What is HR ABAP?

Question

Dear All,
I have some doubts on HR ABAP. Could you pls give me your best replay on those.
1. What is HR ABAP?
2. What is the main use of HR ABAP?
3. What is the Architecture of HR ABAP and how it will work on ERP.
4. HR ABAP will comes under Netweaver or ERP only?
I will be for your replay...
Regards,
Chandra.

Answer 1

The HR module is a true demonstration of the strength of the SAP product in Enterprise Resource Planning. 
The Human Resource module is comprised of major areas of functionality known as submodules.The HR system has very strong integration points (where data is passed back and forth without human data entry) with just about all of the other SAP modules.  In addition, there is very tight integration amongst the HR submodules.
INFOTYPES:
To begin with , let me give you  a small overview on the HR Infotypes .
Infotypes are the units of information in the Human Resource Management System .
Infotypes are used to group related data fields together. They provide information with a structure, facilitate data entry, and enable you to store data for specific periods.
USE :
Recording employee data for administrative, time recording, and payroll purposes is of primary importance for master data administration in HR. In the SAP System, the information units used to enter master data are called infotypes.
Structure
Infotypes are characterized by the following:
•     Infotype Structure
•     Data Entry
•     Time-Dependent Storage of Infotype Data
Infotype Structure
To the user, infotypes appear as data entry screens. They contain whole series of information (for example, last name, first name, date of birth) that you enter in data fields. Data fields concerning the same or similar subject matter are combined into data groups or information units.
In database terms, infotypes represent a data structure or set of related data records. When you update an infotype, old data is not lost but is instead stored in the system for historical evaluation purposes.
Time-Dependent Storage of Infotype Data
When you update an infotype, the old data may not be lost. Instead, it must be retained so that past data can be evaluated. When you update an employee´s personal data, the old data is automatically time-delimited. The system creates a validity period for each infotype record. As a result, each employee infotype has several data records that differ from each other by their validity periods.
Time Constraints in HR Master Data 
The concept of Time Constraints is very important in HR ABAP . This is due to the fact that all the infotype records are Time Delimited which is to say that  all the records are valid only for a particular time frame .
When you update an infotype, old data is not lost but archived for historical evaluation. The system records a specific period of validity for each infotype, This enables the system to store more than one infotype record at the same time, even if their validity periods overlap. This means that the time relationships between infotype records must be defined. The concept of time constraints enables you to do this.
HR master data uses the following three time constraints:
•     Time Constraint 1
For the entire time that the employee works at the enterprise, exactly one valid infotype record must exist. The validity periods of the individual records must not overlap. If a new record is created, the system automatically uses the start date of the new record as the delimitation date of the old record. Gaps are only allowed between the employee’s entry date and the start date of the first record.
Time constraint 1 must be used for all of the infotypes containing information that must be available at all times. This is particularly true of personal and organizational assignment data.
If a record is delimited because of time constraint 1, the system displays an appropriate message.
•     Time Constraint 2
No more than one valid record can exist at any one time. Records with constraint 2 must not overlap. Their existence is not obligatory. If a new record is created, the system automatically delimits the previous record, if one exists.
If a record is delimited because of time constraint 2, the system displays an appropriate message.
•     Time Constraint 3
Any number of valid records can exist at any one time. The individual records do not conflict with each other.
BASIC FORM :
INFOTYPES nnnn.
Each info type has a formal description in the ABAP Dictionary as structure Pnnnn
nnnn between 0000 and 0999: HR master data info types
nnnn between 1000 and 1999: HR planning data info types
nnnn between 2000 and 2999: HR time data info types
nnnn between 3000 and 8999: Not yet used
nnnn between 9000 and 9999: Customer-specific info types
Effect
Declares the HR info type nnnn . Creates an internal table as follows:
DATA BEGIN OF Pnnnn OCCURS 10.
  INCLUDE STRUCTURE Pnnnn.
DATA END OF Pnnnn VALID BETWEEN BEGDA AND ENDDA.
Example
INFOTYPES: 0000, 0001, 0002.
Addition 1
... NAME c
Effect
c is a name up to 20 characters long. Creates an internal table as follows:
DATA BEGIN OF c OCCURS 10.
INCLUDE STRUCTURE Pnnnn.
DATA END OF c VALID BETWEEN BEGDA AND ENDDA.
Example
INFOTYPES: 0005 NAME VACATION, 0006 NAME ADDRESS.
Addition 2
... OCCURS occ
Effect
occ is a number for the OCCURS value. Creates an internal table as follows:
DATA BEGIN OF c OCCURS m.
INCLUDE STRUCTURE Pnnnn.
DATA END OF c VALID BETWEEN BEGDA AND ENDDA.
Example
INFOTYPES 0003 OCCURS 1.
All the Repository objects required for the infotype have been created. The relevant infotype specific table entries in tables T777T (Infotype texts) and T778T (Infotypes) have been maintained by the infotype copier. The user has maintained the relevant entry in T777I (Infotypes per object type).
Infotype Groups
Definition
An infotype group, or info group, is a sequence of related infotypes that are displayed one after the other for maintenance purposes when a personnel action is performed.
Use
The infogroup guarantees that during the personnel action, all information needed for the business processes is stored.
Structure
An infogroup exists in the standard system for every personnel action type in the Personnel Actions section.
In Customizing for Personnel Administration, you can modify the relationship between individual infogroups and define the infogroups as user-dependent.
In the standard system, different types of employee data are stored in individual infotypes. Rather than accessing each infotype individually and entering data into them, the system can group together the most important infotypes into personnel actions and lead you through processing the employee data.
Personnel actions
Personnel procedures, such as hiring an employee, organizational reassignment, or an employee leaving the enterprise are represented by individual personnel actions in Personnel Administration. Each personnel action contains the infotypes that you must maintain to record the personnel action at hand. The infotypes are retrieved in succession so that you can maintain them. For example, all the fields in which you need to make entries to hire an employee will be offered to you for maintenance automatically by the system in the personnel action Hiring.
This ensures that all the core data is entered into the system. This function also facilitates entering data as you do not need to access each infotype within the personnel action individually .
Example : ORGANISATION INFOTYPE(0001)
The Organisational Assignment (0001) deals with the incorporation of the employee into the organizational structure .
We can display the infotypes from the transaction PA30(Maintain HR Master Data) .
Goto PA30 .
Enter the Personnel No . and the infotype no . in the places shown and then
Create/Change/Display .
On pressing the Display button the following screen appears .
For the particular person (120) the organization structure can be displayed on pressing the “Org Structure” button .
The Above screen gives us the Organisational Assignment for the particular person . For Example 120 belongs to the Org unit “Direction Market Switzerland”
Holds the position of  “ Secretary Head Office CH”  and the position is described by the Job “ Secretary” .
                    LOGICAL DATABASES:
After this brief discussion on INFOTYPES let us now concentrate on the HR PROGRAMMING BASICS and in General and Logical Databases in Particular .
Hierarchy of a Logical Database
Logical databases are programs that read data from database tables and pass it to other programs for processing. The order of reading the database tables is determined by a hierarchy.
Many tables in the R/3 System are linked using foreign key relationships. Parts of these relationships form tree-like hierarchical structures. Logical databases allow you to read data easily from database tables that form parts of these structures. The logical database F1S has the following hierarchy:
Transaction SE36 .
When reading the tables, the system first reads one element of table SPFLI. Then, it reads the first element of the subordinate table SFLIGHT that, according to the foreign key relationship, belongs to the first element of table SPFLI. Then, it reads all elements of table SBOOK that belong to the first element read from table SFLIGHT. Next, it reads the second element of table SFLIGHT and all corresponding elements of table SBOOK. This step is repeated until the system has read all elements of table SFLIGHT that belong to the first element of table SPFLI. Then the system reads the second element of table SPFLI and the entire procedure starts again. This procedure is repeated until the entire hierarchy has been processed.
Logical databases contain Open SQL statements that read data from the database. You do not therefore need to use SQL in your own programs. The logical database reads the program, stores them in the program if necessary, and then passes them line by line to the application program or the function module LDB_PROCESS using an interface work area.
Structure of Logical Databases
A logical database is made up of three components .They are:
•     Structure
The structure defines the data view of the logical database. It determines the structure of the other components and the behavior of the logical database at runtime. The order in which data is made available to the user depends on the hierarchical structure of the logical database concerned.
•     Selections
The selections define a selection screen, which forms the user interface of the executable programs that use the logical database. Its layout is usually determined by the structure. You can adapt the selections to your own requirements and also add new ones. When you link a logical database to an executable program, the selections of the logical database become part of the standard selection screen of the program (screen number 1000).
The database program contains the ABAP statements used to read the data and pass it to the user of the logical database. The structure of the database program is a collection of special subroutines. It is determined by the structure and the selections. You can adapt the database program to your own requirements and also extend it.
Other components such as documentation, language-specific texts, and user-defined selection screens extend the functions further.
Structure
The structure of a logical database is usually based on the foreign key relationships between hierarchical tables in the R/3 System. Logical databases have a tree-like structure, which can be defined as follows:
• There is a single node at the highest level. This is known as the root node.
• Each node can have one or several branches.
• Each node is derived from one other node.
The nodes must be structures defined in the ABAP Dictionary or data types from a type group. Normally, these are the structures of database tables which the logical database reads and passes to the user for further evaluation. However, it is also possible, and sometimes useful, to use ABAP Dictionary structures without an underlying database. For technical reasons, the maximum number of nodes allowed in the structure of a logical database is 300.
Any executable ABAP program that has a logical database linked to it can contain a GET statement for each node of the structure. When you run the program, the corresponding event blocks are processed in the sequence prescribed by the hierarchical structure of the logical database. If a program does not contain a GET statement for every node of a logical database, the processing passes through all the nodes that lie in the path from the root to the nodes specified by GET statements.
Logical Databases - Views of Data
A logical database provides a particular view of database tables in the R/3 System. It is always worth using logical databases if the structure of the data that you want to read corresponds to a view available through a logical database.
The data structure in a logical database is hierarchical. Many tables in the R/3 System are linked to each other using foreign key relationships. Some of these dependencies form tree-like hierarchical structures. Logical databases read data from database tables that are part of these structures.
Retrieving Data Using a Logical Database
After you have specified the logical database in the report attributes, you can access the database in the program. In the declaration part of your program, declare the tables you want to access in the program using the TABLES statement, as described in the SELECT Statement section. This provides the work areas for passing the data from the logical database to the program. The system also configures the selection screen to include fields from the tables you specified.
The program of the logical database places the data from the database tables into the work areas created by the TABLES statement. The logical database then triggers an event. In your program, you catch this event using the keyword GET with the corresponding table name. If, for example, the logical database just filled the work area of table SBOOK, it triggers the event GET SBOOK in your program. The system then executes the statement block belonging to this event.
A statement block starts directly after the event keyword and ends at the next event keyword or at the end of the program.
GET EVENT
This is the most important event for executable programs that use a logical database. It occurs when the logical database has read a line from the node  in the hierarchy. You should therefore not use these fields in your program or call subroutines that work with them .
The following program is connected to the logical database F1S.
REPORT EVENT_DEMO.
NODES: SPFLI, SFLIGHT, SBOOK.
START-OF-SELECTION.
  WRITE 'Test Program for GET'.
GET SPFLI.
  SKIP.
  WRITE: / 'From:', SPFLI-CITYFROM,
           'TO  :', SPFLI-CITYTO.
GET SFLIGHT.
  SKIP.
  WRITE: / 'Carrid:', SFLIGHT-CARRID,
           'Connid:', SFLIGHT-CONNID.
  ULINE.
GET SBOOK.
  WRITE: / 'Fldate:',    SFLIGHT-FLDATE,
           'Bookid:',    SBOOK-BOOKID,
           'Luggweight', SBOOK-LUGGWEIGHT.
  ULINE.
The table work area SFLIGHT is also used in the event block for GET SBOOK. Depending on what you enter on the selection screen, the beginning of the list display might look like this:
In the logical database F1S, the nodes SFLIGHT and SBOOK are designated for field selection. This means that you can specify a field list in their GET event blocks:
REPORT EVENT_DEMO.
NODES: SFLIGHT, SBOOK.
GET SFLIGHT FIELDS CARRID CONNID.
GET SBOOK FIELDS BOOKID.
GET SFLIGHT LATE FIELDS PLANETYPE.
In this case, the logical database reads the following fields:
•     MANDT, CARRID, CONNID, FLDATE, and PLANETYPE from SFLIGHT
•     MANDT, CARRID, CONNID, FLDATE, and BOOKID from SBOOK
The system reads the fields MANDT and FLDATE from SFLIGHT, even though they are not specified in the field list, since they belong to the table key.
Only the key fields of SBOOK are read.
PROVIDE
PROVIDE Syntax Diagram
Basic form
PROVIDE f1 f2 ... FROM itab1
g1 g2 ... FROM itab2
FROM itabn
BETWEEN f AND g.
See PROVIDE - ENDPROVIDE not allowed .
Effect
Retrieves the contents of the specified fields from the internal tables (itab1, itab2 , ...) and places them in the table header lines within the required range. Also executes the processing block enclosed by the PROVIDE and ENDPROVIDE statements for each range.
Note
For itab1, itab2 ... only tables with header lines are allowed.
Effect
Basic principle:
The diagram below illustrates the functionality of the PROVIDE statement for the most simple case where just two tables A and B are to be processed:
IA1 IA2
|----
| |----
| table A
: IB1 : IB2 : :
: |----
| |----
| : table B
: : PROVIDE area : : :
...|----
|...
:TI1: TI2 :TI3: : TI4 : TI5 : TI6 :
...|-|---|-| |-----|-|---|...
result ranges
The data structures which form the basis for the table lines must each contain two components which can be interpreted as a range (e.g. start date and end date). In the diagram, the ranges belonging to the entries in table A are marked with IA1 or IA2 , and those in table B with IB1 or IB2. If you split the ranges of both tables into overlapping and non-overlapping ranges and then form the intersection with the PROVIDE area, this results in 6 sub-ranges TI1 to TI6. In these sub-ranges, the values of the tables A and B are constant. The PROVIDE statement makes the contents of the tables A and B available for the 6 sub-ranges, one after the other. It thus acts as a kind of loop where the data of the tables involved can be processed with reference to each range.
Effect
General principle
Each of the specified internal tables has two fields which contain the line-related validity range. You can determine these in the
DATA statement with the addition "VALID BETWEEN ... AND ...". If this addition is not used, the first two sub-fields of the table determine these range fields (corresponds to VALID BETWEEN first field AND second field). These fields can be date fields, time fields or number fields. Both these two fields and also f and g should be the same type.
PROVIDE splits the range f to g into sub-ranges so that each of the fields (f1, f2, ...) specified for each table is constant in this range and so that each sub-range is as large as possible (range limits are considered part of the range).
Each time the processing passes through the loop, the current range limits and the specified sub-fields are placed in the header lines of the internal tables. If you want to make all sub-fields available, enter '*' instead of the field list. The unspecified sub-fields are set to their initial value (
•     CLEAR).
It is a requirement that the ranges within a table are in ascending order and not overlapping. However, there can be gaps between one upper range limit and the next lower range limit.
For each table itab1, itab2 ... , the automatically generated fields itab1_VALID, itab2_VALID , ... indicate (with 'X' or blank ' ') whether a suitable entry was found for the current sub-range.
Example
The entries in the table SE, PR and SH contain time ranges and are filled as follows:
DATA: BEGIN OF SE OCCURS 3,
FROM TYPE D,
TO TYPE D,
NAME(15) TYPE C,
AGE TYPE I,
END OF SE,
BEGIN OF PR OCCURS 4,
START TYPE D,
END TYPE D,
PRICE TYPE I,
NAME(10) TYPE C,
END OF PR,
BEGIN OF SH OCCURS 2,
CLOSED TYPE D,
STR(20) TYPE C,
OPENED TYPE D,
END OF SH VALID BETWEEN OPENED AND CLOSED,
BEGIN TYPE D VALUE '19910701',
END TYPE D VALUE '19921001'.
SE-FROM = '19910801'. SE-TO = '19910930'.
SE-NAME = 'Shorty'. SE-AGE = 19. APPEND SE.
SE-FROM = '19911005'. SE-TO = '19920315'.
SE-NAME = 'Snowman'. SE-AGE = 35. APPEND SE.
SE-FROM = '19920318'. SE-TO = '19921231'.
SE-NAME = 'Tom'. SE-AGE = 25. APPEND SE.
PR-START = '19910901'. PR-END = '19911130'.
PR-NAME = 'Car'. PR-PRICE = 30000. APPEND PR.
PR-START = '19911201'. PR-END = '19920315'.
PR-NAME = 'Wood'. PR-PRICE = 10. APPEND PR.
PR-START = '19920318'. PR-END = '19920801'.
PR-NAME = 'TV'. PR-PRICE = 1000. APPEND PR.
PR-START = '19920802'. PR-END = '19921031'.
PR-NAME = 'Medal'. PR-PRICE = 5000. APPEND PR.
SH-CLOSED = '19920315'. SH-STR = 'Gold Avenue'.
SH-OPENED = '19910801'. APPEND SH.
SH-CLOSED = '19921031'. SH-STR = 'Wall Street'.
SH-OPENED = '19920318'. APPEND SH.
PROVIDE NAME AGE FROM SE
NAME FROM PR
FROM SH
BETWEEN BEGIN AND END.
ENDPROVIDE.
The three tables are processed according to the following schema:
ISE1 ISE2 ISE3
|-----| |--
| |----
|
: :IPR1 IPR2 : : IPR3 IPR4 :
: |----
|----| |--
|------| :
: : ISH1 : : : ISH2 : : :
|----
| |----
| :
: : : : PROVIDE area : : :
|----
|...
...|--||||--| |--
|------|...
result ranges
This PROVIDE loop is executed 7 times and produces the following sub-ranges:
o     01.08.1991 - 31.08.1991
o     01.09.1991 - 30.09.1991
o     01.10.1991 - 04.10.1991
o     05.10.1991 - 30.11.1991
o     01.12.1991 - 15.03.1992
o     18.03.1992 - 01.08.1992
o     02.08.1992 - 01.10.1992
•     In most of the loop passes, the fields SE_VALID, PR_VALID and SH_VALID contain 'X' . The exceptions to this are the 1st loop pass, where PR_VALID contains ' ', and the 3rd loop pass, where SE_VALID contains ' '.
Field contents (header lines) during the third loop pass:
SE-FROM = '01101991'
SE-TO = '04101991'
SE-NAME = ' '
SE-AGE = 0
PR-START = '01101991'
PR-END = '04101991'
PR-PRICE = 0
PR-NAME = 'Car'
SH-CLOSED = '04101991'
SH-STR = 'Gold Avenue'
SH-OPENED = '01101991'
o     Notes
•     Strictly speaking, if you imagine each range as a short way of writing a set of single values, this is an "outer join" of the tables.
o     After ENDPROVIDE, the contents of the system fields SY-INDEX, SY-TABIX and SY-SUBRC are undefined.
o     Neither the header lines nor the actual table lines of the table specified with PROVIDE should be changed between PROVIDE and ENDPROVIDE. Otherwise, the PROVIDE results are undefined.
Provide the Last Entry in the Period
Use
Use the following programming utility to place the last entry in a required period (this can be a for a subtype) in the table header entry from an internal infotype table.
Macro: RP_PROVIDE_FROM_LAST
You define the macro using the keyword INFOTYPES.
You use macro RP_PROVIDE_FROM_LAST in programs for the logical databases PNP and PAP where the last data record for a period (can be a subtype) is read from an infotype table. The infotype table has been filled earlier (for example, with GET PERNR or RP_READ_INFOTYPE). This macro is only helpful if the infotype (or subtype) has time constraint 1 or 2.
Prerequisites
•     The validity begin date of the time period must be before or the same as the validity end date.
•     Validity start and end dates are correct (preferably of the type DATE).
•     The infotype table is sorted in ascending order. Otherwise, you would receive the last fitting table entry that might not necessarily correspond to the last time entry.
Features
The macro RP_PROVIDE_FROM_LAST makes sure that the last entry for a specified period is placed in the table header entry of the report output list.
Parameters
RP_PROVIDE_FROM_LAST inftytab subty beg end
IN :     1) Name of the internal table
     2) Subtype required or SPACE if no subtype is being specified
     3) Validity begin date of the time interval
     4) Validity end date of the time interval
OUT:     1) PNP-SW-FOUND: has the value 0 if there is no matching entry in the infotype table in the given time period. Otherwise it has the value 1.
     2) The matching table header entry if PNP-SW-FOUND = 1 or
the cleared table header entry if PNP-SW-FOUND = 0
Check
None
Example
(RP_PROVIDE_FROM_LAST inftytab subty beg end)
RP_PROVIDE_FROM_LAST P0021 '1' PN-BEGDA PN-ENDDA.
IF PNP-SW-FOUND EQ '1'.
or
RP_PROVIDE_FROM_LAST P0001 SPACE PN-BEGDA PN-ENDDA.
IF PNP-SW-FOUND EQ '0'.
WRITE: / 'Error: Org. assignment is missing'. REJECT.
ENDIF.
The module PROVIDE-FROM-FINAL, which is not implemented, is a special case of PROVIDE-FROM-LAST:
PROVIDE-FROM-FINAL inftytab subty beg end =
      RP_PROVIDE_FROM_LAST inftytab subty end end
Leaving Event Blocks Using CHECK
If you use the CHECK .
          PROVIDE * FROM P0002
              if ... then ...endif.
          ENDPROVIDE.
•     Changing Infotypes - by using RMAC (macro) RP-READ-INFOTYPE. 
• Three steps are involved in changing infotypes:
1. Select the infotype records to be changed;
2. Make the required changes and store the records in an alternative table;
3. Save this table to the database;
The RP-UPDATE macro updates the database. The parameters of this macro are the OLD internal table containing the unchanged records and the NEW internal table containing the changed records. You cannot create or delete data. Only modification is possible.
INFOTYPES: Pnnnn NAME OLD,
Pnnnn NAME NEW.
GET PERNR.
    PROVIDE * FROM OLD
           WHERE .... = ... "Change old record
           *Save old record in alternate table
           NEW = OLD.
    ENDPROVIDE.
    RP-UPDATE OLD NEW. "Update changed record
Function Modules in HR
Function modules are program modules which have a defined interface and allow type testing of parameters.
They are managed with transaction SE37 and combined to function groups according to relevant criteria. You can access this transaction under Tools  ABAP Workbench  Function Builder.
The HR function groups use the naming convention RPxx or HRxx where xx is an identifier of your choice.
You can use the SHOW FUNCTION * editor command to branch from report processing to function module display.
Human Resources Glossary
ABAP/4: Advanced Business Application programming. SAP’s fourth generation programming language to develop online applications and evaluate databases.
Absence Quota: An employee’s entitlement to certain absence. The quota has a limited validity period, and is reduced by each recorded absence.
Administrative Personnel Structure: Allows for the ability to group employees by their relationship within the company, their status, and their payroll processing. Consists of three indicators- employee group, employee subgroup and payroll accounting area.
Applicant Group: Is used in recruitment to classify applicants according to the type of employment contract for which they are applying (e.g. permanent, temporary, freelance, etc.).
Applicant Range: Is used in recruitment to classify applicants according to their hierarchical or functional criteria. (Functional- administration, factory, engineering.
     Hierarchical- executives, line management, staff.)
Attendee Type: A grouping together of attendees with the same characteristics. These attendees can be either individual attendees or group attendees (for example, customer, or person).
Attributes: In PD, they are the inherent characteristics that describe an object. Infotypes are used to hold this information.
Authorization: The access privileges for performing an action in the R/3 system based on a set of authorized values for each of the fields in an authorization object.
Authorization object: An element of the authorization system which groups up to ten authorization fields for combined authorization checking. To pass an authorization test for an object, the user must satisfy the authorization check for each field in the object. The authorization objects are listed in the table TOBJ.
Balance: Used to store a goal amount for a deduction wage type. This is entered in infotype 0015 (Additional Payments).
Benefit Plan: The benefit plan is the core of benefit administration module; it encompasses a single benefit offered by the employer.
Business Navigator: The R/3 business navigator is the graphical browser and navigation tool that is used to display the R/3 Reference Model. With this tool you can view graphical process chains, directly access the applications and trigger transactions, call R/3 online documentation, and look at other repository information such as business objects and input/output.
Client: legally and organizationally independent unit on the highest level of the SAP R/3 system (do not make any changes to clients 000 or 001)
Cluster: Clusters are ways of organizing data in a database that consists of a number of tables. Types of clusters; B2, R*.
Command Field: Located on every SAP screen next to the Enter icon (green check mark). Used to type in direct commands that will allow the user to initiate shortcuts. Valid commands are:
Input          Results
/n          to end the current transaction
/I          to end the current session
/o          to create a new session     
/nend          to log off from the system
/nxxx          to jump to a new transaction
/oxxx          to create a new session and jump to a new transaction (xxxx = transaction code)
Company Code: A legally independent unit within a client and is the smallest organizational unit for which complete self-contained set of books can be maintained for external reporting (i.e., balance sheet and profit and loss statement).
Company Structure: Consists of following: Client, Company Code, Personnel area, Personnel subarea, and organizational key.
Constraint: A constraint describes dependencies between one or more objects and their characteristics in variant configuration.
Cost Center: An organizational unit within a controlling area that represents a separate location of cost incurred. Cost centers (departments) can be set up based on functional requirements, allocation criteria, activities or services provided, location or area responsibility (object type “K”).
Country Code: One of the geographical elements within the Differential Reference Code (DRC). The DRC Region field may be used to create pricing conditions.
Cumulations: “Buckets of wage types stored on technical wage types /101 through /196. Examples include /101 gross wages, /102 RRSP wages and /110 employee deductions.
Data Dictionary: Central catalog that contains the descriptions of an organization’s data and provides information about the relationship between the data and its use in programs and screens.
Date Modifier: Used if you want to have different pay dates with same period parameter (i.e., two bi-weekly payrolls by different pay dates.)
Dialog Wage Types: Wage types that can be entered on infotypes or calculated in payroll.
Daily Work Schedule: Represents a timetable for working on a specific day. The daily work schedule and work break schedule describes the exact working times for a particular day. One daily work schedule can represent a number of different time models.
Daily Work Schedule Variant: A daily work schedule that varies slightly from one that is normally valid. For example, some companies have a policy that employees work a half day proceeding a holiday. This half working day is an exception to normal schedule and can be defined as a variant.
Detail Maintenance (see also Simple Maintenance): One of the three methods you can use to create and maintain organizational plans in the Organization and Planning module of PD. With Detail Maintenance you work with objects one-at-a-time, at a detailed level. Complete PD functionality is available, which means you can work with all types of infotypes and record statuses, etc.
Dialog (Program): ABAP/4 program that allows the user to perform a certain task (transaction). A dialog program consists of screens, a module pool (i.e., type “M” ABAP/4 program) and a transaction code (call). In general, there is also a user interface that allows the user easy access to a number of functions. (In contrast to reports, a dialog program is normally started with a transaction code or is often incorporated into an area menu.)
Dynamic Action: Combines related infotypes into groups. Depending on the data entered, the system will generate subsequent infotypes.
Earliest Recalculation Date: This is set for each employee and also at the payroll control level. The higher of the two dates is used.
Employee Group: The employee group allows for the division of employees into groups that define their relationship within the company. In personnel administration, the main employee groups are active work force, temporary employees, and retirees
Employee Subgroup: Employee subgroups are subdivisions of the employee group, which allow for further definitions of the employee according to their status. Such  as, within the active work force, a distinction can be made between union , non-union, salaried, hourly, trainees and executives.
Employee Subgroup Grouping for Collective Agreement Provisions (CAP): Allows selective assignment to the various pay scale groups. You can combine employee group/subgroups under this grouping customizing in the following categories:
(1)     Industrial workers /hourly wage;
(2)     Industrial workers /monthly wage;
(3)     Salaried employees;
(4)     Non-pay scale employee.
Within these groupings, pay scale groups and levels can be defined per scale type and pay scale area. Can be used for indirect valuation on an hourly or monthly basis.
Employee Subgroup Grouping for Personnel Calculation Rule (PCR): Allows selective assignments to various pay scale groups. You can combine employee groups/subgroups under this grouping using customizing in the following categories:
1.     Hourly Wage Earners.
2.     Monthly Wage Earners.
3.     Salaried Employees
The meaning of these groups are fixed and may not be changed. The PCR is required for Payroll Accounting and is used for indirect valuation of wage types and infotype 0008, Basic pay.
Employee Subgroup Grouping for Primary Wage Type: Combines employee subgroups for eligibility for Primary wage type usage. Allows you to restrict specific wage types to certain employees group and subgroup.
Enterprise IMG: The Enterprise IMG is the top-level filter for the SAP Reference IMG. It is generated by selecting the business application components and countries to be implemented (all projects).
Evaluation Class: Similar to a processing class. Evaluation classes are used for post payroll processing. (i.e., assigning a G/L account number to a wage type)
Factoring: Proration process for salaries.
Features:  Features are decision trees that perform operation on existing fields. Features can be used to set default values. Some examples of features are: ABKRS- default values for payroll area; PINCH- default for Administrator groups on infotype 0001.
Function: Used to process, collect and display data in schemas.
Human Resource Master Data: Employee-related data, which remain relatively constant during the course of time. Example includes personnel number, name, address, bank data and social insurance number.
Hiring: A personnel action in which all the data relevant to the entry of a new employee is recorded, such as name, address, personnel number, activity, cost center etc.
IMG: Implementation Guide. List of all the actions required for the SAP system and helps control and document the process. The IMG is used to do the actual parameter settings. It provides a GUI-supported, menu-led approach, and offers recommendations and explanations for what the system expects at each stage. Default settings are provided to facilitate configuration.
Infotype:  A system information unit within the HR module. Infotypes represent a group of related data fields, provide information structure, facilitate data entry, and allow time-dependent storage of data. For example, information on a person’s city of residence, street and house number combines to form the employee’s address, and is therefore stored (along with other data fields) in the infotype “Address.”
Infotype Groups: An infotype group is a set of infotypes processed for a particular personnel action. An infotype group can be dependent on a user group so that only certain infotypes are processed for a particular group of users.
Information Subtype: In information type (infotype) can be divided into subtypes. Foe example, family data can be broken down further to represent spouse and children. Each subdivision group is known as a subtype.
Jobs: Jobs are general classification of positions that exist within a company.
Modifiers: Used in rule KMOD to set value ranges for tables. The following tables use modifiers:
     MODIF1 = T510S Wage Types constant
     MODIF2 = T510J Constant Valuation
     MODIF3 = T030 Fixed Accounts
     MODIFA = T554C Absence Valuation
     MODIFB = T51D1 Limits for Deductions
     MODIFC = Valuation Basis for month-end accrual
     MODIFD = Wage Type Processing with regard to month-end accrual
     MODIFW = T510S Wage Type Generation
The modifiers allow you to set a specific range of table entries for different groups of employees.
Operation: Operations are building blocks for rules. They are used to process wage types.
Organizational Structure: Organizational Structures reflect organizational hierarchies and interrelationships for employees. They are composed of the following substructures: company structure, personnel structure, pay scale structure, wage type structure.
Organizational Unit: Organizational Units define the different employee groups (business areas) within a company (e.g. departments). Must be linked to one another to produce a hierarchical structure for the company.
PA (Personnel Administration and Payroll Accounting): The SAP Human Resources Management system is divided into two main areas of configuration: PA and PD. In PA, the organizational hierarchies and  their control functions are defined using a system of control tables (which means that company structure and personnel structures can be set up independently of one another). The subsets of the implementation guide for PA consists of:
•     Personnel Administration;
•     Benefits;
•     Recruitment;
•     Time Management;
•     Payroll.
Pay Increase (Simple versus Extended):
Simple: Uses report RPU51000 to increase wage types in customizing.
Extended: Can define variant to use for increasing standard pay which add or delete wage types or replace existing ones. The variants include:
•     A – increase a wage type to an absolute amount;
•     C – delimit an existing wage type;
•     D – increase by a difference;
•     E – valuate according to another pay scale group;
•     G – increase total pay by an absolute amount;
•     R – replace one wage type by another;
•     T – add a new wage type.
Pay Scale Area: Geographical area in which a pay scale or a collective agreement is valid. Two-digit code, setup in customizing and stored in PA country grouping. Used as default values for pay types and groups lined to the personnel subarea (see infotype 0008). Within a pay scale area, pay scale groups and levels can be defined per pay scale type and indicator.
Pay Scale Group: Provides a classification criteria for work and indirect valuations. Defined per PA country grouping, pay scale type, pay scale area and employee subgroup grouping for the collective agreement provision.  The most important control features of pay scale groups and levels is checking the validity of entries in infotype Basic Pay (0008) and infotype Wage Maintenance (0052) and assigning payments for indirect valuation of wage types.
Pay Scale Types: Area in which pay scale or collective agreement is valid. This pay scale or agreement may be determined at company or trade union level. Two-digit code maintained in customizing and stored by PA country grouping. Pay scale groups and levels can be defined within a pay scale type per pay scale area and employee subgroup grouping for collective agreement provision.
Payroll Accounting Area (a.k.a. Payroll Area): The payroll area is a grouping for payroll runs. It is assigned to employees using feature ABKRS, which is based on the organizational assignment (infotype 0001). The payroll area identifies which payroll run (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc.) will process an employee.
Payroll Driver: The payroll program RPCALCK0 is used to perform complete payroll runs on a period-by period basis and store results.
Payroll Status: Infotype 0003. It is used to keep track of last payroll run for an employee; retroactive activity and error indication.
PD (Personnel Planning and Development): The SAP Human Resources Management system is divided into two main areas for configuration: PA and PD. In PD an organizational plan is developed to depict a company’s structure. It will include information about the individual positions, the reporting structure (or chain of command) and positions. Position information will include the types of job performed, the work centers, (physical locations) where jobs and positions are carried out and the different types of tasks performed. The subsets of the implementation guide for PD consists of:
•     Personnel planning and development global settings;
•     Organizational plan;
•     Seminar and convention management;
•     Personnel development;
•     Shift planning;
•     Room reservation planning.
Period Parameter: Determines payroll area frequency.
Personnel Actions: The personnel action function groups together all infotypes necessary to input a particular personnel procedure, such as hiring a new employee. Each action includes the infotypes for which it is essential that you enter data, and allows you to process them sequentially. This ensures that all data relevant to particular personnel procedure is recorded in the system.
Personnel Area: Personnel areas are used solely in Personnel Administration and are defined with a client. Each personnel area must be assigned to a company code. The personnel area allows you to generate default values for data entry, for example, for the payroll accounting area. The personnel area is a selection criterion for reporting. Personnel areas form a unit in authorization checks.
Personnel Subarea: Personnel Subareas are the last element in the company structure. Respective country-specific control features are stored here Specified grouping for Time management; which allows, for example, work schedules as well as substitution, absence and leave types to be setup on a personnel subarea specific basis. Default values are generated for pay scale types and area for an employee’s basic pay. A holiday calendar is specified. Personnel subarea-specific wage types per personnel area are defined.
Personnel File: The personnel file gives user the ability to access all infotypes for a particular personnel number. The infotypes are displayed in infotype sequence.
Position: Jobs are further described by position. Positions are specific roles performed by individual in the company.
Processing Class: Processing Classes are stored in the table T512W and is used in rules to determine which version of the rule should be selected for a particular wage type.
Rte, Num, Amt: The elements of a wage type.
Rule: Controls how wage types are processed during payroll processing. Rules consists of operations.
Schema: Series of sequential processing steps for payroll and time evaluation. Main schemas include;
•     K000 Canadian accounting payroll schema for RPCALCK0;
•     TM00 Main schema for Time Management;
•     TM01 Time evaluation schema for exceptions to the work schedule;
•     TM04 Time evaluation schema without clock time.
Split Indicator: Derived from WPBP. Splits will ensure accuracy during payroll processing. Splits occur when there is a change in one or more of the infotype in the WPBP table.
Subschema:  Contains processing steps needed by payroll. Subschemas are called from main schema using function “copy”.
Symbolic Account: Interface between a wage type and general ledger account number. Symbolic accounts are assigned to wage type in T512W.
Technical Wage Types:  Wage types that are calculated or used by payroll. Technical wage types start with a “/”.
Time Constraints: Time constraints are configured for each infotype. They serve as guidelines for when and how many records of an infotype you can maintain. Class 1information must exist, and only once for the life span of the object; Class 2 – information is optional, but it can exist only once in any time period (non-continuous or continuous); Class –3 information is optional and many record can exist during any time period.
Time Types: Used in time evaluation to store balances formed from employee attendance and absence times.
Time Wage Type: Time Wage Types are the wage types that need to be evaluated because they carry only a unit (i.e. hours, days, etc.).
Total:  Stores the total amount of a deduction with a balance. The total amount is calculated in payroll.
User Group: A user group defines a set of employee. User group are used when customizing the SAP HR system. The system can be customized so that the user group can determine the screen, infotypes and fields accessible.
Validity Dates: The validity period of an object and any infotype must be defined. Each infotype uses beginning and end dates to identify the infotypes validity period.
Valuation Basis: Technical wage types /00 (i.e. /001). The total amount is calculated in payroll.
Valuation Class Rule: Assigned to absence to determine how they will be processed in payroll.
Wage Type: Wage type refers to a four digit identifier for values (amount, number or amount per unit) which are necessary for calculating an employee’s wage/salary. Wage type represent deduction, earning or tax codes.
Wage Type Classes: Wage type classes are used for deduction limit processing.
WPBP: Table that contains data from infotypes;
•     0000 – Actions;
•     0001 – Organizational Assignment;
•     0007 – Work Schedule;
•     0008 – Basic Pay;
•     0027 – Cost distribution.
SAP HR, FI, CO, MM, PP, SD, PM, PS, QM, SM, BW, APO, Basis,  ABAP/4, Certification, Books
SAP HR Transaction Codes
Code     Description
P1B1      Transfer hiring data for applicant
P1B2      Transfer hiring data for applicant
P1B3      Transfer hiring data for applicant
P1B4      Transfer table T588Z, infotype 4000
P1B5      Transfer opt. archive for applicant
P1B6      Transfer hiring data for applicant
P1B7      Conversion T750B
P1OA      Transfer Settings for Opt.Archiving
P201      Transfer T514D/V from Client 000
P2W1      Transfer Incentive Wage Accounting
P2W2      Copy Incentive Wage Forms
P4SW      Release notes BWP
P5P1      Addition of IT0122 to T588B
P5P2      Delete entries in T588B
PA00      Initial PA Master Data Menu
PA03      Maintain Personnel Control Record
PA04      Maintain HR Number Ranges
PA05      Number Range Maintenance: RP_COIFT
PA06      Number Range Maintenance: PD_SEQ_NR
PA07      Maintain Number Range: RP_GARNEM
PA08      Maintain Number Range: RP_GARNSUB
PA09      
PA10      Personnel File
PA20      Display HR Master Data
PA30      Maintain HR Master Data
PA40      Personnel Actions
PA41      Correct Actions
PA42      Fast Entry for Actions
PA46      Import from Resumix
PA47      Export to Resumix
PA48      Hiring from non-SAP system
PA51      Display Time Data
PA53      Display Time Data
PA61      Maintain Time Data
PA62      List Entry of Additional Data
PA63      Maintain Time Data
PA64      Calendar Entry
PA70      Fast Entry
PA71      Fast Entry of Time Data
PA88      Benefits
PA97      Matrix Maintenance
PA98      Compensation Administration
PA99      Compensation Admin. - Release Report
PAAH      Call Ad-Hoc Query
PACA      HR-CH: PF administration
PACB      HR-CH: PF account maintenance
PACC      HR-CH: PF calculator
PACE      HR-CH: Pension fund : Postings
PACK      HR-CH: Pension fund
PACN      Number range maint: HRCHPKONTO
PACP      HR-CH: Pension fund, interface
PACT      PC parameter maintenance
PAJP      Call reporting tree - Japan
PAL1      Create Sales Representative
PAL2      Display Sales Representative
PAL3      Maintain Sales Representative
PAL4      Create Buyer
PAL5      Maintain Buyer
PAL6      Display Buyer
PAR1      Flexible employee data
PAR2      Employee list
PAT1      Personnel Administration infosystem
PAW1      Who is who
PB00      Recruitment
PB04      Number Range Maintenance: RP_PAPL
PB10      Init.entry of applicant master data
PB20      Display applicant master data
PB30      Maintain applicant master data
PB40      Applicant actions
PB50      Display Applicant Activities
PB60      Maintain Applicant Activities
PB80     Evaluate vacancies
PBA0      Evaluate advertisements
PBA1      Applicant index
PBA2      List of applications
PBA3      Applicant vacancy assignment list
PBA4      Receipt of application
PBA5      Recurring tasks: Print letters
PBA6      Recurring tasks: Print letters
PBA7      Recurring tasks: Data transfer
PBA8      Recurring tasks: Transfer data
PBA9      List of planned actions
PBAA      Evaluate recruitment instrument
PBAB      Maintain vacancy assignments
PBAC      Applicant statistics
PBAD      Recurring tasks: Print letters
PBAE      Applicant pool
PBAF      Vacancy assignment list
PBAG      Screening
PBAH      Decision
PBAI      All applicants via qualifications
PBAJ      Recruitment info system
PBAK      Recurring Tasks: Print Labels
PBAL      Bulk processing
PBAM      Variable Applicant List
PBAN      Ad Hoc Query
PBAO      ABAP Query
PBAP      Internal Applicants Via Quals
PBAQ      External Applicants Via Quals
PBAT      Choose SAPscript or WinWord
PBAU      Maintain T750C
PBAV      Display T750C
PBAW      Maintain T750B
PBAX      Display T750B
PBAY      Maintain T750X
PBAZ      Display T750X
PBCX      Cust. Account Assign. Reference (MM)