Processing Status of Objects

Use

The processing status of an object tells you whether processing was successful in a specific processing step.

For every object listed in the worklist of the Schedule Manager, a processing status is indicated for each processing step. The system sets the processing status during processing. This status can be changed manually in the monitor.

In addition to information on the success of processing, the processing status shows whether further processing of an object is allowed. This ensures that an object which was not processed in a processing step due to errors is not passed on to the next step.

Integration

The processing status is displayed in the monitor. The status is not updated to the processed object. For more information on the monitor, see the following section: Schedule Manager: Monitor - Working with the Object List

The examples described below are based on the use of the multilevel worklist in Cost Object Controlling and the Project System.

Features

Through the processing status, the worklist of the Schedule Manager controls whether an object is processed in the following processing step. The system automatically sets the following processing statuses:

Automatic Processing Statuses

• Not processed

The object has not been processed yet.

• OK

The object was processed without errors.

• Minor error

A warning or error occurred while the object was being processed. However, this error does not prevent further processing in a following step.

• Flagged for postprocessing

This status is set in the following case:

The object must be processed in a processing step because, for example, processing was forced. In the subsequent processing step, the object has one of the following processing statuses:

• OK
• Not relevant
• Minor error
• Filtered

Since the object normally would not be processed when it has this processing status, the system sets the processing status of the subsequent processing step to Flagged for postprocessing. This ensures that an object processed in one step is always included in the subsequent processing steps. The processing status is reset to Flagged for postprocessing regardless of whether the object was changed in the previous processing step.

• Error

An error occurred while the object was being processed that prevents further processing. You can either correct the error or instruct the system to include the object in the subsequent processing step despite the error (processing status Processing skipped manually).

• Followup error

An object receives the processing status Followup error for a processing step if it belongs to a group of objects that are processed together and this group contains one or more objects that were processed with errors (processing status Error), or were not processed, in the previous processing step.

The object with the processing status Followup error is not processed in the processing step for which it received that error. This ensures that the entire group of objects can only be processed when none of the objects contains an error that hinders the processing of an object in the group.

See the end of this text for an example of the processing statuses Followup error and Hierarchy error.

• Hierarchy error

An object receives the processing status Hierarchy error for a processing step if it belongs to a group of objects that are to be processed together and this group contains one or more objects that were processed with errors in the current processing step (processing status Error).

The object with the processing status Hierarchy error is not processed in the processing step for which it received that error. This ensures that the entire group of objects can only be processed when none of the objects contains an error that affects processing.

See the end of this text for an example of the processing statuses Followup error and Hierarchy error.

• Filtered

The user has excluded the object from processing by defining an application-specific filter.

• Not relevant
• The object is not relevant for processing in this processing step due to its attributes derived from Customizing or master data.
• The object is not relevant due to a status that has been set for it.

Example 1:

According to the selection parameters, all production orders of a plant are selected for variance calculation in period-end closing of Product Cost by Order. No variance key has been specified for some of the production orders. These production orders are not included in variance calculation. The production orders receive the processing status Not relevant.

Example 2:

According to the selection parameters, all production orders of a plant are selected for overhead calculation in period-end closing of Product Cost by Order. A system status or user status is set for some production orders, which does not allow processing. Examples of this are the system statuses open, closed, deletion flag and locked.

In some cases, a given status may make an object relevant or irrelevant only in certain processing steps.

Example:

A production order has a settlement rule with the settlement type FUL (full settlement). If neither the status DLV (delivered) nor the status TECO (technically completed) is set for the object, it is not relevant for variance calculation and receives the corresponding processing status. The order is relevant for the other processing steps of period-end closing such as template allocation, overhead calculation, calculation of work in process and settlement, regardless of whether one or none of the two statuses is set.

As a rule, with the processing status not relevant, no messages are issued for the object and processing step. To see the messages that caused the processing status to be set to not relevant, you can have the system process the object individually. Possibly, you can also force the issuance of messages through user-defined error management by putting the message type at the top.

For WIP calculation and results analysis, you can force the system to issue messages despite the status not relevant. You can guarantee the issuance of messages by setting the indicator Log information messages. If the indicator is set, all information messages are issued including those from processing within and outside of the multilevel worklist, even if the status not relevant is set for an object and processing step.

Manual Processing Statuses

You can set the following processing steps manually:

• Processing skipped manually

In the object list, the user manually sets the processing status of an object and processing step to Skip processing. The system changes the processing status to Processing skipped manually.

The object with this processing status is not included in the relevant processing step, and enters the next processing step.

• Processing forced manually

In the object monitor, the user manually sets the processing status of an object and processing step to Repeat processing. The system changes the processing status to Processing forced manually. The object is processed in the relevant processing step again even if the processing step had been executed without error.

If an object was processed without error in an update run for project interest calculation, new interest calculation can only be triggered if the previous interest calculation is first reversed. If no reversal is carried out, the object is not included in the recalculation of interest, despite its processing status.

Example

Example of the processing statuses Follow-up error and Hierarchy error:

During the calculation of actual overhead rates in period-end closing, a production order assigned to a WBS element was not processed due to deficient Customizing settings. The production order receives the processing status Error for the processing step Actual overhead.

In addition to this production order, other production orders are also assigned to the WBS element. All other production orders assigned to the WBS element receive the processing status Hierarchy error for the processing step Actual overhead. This status indicates that an object of an object group (all production orders assigned to a WBS element) contained errors in the processing step.

The processing step following the processing step Actual overhead is Results analysis. During results analysis for the WBS element, the data is included that was updated to the production orders assigned to the WBS element. Because one of the production orders assigned to the WBS element was marked as faulty and all other production orders received the corresponding processing status Hierarchy error in the processing step Actual overhead, the processing step Results analysis can not be carried out successfully for the WBS element.

The WBS element receives the processing status Followup error for the processing step Results analysis.

If you decide that the deficit resulting from the missing overhead is so low that it can be ignored, you can avoid time-consuming error analysis by specifying a processing status that prevents the production order from being included in the calculation of overhead. All production orders, including the one for which no overhead was calculated, are included in results analysis.

If the value of the production order is significant, you must remove the cause of error.

Additional Information

Note the following:

• There is no one-to-one assignment of message types to processing statuses in the worklist of the Schedule Manager. For example, not every message of message type "E" (error) results in the processing status Error for an object in the Schedule Manager in that processing step.

The system issues the message CK 214 as an error message.

If this message is based on target cost version 0 in variance calculation, the processing status Error is set in the worklist of the Schedule Manager.

If this message is based on a target cost version in variance calculation that is not 0, the processing status Minor error is set in the worklist of the Schedule Manager.

• Some messages are issued with different message types based on the object to be processed. Different processing statuses are set in the Schedule Manager.

In variance calculation, if message KV 158 is based on a single production order, the system issues this message as an error message. The processing status Error is set in the worklist of the Schedule Manager.

In variance calculation, if this message is based on a product cost collector to which multiple production orders are assigned, the system issues a warning message. The processing status OK is set in the worklist of the Schedule Manager.

Note the following :

If you are using the multilevel worklist of the Schedule Manager, the objects with the processing status Error for a processing step are not processed in the subsequent step. In many cases, the processing status Error is set because a message was issued with the message type "E" (error). When calculating variances and scrap variances, you can use user-defined error management to influence the message type for a large number of messages In the worklist of the Schedule Manager, this can result in a different processing status being updated to the processing step. This enables you to ensure that objects are processed in the subsequent processing step, for example.

A message was issued as an error message in variance calculation. The processing status Error is issued in the monitor.

The error is not serious, so you decide that the object should be processed in the next processing step. You therefore use user-defined error management to specify a message type of lower severity (such as "W" for a warning message). This ensures that the object does not receive the processing status Error for the processing step in the worklist due to this message. The object then enters the subsequent processing step.

No Processing Status Output

It may occasionally happen that no processing statuses are issued. See the following for an example of this: Separation of Value Calculation from Goods Movements: Effects on Cost Object Controlling.

See also:

For information on the following topics and many others, see the section Processing Worklists:

• When processing should be skipped or forced manually
• How to decide whether to do so
• How you can change the processing status

For detailed information on user-defined error management, see the following section: