SAPGRAPHICALUSERINTERFACE

ThereareanumberofdifferentversionsofSAP.Dependingontheversionyourcompanyhas
implemented,yourSAPscreenmaylookslightlydifferentfromwhatyouseeinthiscourse.
Typically,SAPcomponentsareaccessibleusingageneralfrontendprogramcalledtheSAPGUI
(orGraphicalUserInterface).TheSAPGUIisthestandardprogramforaccessingalmostallSAP
solutions.TheSAPGUIprogramconnectsyourcomputerwithaspecificSAPsystem.For
startingSAPGUI,SAPprovidesaprogramcalledSAPLogon.
WhenyouareworkingwithSAP,itisimportanttorecognizetheproperwaytoaccessandexit
thesystem.LetuslookathowthisworkswithSAPGUI.

NAVIGATIONCOMPONENTS
AnSAPsystemhasseveralkeycomponents:
1. MenuBar:TheMenubaristhetoplineofanyprimarywindowintheSAPsystem.The
menusshowndependonwhichapplicationyouareusing.Thesemenusmayalso
containcascadingmenus.
2. StandardToolbar:TheStandardtoolbarisidenticalthroughouttheSAPsystem.Allof
theiconsontheStandardtoolbarareshownoneverySAPscreen.However,the
Standardtoolbariconsareactiveonlyiftheyareavailableforthecurrentapplication
unavailableiconswillappeargrayedoutandcannotbeused.NotethatifSAPballoon
helpisenabledonyoursystem,youcanplacethecursoroveraniconandthesystem
willdisplaythenameorfunctionofthaticon.Ifappropriate,thecorrespondingfunction
keysettingisalsodisplayed.
3. TitleBar:TheTitlebarnamesthefunctionthatyouarecurrentlyusingandhelpsyou
identifywhereyouareinaprocedure.
4. ApplicationToolbar:TheApplicationtoolbarshowstheiconsavailableintheapplication
thatyouarecurrentlyusing.DifferenticonsappearontheApplicationtoolbar
dependingontheapplication.
5. StatusBar:ThestatusbarprovidesgeneralinformationabouttheSAPsystemandthe
transactionortaskyouareworkingon.Systemmessagesaredisplayedinadditionto
serverinformationandstatusinformation.

StandardSAPTreeStructure
StandardSAPTreeisatoolforaccessingtheSAPtransactions.TheStandardSAPTreedisplaysa
hierarchyofthemenusavailableintheSAPsystem.Usingthetreeisoneofthebestwaysto
becomefamiliarwiththesystem.
TheelementsofanSAPTreearetheSAPmenuicon,workareas,arrows,folders,and
transactions.
Navigationwithinthestandardtreeisreferredtoasmenupathnavigation.Alisanavigatesby
clickingonthearrowstodrilldownthroughthefolderstothedesiredtransaction.Shecan
locateavarietyoftransactionsbynavigatingintheSAPEasyAccessmenu.
ThestandardtransactionsthatareavailableincludeCreate,Change,andDisplay.
heStandardSAPTreedisplaysahierarchyofthemenusavailabletoyouintheSAPsystemand
isatoolforaccessingSAPtransactions.TheSAPTreecomprisesthefollowingelements:
1. SAPMenuIcon:TheSAPMenuiconmaybeusedtocollapsethetreetoclosetheitems
onthemenu.
2. WorkAreas:TheStandardSAPTreeisorganizedintologicalworkareas.Theworkareas
arepresentedinanorderthatfollowsatypicalbusinessprocessflowratherthanan
alphabeticalorder.Thetreeprovidesamenuthatcontainsafolderforeachworkarea.
Forexample,Office,Logistics,Accounting,andHumanResourcesareworkareas.What
youseeinthetreemayvarydependingonyourorganization.

3. Arrows:Clickingonthearrowswillexpandandcollapsethefoldersandsubfolders.
Whenfoldersareclosed,thearrowwillpointtotheright.Whenfoldersareopened,the
arrowwillpointdown.
4. Folders:Drillingdownthroughthefolderswilldisplaysubfoldersandtransactionitems.
Multiplesubfoldersmaybeusedwithinafoldertoorganizethetransactionitems.
5. Transactions:Transactionsareexecutablefunctionsthatupdateanddisplayinformation
inthedatabase.Transactionswilldisplayinthetreeonceafoldermenuisfully
expanded.Youcanlaunchtransactionsbydoubleclickingonthewhiteboxnexttothe
transactionname.Forsomeitems,youmayuseeitherthetreestructureoriconsto
accessthetransaction.

FieldsinanSAPScreen
FieldsaretheareasonascreenthatcontainspecificdatausedintheSAPdatabase.They
containitems,suchasinformationaboutcustomers,employees,vendors,equipment,and
orders.Informationcanbeenteredintheformoftext,numbers,dates,orcodes.Someentries
canalsobeintheformofrangesthatmaybeusedforsearchingwithinthedata.
AnadvantageofSAPisthatonceyouenterdata,itcanbesharedamongvariousscreens,
transactions,andapplications.

Alisaobservesthatatabpagecomprisesseveralscreensorganizedastabsforclarityandease
ofaccess.Shealsonoticesthatdifferentfieldsrequiredifferenttypesofinput,suchasaninput
field,checkbox,andaradiobutton.
Differentscreenelementsinclude:
1. Input:Inputfieldsareusedtoentertextortoselectavaluefromalist.
2. Checkbox:Checkboxesareusedwithmultipleselectionfields.
3. RadioButton:Radiobuttonsareusedwithsingleselectionfields(youcanselectonly
oneoption).

InputControlsforFields
Thethreetypesofinputcontrolsforfieldsare:
1. Mandatory:Dataentryisrequiredtoproceedwithprocessingatransaction.Mandatory
fieldsareoftenindicatedbyaboxandcheckmarkwithinthefield(thismayvaryby
transactionorcompany).
2. Display:Datawillautomaticallypopulateinthesefields.Itisnotpossibletooverwrite
theinformationinthesefields.
3. Optional:Dataentryisnotrequiredinthesefieldstoproceedwithprocessinga
transaction.


FieldNavigation
Usekeyboardfunctionstomovebetweenfields:

Upanddownkeystomovebetweenfields
Tabkeytoadvancetothenextfield
Shiftandtabkeystomovebacktothepreviousfield
Leftandrightarrowkeystomovewithinafield

MultipleSessionsinSAP
Onecanuseasessiontocreateorchangedatawhileusinganothersessiontodisplaydataand
canalsocopydatabetweensessions.Thisisespeciallyhelpfulwhenyouareinthemiddleofa
transactionandneedstoverifyinformationinanothertransactiontocompletetheformer.The
maximumnumberofsessionsperlogonissix.Youcannotchangeorcreateparticulardata
elementinmorethanonetransactionsimultaneously.
Createuptosixsessions:
1. Eachsessionisindependentoftheothers.
2. Closingthefirstsessiondoesnotcausetheothersessionstoclose.
3. AnysessioncanbeclosedbyclickingExitontheStandardtoolbarforthatsession.