Address Format - Bulgaria

[Former Member]

When we output our customer-facing documents (invoices, packing slips, etc.), the address for Bulgaria is coming out as:

TEST CUSTOMER

MR TEST CUSTOMER

TEST STREET 123

BG-13009 MARSEILLE

However, our business would instead like it to display the full name of the country:

TEST CUSTOMER

MR TEST CUSTOMER

TEST STREET 123

13009 MARSEILLE

BULGARIA

I found previous thread http://scn.sap.com/thread/1701490, which discusses the topic, but I wanted to check with the community that this is the only way possible to get the full country name to display.  We would need to change the customer master and modify the customer exit to read the FROMCOUNTRY when determining how to display the address?   No simpler configuration method exists?  Also, in that thread, the ISO 11180 standard is mentioned.  Does this mean that the appropriate address display between EU countries is as SAP is displaying by default?  If so, I may be able to push back to our business instead of making changes.

Thank you for your help in clearing up my questions.

-Dan

[Jelena · Accepted solution]

If this requirement is not specific to just this customer then I'd check for OSS notes and contact SAP regarding this. The address format is supposed to follow the postal standards for the country.

Also there are some settings for the country (in Global configuration) that determine how the country name is printed, but I believe it only influences whether the country name is printed or not if sender is in the same country. When researching this some time ago I also found that there is actually some hardcoding done for certain countries, so I'd take this up with SAP if you don't find a suitable option through the country configuration.

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Jelena,

You are correct, this is not specific to a customer, but for any customer in Bulgaria.  Do you know of a place I can officially find the address format standards for this country?  That would drive me to whether I need to open a message with SAP, or if I should be pushing the requirement back to the business as invalid, because the standards in Bulgaria match SAP.

Thanks,

Dan

[Jelena · Accepted solution]

Daniel, here is SAP Help article that mentions what standards are used in SAP for the address formatting. Unfortunately, on UPU web site there is no country-specific information, only general rules. However, if you check the Bulgarian Post web site (this info is available in Bulgarian version only), it seems that the format desired by the customer (without BG) is actually correct.

Actually I've just tried in our system (US) and Bulgarian address comes out correctly, like this:

I tried different sender's countries but it works fine. When Sender's country is BG then 'BULGARIA' is not printed, which is correct. So either someone screwed up the Country configuration in the client's system or it's a bug in the forms or function.

Here is the BG configuration in our system (it's in SPRO under SAP Netweaver -> General):

Hit F1 on 'Print Country Name' and read the documentation.

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Jelena,

I checked our configuration of country BG, and I noticed that you do not have it flagged as an EU country.  Bulgaria was brought into the EU in 2007.  I'm not sure if this is part of why your version is displaying the full country name, and ours is not (our settings are below).  In the post I linked previously (http://scn.sap.com/thread/1701490), one of the users mentioned that showing BG instead of BULGARIA is appropriate between EU countries, but I don't know where I can validate that statement.

Thanks,

Dan

[Jelena · Accepted solution]

Daniel,

I don't believe there is some kind of a "blanket" EU requirement. E.g. Latvia is part of EU and postal code looks like LV-1069. It applies to both domestic and international mail and it has been like that since before it was in EU. Ireland, on the other hand, does not have a country prefix (neither do most other countries, I believe). The UPU document for international address standards said that there must be the country name in the last line, so just adding BG to the postal code is technically not enough. For the domestic mail in Bulgaria I believe BG prefix is undesirable, so again I'd believe that the format that is showing in our system makes more sense.

Note that any changes in the Country configuration would affect the address format in the whole system (at minimum this will also include vendors). Unchecking EU flag is definitely not an option. I'm not sure though why it has such effect on the address, this just doesn't make sense... So I'd probably still take it up with SAP.

If this affects SD only then it can also be addressed by a change in the forms, but it's a bit of a hassle to do this for every address.

[eduardo_hinojosa · Accepted solution]

Hi

Check your settings with the help of notes 987716 and 998451.

Eduardo

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Jelena,

Thank you for the response.  I agree, I can't think of a reason why the "EU Country" flag would impact the way in which the address is formatted.  At your suggestion, I've opened an OSS message with SAP on this issue.  Once I have their response, I'll update the thread once again with the options they've provided, and I may ask for further opinions.

-Dan

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Eduardo,

Thank you for your response.  I reviewed the notes you linked, and they seem to surround the initial setup of Bulgaria as an EU country, which has previously been performed in our system.  I didn't see anything in those notes that specifically related to the address format.  If I somehow missed something, please let me know.

-Dan

[Jelena · Accepted solution]

Eduardo, the note 987716 is not relevant to this and 998451 explains customizing for new EU countries, which includes checking the EU flag. This is all correct, but what I don't understand - why checking the EU flag would have such an effect on the address format that adds country prefix to the postal code? Where did SAP get that this is an EU requirement?

Daniel, have you also checked how the address looks like if the sending country is not in EU? Also check how many lines are allowed for the address? Maybe it just doesn't fit the country name because it's limited to 4 lines? You can easily test this in customer master basic data by using print preview button. There is an option to change the parameters.

[eduardo_hinojosa · Accepted solution]

Hi

I suggest you the reading of these notes as a checklist. In one note explains what could happens if you change the EU flag (problems with VAT number in master data, in intrastat reporting and so on). Please, check note 839466, where you can see solutions to problems related with the format of address  (as I told you in other post).

Regards

Eduardo

[eduardo_hinojosa · Accepted solution]

Hi Jelena,

As I told to Daniel, I suggested these notes as a checklist and as a warning to be careful with idea of changing the EU flag (possible troubles with VAT ID in master data, intrastat reporting and so on).

I believe the solution is in note 839466 (for instance, in spain the name of region (provincia) in capital letters). But it's an option for Daniel.

Thank you for your comments,

Regards

Eduardo

[eduardo_hinojosa]

Hi

There is an enhancement (SZAD0001) for this purpose, please see this post:http://scn.sap.com/message/13797576. Check also the demo coding in include LXSADF01. You will need ABAP resorces.

I hope this helps you

Regards

Eduardo

PD: I forgot it, see note 839466

[Former Member]

Hi,

Yes Santosh is right you can fetch the description from table T005T with the language selection.

In which language you want to display .

Regards

Pitabash

[former_member186385]

Hi,

you can get description of country key from T005T table

just you have to pass Language and country key to the Key fields , system will retrieve the descritption

check and revert

thanks

santosh

[Former Member]

Agreed, table T005T holds the country data, but I'm not sure this will fully solve the problem.  As you can see in the examples above, the format of not just the country name, but the place in which the country is placed (in the first example, before the postal code, in the second, on it's own line) is different.  We'd rather not need to hardcode anything into the form, but instead be able to modify a configuration or master data setting if possible.

Also, do you have any feedback on the correct format for an address in Bulgaria?  Searching I haven't been able to find a source stating exactly what the legal format is.

Thanks,

Dan

[former_member186385]

Hi,

Populating the Country description on a separate line can be done by your ABAPer, since it is in output, ( either can be smartform or sapscript).

swaping of lines is coded within the layout. this is not a configuration

check with your developer to move the description code

it can be easily done

regards,

santosh