABAP Objects Class ( CL)
● Business Class ( BC)
● Business Object (BOR object; BO)
After having entered the required event details, click Update Event Container. The system analyzes all the data
dictionary elements that are used as event parameters. For each of these data dictionary elements, the
system automatically creates a BRFplus data object in the current application and defines a binding
relationship to the corresponding dictionary element.
Once the event container has been populated with the parameter fields, you can define the values to be passed
to the event. Depending on the parameter type, you can accomplish this by either directly entering a value or
by assigning an expression that is evaluated at runtime.
ABAP Objects Class
For events defined in classes of type ABAP Objects as well as of type Business Class, it is required that the
class implements the IF_WORKFLOW interface. If you use the value help ( F4 ) to search for classes, the system
automatically restricts the search results to classes that meet this requirement.
All parameters of an event you want to use must have a direct, explicit type definition. That is, the type
definition must refer to a type that exists in the data dictionary. If at least one event parameter has an indirect
132
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
type assignment (for example, realized by the TYPE REF or LIKE statement), the event cannot be used for the
workflow event action.
Object Instance ID
At runtime, events are raised by an instance of the given class or business object. For a class, you can identify
this instance by its local persistent object reference (LPOR). A business object (BO) instance can be identified
via the business object key. For a BRFplus workflow event action, the LPOR or BO key must be passed to the
Object Instance ID field at runtime. You can accomplish this by either passing the respective value to the action
via a context data object or by evaluating an expression. It is up to the calling application to pass the relevant
instance ID to the called function's context.
Comparison of Workflow Event Action and Start Workflow Action
The main differences between the workflow event action type and the Start Workflow action type are the
following:
● A Start Workflow action has always exactly one workflow assigned, and the assignment is part of the
action's definition. In contrast to this, a workflow event action can have any number of registered
workflows (including zero) that listen for the event that has been defined in the action.
● As a consequence of the statement above, triggering a workflow event action does not guarantee that any
workflow is started at all in response to the action. If there is no workflow event handler listening to the
action's event, nothing will happen.
● Unlike the Start Workflow action, the workflow event action provides no way to see which workflow exactly
will be triggered by the action. This is determined by the fact that a particular workflow instance has been
registered for the event in question. The workflow event handler permanently listens to the events that are
raised in the system. As soon as a registered event is raised, the workflow starts.
Business Class, Business Object
These constructs refer to older class concepts found in SAP systems. BRFplus supports these legacy class
types for compatibility reasons. We do not recommend to create new classes of this kind.
Integrating BRFplus into an existing workflow
Both workflow-related action types offered by BRFplus take a BRFplus rule application as the starting point
from which you may decide to make use of the SAP Business Workflow functionality. However, it is also
possible to turn this scenario and start from the other side. That is,you already have a workflow implemented
and want to enhance it by calling a particular BRFplus function. If you are interested in this usage scenario,
please refer to the "Integration between SAP Business Workflow and BRFplus" whitepaper on the BRFplus
pages of the SAP Community Network (see Related Information section below).
More Information
Start Workflow action [page 130]
Data Binding [page 61]
See also the SAP Business Workflow: Reference Documentation in the SAP NetWeaver Library on SAP Help
Portal.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
133
Related Information
Integration between SAP Business Workflow and BRFplus
1.2.14 Dynamic Database View (DDBV)
A Dynamic Database View (DDBV) is an object that serves as a link between certain BRFplus expressions and
a data source in SAP HANA.
Definition
With a DDBV, you can access data with BRFplus that is stored in SAP's in-memory database SAP HANA, thus
enabling your rule applications to process huge amounts of data in extremely short time. The DDBV serves as
a connection between a particular database object and a BRFplus expression. The following BRFplus
expression types can be combined with a DDBV:
● Database Lookup
● Decision Table
The main difference between using one of these expression types is the following: With a DB Lookup
expression, you can access and analyze the data stored in the database object associated with the DDBV that
you have assigned to a DB Lookup expression. Using a decision table, however, enables you to specify
calculated results based on table data and additional data that a user may enter at runtime.
The following two diagrams give you an impression of how the different involved object types relate to each
other:
134
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Prerequisites
You have SAP NetWeaver Decision Service Management (DSM) installed in your backend system. You have
access to an SAP HANA database.
Features
Supported database object types
A DDBV can be associated with the following SAP HANA database object types:
● Table
● Table type
● Analytical view
● Attribute view
● Calculation view
Once you have decided which type to use, all you have to do is to provide the object name and the database
schema to which that object belongs. You can obtain this information in the development environment for SAP
HANA databases, SAP HANA Studio.
Database fields
After having associated a database object to the DDBV, you can choose from the list of database fields that are
available in the selected object those fields that you want to use in the DDBV. You can accomplish this on the
Database Fields tab by choosing Database Field.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
135
Note
You have to make sure that there is at least one database field selected, because otherwise, it would be
unclear what kind of data the DDBV should provide. A DDBV with an empty field list cannot be activated.
Input Parameters
You can define additional criteria that go beyond the fields provided by the associated database object. For
that, you may enter any number of input parameters. For each input parameter, the system automatically
inserts an additional column in the decision table used for calculated columns (see section below). At runtime,
the system then prompts the user to enter a value for each input parameter. The input values are then
compared against the values that have been defined in the respective columns of the decision table, thus
influencing the evaluation result during rule processing.
Calculated Columns
On this tab, you associate the DDBV with a decision table. Depending on the decision table definition, you
choose one or more of the decision table's result columns to be included in the DDBV. At runtime, the decision
table calculates the result for the data read from the SAP HANA database object and the input parameters
that have been passed to the DDBV.
Example
As a travel agency, you want to set up a discount strategy for certain flight offerings, depending on the carrier
as well as on certain flight connections. In your SAP HANA database, you have already created a database
table SFLIGHT.
1. From the fields that are available in SFLIGHT, pick PRICE and CARRID and add them to the Database
Fields of the DDBV.
2. On the Input Parameters tab, add the following data objects to the DDBV: CONNID, DATE, and NUMBER.
3. On the Calculated Columns tab, assign a decision table to the DDBV that uses the CARRID and CONNID
fields as condition columns and a data object of type Number as the result data column. The result data
object is used to define the discount charges for the different combinations of airlines and flight numbers
that you define in the decision table.
1.2.15 Function
Use
A function is the rule interface in BRFplus and acts as a link between the application code and the BRFplus
code. For your convenience, you can let the system generate an ABAP code snippet that you can use for easy
integration of a BRFplus function into your application.
A function carries a context and a result. It imports the context from the calling application and passes the
context data to the assigned top expression or ruleset for further processing. After processing, the function
returns the calculated result to the calling application.
136
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Features
Mode of Operation
A function can be designed for one of the following modes of operation:
● Functional Mode
In functional mode, function execution starts with the assigned top expression. From this top expression,
the processing may run through any number of nested subexpressions until a result is returned.
● Event Mode
In event mode, the function is associated with a list of rulesets that are executed according to their
execution priority and their position in the list.
● Functional and Event Mode
This mode is a combination of the modes mentioned above. At runtime, the function starts processing the
assigned top expression. Once the expression evaluation is finished, function execution continuous with
the associated rulesets.
● Analytical Mode
In analytical mode, rules are based on persisted data in CDS Views. Analytical functions use a database
context for the query and a table object for the results.
Analytical mode is supported in BRFplus from SAP NetWeaver 7.51 SP00 and S/4HANA Cloud 1608.
For more information, see Modes of Operation [page 141].
Signature
The function signature consists of two parts:
● Context
The context is a container for data objects that you can assign as import parameters for the function. You
choose the context data objects of a function according to the requirements of the calling application by
which the BRFplus function is invoked. Also, the context data objects of a function define the scope of
objects that can be accessed by the expressions that are evaluated during function execution.
● Result
The result data object returns a result value that has been calculated by the expressions of which the
function consists.
Note
For functions in event mode, the result data object is automatically set to the predefined Actions table
where the actions are recorded that have been triggered by the assigned rulesets.
Rulesets
For a function where you have set the mode of operation to either Event Mode or Functional and Event Mode on
the Properties tab, the system expects that you assign one or more rulesets that are processed when the
function is processed. You can create a new ruleset to be assigned to a function directly from the editing work
area of a function. For an already existing ruleset, however, you first have to navigate to that ruleset and define
the desired function as the ruleset's trigger. Once this assignment has been made, the ruleset is listed on the
Assigned Rulesets tab of the function.
Note
When you execute a function that triggers more than one ruleset, the system starts by executing the first
ruleset and waits for its termination before it starts the execution of the next ruleset, and so on. This is a
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
137
prerequisite for the system to be able to pass parameters that may have been modified by a ruleset from
one ruleset to another. There is no parallel processing of the assigned rulesets. Also, there is no way for an
assigned ruleset to prevent the execution of a subsequent ruleset once the function has been started.
Assigned Rulesets versus Executable Rulesets
In the BRFplus workbench, you can choose between two different view modes with respect to rulesets:
● Assigned Rulesets
In this mode, the system displays all rulesets that have been assigned to the current function, regardless
of their activation status. This means that there may be one or more rulesets listed that are currently not
ready for execution and will be skipped without further notice when the function is triggered. Also,
choosing this view mode enables the Create Ruleset button that you can use to create a new ruleset and
assign it to the current function in one single step.
● Executable Rulesets
In this mode, the system displays only those rulesets that have been assigned to the current function and
are either currently active or for which an older active version is available that can be used for ruleset
execution.
Note
The system lists all assigned rulesets that are executable from a technical point of view. Therefore, a
ruleset that is currently disabled is still listed as long as there is an active version available. As opposed
to the activation status, enabling or disabling a ruleset is a business-driven decision, not a technical
question. At runtime, the function triggers all executable rulesets. However, a disabled ruleset
terminates immediately without taking any actions, and returns control to the trigger function.
Ruleset Execution Priority
In case there is more than one ruleset assigned to a function, the rulesets are triggered according to the order
in which they appear in the function's list of assigned rulesets. You can influence the execution order for the
rulesets by defining a priority for each involved ruleset. The priority is a numeric value between 0 and 99 that
you can define for a ruleset. The default priority for a newly created ruleset is 0, meaning that there is no
priority defined for that ruleset. The list of assigned rulesets is sorted by that priority in ascending order so
that the ruleset with the lowest priority value is executed first, followed by the ruleset with the second-lowest
priority, and so on.
You set the ruleset execution priority in the ruleset maintenance screen of the BRFplus workbench. To
accomplish this, enter the desired value as Priority in the Detail section.
Note
In contrast to the general rule outlined above (lower priority number means higher priority), the system
treats the default value 0 differently. A priority of 0 means that there is no priority at all for such a ruleset. In
other words, a ruleset with priority 0 is triggered only after all other rulesets of the same function that have
a priority > 0 assigned have been executed. The system gives you a visual hint for that by displaying
"undefined" in the priority column for a ruleset with priority level 0, whereas for all other priority levels, the
numeric value is displayed.
Dependencies, Cardinality, and Visibility
138
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
The relationship between a function and its assigned rulesets is not absolutely obvious at first glance. For a
better understanding of the underlying concept, keep the following in mind:
● Function and ruleset are modeled in a 1:n relationship. That is, one function can have any number of
rulesets assigned, whereas a ruleset can only be triggered by exactly one function.
● The relationship between function and ruleset is established from the ruleset's perspective, not vice versa.
As a consequence, the system keeps track of which function is assigned to a particular ruleset, but not the
other way round. This means that a function does not know the rulesets for which it is assigned as a
trigger. This is true although the assigned rulesets of a function are listed in the BRFplus workbench for a
function.
● The one-way perspective from ruleset to function is also reflected in the following aspects of the system
behavior:
○ If a function has been assigned to one or more rulesets as a trigger, these rulesets are shown in the
where-used list of the function, but not in the Uses section of the repository tree in the BRFplus
workbench.
○ When you activate a function and request that also the subordinate objects of the function are
activated if necessary, this recursive activation does not touch any rulesets for which the function
may have been assigned as a trigger.
The same applies for all other activities related to a function that can be carried out recursively, like
copying or checking a function. Here, too, any rulesets to which the function may be assigned are not
taken into account.
Code Generation
BRFplus provides a built-in code generation facility used to compile source code for as many rule constructs in
a function as possible. With the help of generated code, BRFplus rules can be executed significantly faster than
in interpretation mode.
Simulation
You can simulate the function processing to test the function's behavior in a sandbox environment. Here, you
can gain an in-depth insight into the system status for every single step the system takes during function
processing.
Trace
In BRFplus, you can request the system to create a processing log to keep track of all processing steps during
function execution. The trace information is stored in the system and can be reviewed at any point in time.
Generation Services
For a BRFplus function, you can take advantage of different services that automatically generate code and
other objects that are needed to bridge the gap between the ABAP backend system where a BRFplus function
is hosted and other systems or environments that wish to access BRFplus. The different services available
address different usage scenarios. These can be categorized as follows:
● Code Templates
A code template is a predefined snippet of ABAP code that you can use to call a BRFplus function from
your application in the same system.
● Function Module
You can use a generated RFC-enabled function module to call a BRFplus function that resides in a remote
backend system. This is useful in cases where you cannot bring BRFplus and the calling application into
the same system - be it for technical reasons (for example, different releases) or for organizational
reasons (for example, missing authorization to develop in the remote system).
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
139
● Web Service
You can use a generated web service to call a BRFplus function from a web application that is not ABAPbased, or that you can only integrate via its exposed services interface. From a technical point of view, web
service generation is reusing the function module generation component of BRFplus and generates
additional system objects needed for service enablement.
Code Templates
BRFplus comes with predefined code templates that you can use to let the system generate an ABAP code
snippet. After having made some minor adaptations to this snippet, you can copy and paste it into the code
section of your application from where you want to invoke BRFplus rule execution. You can choose whether
the function is called with or without trace information, and you can decide whether the explanatory in-line
comments are visible in the code or not.
Web Service and Function Module Support
For function invocation, BRFplus supports the generation of web services as well as of RFC-enabled function
modules. This enables you to integrate the rule execution power of a BRFplus function into a service-oriented
software environment, or into a remote ABAP system calling BRFplus via RFC (Remote Function Call).
Advanced Checks
In addition to the standard consistency checks that are available for each BRFplus object via the Check button,
the system offers additional checks for functions:
● Assigned Rulesets
With this check, the system analyses the correctness and consistency of all the rulesets that are assigned
to a function. This check is only available for functions running in Event Mode or Functional and Event
Mode.
● Unversioned Objects
With this check, the system drills down through the hierarchy of all objects assigned to a function and
determines whether there are any objects for which versioning has not been switched on.
● Inactive Objects
With this check, the system drills down through the hierarchy of all objects assigned to an activated
function and determines whether there are any objects that are currently inactive. For each inactive
object, the system sends a corresponding message to help you analyze the object. However, due to
technical restrictions of the system architecture, it may sometimes be impossible to present the complete
path to the inactive object in the message. In such a case, you have to look up the respective object
manually.
Note
According to the cascading activation strategy of BRFplus objects, a situation where an active object is
using an inactive object can normally not occur. However, the following scenarios are valid and can lead
to this kind of situation:
○ An active function run in functional mode uses an active top expression (or any of its dependent
objects) that is changed and deactivated at a later point in time. Here, the function remains active.
When the function is processed, it uses the last active version of the top expression, not the latest
inactive version. In this scenario, reactivating the function solves the issue.
○ An active function run in event mode has been assigned to an inactive ruleset. Here, the BRFplus
activation strategy cannot directly detect the problem because the relationship between functions
and ruleset is internally modeled such that only a ruleset knows its assigned function, whereas a
140
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
function is not aware of its assigned rulesets. As a consequence, reactivating the function does not
solve the issue. Rather, you have to activate all assigned rulesets.
This check is especially helpful if rule modeling is set up as a shared task with several involved persons
with different responsibilities. In this kind of working scenario, it can easily happen that changes to
dependent objects are made that are not brought to your attention. The Inactive Objects check lets you
keep track of such unexpected changes.
More Information
Modes of Operation [page 141]
Building Functions [page 178]
Generating Web Services and Function Modules [page 257]
Expressions [page 75]
Ruleset [page 157]
Tracing [page 142]
Versioning [page 165]
1.2.15.1 Modes of Operation
Use
BRFplus provides various modes of operation for processing a function. The different modes have the
following characteristics:
● Functional Mode
Functional mode requires a top expression to be assigned to the function. During processing, the function
triggers and evaluates the top expression. The top expression may use a number of nested expressions to
find a result. The result of the top expression is the result generated for the function. For example, a
decision table can be assigned as a top expression to a function. The context data objects are used as
input for those columns of the decision table that are used for formulating the conditions. As a result, the
decision table nests a formula expression. The result of the decision table is returned as the function
result. Typically, the functional mode is used for more simple use cases with a clear output of the function.
● Event Mode
Event mode uses rulesets to trigger processing instead of a top expression. A function can have numerous
rulesets assigned. Each ruleset contains a number of rules. A rule consists of a condition and an action
part. These rules with additional restrictions determined by preconditions, time dependency, enabled/
disabled status are triggered when the function is processed. If a rule condition is satisfied, the action is
processed. An action can simply change the values in the context or initiate additional activities, such as
starting a workflow or writing error messages to a log. All the actions that are performed while the function
is executed are collected in the predefined Actions table that is automatically used as the function's
result data object in event mode.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
141
Rulesets may also contain other expressions such as decision table or formula expressions. Typically,
event mode is used for more complex use cases and for use cases where a result is not needed.
● Functional and Event Mode
Functional and Event mode is a combination of functional mode and event mode. As with functional mode,
assigning a top expression and a result data object is mandatory. In addition, rulesets can be processed so
that actions can be performed, thereby possibly changing the context. At runtime, the function starts
processing the assigned top expression. Once the expression evaluation is finished, function execution
continuous with the associated rulesets.
● Analytical Mode
Analytical mode can be used to perform a business rules evaluation of a large set of data persisted in a
HANA database. It uses rulesets to trigger processing of decision tables. A function can have numerous
rulesets assigned.
Each ruleset can contain a number of decision tables. The database context contains data objects that
must be bound to a CDS view, and at runtime their underlying persisted data is used for the evaluation of
the decision tables. The function's result data object must be a table as it collects the results of all the
assigned decision tables.
Analytical mode is supported from SAP NetWeaver 7.51 SP00 or S/4HANA Cloud 1608.
More Information
Function [page 136]
Rule Set [page 157]
1.2.15.2 Tracing
Use
In BRFplus, you can request the system to create a processing log to keep track of all processing steps during
function execution. The trace information is stored in the system and can be reviewed at any point in time. The
trace functionality follows an approach of only writing a minimum of data to the system. This is accomplished
by logging object references and data changes rather than explicitly writing down all available information
about a given object at a certain point in time. This strategy keeps the database small and reduces
performance decreases. You can control the trace functionality with the help of the IV_TRACE_MODE
parameter of method IF_FDT_FUNCTION~PROCESS.
The trace tool is also used by the simulation tool that is available for functions, expressions, and actions. Here,
the trace contains all the processing steps that the system performs for the given parameters in a simulation
run.
142
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Prerequisites
One of the following prerequisites must be fulfilled:
● All objects to be traced are versioned.
● If not all objects to be traced are versioned: The timestamp of all objects in a trace is equal or older than
the timestamp of the trace itself.
For more information, see the Trace and Versioning section below.
Features
Lean Trace versus Technical Trace
You can decide to which degree of detail information shall be logged by the system. The following alternatives
are available:
● No trace
If the calling application does not request any sort of trace for a function, the system simply executes the
function, and returns the calculated result. None of the processing steps are logged. This leads, of course,
to the best performance results.
● Lean trace
In lean trace mode, the system records only those steps of the process flow that directly lead to the end of
the process. For example, if the program contains a CASE statement where an input value can be tested
against five different values and only the last attempt leads to a matching result, then lean trace does not
mention the four unsuccessful attempts but only the fifth one.
● Technical trace
As opposed to lean trace, the technical trace records each single step of the process flow, regardless of
whether a step contributes to the successful completion of the processing or not. If, for example, a routine
walks through 20 different steps until it finally turns out that this was the wrong path, the technical trace
would make this visible, while lean trace would hide these steps from the user.
Trace and Versioning
The strategy of writing only a minimum of trace data requires that all BRFplus objects that are involved in the
traced function must be versioned. Otherwise, the system could not identify the involved objects properly.
This would lead to errors when the trace data is displayed. The versioning requirement is relaxed only under
one special condition: If all objects involved in a trace have not been changed since the trace was recorded,
then the system is still able to evaluate and display the trace. Otherwise, the system displays an error message
when you try to access the trace.
When a function is called with the request for logging trace data, but with objects involved that are not
versioned, the system behavior depends on the setting of the IV_TRACE_MODE parameter of method
IF_FDT_FUNCTION~PROCESS:
● L (for L ean Trace)
The system executes the function in interpretation mode. Code generation is not possible in this situation.
● R (for Lean Trace R equired)
The system does not execute the function and raises an exception. This is due to the conflict of a function
that cannot be traced and, at the same time, is required to be traced. This conflict cannot be resolved, so
execution stops here.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
143
In addition to the parameter values mentioned above, the IV_TRACE_MODE parameter can also hold the
following values:
● T (for T echnical Trace)
With this parameter value, the system writes a verbose and complete log while the function is being
executed. The technical trace contains information about every processing step of the function, including
all the steps that do not directly lead to the successful completion of the processing. This trace mode is
mainly intended for code analysis and debugging. It is not recommended for productive use due to
performance reasons.
● "" (empty)
If no value is passed to the parameter, this indicates that no trace information shall be written while the
function is executed.
Constraints
In certain use cases, information to be recorded in the trace is passed to the trace dynamically via parameters.
For technical reasons, this can lead to trace lines where the information provided exceeds the maximum line
length and therefore must be truncated. However, if you look at the trace in the context of the function
simulation tool, the complete information is available by hovering the mouse over the truncated line. Here, the
untruncated information is given in the tooltip.
More Information
Versioning [page 165]
Simulation [page 144]
1.2.15.3 Simulation
Use
Simulating the processing of a function, expression, or action is useful to test the object's behavior in a
sandbox environment. Here, you can gain an in-depth insight into the system status for every single step the
system takes during function processing.
Note
Although simulation is a tool that lets you easily test the object behavior, the object to be run in simulation
mode must have been saved before. Changes to an object that you have only made on the fly without saving
are not reflected in simulation mode.
144
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Prerequisites
The function and all of its referenced objects (both direct and indirect) are active, or there is at least an older
active version available in the system (prerequisite valid only for simulation in generation mode).
Features
Simulation Mode
The simulation tool offers the following modes of operation:
● Interpretation Mode
In this mode, the system uses the objects involved in the simulation by drilling down through their designtime definition. For a quick one-time simulation run, this can be faster than using generation mode. Direct
simulation of expressions or actions (that is, without being assigned to a function) is supported only in
interpretation mode.
● Generation Mode
In this mode, if there is no source code available for the function, the system first generates source code
for the objects involved in the simulation when you click Execute. This leads to a short execution delay
because of the time needed for the generation of classes and methods. However, using generation mode
has the following advantages over interpretation mode:
○ Executing generated code is much faster than interpreting the structure of the objects involved every
time the simulation is run. Especially if you want to simulate a function that is the entry point to a very
complex structure of rulesets and expressions, or if you need to simulate a function in many iterations
with different test data, it is usually recommendable to use generation mode rather than interpretation
mode.
Moreover, code generation is only necessary if any of the involved objects has been changed since the
last time code was generated. If no changes have been made, the system immediately loads and
executes the source code that is already available, thereby further accelerating execution.
○ In generation mode, simulating a function is done in exactly the same way as the system executes the
function in a live system at runtime. Therefore, generation mode gives you an exact preview of the
function's live behavior in terms of performance or potential problems.
Note
Generation mode can only be used with functions, not with expressions or actions. Also, only functions
that are currently active or for which an active version exists can be simulated in generation mode.
● Remote
In this mode, the function is executed by calling the generated code that has been deployed to a managed
system with the help of the . Also, the value help for the context parameters of the function accesses the
bound data elements that reside in the managed system.
Note
Remote simulation is possible only if the application to which the function belongs has been assigned to
a managed system. Also, remote simulation is supported for function simulation only, not for
expressions or actions.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
145
Managed System
In this section, you can define in which of the available managed systems the function shall be simulated. The
system that is currently assigned to the current application is marked as default system. However, you can as
well run the simulation in any of the other managed systems that are offered in the dropdown list. The list
offers all managed systems that have been set up in the current system.
Note
This section is available only if the current application is assigned to a managed system. The settings that
you make here take effect only in combination with simulation mode Remote.
Action Settings
When you perform a simulation, it is normal that you want to investigate the system behavior without causing
any effects that could interfere with productive business processes. Running a simulation as an isolated
process is relatively secure as long as there are only expressions and rules to be simulated. As opposed to
that, things can be different if during the simulation, actions are triggered. Actions can trigger system activities
that go beyond the boundaries of BRFplus and may have a significant impact on current business processes.
For example, under normal circumstances you would not want a simulation to send real emails to real persons,
or to start a system workflow.
Because triggering actions can have these unwanted side effects, actions are by default only partially
executed during a simulation run, thereby bypassing all business-critical steps. However, if you need to know
whether a triggered action is working properly, you can force the system to trigger actions during simulation
by setting the Execute Actions flag.
Note
To avoid any misconceptions, here is a more detailed explanation of what the Execute Actions flag does
internally and what not:
● From a technical perspective, actions that are part of the execution path of any function, expression, or
superordinate action to be simulated are always executed. This is true regardless of the setting of the
Execute Actions flag. As a consequence, actions are always shown in the detailed simulation log. Also, if
you are debugging a simulation session, you will realize that the system actually processes the code
related to an action.
● However, with the Execute Actions flag set tofalse, the system processes the code related to an action
but, unlike normal processing, does not commit the pending changes or activities defined for the action
before exiting the action-related source code. With this execution strategy, you can check the system
behavior during simulation to the largest possible extent, but still without having to care for any
unwanted side effects as outlined above.
Object Types
The simulation functionality is basically a feature offered for BRFplus functions. However, you can also directly
simulate a particular expression or action without having to assign it to a function first. This makes it easier for
you to quickly check the runtime behavior of your expressions.
Note
From the system's perspective, simulation is always done for a function. This is true even if you choose to
directly simulate an expression or an action. In that case, the system automatically creates a temporary
146
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
function in the background, assigns the expression or action to it, and then simulates the temporary
function.
Version
If the object that you want to run in simulation mode is under version control, the system lets you decide which
of the available versions should be simulated. You can choose from the following options:
● Last Active Version
With this option, the system checks the version list of the object for the most current version that has been
activated, starting with the current version and then moving back to the past. If the object has never been
activated (or if there once was an active version that has been deleted in the course of time), starting the
simulation with this option will raise an error message. This option is the version default for simulation
runs.
● Latest Version (Inactive)
With this option, the system uses the most recent version of the object for the simulation, even if it is
currently inactive. This allows you to check the effects of a change even in a productive system without
endangering the correctness of rule processing for real business transactions. It is up to you to decide
whether the simulated behavior should be made productive or not: If yes, activate the object; if not, revert
the object to its previous active version (or simply leave the changed object without saving). This option is
only available for objects whose current version is not active.
● As of Date/Time
With this option, you can define a point in time for which you want to simulate how the runtime behavior of
the object in question would have been at that time. The system compares the given date and time with
the time stamps of the object versions that have been stored in the database. The system looks up the
next available active version of the object that has been activated earlier than the given date and time. If
such a version exists, it is used for the simulation. Otherwise, the system raises an error message. This
option is only available for objects for which versioning is set on.
Context Data
For simulating a function or expression, the system offers two different ways of passing values to the context
data objects of the object to simulate:
Manual Data Entry
In this mode, the system offers you an entry field for each context data object (broken down to each data
object's elementary constituents). Once you have entered the desired values, you can execute the simulation
and check the result.
Test Data Import
In this mode, you can import test data for the simulation that have already been collected in an external
spreadsheet file. This is helpful for the following reasons:
● If you have a complex scenario with a wide variety of different input data, using a spreadsheet can help you
to automatically generate the necessary test data. This takes away the burden from you of having to enter
endless lines and columns of data, which can be both tedious as well as error-prone.
● Executing the simulation in batch mode for all records in the import data file produces a result file where
you can find the calculated result for each combination of input data. This result file can serve not only as a
simulation log but also as a means of process documentation that helps you to prove which context data
records have already been tested in the simulation.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
147
If you want to use the test data import for the first time for a particular function or expression, we recommend
that you start using the Create Import Field Structure function first. With that, the system creates a
spreadsheet file that reflects the structure of the context data exactly as it is expected by the import function.
You can then populate this export file with test data and finally import the data for simulation.
Once you have your test data ready for import into the simulation, there are two approaches for processing
the data:
● Single data processing: With this approach, you select always one of the imported test data records per
simulation run. You can then choose between the simple Execute option (only the result is displayed after
simulation execution) or the detailed Execute and Display Processing Steps option (a detailed log of all the
calculation steps is displayed). Note that both options are only available if there is no more than one
record selected for the simulation.
● Batch processing: With this approach, you can select any number of the imported test data records and
let the system do a simulation for each of them. To accomplish this, proceed as follows:
1. In the simulation tool, make the desired adjustments with respect to the selection and click Continue.
2. In the Simulation Data section, choose Import Test Data, select the spreadsheet file that contains the
data, and choose Import.
3. Once you have successfully imported the data, select the records you want to be included in the
simulation and choose Export Result to Excel.
When the simulation is done, the system creates a spreadsheet file that contains one row for each of the
selected test data records in which you can find the context data and the calculated result for that context.
More Information
1.2.15.4 Debugging
Use
You use the debugger to analyze the detailed behavior of a function and all the expressions and rules that are
called during function execution. This is helpful, for example, when you need to investigate the function
behavior because the function yields unexpected results, or when you want to see how a function behaves
depending on changes to the input parameters.
Prerequisites
This feature is available only in systems where SAP NetWeaver Decision Service Management (DSM) is
installed.
148
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Features
General
The BRFplus rule debugger offers several features that you may know from source code debuggers in
integrated development environments (IDE). These features comprise different execution modes, the
definition of breakpoints and watchpoints, a file export option for the execution trace, and access to the values
of the data objects during execution. The debugger UI looks very much like the UI used in the simulation tool
and offers the same features for expanding or collapsing certain rule branches, as well as a search function.
Search
In the debugger, the search function is restricted to searching for names of objects that are present in the
execution trace. It does not operate on the message texts that make up the content of the individual trace
lines. The search is not case-sensitive, and you can use wildcards.
Example
Suppose that a debugging trace contains the following lines:
If test parameter do_temperature (DO_TEMPERATURE); value 10
Include condition 1: is between 8 and 18
Operand B evaluated to true
In this trace snippet, the DO_TEMPERATURE in the first line refers to a data object that is evaluated while
executing a boolean expression. You can find this data object name, for example, by starting a search for
“do_temp*”.
As opposed to this, searching for the word “test” that is present in the same line would yield no match. This
is because the string “test” is only part of a trace message but does not refer to any BRFplus object involved
in the execution.
Input Data Variants
Debugging rules as well as source code is an iterative task, and a repetitive one as well. It is normal to run
through the same debugging sequence times and times again to see if the modifications you have applied to
the rule objects in the meantime show the desired effect or not (where the latter case calls for the next
iteration). Since debugging only makes sense when you supply realistic input data, this is a point that needs
attention. Supplying input data is just a routine task, but it can be tedious in case of complex input data
structures, and for systematic test runs, it is even crucial to supply well-defined input data to your functions
that remains stable over time.
The BRFplus debugger helps you to accomplish this important task in a convenient way with user-defined
input data variants. To use data variants, proceed as follows:
1. Start the debugger for a function you want to investigate.
2. On the debugger initial screen, there are input fields for all context data objects of the function. Enter the
values as desired.
3. Choose
Variant
Save As .
4. Enter a name and a description for the set of input values you have just defined, and choose OK.
The set of values is now saved as an input data variant for the current function.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
149
Once you have defined one or more input data variants, you can pass them to the function for debugging by
choosing
Variant
Select
Validity of Input Data Variants
When you select from, or maintain, the list of already defined input data variants, you may notice that the
variants are flagged as either valid or not. The system keeps track of the formal consistency of the data stored
in a variant and the current signature of the function you have chosen for debugging. If the system detects any
inconsistencies (for example, number of input parameters does not match, input value cannot be converted to
the parameter type that is currently in effect, etc.), the variant is flagged as invalid and cannot be used for
debugging.
Debugging Modes
For debugging a BRFplus function, different modes are offered. They differ in the granularity of the execution
steps, but not in the details of the trace that is displayed. That is, even if you decide to rush through an entire
function with only one mouse click, the results are still as detailed as they are in single step mode. You can
choose from the following debugging modes:
● Single Step
In this mode, the debugger steps into each executable object (including nested objects), shows the
internal rule evaluations done in that object, and waits for you to trigger the next execution step.
● Execute
The same as in single step mode, but without stepping into any nested objects. However, if there are any
breakpoints or watchpoints defined in the scope of a nested object, the debugger would still stop at that
point and wait for your commands.
● Run
Runs through all executable objects at once and presents the function result immediately. However, if
there are any breakpoints or watchpoints defined at any step for the objects involved, the debugger would
stop at that point and wait for your commands.
Note
Even in single step mode, the granularity of debugging rules is relatively coarse compared to what you may
expect from a source code debugger in a common development environment. For technical reasons, the
smallest entity that the debugger can execute is one BRFplus object per step. Even if this object happens to
be a formula expression containing a 30 lines formula definition, or a boolean expression that consists of 25
distinct logical operations, the debugger always executes the whole object at once. There is no way of
stepping into the internal structure of an object during debugging.
However, if an object contains other executable objects in its definition (that is, rules or expressions), the
debugger offers the capability to step inside such a nested object and inspect the steps to be executed
within that object.
Breakpoints and Watchpoints
You can use breakpoints and watchpoints to let the debugger interrupt the execution of rules and expressions
in a function. The difference between breakpoints and watchpoints is as follows:
● Breakpoint: With a breakpoint, you mark an expression or rule where the debugger must stop execution.
Whenever the debugger reaches a step that has been marked as a breakpoint, execution is stopped.
● Watchpoint: A watchpoint is the definition of a value check for a context data object. These checks are
defined as a simple comparison operation. If, during a debugging session, the system determines that the
150
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
value of a watched data object changes and, after the change, matches the watchpoint condition,
execution stops at the processing step where the new value assignment has occurred.
Using Breakpoints
To define a breakpoint, proceed as follows:
1. In the debugging screen, choose Breakpoint.
The system displays a dialog box where all expressions, actions, and rules are listed that belong to the
function you want to debug.
2. Decide whether you want the debugger to stop before or after executing an expression (or both).
3. Choose Run to start the debugging session.
Every time the debugger reaches an expression where a breakpoint is defined, the execution is
interrupted.
Note
You can also define breakpoints by clicking the gray rectangles in the Breakpoint column of the debugging
trace. This is useful when you realize during execution that you should have set a breakpoint at an earlier
position. This new breakpoint will then be effective for the next debugging run in the same debugging
session.
Using Watchpoints
To define a watchpoint, proceed as follows:
1. In the debugging screen, choose Watchpoint.
The system displays a dialog box where all context data objects of the function you want to debug are
listed.
2. In the list of data objects, select the one for which you want to define a watchpoint and choose Create
Watchpoint.
The data object is transferred to the Watchpoints list. In the Details section at the bottom of the dialog box,
there are additional controls to define the watchpoint.
3. In the Details section, choose a comparison operation from the Condition list.
4. If you have chosen the “=” or the “<>” operator, define a value against which the data object is compared.
5. Repeat the previous steps for other data objects, or for other value checks of the same data object.
6. Once you are done, choose Save to save the watchpoints.
7. Choose Run to start the debugging session.
Every time the system determines that after a value change, any of the watchpoint conditions are fulfilled,
the execution is interrupted at the expression where the value change has occurred.
More Information
Simulation [page 144]
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
151
1.2.15.5 Working with Test Cases
Use
Once you have modeled a function and proved that it works as desired, you have reached an important
milestone. However, experience shows that under certain conditions, the same function that used to be OK
suddenly starts to behave in an unexpected manner. Often, this kind of unwanted surprise depends on the
data that is passed to a function via its context data objects. When you encounter such situations, the desire
for systematic testing in a controlled environment arises. This is where the test case administration tool of
BRFplus comes in handy.
Prerequisites
This feature is available only in systems where SAP NetWeaver Decision Service Management (DSM) is
installed.
Structure
A test case is always associated with a BRFplus function, and one function can have as many test cases
assigned as you desire. Each test case represents a set of data that consists of the following parts:
● Data fields for all the context data objects of a function, broken down to element level. You use these fields
to set up a well-defined set of input data combinations that you want to pass to the function during testing.
● Data fields for the result data object of a function, broken down to element level. You use these fields to
define the result that, in your opinion, the function should yield, based on the input values that are stored
in the same test case.
● Optional data fields corresponding to the context data objects of a function. These additional fields can be
used to provide expected changes to the input data during function execution.
● Metadata like test case name and documentation, date and time of creation and change, name of the user
who created or changed the test case, and so on.
Features
Expected Values
While the result of a function is always a value (elementary or complex) that depends on the calculations that
have been done during execution, the result of a test case run is always a boolean value indicating whether the
function result is identical with the expected result or not. Because of this, it is not enough to define only the
input values of a test case. Rather, you also need to define a value, which, according to your expertise and
business insight, should be returned by the function for the given input values.
To define the expected value of a function in a test case, you can choose between the following Comparison
strategies:
152
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
● Values: Defines a specific value as test case result. If the result data object of the function is a structure or
a table, you need to define a value for each elementary data object contained in the result data object.
● Value Ranges: The same as for Values, but instead of defining a specific value you can define a value range
for each element of the result data object.
● Exception: You may define that the given test case will trigger an exception, rather than being properly
executed.
● Custom-Defined: If none of the options mentioned above suits your needs, you can set up an ABAP OO
class that implements the IF_FDT_TEST_TOOL_EXITS interface. In the implementation, you can program
any kind of condition that you want to compare the test case result against. For example, you may
compare the result against one of the following constellations:
○ More than one value range.
○ A set of discrete, non-consecutive values.
○ The result shall depend on additional conditions (for example, other values in a result table, or the
status of certain system parameters).
In addition to the expected result, you can also decide to define an expected value for each of the context data
objects of a function. This is mostly useful for functions running in event mode or mixed mode, where the input
values passed to the context data objects may be overwritten during execution by variables defined in a
ruleset. For functions running in functional mode, defining a context comparison can also be useful. This is true
for functions making use of loop expressions or procedure calls, since these expression types can also be used
to modify the context data.
Variants
Once you have defined the input and output data for a test case, you store this data in the test case by saving
it. In addition, you can also save the context data of a test case as a variant, and you can reimport the variant
data into a given test case, thereby overwriting the current data of that test case.
Since the purpose of a test case is to store a set of predefined data that can be used to parameterize the
execution of a function, and a test case variant is doing just the same, the question arises why variants are
needed at all for test cases. The answer is that when you focus on the test case administration tool alone,
variants in fact do bring no additional value. However, this is different as soon as you take into account that
variants are designed as a BRFplus-internal reuse component that is integrated into different tools that are
offered for BRFplus functions: test case administration, simulation, debugger. Once you have defined a variant
for a function, you can use that variant from inside of all these tools, thus making it much easier for you to
conduct systematic, consistent error-solving activities around your functions.
Execution Modes
For executing a test case, the tool offers a variety of different execution modes:
Standard execution
Running a test case in one of the standard execution modes lets the system execute the function with the
context defined in the test case. The function result is logged in a test case run, together with the input data.
● Interpretation Mode
Executes the function in the local system in interpretation mode.
● Generation Mode
Generates source code for the function (if not already available) and executes the generated code in the
local system.
● Remote (Productive Version)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
153
Executes the function in a managed system. By default, the tool offers the system that is assigned to the
application, but you can as well select any other managed system. The system executes the productive
version of the function that has been deployed to the managed system as a service. If the service is not
available in the selected managed system, an error message is displayed.
● Remote (Current Version)
Executes the function in the managed system. By default, the tool offers the system that is assigned to the
application, but you can as well select any other managed system. The system uses the current version of
the function in the design time system, deploys it to a sandbox area in the managed system as a service,
and executes it. The sandbox area is isolated from the productive area so that the productive version of
the service remains untouched.
Execution with processing step recording
For the execution modes listed above (except for interpretation mode), you can also decide that during
execution, not only the input values and the result is recorded in the log, but also the detailed list of processing
steps that the function has run through during execution. This gives you precise insight into the function
behavior at the particular moment when the test case was executed.
Test Case Consistency
You can modify a test case as desired, but only as long as the test case has not been executed. After a test
case has been executed (that is, as soon as one or more runs have been recorded for a test case), it is not
possible to apply any modifications to the test case anymore. This is to ensure that the test case runs remain
formally consistent with the underlying test case.
If you need to modify a test case that has already been executed, you can accomplish this by choosing one of
the following approaches:
● Delete the corresponding test case runs. As soon as there is no test case run remaining, you can modify
the test case.
● Create a copy of the current test case and modify the test case copy as desired.
1.2.16 Partner Module Integration
Explains how SAP partners can extend BRFplus and DSM to support service deployments into a non-ABAP
environment.
Use
BRFplus as well as SAP NetWeaver Decision Service Management (DSM) have originally been designed as
tools based on the SAP NetWeaver ABAP stack. Consequently, code generation for BRFplus functions means
generating ABAP OO classes and methods that are compiled either explicitly by the user or implicitly upon first
execution of a particular BRFplus function.
While generating ABAP code remains the default behavior of BRFplus, it is also possible to overcome this
language limitation by using the application exit mechanism that you can activate for any BRFplus application.
Using application exits for that purpose means significant effort in implementing the relevant interface
methods. We do not expect a BRFplus customer will take this effort, but it might be a valid option to
154
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
commission an SAP partner company to take the necessary steps. Based on that thought, we call this feature
partner module integration, and an application exit used in such a scenario is referred to as partner exit.
Features
Once you have implemented the relevant interface methods and assigned the resulting exit class to a BRFplus
application, partner module integration comprises the following features:
● Code generation: When you explicitly start the code generation for a BRFplus function, you find a selection
menu of additional target languages according to the generation languages that you have implemented.
● Simulation: When you simulate a function, you can choose to run the simulation in a non-ABAP
environment.
● Code template: The code template offered by BRFplus to make it easy for you to complete the generated
code for a function is also available for the additional target languages that you have implemented.
● DSM: Support for non-ABAP based managed systems. From a user perspective, this is accomplished by
setting up a managed system referring to an RFC destination of a type other than 3 (that is, not an ABAP
connection). All other user activities in the Decision Service Manager remain unchanged as you know it
from ABAP systems.
Procedure
To make use of the partner module integration, you need to create an ABAP OO class that implements the
IF_FDT_DSM_PARTNER_EXIT interface. This interface comprises the method signatures needed for the
different features as listed in the Features section above. It also contains a list of complementary Boolean
attributes (one for each method) indicating whether the corresponding method has been implemented or not.
One additional attribute GV_IS_PRODUCTIVE is used to indicate whether the entire module is released for
productive use or still under construction.
Note
If a factory calendar is implemented in the design time system and if you rely on that calendar in the
implementation of the partner exit interface, it is up to you to ensure manually that a factory calendar with
the same Customizing settings is in effect in all the managed systems to which you want to deploy a service.
Otherwise, the deployed services are likely to behave in an unexpected manner in the managed systems
compared to what you may have seen in the design time system. DSM has no built-in routines that can
detect this type of inconsistency automatically.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
155
Additional Information
Enabling partner module integration requires certain steps to be taken both in the BRFplus backend system,
the BRFplus workbench, and in the Decision Service Manager. The following section provides the necessary
information:
After you have implemented the interface mentioned above, open the Decision Service Manager and create a
new managed system. Take care of the following advise: While the Add System dialog box is still open, make
sure that you position the cursor in the RFC Destination field and press Enter. As a result, the dialog box is
expanded by a previously hidden entry field, Partner Exit. In this field, enter the technical name of the ABAP OO
class that you have created as an implementation of the IF_FDT_DSM_PARTNER_EXIT interface.
Recommendations concerning the interface implementation
We recommend using the class constructor method for setting all interface attributes related to the presence
or absence of a particular method implementation.
It is also wise, although not technically required, to implement a private static method named PING. You can
use this method to check if the connection between the systems involved is in healthy condition. We
recommend calling the PING method in each of the other methods prior to calling the managed system for any
steps of the method's main logic. This practice helps you to take the necessary programmatic measures in
case the managed system cannot be reached. Otherwise, chances are that users try to execute a particular
functionality without receiving any response from the system, which usually ends up in a system timeout that
can be difficult to track down to its root cause.
Finally, when you are finished with the interface implementation and you want to start testing your
implementation, you have to make sure that the following requirements are fulfilled:
● Set parameter GV_IS_PRODUCTIVE to true.
● Method GET_MODULE_METADATA has been implemented.
If any of these requirements is not fulfilled, the system does not recognize that a partner module is present in
the system.
Related Information
Function [page 136]
Simulation [page 144]
1.2.17 Rule
Use
In BRFplus, a rule object is used as the technical representation of a simple business rule to be applied to a
particular business case. Rules can be adapted to the increasing complexity of business cases by adding
additional actions or expressions to the rule, and by combining any number of rules to a rule set. Actually, rules
156
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
can only be triggered in the context of a rule set to which a rule is assigned. They cannot be triggered as standalone objects.
Features
A rule consists of an embracing If condition tested by the system once the rule is triggered. Based on the
result of the condition, the rule performs a set of operations. The condition must have a True branch, whereas
the False branch is optional.
Note
In addition to the integrated condition of each rule, you can make rule execution dependent on numerous
other conditions, such as rule enablement, time dependency, and others. You can control these additional
conditions in the context of the rule sets to which a rule is assigned.
In a rule, you can access and manipulate context data. This seems surprising at first glance because the rule
itself does not have a context of its own. Rather, accessing context data from within a rule means accessing
the context data that are available to the rule through the rule set to which the rule is assigned.
Note
One rule can be assigned to many rule sets. Therefore, the system grants the rule access only to those
context data objects that all of the referencing rule sets have in common (that is, the intersection of all
context data objects of all rule sets referencing the rule). This is necessary for consistency reasons.
The following operation types are supported:
● Triggering an action
● Processing an expression. The result of the expression can be used to update the context.
● Initializing or updating context data objects
More Information
Creating a Rule [page 229]
Rule Set [page 157]
1.2.18 Ruleset
Use
A ruleset is a collection of rules to be processed in a particular business case. It serves as an entry point for
rule processing and can be used as an alternative to a top expression assigned to a function.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
157
Features
Function Assignment
For a ruleset to be processed, a function has to be assigned to the ruleset. The mode of operation setting of
the assigned function must be either Event Mode or Functional and Event Mode. A ruleset can be assigned to
only one function, whereas one function may have any number of rulesets assigned.
If a function has more than one ruleset assigned, the question arises how you can influence the execution
order of the different rulesets. To control the execution order, you can assign a priority to a ruleset that is
evaluated at runtime when the assigned function is executed. To set the ruleset priority, open the Detail
section and enter the desired value (from 00 to 99) in the Priority field. For more information, see Function
[page 136], section Ruleset Execution Priority.
Note
In the BRFplus workbench, the Where used function does not yield a result for rulesets. However, in the
Ruleset Header section you can find out easily to which function a particular ruleset is assigned.
In previous releases of BRFplus, it was also possible to have each single rule assigned to a function as its
trigger, rather than assigning the function to the ruleset. This is no longer supported. However, if you have
legacy applications that make use of the individual assignment of rules and functions, the system is still able
to process such rules.
Rule Assignment
The rules contained in a ruleset can be either named or unnamed:
● Named rules are references to rule objects that you have defined in your BRFplus application. Such rules
are stand-alone objects and can be reused by different rulesets.
● Unnamed rules are defined in the scope of a particular ruleset and are not accessible for other objects.
Unnamed rules may either contain a reference to a named rule or an immediate definition of the tasks to
perform.
Note
When you create a rule from inside a ruleset and enter a text in the Description field, this rule still counts
as an unnamed object. The system copies the text that you enter in the rule-specific Description field of
the ruleset to the Text field of the rule object, while the rule's Name field remains empty.
In addition to the trigger function, a ruleset also defines the precondition and validity period for each rule. The
precondition and validity period determine if the rule is triggered or not. Given that, the system provides
numerous conditional levels to determine whether the activities defined in a rule are to be carried out or not:
● Assigned function is called.
● Ruleset is enabled.
● Ruleset precondition is fulfilled.
● Ruleset-specific rule precondition is fulfilled.
● Rule is enabled.
● Current date and time falls into the rule validity period.
● Precondition for an activity defined in the rule is fulfilled.
Variables
158
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
If you need to exchange additional data between the function assigned to a ruleset and the rules inside of the
ruleset, you can extend the ruleset's signature by adding variables to it. You can use any of the data objects
available in the application as variables. Inside of the ruleset, the variables are treated very much like context
elements and can therefore be accessed by most of the context-related actions like Assign Value to Context or
Initialize Context. The near relationship between context data and variables is also illustrated by the fact that
for a ruleset, the Context Overview function displays not only the context data objects of the assigned
functions but also the ruleset variables.
Note
Although variables can be used similarly to context data objects, it is not possible to define a ruleset
precondition based on variables. For a ruleset precondition, it is mandatory to refer to context data objects.
In contrast to this, it is perfectly allowed to define a ruleset exit condition based on variables.
Deferred Ruleset Processing
As described above, you can define exit conditions for a ruleset that let you stop ruleset processing at a
defined point in the process flow if a condition is fulfilled. The default behavior here is that all data changes that
were applied during processing of the preceding rules are kept in the system, while any potential changes that
would result from processing the remaining rules are of course missing. Depending on the circumstances of a
given business case, this may lead to data inconsistencies.
To overcome this potential problem, you can define that a ruleset may be restarted at the point where
processing stopped in a previous run. With this option set, you can continue an interrupted processing run,
which helps you to complete the data changes that result from the rule processing. This is helpful in cases
where the exit conditions that you define for a ruleset are likely to be fulfilled in your particular business case,
that is, when a fulfilled exit condition is the rule rather than the exception.
Example
You have a ruleset defined to calculate the energy fees for the apartment owners in an apartment building.
However, not all of the apartment owners send the electricity meter count in due time. In this situation, you
can start a ruleset to calculate the energy fees for those apartments for which the meter count is already
known. However, if there are additional rules in the ruleset for a statistical analysis of the building's energy
consumption based on the apartment data, these rules require a complete set of input data.
With deferred ruleset processing, you would place an exit condition before the statistics rules to check
whether all required data is available. If not, ruleset execution stops here but can be restarted at a later
point in time when all the required data is available, so that the remaining rules can be processed.
To enable deferred ruleset processing for a BRFplus application, proceed as follows:
1. Navigate to the application to which the ruleset belongs.
2. On the Miscellaneous tab, choose Restart Rulesets Enabled.
Once you have gone through these preparatory steps at application level, you can start using the additional
features that are available for deferred ruleset processing. You can access these features in the BRFplus
workbench in the form of additional settings for exit conditions in a ruleset.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
159
Note
For a complete understanding of the deferred ruleset processing concept, it is important to be aware of the
following facts:
● Deferred processing can be controlled on application level only for all rulesets belonging to an
application. It is not possible to control deferred processing for selected rulesets in an application.
● Using deferred processing is possible only via appropriate program calls to the BRFplus API. There is no
support for interactive use of this feature in the BRFplus workbench UI.
● Deferred processing is supported via the following API objects:
Table 39:
Name
Use
IF_FDT_RS_INTERRUPT_HANDLER
Provides methods to retrieve system interrupts created
by the system when a ruleset exit condition was fulfilled.
CL_FDT_RS_INTERRUPT_HANDLER
Implements interface
IF_FDT_RS_INTERRUPT_HANDLER.
IF_FDT_RS_INTERRUPT
Provides methods to save an interrupt instance to the
database, to restart the associated ruleset, and to de­
lete a saved interrupt from the database.
More Information
Creating a Ruleset [page 231]
Function [page 136]
Modes of Operation [page 141]
Rule [page 156]
1.2.19 Catalog
Use
A catalog simplifies the rule maintenance process for the business user by hiding the repository and displaying
only the relevant objects that are necessary for the maintenance of business rules in a given business
scenario. It serves as a filter for the entirety of all objects that exist in the repository.
For business users, a typical catalog offers only those elements of a BRFplus application that are needed for
business-relevant adjustments or extensions (for example, decision tables). All of the remaining elements like
functions, data objects, constants, formulas, or actions are not part of such a business-oriented catalog and
remain invisible to the user.
160
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Recommendation
To take full advantage of the complexity reduction that you can accomplish by using catalogs, we
recommend that for business users working with BRFplus, you disable all other views in the BRFplus
workbench so that only the catalog view remains. To do so, choose
except Catalog.
, then
Views
and disable all views
Features
Object Types
For each catalog, you can define a set of object types that can be added to that catalog. Restricting this set is a
suitable means to ensure that only those objects that you consider as useful for the target group can be added
to the catalog. This prevents the users from being exposed to objects that are highly technical in nature, or,
from a business perspective, do not contribute directly to the solution of a particular use case.
Note
Restricting the list of allowed object types does not only prevent a user from adding objects that are not
covered by the list. Rather, if the catalog already contains objects of a type that you remove from the list of
allowed object types, the system considers this as a violation of the catalog consistency. In this situation,
you can either decide to add the previously removed object type to the list again, or to remove those objects
from the catalog that correspond to the removed object type.
Among others, the list of allowed object types contains the Expression object type. For technical reasons,
this object type does not only refer to expressions of the BRFplus expression types (decision table, formula,
and so on). Rather, it also covers actions and rules.
Node Types
A catalog can contain any number of folder nodes, object nodes, and catalog nodes. Here is a short description
of the different node types:
● Folder Nodes
Folder nodes allow you to create a folder structure in a catalog. You can use these folders for grouping the
objects by different use cases or any other criteria that you consider to be helpful for business users.
● Object Nodes
An object node is a catalog element carrying a reference to a BRFplus object like an expression or a
function.
● Catalog Nodes
With a catalog node, you can establish a reference to a node from a different catalog, thus allowing you to
embed parts of already existing catalogs into a given catalog. With this node type, you can reuse an
already defined group of objects that may be relevant for different catalog scenarios.
Object Nodes
The most common way of populating a catalog is by referencing existing BRFplus objects, or by creating a new
object and simultaneously establishing a reference from the catalog to that object. You can add references to
objects of all kinds to a catalog, as long as the object type has not been excluded for use in that catalog.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
161
When you add an object reference to a catalog, the object's short text is copied into the catalog for display
purposes. You can modify this standard behavior as follows:
● Overwrite
The object text that has been copied into the catalog technically belongs to the reference that points from
the catalog to the referenced object. As a consequence, you are free to overwrite this text by something
different that may better suit your needs within the scope of the catalog. The original text of the
referenced object itself is not affected.
● Text Binding
With the Bind Text option, you can decide that in the catalog, always the original short text of the object is
displayed. Should the object text be changed, that change is reflected immediately in the catalog. With this
setting, the text field in the catalog is read-only to avoid any unwanted change to the referenced object.
When text binding is active, the system activates an additional fallback mechanism to ensure that there is
always a proper text being displayed: If the referenced object happens to have only the longer Text
attribute maintained, while the Short Text is empty, then the Text attribute is bound to the catalog
automatically. In that case, it may happen that the object text cannot be displayed completely in the
catalog because of field length restrictions.
Placeholder Nodes
The standard procedure for creating object or catalog nodes is to create a new node and assign an object or
catalog node to it, either by selecting an existing object or by creating a new one. However, you may find
yourself in situations where you have a clear idea of the relevant objects from a business perspective, but the
technical details are not yet clarified.
With placeholder nodes, you can solve this dilemma by postponing the technical assignments. Here, you
define the set of objects that are needed in a catalog from a purely semantic point of view, without having to
take any technical decisions. Later on in your project, when the technical requirements have been clarified, you
walk through all the placeholder nodes in your catalog and assign the elements that have been agreed upon.
Folder and Node Attributes
In a catalog, you can define an individual set of attributes for folders, object, and catalog nodes. Once you have
attributes defined, you can assign values to each attribute of each node or folder in your catalog. Such
attribute values are not used by BRFplus itself. Rather, you may find it useful to access the attribute values
stored in a catalog from the calling application in the backend system. Or, you may decide to store some
administrative information on node level that can be accessed from the BRFplus workbench for reference
purposes.
Example
For folder nodes in a catalog, you define two attributes:
● Use Case
In this text field, you can enter a short description of the use case for which the objects assembled in a
folder are meant.
● Reused
With this boolean field, you can indicate that a particular folder is referenced by a catalog node from a
different catalog. This could help you as an administrator to decide whether it is safe to remove a folder.
For an attribute, you may choose from a subset of the elementary data objects that can be accessed from your
application. This subset is made up of the following data types:
● Boolean
162
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
● Number
● Text
Versioning Behavior
Unlike all other BRFplus object types, newly created catalog objects always have the versioning setting
switched off. This is true even if the application default setting for versioning is on. However, you can still
switch versioning on manually for a catalog if desired.
Note
The reason for the special versioning behavior of catalog objects is the fact that the changes done to the
catalog structure is hardly ever relevant for your business. Therefore, there is usually no need for logging
the different states that a catalog has been in. Besides, catalogs are subject to frequent changes, so
versioning can lead to unwanted high storage space requirements.
More Information
Working with Catalogs [page 233]
Workbench Personalization [page 11]
1.2.20 Object Filter
Use
With an object filter, you can define a subset of object types that should be available in a BRFplus application at
design time. This helps you to ensure that for business rules of all kinds in an application, only those object
types can be used that can pass through the filter. Defining object filters as well as assigning them to user
profiles is a typical administrative activity.
Example
In a productive BRFplus application, you have imported a number of custom expression types to enhance
the functional scope of BRFplus. However, these expression types are partially still prototypes and not
released for productive use. To protect your application against unwanted effects caused by the prototype
expressions, you can define a filter that lets users instantiate only those expression types that have been
shipped by SAP. All custom expression types would be hidden to those users for whom the filter is applied.
Features
General
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
163
Object filters are used for administrative purposes at design time, namely to control the types of objects that
are available for setting up a business rule. As a consequence, the access level in effect for other object types
is not relevant for the usage of object filters. Although you create an object filter in the context of a particular
application, its usage is not restricted to that application. In other words, object filters are cross-application
objects.
There are two main areas in the BRFplus workbench that are affected by the object filter settings:
● Creating new objects
If a filter is assigned to an application, you can only create objects of those types that have been allowed in
the filter definition. Object types that have been filtered out are not offered for creation.
● Selecting object types in the Object Query dialog
If a filter is assigned to an application, you can only select objects of those types that have been allowed in
the filter definition. Object types that have been filtered out are not offered for selection.
Note
The effect of a filter assignment is limited to the creation of new objects, or the selection of already existing
objects in the Object Query dialog. As opposed to this, all objects that already exist in the application are not
affected by a filter. They remain visible and ready for productive use. This is true even for those objects
whose type has been excluded by a filter.
Details
Applications
On the Applications tab, you select the applications where the filter shall be effective for selecting objects in
the Object Query dialog.
Object Types
On the Object Types tab, you find the list of object types that are available across the entire system. By default,
all available object types are allowed. You define the filter by deselecting certain object types according to the
use case you want to model.
Note
In this list, you find all object types that exist in the system, including custom expression types, regardless
of the original application or access level. Therefore, if you decide to allow the use of a particular object
type, there is no guarantee that this decision has any visible effect in a particular application.
Some object types are always allowed and cannot be deselected. For example, this is true for data objects
of all types.
Filter Assignment
Once you have defined the filter settings and activated the filter, you need to assign the filter to one or more
applications for the filter settings to take effect. You can accomplish this with the help of the Personalization
dialog.
Recommendation
After having changed the assignment of filters to applications, we recommend that you restart the
workbench session to ensure that the changed settings take effect.
164
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Process
Maintaining an Object Filter
To create an object filter, proceed as follows:
1. From the context menu of an application in the repository tree, choose
Create
Object Filter .
2. Define a name and a text for the filter.
3. Click Create and Navigate to Object.
The system displays the new filter in the work area.
4. On the Applications tab, decide whether the object selection filter shall be effective for all applications or
only for those applications that you specify.
5. On the Object Types tab, decide which object types can be used for creating new objects in the
applications to which the filter has been assigned.
6. Save and activate the filter.
Assigning an Object Filter
To make an object filter effective in the BRFplus workbench, proceed as follows:
1. Choose
in the upper right corner of the workbench window.
2. On the Filters tab of the Personalization dialog, choose Add Filter to specify the object filter you want to
use. You can choose from all filters that exist in the system, regardless to which application they belong.
3. In the All Applications column, specify whether the filter shall be effective for all applications in the system.
If you choose No, you have to specify the desired applications in the Application column.
Repeat the steps above for any other object filters you may want to make effective.
1.2.21 Versioning
Use
Versioning allows you to track the changes that have been done to a BRFplus object over time. It is based on
the timestamp that the system assigns to objects when they are saved and activated. Different versions of the
same objects can be kept in the system and processed based on the timestamp.
The system creates a new version every time an active object is changed and saved (except for versioning
mode Transport-dependent- see section Default Versioning Behavior below). As opposed to that, any changes
done to an inactive object do not create a new version. Versioning can be switched on or switched off.
Old versions can be accessed by passing the timestamp to the PROCESS method or the GET<...> methods. If
you pass a timestamp and access an object, a version of the object at that particular time is returned. If no
timestamp is passed then the most recently activated version is used for processing. In the case of a
GET<...> method, the latest object properties (active or inactive) are returned.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
165
Example
A constant expression has been created on June 24, 2007 (date) at 01:56:19 (time). The value assigned to
the constant is ABC. The value is changed to XYZ on July 14, 2007 at 04:46:17. The change is activated and
saved. The value is again changed to HIJ but is not activated. The table below summarizes the changes:
Table 40:
Incident (Event)
State
Change time­
Version
Constant Value
Text
1
ABC
text ABC
1
ABC
text ABC
2
XYZ
text XYZ
3
HIJ
stamp (Date
Time format)
A new object is
Inactive
created.
The object is acti­
01:56:19
Active
vated.
The constant
2007-06-24
2007-06-24
01:58:35
Active
value is changed
2007-07-14
04:46:17
and activated.
The constant
Inactive
value is changed
2007-08-12
01:56:19
and saved.
The current version of the constant has the value HIJ and is not activated. The BRFplus Application
Programming Interface (APIs), however´, processes only activated versions. The last active version (in this
example, the last active version is 2) is valid until another active version is created.
Note
Versioning only makes sense for objects that are relevant for processing. This is true for almost all BRFplus
object types, with the exception of the following object types that are never versioned:
● Catalog
● User-defined expression type
User-defined expression types are not versioned although they are processing-relevant. This is due to
the fact that BRFplus has no control over the design of user-defined expression types. It is therefore
possible that a given expression type is totally redesigned and shows completely different behavior over
time.
Features
Default Versioning Behavior
You can define whether newly created objects are put under version control or not by default. This default
setting is done on application level and affects all objects that are created in the scope of that application. You
can adjust this setting for an application in the BRFplus workbench on the Default Settings tab.
166
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Note
Under certain circumstances, using object versions can lead to potential side-effects, which can lead to
error situations that are difficult to resolve. This is why SAP has decided to qualify the default versioning
modes Versioning On as well as Versioning Enforced as "not recommended". For more information, see
Versioning: Pros and Cons [page 170].
You can choose from the following default versioning modes:
● Off
Objects that you create have the versioning attribute set off by default. You can manually set versioning
for all objects in the application on or off at any point in time. The versioning setting of already existing
objects is not affected by this default versioning mode.
● On (Not Recommended)
Objects that you create have the versioning attribute set on by default. You can manually set versioning
for all objects in the application on or off at any point in time. The versioning setting of already existing
objects is not affected by this default versioning mode.
● Enforced (Not Recommended)
Objects that you create have the versioning attribute set on by default. As long as this default versioning
mode is in effect, versioning of all objects in the application is enforced and cannot be set off.
When you set this default versioning mode, the system offers to set versioning on for all objects that
already exist in the application. If you confirm, versioning is set on for all existing objects in the application.
If you reject, the version setting for all existing objects is left unchanged. In both cases, newly created
objects will have versioning set on, and versioning cannot be set off.
Depending on the system status, the confirmation dialog mentioned above can contain additional
controls:
○ Transport Objects: Tick this checkbox to make sure that the changed objects are recorded on a
transport request. This checkbox is available only if the application is transportable, and the system
client has been configured such that changes to client-specific objects are not automatically
recorded.
○ Transport Request: ID of the transport request to be used for recording the changes. If the application
is already assigned to a transport request, the respective transport ID is displayed and cannot be
changed. Otherwise, you can choose a suitable transport request.
Note
If you decide to let the system set versioning on for all existing objects, you should be aware that this is
only possible for objects that are active and in a consistent state. If there are any inactive objects in the
application, the system does not change the versioning setting of these objects. You can manually
activate these objects, either individually or with the mass change tool.
If, at a later point in time, you decide that the Enforced versioning mode is no longer needed, you can
easily choose one of the other default versioning modes. This is a prerequisite for you to set versioning
off for selected objects if you so desire.
● Transport-dependent
Objects that you create have the versioning attribute set on by default. This mode is a refinement of the
Versioning=Enforced mode and is specially designed to reduce the number of versions to a reasonable
amount, thus saving storage capacity. This versioning mode shows the following behavior:
○ Transport-dependent versioning is possible only for objects in applications that are transportable
(storage type System or Customizing; development package properly assigned).
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
167
○ When you modify an already active object, the system creates a new version for that object. As
opposed to the other versioning modes, this new version remains in effect until the object is
transported from the design time system to other systems. This means that during the time between
the first change to the object and the time it is transported, you can apply as many changes to it as
you like, and you can activate it as often as you like, without creating a new version for each single
modification.
○ Versioning is mandatory for all objects in an application and cannot be set off for individual objects.
This versioning behavior is useful in design time systems where objects under development are frequently
changed, while these changes have no impact on your company's business because the changes are done
in a separate, non-productive system. Also, this versioning mode results in an automatic synchronization
of object versions in both the development system and the productive systems.
When you set this default versioning mode, the system offers to set versioning on for all objects that
already exist in the application. If you confirm, versioning is set on for all existing objects in the application.
If you reject, the version setting for all existing objects is left unchanged. In both cases, newly created
objects will have versioning set on, and versioning cannot be set off.
Timestamp
For each version of an object, the system maintains a timestamp. Depending on the object version status, the
meaning of this timestamp varies:
● Inactive: As long as a version is still inactive, the version timestamp indicates the point in time when the
object has last been saved.
● Active: For an active version of an object, the version timestamp indicates the point in time when the
object has been activated.
It can be helpful to keep in mind these two different notions of the timestamp when you need to understand
clearly which object version is used at runtime. For example, a situation may occur where a versioned object
for which an active version already exists is changed, but the activation of the changed version is postponed to
a later point in time. The system then continues to use the older active version at runtime as long as the
changed current version is not activated. In other words, for the changes to take effect, the relevant date is the
moment when the changed version is activated, not the moment when it was changed. Therefore, the version
timestamp holds the most relevant data with respect to the object version status. As a side effect of this
system behavior, it is not possible to tell for an active version when the last changes have been applied to the
object.
Versioning of Texts And Documentation
For objects under version control, you can decide that the object texts and documentation shall also be
version-dependent. With this feature, you can keep track of naming changes that have been applied between
different versions.
Example
In a BRFplus application for compensation management, you may have modeled a number of data objects
representing different tax amounts that are applicable in a country. After a government change, some of the
taxes are still in place but have been renamed by the authorities. You would then reflect the new tax name
by creating a new version-dependent name for the affected data objects, while keeping the previously used
names in an older version due to legal compliance.
Also, if the internal structure of a particular object changes significantly over time, it may be a good idea to
mention this in the object documentation.
168
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Example
In a BRFplus application, you have a complex formula expression used for risk assessments as a basis for
insurance premium calculation. Over time, you may have to add a number of risk factors that were not in
scope at the beginning. To clarify what the formula in its revised state can do, you maintain a versiondependent documentation for the expression.
Note
Versioning of texts and documentation leads to significantly higher consumption of database storage
capacity. We therefore recommend to use this feature only in cases where this is mandatory from a usecase perspective.
Versioning Status
Depending on the different versioning modes explained in the Default Versioning Behavior section above, the
status of an object version can take different values. These values are:
Table 41:
Versioning Status
Description
Not versioned
Only one version exists for an object. All changes to an ob­
ject are stored in the same version, thereby overwriting the
object without a possibility to revert to the previous state.
Versioned
In addition to the initial version that exists for each object,
this status leads to the creation of a new version whenever a
previously activated object is changed. The cumulated
changes to an object version are frozen in that version by
activating it.
Versioned by transport
Similar to Versioned. However, a version is frozen not by ac­
tivation, but by transporting the activated object to another
system. In other words, the same version can be activated
several times as long as it is not transported.
Not transported
A version that was created while the versioning behavior
was set to Versioned by transport, but the behavior was
changed before the respective transport was released.
The following table explains how a particular change that is done to an object corresponds with its versioning
status:
Table 42:
Object Changes
Version No.
Versioning Status
New object O created with versioning
1
Not versioned
1
Not versioned
switched off.
Versioning switched on for O.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
169
Object Changes
Version No.
Versioning Status
O activated.
1
Versioned
Versioning behavior of the application
1
Versioned
O changed.
2
Versioned
Versioning behavior of the application
2
Not transported
O activated.
3
Versioned
Transport request containing O re­
3
Versioned by transport <transport ID>
set to transport-dependent.
set to Versioning enforced.
leased.
The table shows that with transport-dependent versioning, two additional status values have been introduced,
Versioned by transport <transport ID> and Not transported. The two values denote the following situations
with respect to versioning:
● Versioned by transport <transport ID>: Transport-dependent versioning is in effect for the application to
which the object belongs. The object has been recorded on transport request <transport ID>, and the
transport has been released.
● Not transported: Transport-dependent versioning was initially in effect for the application to which the
object belongs. However, before the transport was released, the versioning mode has been set to
Versioning enforced. As a consequence, the system creates a new version for the object. The previous
version that should have been related to the release of a transport is now marked as Not transported.
More Information
Versioning: Pros and Cons [page 170]
Application [page 29]
Tracing [page 142]
Setting Versions [page 245]
1.2.21.1 Versioning: Pros and Cons
A discussion of both the advantages and disadvantages of the different versioning modes.
Although keeping track of object versions is a powerful feature and, under certain circumstances, can even be
legally required, it can also lead into potential problems: Keeping object versions always leads to a larger
footprint in the database because for each version, all the data that makes up a particular object version is
stored again in the database. That is, there is no way of storing only the delta between two versions. However,
in addition to simply blowing up the database size, there are also other potential side-effects, which can lead to
170
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
error situations that are difficult to resolve. This is why SAP has decided to qualify the default versioning
modes Versioning On as well as Versioning Enforced as "not recommended". The intention behind this decision
is to make it clear to BRFplus users that these two versioning modes imply potential maintenance problems
that are not obvious at first sight, as well as an increase of storage consumption that is in most cases
unwanted and not needed. When it comes to the decision which default versioning mode should be used, we
recommend the following process:
1. Decide whether versioning is needed at all for the application in question. If not, choose Versioning off.
2. If versioning is needed for legal reasons or to comply with binding organizational rules, choose Versioning
Triggered by Transport. With this setting, a new version is created only when an object is transported to a
test or productive system.
3. Only if you have strong reasons for recording a gapless sequence of all object versions (for example, for
test purposes or to meet special quality assurance requirements), choose any of the versioning modes
that are not recommended. If you take this decision, we still recommend you make sure that the
versioning mode is reverted to one of the recommended settings as soon as possible, just to avoid the
potential problems outlined in this chapter.
The more versions of objects exist in the database, the higher the number of interdependencies between the
objects as well as the risk of hidden object dependencies. For example, you may want to delete an object
Object1 from the BRFplus repository. You first check whether the object in question is still used by other
objects. If so, you make sure that you remove these usage relationships so that object Object1 can be
deleted. However, it can easily happen that the system refuses to delete the object due to "historical" usage
relationships that are still in effect for an older version of object Object1. That is, although the current object
version is no longer used by any other object, there may still exist usage relationships between an older object
version and some other object. If this happens, the system would not allow to delete the object.
To overcome this issue, you could either delete the referencing object (but this might not be an option if that
object is still needed) or delete the versions of the referenced object Object1. For deleting old object versions,
BRFplus offers report FDT_TRUNCATE_VERSIONING that you can start from within transaction SA38 or SE38,
respectively. The report is also included in the auxiliary reports collection presented by transaction
FDT_HELPERS (
BRFplus - Deletion
BRFplus: Discard Old Versions ). Finally, the same functionality is
Application Administration , operation type Discard Old
available in the BRFplus workbench via Tools
Object Versions. Note that the backend version of the report offers additional features compared to the
BRFplus workbench tool, especially with respect to extended object selections that go beyond the boundaries
of a particular BRFplus application. Also, you may want to use the backend version of the report in a batch job
that you can define to let old object versions be removed from the database on a regular schedule in the
background.
When using the cleanup report, you should be aware of the following implications:
● Cleaning up object versions by running the report is always limited to the system where you are currently
logged on. If object versions have already been transported into your system landscape, you should run
the report in all affected systems.
● When you delete an entire object (that is, not only an object version) and the deletion is recorded in a
transport request, you would of course expect that the object will also be deleted in the systems into which
the transport request is imported. However, if the system determines that the object to be deleted is still
referenced by an object in the target system, the object is only marked for deletion rather than being
actually deleted in the target system.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
171
1.2.22 Authorizations
Use
The different activities that you can carry out in BRFplus are covered by the SAP authorization concept. This
means that you can assign different access rights to rule modeling and execution to the people who work with
BRFplus.
Integration
The different authorization objects described in the Features section below are assembled in the predefined
user role BRFplus Administrator ( SAP_BC_FDT_ADMINISTRATOR) that is shipped with BRFplus.
Features
For BRFplus, the following authorization objects exist:
● FDT_ADMN: You use this authorization object to control the access to various administration and
monitoring tools. These tools are only needed by developers and system administrators.
● FDT_WORKB: You use this authorization object to control user access to the BRFplus workbench. For a user
who has been granted authorization to start the workbench, you can fine-tune the user's access to the
different workbench tools like XML data transfer or web service generation.
● FDT_OBJECT: You use this authorization object to control the authorization to display, create, change, or
delete objects in BRFplus (including functions, expressions, expression types, filters, and applications).
● FDT_TRACE: You use this authorization object to control the authorization to display, create, or delete the
trace information recorded for the execution of a function in BRFplus.
● FDT_PROC: You use this authorization object to check if a user is allowed to process the rules associated
with a BRFplus function.
Note
Currently, this authorization check is only executed if a function is triggered via a web service or a
function module, and the user has activated the authorization check during the generation of the web
service or function module.
Activities
Create the user profiles you require and then assign authorization objects to these profiles. Then assign the
newly created user profiles to possible users.
172
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Note
You can find further information on the activities associated with the different authorization objects in the
online documentation on the authorization objects themselves. You can call this up in the maintenance
transaction Role maintenance ( PFCG).
More Information
BRFplus Administrator [page 173]
1.2.22.1 BRFplus Administrator
Role SAP_BC_FDT_ADMINISTRATOR
This role provides access to the BRFplus workbench, that is, the user interface for creating rule objects (such
as expressions or data objects) and for modeling and testing rules. Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus) is
an ABAP-based business rules modeling system that all applications built on the SAP NetWeaver ABAP stack
can use.
With this rule assigned to a user profile, a user can carry out all kinds of activities in the BRFplus workbench.
These activities include creating, changing, deleting, or versioning of all types of objects that are supported by
BRFplus. Due to the comprehensive scope of authorizations granted by this role, you should assign it only to
persons who are in charge of performing administrative tasks with BRFplus. For all other users, you can use
this role as a copy template to derive more restricted roles.
Activity
The role comprises authorization objects for the following tasks.
● Accessing individual objects
● Rule processing via web service or RFC-enabled function modules
● Rule processing with trace data
● Accessing the different tools offered in the BRFplus workbench for administrative tasks
Integration
You need to assign this role (or an individually restricted copy of this role) to users who work directly with the
BRFplus workbench. You also need to assign this role to users who work with an application that uses BRFplus
functions and makes use of any of the features listed in the Activity section above.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
173
1.3
Tasks
Use
This section describes the tasks you need to perform using BRFplus to model applications.
The tasks are grouped as follows:
● Modelling Applications [page 174]
Describes how to create application and set properties to the applications
● Building Functions [page 178]
Describes how to create function and set properties to the function
● Creating Expressions [page 184]
Describes tasks that you need to perform to create different expressions
● Creating an Expression Type [page 221]
Describes task that you need to perform to create an expression type
● Creating Data Objects [page 221]
Describes how to create different types of data object
● Creating a Rule [page 229]
Describes task that you need to perform to create a rule
● Creating a Rule Set [page 231]
Describes task that you need to perform to create a rule set.
● Working with Catalogs [page 233]
Describes tasks that you need to perform to create a catalog
● Creating Action Types [page 238]
Describes how to create and use actions in an application
● Working with Tools [page 248]
Describes tasks associated with the various tools
1.3.1 Modelling Applications
Use
This section describes how to create and set attributes for applications in BRFplus.
Topics in this section include :
● Creating an Application [page 175]
● Setting Properties [page 176]
● Adding Objects [page 176]
● Setting an Access Level [page 177]
174
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
1.3.1.1
Creating an Application
Procedure
1. In the menu bar, choose
Workbench
Create Application...
2. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, enter the following data in the General Data section:
○ Name
Note
The application name has to be unique.
For more information, see Naming Conventions [page 35]
○ (Optional) Short Text
You can add a brief description about the application in the Short Text field.
○ (Optional) Text
You can add additional information about the application in the Text field.
3. In the Application section of the Object Creation dialog box, choose the storage type.
Note
To create a test or demo application, select the Create Local Application checkbox.
Local applications are not transported to other systems.
For more information, see Storage Type [page 34]
4. Enter the development package and choose Create or Create and navigate to object.
Results
The application node appears in the Navigation panel and the application opens in the Object Manager panel.
Next Steps
Setting Properties [page 176]
Setting an Access Level [page 177]
Adding Objects [page 176]
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
175
1.3.1.2
Setting Properties
Procedure
1. Open the application in the Object Manager panel.
2. Under the Detail section, under the Properties tab, enter the application context in the Application
Component field.
3. Choose the software component in which you want to save the application.
4. Enter the class in the Application Exit Class field.
BRFplus provides exits for applications which require special needs. A class is created to fulfill the special
needs of the application. To implement the methods, the class name has to be registered in the above
field.
Next Steps
Creating an Application [page 175]
Adding Objects [page 176]
Setting an Access Level [page 177]
1.3.1.3
Adding Objects
Procedure
1. Open the application in the Object Manager panel.
2. Under Detail section, choose the Contained Objects tab .
3. On the Contained Objects tab page, choose the type of object that you want to create and choose Create
Object.
The Object Creation dialog box opens.
For more information on creating objects, see
Creating Data Objects [page 221]
Creating Expressions [page 184]
176
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Creating an Expression Type [page 221]
Creating a Function [page 179]
Creating a Rule [page 229]
Creating a Rule Set [page 231]
Creating a Catalog [page 233]
Creating Action Types [page 238]
Next Steps
Creating an Application [page 175]
Setting Properties [page 176]
Setting an Access Level [page 177]
1.3.1.4
Setting an Access Level
Context
By setting an access level for an object, you can define the scope of objects that are allowed to access the
current object. Access levels are supported for all object types in BRFplus. By default, each object is assigned
the most restrictive access level ( Application). Choosing one of the other access levels therefore extends the
scope of objects that are permitted to access the current object. It is advisable to always use the most
restrictive access level and only extend the scope if needed. This is because with an extended scope, the risk
of unwanted side effects increases.
Note
From a technical perspective, it is uncritical to extend the access level of an object. As opposed to this,
restricting the access level of an object (for example, from Top Component to Application) can lead to
unexpected results if the object is already used by an external application that depends on the extended
access rights.
For data objects, the system prevents the restriction of an object's access level once the object has already
been transported into another system. This is to ensure that references to the object that may have already
been created in the subsequent systems remain valid.
The following access levels are available:
● Application
Object can be accessed by all other objects that belong to the same BRFplus application.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
177
● Application Component
Object can be accessed by other objects belonging to an application assigned to the same component like
the object's application.
● Superordinate Component
Object can be accessed by other objects belonging to an application assigned to a component with the
same superordinate component as the component assigned to the object's application. For example, an
object assigned to component FI-GL can access an object assigned to FI-AA with access level
Superordinate Component because both objects have the same superordinate component, FI
● Top Component
Objects can be accessed by all other objects under the same top component. For example, three objects
A, B, and C assigned to components FI-GL, FI-AR, FI-AA-AA can all access object O belonging to any of the
FI-* components if O is assigned to access level Top Component because all three objects have the same
top component as O, namely FI.
● Global
Object can be accessed by other objects from all other applications, regardless of their assigned
component.
Note
Of all the object types supported by BRFplus, there is one that is not affected by access level settings. This
is the case for object filters. Here, the system does not observe access level settings, with the following
consequences:
● Like all other object types, object filters have an attribute for defining the access level. However, the
system ignores the access level setting of an object filter. As a result, all object filters defined in the
system are visible and usable in all applications.
● The object types that you can restrict in an object filter are presented as a system-wide crossapplication list, regardless of the access level that has been defined for the object type.
Procedure
1. Open the object in the Object Manager panel.
2. Under the General section, choose the level in the Access Level field.
1.3.2 Building Functions
Use
This section describes how to create and work with functions in BRFplus.
178
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
More Information
Creating a Function [page 179]
Setting Properties [page 180]
Assigning Context and Result [page 181]
Assigning Top Expression [page 182]
1.3.2.1
Creating a Function
Context
A function imports context and returns result.
Procedure
1. Open the application in the Object Manager panel.
2. Under the Detail section, choose the Contained Objects tab.
3. In the Contained Objects tab page that appears, choose Function from the Type field and choose Create
Object.
4. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, enter the following data:
○ Name
For more information, see Naming Conventions [page 35]
○ (Optional) Short Text
○ (Optional) Text
5. Choose Create or Create and navigate to object.
Note
If you choose Create the newly created function appears under the Contained Objects tab.
If you choose Create and navigate to object, you are directly navigated to the Properties section.
Next Steps
Setting Properties [page 180]
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
179
Assigning Context and Result [page 181]
Assigning Top Expression [page 182]
1.3.2.1.1
Setting Properties
Context
The application supplies a context and processes the function using a mode of operation.
Procedure
1. Open the application in the Object Manager panel.
2. Under the Detail section, under the Properties tab, choose the mode of operation in the Mode field.
You can choose from the following modes of operation:
○ Functional mode
○ Event mode
○ Functional and Event mode
○ Analytical mode
Note
If you choose Functional Mode or Functional and Event Mode, a top expression has to be assigned to
the function.
In the Analytical mode, there is a Database Context tab in which you assign structure data objects for
the analytical function.
For more information, see Modes of Operation [page 141]
3. Enter the context class.
Next Steps
Assigning Context and Result [page 181]
Assigning Top Expression [page 182]
Workflow for Analytical Functions [page 20]
180
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
1.3.2.1.2
Assigning Context and Result
Context
The function can import a context and can return a result after processing. The context and result are optional
in the event mode of operation.
Procedure
1. Open the function in the Object Manager panel.
2. Under the Detail section, choose the Signature tab.
The Signature tab page opens.
3. Assign a context.
You can add an existing data object, a new data object or multiple elements.
○ Add an Existing Data Object
1. Choose Add Existing Data Object button.
2. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the data object and choose Select.
The data object is added as the context.
○ Add a New Data Object
○ Choose Add New Data Object Add New Data Object
For more information, see Creating Data Objects [page 221]
○ Add Multiple Elements
1. Choose
Add New Data Object
Add New Elements
2. In the Create New Elements dialog box that appears, select the type from the type column.
3. Select the element type, enter a name and choose Create button.
The new element is added as the context.
4. Assign a result.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
181
You can assign a default object, an existing data object or a new object.
○ Select a Default Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Default Objects and choose the data object type.
○ Select an Existing Data Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Select....
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the data object.
The data object is added as the result data object.
○ Select a New Data Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Create....
3. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the data object.
For more information, see Creating Data Objects [page 221]
Next Steps
Creating a Function [page 179]
Assigning Top Expression [page 182]
Setting Properties [page 180]
1.3.2.1.3
Assigning Top Expression
Context
You need to assign an expression as Top Expression when you choose Functional or Functional and Event
mode of operation.
For more information, see Modes of Operation [page 141]
Procedure
1. Open the function in the Object Manager panel.
2. Assign an existing expression or a new expression as the top expression.
Assign an existing Expression
182
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
1. In the Detail section, under Properties tab page, choose the mode of operation.
2. Choose
next to the Top Expression field.
3. In the context menu, choose Select....
4. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the expression from the list.
Create an Expression
1. Choose
next to the Top Expression field.
2. In the context menu, choose Create....
3. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, enter the following data in the General Data section:
○ Name
○ Short Text
4. Select the type of expression from the Type field and choose Create or Create and navigate to object.
Note
If you choose Create the newly created expression appears next to the Top Expression field.
Next Steps
Creating a Boolean Expression [page 185]
Creating a BRMS Connector Expression [page 187]
Creating a Case Expression [page 189]
Creating a Constant Expression [page 192]
Creating a DB Lookup Expression [page 193]
Creating a Decision Table Expression [page 195]
Creating a Decision Tree Expression [page 197]
Creating a Dynamic Expression [page 200]
Creating a Formula Expression [page 202]
Creating a Function Call Expression [page 205]
Creating a Loop Expression [page 207]
Creating a Random Number Expression [page 209]
Creating a Value Range Expression [page 218]
Creating a Search Tree Expression [page 211]
Creating a Static Method Call Expression [page 213]
Creating a Step Sequence Expression [page 215]
Creating a XSL Transformation Expression [page 219]
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
183
1.3.3 Creating Expressions
Use
This section describes the tasks one needs to perform while creating different types of expressions. If you
want to learn more about the details of each of the different expression types, see Expressions [page 75]. If
you want to set up a custom expression type in order to handle requirements that are not covered by the
predefined BRFplus expression types, see Expression Type [page 122].
More Information
Creating a Boolean Expression [page 185]
Creating a BRMS Connector Expression [page 187]
Creating a Case Expression [page 189]
Creating a Constant Expression [page 192]
Creating a DB Lookup Expression [page 193]
Creating a Decision Table Expression [page 195]
Creating a Decision Tree Expression [page 197]
Creating a Dynamic Expression [page 200]
Creating a Formula Expression [page 202]
Creating a Function Call Expression [page 205]
Creating a Loop Expression [page 207]
Creating a Random Number Expression [page 209]
Creating a Search Tree Expression [page 211]
Creating a Static Method Call Expression [page 213]
Creating a Step Sequence Expression [page 215]
Creating a Value Range Expression [page 218]
Creating a XSL Transformation Expression [page 219]
184
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
1.3.3.1
Creating a Boolean Expression
Procedure
1. Open the application in the Object Manager panel.
2. Under the Detail section, choose the Contained Objects tab.
The Contained Objects page appears.
3. Choose Expression from the Type field and choose Create Object.
4. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, choose Boolean in the Type field.
5. Enter the following data:
○ Name
○ (Optional) Short Text
○ (Optional) Text
6. Choose Create and navigate to object.
The newly created boolean expression appears in the Object Manager panel.
Note
If you choose Create the boolean expression appears under the Contained Objects tab.
7. Under the Detail section, choose Template and select the template type.
The following template types are available:
○ Any operand is true
○ All operands are true
○ <1> and <2>
○ <1> or <2> or <3>
○ (<1> and <2>) or <3>
○ (<1> or <2>) and <3>
○ <1> and <2> and <3>
○ Choose your own template
The template type which is selected appears next to the Template.
8. Depending on the template selected, add condition to the boolean expression.
You can create a value range expression using the selected data object or expression as the test
parameter.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
185
○ Use Value from Standard Type as Condition
1. Choose
next to if.
2. In the context menu, choose
standard type.
Use Direct Value Range From
Default Objects
and choose the
○ Use Value from an Existing Context Data Object as Condition
1. Choose
next to if.
2. In the context menu, choose
Use Direct Value Range From
Other Context Parameter... .
3. In the Context Query dialog box that appears, select the data object.
○ Use Value from an Existing Expression as Condition
1. Choose
next to if.
2. In the context menu, choose
Use Direct Value Range From
Expressions... .
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, enter the name of the expression and choose Search.
The expression appears below the Search button.
4. Select the expression.
You can also directly select an expression or a data object as a condition. The selected expression
should have result of type Boolean and the selected data object should be of type Boolean.
○ Use Operand from an Existing Expression as Condition
1. Choose
next to if.
2. In the context menu, choose
Select Operand...
Select Expressions...
Select... .
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, enter the name of the expression and choose Search.
The expression appears below the Search button.
4. Select the expression.
○ Use Operand from an Existing Context Data Object as Condition
1. Choose
next to if.
2. In the context menu, choose
Select Operand...
Select Data Object...
Other Context
Parameter... .
3. In the Context Query dialog box that appears, select the data object.
○ Use a New Expression as Condition
1. Choose
next to if.
2. In the context menu, choose Create Expression...
3. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the expression.
For more information, see Creating Expressions [page 184]
9. Choose the Activate button.
10. Save the expression.
186
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
1.3.3.2
Creating a BRMS Connector Expression
Procedure
1. Open the application in the Object Manager panel.
2. Under the Detail section, choose the Contained Objects tab.
The Contained Objects tab page appears.
3. Choose Expression from the Type field and choose Create Object.
4. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, choose BRMS Connector in the Type field.
5. Enter the following data:
○ Name
○ (Optional) Short Text
○ (Optional) Text
6. Choose Create and navigate to object.
The newly created BRMS Connector expression appears in the Object Manager panel.
Note
If you choose Create, the BRMS Connector expression appears under the Contained Objects tab.
7. Assign a result data object. You can assign a standard data object type, an existing data object or a new
data object.
○ Select a Standard Type
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Default Objects and choose the data object type.
○ Select an Existing Data Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Select....
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, choose the data object.
○ Create a New Data Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Create....
3. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the data object.
For more information, see Creating Data Objects [page 221]
8. Choose the connection type. You can either choose NetWeaver BRMS Connection or External BRMS
Connection.
9. Choose the destination.
The destination needs to be specified in the rules so that the call can be routed correctly.
10. Enter the base currency.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
187
11. Add context to the expression. You can either add an existing object or create a new object.
○ Add an Existing Object
1. Choose Add Existing Object.
2. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, choose the object and choose Select.
○ Add a New Object
1. Choose Add New Object.
2. In the Object Creation dialog box appears, create the expression.
For more information, see Creating Expressions [page 184]
12. Assign result parameter. You can assign a standard data object type, an existing result parameter or
create a new result parameter.
○ Select a Standard Type
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Default Objects and choose the data object type.
○ Select an Existing Result Parameter
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Select....
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, choose the data object.
188
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
○ Create a New Result Parameter
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Create....
3. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the data object.
For more information, see Creating Data Objects [page 221]
13. Choose Generate Vocabulary Schema.
The generated rule XSD is used to define the rule vocabulary in the external BRMS engine.
14. To set connection parameters, choose Connection Parameters tab.
15. Under the Connector Call Parameters section, enter values for the project and the rule set.
16. Choose the Activate button.
17. Save the expression.
1.3.3.3
Creating a Case Expression
Procedure
1. Open the application in the Object Manager panel.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
189
2. Under the Detail section, choose the Contained Objects tab.
The Contained Objects page appears.
3. Choose Expression from the Type field and choose Create Object.
4. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, choose Case in the Type field.
5. Enter the following data:
○ Name
○ (Optional) Short Text
○ (Optional) Text
6. Choose Create and navigate to object.
The newly created case expression appears in the Object Manager panel.
Note
If you choose Create the case expression appears under the Contained Objects tab.
7. Choose the result type. You can select return value or perform action.
○ Select Return Value
1. Choose Return Value in the Result Type field.
2. Assign the result data object. You can select a standard type, an existing data object or create a
new data object.
○ Select a Standard Type
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Default Objects and choose the data object type.
The element is added as the result data object.
○ Select an Existing Data Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Select....
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, enter the name of the data object in the
Object Name field and choose Search.
The data object appears below the Search button.
4. Select the data object.
The data object is added as the result data object.
○ Create a New Data Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Create....
3. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the data object.
For more information, see Creating Data Objects [page 221]
○ Select Perform Action
○ Choose Perform Action in the Result Type field.
An action is added as the result data object.
8. Define the case parameter. You can choose a standard type, an existing data object, expression or create
a new expression.
○ Select a Standard Type
1. Choose
next to When.
2. In the context menu, choose Default Objects and select the standard type.
190
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
○ Select an Existing Data Object
1. Choose
next to When.
2. In the context menu, choose Other Context Parameter....
3. In the Context Query dialog box that appears, select the data object.
The selected data object is added as a case parameter.
○ Select an Existing Expression
1. Choose
next to When.
2. In the context menu, choose Select Other Parameter....
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, enter the name of the expression in the Object Name
field and choose Search.
The expression appears below the Search button.
4. Select the expression.
The expression is added as the case parameter.
○ Create a New Expression
1. Choose
next to When.
2. In the context menu, choose Create New Parameter....
3. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the expression.
For more information, see Creating Expressions [page 184]
9. Enter values in the fields next to ...equals.
Note
If none of the when table test parameters matches the case parameter, an other parameter is evaluated
in order to specify the result.
10. Choose
next to then perform action.
You can assign an existing action or create a new action.
○ Select an Existing Action
1. In the context menu, choose Select....
2. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the action.
○ Create an Action
1. In the context menu, choose Create....
2. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the action.
For more information, see Creating Action Types [page 238]
11. Define an other parameter. You can assign an existing expression, create a new expression or insert a
value.
○ Select an Existing Expression
1. Choose
next to Otherwise perform action.
2. In the context menu, choose Select....
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, enter the name of the expression in the Object Name
field and choose Search.
The expression appears below the Search button.
4. Select the expression from the list.
○ Create a New Expression
1. Choose
next to Otherwise perform action.
2. In the context menu, choose Create....
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
191
3. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the expression.
For more information, see Creating Expressions [page 184]
12. Choose the Activate button.
13. Save the expression.
1.3.3.4
Creating a Constant Expression
Context
A constant expression is used to define result values for other expressions.
Note
A constant expression can take only element data types.
Procedure
1. Open the application in the Object Manager panel.
2. Under the Detail section, choose the Contained Objects tab.
The Contained Objects tab page appears.
3. Choose Expression from the Type field and choose Create Object.
4. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, choose Constant from the Type field.
The Constant section appears.
5. Enter the following data:
○ Name
○ (Optional) Short Text
○ (Optional) Text
6. Under the Constant section, choose the type of constant from the Type field.
Depending on the type of constant you choose, the fields in which you have to enter values appear.
For more information, see Constant Expression [page 79]
7. Choose Create and navigate to object.
The result data object appears under the Detail section.
By default, the type of the constant selected appears as the result data object.
192
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Note
If you choose Create, the constant expression appears under the Contained Objects tab. Click the name
of the created object.
8. If you want to change the result data object, choose
.
You can select a standard element, select an existing data object or create a new result data object.
○ Select a Standard Type
○ In the context menu, choose Default Objects and choose the data object type.
The element is added as the result data object.
○ Select an Existing Data Object
1. In the context menu, choose Select...
2. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the data object.
The data object is added as the result data object.
○ Create a New Data Object
1. In the context menu, choose Create....
2. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the data object.
For more information, see Creating Data Objects [page 221]
9. Choose the Activate button.
10. Save the expression.
1.3.3.5
Creating a DB Lookup Expression
Procedure
1. Open the application in the Object Manager panel.
2. Under the Detail section, choose the Contained Objects tab.
The Contained Objects page appears.
3. Choose Expression from the Type field and choose Create Object.
4. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, choose DB Lookup in the Type field.
5. Enter the following data:
○ Name
○ (Optional) Short Text
○ (Optional) Text
6. Choose Create and navigate to object.
The newly created DB Lookup expression appears in the Object Manager panel.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
193
Note
If you choose Create the DB Lookup expression appears under the Contained Objects tab.
7. Select the mode.
You can choose data retrieval mode, aggregation mode or existence check mode.
○ Select Data Retrieval Mode
In this mode, the data is retrieved from the database table.
1. Choose All Entries or Single Entry.
2. Enter the name of the table in the text box and press Enter .
3. Assign a condition using the fields of the database table.
You can select an existing data object, create a new data object or create a result from the table.
○ Select an Existing Data Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Select....
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the data object.
○ Create a New Data Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Create....
3. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the data object.
For more information, see Creating Data Objects [page 221]
○ Create Result from Table
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Create Result From Table.
3. In the dialog box that appears with the field of the database table, select the required
fields.
4. Enter a name for the structure, table or element.
○ Select Aggregation Mode
In this mode, the result of the aggregation is returned from the database table.
1. Choose Aggregation from the Selection Mode field.
2. Enter the name of the table in the text box and press Enter .
3. Choose the aggregation type. You can choose maximum, minimum, average, count or sum.
4. Choose Distinct or All.
5. Assign a condition using the fields of the database table. You can select an existing data object or
create a new data object.
○ Select an Existing Data Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Select....
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the data object.
○ Create a New Data Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Create....
3. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the data object.
For more information, see Creating Data Objects [page 221]
○ Select Existence Check Mode
194
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
In this mode, the result object is assigned true or false based on whether atleast one entry satisfies the
WHERE condition that exists in the DDIC table.
1. Choose Existence Check from the Selection Mode field.
2. Enter the name of the table in the text box and press Enter .
3. Assign a condition using the fields of the database table.
You can select an existing data object, create a new data object or choose a Boolean.
○ Select an Existing Data Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Select....
3. In the Element Query dialog box that appears, enter the name of the data object and
choose Search.
The data object appears under the Search button.
4. Select the data object.
○ Create a New Data Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Create....
3. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the data object.
For more information, see Creating Data Objects [page 221]
○ Select a Boolean
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Boolean.
8. Choose the Activate button.
9. Save the expression.
1.3.3.6
Creating a Decision Table Expression
Procedure
1. Open the application in the Object Manager panel.
2. Under the Detail section, choose the Contained Objects tab.
The Contained Objects tab page appears.
3. Choose Expression from the Type field and choose Create Object.
4. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, choose Decision Table in the Type field.
5. Enter the following data:
○ Name
○ (Optional) Short Text
○ (Optional) Text
6. Choose Create and navigate to object.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
195
The newly created decision table expression appears in the Object Manager panel.
Note
If you choose Create, the decision table expression appears under the Contained Objects tab.
7. Assign the result data object. You can assign a standard data object, an existing data object or a new data
object.
○ Select a Standard Type
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Default Objects and choose the data object type.
○ Select an Existing Data Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Select....
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the data object.
○ Create a New Data Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Create....
The result column for the decision table is added automatically when the Column is result is
selected.
3. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the data object.
For more information, see Creating Data Objects [page 221]
Note
If you are creating a decision table expression as the top expression in a function, the assigned
result data object of the table should either be of the same type as assigned to the function or
should be exactly the same object as used in the function.
8. Add columns to the decision table. Choose Append Column or Insert Column depending on where you
want to add the column.
You can add a function context, data object, expression or action as column.
Note
To add a column at the end of the table, choose Append Column.
To insert a column at a current selection, choose Insert Column.
○ Add a Function Context
1. Choose
Append Column
From Context Data Objects... .
2. In the Context Query dialog box that appears, select the context and choose Select.
○ Add Any Other Context
1. Choose
Append Column
From Other Data Objects... .
2. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the data object and choose Select.
○ Add an Existing Expression
1. Choose
Append Column
Select Expression... .
2. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the expression and choose Select.
196
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
○ Add a New Expression
1. Choose
Append Column
Create Expression...
2. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the expression.
For more information, see Creating Expressions [page 184]
○ Add an Action
○ Choose Append Column Create Actions Column... .
The action column appears in the decision table.
9. Define the decision table by adding rows. To add rows, choose Append Line under the Table Data section.
10. Add values to the decision table. You can directly add values or define an expression as the value.
Note
You can also import data from an excel file.
For more information, see Exchanging Decision Table Data With Microsoft Excel [page 94]
○ Add Value
1. Choose ... next to
.
2. Enter the relevant values and choose Done.
○ Add an Existing Expression as Value
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Select....
3. In the Object Query dialog box, select the expression.
○ Add a New Expression as Value
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Create....
3. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the expression.
For more information, see Creating Expressions [page 184]
11. Choose the Activate button.
12. Save the decision table.
1.3.3.7
Creating a Decision Tree Expression
Procedure
1. Open the application in the Object Manager panel.
2. Under the Detail section, choose the Contained Objects tab.
The Contained Objects tab page appears.
3. Choose Expression from the Type field and choose Create Object.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
197
4. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, choose Decision Tree in the Type field.
5. Enter the following data:
○ Name
○ (Optional) Short Text
○ (Optional) Text
6. Choose Create and navigate to object.
The newly created decision tree expression appears in the Object Manager panel.
Note
If you choose Create the decision tree expression appears under the Contained Objects tab.
7. Choose the result type. You can select return value or perform action.
○ Select Return Value
1. Choose Return Value in the Result Type field.
2. Assign the result data object.
You can assign a standard data object, an existing data object or a new data object.
○ Select a Standard Type
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Default Objects and choose the data object type.
○ Select an Existing Data Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Select....
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the data object and choose Select.
○ Create a New Data Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Create....
3. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the data object.
For more information, see Creating Data Objects [page 221]
Note
The result data object can be an element, a structure or a table data object.
8. Assign a root node to the decision tree. You can choose direct input, an existing expression or a new
expression.
198
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
○ Select Direct Input
1. In the context menu of the node, choose
Set Condition
Direct Input .
2. Choose to define the incoming parameter.
You can choose a standard type, an existing data object or an expression.
○ Select a Standard Type
○ In the context menu, choose Default Objects and select the standard type.
○ Select an Existing Data Object
1. In the context menu, choose Other Context Parameter....
2. In the Context Query dialog box that appears, select the data object.
○ Select an Existing Expression
1. In the context menu, choose Expressions.
2. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the expression.
3. Choose the comparison operator and enter values.
4. Choose Done.
○ Select an Existing Expression
1. In the context menu of the node, choose
Set Condition...
Select... .
2. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the expression.
○ Create a New Expression
1. In the context menu of the node, choose
Set Condition...
Create... .
2. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the expression.
For more information, see Creating Expressions [page 184]
Note
The root node can only be a condition.
The selected expression is set as the root node and two child nodes appear under the root node.
9. Add a condition or a result to the child node. You can assign an existing expression or a new expression to
the child node depending upon the outcome of the condition in the root node.
○ Assign an Existing Expression as a Result
1. In the context menu of the positive child node, choose
Set Result...
Select... .
2. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the expression.
○ Assign a New Expression as a Result
1. In the context menu of the positive child node, choose
Set Result...
New...
2. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the expression.
For more information, see Creating Expressions [page 184]
○ Choose Direct Input
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
199
1. In the context menu of the node, choose
Set Condition
Direct Input .
2. Choose .
You can choose a standard type, an existing data object or an expression.
○ Select a Standard Type
○ In the context menu, choose Default Objects and select the standard type.
○ Select an Existing Data Object
1. In the context menu, choose Other Context Parameter....
2. In the Context Query dialog box that appears, select the data object.
○ Select an Existing Expression
1. In the context menu, choose Expressions.
2. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the expression.
3. Choose the comparison operator and enter values.
4. Choose Done.
○ Assign an Existing Expression as a Condition
1. In the context menu of the negative child node, choose
Set Condition...
Select...
2. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the expression and choose Select.
○ Assign a New Expression as a Condition
1. In the context menu of the negative child node, choose
Set Condition...
Create...
2. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the expression.
For more information, see Creating Expressions [page 184]
Note
○ There is no restriction to the level of nodes that you can create in the decision tree.
○ All leaf nodes have to be result nodes.
10. Activate the expression.
11. Save the expression.
1.3.3.8
Creating a Dynamic Expression
Procedure
1. Open the application in the Object Manager panel.
2. Under the Detail section, choose the Contained Objects tab
The Contained Objects page appears.
3. Choose Expression from the Type field and choose Create Object.
4. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, choose Dynamic Expression in the Type field.
5. Enter the following data:
200
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
○ Name
○ (Optional) Short Text
○ (Optional) Text
6. Choose Create and navigate to object.
The newly created dynamic expression appears in the Object Manager panel.
Note
If you choose Create the dynamic expression appears under the Contained Objects tab.
7. Assign result data object. You can select a standard type, an existing data object or create a new data
object.
○ Select a Standard Type
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Default Objects and choose the data object type.
○ Select an Existing Data Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Select....
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the data object.
The data object is added as the result data object.
○ Create a New Data Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Create....
3. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the data object.
For more information, see Creating Data Objects [page 221]
8. Choose the mode. You can choose Complete context but not expression variable or Matching Context.
The Complete context but not expression variable mode forwards the available context to the dynamically
determined expression. The Matching Context mode forwards only the matching context objects.
9. Choose the called expression. You can select an existing expression or create a new expression.
○ Select an Existing Expression
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Select....
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the expression.
○ Create a New Expression
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Create....
3. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the expression.
For more information, see Creating Expressions [page 184]
10. Activate the expression.
11. Save the expression.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
201
1.3.3.9
Creating a Formula Expression
Procedure
1. Open the application in the Object Manager panel.
2. Under the Detail section, choose the Contained Objects tab.
The Contained Objects tab page appears.
3. Choose Expression from the Type field and choose Create Object.
4. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, choose Formula from the Type field.
5. Enter the following data:
○ Name
○ (Optional) Short Text
○ (Optional) Text
6. Choose Create & Navigate to Object.
Note
If you choose Create button, the created formula object appears under the Contained Objects tab.
7. Add the result data object. You can select a standard type, create a new data object or add an existing
data object.
○ Select a Standard Type
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Default Objects and choose the data object type.
○ Select an Existing Data Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Select....
3. In the Context Query dialog box that appears, select the data object.
○ Create a New Data Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Create....
3. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the data object.
For more information, see Creating Data Objects [page 221]
8. Create the formula using expressions, data objects, mathematical and logical operators.
202
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Example
If you want to create a formula, 3*1, then in the formula builder,
1. Choose Number.
2. In the Insert dialog box that appears, enter 3 and choose OK.
The number 3 appears in the Formula field.
3. Choose *.
4. Choose Number.
In the Insert dialog box that appears, enter 1 and choose OK.
9. You can also create the formula in the expert mode.
1. Choose Switch to Expert Mode.
A text box appears next to the Formula field.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
203
2. You can insert expressions, data objects, string, number, amount, quantity and comment in the
formula.
In the context menu of the text box:
○ To create an expression.
1. Choose
Insert Expression
Create .
2. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the expression.
For more information, see Creating Expressions [page 184]
○ To select an existing expression.
1. Choose
Insert Expression
Select .
2. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the expression.
○ To create a data object.
1. Choose
Insert Data Object
Create .
2. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the data object.
For more information, see Creating Data Objects [page 221]
○ To select an existing data object.
1. Choose
Insert Data Object
Select .
2. In the Context Query dialog box that appears, select the data object.
Note
You can also create complex formulas using nested operands.
10. Choose the Activate button.
11. Save the expression.
204
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
1.3.3.10 Creating a Function Call Expression
Procedure
1. Open the application in the Object Manager panel.
2. Under the Detail section, choose the Contained Objects tab.
The Contained Objects tab page opens.
3. Choose Expression from the Type field and choose Create Object.
4. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, choose Function Call from the Type field.
5. Enter the following data:
○ Name
○ (Optional) Short Text
○ (Optional) Text
6. Choose Create and navigate to object.
Note
If you choose Create button, the function call expression appears under the Contained Objects tab.
7. Assign result data object.
You can assign a standard data object, an existing data object or create a new data object.
○ Select a Standard Type
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Default Objects and choose the data object type.
○ Select an Existing Data Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose
Select...
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the data object.
○ Create a New Data Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Create....
3. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the data object.
For more information, see Creating Data Objects [page 221]
8. Assign target function to the expression.
You can select a standard type, create a new function or use an existing function as the target function.
○ Select a Standard Type
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Default Objects and select the standard type.
○ Create a New Function
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
205
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Create...
3. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the function.
For more information, see Creating a Function [page 179]
4. Assign top expression to the function.
For more information, see Assigning Top Expression [page 182]
5. Assign context and result to the function.
For more information, see Assigning Context and Result [page 181]
○ Select an Existing Function
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Select....
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the function.
The context data object of the target function appears under the Target Function Context Data
Object in the Mapping section.
9. Map the context objects between the source expression and the target function.
You can choose a data object or an expression.
○ Select a Standard Type
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Default Objects and select the standard type.
○ Choose an Existing Data Object
1. Choose
under the Source Context Data Object/Expression column.
2. In the context menu, choose Other Context Parameter....
3. In the Context Query dialog box that appears, select the data object.
The context data object appears under Target Function Context Data Object in the Mapping
section.
○ Choose an Existing Expression
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Expressions....
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the expression.
The context expression appears under Target Function Context Data Object in the Mapping
section.
○ Create a New Expression
206
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Create Expression....
3. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the expression.
For more information, see Creating Expressions [page 184]
10. Activate the expression.
11. Save the expression.
1.3.3.11 Creating a Loop Expression
Procedure
1. Open the application in the Object Manager panel.
2. Under the Detail section, choose the Contained Objects tab.
The Contained Objects page appears.
3. Choose Expression from the Type field and choose Create Object.
4. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, choose Loop in the Type field.
5. Enter the following data:
○ Name
○ (Optional) Short Text
○ (Optional) Text
6. Choose Create and navigate to object.
The newly created loop expression appears in the Object Manager panel.
Note
If you choose Create the loop expression appears under the Contained Objects tab.
7. Choose the result type. You can select return value or perform action.
○ Select Return Value
1. Choose Return Value in the Result Type field.
2. Assign the result data object. You can select a standard type, an existing data object or create a
new data object.
○ Select a Standard Type
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Default Objects and choose the data object type.
○ Select an Existing Data Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Select....
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
207
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, enter the name of the data object in the
Object Name field and choose Search.
The data object appears below the Search button.
4. Select the data object.
○ Create a New Data Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Create....
3. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the data object.
For more information, see Creating Data Objects [page 221]
○ Select Perform Action
○ Choose Perform Action in the Result Type field.
An action is added as the result data object.
8. Select the loop mode.
○ Choose Repeat... Times... Mode
1. Choose Repeat...Times... from the Loop Mode field.
2. Enter value in the Do following operations field.
3. Assign rule for the operation.
○ Choose Do... Until... Mode
1. Choose Do...Until... from the Loop Mode field.
2. Assign rule for the operation.
3. Assign the exit condition. You can select an existing expression or create a new expression.
○ Select an Existing Expression
1. Choose
next to Until under the Detail section.
2. In the context menu, choose Select....
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, enter the name of the expression in the
Object Name field and choose Search.
The expression appears under the Search button.
4. Select the expression.
○ Create a New Expression
1. Choose
next to Until under the Detail section.
2. In the context menu, choose Create...
3. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the expression.
For more information, see Creating Expressions [page 184]
○ Choose While... Do... Mode
1. Choose While...Do... from the Loop Mode field.
2. Assign the exit condition. You can select an existing expression or create a new expression.
○ Select an Existing Expression
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Select....
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, enter the name of the expression in the
Object Name field and choose Search.
The expression appears under the Search button.
4. Select the expression.
○ Create a New Expression
1. Choose
208
PUBLIC
.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
2. In the context menu, choose Create....
3. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the expression.
For more information, see Creating Expressions [page 184]
3. Assign rule for the operation.
○ Choose For Each Entry in... Mode
1. Choose For Each Entry in... from the Loop Mode field.
2. Assign the exit condition. Choose
next to For Each Entry in under the Detail section.
3. In the context menu, choose Select....
4. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the object.
9. Assign a rule.
○ Select an Existing Rule
1. Choose
next to Operations section.
2. In the context menu, choose
Add Rule at First Position
Select an Existing Rule... .
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, enter the name of the rule and choose Search.
The rule appears below the Search button.
4. Choose the rule.
○ Create a New Rule
1. Choose
next to Operations section.
2. In the context menu, choose Add Rule at First Position
A new rule appears under the Operations section.
For more information, see Creating a Rule [page 229]
Create Rule...
10. Activate the expression.
11. Save the expression.
1.3.3.12 Creating a Random Number Expression
Procedure
1. Open the application in the Object Manager panel.
2. Under the Detail section, choose the Contained Objects tab.
The Contained Objects tab page appears.
3. Choose Expression from the Type field and choose Create Object.
4. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, choose Random Number in the Type field.
5. Enter the following data:
○ Name
○ (Optional) Short Text
○ (Optional) Text
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
209
6. In the Random Number section that appears, choose the mode.
You can either choose Number or Probability mode.
In the number mode, a random number within a specified range is returned.
In the probability mode, the expression returns a Boolean true value, if the specified probability between 0
and 1 is met.
○ Select Number Mode
1. Choose Number from the Mode field.
2. Enter values in the Minimum and Maximum fields.
○ Select Probability Mode
1. Choose Probability from the Mode field.
2. Enter value between 0 and 1 in the Probability field.
7. Choose Create and navigate to object.
The random number expression appears in the Object Manager panel.
Note
If you choose Create, the random number expression appears under the Contained Objects tab.
8. Choose Show Result Data Object.
A default data object is set automatically depending on the mode selected.
For number mode, a data object of type number is set whereas a data object of type Boolean is set for
probability mode.
You can also assign a standard type, an existing data object or create a new data object as the result data
object.
○ Select a Standard Type
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Default Objects and choose the data object type.
Note
There are two standard types, number and boolean, which are available depending on the
mode you choose.
○ Select an Existing Data Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Select....
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the data object.
○ Create a New Data Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Create....
3. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the data object.
For more information, see Creating Data Objects [page 221]
9. (Optional) You can also use expressions as values for the modes.
1. Choose the Switch to Referencing Mode button.
The values present in the value field will be discarded when you switch to referencing mode.
210
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
The
icon replaces the value field.
2. Select an existing expression or create a new expression.
○ Select Other Context Parameters
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Other Context Parameters....
3. In the Context Query dialog box that appears, select the data object.
○ Select an Existing Expression
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Expressions....
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the expression.
○ Create an Expression
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Create Expression....
3. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the expression.
For more information, see Creating Expressions [page 184]
10. Activate the expression.
11. Save the expression.
1.3.3.13 Creating a Search Tree Expression
Procedure
1. Open the application in the Object Manager panel.
2. Under the Detail section, choose the Contained Objects tab.
The Contained Objects tab page appears.
3. Choose Expression from the Type field and choose Create Object.
4. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, choose Search Tree from the Type field.
5. Enter the following data:
○ Name
○ (Optional) Short Text
○ (Optional) Text
6. Choose Create and navigate to object.
The search tree opens in the Object Manager panel.
Note
If you choose Create, the created rule object appears under the Contained Objects tab.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
211
7. Choose the return type. you can select return value or perform action.
○ Select Return Value
1. Choose Return Value in the Result Type field.
2. Assign the result data object.
You can assign a standard type, an existing data object or create a new data object as the result
data object.
○ Select a Standard Type
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Default Objects and choose the standard data object.
○ Select an Existing Data Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Select....
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the data object and choose Select.
Note
To return multiple matched results, select Return all matches found checkbox.
The assigned result data object should be a table data object.
○ Create a New Result Data Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Create....
3. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create a data object.
For more information, see Creating Data Objects [page 221].
○ Select Perform Action
○ Choose Perform Action in the Result Type field.
An action is added as the result data object.
8. Assign a condition to the root node.
Under the condition column, you can select the direct input option, an existing expression or create a new
expression.
○ Select Direct Input
1. In the context menu of the root node, choose
Set Condition...
Direct Input .
2. Choose to define the incoming parameter.
You can choose a standard type, an existing data object or an expression.
○ Select a Standard Type
○ In the context menu, choose Default Objects and select the standard type.
○ Select an Existing Data Object
1. In the context menu, choose Other Context Parameter....
2. In the Context Query dialog box that appears, select the data object.
○ Select an Existing Expression
212
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
1. In the context menu, choose Expressions.
2. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the expression.
3. Choose the comparison operator and enter the values.
4. Choose Done.
○ Select an Existing Expression
1. In the context menu of the root node, choose
Set Condition...
Select... .
2. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the expression.
○ Create a New Expression
1. In the context menu of the root node, choose
Set Condition...
Create... .
2. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create a new expression.
For more information, see Creating Expressions [page 184]
9. Assign a result to the root node.
Under the result column, you can select an existing expression or create a new expression.
○ Select an Existing Expression
1. In the context menu of the root node, choose
Set Result
Select... .
2. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select an expression.
○ Create a New Expression
1. In the context menu of the root node, choose
Set Result
Create... .
2. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create an expression.
For more information, see Creating Expressions [page 184]
10. Create a child node.
○ In the context menu of the root node, choose
Node Operations
Create Child node .
Note
You have to create all required child nodes before you assign a condition and result to the first created
child node.
11. Assign conditions and results to the child node.
12. Activate the expression.
13. Save the expression.
1.3.3.14 Creating a Static Method Call Expression
Procedure
1. Open the application in the Object Manager panel.
2. Under the Detail section, choose the Contained Objects tab.
The Contained Objects page appears.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
213
3. Choose Expression from the Type field and choose Create Object.
4. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, choose Static Method Call in the Type field.
5. Enter the following data:
○ Name
○ (Optional) Short Text
○ (Optional) Text
6. Choose Create and navigate to object.
The newly created static method call expression appears in the Object Manager panel.
Note
If you choose Create the static method call expression appears under the Contained Objects tab.
7. Assign result data object. You can select a standard type, an existing data object or create a new data
object.
○ Select a Standard Type
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Default Objects and choose the data object type.
○ Select an Existing Data Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Select....
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the data object.
The data object is added as the result data object.
○ Create a New Data Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Create....
3. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the data object.
For more information, see Creating Data Objects [page 221]
8. Enter the name of the class or choose
in the Class Name field.
9. In the list that appears, select a relevant class and choose OK.
The selected class is added.
10. Add sub-expression to the expression. You can choose an existing expression or create a new expression.
○ Select an Existing Expression
1. Choose Select Expression.
2. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the expression.
○ Create a New Expression
1. Choose Create Expression.
2. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the expression.
For more information, see Creating Expressions [page 184]
11. Activate the expression.
12. Save the expression.
214
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
1.3.3.15 Creating a Step Sequence Expression
Procedure
1. Open the application in the Object Manager panel.
2. Under the Detail section, choose the Contained Objects tab.
The Contained Objects tab page opens.
3. Choose Expression from the Type field and choose Create Object.
4. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, Choose Step Sequence in the Type field.
5. Enter the following data:
○ Name
○ (Optional) Short Text
○ (Optional) Text
6. Choose Create and navigate to object.
The step sequence expression appears in the Object Manager panel.
Note
If you choose Create the newly created step sequence expression appears under Contained Objects tab
page.
7. Assign a result data object.
You can assign a standard type, select an existing data object or create a new data object as the result
data object.
○ Select a Standard Type
1. Choose
2. In the context menu, choose Default Objects and choose the data object type.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
215
○ Select an Existing Data Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Select...
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the data object.
○ Create a New Result Data Object
1. Choose
2. In the context menu, choose Create....
3. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create a new object.
For more information, see Creating Data Objects [page 221]
8. Assign sequence of functions. Choose Insert Step.
A new step appears in the table.
Note
Before a step is processed, the corresponding pre-condition is evaluated. The pre-condition is an
expression which has to return a boolean value. If the value of the pre-condition is evaluated as true, the
corresponding step will be skipped.
9. (Optional) Add a pre-condition.
You can add a standard type, an existing expression or a new expression as the pre-condition.
○ Select a Standard Type
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Default Objects and choose the standard type.
○ Select an Existing Expression
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Select.
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the expression.
○ Create a New Expression
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Create....
3. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the expression.
For more information, see Creating Expressions [page 184]
10. Add a function.
○ Select a Standard Type
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Default Objects and choose the standard type.
○ Select an Existing Function
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Select....
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the function.
○ Create a New Function
216
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Create...
3. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the function.
For more information, see Creating a Function [page 179]
11. (Optional) You can also add an exit condition.
You can create a new expression or select an existing expression.
Note
Exit conditions have to be expressions with a boolean result data object.
○ Select a Standard Type
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Default Objects and choose the standard type.
○ Select an Existing Expression
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Select....
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the expression.
○ Create a New Expression
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Create....
3. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the expression
For more information, see Creating Expressions [page 184]
12. Assign content in the Content of the Work Area field.
You can add an existing data object or a new data object.
○ Add an Existing Data Object
1. Choose Add existing Data Object.
2. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the data object and choose Select.
○ Create a New Data Object
1. Choose Add new Data Object button.
2. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the data object.
For more information, see Creating Data Objects [page 221]
13. Activate the expression.
14. Save the expression.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
217
1.3.3.16 Creating a Value Range Expression
Procedure
1. Open the application in the Object Manager panel.
2. Under the Detail section, choose the Contained Objects tab.
3. In the Contained Objects tab page that appears, choose Expression from the Type field and choose Create
Object.
4. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, choose Value Range in the Type field.
5. Enter the following data:
○ Name
○ (Optional) Short Text
○ (Optional) Text
6. Choose Create and navigate to object.
The range expression appears in the Object Manager panel.
Note
If you choose Create the value range expression appears under Contained Objects tab.
7. Define the incoming parameter. You can choose a standard type, an existing data object or expression as
the incoming parameter.
○ Select a Standard Type
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Default Objects and choose the standard type.
○ Select an Existing Data Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Other Context Parameters....
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the data object.
○ Select an Existing Expression
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Expressions....
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, enter the name of the expression in the Object Name
field and choose Search.
The expression appears under the Search button.
4. Select the expression.
218
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
8. Under Detail section, choose the comparison operator and enter the value for the incoming parameter.
9. Activate the expression.
10. Save the expression.
1.3.3.17 Creating a XSL Transformation Expression
Procedure
1. Open the application in the Object Manager panel.
2. Under the Detail section, choose the Contained Objects tab.
The Contained Objects tab page appears.
3. Choose Expression from the Type field and choose Create Object.
4. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, choose XSL Transformation in the Type field.
5. Enter the following data:
○ Name
○ (Optional) Short Text
○ (Optional) Text
6. Choose Create and navigate to object.
The XSL transformation expression appears in the Object Manager panel.
Note
If you choose Create the XSL transformation expression appears under the Contained Objects tab.
7. Choose Show result data object. You can assign a standard type, select an existing data object or create a
new data object as the result data object.
○ Select a Standard Type
1. Choose
.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
219
2. In the context menu, choose Default Objects and choose the data object type.
○ Select an Existing Data Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Select....
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the data object.
The selected data object is added as the result for the XSL transformation expression.
○ Create a New Data Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Create....
3. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the data object.
For more information, see Creating Data Objects [page 221]
8. Choose Add Parameter button.
A new line appears in the Parameter for XSL Transformation table. You can assign a standard type, an
existing data object or an expression or a new expression as the parameter.
○ Select a Standard Type
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Default Objects and choose the standard type.
○ Select an Existing Data Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Other Context Parameter....
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the data object.
The selected data object is added as the parameter for the XSL transformation expression.
○ Select an Existing Expression
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Select Expression....
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the expression and choose Select.
The selected expression is added as the parameter for the XSL transformation expression.
○ Create a New Expression
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Expressions....
3. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the expression.
For more information, see Creating Expressions [page 184]
9. Activate the expression.
10. Save the expression.
220
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
1.3.4 Creating an Expression Type
Procedure
1. Open the application in the Object Manager panel.
2. Under the Detail section, choose the Contained Objects tab.
3. In the Contained Objects tab page that appears, choose Expression Type from the Type field and choose
Create Object.
4. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, enter the following data:
○ Name
○ (Optional) Short Text
○ (Optional) Text
5. Choose Create and navigate to object.
The newly created expression type appears in the Object Manager panel.
Note
If you choose Create the newly created expression type appears under the Contained Objects tab page.
6. In the Detail section, enter the following data:
○ Class
Enter the name of the class that implements the interface.
○ Interface
Enter the name of the interface which contains the specific attributes for the expression type.
○ Query Class
Enter the query class. Query class provides an interface that searches for objects and returns details
of the object which satisfies the selection criteria.
○ UI Class
The UI class provides a corresponding expression type object needed to create the expression type.
○ Data Exchange Class
7. Activate the expression type.
8. Save the expression type.
1.3.5 Creating Data Objects
Use
You can build a context or result object using different data objects. The data objects represent fields,
structures and table in BRFplus.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
221
There are three types of data objects:
● Element Data Object
● Structure Data Object
● Table Data Object
More Information
Creating an Element Data Object [page 222]
Creating a Structure Data Object [page 227]
Creating a Table Data Object [page 228]
1.3.5.1
Creating an Element Data Object
Procedure
1. Open the application in the Object Manager panel.
2. Under the Detail section, choose the Contained Objects tab.
The Contained Objects tab page appears.
3. Choose Data Object from the Type field and choose Create Object.
4. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, choose Element from the Type field.
The Element section appears.
5. Choose the type of element you want to create from the Element Type field, under the Define Element
Properties section.
For more information, see Data Object [page 58]
6. Under the General Data section, enter a name for the element and choose Create and navigate to object.
The data object appears in the Object Manager panel.
Note
If you choose Create button, the element data object appears under the Contained Objects tab. Click
the name of the created object to define the element properties.
7. Add values to the element data object that you have created. You can create values, or refer to existing
values, or bind the data object.
○ Create New Values
1. In the Domain Values tab page, choose Create Values.
222
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
2. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, enter name and value for the data object.
3. Choose Create.
4. Depending upon the element you create, the related value fields appear in the Object Creation
dialog box. Enter the related values in the fields that appear.
The following table helps you to create new values and set element attributes:
Table 43:
Element Type
Values
Element Attributes(Op­
Description
tional)
(all types)
Name and Text fields ap­
(Optional) If you want to
pear for all the element
set additional attributes
types. You can enter
of an element, choose
name and text appropri­
Element
ately for all the element
Attributes(Optional) tab.
types
Text
Enter text in the Value
Length
field.
You can enter an attrib­
ute with a maximum
length of 255 in the Value
field.
Number
Enter a number in the
Length
Value field
You can enter an attrib­
ute with a maximum
length of 31.
The length represents
the number of digits with­
out exponent or sign.
Decimals
You can enter up to 10
maximum number of
decimal places.
Positive values only
Select the checkbox to
enter only positive val­
ues.
Boolean
You may choose True or
False from the Value field.
Amount
Enter amount and cur­
rency in the Value and
Currency fields.
Quantity
Enter quantity and unit in
the Value and Unit fields.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
223
Element Type
Values
Element Attributes(Op­
Description
tional)
Timepoint
You can choose the fol­
lowing different timepoint
options:
○
Date
In the Date field,
choose
. Choose
the date from the
calendar.
○
Time
In the Time field that
appears, enter time
in hh:mm:ss format.
○
Date Time
In the Date and Time
fields that appear,
choose
and select
the date from the
calendar. In the Time
field enter time in
hh:mm:ss format.
○
Universal Time
In the Date field,
choose
and select
the date from the
calendar. In the Time
field enter time in
hh:mm:ss format.
Note
1. You can set element attributes only for Number, Timepoint and Text element types.
2. If the value of a constant does not fit to the element attributes (for example, exceeds the
length) then you will get a warning message. You can still activate the object and such
calculations are carried on with decfloat precession.
3. The element attributes only affect the design time and not the runtime of the BRFplus.
○ Select from Existing Values
1. In the Domain Values tab, choose Select Values.
2. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the value and choose Select.
○ Use an Existing OData-based Value List
For analytical workflows, when an element belongs to a structure that is bound to a CDS view, you can
refer to a value list that was provided by an OData service. (The OData service can be modeled in the
same CDS view as the structure is bound to, or in a different CDS view.)
224
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
1. Choose the Value Help tab.
2. Enter the following settings for the OData service that provides the value help:
○ Service URL: The URL of the OData service with the format /sap/opu/odata/sap/
<EXTERNAL SERVICE NAME>; for example, /sap/opu/odata/sap/FLIGHT_CDS/.
○ Property Path: The Target attribute of the value list Annotations element (from the OData
service $metadata). In the following code sample, the property path is
FLIGHT_CDS.FLIGHTType/carrid.
Sample Code
<Annotations xmlns="http://docs.oasis-open.org/odata/ns/edm"
Target="FLIGHT_CDS.FLIGHTType/carrid">
<Annotation Term="Common.ValueList">
……
…..
</Annotation>
</Annotations>
Note
The value help must conform to the following:
○ The value help value (key) must be a string value.
○ The value help can only have a single-value (key) field.
For more information, see:
○ Providing Value Help in the SAP - ABAP Programming Model for SAP Fiori guide
○ Value Help Conditions in the Rule Expression Language for Analytical Workflow guide
○ Bind the Element Data Object
You can bind the data object if you want to have a value help from where you can select values. Under
the Element Properties tab, choose one of the following options from the Select Binding Type
dropdown list:
○ Bind to an Existing Element
1. Choose Bind an existing BRFplus element option to bind the object to an existing element.
2. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the data object.
○ Bind to a Data Dictionary object
1. Choose the Bind a data dictionary (DDIC) element to bind the object to an element object in
the data dictionary.
2. In the Bind DDIC dialog box that appears, select the DDIC element and choose Select.
For more information, see Data Binding [page 61]
8. If you want to to restrict the number of allowed comparison types for an element, choose the relevant
allowed comparison from the Allowed Comparisons field on the Element Properties tab.
Example
You can set restrictions on comparisons of an element, for example, in decision tables or decision trees.
If you select Equals comparison for an element that is used in a decision table, then you can have only
one or no value and you cannot use less or greater comparisons.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
225
The following table lists the allowed comparison types for an element:
Table 44:
Allowed Comparisons for an element
Description
No Restriction
Data object can be used in all types of comparison opera­
tions which are supported by the system for the particular
type of the data object. This is the default for elementary
data objects of type Text.
Equals
Data object can only be tested for equality against one
single value.
Single Value
Data object can only be tested for equality or unequality
against one single value. This is the default for elementary
data objects of type Boolean.
Value List
Data object can only be tested for equality or unequality
against a list of values.
Non-textual
Data object can be used in all types of comparison except
for string comparisons (like contains string or
matches pattern). This is the default for elementary
data objects of the following types:
○
User-Defined
Amount
○
Number
○
Quantity
○
Timepoint
Data object can be used in those types of comparison op­
erations that are explicitly mentioned in a list of allowed
operations. This list has to be defined individually for that
particular data object. For example, you can define that a
data object may be used in greater than and greater than
or equal to comparisons, but not in less than and less than
or equal to comparisons.
9. Activate the data object.
10. Save the data object.
Next Steps
Comparison Operations [page 66]
226
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
1.3.5.2
Creating a Structure Data Object
Procedure
1. Open the application in the Object Manager panel.
2. Under the Detail section, choose the Contained Objects tab.
The Contained Objects tab page appears.
3. Choose Data Object from the Type field and choose Create Object.
4. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, choose Structure from the Type field.
5. Enter a name for the structure data object and choose Create and navigate to object.
You are directly navigated to the structure data object that you have created.
Note
If you choose Create button, the structure data object appears under the Contained Objects tab. Click
the name of the created structure object.
6. Define data binding.
You can choose how to bind the data object. In the Select Bind Type dropdown list, choose from the
following options:
○ Choose Bind a data dictionary (DDIC) structure and in the Bind DDIC structure dialog box that appears,
select the DDIC structure and choose Select.
○ Choose Bind a GDT structure and in the Bind GDT structure dialog box that appears, enter the relevant
details.
○ Choose Bind to CDS View and in the Bind to CDS View dialog box that appears, enter the CDS View
name. (This option is for analytical functions and is available from SAP NetWeaver 7.51 SP00 or S/
4HANA Cloud 1608.)
For more information, see Data Binding [page 61]
7. Define the structure. You can add an existing data object or a new data object to the structure.
○ Add a New Data Object
1. Choose Add New Data Object and in the drop down menu, select the data object type you want to
create.
2. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the data object.
○ Add an Existing Data Object
1. Choose Add Existing Data Object.
2. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the data object and choose Select.
8. Activate the data object.
9. Save the changes.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
227
1.3.5.3
Creating a Table Data Object
Procedure
1. Open the application in the Object Manager panel.
2. Under the Details section, choose the Contained Objects tab.
The Contained Objects tab page appears.
3. Choose Data Object from the Type field and choose Create Object.
4. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, choose Table from the Type field.
5. Enter a name for the table and choose Create and navigate to object.
You are directly navigated to the table data object.
Note
If you choose Create, the created table data object appears under the Contained Objects tab. Click the
name of the created data object.
6. Bind the data object if you want to have a value help from where you can select values.
1. Choose Current object should be bound in the DDIC Binding field.
2. Choose Bind DDIC Table Type.
3. In the Bind DDIC dialog box that appears, select a DDIC table type and choose Select.
For more information, see Data Binding [page 61]
7. Assign table line type.
You can refer to an existing data object or create a new data object.
Note
You can assign table line type only when you choose Current object should not be bound in the DDIC
Binding field.
○ Select an Existing Data Object
1. Choose
next to Table Line Type.
2. In the context menu, choose Reference existing BRFplus type....
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the data object.
○ Create a New Data Object
1. Choose
beside Table Line Type.
2. In the context menu, choose Create new BRFplus type....
3. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create an element data object.
For more information, see Creating an Element Data Object [page 222]
4. In the Element section, define the binding.
○ Bind the Object
228
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
1. Choose Current object should be bound in the Binding Definition field.
2. Choose the bind type.
You can either choose Bind a data dictionary (DDIC) element or Bind a GDT element or
Bind an existing FDT element.
5. Choose the element type.
Note
You can define the element type only when you choose Current object should not be bound in
the Binding Definition field.
8. Activate the data object.
9. Save the changes.
1.3.6 Creating a Rule
Procedure
1. Open the application in the Object Manager panel.
2. Under the Detail section, choose the Contained Objects tab.
3. In the Contained Objects tab page that appears, choose Rule object from the Type field and choose Create
Object.
4. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, enter the following data:
○ Name
○ (Optional) Short Text
○ (Optional) Text
5. Choose Create and navigate to object.
The newly created rule opens in the Object Manager panel.
Note
If you choose Create button, the created rule object appears under the Contained Objects tab.
6. Assign a condition to the rule.
You can assign a standard type, an existing context data object, an existing expression or create a new
expression as the condition.
1. Use Value Range as Condition
○ Select a Standard Type
1. Choose
next to No expression assigned.
2. In the context menu, choose
standard type.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Use Value Range From...
Default Objects
and choose the
PUBLIC
229
○ Select an Existing Context Data Object
1. Choose
next to No expression assigned.
2. In the context menu, choose
Use Value Range From...
Other Context Parameter... .
3. In the Context Query dialog box that appears, select the data object.
2. Use Expression and Data Object as Condition
○ Select an Existing Expression
1. Choose
next to No expression assigned.
2. In the context menu, choose
Select Condition
Select Expression...
Select... .
3. In the Object Query dialog that appears, enter the name of the expression in the Object Name
field and choose Search.
The expression appears below the Search button.
4. Select the expression.
○ Select a Standard Data Object
1. Choose
next to No expression assigned.
2. In the context menu, choose Select Condition
and choose the data object type.
Select Data Object...
Default Objects
Select Data Object...
Other Context
○ Select an Existing Data Object
1. Choose
next to No expression assigned.
2. In the context menu, choose
Select Condition
Parameter... .
3. In the Context Query dialog box that appears, select the data object.
3. Use a New Expression
1. Choose
next to No expression assigned.
2. In the context menu, choose Create Expression....
3. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the expression.
For more information, see Creating Expressions [page 184]
Note
The condition should be a context data object or a nested expression whose value or result can be
converted into a Boolean type.
7. Assign an action to the rule.
○ Assign Action
You can either choose an existing action or create a new action.
○ Select an Existing Action
1. Choose Add next to Then.
2. In the context menu, choose
Perform Action
Select... .
3. In the Object Query dialog that appears, select the action.
○ Create a New Action
1. Choose Add next to Then.
2. In the context menu, choose
Perform Action
Create... .
3. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the action.
For more information, see Creating Action Types [page 238]
○ Assign Value to Context
230
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
○ Select an Existing Context Parameter
1. Choose Add next to Then.
2. In the context menu, choose
Assign Value to Context
Other Context Parameter... .
3. In the Context Query dialog that appears, select the data object.
4. Enter values for the data object.
○ Assign an Expression
○ Select an Existing Expression
1. Choose Add next to Then.
2. In the context menu, choose
Process Expression
Select... .
3. In the Object Query dialog that appears, select the expression.
○ Create a New expression
1. Choose Add next to Then.
2. In the context menu, choose
Process Expression
Create... .
3. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the expression.
For more information, see Creating Expressions [page 184]
8. Similarly, add actions to the Else section of the rule.
9. Activate the rule.
10. Save the rule.
1.3.7 Creating a Rule Set
Procedure
1. Open the application in the Object Manager panel.
2. Under the Detail section, choose the Contained Objects tab.
The Contained Objects tab page appears.
3. Choose Rule Set from the Type field and choose Create Object.
4. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, enter the following data:
○ Name
○ (Optional) Short Text
○ (Optional) Text
5. Choose Create and navigate to object.
The rule set opens in the Object Manager panel.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
231
6. Add a pre-condition to the rule set.
1. Choose Assign Pre-Condition.
2. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the expression.
The expression appears under the Detail section.
Note
The selected expression has to return a Boolean result.
7. Assign a function to the rule.
1. Choose Assign Function.
2. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the function.
The function appears under the Detail section.
8. Assign rules to the rule set. You can add an existing rule or a new rule.
Create a New Rule
1. Choose Insert Rule
A rule is added.
Create... .
2. Enter the description for the rule.
3. Assign condition and action to the rule.
For more information, see Creating a Rule [page 229]
Select an Existing Rule
1. Choose
Insert Rule
Create... .
2. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the rule.
The rule appears under the Rules section.
9. Add an exit condition.
You can create or select a condition.
○ Creating a Condition
1. Choose
Insert Exit Condition
Create... .
○ In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the expression as a condition.
○ Selecting a Condition
1. Choose
Insert Exit Condition
Select... .
2. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the expression as a condition.
10. Add another rule. You can add an existing rule or create a new rule.
232
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
○ Create a Rule
○ Choose Rule Operations Insert Next Rule by... Create...
The rule appears under the Rules section.
For more information, see Creating a Rule [page 229]
○ Add an Existing Rule
1. Choose
Rule Operations
Insert Next Rule by...
Select...
2. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the rule.
11. Activate the rule set.
12. Save the rule set.
Next Steps
Creating a Rule [page 229]
Creating Action Types [page 238]
1.3.8 Working with Catalogs
Use
This section describes the different tasks you need to perform for a catalog in BRFplus.
More Information
Creating a Catalog [page 233]
Maintaining Object Types [page 236]
Adding Attributes [page 237]
1.3.8.1
Creating a Catalog
Procedure
1. Open the application in the Object Manager panel.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
233
2. Under the Detail section, choose the Contained Objects tab.
The Contained Objects tab page opens.
3. Choose Catalog from the Type field and choose Create Object.
4. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, enter the name of the catalog and choose Create and
navigate to object.
The newly created catalog appears in the Object Manager panel.
5. You can add folder, object and link nodes to the root node of the catalog.
○ Add a Folder Node
1. Under the Structure subsection, in the context menu of the catalog, choose Create Folder Node....
The folder node appears below the root node.
2. Enter the following data in the General tab.
○ Name
The name is displayed in the tree hierarchy in the catalog maintenance view. The name is
used as a backup if the text is not available.
○ Text
The text is displayed in the catalog browser mode.
Note
You can also add sub-nodes to the folder.
234
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
○ Add a Object Node
The object node has reference to BRFplus objects. You can add an initial node, select an existing
object or create a new object.
If you want to create a node which has no binding then use the create an initial node option.
○ Create an Initial Node
1. Under the Structure subsection, in the context menu of the catalog, choose
Create Object
Node Create Initial Node... .
The object node appears.
2. Enter the name of the leaf node under the General tab.
3. Assign an object to the object node. You can either assign an existing object or a new object to
the object node.
○ Assign an Existing Object
1. Under the General tab, choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Select Object.
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, enter the name of the expression in the
Object Name field and choose the object type.
4. Choose Search
5. Select the object.
○ Assign a New Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Create Object.
3. In the General Data section, enter the name and choose the type of object from the
Type field.
4. Choose Create and navigate to object button.
The object opens in the Object Manager panel.
Note
If you choose Create button, the object is created and assigned to the object node.
○ Select an Existing Object
1. Under the Structure subsection, in the context menu of the catalog, choose
Node
Create Object
Select Existing Object... .
2. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, enter the name of the expression in the Object
Name field and choose the object type.
3. Choose Search.
The object appears below the Search button.
4. Select the object.
○ Create a New Object
○ Under the Structure subsection, in the context menu of the catalog, choose Create Object
Node and create the object.
○ Add a Link to Catalog
○ Create an Initial Node
1. Under the Structure subsection, in the context menu, choose
Create Catalog Node
Create
Initial Node...
2. Enter the name of the link node.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
235
3. Choose
.
4. In the context menu, choose Select Catalog Node.
5. In the Select a Node dialog box that appears, under the Select Catalog tab, choose the catalog
and choose Select.
6. In the Select Node tab that opens, select the node and choose OK.
The catalog is assigned to the link.
Note
The root node can also be linked.
○ Select an Existing Catalog Node
1. Under the Structure subsection, in the context menu, choose
Create Catalog Node
Select
Catalog Node...
2. In the Select a Node dialog box that appears, under the Select Catalog tab, choose the catalog
and choose Select.
3. In the Select Node tab that opens, select the node and choose OK.
The catalog is assigned to the link.
Note
The root node can also be linked.
6. Activate the catalog.
7. Save the catalog.
Next Steps
Adding Attributes [page 237]
Maintaining Object Types [page 236]
1.3.8.2
Maintaining Object Types
Procedure
1. Open the catalog in the Object Manager panel.
2. In the Object Types tab, choose Add Type.
A new row is added to the table.
3. In the new row, enter the object type.
236
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
You can also select the object type from a list.
1. Choose
.
2. In the dialog box that appears, select the type and choose OK.
Next Steps
Creating a Catalog [page 233]
Adding Attributes [page 237]
1.3.8.3
Adding Attributes
Procedure
The root node of the catalog contains the properties of the catalog.
● Add Attributes to Structure Node
1. Open the catalog in the Object Manager panel.
2. Under Catalog, choose the Attributes Folder tab.
The Attributes Folder tab page opens.
3. Choose Add Attribute.
4. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the data object.
● Add Attributes to Object Node
1. Open the catalog in the Object Manager panel.
2. Under Catalog, choose the Attributes Link to Object tab.
The Attributes Link to Object tab page opens.
3. Choose Add Attribute.
4. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the data object.
The data object gets added to the object node.
● Add Attributes to Link Node
1. Open the catalog in the Object Manager panel.
2. Under Catalog, choose the Attributes Link to Catalog tab.
The Attributes Link to Catalog tab page opens.
3. Choose Add Attribute.
4. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the data object.
The data object gets added to the link node.
Note
For each node type, you can define six different attributes.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
237
More Information
Creating a Catalog [page 233]
Maintaining Object Types [page 236]
1.3.9 Creating Action Types
Use
This section describes the tasks one needs to perform while creating different types of actions.
More Information
Creating a Message Log Action [page 238]
Creating a Send Email Action [page 241]
Creating a Static Method Call Action [page 242]
1.3.9.1
Creating a Message Log Action
Use
The message log action is used to write messages into an application log. Messages are created from the
message class definition in the backend or by entering free text with parameters. The parameters of the
messages are filled directly or derived either from context data objects or a nested expression at runtime.
Procedure
1. Open the application in the Object Manager panel.
2. Under the Detail section, choose the Contained Objects tab.
The Contained Objects tab page opens.
3. Choose Action from the Type field and choose Create Object.
4. In the Object Creation dialog that appears, choose Message Log (Actn) from the Type field.
5. Enter the name of the action.
6. Choose Create and navigate to object.
You are directly navigated to the action object that you created.
238
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Note
If you choose Create, the action object appears under the Contained Objects tab.
7. Under the Detail section, enter the application log object and sub-object.
The Application log object field and the Application log subobject field indicate the location in which the
object and the sub-object reside.
8. Select the external identification type. You can choose from the following:
○ No External Identification in log
○ Choose No External Identification in log
○ External Identification as Free Text Input
1. Choose External Identification as Free Text Input.
The free text field appears.
2. Enter text in the Free Text field.
○ External Identification as Reference Object
1. Choose External Identification as Reference Object.
The reference object field appears.
2. Assign reference object. You can select a standard type, an existing data object or an existing
expression.
○ Select a Standard Type
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Default Objects and select the standard type.
○ Select an Existing Data Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Other Context Parameter...
3. In the Context Query dialog box that appears, select the data object.
○ Select an Existing Expression
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Expressions...
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, enter the name of the application in the
Object Name field and choose Search.
The expression appears below the Search button.
4. Select the expression.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
239
9. To save the messages in the database, select the Persist checkbox.
10. Choose .
A message template appears.
You can use an existing message or create a new message.
○ Create a New Message
1. Enter the text for the message.
2. Choose the type of action message from the Type field.
The different types of action messages are:
○ Information
○ Abort
○ Error
○ Status
○ Warning
○ Exit
○ Use an Existing Message
1. Choose the Use Predefined Message button.
2. Enter the message class, number and type.
If the message contains any dynamic placeholders, enter the value either directly or use the
reference.
11. Activate the action.
12. Save the action.
Note
If you want to assign a message with parameters to a message log action, make sure that the parameters
used in the message short text are numbered ( &1, &2, &3, &4). Although it is syntactically allowed to
omit the numbers, BRFplus will not recognize such unqualified parameters as a parameter and will display
them literally as "&" instead of replacing them with a value.
More Information
Adding Followup Actions [page 243]
240
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
1.3.9.2
Creating a Send Email Action
Procedure
1. Open the application in the Object Manager panel.
2. Under the Detail section, choose the Contained Objects tab.
The Contained Objects tab page opens.
3. Choose Action from the Type field and then choose Create Object.
4. In the Object Creation dialog that appears, choose Send Email (Actn) from the Type field.
5. Enter the name of the action.
6. Choose Create and navigate to object.
You are directed to the action object that you have created.
Note
If you choose Create, the action object appears under the Contained Objects tab.
7. Under the Detail section, enter the following data:
○ Email address of the recipient in the To field.
You can enter the email address of more than one recipient by using a semi-colon (;) to separate the
addresses.
○ Enter the subject and body of the email.
Note
You can enter dynamic placeholders in the subject and body of the email and bind the placeholders
to a data object or an expression. A placeholder is composed of an ampersand and a numeric value,
for example, &1, &2… When the email is triggered, the system evaluates the data objects or the
expressions. The value replaces the placeholders in the email.
1. Enter the placeholders in the Subject and Body field.
2. Choose the Refresh Placeholder button.
The Message Placeholders section appears.
3. You can bind the placeholders to a standard type, an existing data object or expression.
○
1. Bind to a Standard Type
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Default Objects and choose the standard type.
2. Bind to an Existing Data Object
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Other Context Parameter....
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the data object.
3. Bind to an Existing Expression
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
241
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Expressions....
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the expression.
4. Bind to a New Expression
1. Choose
.
2. In the context menu, choose Create Expression....
3. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, create the expression.
For more information, see Creating Expressions [page 184]
4. Similarly, perform the above steps to bind the placeholders in the body of the email.
8. Activate and save the action.
Next Steps
Adding Followup Actions [page 243]
Creating Action Types [page 238]
1.3.9.3
Creating a Static Method Call Action
Context
A static method call action is used to call a static method in a class that implements a special interface. It takes
a class that implements the interface and calls the static method on that class.
Procedure
1. Open the application in the Object Manager panel.
2. Under the Detail section, choose the Contained Objects tab.
The Contained Objects tab page opens.
3. Choose Action from the Type field and choose Create Object.
4. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, choose Static Method (Actn) from the Type field.
5. Enter the name of the action.
6. Choose Create and navigate to object.
You are directly navigated to the action object that you have created.
242
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Note
If you choose Create button, the created action object appears under the Contained Objects tab. Click
the name of the created object to define the action messages.
7. Enter the name of the class or choose
in the Class field.
8. In the list that appears, select a relevant class and choose OK.
The selected class is added.
9. Add parameters to the action.
You can add an existing expression or create a new expression.
○ Add an Existing Expression
1. Under Detail section, choose
Add Parameter
Select... .
2. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, enter the name of the expression in the Object Name
field and choose Search.
The expression appears below the Search button.
3. Select the expression.
○ Add a New Expression
1. Under Detail section, choose
Add Parameter
Create... .
2. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears, enter the name, select the type of expression and
choose Create.
For more information, see Creating Expressions [page 184]
10. Activate the action.
11. Save the action.
Next Steps
Adding Followup Actions [page 243]
1.3.9.4
Adding Followup Actions
Procedure
You can add followup actions to message log actions and static method call actions.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
243
1. Open the action in the Object Manager panel.
2. Under the General section, choose the Followup Actions tab.
The Followup Actions tab page opens.
3. You can add a new action or add an existing action to the message log action.
○ Add a New Action
1. Choose Add New Action.
2. In the Object Creation dialog box that appears create a new action.
○ Add an Existing Action
1. Choose Add Existing Action.
2. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the action and choose Select.
The selected action is added as a followup action.
4. Activate the action.
5. Save the action.
More Information
Creating a Message Log Action [page 238]
Creating a Static Method Call Action [page 242]
Creating a Send Email Action [page 241]
1.3.10 Configuring the User Settings
Use
You can configure the UI look and feel according to your needs and personal preferences.
Procedure
1. In the menu bar, choose
Workbench
Personalize .
2. In the Personalization dialog box that appears, make the desired changes on the different tabs.
3. Choose Save to make the current settings effective.
Note
You can reset all settings offered in the Personalization dialog box to their system defaults. To accomplish
this, click Restore Default Settings.
Some of the personalization settings will only become effective after restarting the BRFplus workbench.
244
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
1.3.11 Transporting Objects
Context
BRFplus provides a transport mechanism to transfer system and customizing objects from one system to the
other.
Procedure
1. Open the application in the Object Manager panel.
2. Choose the Transport button.
3. In the Confirmation of transportation dialog box that appears, enter the transportation request in the
Request field.
4. Choose OK.
1.3.12 Setting Versions
Procedure
1. Open the application in the Object Manager panel.
2. Choose
next to the General section.
3. In the context menu, choose Set Versioning On.
4. In the Confirmation of change of versioning mode dialog box that appears, select the Include reference
objects check box and choose OK.
The list of affected objects appears.
5. Choose OK.
Next Steps
Versioning [page 165]
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
245
1.3.13 Adding Current Objects to Favorites
Procedure
1. In the Navigation panel, choose the object you want to add to Favorites..
2. In the menu bar, choose
Workbench
Add Current Object to Favorites...
The object appears in the Navigation Panel under the Favorites section.
1.3.14 Checking Usage of Objects
Context
The where-used list allows object dependencies to be set and retrieved. Checking the usage of objects is
needed while using the trace and simulation tool. The where-used list prevents inconsistencies when users
want to delete objects that are still used by other objects.
Procedure
1. Choose the application from which you want to check the usage of objects from the Navigation panel.
The application opens in the Object Manager panel.
2. Choose the Contained Objects tab.
The Contained Objects tab page opens.
3. In the Type field, choose the type of object.
4. Select the object from the list, choose
You can also
Display Where Used List .
The usages for the selected object appear in the Where-used list dialog box.
246
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
1.3.15 Deleting Objects in an Application
Procedure
1. Choose the application in which the object is located from the Repository or Recently Used panel.
2. In the Detail section, under Contained Objects, choose the object type you want to delete from the Type
field.
A list of the selected object type appears.
Example
If you want to delete a data object, choose Data Object in the Type field.
3. Choose the object you want to delete from the list.
Note
Before deleting an object, use the Where-Used List to check the usage of objects.
For more information, see Checking Usage of Objects [page 246]
4. You can either delete it directly or you can mark it for delete.
○ Delete an object which is not used any more in any version
1. Choose
Delete
Delete .
2. In the Confirmation of Deletion dialog box that appears, choose OK.
○ Delete an object which is marked for delete
1. Choose
Delete
Delete Only Objects Marked For Delete .
2. In the Confirmation of Deletion dialog box that appears, choose OK.
○ Mark an object which is not used any more
1. Choose
Delete
Mark For Delete .
2. In the Confirmation of mark for deletion dialog box that appears, choose OK.
The confirmation message appears above the menu bar.
Results
The object gets deleted.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
247
1.3.16 Working with Tools
Use
This section describes the different tool components that are available in BRFplus.
Note
Except for the simulation tool, the tools are available only in expert mode. To switch to expert mode, choose
in the upper right corner of the workbench window, then User Mode.
● Checking Application Usage [page 251]
● Deleting Unused Objects [page 254]
● Analyzing Object in Transport Request [page 254]
● Simulating a Function [page 255]
● Importing Values from an Excel File during Simulation [page 256]
● Exporting Content to Excel File during Simulation [page 256]
● Generating Web Services [page 257]
● Export and Import of XML Data [page 259]
1.3.16.1 Application Administration
Use
The application administration tool serves as a starting point for different operations that you can execute to
clean up the BRFplus database and remove out-of-date, unused objects or object versions. This helps you
keeping the database focused on the productive objects only, which in turn leads to a reduction of potential
problems in terms of cross-dependencies and transport-related problems.
All operations offered by the application administration tool are based on reports that are also available in the
backend via the FDT_HELPERS transaction. The backend versions of the reports offer even more features than
the application administration tool. Consequently, the backend version is recommended for system
administrators, while the application administration tool addresses occasional users. On the other hand, using
the application administration tool in the BRFplus workbench has advantages with respect to giving the user a
detailed overview of what an operation is about to do. Once you have defined a selection, the system collects
all affected objects and presents them in a list. This overview on the level of single objects is available only in
the application administration tool, not in the backend.
Features
The application administration tool offers the following operations:
Selection
248
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
All of the operations available in the application administration tool are executed for the minimum object
scope of an application. Some of the operations allow for multiple applications and additional selection criteria,
like transport behavior, storage type, application component, software component, and so on.
Once you have defined the object scope and clicked Apply, the system determines the applications that match
the criteria and contain objects that are about to be touched by the operation that you want to perform. These
applications are listed in the UI for you to check if this is the desired scope. If not, you can easily modify the
selection criteria.
From the list of selected objects, you can make the system perform the operation in question for single objects
only, rather than for the entire selection. For example, from a list of unused objects to be deleted, you can
choose to delete only a few and then cancel the mass operation.
Note
If you have defined selection criteria for an operation that supports different criteria at the same time, and
then switch to another operation type that only supports selecting an application, then all the additional
selection criteria are lost. However, in this situation, the system notifies you so that you can preserve your
selection.
Operations
Delete Unused Objects
With this operation, you can delete all objects in an application that are not referenced by any other objects.
Objects may be unused because of different reasons:
● Objects that have only been created for test purposes.
● Objects that were used once but have been replaced by another object.
● Objects that were created as an embedded object of a container object, and the container has been
deleted in the meantime.
Unused objects fall into two different categories:
● Named objects
Named unused objects are mostly covered by the first two groups listed above.
● Unnamed objects
Unnamed unused objects are automatically created behind the scenes by the system as a reaction to a
particular user action. For example, in previous releases of BRFplus, when you entered a range into the
condition cell of a decision table, the system would automatically create an unnamed range expression in
the same application and establish a reference relationship between the decision table and the range
expression. This kind of object is particularly hard to find because they are not shown in the repository tree
or any other kind of object list.
Once you have made your selection and click Apply, the system collects the affected objects. If named unused
objects are found, they are shown in a list, and the Delete button is enabled. If unnamed unused objects are
found, the Cleanup Unnamed Unused Objects button is enabled.
Note
Unlike most other operations offered by the application administration tool, the Delete Unused Objects
operation cannot be run in test mode. If you click the Delete or Cleanup button, the system performs that
operation and removes the affected objects from the database. However, keep in mind that the missing test
mode is substituted by the list of affected objects that is populated when you apply the selection data to the
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
249
tool. In addition, the objects collected by this operation are by definition unused, so there is no threat of
data loss.
When you have performed this operation successfully, we recommend that you reapply the same selection
once again. This is to find out if there are any new unused objects in the application after the first deletion
run. New unused objects can occur if there are objects in the system that were previously used by an
unused object that has been deleted in the previous run. After the run, an object that was previously used by
a now deleted object only becomes unused itself after the previous run, thus becoming subject to the same
operation in a second run, and so on.
Delete Objects Marked for Deletion
With this operation, you can logically delete all objects in a given set of applications that have been marked for
deletion and are not referenced by any other objects. Once you have made your selection and click Apply, the
system collects the applications with affected objects.
Besides being marked for deletion and not being referenced by any other object, there is a third criterion that
must be fulfilled before an object is actually deleted by this operation: Based on the current system date, the
system subtracts a predefined amount of time referred to as the data retention period. The resulting date after
this subtraction serves as a threshold: Only objects that have been marked for deletion before that threshold
date are actually deleted.
The default value for the data retention period is 90 days. However, the resulting threshold date can be
manually adjusted in the Application Administration tool.
Note
This operation can only be performed on entire applications. It is not possible to include or exclude
individual objects from the processing.
Discard Old Object Versions
With this operation, you can logically delete outdated object versions in a given set of applications. The system
cuts off all object versions that are older than the given threshold date. The version that was in effect at the
threshold date is modified such that the threshold date is assigned as the version's start date. The system
takes care that all dependencies between the affected objects are properly preserved, so that it is still possible
to revert the system to the state it was in at the threshold date. The discarded object versions remain
physically in the database after processing but can no longer be accessed. They are physically removed after a
retention period from the system by an additional cleanup run.
Caution
Keep in mind that there may be important reasons for object versioning, most typically for reasons of legal
compliance and auditing. Therefore, be very careful when you use this operation. You should make it totally
clear that the object versions to be discarded won't be needed for whatever purpose ever again.
Clean up Database
With this operation, you can explicitly clean up the database from the deactivated objects and object versions
that exist in the database as a result of the operations described above, Delete Objects Marked for Deletion as
well as Discard Old Object Versions. By executing this operation, hidden object versions as well as logically
deleted objects are physically deleted from the database and cannot be retrieved anymore.
Reorganize Objects
250
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
With this operation, you can reorganize the internal structure of certain expressions (for example, decision
table, loop, case, boolean) in a BRFplus application that have been taken over from an older release of
BRFplus. This helps to improve performance as well as to simplify the maintenance of such legacy objects.
More Information
Deleting Objects [page 55]
Versioning [page 165]
1.3.16.2 Checking Application Usage
Prerequisites
You are working in the expert mode.
Procedure
1. Choose
Tools
Application Usage .
The application usage page opens.
2. Enter the application's name in the Application field and choose Select.
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, select the application from the table list.
The selected application appears in the application usage page.
4. Choose the query type.
You can select applications used by the selected application or select applications using the selected
application.
5. Choose the query scope.
You can select the latest version or the version at timepoint or all the available versions.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
251
6. Choose Start Query button.
The query result appears below the Start Query button.
1.3.16.3 Checking Dictionary Usages
Use
One of the powerful features of BRFplus is its ability to let you build up a data model that is based on the
original data objects as defined for the calling application in the Data Dictionary of the backend system. With
this tool, you can analyze all of the usages of Dictionary objects in the given scope.
Prerequisites
You are running the BRFplus workbench in Expert mode.
Features
Selection
There are several different approaches to control both the scope of objects where the tool searches for
potential usages (search domain) as well as the scope of objects that are actually bound to Dictionary
elements:
Search Domain
When you start the tool from the Tools menu, all entry fields available for scope reduction are empty. Starting
the search with this setting would yield the results of a search throughout the entire system. This would be by
far too time-consuming. The system therefore requires that you enter a Dictionary type or a BRFplus
application as a search domain (or both).
In addition, you can further restrict the search domain to a particular application component. If you decide to
do so, the tool yields only those Dictionary usages that are found in BRFplus applications that are assigned to
the given application component.
Note
Both for entries in the Dictionary Type as well as Application field, you must use distinct names. Wildcards
are not supported here.
Object Scope
Dictionary elements can only be bound to BRFplus data objects. However, you can define if the tool shall yield
a list of usages across all kinds of data objects, or if you want to restrict the result list to contain only
elementary data objects, structures, tables, or any combination of these.
252
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Result
Once you have defined the selection criteria and click Start Search, the system determines all data objects
matching the criteria and populates the result list with these matches. For each entry in the list, the system
displays the name of the BRFplus data object, its type (element, structure, or table), the Dictionary type to
which is it bound, and the BRFplus application to which it belongs. Both the data object name as well as the
application name are rendered as links, so that you can navigate to the respective object by clicking the link.
Updating the Data Binding
In the Binding column, the system uses a traffic light icon to indicate whether the binding between the data
object and the Dictionary element is still up-to-date or not. If the traffic light is red, you need to check the data
object and refresh the binding. To do so, proceed as follows:
1. Click the name of the data object.
The system displays the details screen for the data object.
2. Choose Edit.
3. Choose Refresh Binding.
The system updates the data object according to the current status of the Dictionary element to which it is
bound.
4. Choose Activate to save and activate the updated data object.
5. Choose Close to return to the Dictionary Usages tool.
Note
Depending on the root cause for the fact that a binding relationship is flagged as out of date, the steps listed
above may not necessarily be successful. For example, if the bound Dictionary element has been deleted
after the binding has been set up, it is of course not possible to update the data object by simply clicking on
Refresh Data Binding. In such a case, you have to investigate what has happened to the Dictionary element
and either set up a new Dictionary element with the same structure or establish a binding relationship to
another Dictionary element that may have replaced the original element.
Even if refreshing the data binding is successful and after activating the data object, there is no guarantee
whatsoever that the rules using the data object work as before. This is because BRFplus cannot keep track
of the changes to the properties and the structure of bound Dictionary elements. The reason for an out-ofdate binding may be a change in the short text of a data element, but it may as well be the elimination of 10
fields from a Dictionary structure. It is up to you to analyze the nature and the consequences of the change
that has taken place.
More Information
Data Binding [page 61]
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
253
1.3.16.4 Deleting Unused Objects
Procedure
1. Choose
Tools
Application Administration .
The application administration tool is displayed.
2. From the Operation dropdown list, choose Delete Unused Objects.
3. In the Object Scope section, enter the name of the application where you want to search for, and delete,
unused objects and choose Apply.
Note
You can enter the name of only one application for this function. There is no support for wildcards.
The system populates the Named Unused Objects list with the unused objects that currently exist in the
chosen application, broken down by object type.
4. Decide how you want to proceed:
○ If you want to delete all unused objects in the application that you have chosen, click the Delete
button.
○ If you want to delete only individual objects, navigate to the desired object and click
column.
in the Delete
The Messages section displays the number and other details on the objects deleted from the application.
1.3.16.5 Analyzing Objects in a Transport Request
Prerequisites
You are working in expert mode.
Context
The tool displays, analyzes, and checks BRFplus objects that are recorded on a certain transport request. It
performs different activities, depending on whether it is run in the source or the target system:
● In the source system, unreleased transports are shown with objects that contain errors or
inconsistencies. The tool also provides an option to navigate to the affected objects and to correct the
254
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
errors or inconsistencies so that the transport can be released without errors from the Before Export
Processing check.
● In the target system, transports are shown where problems during the After Import Processing check
have occurred, with the consequence of imported objects that have not been activated in the target
system. You can restart the After Import Processing check for these transports after the root cause of the
problem has been fixed.
Example
Possible problems can be caused by data objects bound to a DDIC object that does not exist in the
target system. Also, a customer-defined expression type can cause this kind of error if instances of this
expression type have been transported although the underlying classes and interfaces for the
expression type are not yet present in the target system.
Procedure
● Choose
Tools
Transport Analysis .
The transport analysis page opens.
1.3.16.6 Simulating a Function
Use
The simulation tool works similar to function module testing in the ABAP workbench. The tool allows you to
provide input for all kinds of data objects, processes the input, and returns a result.
Prerequisites
The function is activated.
Procedure
1. Open the function in the Object Manager panel.
2. Choose the Start Simulation button.
The Start Simulation button is active only with an activated function.
3. In the Simulation dialog box that appears, under Maintain Context Data Object Values section, enter values
next to the context field.
You can also import values from an excel file.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
255
For more information, see Importing Values from an Excel File during Simulation [page 256]
4. Under the Simulation Mode section, you can choose Show only Result or Show also Results of Intermediate
Steps.
5. Choose Run Simulation.
The result appears in the simulation page.
Note
Note that not only the function has to be activated, but also the expressions and other objects that are
processed. If the simulation yields unexpected results or error messages, chances are that this is due to a
correction you may have made to one of the involved objects without having activated that object
afterwards.
1.3.16.7 Importing Values from an Excel File during
Simulation
Procedure
1. Open the function in the Object Manager panel.
2. Choose the Start Simulation button.
The Start Simulation button is active only with an activated function.
3. In the simulation page, choose Browse... next to Select Excel File.
4. In the Choose File dialog box that appears, select the excel file.
The path of the selected file appears in the box next to the Select Excel File field.
5. Choose Import Test Data.
1.3.16.8 Exporting Context to Excel File during Simulation
Procedure
1. Open the function in the Object Manager panel.
2. Choose the Start Simulation button.
The Start Simulation button is active only with an activated function.
256
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
3. In the simulation page, choose Export Context to Excel.
4. In the File Download dialog box that appears, choose Open or Save.
1.3.16.9 Generating Web Services and Function Modules
Use
The generation tool for web services and RFC-enabled function modules helps an application developer as well
as a third-party user to process the rules defined in BRFplus. The tool helps to create web services and
function modules in a highly automated fashion with minimal interaction.
Example
You have created a BRFplus function for rule-based calculation of freight costs. This function is called by
application A. It may now turn out that the cost calculation logic is so generic that the same rules could also
be used to support freight cost calculation in a second application B. However, B is a Java-based web
application that cannot directly call the BRFplus function in the ABAP backend system. To solve this
scenario, you generate a web service for the BRFplus function in question. This enables web application B to
call the BRFplus function via the generated web service.
Procedure
Generating a Web Service
1. Choose
Tools
Web Service Generation .
2. In the web service generation page that appears, choose Select Function.
3. In the Object Query dialog box that appears, enter the name of the function and application and choose
Search.
4. Select a function from the list.
The selected function appears under the Function section.
Note
To choose any other function, choose Select Other Function.
You can also start the generation tool from the context menu of a function in the navigation panel of the
BRFplus workbench, or with the Generate button in the work area of a function that you are currently
editing. With both approaches, the function to be generated is then already preselected by the system.
5. Configure the web service. In the Web Service section, enter the following data:
1. To create a new function group, select Create Function Group checkbox. Otherwise the function
module is generated in the existing function group provided.
2. To use an existing function group, enter the name of the function group in the Function Group field.
3. Enter the name of the function module for the generated Remote Function Call (RFC) function module
in the Function Module field.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
257
4. Enter name and short text for the web service in Web Service Name and Web Service Short Text fields.
5. To choose the level of security, open the value help of the Web Service Security Profile field. From the
different security profiles offered, choose the one you want to use.
6. In the Transport section, make the required entries:
1. The development package in which you want to generate the web service.
Select the Local Package checkbox if the web service does not need to be transported to other
systems. You may as well enter $TMP in the Development Package field for this purpose.
Note
You have to transport the objects if you generate the web service in a development package that is
not local and if the package is transportable.
For more information, see Transporting Objects [page 245]
2. Enter the workbench request.
7. Choose Generate.
The web service is automatically generated with all the required objects.
Activating the generated web service
Once you have walked through all the steps listed above, the system has generated all the required objects.
However, the newly generated web service cannot be used immediately. This is due to applicable security
standards that require that web services must be explicitly activated by an authorized user. As a consequence,
you have to carry out the following steps manually:
1. In the backend system, start transaction SICF.
2. In the Service Name field, enter the name of the service you have generated and choose
Program
Execute .
The system expands the services tree until the services is visible.
3. Choose Service/Host Display/Change .
The system displays all the settings that have been created for the generated service.
4. Check all the settings and modify them where necessary.
5. Save your changes and leave the transaction.
6. Start transaction SOAMANAGER.
The system starts the SOA Management tool in a new browser window.
7. Choose
Service Administration
Single Service Configuration .
8. Enter the service name (or a part of it) into the Search Pattern field.
9. In the Search Results table, select the row containing the desired service and click on Apply Selection.
10. On the Configurations tab, click on Create Endpoints. Check the default settings for Service Name,
Description, and New Binding Name that the system suggests.
11. Once the system has generated the newly defined endpoint, you can maintain the configuration details for
it (Provider Security, Transport Settings, and so on).
After you have completed the steps above and successfully saved the settings, you can use the web service.
Generating a Function Module
Generating an RFC-enabled function module for a BRFplus function is a subset of generating a web service.
Therefore, the steps related to function groups and function modules as described above apply to the
generation of a function module as well.
258
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
1.3.16.10 Export and Import of XML Data
Use
You can convert BRFplus objects into an XML representation. This is helpful if you want to transfer objects
between systems that are not located in the same system landscape, or if there is no transport connection
provided by the SAP transport system.
Prerequisites
You are running the BRFplus workbench in Expert Mode.
Features
Export
The XML export function works in an object-based manner, that is, you start by selecting a BRFplus object that
you want to export. However, it is possible to extend the scope of an XML export in the following ways:
● Include Referenced Objects: With this option set, the selected object is exported together with all objects
that are directly or indirectly referenced by the selected object.
● Include Application: With this option set, the selected object is exported together with the BRFplus
application to which the object belongs.
In addition to the scope selection as described above, you can further fine-tune the export by choosing a
particular XML version and an XML schema for the export. Depending on the selection you make, the system
adapts the format and syntax of the exported data. This is helpful in situations where you have to transport
BRFplus objects to a system with a lower release than the source system. Of course, it is always
recommendable to choose the highest XML version for the export that is supported by the target system so
that the system can profit from as many features as possible.
The purpose of the XML schema selection is to let you choose between different flavors of an XML-based
object representation:
● Internal
As the name suggests, the Internal schema renders the schema element names in the same way that is
used internally by BRFplus. Therefore, with this schema, the system does not need to perform any
transformations during XML import or export.
● External
The External schema is functional equivalent to the Internal schema, but renders all schema element
names in upper camel case notation rather than in capitals. This makes the XML data more readable,
which is useful if you want to analyze the XML data manually.
Note
To find out which is the highest XML version supported by the target system, start the import function in the
target system. The highest version supported is displayed on the screen.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
259
The XML schema selection is only available if you have chosen the respective setting in the Personalization
dialog.
Import
The XML import function is the complementary to the export function. It is used to reimport XML data that
have previously been exported from BRFplus into a different system.
Prior to actually importing data, we recommend to first start the import as a Test Run. The system then checks
the import data to be uploaded for inconsistencies and other possible problems, without actually writing any
data into the target system. You can use the check results for cleaning up and correcting the import data
before you start the actual data import.
If the target system into which you want to import the data is not located at the end of the transport chain in
your system landscape, the imported data has to be transported to the subsequent systems. To accomplish
this, you have to enter the ID of a suitable transport request that you have previously created in the import
target system.
Import Types
For XML data to be imported into the system, BRFplus offers the following import types:
● Standard
With this option, you can import changes for objects that are changeable in the target system.
● Repair
With this option, you can repair content that is normally not changeable in the system due to the fact that
it was imported to the system by a normal transport. The repair option should only be used to import
content changes provided by an SAP correction note. You may use this option to apply a content
correction to a system before the corresponding support package with the corrected content is imported
into the system.
● Local Copy
With this option, you can create a local copy of a non-local application in the source file.
Note
You can use this option only if the application in the source file is not local and has not yet reached the
target system via a normal transport. This check ensures that local copies cannot overwrite
transported data. This is important because this option results in an exact copy of the imported objects,
including the original ID of the imported objects. With that, the ID of the affected objects is no longer
globally unique, and any further transport would lead to unpredictable results.
Note that selecting a particular import type is only possible if the corresponding personalization setting has
been activated. Otherwise, the import type selection is not visible, and the system uses the Standard import
type.
Handling of Import Conflicts
If the system detects an object in the import data with the same ID as an already existing object in the target
system, the further processing depends on the versioning setting of that object:
● Versioning is active
The object contained in the import data is imported as a new version of the object in the target system.
● Versioning is not active
260
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
The object contained in the import data overwrites the existing object in the target system without further
notice. There is no way for a user to influence this behavior.
Export and Import Across Applications
Both export and import of XML data can only be performed for objects belonging to the same BRFplus
application. If you have to transfer objects from different applications, you have to split the export and import
process such that for each application involved, you have to use a separate data file. When importing such a
multi-application project into the target system, make sure that the data files are processed according to the
usage relationships between the different applications: Start by importing objects that are used by objects
from a different application before importing the using objects. Otherwise, the import fails due to object
references that the system cannot resolve.
Activities
Export
To export a BRFplus object from the current system, proceed as follows:
1. Choose Tools XML Export .
The system displays the XML Export screen.
2. Click Select an Object to choose from all BRFplus objects that are available in the current system the one
that you want to export.
3. Choose Include Referenced Objects if you want to include all objects in the export that are referenced by
the selected object.
4. Choose Include Application if you want to include the application object in the export to which the selected
object belongs.
5. From the XML Version dropdown list, choose the highest version number that is supported by the target
system.
6. From the XML Schema dropdown list, choose the XML schema that fits your needs best.
7. Click Generate XML File to start the XML conversion process.
Note
The Generate XML File is active only after you have selected an object for export.
8. Click Download XML File to define a folder in the file system where the system shall store the XML file
generated in the previous step.
Import
To import a file containing BRFplus object data into the current system, proceed as follows:
1. Choose Tools XML Import .
The system displays the XML Import screen.
2. Make sure the XML version of the data to be imported is less than or equal to the Highest XML Version
Supported as outlined on the XML Import screen.
3. Enter the name of the XML File to be imported. You can also select the file by clicking the Browse button
and navigating through the file system.
4. Choose the appropriate Import Type.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
261
5. Decide whether the data to be imported shall be written to a transport request:
○ For BRFplus objects that are used only local in the target system, no transport is needed. The same
applies if there are no subsequent systems in your system landscape receiving transports from the
import target system.
○ For BRFplus objects defined as customizing objects, enter a Customizing Transport Request ID. This is
necessary for customer-defined objects.
○ For BRFplus objects defined as system objects, enter a Workbench Transport Request ID. This is
necessary for objects delivered by SAP.
6. Decide whether you want to execute the XML import as Test Run or not.
The Test Run mode is a simulation mode where the system performs all import steps except for actually
writing data into the target system. You can use this mode for checking if the import data is consistent and
complete before making physical changes to the target system.
7. Click Upload File to start either the test run or the XML data import.
More Information
Storage Types [page 34]
Versioning [page 165]
1.3.16.11 Mass Change
Use
The BRFplus workbench provides an easy-to-use interface for creating and maintaining the various objects
that make up a business rules application. However, when it comes to changes that have to be applied to many
objects in the same way, navigating between the objects can become tedious and uncomfortable. To
overcome this problem, BRFplus offers a mass change tool that lets you carry out object changes with little
effort, regardless of how many objects are affected by a particular change.
The following mass change activities are supported by the tool:
● Check
● Activate
● Mark as obsolete
● Remove obsolete flag
● Mark for deletion
● Remove deletion flag
● Delete
● Set access level
● Set versioning status
● Rename
● Copy
● Export to XML
262
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
The mass change tool is also useful in situations where you want to change several objects, but the change
itself slightly differs from object to object rather than applying exactly the same change to all selected objects.
Example
You have built up a new business rules application. You have created a set of data objects and to ease your
life, you created them all quickly by copying the first data object, with no further modifications. You can now
load all these data objects into the mass change tool and edit the names and texts of all the objects
individually. Once you are done, you click Save to let the system write all the changes into the database at
once.
Features
Scope
The scope of objects that are loaded into the mass change tool depends on how you start the tool. You have
the following options:
● Main Menu
Choose
Tools
Mass Change . The system behavior depends on the current workbench status:
○ No object selected
The system loads all applications into the tool that have been created by the currently logged on user.
○ Object selected
The system loads the application to which the selected object belongs into the tool, with the selected
object marked.
● Context Menu in Navigation Panel
From the context menu of an object displayed in the navigation panel, choose Tools Mass Change .
The system loads the application to which the selected object belongs into the tool, with the selected
object marked.
● Search Inside Mass Change
With the mass change tool running, choose Search and enter the search criteria. All objects matching the
search criteria are loaded into the tool. This is the only option where the root element in each row is not
necessarily an application.
Note
Inside the mass change tool, you can force the system to display the contents of all applications created by
the currently logged on user by choosing Show My Applications. This option results in the same object
scope as if you would have started the mass change tool with no object currently selected (see above).
Once the system has populated the list of objects, you can recursively expand each of the listed objects to
access all the objects being used by it.
Object Selection
You mark objects to build up a selection of objects to which you want to apply a particular change. Changes
can be made to all objects that are currently loaded into the tool. This is even true for objects that belong to
different applications.
Selecting Individual Objects
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
263
You select the objects to be changed by clicking the respective table row with the row selection button at the
beginning of the row. To select more than one object, click the table row while holding the Shift key or the
Ctrl key. To select all objects that are loaded into the tool, choose Select All Items.
Selecting Object Hierarchies
It is often necessary to ensure that a change is not only applied to a particular object but also to all objects that
are used by the first object. You can accomplish this by setting the Uses flag for the first object. With that, the
system includes all subordinate objects into the selection.
Note
The tool cannot resolve object relationships that go beyond application boundaries. Such cross-application
constellations can occur with objects whose access level has been set to a less restrictive level than the
Application level defined as the system default. Here, the object drilldown stops whenever the tool
determines a dependent object that originates from a different application. Any activities that you initiate
for the selected objects stop at that point, leaving the objects in the different application unchanged.
Depending on how you have defined the scope of objects loaded into the mass change tool (see section
Scope above), selecting object hierarchies can lead to a system behavior where the same object is shown
multiple times in the object list. If you select such an object, the system marks it as selected at all places in
the list where that object occurs. This is because each object can be seen as a self-contained entity and as
part of other objects at the same time.
Uses Flag: Additional Information
264
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
The semantics of the Uses flag for objects shown in the mass change tool may not be obvious at first glance.
Here is a description of the different states for this flag:
Table 45:
Status
Description
selected
Indicates that all the subobjects of the top-level object (di­
rect as well as indirect) are marked. Only objects from the
same application as the top-level object are considered.
This state requires that the system has all the needed infor­
mation available. For example, this is not the case if the ob­
ject tree has not been expanded after the mass change tool
has been started. Note that this can even lead to situations
where the same object is displayed more than once in the
tree, where one occurrence has the Uses flag selected while
another occurrence does not - depending on the expansion
state of the tree.
Note
For reasons of the BRFplus object architecture model,
there is no practical way of providing the tool all the nec­
essary information for a comprehensive marking indica­
tion at once. Due to the fact that the objects are inter­
nally organized in a network rather than in a hierarchy,
there is a potentially unlimited number of bidirectional
relationships between them. Therefore, there is no tech­
nical indication for the tool where to stop when following
these relationships. This is why the system restricts the
analysis of marked objects to those that have already
been brought into the tool's focus by expanding certain
tree branches.
not selected
Indicates one of the following alternatives:
●
The system has insufficient information about the cur­
rent object's subobjects.
●
not specified
None of the subobjects is marked.
Indicates that some of the subobjects are marked, but at
least one of them is not.
Note
Objects that cannot have any subobjects are always shown with Uses state not selected. This is true for
element data objects.
You can decide whether the system shall display or hide the Uses column. To accomplish this, choose
Other Actions Show/Hide Uses Column . This can be useful if your monitor has a low screen
resolution, and you want to gain space for the other columns.
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
265
Object Data
For each object loaded into the mass change tool, the system displays the most important administrative data
in the list:
● Name
● Text
● Type
● Versioning Status
● Access Level
If you need more information for a particular object to decide whether it shall be subject to a change or not,
you can easily access the complete set of information for that object by clicking its name in the Object column.
The system then presents you the same information for the object as you would see it in the workbench's work
area when editing an object.
Change Buffer
Change Buffer and Undo Functionality
With the only exception of the check function, all activities that you can perform in the mass change tool imply
a write access to the marked objects. To protect you from any inadvertent changes being written to the
database, the system first writes the changes for each activity into a buffer area. After that, all the activity
buttons are disabled except for the Save and Undo buttons. This gives you the opportunity to have a thorough
look at the changed objects in the list and decide whether everything has been changed the way you wanted it.
Then decide how you want to proceed:
● If everything is OK, click Save.
● If you find any unwanted changes, click Undo. This lets the system revert all marked objects to their
previous state.
After having chosen either Save or Undo, the system reenables the activity buttons. The previously marked
objects remain marked for possible further changes.
Note
The Undo function is not only available for undoing global changes that you have applied with the different
activity buttons. Rather, it is also available for direct changes that you have manually applied to individual
objects listed in the mass change tool (for example, changed texts). However, keep in mind that the Undo
function can only operate on those items that are currently selected in the list.
Notification Concept
For each selected object that you want to change, the system first checks whether the desired change can be
applied or not. If the system determines any problems that prevent the object from being changed, the system
alerts you with a corresponding message. In addition, you find an icon in the Messages column that gives you a
hint whether the change was successful or not.
Note
When you apply a change to a large number of objects, and if the desired change fails for many of them, this
results in a long list of messages in the message area. In this situation, it can be difficult to find out which
message refers to which object. To help you navigate between an object and the corresponding system
message, you can click the symbol in the Message column of the object in question. This lets the system
266
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
clear the message area and only display the message for the object in question. When you click the
message symbol of any other object, the message area is updated accordingly.
Mass Change Activities
Check
With this function, you let the system perform a consistency check for all marked items. Once the check is
done, the system presents all check messages in sequential order on top of the screen. In addition, for each
item where the system has detected an issue, you find a small icon in the Messages column indicating what
kind of problem has been detected for this particular item. This two-fold type of message output enables you
to both detect recurring issues that apply to a bigger number of objects as well as object-specific issues.
Note
Checking objects is the only activity in the mass change tool where no write access to the marked items is
implied. Consequently, the Save and Undo buttons are not needed after a check has been performed.
Activate
With this function, you activate all marked items. This is helpful because in the BRFplus workbench, you are
normally not forced to activate an object. This can easily lead to a situation where you have created quite a
number of inactive objects, which would be not much fun to activate manually. Here, the mass activation
function comes in handy.
Note
Unlike activating a single object in the BRFplus workbench, the mass change tool does not support
automatic activation of an object's subobjects. However, you can easily accomplish this by setting the Uses
flag.
Mark as obsolete/Remove obsolete flag
With this function, you mark the marked items as obsolete. Objects marked as obsolete remain functional in
the contexts where they are already in use, but cannot be used in combination with any new rule statements.
You can also use the complementary function to remove the obsolescence flag from all marked objects again,
so that these objects are available again for productive use.
Mark for deletion/Remove deletion flag
With this function, you mark the marked items for deletion. Objects marked for deletion remain functional in
the contexts where they are already in use, but make it impossible to apply any changes to the referencing
objects without replacing the reference. You can also use the complementary function to remove the deletion
flag from all marked objects again, so that these objects are available again for productive use.
Delete
With this function, you delete the marked items. The affected objects are no longer available in BRFplus.
Caution
The Mark as Obsolete, Mark for Deletion, and Delete actions should be handled with care. For an in-depth
insight into the implications of these actions, see Deleting Objects [page 55].
Set Access Level
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
267
With this function, you change the access level of all marked items. This is extremely helpful when you find
yourself in a situation where it turns out that the access level of an entire BRFplus application must be
changed. For example, this might happen due to changed security requirements or changes in the system
landscape.
Set Versioning Status
With this function, you switch the versioning status of all marked items on or off. This can be helpful, for
example, if you had versioning switched on for an application for testing reasons and are finally convinced that
the application works as desired and needs no more version control. Or vice versa, due to changed legislation,
you are forced to run a particular application under version control where this was not required in the past.
Rename
With this function, you can perform a simple renaming action for the marked items. The system prompts you
to enter a prefix, a suffix, or both, to be added to the name of the marked items. Although this is a very simple
action, it can still help you save a lot of time since changes to the technical name of an object is not considered
an everyday task and is therefore secured by additional navigation steps in the workbench. In the mass change
tool, you can simply bypass these security steps.
Note
BRFplus identifies its objects by their ID, not by name. Changing the technical name of an object is therefore
uncritical within the scope of BRFplus. However, it is possible that an object is directly referenced by name
from an ABAP backend program calling the BRFplus framework. It is up to you to ensure that all external
name-based references to BRFplus objects are kept in sync with the changes made inside BRFplus.
Renaming does only affect the technical name of an object, not the short text or text. You can still change
the text of the affected objects manually in the mass change tool. For the short text, however, any changes
must be made in the workbench for each affected object.
Due to the logic of the renaming mechanism, the current name of the involved objects will always be kept as
a part of the resulting name. There is no replacing of the original name with this function.
Copy
With this function, you can create a copy of the marked items, either in the current application or in a different
application. This is a sophisticated function that offers you several different types of result, depending on the
options you choose. For more information, see Copying Objects with the Mass Change Tool [page 269].
Export to XML
With this function, you can create an XML version of the marked items and export it into an external file. This
function is based on the standard XML export function of BRFplus, with the additional option to put together a
set of deliberate objects whose XML representation is contained in the same export file. This is helpful, for
example, in situations where a number of objects have been corrupted in a remote system and you want to
replace the corrupted objects by importing the original version via XML, without touching any of the other
objects in the target system.
More Information
Administrative Data [page 37]
268
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Export and Import of XML Data [page 259]
Versioning [page 165]
Deleting Objects [page 55]
1.3.16.11.1 Copying Objects with the Mass Change Tool
Use
You use the mass change tool for copying BRFplus objects mainly for the following reasons:
● You need a copy of a number of already existing objects for a new business rule scenario that is identical in
structure to an already existing application, with only a few changes.
● You need a copy of a particular complex object and want to make sure that all dependent objects of that
object are copied, too.
Features
The mass change tool offers different options that let you control how exactly objects are copied and what
copied objects look like with respect to their dependent objects. These options are available through different
menu commands combined with the status of the Uses flag of the objects to be copied:
Scenario 1: Copy marked items, leave references to dependent objects unchanged
For this scenario, choose the following:
●
Copy
Copy Marked Items
● Uses flag: not set
In this scenario, the system copies all marked items. The newly created objects contain references to exactly
the same dependent objects like the original objects that have been copied.
Example
You want to create a copy of function F. F has decision table DT attached as its top expression. DT uses
three data objects DO1, DO2, and DO3. Copying F with the settings mentioned above leads to the following
result:
Table 46:
Before
After
Comment
Function F
Function F
Refers to DT
Function F'
New function F' refers to DT like F
(that is, to the same object)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
269
Before
After
Comment
Decision Table DT
Decision Table DT
Used by F and F'
Data object DO1
Data object DO1
Used by DT
Data object DO2
Data object DO2
Used by DT
Data object DO3
Data object DO3
Used by DT
Scenario 2: Copy marked items and dependent objects, leave references to dependent objects
unchanged
For this scenario, choose the following:
●
Copy
Copy Marked Items
● Uses flag: set
In this scenario, the system copies all marked items. Due to the Uses flag being set, the dependent objects of
the higher-level objects are copied as well. However, the newly created higher-level objects still refer to the
same dependent objects like the original objects.
Setting the Uses flag for function F leads to the selection of all objects involved in this example:
● Function F
● Decision table DT (used by F)
● Data objects DO1, DO2, DO3 (used by DT)
Example
You want to create a copy of function F. F has decision table DT attached as its top expression. DT uses
three data objects DO1, DO2, and DO3. Copying the marked objects with the settings mentioned above leads
to the following result:
Table 47:
Before
After
Comment
Function F
Function F
Refers to DT
Function F'
New function F' refers to DT like F
(that is, to the same object)
Decision Table DT
Decision Table DT
Used by F and F'
Decision Table DT'
New decision table DT' has been cre­
ated as a copy of DT, but is currently
unused.
Data object DO1
270
PUBLIC
Data object DO1
Used by DT and DT'
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Before
After
Comment
Data object DO2
Data object DO2
Used by DT and DT'
Data object DO3
Data object DO3
Used by DT and DT'
Data object DO1'
New data object, currently unused
Data object DO2'
New data object, currently unused
Data object DO3'
New data object, currently unused
Scenario 3: Copy marked items and dependent objects, change references to copies of dependent
objects
For this scenario, choose the following:
●
Copy
Copy Marked Items Recursively
● Uses flag: not set
In this scenario, the system copies all marked items. For each item, the system also recursively copies the
complete hierarchy of dependent objects. The objects being copied are the same as in Scenario 2 described
above, although only function F has been marked. Once all objects have been copied, the system recreates the
original object hierarchy using the newly created objects. In other words, the original objects are completely
mirrored by the newly created objects.
Example
You want to create a copy of function F. F has decision table DT attached as its top expression. DT uses
three data objects DO1, DO2, and DO3. Copying F with the settings mentioned above leads to the following
result:
Table 48:
Before
After
Comment
Function F
Function F
Refers to DT
Function F'
New function F' refers to DT'
Decision Table DT
Used by F
Decision Table DT'
New decision table DT' used by F'
Data object DO1
Data object DO1
Used by DT
Data object DO2
Data object DO2
Used by DT
Data object DO3
Data object DO3
Used by DT
Data object DO1'
Used by DT'
Decision Table DT
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
PUBLIC
271
Before
After
Comment
Data object DO2'
Used by DT'
Data object DO3'
Used by DT'
Further Considerations
With the Copy Marked Items Recursively command used in the last of the above scenarios, the system
implicitly drills from the marked top-level objects down to all of their components and subcomponents.
Therefore, the Copy Marked Items Recursively cannot be used in combination with the Uses flag set.
Although you can use the mass change tool for copying objects from one application to another, the tool
cannot resolve object relationships that go beyond application boundaries. Such cross-application
constellations can occur with objects whose access level has been set to a less restrictive level than the
Application level defined as the system default. Here, the object drilldown stops whenever the tool determines
a dependent object that originates from a different application. For a working copy, you have to add the
missing objects manually.
272
PUBLIC
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Important Disclaimers and Legal Information
Coding Samples
Any software coding and/or code lines / strings ("Code") included in this documentation are only examples and are not intended to be used in a productive system
environment. The Code is only intended to better explain and visualize the syntax and phrasing rules of certain coding. SAP does not warrant the correctness and
completeness of the Code given herein, and SAP shall not be liable for errors or damages caused by the usage of the Code, unless damages were caused by SAP
intentionally or by SAP's gross negligence.
Accessibility
The information contained in the SAP documentation represents SAP's current view of accessibility criteria as of the date of publication; it is in no way intended to be
a binding guideline on how to ensure accessibility of software products. SAP in particular disclaims any liability in relation to this document. This disclaimer, however,
does not apply in cases of willful misconduct or gross negligence of SAP. Furthermore, this document does not result in any direct or indirect contractual obligations
of SAP.
Gender-Neutral Language
As far as possible, SAP documentation is gender neutral. Depending on the context, the reader is addressed directly with "you", or a gender-neutral noun (such as
"sales person" or "working days") is used. If when referring to members of both sexes, however, the third-person singular cannot be avoided or a gender-neutral noun
does not exist, SAP reserves the right to use the masculine form of the noun and pronoun. This is to ensure that the documentation remains comprehensible.
Internet Hyperlinks
The SAP documentation may contain hyperlinks to the Internet. These hyperlinks are intended to serve as a hint about where to find related information. SAP does
not warrant the availability and correctness of this related information or the ability of this information to serve a particular purpose. SAP shall not be liable for any
damages caused by the use of related information unless damages have been caused by SAP's gross negligence or willful misconduct. All links are categorized for
transparency (see: http://help.sap.com/disclaimer).
Business Rule Framework plus (BRFplus)
Important Disclaimers and Legal Information
PUBLIC
273
go.sap.com/registration/
contact.html
© 2017 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form or for any purpose without the express permission of SAP SE
or an SAP affiliate company. The information contained herein may
be changed without prior notice.
Some software products marketed by SAP SE and its distributors
contain proprietary software components of other software
vendors. National product specifications may vary.
These materials are provided by SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company
for informational purposes only, without representation or warranty
of any kind, and SAP or its affiliated companies shall not be liable for
errors or omissions with respect to the materials. The only
warranties for SAP or SAP affiliate company products and services
are those that are set forth in the express warranty statements
accompanying such products and services, if any. Nothing herein
should be construed as constituting an additional warranty.
SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well
as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks
of SAP SE (or an SAP affiliate company) in Germany and other
countries. All other product and service names mentioned are the
trademarks of their respective companies.
Please see http://www.sap.com/corporate-en/legal/copyright/
index.epx for additional trademark information and notices.