Masking Sensitive Data in SAP

[Former Member]

Hey Experts. Can someone tell me how we can "Mask" certain data in SAP, using Standard functionality. We don't want to customize, so if a way exists, please share.

We want to be able to blank out or mask data such as the description of the WBS Elements.

Thanks.

Chris

Edited by: Christopher Ambrose on Oct 29, 2009 6:27 PM

[Former Member]

You can't do this without some sort of modification.

You may be able to use transaction variants to do this (SHD0) but they have their limitations and they are by no means the only answer. If you do a search on SHD0 you will get a few thoughts from some of the other contributors.

You can also look into using enhancement points to code in additional logic based on another auth check e.g. check ZDISPLAYWBS and if it is not present, hide the field. I've used this approach successfully when hiding price data in the past.

Most likely if you have this then you will need to use a variety of techniques. Unless there are legal ramifications then I would suggest coming up with another solution such as renaming sensitive WBS based on a "black box" concept.

[Former Member]

Thanks Alex!

I too have taken the approach to "clean up" sensitive WBS text descriptions, but wanted to look further to see if SAP had this functionality.

Follow up question: Using SHD0, is this the same as creating Custom Transactions or is it just Screen Variants? I've looked through some documentation for clarity and might be missing it. My confusion was in some examples they are saying create Y transaction codes.....

We don't want to Customize...and create additional Custom Tcodes, so if this is separate, can you advise?

Thanks.

Chris

Edited by: Slammer on Nov 4, 2009 6:23 PM

[Former Member]

With SHD0, you create variants which you can use in a number of ways.

The main ones are:

1. Modify the use of the standard transaction

2. Create a new transaction which uses the variant.

With option 1, everyone who runs the transaction gets the modification

With option 2, you create a custom transaction and assign it to the variant. When someone runs the custom tcode, it executes the original transaction but applies the variant to that. You are not actually copying any transactions etc but it does let you have 2 different types of functionality hanging off the original transaction depending on the transaction you used to access it.

If you want to use different variants for the standard transaction, you could look into variant groups. I've not used these before but it may be an option: http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw04s/helpdata/en/46/8ad19434a801dce10000000a1553f7/frameset.htm

There are also downsides to using transaction variants, if you do a search on SHD0 there are a few posts on their drawbacks.