For structured data, ECS supports the SAP standard formats SAP DART and SAP AIS. This data can originate from the SAP Data Retention Tool, for example, or from PBS tools such as PBS CONEX or PBS Database Export Interface.

To display unstructured data that may be stored in archive systems, ECS uses the programs installed on the PC, such as Microsoft Office or Adobe Acrobat Reader.

In addition, ECS contains a function for displaying print lists that exist in the SAP format.

ECS is designed to process data that originates from SAP systems. If the data from the non-SAP system is present in the SAP AIS format, then ECS can import this data also, which means that this data can be evaluated together with the SAP data

On the user interface, you can switch between English and German. Since all texts and labels are stored in an open resource database, it is easy to make adjustments.

The data content that originates from SAP systems is always displayed in the language in which it was originally created and extracted.

For a successful installation of PBS ECS, there are very few minimum requirements to be fulfilled:

• x86 or x64 processor with at least 1 GHz
• 2 GB working memory (RAM)
• 2 GB available hard drive space
• operating system Microsoft Windows® 7, Windows® 8, Windows® 8.1, Windows® Server 2003, Windows® Server 2008, Windows® Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows 10
• screen resolution 1280 x 800 or higher

If large data volumes are to be processed (for example, DART extracts in the gigabyte range), then the requirements on the hardware increase. In general: The more powerful your PC, the more convenient is the use of the software.

ECS uses the Microsoft SQL Server. Especially for the test phase, consideration should be given to using the free of charge SQL Server Express Edition.

The database can be installed on the same PC as the ECS or on a server in the network. The software architecture corresponds to the client-server model, which means that multiple ECS clients can be connected to a database. Short response times are important for good system performance. This should be considered, for example, if the data connection is being planned via a WAN. Simple database queries should be answered within a few milliseconds

The minimum size is 50MB. Beyond that, the memory requirements are based on the volume of the data to be imported. The SQL Server requires roughly the same space as the imported data requires in the file system, plus approx. 25 percent for storage of the database indices and administration data..

It is not possible to specify an exact figure here as this is dependent on a range of factors, for example, on the hardware equipment. With Microsoft SQL Server, you have a database system that is suitable for processing large data volumes. In addition, with an appropriate method, and beginning with the data extraction, you can ensure that the data is divided into portions to enable distributed storage, for example, in different ECS repositories or in various databases. .

We recommend saving the ECS database once the data import has been completed and evaluations (views) have been defined. Apart from that, a regular backup is not normally required since the data is not changed.

The backup is carried out using the tools of the database system.

The data can be exported to SAP AIS and to Microsoft Excel. You can also create an Excel pivot table.

In general, there is no reason why the database and the ECS client cannot both be run in Microsoft Azure, for example. We recommend that you test in advance, whether the proposed layout leads to satisfactory system performance.

No, PBS ECS runs completely independently of the SAP system.

In general, it should be possible to import all DART extracts with ECS, independent of the DART version they were created with. Therefore, not only from DART version 2.x, but also from earlier DART versions 1.x.

We do not have test data for all possible DART versions and, for this reason, we would ask our customers to let us know if problems occur with specific versions.

As far as we know, SAP ADK files can only be read from within the SAP environment, and an external access is not planned. To evaluate ADK archives, we recommend using PBS CONEX. This transfers the contents of the archive files into readable text files, and the contents are then available for further processing, for example, in PBS ECS.

Yes, ECS has been designed to make this possible. Since ECS requires information on the stored documents, for example, the storage locations and related business data such as document number, company code, etc., this information must be extracted from the SAP system in advance. This is done using the PBS Content Reader and PBS Extract Cockpit tools. After this information has been imported, you can search for the documents in ECS and display them. The archive system is accessed via the ArchiveLink interface.

Yes, ECS has an integrated function for displaying SAP print lists. This display is recreated in the SAP print list display.im ECS ist eine Funktion zur Anzeige von SAP-Drucklisten integriert. Diese Anzeige ist der SAP-Drucklistenanzeige nachempfunden

Yes. Unicode is used for extraction and storage of the data. However, we recommend that you test this in advance for the required language, especially in the case of Asian languages.

Since Version 2012, the SQL Server can store the data by column ("Columnstore Index"). This can result in a significant performance increase. In particular, queries of large data volumes can frequently be processed many times quicker. Since the data organized in this way can be highly compressed, less storage space is required.

If you wish to use this feature with ECS, you can activate it in the ECS settings.

It is not the objective of ECS to reproduce the display and evaluation capabilities of the SAP system. The data is displayed in tables; the users do not have the same displays and programs that they are familiar with from the SAP system. Only in the case of print lists and some document types (such as accounting documents, material documents and sales documents), the displays are based on the SAP design.

Since this depends on the system environment in each case, it is not possible to provide an exact figure here. In our experience, data rates of approx. 10 to 20 GB per hour are typical using PCs with basic specifications.

To accelerate this, you may consider using SSD memory, for example.

If PBS CONEX is used, a lot of metadata is recorded during the data extraction, and this metadata is subsequently available in ECS. This includes, for each table, the number of data records and check sums for all currency fields. ECS contains check functions which automatically compare the imported data at any particular time with the metadata of the extraction. If, for example, differences arise in the number of data records, or when the check sums are compared with the data that was actually imported, the user receives a message. This means that you can check whether the data from the SAP system has reached ECS undamaged.

Depending on the guidelines in the company, it may be necessary to restrict the authorizations of users to carry out specific functions or to access specific data. A role-based authorization concept is implemented in PBS ECS. An administrator defines the authorizations for each user role. Each ECS user is then assigned to a user role, and the user assumes the authorizations of this role. Basically, three types of authorizations can be assigned:

1. Authorizations for specific activities (example: Defining which users may call up documents from the storage system)
2. Authorizations for access to specific objects/files (example: Defining which users may access which DART extracts)
3. Access restrictions to data records based on specific field values (example: Defining which users may access data records from which company codes)

Yes, please contact us at info@pbs-software.com.