guide to the combined unicode conversion and upgrade
DESCRIPTION
Even though SAP is pushing for customers to convert to Unicode it is often overlooked during the initial upgrade process, or put off until later. However in some systems this introduces risk as the interaction between Unicode and non-Unicode systems can be problematic, and may result in silent data loss. Join Basis expert Josh Fisher to get expert advice on the Unicode conversion process with examples from real ECC 6.0 upgrades.Cover the basics of Unicode conversions:•What is Unicode?•Do I need to perform a Unicode conversion in order to upgrade to ECC 6.0?•What are the risks if I don't convert?•When is the best time to perform a conversion?Learn from a real upgrade and conversion case study including their:•Time line•Go-live strategy•Potential complicating factorsTRANSCRIPT
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Guide to the Combined
Unicode Conversion
and Upgrade
Josh FisherBasis Consultant
Wednesday March 03, 1-2pm CST
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Download the presentation recording with audio from the
Symmetry Knowledge Center
www.sym-corp.com/knowledge-center
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Implementation Support
SAP certified Hosting
SAP NetWeaver/ Basis
administration
Security design &
administration
Upgrade & project support
Quality – proactive support
delivered by US-based experts
Accessibility – 24x7 direct
access to your support team
Affordability – highly competitive,
fixed price contracts
Lifecycle Support for any SAP application on any platform combination
Symmetry’s 21st Century Approach to Managed Services
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Introducing
Josh Fisher
Basis Consultant
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Overview
Unicode Overview – Why, What & How
Unicode & ECC 6.0
2.1. Project comparison
2.2. Paths to target
2.3. Complicating factors
Case Study
Resources
Wrap-Up
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As is:
SAP R/3 NUC
Production
To be:
SAP ERP 6.0 UC
Production
32->64 bit?
Databasemigration?
MDMP or SCP?SAPGUIRollout?
Backout
strategies?
Database upgrade?
HW migration?
Sandbox hw?
SAP Solution Manager? ABAP work?
HW upgrade?
Outage
windows?
OS upgrade?
Testing?
Training?
Moving from R/3 Non-Unicode (NUC)
up to ERP 6.0 Unicode (UC)
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Unicode Overview – Why, What & How
Unicode & ECC 6.0
2.1. Project comparison
2.2. Paths to target
2.3. Complicating factors
Case Study
Resources
Wrap-Up
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Why Convert
– SAP Customer letter Apr 2006.
– SAP Customer letter Apr 2006.
―It is a strategic target of SAP to move our customer base to Unicode.
End of support for non Unicode based systems for future releases is
being discussed internally.‖
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Why Convert – more reasons
Inherently a non-Unicode system cannot ―understand‖ all the
characters that could be sent from a Unicode system
SAP Java systems are only Unicode
Mixed landscapes may or may not work even in Single Code Page
environment.
Note 838402 - Problems within non-Unicode system landscapes
Note 975768 - Deprecation of Java features with non-Unicode Backend
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―Non-Unicode code pages support only a small portion of the world-
wide existing character sets. Any character conversion based on
these code pages therefore bears the risk of silent data loss.‖
―Existing non-Unicode systems are still supported, but due to the
intrinsic limitations of non-Unicode code pages SAP recommends a
conversion to Unicode, especially when upgrading system to
Netweaver 7.0 (ERP 2005) and higher releases.‖
Why Convert
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SAP Note 838402 – Problems with Non-Unicode SAP Landscapes
Only languages that can be covered by one single non-Unicode code
page can be supported within each non-Unicode system.
Some characters that are used in your language are not supported by
the installed non-Unicode code page.
Integration with Unicode based technologies:
Most technologies used within an SAP application context are Unicode
based
When using these technologies together with a non-Unicode SAP system
uncontrolled data loss can occur.
Why Convert
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Release strategy well in progress
Source: p 30 Figure 6 FAQ Upgrading to myERP 2005
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http://service.sap.com/maintenance
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Terminology
CU&UC — Combined Upgrade and Unicode Conversion
Common abbreviation used in documentation
UTF — Unicode Transformation Format
Flavors differ in storage
UTF-8, UTF-16, UTF-32
UC / NUC — Unicode / non-Unicode
Used in SAP documents/websites/ ―exe directory names‖
NUC system types
SCP — Single Code Page
MDMP — Multi-Display Multi-Processing (i.e. multiple code pages)
Blended CPs — Special Code Pages for certain language combinations
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The “What” is about Characters
American Standard Code for
Information Interchange (ASCII)
There are 95 printable ASCII
characters, numbered 32 to 126
.
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What is a code page?
Code Page (from SAP Glossary)
Character set that defines the symbols that can be used in programs
and displayed by output devices such as printers and terminals.
1 character = 1 byte
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What is Unicode?
International standard
Characters from virtually every language and script assigned a
unique Unicode Scalar Value
Unicode Scalar Value: a number written in hexadecimal notation.
Notational convention "U+" is prefixed to the Scalar Value.
UTF - Unicode Transformation Format
Note: Unicode only specifies text storage not translation. It does not
automatically make more languages available.
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Unicode Storing Characters
16 bit
Mo
stly8
-bit
Byte Order Reversed
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Source: SAP Note 73606 attachment “R3languages.pdf”
Required code pages depend upon languages used
Multiple languages ≠ multiple code pages (e.g. code page 1100)
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Do I have to Convert in Order to Upgrade to ECC 6.0?
Yes
MDMPor
BCP
No
SCP
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Code Pages in Use?
RSCPINSTor
SE16 TCPDB
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Blended code pages?
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Basic Unicode Conversion
SAP DatabaseWith
Non-Unicode
SAP DatabaseWith
Unicode
R3Load(Export &
Conversion)
R3Load(Install &Import)
Data
DowntimeProcessing
SPUMG&
UCCHECK
UptimeProcessing
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Unicode Conversion Phases
Tcode UCCHECK *
Tcode SPUMG *
Export/SAPINST
Post Process
* UCCHECK & SPMUG not available in 46C and below
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Unicode Overview – Why, What and How
Unicode & ECC 6.0
2.1. Project comparison
2.2. Paths to target
2.3. Complicating factors
Case Study
Resources
Wrap-Up
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Unicode & ECC Project Comparison
Unicode Conversion
mostly technical & ABAP effort
Dependent upon number of “Z” objects
HW, OS, DB, SAN, Basis
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Paths to Unicode ECC 6.0
Separate projects
UnicodeConversion
UnicodeConversion
Upgrade
Upgrade
If SingleCode Page
If R3 4.7 orECC 5.0
Note: CU&UC Downtime is normal SAPup downtime plus DB export/import
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Project complicating factors
Hardware factors
Sandbox availability
Storage (exports, extra systems)
OS Upgrade / patches
Migration (new hw and/or new architecture eg x86->x64)
Parallel development (existing and upgraded)
Database factors
Upgrade / patches
Conversion (if source not Unicode compatible)
Size
Export/Import time
Backup/Restore time
Other factors
MDMP requires more Unicode preparation steps than SCP
Number of ―Z‖ Objects – Unicode syntax corrections / Upgrade driven changes
Can be significant efforts but do not change business process
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Path to Unicode ECC 6.0
DB > ~500GB&
SCP
SeparateProjects
CU&UC
Yes
Gui Rollout
Min SP for Unicode
Latest kernel& spam/saint vers.
Hw migration
DB upgradeNo
Get these done as early as possible
May be done days/weeks
before
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CASE STUDY
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Source - Target
Source
R3 46C Windows X86 MSSQL 2000 MDMP ~300GB
Target
ECC 6.0 Windows x64 MSSQL 2005 Unicode
Complicating factors:
HW change x86 –> x64
Database upgrade MSSQL 2000 -> 2005
MDMP preprocessing
Interim 47/200 upgrade for Unicode prep
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Timeline
Oct Nov Dec Jan
47/200 Interim System
Sandbox ECC 6.0
Development ECC 6.0
Production Rehost & DB upgrade
Production ECC 6.0
Sol Man 4.0
QA ECC 6.0 (system copy of Dev)
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Go-Live Strategy
Weekend 1: HW migration & DB upgrade
Re-host 46C MSSQL 2000 onto new (x64) hw
Upgrade database to MSSQL 2005
During week: Perform (online) PREPARE and SPUMG for CU&UC
Weekend 2: Complete CU&UC
SAPup and Export/Import (UC)
Transports & Acceptance Testing
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Resources
http://service.sap.com/unicode
(Start with the ―News‖ link)
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Wrap up
Unicode Conversion is inevitable and primarily technical
CU&UC downtime: ―SAPup‖ plus DB export/import
DB Size key driver for UC downtime
Number of ―Z‖ objects affect both upgrade and UC
DB upgrades and hw changes are primarily technical – avoid go-
live
Sandbox very necessary for determining ―timing‖ and ―complicating
factors‖
Visit http://service.sap.com/unicode
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Download the presentation recording with audio from the
Symmetry Knowledge Center
www.sym-corp.com/knowledge-center