Section 1 of 5
SAP Reporting Fundamentals and the ALV Grid
How SAP reports work
Almost every SAP report follows the same two-screen pattern:
- Selection screen — filter criteria (date range, company code, material, plant). This is where you tell SAP what to include.
- Output screen — the results, displayed in an ALV (ABAP List Viewer) grid.
Understanding how to use both screens effectively is the difference between spending 20 minutes on a report and 2 minutes.
The selection screen
A good selection screen practice:
- Use value help (F4) on any field to see valid values. Never type a code you are not sure about.
- Use ranges (the button with two dots "...") to include ranges like "date from 01.01.2026 to 31.03.2026" or "company codes 1000 to 2000".
- Use exclude options (the minus icon) to exclude specific values — for example, exclude test company code 9999.
- Save your most-used selection criteria as a variant: click "Save" on the selection screen and give it a name. Next time you run the report, click "Get Variant" to load it instantly.
The ALV Grid output
The ALV grid is a spreadsheet-like output with powerful built-in tools:
| Toolbar button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Sort Ascending/Descending | Sort any column |
| Set Filter | Filter results within the output (without re-running) |
| Sum | Add totals / subtotals |
| Find (Ctrl+F) | Search within results |
| Change Layout | Add/remove columns, change column order |
| Save Layout | Save your column configuration as a named variant |
| Export | Download to Excel, PDF, or CSV |
The Change Layout button is underused. Most standard SAP reports hide 70% of the available columns by default. Adding columns like "Amount in local currency", "Created by", or "Last change date" can give you significantly more analytical power.