SAP GUI Navigation Tutorial (Part 1)

by magnatrain on February 18, 2011 in SAP Training

Click on the image for Larger View (1.1) Introduction to SAP Easy Access screen: The SAP Easy Access application window can be logically divided into numerous sections. The topmost s ection, just below the Red, Yellow and Green button like icons, is called as Main Menu bar which has around 6 options, namely, Menu, Edit, Favorite, Extras, System and Help; each of these menu item contains several sub options. Main Menu is sensitive t o the transaction, this means that it may change according to the transaction you are performing. For example if you do a transactio n related to sales order, then you may notice different menu items listed in the main menu bar such as Sales Document replacing Menu option, Goto option replacing Extras and so on. This can be better practiced on actual SAP system, you can gain remote SAP access at Fuze Server. Just below the Main Menu bar there are additional buttons provided, which serves as shortcut for navigating through the application and performing other important tasks. For example one useful button is Back button which is present in green color with backward arrow sing. This button when pressed will take you to the immediate previous page. But before you use this Back Button it is essential to remember that there is no forward button; hence, you may proceed forward only through a transaction. The button available on the right side of the Back button is the Log Off button which can be seen in yellow color with upward arrow. Main tool bar:
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Back Button and Log Off Button:

Click on the image for Larger View (1.2) The next button on the right of Log Off option is used to jump to the main page, that is the SAP Easy Access screen. While Back button helps you navigate backwards page by page, the jump option which is seen with a X mark takes you to the main page from where you can perform transactions. Sequentially there are other useful buttons on the same bar such as Print button, Find button, Find Next button, Page Up, Move Up, Page Down, Move Down and finally Help button. Help button provides information on several topics; for an instance if you do not understand what is Sales Group field on the Create Sales Order: Initial Screen, then select the field and click on Help button. It will provide all the possible information about that particular field. The shortcut key for performing Help action is again by selecting the field and pressing F1 button on the keyboard.
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Command Window for Transaction Codes: (See Image 1.2)

On the same bar you may also see a Text field just next to a green button with check mark. This field is known as Command Window wherein you can execute Transaction Codes in this window (Transaction Quotes are shortcut to execute a transaction). Let Us Understand this with an example transaction. For example you want to create a Sales Order; you may have to navigate through various options such as Logistics then Sales and Distribution then Sales and then Order. Within Order option you have to double click on a node which is also called Info Cube, to execute a transaction. To cut short the execution you can just type the Transaction Code of the node in Command Window and execute the command by clicking on the green button with check mark or press enter, to directly reach to the Create Sales Order: Initial Screen. You can get better understanding on Transaction Codes if you practice regularly on actual SAP system or Master Data. It is better to possess knowledge about Transaction Codes even if you are more interested in other SAP branches such as SAP BI or SAP CRM etc.
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Page Title:

Click on the image for Larger View (1.3) Below the Command Window you will be able to see some contextual- indication which is nothing but the title of the page you are viewing currently. For example if you are executing a Sales Order transaction, then the very first page that you may see is the Create Sales Order: Initial Screen. If you proceed to the next page by entering Order Type on Create Sales Order: Initial Screen page then you will land on the Create Standard Order: Overview page. Application Toolbar:

Click on the image for Larger View (1.4) Immediately under the title bar you will be able to see another bar with various options; this bar is known as the Application Tool Bar. Again, the Application Toolbar changes as you navigate from page to page; this means that there may be two different Application Toolbars for SAP Easy Access page and Create Sales Order: Initial Screen. The Application Toolbar proffers options which are relevant to that particular page; hence, it shows different option on dissimilar pages. There are numerous such options or buttons that can be seen on Application Toolbar on different screens and each button have its own functionality. You may also see many buttons appearing again and again. To know the function of a particular button in this toolbar you just need to place your mouse on the option and a pop- up field with smart text will indicate the use of the button. Navigation Window:

Click on the image for Larger View (1.5) The next sequential frame on the SAP Easy Access screen is your Navigation Window. This section of the interface contains a Hierarchical representation of all the folders and its content. It is present in a dig- down tree form with directories present in different levels. You can navigate through folders and their sub folders to reach to the desired node. For example to arrive at Create Sales Order: Initial Screen, you may have to navigate through Logistics > Sales and Distribution > Sales > Order and then the Node which you want will be seen (In this example it is VA01Create info cube). You can expand and collapse the folders by clicking on the arrow button at the left side of respective folders. On the right hand side of the Navigation Window or Navigation Menu you can set your company logo.

SAP GUI Navigation Tutorial (Part II)

by magnatrain on February 25, 2011 in SAP Training Status Bar: Keyboard Status: INS and DEL

Click on the image for Larger View (1.1) Finally at the bottom of the page you may find a horizontal bar which indicates system information which is to the bottom- right of the screen. To the extreme right on the bar you may find INS which indicates that the keyboard is in Insert mode; if it is not INS then it is in DEL mode which can be seen according to the transaction. But remember that this does not have any significant effect on your transaction; it is just a denotation of your keyboard state. CRMSYS (CRM or Customer Relationship Management System): To the left of your INS option you may find CRMSYS option. CRMSYS is nothing but the name of the server. This may vary according to the server. Session Manager Immediately next to the server name indication option you may find Session_ Manager option with a scratch pad like icon. When you click on this icon you may see a popped up menu with about 5 options.
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The first option that you may find in these options may be System ID which is a unique alphanumeric or alphabetical SAP system name allocated to every server on the network. This id will always contain three characters.
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It is also used to perform an EDI transaction between one system and another if the SRT connection is not established. This is possible because all the systems on the network are registered at a hub which is called the SAP Solution Manager. The makes each SAP System aware of other systems available on the network; hence, through such shortcuts (the three character system name) it is possible to send of receive data.

The second listed option in the popped up menu list is Client which is three digit number. The client ID is usually required when you login to the system; you need to enter the desired client ID, ID and Password. You may also have to select the language; hence, you need to put EN if you want English (it is default language). If you want your system to be available in Chinese you need to feed in CN and so on. This is possible as SAP supports multiple languages. This is referred to as internationalization and is depended on the login language. The next listed option in the dropped down menu is the User. This option shows the current user who is logged in the system. The next option is program which is nothing but the program for a particular action. For example if you want to create a sales order, then the program for creating sales order would be SAPMV45A. Remember that every action may have different program and this can be check by clicking on scratch pad like icon and selecting program option. It should be understood that ABAP is the language used to develop programs in SAP and every

screen that you see has a program running behind it and to determine the currently running program you need to follow aforementioned steps.
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The last listed option in the menu is the Transaction which shows the currently running transaction. The transaction as showed in the list changes according to the execution you do. Sometimes you may notice that different actions, steps or screen may show same transaction, this explains that one single transaction may have different steps; hence, transaction showed on the right hand bottom of the screen remains the same.

Goto Menu Item:-

Click on the image for Larger View (1.2) While creating a sales order we have to perform different tasks one of which is navigating through different pages. One reaches to desired location obviously through Navigation Window. But there are other ways to do this, one of which is Goto menu option. For example if you select Header within Goto option you will get various options in a drop down list such as Shipping, Payment Card, Conditions etc. You will also find Sales option which on clicking will lead to Sales screen of the header data. You may navigate backward by clicking on Back button as mention above and again return to the same Sales screen by clicking on a small button with magnifying glass icon which shows Display Doc. Header Details smart text. Similarly you can go to any listed screen through Goto menu option. SAP is also efficient due to its property of not loosing the data. For example, if you create a word document you are prompted to save or otherwise let the created data lose. In SAP you need not fear of losing your data. Even in scenario wherein your system gets crashed you do lose the information you entered. But it should be remembered that if the GUI connection times out then there are chances that you may lose your data. You also have the option to save your work which can be done by clicking on floppy like icon on the tool bar. After you click on save you can see the execution on the left hand bottom on the status bar. You can return to the same transaction and find the data. The data can also be temporarily preserved as a draft for short time.

Note: There are certain minimum requirements that should be available, which is usually defined by the creator of the transaction. In real life SAP system these requirements may be augmented and different with custom reports, custom data etc. Hence, SAP allows users to create customized screens or transactions. Even a standard SAP screen can be modified or you also have the option of creating new screen with minimum data which is required to be saved. Form of messages:

Click on the image for Larger View (1.3) To your information SAP Systems communicate with the users in form of messages which is also a conventional way in which any computer may interact with the user. There are two usual kinds of messages that are presented to the user. Pop-up windows are usually seen in SAP interface and are one of the ways in which SAP system interacts with the user. One example of pop-up window can be seen when you enter some data and try to go back or exit the application; the system asks you whether you desire to save any changes.

Click on the image for Larger View (1.4)

Another kind of messages can be seen at the bottom of the page on the status bar. These messages are usually status of the transaction or action (Information message in Green round button icon with white checkmark)

Click on the image for Larger View (1.5)

You may also sometimes see error messages as well, which are usually in red button icon with white cross mark. You cannot proceed without rectifying the errorin case you notice an error message. If you proceed without any rectification then you may find that most functions and toolbar buttons will not be working except of back button.

Click on the image for Larger View (1.6)

SAP interface also provides alert message which are usually in yellow circular button icon with black exclamation mark. But these messages are just for your information and do not stops you from proceeding further anyways. To conclude the point, there are three basic kinds of messages, namely informational message (does not need you to act on it), error messages (mandates/requires you to rectify the issue) and alert messages (asks you to double check your action or entered data before proceeding). However, most of the important messages will be denoted in an intrusive manner, which is pop- up.

Order Type help:

Click on the image for Larger View (1.7) It may sometimes happen that on any particular screen such as Create Sales Order: Initial Screen page you may have difficulties in entering or rather recollecting the desired order type code. Hence, SAP provides Search Help feature that aids you in selecting the desired order types. This feature can be used just by clicking on the button available in the Order Type field, which looks like a drop down button, but in fact opens a new window, named Sales Document Type. It provides with a list of possible values that can be entered in the field. But it should be understood that this help feature may vary according to transaction or pages you are on; this can be understood through the following point.

Search Help feature on Create Standard Order Overview page:

Click on the image for Larger View (1.8) After entering the Order Type field when you progress to the next page, you may again find Search Help button in Sold- To- Party field. But when you click on this button you may find a different output. You may notice that rather than a list of options you are provided with a formwindow, namely Restrict Value Range, wherein you can enter your query and run a search. Depending on your search query you will be provided with a list of matching options from which you can select your desired option. To get the best out of this feature it is better to have understanding of the master data, which is also beneficial for working with the entire SAP system. This will equip you with knowledge required to perform a transaction, enter correct data and save time which you may otherwise spend in searching through the system. Note: To fluently use SAP GUI system it is essential to undergo complete SAP training and practice on regular basis. This will help you gains complete understanding of SAP system.