Sort system events

You can sort the system events in the XML output in ascending alphanumeric order based on the content of fields you define as sorting criteria. It is possible to specify multiple fields as sorting criteria. When sorting, the fields are prioritized from the first specified to the last specified, i.e., the data is first sorted based on the content of the first field specified, then by the content of the second field specified and so on.

Tip

You can use the sorting option to create a more efficient XML import of the extracted data into the PPM system. The fact that system events belonging to a process instance follow each other immediately due to sorting in the XML output files means that they can be imported directly into an EPC using the process key during the XML import.

In the table configuration, in the parameter XML element, fields are specified as sorting criteria for the system event table (doctable) and the referenced foreign key tables (docreftable).

Example (extract from table configuration)

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>

<!DOCTYPE xmlextractor_tableconfiguration SYSTEM

'xmlextractor_tableconfiguration.dtd'>

<xmlextractor_tableconfiguration>

<configuration name="BANF">

<docspec>

<doctable name="EBAN">

<parameter name="ORDER_BY">

<value>BNFPO</value>

<value>BANFN</value>

</parameter>

<condition fieldname="ERDAT"

logicaloperator="creationtimestamp">

<value>yyyyMMdd</value>

</condition>

<pkfield name="BANFN"/>

<pkfield name="BNFPO"/>

<pkfield name="ERDAT"/>

<fieldtoread name="BSART"/>

<fieldtoread name="KONNR"/>

<fieldtoread name="KTPNR"/>

<fieldtoread name="LIFNR"/>

<fieldtoread name="MFRNR"/>

</doctable>

</docspec>

</configuration>

</xmlextractor_tableconfiguration>

As specified in the BANF configuration (parameter XML element), the system events are written to the output file(s) sorted in ascending order by the item number in the purchase requisition number (BNFPO field) and, as a second priority, by the purchase requisition number (BANFN field).

The table below shows all of the configuration options:

XML element/attribute

Description

parameter

Specifies a sorting parameter for a system event table (doctable) or a foreign key table (docreftable).

name

Parameter name. It is essential to specify ORDER_BY.

value

Specifies a sorting field. The field must be specified as a primary key field (pkfield).

You can set the sorting parameter in PPM Customizing Toolkit. To do this, activate the System event tab in the Data extraction module of the Process merge module group. Switch to editing mode and select Edit system event from the pop-up menu of the system event table. In the Specify parameter step, you can specify your settings.