Required Input Fields in sap

Definition

When you work in the SAP System, you will sometimes encounter input fields containing a question mark (?). These are required input fields. An example is shown below:

As of Release 4.6, required input fields are identified by a checkmark icon:

Use

If the screen you are working in contains any required input fields, you must enter data in these input fields before you can proceed to the next screen or tab (if the screen is using tabs).

Generally, if a screen has no required input fields, you can go to the next screen or tab without entering data in any fields. Some screens, however, have required input fields that are not identified. This situation can occur when

• You enter data in an optional field that has required fields associated with it
• You need to enter data in one of several input fields
  For example, freight can be delivered by a specific day or week. Neither the Day field nor the Week field are identified as required input fields; however, you must complete one of the fields (not both).

When you choose OK to proceed to another screen, if you have not completed all the required input fields on a screen, the SAP System displays an error message in the status bar. At the same time, it places the cursor in the required input field so that you can make the necessary data entry.

Using the Clipboard

Prerequisites

You can transfer the contents of fields onto the clipboard of your operating system and then paste them into other fields of the SAP System or into other applications. To do this, you use the Clipboard functions.

There is a difference between the functions described here and similar functions you may sometimes find in the Edit menu. The Clipboard functions, though limited, work for the clipboard of your windowing environment, which means you can use them to move or copy contents between the SAP System and other applications. The functions in the Edit menu, though more extensive, only work within the SAP System.

Procedure

1. To select a field or the text you want to copy or move, click and drag the cursor over the desired text. The selected text is highlighted.
1. To remove the information from an input field and place it onto the clipboard of your operating system, choose Cut (
CTRL+X) The field is now blank.
2. To copy the selected information onto the clipboard, choose Copy (
CTRL+C) Data remains in the field.
2. To paste the text, position the cursor where you want the information and then choose Paste (
CTRL+V). The text is pasted at the current cursor position.

The transferred data remains in the clipboard until you use Cut or Copy again to move or copy new texts onto the clipboard. You can insert the texts into fields on another SAP screen or an external application.

To copy the data from several fields or different field types of the screen onto the clipboard, you must turn on the selection mode:

1. Select Clipboard
® Mark (CTRL+Y) in the Layout menu. The pointer changes into a crosshair cursor.
2. Click in one corner of the area you want to copy, hold the mouse button down and drag the cursor to the diagonally opposite corner (for example, from top left to bottom right). The system displays a rectangle to indicate the selected area.
3. Release the mouse button when the rectangle covers the entire text you want to copy.
4. Select Copy (
CTRL+C) or Cut (CTRL+X). The selected text is copied onto the clipboard. When you choose Cut, the selected texts are deleted from the input fields.

The clipboard now holds all the information from the fields you have selected, including the field names and short descriptions. For this reason, you usually cannot insert the contents of the clipboard in the current screen. This feature is primarily intended for copying SAP information and pasting it into an external program, such as Microsoft Word.

Moving from Field to Field

Procedure

Moving from Field to Field with the Mouse

Click the input field that you want to move to.

The cursor now appears in that field.

Moving from Field to Field with the Keyboard

To move the cursor with the keyboard, use any of the following keys:

Key	Moves the cursor to the beginning of
TAB	The next input field
SHIFT + TAB	The previous input field
¯	The next input field or next line
­	The previous input field or previous line

In the standard SAP System, the cursor automatically moves to the next input field when it reaches the end of the current input field. This feature is called automatic tabbing (AutoTAB). It is useful when you are entering data in many fields and you want to avoid having to press the TAB key to move among these fields.

However, AutoTAB only works at the end of an input field. For example, if the Material field can hold 12 characters, but the material number you enter is only 7 characters long, you must press the TAB key to move to the next input field.

For information on activating AutoTAB, see Tabbing Between Fields Automatically.

Changing the Data in an Input Field in SAP

Use

You can change data in an input field by either:

• Switching the data entry mode to Overwrite, and typing over the data in the field, or
• Highlighting the entry in the Insert mode and typing the new data

Some input fields contain data that is for display only; you cannot change or delete the data in these input fields. Input fields whose background is the same color as the background of the screen contain data that you cannot change.

Procedure

Insert Mode

1. Use the cursor to highlight the existing content of the field.
2. Type in the new data.

The entire content of the field is replaced by whatever you type.

Overwrite Mode

1. Make sure you are in the Overwrite mode (OVR in the status bar). If you are not, press
INS to switch to this mode.
2. Place the cursor at the point in the data where you want to start overwriting.
3. Type over the old data. You can use the
DEL key to delete data to the right of the cursor.

To change other input fields on the screen, repeat steps 2 and 3.

Typing Data into an Input Field in SAP

Procedure

In the standard system, when you place the cursor anywhere in an empty input field, the cursor jumps to the beginning of the field.

1. Click anywhere in the empty input field.

The cursor jumps to the beginning of the field.

2. Type in the data. (If you need help determining valid entries for the field, see
Help on Possible Entries for a Field.)

If the data fills the input field, the cursor automatically moves to the next input field. Otherwise, the cursor remains in the input field until you press the TAB key to move it or you click another input field.

Insert and Overwrite Modes in SAP

Use

You can enter data in two modes:

• Insert: Any data to the right of the cursor moves to the right as you type.
• Overwrite: You type over any data to the right of the cursor.

Typically, you use the Overwrite mode to enter data, and the Insert mode to enter data between existing data (for example, if you left out a letter in the middle of a word).

In the standard system, the default entry mode is Insert. However, you can to switch to Overwrite at any time.

The status bar shows which mode you are currently in. It displays INS when you are in the Insert mode and OVR when you are in the Overwrite mode. For more information, see The Status Bar.

Activities

To switch entry modes, press INS (insert).

The current entry mode changes to the new entry mode.

The INS key is a toggle between the two modes, that is, the entry mode changes each time you press INS .

You can also toggle between modes by clicking the entry mode status field at the far right of the status bar.

Fields In SAP

Definition

A field consists of:

• A field name
• Field data

Field data is a single unit of information, such as a customer's name or account number.

Use

Most of the tasks you perform in the SAP System involve data entry. Typically, you enter data in the system in fields.

Most screens in the SAP System contain fields in which you enter data (input fields) or that provide information (display fields). Here is an example of the different field types:

Structure

Input fields vary in length. In some cases, the length of an input field determines how many characters you can enter in the field. In other cases, input fields are scrollable – that is, you only see part of the entry in the field.

Activities

Working in Fields Using the Keyboard

As an alternative to using the mouse, the following table shows the key combinations you use to work with fields. These functions are identical to the corresponding MS Windows functions.

Key combination	Result
¯	Moves the cursor to the beginning of the next input field or next line.
­	Moves the cursor to the beginning of the previous input field or previous line.
à ß	Moves the cursor to the left or right within the input field
Ctrl+à	Moves the cursor word-by-word to the right
Ctrl+ß	Moves the cursor word-by-word to the left
Home	Moves the cursor to the beginning of the input field
End	Moves the cursor to the end of the input field
Shift+à	Marks text character-by-character to the right
Shift+ß	Marks text character-by-character to the left
Shift+Ctrl+à	Marks text word-by-word to the right
Shift+Ctrl+ß	Marks text word-by-word to the left
Shift+Home	Marks texts from the cursor position to the beginning of the line
Shift+End	Marks text from the cursor position to the end of the line
Ctrl+C, Shift+Insert	Copies marked text to the clipboard
Ctrl+V, Shift+Delete	Inserts text stored on the clipboard
Ctrl+X, Shift+Delete	Deletes marked text from the input field and copies it to the clipboard
Delete	Deletes text to the right of or highlighted by the cursor
Backspace	Deletes text to the left of the cursor
Insert	Toggles between insert and overwrite modes

Additional Information

Insert and Overwrite Modes

Typing Data into an Input Field

Changing the Data in an Input Field

Moving from Field to Field

Using the Clipboard

Required Input Fields

Help on Possible Entries for a Field