The most important tools used to perform imports using TMS are the import queues that reflect the SAP system-specific import buffers at file system level. The import queues display the transport requests that are to be imported, in the correct order. The import queues of all SAP systems are displayed in each SAP system of the transport domain. You can perform imports to all the SAP systems from any SAP system in the domain.
Note
When importing a transport request into a different SAP system than the one you are logged on to, you may need to provide credentials for the SAP system to be imported in.
To access the TMS import overview, use transaction STMS and choose Overview → Imports from the menu. The import overview shows the current status of the import queue of each SAP system of the transport domain. If you navigate into an import queue of one SAP system, you can see all transport requests that are to be imported.
Screen shot was taken from transaction STMS, Import Overview section by double-clicking the overview of the S4Q system (after performing all exercises and instructor demos of this class up to here) and then choosing Display More.

By choosing Display More in the application toolbar, additional columns will be displayed.
The column CV (Version Check) indicates whether or not the transport request fits the release and SAP Support Package level of all software components of the target system. If the transport request doesn't fit, it should not be imported. It can be imported at your own risk after analyzing its contents carefully.
Note
SAP Note 1090842 – Composite SAP Note: Cross-release transports lists some technical problems that may occur during a transport between systems with different SAP BASIS releases.Hint
The version check would show a wrong release or SAP Support Package level if there is an additional software component, for example an additional plug in, in the export or import system. If this different set of software components is intended, and can't be resolved otherwise, there is a way to exclude a specific software component from the version check. For details, see SAP Note 1742547 – Information about component version check in TMS.
With the extended transport control, you could have multiple target clients for one target system. You can choose to see either one row for each target client or only one row per transport request.
To improve performance, data is read from the transport directory only the first time you start TMS. After that, the information shown is buffered in the database. The time stamp in the import overview indicates how recent the data is. The internal buffers of TMS become invalid at midnight. To refresh the data, from with any import queue choose Edit → Refresh. It may be more convenient to have the refresh performed periodically in the background. To do this, choose the menu path Extras → Update All Import Queues from the Import Overview screen. SAP recommends running this refresh on an hourly basis.
Note
If it takes a long time to finish refreshing the import queue, SAP Note 1924741 – It takes a long time to refresh a system's import queue may help. For an automating manual process of deleting imported requests from the import buffer, see SAP Note 2461665 – Automating manual process of deleting imported requests from import queue.

The terms transport buffer and import queues are related. The import queue in the SAP system represents the transport buffer file located in the transport directory. The import queue highlights the requests that will be imported during the next complete import (import all). Because of end marks, there may be more transport requests in the transport buffer than those highlighted in the import queue.
The end mark and stopmark are the corresponding markers in the import queue and transport buffer. They indicate that only those transport requests before the mark will be imported by an import all. Regardless of how the end mark or stopmark is created, the mark is set both in the transport buffer and in the import queue. In an import queue, an end mark is indicated through the statement "End of import queue". In a transport buffer, the term stopmark is visible. There can only be one end mark or stopmark in each import queue or transport buffer.
To set an end mark/stopmark by closing an import queue, in the import queue choose Queue → Close from the menu. This is analogous to the operating system command tp setstopmark. The status bar shows the action performed.
To remove an end mark/stopmark (by opening an import queue manually, normally not needed) in the import queue screen, choose the menu path Queue → Open. Opening an import queue is analogous to the operating system command tp delstopmark.
Using TMS, you can move end marks to any position in the import queue in front of a transport request (by choosing Queue → Move End Mark from the menu). This is analogous to the operating system command tp mvstopmark.
Screenshot part was taken from transaction STMS, Import Overview section by double-clicking on the overview of the S4Q system and then choosing Display More.

You can use the import queue to:
- View the status of transport requests.
- Access object lists, documentation, and transport logs.
- Close and open the queue, and move the end mark.
- Import all transport requests, complete projects, preliminary transport requests, and selected transport requests according to filter settings.
- Add, delete, and forward requests.
To keep target SAP systems consistent, you need deadlines to coordinate the release of transport requests by developers. To prevent transport requests released after the deadline from being imported, the import queue of the quality assurance system can be closed. As a consequence, transport requests released after deadline are positioned after an end mark in the queue for the next import. Only the requests before the end mark are imported in the next import. The same is valid for the production system correspondingly.
In exceptional cases, you can forward a transport request to another SAP system before being imported into the defined target system. For example, before being imported into the quality assurance system, a request may need to be rushed to a training system. To prepare the import to a target system outside the predefined transport routes, in the Import Queue screen, choose the menu path Request → Forward → System.
You can also delete transport requests from or add them to an import queue. But then, object dependencies may cause inconsistencies in the target system after the next import. For example, if you delete a request containing a new data element, the import of all other transport requests containing tables that depend on that data element will fail.
Caution
To avoid these inconsistencies, you are strongly advised not to delete individual transport requests from the import queue. Make your corrections in the development system and release a new transport request.
Hint
Always import all transport requests into the production system, even those with errors, together with their corrections.
Note
If you wish to simulate the import of a transport request, you can perform a test import. For more information, see SAP Note 2510475 – Simulate Transport.
Import Strategy
There are different strategies for how to import transport requests. These will be discussed in the following pages:

Import All Transport Requests
To import all transport requests in the queue (performing what is known as an import all), choose the Import All Requests button (the "fully loaded truck" icon, see the figure above). The Start Import dialog box appears.
If you have configured the Extended Transport Control, the target client is fixed. Otherwise you can either choose a target client or keep the default. The number of the default target client is identical to the number of the source client (this is one reason why you should use the same numbers for related "major" clients in all SAP systems).
Hint
If you start the import from an SAP system different from the target system, a logon window of the target system may be displayed and you need to enter credentials for the target system.
In the Start Import dialog box, you have several options to control the import:
- In the Date tab, you can schedule the import.
- In the Execution tab, you can select whether TMS starts tp synchronously or asynchronously. Selecting asynchronously means tp works in the background so that your user session is not blocked for the duration of the import.
- In the Options tab, you can select "expert options", the so-called unconditional modes. The options and their defaults vary according to the selected import method and the configured transport strategy.
The Import Overview screen indicates whether the import is running. After the import, the end mark is removed and the queue is opened again automatically. After transport requests have been imported successfully, they are automatically added to the import queue of further target systems (systems that are connected with the help of a delivery route). The configured transport routes therefore specify which transport requests are automatically forwarded to which target systems.
When using the QA approval procedure function in this SAP system, all transport requests in the import queue of the subsequent SAP systems are set to inactive. If an import containing one or more inactive requests is triggered, the TMS will not perform the import.
Note
When using the QA approval procedure, you can only import all transport requests into the delivery systems if all the transport requests that are ready for import have been checked for all the applicable approval steps (approved or rejected).
If all the transport requests for one CTS project have been approved, you can import them into the delivery system even if there are still unprocessed or rejected requests for other CTS projects in the work list.
If you perform an import through an import all, objects are imported in the correct sequence in which they are listed in the import buffer file on file system. This means that if transport requests near the start of the list and those near the end of the list affect the same objects, the final versions of the objects after import will represent the latest changes. As a result, the incorrect objects do not affect your production environment, they are not really imported at all.
Note
You can deactivate the ability to perform a complete import (import all) for each SAP system using the tp parameter NO_IMPORT_ALL or by changing the transport strategy (see the "Transport Strategies" section, later in this lesson).
Import Complete Project
Before performing the import, SAP recommends setting the end mark to close the import queue. This avoids unintentionally importing other transport requests that may appear in the import queue.
You can set a filter on the import queue to limit the displayed transport requests to transport requests with specific properties so that you can see only those transport requests that belong to a specific project. To set a filter, place the cursor in a row of the import queue and press the Filters button in the application toolbar.
To prevent transport requests being imported from unapproved projects, use the filter for column Project to import only the transport requests belonging to approved projects.
Import Single Transport Requests (Preliminary Import)
In contrast to standard imports, preliminary imports are imports of selected single transport requests. SAP strongly recommends only using project-specific imports or full imports because of object dependencies and the risk of inconsistencies when importing individual transport requests. For example, an ABAP program in one transport request can be successfully imported, but the table that it refers to can be in another transport request that has not yet been imported. Until the table is imported, executing the program generates short dumps. Therefore, use preliminary imports only in exceptional cases.
To import single transport requests choose the Import Request button on the application toolbar (related to the "partly loaded truck", see the figure above).
To minimize the risks associated with preliminary imports, the transport request remains in the import queue after the import and is re-imported the next time the entire import queue or the corresponding CTS project is imported. This guarantees the correct import sequences and is defined by the import option Leave Transport Request in Queue for Later Import, which, depending on the transport strategy, may be automatically selected.
By default, the TMS will check if transport requests in the import queue depend on transport requests in other projects. The import will only be possible if the predecessor's relationships is not violated. It may be necessary to specify additional options when performing a preliminary import:
- Leave Transport Request in Queue for Later Import – this is the default when using transport strategy mass transports
- Import Transport Request Again – ignore that the transport request has already been imported
- Overwrite Originals
- Overwrite Objects in Unconfirmed Repairs
- Ignore invalid transport type
- Ignore invalid table class
- Skip predecessor relationships
- Ignore Invalid Component Version (a wrong SAP Support Package level or a wrong release)
Sequence of Import of Objects in Transport Requests
The objects from the transport requests marked for import will be imported as follows:
- All objects of all selected transport requests are merged together.
- Objects are sorted first according to their level (for example, table definitions before programs).
- If an object is included in more than one transport request, only the version in the last transport request is kept after import (according to the sequence in the import queue).
Hint
This sequence is used for import all, import project and import single.Note
In a three-system landscape:
- The import queue of QAS reflects the order of export from DEV
- The import queue of PRD reflects the order of import into QAS
This is not identical in all cases, but it is the correct sequence.