SAP Basis Tech Supports

Symptom

This note describes different options to create plug-in trace information. You need this information for analyzing plug-in problems. Troubleshooting depends also always on the actual problem constellations. HTTP, HTTPS and SMTP figure among the plug-in logs.
Other terms

Trace, Plugin, HTTP, HTTPS, SSL, SMTP
Reason and Prerequisites

In the following, plug-in communication refers to one of the following communication methods: HTTP, HTTPS or SMTP.
A complex, distributed R/3 system environment may have a large number of plug-in communication connections. For some error scenarios, you may have to analyze the actual plug-in communication behavior for certain scenarios in detail. The R/3 provides various options for creating specific plug-in trace information.
Solution

Files with plug-in trace information

For a single Plug-in connection, the system ususally creates trace information for both partners on the R/3 application server (client and server); this means that the connections are documented locally for both sides. The information is stored locally in files by the relevant partners. These files will be discussed in the following as per partner type.
Generally, trace information is stored in two file types by the R/3. These files are located in the SAP current directory of the application server and can be displayed via transaction ST11.
The developer trace files of the R/3 dev_w work processes document, among other data, plug-in-relevant behavior of specific R/3 components of the individual work processes. The task handler, the ABAP processor or the screen processor are examples of work processes documented. You can reset them globally in transaction SM50 via the ->’Process’->’Trace’->’Reset files’ menu option.The dev_icm trace file of the Internet Communication Manager (ICMan) logs information on plug-in connections centrally. You can reset the contents of this file in the SMICM transaction via ‘Go to’ -> ‘Trace file’ -> ‘Reset’.

Activate the plug-in trace creation

The creation of the developer trace depends on the type of the plug-in error:
1. If the error is caused by the client, that is, the application server is calling the plug-in, the R/3 user who is logged on can create the trace.
You can activate the trace creation for a logged-on R/3 user by selecting the relevant user in the SM04 transaction and by choosing the ‘User’ -> ‘Trace’ -> ‘Activate’ menu option. With this option, all plug-in connections of the relevant user are written to the relevant trace files of the application server on which the option was activated via SM04. If you are using the user-related trace creation, the user is highlighted in yellow in SM04. After reproducing the problem, you can also deactivate the user traces via the ‘User’ -> ‘Trace’ -> ‘Deactivate’ menu option. You can display the trace file via ‘User’ -> ‘Trace’ -> ‘Display’.2. If the problem is caused by the server, that is, the application receives the plug-in, you can activate the trace as follows.a) For the URLs to be processed
You can create the plug-in trace via the Internet Communication Framework transaction by choosing ‘Edit’->’Trace’->’Activate trace’ in the SICF transaction. Here, you can activate the user trace for various plug-in logs. While you must specify the relevant URL path for HTTP logs (or HTTPS logs), you only select ‘SMTP’ as log for SMTP logs. After reproducing the error, you can display the user trace via the ‘Edit’->’Trace’->’Display trace’ menu option.b) For work processes
You can activate the trace creation for the work process of an application server by first selecting the relevant work process in the SM50 transaction, by then choosing ‘Process’->’Trace’->’Active’ and by finally setting the trace level for some selected R/3 components to 2. For the plug-in trace, you must at least check the task handler, the ABAP processor and the screen processor. With this option activated, all plug-in connections of the relevant work process are also logged in the relevant trace files of the application server. If you are using the work process-related trace creation, the relevant work processes are highlighted in yellow in SM50. For this method, we recommend that you always activate the trace creation for all possible work processes of the dialog type as it is impossible to tell on which work process the R/3 applications will be executed. You should only use this fairly unspecific method of troubleshooting if the first alternative cannot be used due to the relevant error scenario. As all activities of the selected work processes are logged in the trace files, a trace file overflow may quickly occur. If this error occurs, you should stop the trace creation immediately in SM50 by choosing ‘Process’->’Trace’->’Active’ and by setting the default values.

You can activate the plug-in traces for the ICMan process in the SMICM transaction via ‘Go to’ -> ‘Trace level’ -> ‘Set’. You should select ‘2′ as value for the trace level. You must reset the trace level to the default value after reproducing the problem. Once more, choose ‘Go to’-> ‘Trace level’ -> ‘Set’ and enter the value ‘1′ or select the ‘Default value’ function key and save the changes. You can display the trace file via ‘Go to’ -> ‘Trace file’ -> ‘Display trace file’.
Generally, when creating a trace file, you should plan the procedure very well and reproduce the error scenario as closely as possible. To facilitate the analysis, delete the trace files in the R/3 system before creating the trace so that only the relevant error scenario is documented. For a complete analysis of the scenario, you always need the trace files of all communication partners involved. In addition, when analyzing the work process-related dev_w and dev_icm trace files, you must bear in mind that a plug-in connection may be executed across multiple work processes and that multiple plug-in connections may overlap in individual work processes if they are executed and logged consecutively by the work process.