2578693 - Keyword functionality was changed from SAP Solution Manager 7.10 to SAP Solution Manager 7.20

Keyword functionality was changed from SAP Solution Manager 7.10 to SAP Solution Manager 7.20. The list of possible keywords, which was maintained in transaction SOLAR_PROJECT_ADMIN under the "Project standards" tab in 7.10, can no longer be maintained in 7.20, as this transaction was switched to "Read only" mode in 7.20. The whole concept of keywords does no longer work the same way in 7.20 as before. But project and solution data maintained in 7.10 can be transferred to 7.20 during the "Content activation" process, to allow customers to work in 7.20 without loss of data.

Keyword attributes were used in release 7.10, as they allowed customers to add custom content to the structure without the necessity to create customer attributes. In 7.10. there were keyword attributes associated to different kinds of element types on the project structure. And keywords could also be attached to documents.

As SAP has shipped major improvements in the concepts of Solution Documentation in 7.20, the keyword attribute has lost importance. For many purposes where customers decided to use keywords in 7.10, we now have specific attributes or specific other functionality. For that reason, the old concept did no longer fit to the new architecture in 7.20. Only the keywords on KW documents were kept in the standard of 7.20. The keywords on the structure are obsolete in 7.20, however they can be activated during the content activation process. This means that for new installations, keywords are not available on the structure elements in 7.20.

Value help for keywords in 7.10
In 7.10 you could configure the data that was used as a basis for the keywords value help. This application (transaction SOLAR_PROJECT_ADMIN, "Project standards" tab) is "display only" in 7.20 - together with all the old transactions that were used in 7.10 for solution documentation. For that reason, you can not define additional keywords for the keyword value help in 7.20 in that transaction any more. But there is a workaround described below.

KW document attribute "Keywords" in 7.20
The KW document attribute "Keyword" is standard in 7.20.
This KW document attribute does not have an input help any more in the attribute panel and no input check on the values, in the standard shipment.
Please note: With SAP note 2624562 we provide an option for those customers who require a value help on the KW "Keywords" that is similar to the functionality of 7.10. The value help that can be switched on using note 2624562 is not exactly the same as in 7.10, as the restriction of values to different tabs is not available any more. But the overall list of all configured values will be shown in the value help. This also implies that all entered values are checked against the values of the value help.

Non-KW attribute "Keywords" in 7.20
In 7.20, the non-KW keywords have disappeared in the standard for new installations, however they can be activated by the "content activation" for customers that upgrade from 7.10. These keywords appear in the corresponding content activation step under the section "Obsolete SAP attributes". If you had data in these attributes in 7.10, you can migrate the attribute definition to 7.20 and the content of these fields will be migrated as well.
But if you do not select the keywords attribute in the corresponding content activation step, and for all new installations, these non-KW keyword attributes will no longer be available in the application. SAP recommends to activate these keywords only if you have the requirement to take over this kind of data from 7.10.
This attribute still has the old value help. However, the list of values can no longer be enhanced via transaction SOLAR_PROJECT_ADMIN. But you can maintain additional keywords in the maintenance dialog on table TKEYEPR, which you can access in transaction SM30.

"Keywords" as a search field in the "Advanced search" in 7.20
Please note that in the "advanced search" functionality in 7.20, there is still the old value help assigned to the "Keywords" search field, but only as a convenience. This is done because this search field is used for both kinds of keywords (if activated) and we wanted to help customers in the transition phase from 7.10 to 7.20.

Alternatives to the keyword concept in 7.20
If the whole keyword concept is no longer suitable for you in 7.20, you might consider to create one or several new customer attributes that fit to your specific needs, using transaction SMUD_MODEL_WIZARD. Only in case you need the data that is migrated from 7.10 in the keyword fields, you should use the keywords in 7.20.

KBA , SV-SMG-IMP-BIM , Business Blueprint / Solution Documentation , How To