SAP uses validations and substitutions to CHECK the integrity of data entered before POSTING a document. When you have both substitutions and validations defined, the system first completes the substitution then goes on to validate the ENTRIES. Note that only one validation and one substitution can be activated at a time for a controlling area per ‘call-up point.’ 

A ‘Validation’ uses Boolean logic for checking any type of combination of specified criteria (such as account type/cost center combination) for ensuring the validity before allowing you to POST a document.

Example:

Validation Rule: If the cost element is ‘120000,’ then the cost center is ‘1200.’

Document: You try posting a document containing the cost element as ‘120000’ and the cost center is ‘1400.’

System Response: The system will throw an ‘error message’ after checking that the cost center value does not match the cost center value of the criteria for that given cost element value.

In contrast to validation which just checks for validity, substitution ensures that the system replaces a value assigned to one or more fields based on predetermined criteria, USING, again, ‘Boolean logic.’ 

Example:

Substitution Rule: If the cost element is ‘120000,’ then the cost center is ‘1200.’

Document: You try posting a document containing the cost element as ‘120000’ and the cost center as ‘1400.’

System Response: The system will replace the entered cost center value of ‘1400’ with that of the correct value ‘1200.’

SAP uses validations and substitutions to check the integrity of data entered before posting a document. When you have both substitutions and validations defined, the system first completes the substitution then goes on to validate the entries. Note that only one validation and one substitution can be activated at a time for a controlling area per ‘call-up point.’ 

A ‘Validation’ uses Boolean logic for checking any type of combination of specified criteria (such as account type/cost center combination) for ensuring the validity before allowing you to post a document.

Example:

Validation Rule: If the cost element is ‘120000,’ then the cost center is ‘1200.’

Document: You try posting a document containing the cost element as ‘120000’ and the cost center is ‘1400.’

System Response: The system will throw an ‘error message’ after checking that the cost center value does not match the cost center value of the criteria for that given cost element value.

In contrast to validation which just checks for validity, substitution ensures that the system replaces a value assigned to one or more fields based on predetermined criteria, using, again, ‘Boolean logic.’ 

Example:

Substitution Rule: If the cost element is ‘120000,’ then the cost center is ‘1200.’

Document: You try posting a document containing the cost element as ‘120000’ and the cost center as ‘1400.’

System Response: The system will replace the entered cost center value of ‘1400’ with that of the correct value ‘1200.’