SAP archiving provides a possibility to create archiving indexes to quickly find and access archived data stored in files. Archiving indexes are stored in tables on the primary database and they can occupy quite a lot of space. Our functionality can clean up these tables without losing the ability to use archiving indexes. Using the transparent archive feature you can have archived data stored in desired transparent storage. These transparent data can be then consumed as a virtual archiving index.

To be able to use a virtual archiving index you firstly need to make the data transparent from archiving files to transparent storage. This can be executed manually or automatically right after the successful writing of archiving file to the content repository. Kindly find more information in the section Transparent archive.

Prerequisites

Virtual index functionality is delivered as separate additional transport of SNP OutBoard™ ERP Archiving. It contains enhancements of standard SAP code.

List of dependencies:

• SNP Glue™

Integration

Archive Information System is standard SAP functionality that we enhanced with virtual index concept using enhancements in standard SAP code. Enhancements allow us to return index data from a different place than a primary database. Read request for archiving index table is redirected to our functionality and data are read from remote transparent storage.

Component overview

The following diagram shows you how the virtual indexes are integrated with SAP standards.

Standard reading request from the application calls standard SAP functionality of archive index framework. A virtual index is then checked whether it should be used based on settings. If yes, the reading request to the index table is then translated to the reading request to the remote storage table respecting infostructure field definition.

Setup

Virtual indexes setup consists of the following steps that need to be done before you start.

• Transparentize archived data

• Verify the status of the transparent data

• Enable usage of virtual indexes

Transparentization

The first thing that needs to be done is the transparentization of the archived data.

Status of index

An essential part of virtual indexes is transparent data. You need to check whether data in remote transparent storage are valid for a particular archiving file. Before you enable virtual index for Infostructure, check whether all required archiving files have the same number of rows in the header as it is in the metadata of archiving run.

Location: TC /DVD/CRP → Information system → Check per archive

TC: /DVD/CRP_AIND_STAT

Input parameters:

Result table

Enable virtual index for Infostructure

In SAP Archive Information System (TC SARI) you can define archiving Infostructures for archiving objects based on the existing field catalog. You can enable or disable virtual index for a specific infostructure of the catalog.

To use virtual archive index for one of the Info structures you need to fulfill the following:

• Turn ON general setting to use virtual indexes

  • VIRTUAL_INDEX_ENABLED = X

• Set Infostructure access mode setting to use Infostructure management table

  • INFOSTRUC_ACC_MODE = T

• Put desired Infostructure name and type for Infostructure management table

Infostructure management table maintenance

More information about accessing settings can be found in the Settings section of this documentation.

Enable virtual index functionality

Virtual index functionality has a general switch using parameter VIRTUAL_INDEX_ENABLED for tool name: CRP_AIND. Please find more information about access behavior in Settings for Information System.