SAP PP Module 1 SAP129 SAP NAVIGATION 2009

1. Introduction to the SAP Enterprise Core Component

SAP GUI Graphics Users Interface

Navigation Components

An SAP system has several key components:

Menu Bar: The Menu bar is the top line of any primary window in the SAP system.
The menus shown depend on which application you are using. These menus may
also contain cascading menus.
Standard Toolbar: The Standard toolbar is identical throughout the SAP system. All
of the icons on the Standard toolbar are shown on every SAP screen. However, the
Standard toolbar icons are active only if they are available for the current
application - unavailable icons will appear grayed out and cannot be used. Note that
if SAP balloon help is enabled on your system, you can place the cursor over an icon
and the system will display the name or function of that icon. If appropriate, the
corresponding function key setting is also displayed.
Title Bar: The Title bar names the function that you are currently using and helps
you identify where you are in a procedure.
Application Toolbar: The Application toolbar shows the icons available in the
application that you are currently using. Different icons appear on the Application
toolbar depending on the application.
Status Bar: The status bar provides general information about the SAP system and
the transaction or task you are working on. System messages are displayed in
addition
to
server
information
and
status
information.

Enter: The Enter icon will validate the data and the system will proceed to the next
logical step.
Save: The Save icon will save the document and update the database.
Back: The Back icon will go back one screen.
Exit: The Exit icon will close the current transaction and exit the current screen. If no
applications are open, the Exit icon becomes the Log Off icon and is used to exit the
SAP system.
Cancel: The Cancel icon will cancel the current activity or transaction.

The Standard SAP Tree displays a hierarchy of the menus available to you in the SAP
system and is a tool for accessing SAP transactions. The SAP Tree comprises the
following elements:
SAP Menu Icon: The SAP Menu icon may be used to collapse the tree to close the
items on the menu.
Work Areas: The Standard SAP Tree is organized into logical work areas. The work
areas are presented in an order that follows a typical business process flow rather
than an alphabetical order. The tree provides a menu that contains a folder for each
work area. For example, Office, Logistics, Accounting, and Human Resources are
work areas. What you see in the tree may vary depending on your organization.
Arrows: Clicking on the arrows will expand and collapse the folders and sub-folders.
When folders are closed, the arrow will point to the right. When folders are opened,
the arrow will point down.
Folders: Drilling down through the folders will display sub-folders and transaction
items. Multiple sub-folders may be used within a folder to organize the transaction
items.
Transactions: Transactions are executable functions that update and display
information in the database. Transactions will display in the tree once a folder menu
is fully expanded. You can launch transactions by double-clicking on the white box

next to the transaction name. For some items, you may use either the tree structure
or icons to access the transaction.

Different screen elements include:

Input: Input fields are used to enter text or to select a value from a list.
Checkbox: Checkboxes are used with multiple selection fields.
Radio Button: Radio buttons are used with single selection fields (you can select
only one option).

The three types of input controls for fields are:

Mandatory: Data entry is required to proceed with processing a transaction.
Mandatory fields are often indicated by a box and checkmark within the field (this
may vary by transaction or company).
Display: Data will automatically populate in these fields. It is not possible to
overwrite the information in these fields.
Optional: Data entry is not required in these fields to proceed with processing a
transaction.

Use keyboard functions to move between fields:

Up and down keys to move between fields
Tab key to advance to the next field

Shift and tab keys to move back to the previous field

Left and right arrow keys to move within a field

Now that Alisa has become more familiar with the SAP components and structure,
she has more confidence, and is realizing possibilities to undertake her tasks more
efficiently in the system.
Alisa can create a new session at any time after she has logged on. She creates a
new session by clicking on New Session. The maximum number of sessions per
logon is six.

Navigate between sessions:

Holds down the Alt key and then presses the Tab key. A dialog box appears with the
names of the open sessions.
Presses the Tab key until the desired session is highlighted.
Releases the Alt key.
The chosen session becomes the active window by moving in front of all the other
session windows.

Create up to six sessions:

Each session is independent of the others.

Closing the first session does not cause the other sessions to close.
Any session can be closed by clicking Exit on the Standard toolbar for that session.

2. Help Functions and Personalizing SAP

Error message: You will see an error message denoted by

if you have
entered required data incorrectly or have attempted to perform an action that is not
allowed. You must correct the error before you can continue with your work.
Example:
typed his password incorrectly.

In

this

example,

Jean-Pierre

Warning message: You will see a warning message denoted by

if you
attempt to enter data that is not recommended by SAP. You should heed the
warning message, but you can continue with your work without resolving it.
Example:
In this example, the
default mode of communication that Jean-Pierre selected when he first logged on is
not supported by the system. He can continue without changing anything on this
screen, but SAP will neither recognize the communication mode nor act on it.
Informational message: You will see an informational message denoted by
if there is pertinent information about an action you have performed. Example:
In this example, Jean-Pierre can see that he has successfully
saved his information.

Create a favorite:

Drag & Drop to add a favorite: You can add a transaction to your Favorites menu
by clicking and dragging. First, click to select an executable menu item using the
mouse. Then, keep the mouse button pressed and drag the item to the desired
position on your Favorites menu. Release the mouse button. The new item appears
below the position where you dropped it.

Using the icon to create: You can add a transaction to your Favorites menu by
using the icon. First, choose the transaction. Then, click the Add to Favorites icon.
The new item appears on your Favorites menu.
Using the drop-down menu: You can add a transaction to your Favorites menu by
using the drop-down menu. First, navigate to the transaction in the SAP standard
menu. Then, choose the transaction with a single click. Choose Favorites. Then,
choose Add at the top of your window. The new item appears on your Favorites
menu.
Delete a favorite:
Using the icon to delete: You can delete a Favorite from your Favorites menu by
opening the Favorites menu. First, choose the Favorite to delete with a single click.
Then, click the Delete Favorite icon. The item is deleted from your Favorites menu.

Options for Personalizing the User Interface

You may find as you work with SAP that you want to personalize your user interface.
You can change:

The date format

The decimal notation
The printer you regularly use
Your logon language
Your current time zone
The transaction that displays when you log on
Most users are likely to modify only the first three items on this list according to
their personal preference. Any item you donot change will simply remain set to the
system default.
These settings can be modified by choosing System User Profile Own data from
the menu bar.

Options for Customizing the Local Layout

Lets look at the settings Jean-Pierre can modify.

Start Menu: If you would like a specific SAP transaction displayed as soon as you
log on to SAP, you can enter that transaction number here. For example, since JeanPierre often reserves rooms for training and other meetings, he might type the
transaction number for Room Reservations here (PP30).
Logon Language:This field is usually set to whatever common language your
company has selected. However, you can change the language to your personal
preference. Only you will see this change on your screen. For example, IDES has
headquarters in Vancouver, B.C., and the default logon language is set to English
(EN). If Jean-Pierre prefers to read his screens in French, he could set his logon
language to French (FR).
Output Device: Jean-Pierre can designate his default printer here. Whenever he
prints from SAP, by default the output will go to the device he has entered here.
Personal Time Zone: The time zone you work in may differ from the system time
zone. You can enter your personal time zone here. Only you will see that change on
your screen.
For example, IDES is headquartered in Vancouver, B.C., but Jean-Pierre works in
Quebec, Canada. There is a four-hour difference in the time zones. The IDES SAP
system time zone is set to Pacific Standard Time. Jean-Pierre could change his
personal time zone from the system standard time zone to his own time zone (EST).
Personal Time Zone
Decimal Notation: You can choose the style of decimal notation that is appropriate
for your location and business. Since he works mainly with North American
businesses, Jean-Pierre will leave 1,234,567.89 as the default decimal notation.
Date Format: You can choose the style of date format that is appropriate for your
location and business. For example, Jean-Pierre prefers the date format DD.MM.YY.

You can also customize SAP to your personal preference by changing the way help
and status messages are displayed. You can get to the Options window to change
these items by choosing the Customizing of Local Layouts icon and selecting
Options. Once you select Options from the drop down menu, the Options window
will be displayed.

There are a number of options available in the Options window. Simply click next to
each option you want to select.
The options you are most likely to change are located on the General tab. They
affect the way help and status messages are displayed.
You can explore these options here:

Quick Info: You can set this option so that you see help whenever you move your
cursor over a menu path or icon.
Beep at Message: To hear a faint sound when you receive a status message
(error, warning, or informational), check this box. This is useful if you want to be
alerted whenever information is displayed on your status bar
Dialog Box: Remember the status bar at the bottom of the screen displays
informational, warning and error messages. You can check any or all of these boxes
to display a popup window whenever you receive a status message. Some users
choose only to see the dialog box for an error message while others check each of
the boxes. If you do not check any of the boxes, your status messages will continue
to display only on the status bar at the bottom of the screen.

3. Advanced Navigation

The Command field includes a command list that holds several of the transaction
codes most recently accessed via the Command field. This allows for those
transactions to be esily accessed again at a later stage. To display this history, Vera
will click on the command list. She can click on a transaction code from the list and
that code will populate in the Command field. She can then click Enter, to launch
the transaction.

If you were to enter a transaction code by itself in the Command field on any screen
other than the Easy Access screen, you would not be able to launch that
transaction. However, if you enter a "/" along with the appropriate command and
transaction code you can launch transactions from other transaction screens. This is
helpful because you can go directly from one transaction to another wothout having
to return to the Easy Access screen.
"/n" and "/o" are examples of slash commands. You can either:

End a session and go directly to another transaction in a new session using /n

Start another transaction in an additional session in one step using /o

Using a slash command without indicating a transaction code in the command field
has additional functions.

Entering "/o" in the Command field and clicking Enter will show an overview
of the sessions you currently have open.
Entering "/n" in the Command field and clicking Enter will end the current
transaction.

4. Advanced Features

PID - parameter identifier

I regularly use the same transactions and I often find myself typing the current year
into all of them. I also need to generate reports with various criteria to retrieve and
analyze data. It would be nice to find a way that I don't need to do this over and
over again.

In F1 field-specific help, there is an icon for Technical Info . This window contains the
parameter identifier of a field (or PID), along with other technical information. A field
can be filled with proposed values from SAP memory using a parameter ID.
Once you know the PID of a field, you can assign a default value to automatically
populate that field whenever it appears in a transaction. This change is made for
your user profile only (it does not change the value of the field for other users.)
In this example, Vera wants the default value 99 to appear in the Country
Grouping field, whenever it is displayed. She pressed F1 and chose the Technical
info icon in the F1 help window. As you can see, the PID for the Country Grouping
field is MOL.

The new default value will take effect only after she logs off and logs on again to
SAP.
Once the PID is assigned to her user profile, whenever Vera uses a transaction that
includes the Country Grouping field, it will be filled in with the data 99.

To display or analyze information from the SAP database, you execute a report. In
many cases, the SAP system automatically executes a report. Sometimes, however,
you may need to execute a report yourself.
Some reports are simply the lists of documents, while other reports are linked
directly to tasks in the SAP system.

List Report
Analysis Report

Reports that are directly linked to a task sometimes use the data already entered on
your screen as selection criteria. This means you do not have to enter selection
criteria when the report is executed.

Reports are generated using selection criteria. These are the fields that are used to
define the type and amount of information you want a report to process.
For example, Vera wants to generate a Birthday List of a particular group of
employees. For this she specifies the year, Personnel area and Employee group.
Only the data matching these criteria will appear in her report.
If Vera does not enter any selection criteria, the system displays the Birthday List of
all the employees in the organization. In this case, the amount of data may be very
large and the system may not be able to process all of it. She would probably
receive a message indicating processing limitations in her status bar.

5. Advanced Features