Customizing is the system parameters setting via SAP’s own interface.

The standard applications do not offer some of the functionalities that we need. The R/3 enhancement concept allows to add customized functionality to SAP’s standard business applications.

Enhancements using customer exits -
Customer requirements are not included in the standard software and are incorporated in the standard as empty modification ‘shells’. Customers can then modify these shells with their own coding. Enhancements can relate to programs, menus, and screens. Upward compatibility is assured.

Enhancements to ABAP/4 Dictionary elements
These are ABAP/4 Dictionary enhancements (creation of table appends), text enhancements (customer-specific key words and documentation for data elements) and field exits (creation of additional coding for data elements).

Creating customer-specific objects within the customer name range.

SSCR (SAP Software Change Registration) is a procedure, for registering all manual changes to SAP source coding and SAP Dictionary objects.

Modifications means adding some changes to the SAP standard functionality.
Enhancements means adding new functionality to SAP standard functionality.

• Modifying standard code can lead to errors.
• Modifications involve more work during software upgrades.

• Do not affect standard SAP source code.
• Do not affect software upgrades.

Customer exits are not available for all programs and screens within the R/3 standard applications. We can only use exits if they already exist within the SAP R/3 System. Otherwise we have to opt for modifications.

We need to create an add-on project to take advantage of the exits available within standard R/3 applications. This project lets us organize the enhancement packages and exits that we want to use. The add-on project also allows us to hang add-on functionality onto the exit hooks contained with SAP enhancements.

The switching changes are the switches from active to revised version.
The storing changes means the active version deposited for a limited period of time in versions.
The cancelling changes makes a reset of the revised versions to be an active version.

The version catalog is the list that contains every version of an object in existence. The version types are -

• The active version: is the version made at the program activation.
• The revised version: is the version made at the editing of the current project.
• The temporary version: is the version made at the temporary copying of the active version into the database that has store version functions.
• The historical version: is the version made at the making of the correction and at the release of the correction.