Smart Forms in SAP ABAP
SAP Smart Forms is used to create and maintain forms for mass printing in
SAP Systems.As output medium SAP Smart Forms support a printer, a fax, e-
mail, or the Internet (by using the generated XML output).
SAP introduced SmartForms in 1998 to overcome the limitations in SAP
Scripts. SmartForms are easier to develop, maintain and transport than SAP
Script.
In this tutorial you will learn:
Smart Forms and SapScripts Comparison
Advanatges of Smart Forms
Architecture of SAP Smart Form
Smartforms Guide
Windows in Smart Forms
Smart Forms Programming Flow
Smart Forms and SapScripts Comparison
Multiple page formats are possible in SmartForms which is not the case in
SAPScripts
It is possible to have a SmartForm without a main window.
Routines can be written in SmartForms tool.
SmartForms generates a function module when activated.
Labels cannot be created in SmartForms.
Advanatges of Smart Forms
They help adapting forms without any programming knowledge due to
entirely graphical user interface
When activating the smart form the system automatically generates the
function module and at the runtime .
To make any changes we have to use the Drag & Drop, Cut & Paste. These
actions do not include writing of coding lines or using a script language.
We can insert static and dynamic tables. These include the line feeds in the
individual table cells, triggering events for table headings and subtotals
and sorting data before output.
The smart forms allow the user to include graphics, which can be displayed
as a part of the form or as background graphics. During printout the user
can suppress the background graphic as and when necessary.
Web Publishing is possible using the generated XML output
Architecture of SAP Smart Form
Smartforms Guide
Lets go through it in SAP system-
1. Enter transaction SMARTFORMS in the transaction code box.
2. In the next screen , enter a Form name and click create
The next screen is divided into three sections-
Navigation window consist of nodes and sub nodes. They contain all the
elements (text, window etc) that belong to sap forms
Maintenance window shows attributes of the elements
Form printer window shows the layout of the page
Whenever we create smart forms, SAP creates/generates a function
module.Unlike SAPscripts , SAP FORMS allow you to change language.
In the navigation window you will find
Global Data Declarations : The Data defined here can be used throughout the
smartform for coding purposes.
Form Interface : Here all the data which will be passed to the smartform from
the Print program is defined.
Right-Clicking on the Pages will allow creation of New Page, Window, Graphic
or Address.
Printing will take place on the basis of 'next page' field.
But processing will happen as per the sequence in navigation window!
For background picture and graphics you can pick up either black and white
or color bitmap images and are stored in the form of standard texts. You may
take a detour from the smartform screen and open Form Graphics screen.
Transaction code: Se78
Setting in the Graphics in Smart Form Window-
Windows in Smart Forms
There are two types of Windows
1. Main
2. Secondary
Important Points to Note
You cannot have more than 1 main window in a page. You can have
multiple secondary windows
Whatever you print in secondary window...it has to be static. (If u have 20
lines in a PO and there is page constraint the lines get carried forward to
next page in the main window. i.e. In a predecessor and successor type of
content, they will be printed in sequence in main window. This is not
allowed in Secondary windows.
Inside the main window we can add text as introduction to customize the
form output.
The Output options on each window determine the Line size, Width, Colors
and background to be put.
Smartforms gives the option of giving the address number which is maintained
in the central address management. The address will be directly taken from
ADRC table and will be populated in the form.
The two different editors are available in Smartforms viz. Normal Editor
and the Graphics Editor.
This setting can be changed using the Configure editor in Utilities.
In Table painter, you can draw the format as per client requirement (e.g.
Heading, Sub Heading, Item, Sub Total, Grand Total etc.)
You can use the table layout to determine:
The number of lines and cells
The height of each line
The width of each cell
The alignment of the table in the window
The Table shows the different line types which will be used in the table. The
Line types define the size of each cell and the number of cells in each line.
Smart Forms Programming Flow
When an SAP Smart Form template is created, a user creates the form layout,
defines the required fields, conditions, and special programming instructions
in the Smart Form template using the Smart Form Builder.
After the form design is complete, the form needs to be activated before it can
be tested or accessed by the print programs.Activating the form initiates the
generation of a function module that handles all of the form's processing.
This function module interacts with the application program/print program
to create the output in the user-defined output media for the specified device.
In case of smart forms, we use 2 function modules for the processing of the
smart form. To the first function module , we pass the name of the smart form
as the import parameter. This then returns the name of the dynamically
generated function module which will actually call the smartform.
The smartform name can be passed on to the function Module -
'SSF_FUNCTION_MODULE_NAME'
This will return the Function module name of the smartform which is
referenced.
The Print program will be calling the FM 'SSF_FUNCTION_MODULE_NAME' to
get the Function module name at Runtime. Therafter it will call the Function
module thus obtained to execute the smartform.
Templates
Template can be used when you know the exact size of the output or the
output is in a fixed format.
E.g. Tax form/ cheques /airline form/railway ticket: all these use templates.
The big between table and template is that in a Table the height changes
dynamically.We call a row a 'line' in template.
SMART Styles
A Smart Style contains:
Header data containing the default values of a Smart Style
Paragraph formats including indents and spacing, font attributes, tabs, and
outline and numbering
Character formats including effects (superscript, subscript), barcode and
font attributes
Colors and underlines for a paragraph or character format
You can use the transaction 'smartforms' / 'smartstyles' to create a smart
style.
That's all to this tutorial
