SM37: Checking a Monthly Batch Job (Selection, Job Log, Periodic Runs, Background-Only Variants)

How to check in SM37 whether a monthly batch job finished correctly: the selection screen, the numbers and buttons on the job overview, how to read the job log, how a periodic job creates its next run, background-only variants that do not appear on the selection screen, and DB02 SQL for checking.

Note: screens, menus and settings can differ by SAP release and system configuration. Screen labels are given with their English GUI names. SQL results are from a demo system.

1. SM37 selection screen (Simple Job Selection)

Field Example Meaning
Job name part of the name + * * means "any characters". If you know only part of the name, put * before and after it
User name * The default is your own user ID. Jobs created by other users appear only after you change it to *
Job status all except Sched. Released (waiting), Ready, Active (running), Finished (completed), Canceled (stopped with an error)
Job start condition today to today Jobs that started, or are scheduled to start, in this range. To see the next run, extend the end date past its date
ABAP program name program name Finds jobs that ran this program even if you do not know the job name

2. Reading the job overview

Executing the selection opens the job overview. These are the columns to check on a job line.

Column Meaning
Status "Finished" (green) means the job ran to the end. "Canceled" (red) means it stopped with an error
Duration (sec.) The actual run time, from start to end
Delay (sec.) How late the job started compared with its scheduled time. Scheduled 05:00:00 and started 05:00:33 gives 33 seconds
Spool An icon appears if the job created an output list. Blank means there is no spool

3. Buttons on the job overview

Button What it does
Refresh Reads the list again with the same selection, to see whether a running job changed status
Release Releases a job in status "Scheduled" (planned but not yet released) so that it can run
Stop icon (cancel active job) Stops a job in status "Active" (running)
Delete (trash can) Deletes the selected job run. Its job log is deleted too, so do not use it when you only want to check
Spool Shows the output list created by the job
Job log Shows the messages written during the run. The processed count is usually checked here
Step Shows which program, variant and user the job runs with
Job details Shows the scheduled time, actual start and end time, period and similar data on one screen
Application servers Shows the SAP servers that run batch jobs and their status. Not needed for checking results

4. Double-click a job: the Display Job screen

Double-clicking a job line on the overview opens a screen that shows how the job is scheduled.

Item Meaning
Job class Batch priority. A is the highest, C is normal (the default)
Exec. target The server to run on. If blank, the job runs on any free batch server
E-mail notification / Spool list recipient Who receives the job status or result by mail. A job without spool has no list to send
Planned start / Job frequency Scheduled date and time of this run, and the period (monthly etc.)
Job steps Number of defined steps (programs to run)
Start condition Shows the start date, time and period settings in detail
Predecessor job / Successor job Shows jobs chained before or after this job
Job selection / Own jobs Back to the SM37 selection screen / show only jobs created by your user

5. Reading the job log

In a batch run, messages raised during processing go to the job log instead of the screen. Messages from the batch system, from the program, and from standard functions the program calls are mixed together, so use the message class to tell them apart. The example is a monthly job that calls the standard price change function.

Message (example) Class / No. Written by
Job ... started 00 516 Batch system
Step 001 started (program ..., variant ..., user ID ...) 00 550 Batch system. Shows which variant and user the job ran with
Price change document ... posted CKPRCH 019 The standard price change function called by the program. These lines appear even if the program has no output code
Profit center was set to ... KI 339 (type I) Information message from standard processing. Not an error
A result such as "success n / failed m" Z message class Written by the program itself. Use this line for the processed count
Job finished 00 517 Batch system. The time between the first line and this line is the duration on the job overview

6. When a spool is created

A program that does not call its ALV screen in batch, like the one below, creates no spool.

END-OF-SELECTION.
  IF sy-batch IS INITIAL.            "only when run from the screen
    IF gt_result[] IS NOT INITIAL.
      CALL SCREEN 0100.              "ALV screen
    ENDIF.
  ENDIF.
  "in batch the screen is not called, so no spool is created
Case Spool
WRITE list output in batch Created
Full-screen ALV called in batch (REUSE_ALV_GRID_DISPLAY, CL_SALV_TABLE) Created, output as a list
In batch the program only saves and ends, without calling the ALV screen Not created. The spool column on the job overview is blank
WRITE ... TO variable (converting a value to text) Not output, so unrelated to spool

7. A periodic job creates a separate line for each run

A monthly job is not one line that keeps running. Each run is a separate line with a different job count (JOBCOUNT). The line for the next run is created in status "Released" when the current run starts.

Check it in the job header table TBTCO.

SELECT j.JOBNAME, j.JOBCOUNT, j.STATUS,
       CASE j.STATUS WHEN 'P' THEN 'Scheduled' WHEN 'S' THEN 'Released' WHEN 'Y' THEN 'Ready'
                     WHEN 'R' THEN 'Active'    WHEN 'F' THEN 'Finished' WHEN 'A' THEN 'Canceled'
                     ELSE 'Other' END AS STATUS_TEXT,
       j.SDLSTRTDT AS PLAN_DATE,  j.SDLSTRTTM AS PLAN_TIME,   /* scheduled start */
       j.SDLDATE   AS CREATED_ON, j.SDLTIME   AS CREATED_AT,  /* when this line was created */
       j.STRTDATE, j.STRTTIME, j.ENDDATE, j.ENDTIME,           /* actual start, end */
       j.PRDMONTHS AS PERIOD_MONTHS
FROM  TBTCO j
WHERE j.JOBNAME LIKE '%part of job name%'
ORDER BY j.SDLSTRTDT DESC, j.SDLSTRTTM DESC;
JOBCOUNT Status Scheduled start Line created at Actual start
05003300 S Released 2026-11-01 05:00:00 2026-10-01 05:00:33 (not run yet)
05000101 F Finished 2026-10-01 05:00:00 2026-09-01 05:00:01 2026-10-01 05:00:33
05000100 F Finished 2026-09-01 05:00:00 2026-08-01 05:00:01 2026-09-01 05:00:01

Result from the standard monthly job RMMVRZ00 on a demo system. The November line was created at 05:00:33, the moment the October run actually started. The October line was created when the September run started.

8. What happens when you delete a line

Line deleted Result
This run's "Finished" line Only the record and job log of that run are deleted. The next run's "Released" line exists separately, so the schedule continues
The next run's "Released" line The next run does not happen. The run after it would have been created when the next run started, so nothing runs from then on. To restart, schedule the job again in SM36

9. A variant that is not on the selection screen: Only for background processing

Sometimes the variant shown in the job log or step is not in the variant list of the program's selection screen. A variant saved with "Only for background processing" can be used only in batch. In the case checked here, the program had only this variant, so the "Get variant" button did not appear on the selection screen at all.

Where What you see
Job log second line / SM37 "Step" The variant the job uses
SE38 → program → subobject "Variants" → Display Variant list and values, including background-only variants
Selection screen → Save → Variant Attributes "Only for background processing" checkbox
Table VARID, field ENVIRONMNT A Background and online / O Online / B Background

A variant saved from the selection screen and a variant shown in SE38 are the same object.

10. DB02: the variants of a program and their environment

SELECT v.REPORT, v.VARIANT, v.ENVIRONMNT, e.DDTEXT AS ENV_TEXT,
       v.ENAME, v.EDAT, v.AENAME, v.AEDAT
FROM  VARID v
LEFT JOIN DD07T e ON e.DOMNAME = 'VARID_ENV' AND e.DOMVALUE_L = v.ENVIRONMNT
                 AND e.DDLANGUAGE = 'E' AND e.AS4LOCAL = 'A'
WHERE v.MANDT  = '100'             /* client */
  AND v.REPORT = 'PROGRAM_NAME'    /* program */
ORDER BY v.ENVIRONMNT DESC, v.VARIANT;
REPORT VARIANT ENVIRONMNT ENV_TEXT
RM07DOCS DYN_VAR_1000 B Background
RM07DOCS IGVG B Background
RM07DOCS YG-DYN_003 B Background

Part of the result for the standard report RM07DOCS on a demo system. The user columns are left out of the table.

11. DB02: job steps (program, variant, user)

SELECT s.JOBNAME, s.JOBCOUNT, s.STEPCOUNT,
       s.PROGNAME, s.VARIANT, s.AUTHCKNAM AS BATCH_USER
FROM  TBTCP s
WHERE s.JOBNAME LIKE '%part of job name%'
ORDER BY s.JOBCOUNT DESC, s.STEPCOUNT;
JOBCOUNT STEPCOUNT PROGNAME VARIANT BATCH_USER
05000101 1 RMMVRZ00 &0000000000010 (user ID)

Result from a demo system.

12. When variant values and actual run values differ: SY-BATCH

Even if a variant holds a fixed year and month, a program that overwrites the date in batch runs for the current month every time. Check the program code, not only the variant values.

IF sy-batch IS NOT INITIAL.                     "only when running in background
  p_gjahr = sy-datum(4).                        "current year
  CONCATENATE '0' sy-datum+4(2) INTO p_perde.   "current month (e.g. 010)
ENDIF.

SY-BATCH is a system field that is filled when the program runs in background.

13. Fewer standard messages in the log: message control

Some standard messages written to the job log can have their type changed or be switched off in message control (OBA5). Whether a message can be changed is stored in table T100S.

SELECT m.ARBGB, m.MSGNR, m.TEXT,
       s.MSGTA AS ALLOWED_TYPES, s.MSGTD AS DEFAULT_TYPE, s.XIGNO AS CAN_SWITCH_OFF
FROM  T100 m
LEFT JOIN T100S s ON s.ARBGB = m.ARBGB AND s.MSGNR = m.MSGNR
WHERE m.SPRSL = 'E'
  AND ( (m.ARBGB = 'KI'     AND m.MSGNR = '339')
     OR (m.ARBGB = 'CKPRCH' AND m.MSGNR = '019') );
Message T100S Result
KI 339 Profit center was set to &1 Allowed types S, I; default I; can be switched off: X Can be changed in message control
CKPRCH 019 Price change document & posted No entry Cannot be switched off by settings

Based on a demo system. Whether the message control setting also applies to the batch job log needs to be checked separately.

14. Running another program after this one

Method Setting Note
Schedule as a successor job SM36 new job → start condition "After job" → enter the predecessor job name Whether it follows every run when the predecessor is periodic needs to be checked
Add a step to the same job Add the program as step 2 of the existing job Steps run in order within the same job

15. Monthly check

Step What to do
1 SM37: part of the job name + user name * + today's date, then Execute
2 Check that the status is "Finished". If it is "Canceled", read the error message in the job log
3 Check the processed count in the program's result message near the end of the job log
4 Check that the next run's "Released" line exists (extend the end date, or query TBTCO)

Korean version of this post: blog.naver.com/jeonnow/224428170551

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