Inside VOFM

Inside the VOFM Program
Technical Solution Guide
The Smith Consulting Group, Inc. PO Box 703 Flanders, NJ 07836-0703 973-713-5846 SAPtechsolutions.com
SAP and R/3 are the trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries. Copyright 2005 The Smith Consulting Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Introduction......................................................................................................................... 3 General structure of a VOFM routine................................................................................. 3 Group Indicator Code ......................................................................................................... 4 Domain GRPZE .............................................................................................................. 4 Group Indicator Codes contained in the VOFM Program .............................................. 5 Routine Maintenance .......................................................................................................... 7 Transaction VOFN.......................................................................................................... 7 Building Custom Routines.................................................................................................. 9 Customer Routine Ranges............................................................................................... 9 Customer Range Determination by Group Indicator .................................................... 10 Include Name Determination by Group Indicator ........................................................ 11 Parent Include Name Determination by Group Indicator ............................................. 12 Development Class Determination by Group Indicator................................................ 13 Source Include and Form Names Determined in the VOFM Program............................. 14 Routine Activation ............................................................................................................ 17 Table TFRM.................................................................................................................. 18 Parent Include of the Active Routine............................................................................ 19 Deactivating the Routine............................................................................................... 20 Table TFRM Updated ................................................................................................... 21 Parent Include of the inactive Routine.......................................................................... 22 Utility Programs................................................................................................................ 23 Program RV80HGEN ................................................................................................... 23 Program SDINVOFM................................................................................................... 25 Transport Problems........................................................................................................... 28 PERFORM_NOT_FOUND Short Dump ..................................................................... 28 Executing Program RV80HGEN.................................................................................. 33
11/25/2005 SAPtechsolutions.com
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Copyright 2005 The Smith Consulting Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Introduction
While many SAP specialists have used and created VOFM routines in R/3, few understand how these routines are technically implemented within the various programs and function groups in which they exist. The purpose of this paper is to provide a technical explanation of how the VOFM transaction works. It is assumed that the reader has a working knowledge of the VOFM transaction and ABAP programming. The screen shots and data in this document were taken from an R/3 4.6C system.
General structure of a VOFM routine

VOFM routines are ABAP FORM routines and they exist in a wide variety of programs and function groups. The routines are organized by a group code and there are many group codes available in the system. Each routine is contained in a unique ABAP include f i l e . T h e s e i n c l u d e f i l e s a r e t h e n i n c l u d e d i n a p a r e n t i n c l u d e f i l e . F i n a l l y , t h e p a r e n t i n c l u d e f i l e i s i n c l u d e d i n t h e m a i n p r o g r a mo r f u n c t i o n g r o u p . Wh i l e t h i s d e s i g n m a y seem complicated, it allows the generation, activation and deactivation of these routines to occur without modifying the main program. When a routine is created, a new include is created and the associated parent include is updated. Activation and deactivation modify the parent include by adding or removing the include file that contains the routine.
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Group Indicator Code
VOFM routines are organized using the Group Indicator Code. The VOFM program uses the group indicator to determine the program include and subroutine names when it dynamically creates these objects. The assignment of these names is hard coded in the program. The valid group indicator codes are defined in data base domain GRPZE using a value range.
Domain GRPZE
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Group Indicator Codes contained in the VOFM Program
The following table contains the group indicator codes that are hard coded in the VOFM program. This list may be different depending on the release and does not correspond exactly to the domain value list. Group
ABED ADAT CASB CASC CHBE CHMV CHRG EXKO FBED FDAT FOFU LBED LDAT LST1 LST1 MCA1 MCA2 MCB1 MCB2 MCE1 MCE2 MCF1 MCF2 MCI1 MCI2 MCL1 MCL2 MCQ1 MCQ2 MCT1 MCT2 MCU1 MCU2 MCV1 MCV2 MCW1
Description
Copying requirements in the order Data transfer in the order Copying requirements for sales activities Data transfer for sales activities Batch search strategies Stock requirements Batch requirements Export requirements Copying requirements in the billing document Data transfer in the billing document Subsequent functions Copying requirements in the delivery Data transfer in the delivery Info blocks for RV reporting Info blocks for RV reporting Work item requirements (MCA = Activity) Work item formulas (MCA = Activity) Stock control requirements Stock control formulas PURCHIS Requirements PURCHIS formulas SFIS requirements SFIS formulas PM requirements PM formulas WS requirements in LIS WS requirements in LIS QMIS requirements QMIS formulas TIS requirements TIS formulas UIS requirements UIS forms (Utility Information System) SIS requirements SIS formulas RIS requirements
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Group
MCW2 MCZ1 MCZ2 PBED PBEF PBEK PBEL PBEN PBNA PBWV PFRA PFRM PFRS PNAT PRUN PSTK REAK REKA RELK RERK RISK TBED TDAT TNAM TRAU TXNM VCAU VFCL VKMP VSEL
Description
RIS formulas External data requirements External data formula Pricing requirements Material determination requirements Account determination requirements Material listing requirements Output control requirements Free goods requirements Requirements for pricing Pricing formulas: Condition basis Pricing formulas: Condition value Pricing formulas: Scale basis
Structure of scale key for pricing Archiving for orders Archiving for sales activities Archiving for deliveries Archiving for billing documents Risk management (form of payment guarantee) Copying requirements for texts Data transfer involving texts Text names for word processing Data transfer transport Text names for copying modules (out of date) Authorization requirements for payment cards Multi-dimensional scales Credit check requirements Data transfer for shipping units
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Routine Maintenance
Since VOFM routines are named after the transaction, most people access the routines using the VOFM transaction. Unfortunately, VOFM only provides access to a subset of the routines available. An alternative is transaction VOFN, which provides access to all routines in all groups.
Transaction VOFN
VOFN is executed by group indicator (the screen refers to it as Class).
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Once the group indicator is selected, the detail screen looks and functions like the VOFM detail screen. It is actually the same program. The following example displays all of the routines in the MCV1 class (SIS Requirement Routines).
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Building Custom Routines
When implementing custom VOFM routines, a question frequently asked is what routine numbers should be used. The answer is that it depends on the group indicator. The table in a subsequent section denotes the starting customer range for each group indicator (Customer Include column). The selection of an appropriate routine number is important because it determines the include file naming convention as well as the development class used when creating the routine. The customer routine ranges are hard coded in the program. The following screen shots detail how it works.
Customer Routine Ranges

The following screen shot is from the global data section of the program. There are three possible starting customer ranges defined (USER_GRPNO_FIRST1, USER_GRPNO_FIRST2 and USER_GRPNO_FIRST3).
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Customer Range Determination by Group Indicator
The group indicator is used by the logic that determines the starting number in the customer range. Essentially, the rules can be summarized as follows: For groups PSTK (Pricing Formula Group Structure) and TDAT (Data Transfer Text), the customer range starts at 50. For group FOFU (Subsequent Functions) the customer range starts at 900. For all others, the customer range starts at 600.
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Include Name Determination by Group Indicator
The group indicator is also used to determine the include file name for routines. In the following example, Sales Order Copy Requirement routines (ABED) in the customer range will be named RV45Cxxx and routines in the SAP range will be named LV45Cxxx. In either case, the include will be created within function group SAPLV45C.
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Parent Include Name Determination by Group Indicator
The group indicator is also used to determine the parent include file name for routines. In the following example, Sales Order Copy Requirement routines (ABED) in the customer range will be included in RV45BNNN and routines in the SAP range will be included in LV45CNNN.
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Development Class Determination by Group Indicator
The group indicator is also used to determine the development class assigned to include files. In the following example, Sales Order Copy Requirement routines (ABED) will be assigned to development class VA. The same development class is assigned to both standard and customer created includes.
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Source Include and Form Names Determined in the VOFM Program

The following table contains the naming convention used by the VOFM program to dynamically generate the source includes and form routines by Group Indicator. This list may be different depending on the release and does not correspond exactly to the domain value list. Dev Class
VA VA WBBY VCA VCA VB MDBF VB VA VF VF VL VL VL VREP VREP MCWF MCWF MCS MCS MCS
Group
ABED ADAT BBYR CASB CASC CHBE CHMV CHRG EXKO FBED FDAT FOFU LBED LDAT LST1 LST1 MCA1 MCA2 MCB1 MCB2 MCE1
7/25/2005
Main Program
SAPLV45C SAPFV45C SAPLV61N SAPLV43A SAPLV43A SAPL080M SAPLMDBF SAPLV01F SAPLV52E SAPLV60A SAPFV60C SAPLV07A SAPFV50C SAPFV50C SAPRV77S SAPRV77U SAPFMCAF SAPFMCAF SAPFMCBF SAPFMCBF SAPFMCEF
Standard Include (Parent)

LV45CNNN FV45CNNN FBBYNNNN LV43ANNN FV44ANNN L080MNNN LMDBFNNN LV01FNNN LV52ENNN LV60ANNN FV60CNNN LV07ANNN FV50BNNN FV50CNNN RV77SNNN RV77SNNN SAPFMCAF SAPFMCAF FMCB1NNN FMCB2NNN FMCE1NNN
Standard Include
LV45Cxxx FV45Cxxx FBBYNxxx LV43Axxx FV44Axxx L080Mxxx LMDBFxxx LV01Fxxx LV52Exxx LV60Axxx FV60Cxxx LV07Axxx FV50Bxxx FV50Cxxx RV77Sxxx N/A FMCA1xxx FMCA2xxx FMCB1xxx FMCB2xxx FMCE1xxx
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Customer Include (Parent)

RV45BNNN RV45CNNN RBBYNNNN RV43ANNN RV44ANNN R080MNNN RMDBFNNN RV01FNNN RV52ENNN RV60BNNN RV60CNNN RV07ACCC RV50BNNN RV50CNNN RV77UNNN RV77UNNN RMCAUNNN RMCAUNNN RMCB1NNN RMCB2NNN RMCE1NNN
Customer Include
RV45B6xx RV45C6xx RBBYN6xx RV43A6xx RV44A6xx R080M6xx RMDBF6xx RV01F6xx RV52E6xx RV60B6xx RV60C6xx RV07A9xx RV50B6xx RV50C6xx N/A RV77U6xx FMCA16xx FMCA26xx FMCB16xx FMCB26xx FMCE16xx
Form Name
BEDINGUNG_PRUEFEN_xxx DATEN_KOPIEREN_xxx BBYREQ_xxx BEDINGUNG_PRUEFEN_xxx DATEN_KOPIEREN_xxx BED_SUCH_STRATEGIE_xxx BFMVS_xxx CHMVS_xxx AUSFUHR_BED_PRUEFEN_xxx BEDINGUNG_PRUEFEN_xxx DATEN_KOPIEREN_xxx BEDINGUNG_PRUEFEN_xxx BEDINGUNG_PRUEFEN_xxx DATEN_KOPIEREN_xxx LST1_xxx LST1_xxx MCA1_xxx MCA2_xxx MCB1_xxx MCB2_xxx MCE1_xxx
Technical Guide
SAPtechsolutions.com

Dev Class
MCS MCS MCS MCS MCS VL VL MCS MCS MCS MCS MCS MCS MCS MCS MCS MCS MCS MCS VKON VKON VKON VKON VN VKON
Group
MCE2 MCF1 MCF2 MCI1 MCI2 MCL1 MCL2 MCQ1 MCQ2 MCT1 MCT2 MCU1 MCU2 MCV1 MCV2 MCW1 MCW2 MCZ1 MCZ2 PBED PBEF PBEK PBEL PBEN PBNA
Main Program
SAPFMCEF SAPFMCFF SAPFMCFF SAPFMCIF SAPFMCIF SAPFMCLF SAPFMCLF SAPFMCQF SAPFMCQF SAPFMCTF SAPFMCTF SAPFMCUF SAPFMCUF SAPFMCVF SAPFMCVF SAPFMCWF SAPFMCWF SAPFMCZF SAPFMCZF SAPLV61A SAPLV61D SAPLV61C SAPLV61G SAPLV61B SAPLV61N

FMCE2NNN FMCF1NNN FMCF2NNN SAPFMCIF SAPFMCIF SAPFMCLF SAPFMCLF SAPFMCQF SAPFMCQF FMCT1NNN FMCT2NNN FMCU1NNN FMCU2NNN FMCV1NNN FMCV2NNN FMCW1NNN FMCW2NNN SAPFMCZF SAPFMCZF LV61ANNN LV61DNNN LV61CNNN LV61GNNN LV61BNNN FV62NNNN
Standard Include
FMCE2xxx FMCF1xxx FMCF2xxx FMCI1xxx FMCI2xxx FMCL1xxx FMCL2xxx FMCQ1xxx FMCQ2xxx FMCT1xxx FMCT2xxx FMCU1xxx FMCU2xxx FMCV1xxx FMCV2xxx FMCW1xxx FMCW2xxx FMCZ1xxx FMCZ2xxx LV61Axxx LV61Dxxx LV61Cxxx LV61Gxxx LV61Bxxx FV62Nxxx

RMCE2NNN RMCF1NNN RMCF2NNN RMCIUNNN RMCIUNNN RMCLUNNN RMCLUNNN RMCQUNNN RMCQUNNN RMCT1NNN RMCT2NNN RMCU1NNN RMCU2NNN RMCV1NNN RMCV2NNN RMCW1NNN RMCW2NNN RMCZUNNN RMCZUNNN RV61ANNN RV61DNNN RV61CNNN RV61GNNN RV61BNNN RV62NNNN
Customer Include
FMCE26xx FMCF16xx FMCF26xx FMCI16xx FMCI26xx FMCL16xx FMCL26xx FMCQ16xx FMCQ26xx FMCT16xx FMCT26xx FMCU16xx FMCU26xx FMCV16xx FMCV26xx FMCW16xx FMCW26xx FMCZ16xx FMCZ26xx RV61A6xx RV61D6xx RV61C6xx RV61G6xx RV61B6xx RV62N6xx
Form Name
MCE2_xxx MCF1_xxx MCF2_xxx MCI1_xxx MCI2_xxx MCL1_xxx MCL2_xxx MCQ1_xxx MCQ2_xxx MCT1_xxx MCT2_xxx MCU1_xxx MCU2_xxx MCV1_xxx MCV2_xxx MCW1_xxx MCW2_xxx MCZ1_xxx MCZ2_xxx KOBED_xxx, KOBEV_xxx KOBED_xxx, KOBEV_xxx KOBED_xxx, KOBEV_xxx KOBED_xxx, KOBEV_xxx KOBED_xxx, KOBEV_xxx KOBED_xxx, KOBEV_xxx
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Technical Guide

Dev Class
WVKP VKON VKON VKON
Group
PBWV PFRA PFRM PFRS PNAT PRUN PSTK REAK REKA RELK RERK RISK TBED TDAT TNAM TRAU TXNM VCAU VFCL VKMP VSEL
Main Program
SAPLWVK1 SAPLV61A SAPLV61A SAPLV61A SAPLV61N SAPMV13A SAPLV61A S3VBAKWR SDVBKAWR S3LIKPWR S3VBRKWR SAPLVKMP SAPLV45T SAPLV45T SAPLV70T SAPFV56C SAPLV45T SAPLV21F SAPLV57A SAPLVKMP SAPLV51H

LWVK1NNN FV63ANNN FV64ANNN FV62ANNN LV61NNNN FV13ANNN FV65ANNN SDVBAKSP SDVBKASP SDLIKPSP SDVBRKSP LRISKNNN LV45TNNN LV45TENN LV70TNNN FV56CNNN FV46TNNN DVCAUNNN LV57ANNN LVKMPNNN FV51ANNN
Standard Include
LWVK1xxx FV63Axxx FV64Axxx FV62Axxx LV61Nxxx FV13Axxx FV65Axxx AKSAPxxx KASAPxxx DKSAPxxx RKSAPxxx LRISKxxx LV45Txxx LV45TExxx LV70Txxx FV56Cxxx FV46Txxx DVCAUxxx FV57Axxx LVKMP FV51Axxx

RWVK1NNN RV63ANNN RV64ANNN RV62ANNN RV61NNNN RV13ANNN RV65ANNN SDVBAKUS SDVBKAUS SDLIKPUS SDVBRKUS RRISKNNN RV45TNNN RV45TENN RV70TNNN RV56CNNN RV46TNNN RVCAUNNN RV57ANNN RVKMPNNN RV51ANNN
Customer Include
RWVK16xx RV63A6xx RV64A6xx RV62A6xx RV61N6xx RV13Z6xx RV65A5xx AKUSR6xx KAUSR6xx DKUSR6xx RKUSR6xx RRISK6xx RV45T6xx RV45TE5xx RV70T6xx RV56C6xx RV46T6xx RVCAU6xx RV57A6xx RVKMP6xx RV51A6xx
Form Name
WVBED_xxx FRM_KOND_BASIS_xxx FRM_KONDI_WERT_xxx FRM_STAFFELBAS_xxx FRM_RECHENR_xxx FRM_RUNDUNG_xxx FRM_GRUPPENKEY_xxx SD_VBAK_xxx SD_VBKA_xxx SD_LIKP_xxx SD_VBRK_xxx ABSICHERUNG_PRUEFEN_xxx BEDINGUNG_PRUEFEN_xxx DATEN_KOPIEREN_xxx TEXTNAME_xxx DATEN_KOPIEREN_xxx TEXTNAME_COPY_xxx REQUIREMENT_CHECK_xxx SD_VFCL_xxx BEDINGUNG_PRUEFEN_xxx DATEN_KOPIEREN_xxx
VKON VZ VZ VZ VZ VKM VT VT VT VTR VT VFC VFSC_1 VKM VV
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Technical Guide

Routine Activation
Understanding what actually happens when VOFM routines are activated or deactivated is useful knowledge, especially when problems occur and debugging is required. In the following screen shots, routine 900 will be deactivated to demonstrate the process.
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Table TFRM
Table TFRM contains one record for each VOFM routine defined in the system. The following list displays all routines in group PFRS (Pricing Scale Base Formulas). For each record, the activation status and date/time stamp of activation is recorded. As denoted in this table, routine 900 is active.
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Parent Include of the Active Routine
The group indicator for our sample routine is PFRS. Using the tables in the previous sections (or by looking at the program), we determine that the routine exists in function group V61A, the routine is contained in include RV62A900 and the parent include is RV62ANNN.
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Deactivating the Routine
The routine is deactivated using the VOFM transaction.
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Table TFRM Updated
After deactivation, the record in table TFRM is updated.
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Parent Include of the inactive Routine
After deactivation, the parent include no longer contains the routine include. The parent include is never deleted.
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Utility Programs
Transport issues with VOFM routines are so common, that SAP has provided utility programs to aid in the repair process.
Program RV80HGEN
Program RV80HGEN can be used to re-generate all VOFM routines. Whenever VOFM routines are transported, this program should be executed in all target systems. It is possible to include an automatic execution of the program in the transport request by applying OSS note 598475.
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The output report for RV80HGEN denotes that all routines were activated.
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Program SDINVOFM
Program SDINVOFM can be used to identify and repair missing table entries in the VOFM control tables TFRM and TFRMT. This program is usually executed after RV80HGEN. In the following example, the program will analyze the routines in the PBED group (Pricing Requirement Routines).
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The output of the analysis is a report that denotes the status of all items analyzed. In this example, the description (Table TFRMT) is missing for pricing requirement routine 048.
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Looking at pricing requirement routine 048 via the VOFM transaction, the description is indeed missing and would be corrected here.
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Transport Problems
Problems frequently occur when VOFM routines are transported to test and production instances. It is not uncommon to experience short dumps in these target systems. These problems are not the result of faulty programming or configuration. There has always been a transport issue for VOFM routines that occurs on occasion. The following sections illustrate the type of problems that can occur when VOFM routines do not transport correctly and the procedure to correct them.
PERFORM_NOT_FOUND Short Dump

In this example, a custom billing data transfer routine was created. It was correctly assigned in copy control and worked flawlessly in the development system in which it was created. Once transported, the billing due list short dumped in the target system because it could not find the new routine.
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Looking at the details of the short dump, it can be determined which routine caused the problem. In this section, it is clear that the billing due list had the problem (program SAPLV60A).
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Paging down further in the dump, we see that routine DATEN_KOPIEREN_902 in program SAPFV60C was called but not found. This routine is called because of the copy control configuration.
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Using the Program Editor (SE38) to display the ABAP include that contains the routine, we can see that it does exist.
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Using the Object Navigator (SE80) to view the entire program for billing data transfer routines, we see that the routine is missing. The include RV60C902 should appear within the RV60CNNN source. In the development system where the routine was created, we would see it here.
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Executing Program RV80HGEN
The first step for correcting this type of short dump is to execute the RV80HGEN utility program to re-generate all VOFM routines. Unfortunately, running this program does not always solve the problem. In this example, executing RV80HGEN did not work. The output report for RV80HGEN denotes that all routines were activated, but the parent include was not repaired.
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Since RV80HGEN did not solve the problem, the next step is to manually regenerate the program index of the program that contains the VOFM routine. For billing data transfer routines, the program is SAPFV60C.
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From the program editor, navigate using the menu to Utilities>Update navigation index. Executing this function will solve the problem.
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After regenerating the index, RV60C902 include now appears in the parent include and the short dumps will cease.
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Inside VOFM

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Inside the VOFM Program

Technical Solution Guide

Inside the VOFM Program

Technical Solution Guide

Inside the VOFM Program

General structure of a VOFM routine

Technical Solution Guide

Inside the VOFM Program

Technical Solution Guide

Inside the VOFM Program

Inside the VOFM Program

Technical Solution Guide

Inside the VOFM Program

Technical Solution Guide

Inside the VOFM Program

Technical Solution Guide

Inside the VOFM Program

Customer Routine Ranges

Technical Solution Guide

Inside the VOFM Program

Technical Solution Guide

Inside the VOFM Program

Technical Solution Guide

Inside the VOFM Program

Technical Solution Guide

Inside the VOFM Program

Technical Solution Guide

Inside the VOFM Program

Source Include and Form Names Determined in the VOFM Program

Standard Include (Parent)

Customer Include (Parent)

Inside the VOFM Program

Standard Include (Parent)

Customer Include (Parent)

Inside the VOFM Program

Standard Include (Parent)

Customer Include (Parent)

VKON VZ VZ VZ VZ VKM VT VT VT VTR VT VFC VFSC_1 VKM VV

Inside the VOFM Program

Technical Solution Guide

Inside the VOFM Program

Technical Solution Guide

Inside the VOFM Program

Technical Solution Guide

Inside the VOFM Program

Technical Solution Guide

Inside the VOFM Program

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Inside the VOFM Program

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Inside the VOFM Program

Technical Solution Guide

Inside the VOFM Program

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Inside the VOFM Program

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Inside the VOFM Program

Technical Solution Guide

Inside the VOFM Program