Creating Transport Forms

All transports managed by ActiveControl need to be assigned to a Transport Form. When a transport is assigned to a Transport Form, it is logged within Transport Expresso and thereafter able to be progressed via the configured transport path and associated approvals workflow. A transport can only be allocated to one Transport Form.

Transport Forms can be created in the SAP GUI, Windows GUI and Web UI.

Regardless of where the Transport Form is created, the same information will need to be entered.

Transport Description: The text displayed next to the transport number is taken from the short description for the transport in SAP. Until the transport is released, any changes to this text will update the short description of the transport in the SAP system. This field is mandatory.

Description of changes made: Enter in any required documentation for the change

Type: Types are used for reporting purposes, use the dropdown to select the appropriate type for your transport

Group: Transport form Groups are used to determine the users that will give approvals for the transport to progress through the control points on the Transport Path. It is important to ensure that the correct selection is made here.

Transport Path: Only the valid transport paths for the selected transport will be available for selection. It is important to select the correct path as this cannot be changed after the transport form is saved. If an incorrect path is selected, the transport form will need to be deleted and re-created with the correct one.

Attachments: File attachments can be added to the transport form if required using the paperclip button.

URLs: URLs can be added to the transport form to allow a link to a website or external document.

Note that the field values Type and Group for this screen will default to the last values you used. Thus your workload will be reduced if you create a lot of forms for the same Type and Group. If you have a large number of transports to assign to forms then it may be a good idea to first sort them by type, group and business task – minimising the changes in values that will need to be selected.

In the case of ABAP SAP systems, the Transport Form can be triggered within the SAPGUI at two points in the process:

1. when an object is first added to a transport
2. when the transport is released.

Most ActiveControl customers prefer to trigger the Transport Form at the point an object is first added to a transport in the SAPGUI, to ensure that all developements are logged and visible within Transport Expresso as soon as development/configuration commences.

In the case of Java systems, the Transport Form needs to be created within the Windows GUI.

Transport Forms can be populated in the Windows GUI at any point for a transport (both ABAP and Java) that does not already have an associated Transport Form.

Notes

(1) Best practice is to not release the SAP transport from within SAP. Once it has been allocated a Transport Form, the transport can be released automatically by ActiveControl as part of a control point approval.

(2) If a transport is released before having a Transport Form, the transport will not show up in the list of All Locations / Transports w/o form within the Windows GUI. This screen only shows unreleased transports.