Scrolling to View Information

When you view information (for example, a list or online help), not all of the information may fit in your window. To see the additional information, you use scrollbars. To move:

• Up and down, use the vertical scrollbar
• Left and right, use the horizontal scrollbar

Procedure

To move	Do this
Up or down one line	Choose the up or down scroll arrow on the vertical scrollbar.
Left or right one character	Choose the left or right scroll arrow on the horizontal scrollbar.
Up or down one page	Click above or below the slider box on the vertical scrollbar.
Left or right the width of the page	Click to the right or left of the slider box on the horizontal scrollbar.
To a certain position in the information (up or down)	Drag the slider box on the vertical scrollbar to the approximate location of the desired information, and release the mouse button.
To a certain position in the information (left or right)	Drag the slider box on the horizontal scrollbar to the approximate location of the desired information, and release the mouse button.

You can also:

Move to	By choosing	Or pressing	Or pressing
First page		Shift + F9	CTRL+PageUp
Last page		Shift + F12	CTRL+PageDown
Previous page		Shift + F10	PageUp
Next page		Shift + F11	PageDown

Dialog Boxes

The SAP System displays dialog boxes when it:

• Requires more information before it can proceed
• Is providing information, such as messages or specific information about your current task

Before you can continue, you must choose an action from a dialog box. To choose an action, choose one of the buttons at the bottom of the dialog box.

A sample dialog box is shown here:

When you end a task without saving your data, or you choose a function that may cause you to lose data, the SAP System usually displays a dialog box in which you are asked to confirm or cancel your action.

Radio Buttons and Checkboxes

o enter information in the SAP System, you must sometimes select among several options. In some cases, you can select only one option; in others, you can select more than one.

When you can select only one, the options are identified by radio buttons:

When you can select more than one, the options are identified by checkboxes:

Activities

Choosing Options with Radio Buttons

• To select an option, click the radio button next to that option. The selected radio button is now filled in.
• To change your selection, click a different radio button. The original button is now empty and the new selection is filled in.
• To select a radio button using the keyboard, use the Tab key to move to the group of options. Use the ­ and ¯ keys to move to the desired option, and press the spacebar.

Choosing Options with Checkboxes

• To select one or more options, click the checkbox next to each desired option. The selected checkboxes now contain a checkmark.
• To deselect a checkbox containing a checkmark, click it again. The checkmark disappears.
• To select a checkbox using the keyboard, use the Tab key to go to the group of options. Use the ­ and ¯ keys to go to each desired option, and press the spacebar.
• To deselect a checkbox containing a checkmark, use the ­ and ¯ keys to go to the option, and press the spacebar. The checkmark disappears.

Table Controls

Use

The table control function enables you to modify standard SAP table format as necessary. This is especially useful when standard SAP tables contain columns you do not use.

Features

Table controls provide the following features:

• Fixed and variable columns. Variable columns have a horizontal scrollbar at the bottom.
• Columns you can resize:

When you move the cursor to the gridline between two columns, the cursor changes to a double-headed arrow. To change column width, click the left mouse button, and move the gridline to the desired width.

• Columns you can rearrange using drag and drop:

Place the cursor in the header of the column you want to move, hold the left mouse button, and move the column to the desired position.

• If you move the cursor along the horizontal scrollbar, quick infos appear indicating the column that would jump to the first display position (after the fixed columns) if you click the scrollbar at that location.
• You can set the optimal column width (as defined in the SAP System) by pressing and holding the
Shift key, and clicking the left mouse button within any column header.
• Icons at the bottom of a table are specific to that table. Some icons commonly used in tables are:

Icon	Name	Description
	Choose detail	Displays all information currently available on the selected item
	Create line	Adds a line
	Delete line	Deletes a line
	Select all	Selects all table entries
	Deselect all	Deselects all table entries

Tabs

Use

Tabs enable you to enter, display, and alternate between multiple screens. In transactions containing multiple screens, they provide a clearer overview. In addition, tabs enable you to proceed from one tab page to the next without having completed all the data. To access a tab page, select the corresponding tab header.

In some cases, you must complete all required input fields on a tab page before you can move to the next tab page.

Features

• In the case of longer tabstrips, not all of the tabs appear on the screen. The left and right arrows at the top of the tabstrip allow you to scroll to all the tabs.
• If you choose the button at the right of the tabstrip, the system displays a list of all the tabs on the tabstrip. If you select a tab from this list, the selected tab page moves to the foreground.
• Tabs are arranged in order of importance or in the process order of the transaction.
• Tab headers can contain text, icons, or both.

The Status Bar

Use

The status bar provides general information on the SAP System and transaction or task you are working on. At the left of the status bar, system messages are displayed. The right end of the status bar contains three fields: one with server information, the other two with status information.

Features

The status fields, shown below, are described from left to right:

• At the far left,

• identifies error messages.
• identifies other system messages.

• To hide (or display) the status fields, choose to their left (or right, respectively).
• To display the following system information, choose in the first status field:

• System
• Client
• User
• Program
• Transaction
• Response time

• The second status field displays the server to which you are connected.
• The third status field specifies your data entry mode. By clicking this field, you can toggle between the Insert (INS) and Overwrite (OVR) modes. For more information, see
Insert and Overwrite Modes.

The Menu Bar

Menus allow you to find a specific transaction when you do not know the transaction code. The menu is organized according to the task you are doing in the SAP System.

Menus are dropdown; that is, when you choose a menu item, further options appear.

A typical menu bar in the SAP System is shown below:

Features

This following menus are standard on every SAP screen:

Menu	Description
System	Contains functions that affect the system as a whole – such as Create session, User profile, and Log off.
Help	Provides various forms of online help.
	The layout menu, identified by at the far right of the standard toolbar, allows you to customize certain SAP window settings (for example, cursor position and the TAB function).

The following menus are standard in most SAP applications:

Menu	Description
	Usually named after the object you are currently working with, for example, Material. Contains functions that affect the object as a whole – such as Display, Change, Print, or Exit.
Edit	Allows you to edit components of the current object – for example Select, Edit, and Copy. The Cancel option lets you leave a task without saving the data you have entered.
Goto	Allows you to move directly to other screens of the current task. Also contains the Back option, which takes you back one level in the system hierarchy. Before going back, the system checks the data you have entered on the current screen, and displays a dialog box if it detects a problem.

The following menus may also appear:

Menu	Description
Extras	Contains additional functions you can choose to complete the current object or an object component, but which you do not need regularly.
Environment	Contains functions you can choose to display additional information about the current object.
View	Allows you to display the current object in different views, for example, switching between a single-line and double-line display of a table.
Settings	Allows you to set user-specific transaction parameters.
Utilities	Allows you to do object-independent processing, such as delete, copy, and print functions.

Sometimes not all of the available menus fit on one line in the menu bar. In this case, they wrap to the next line. The dropdown principle stays the same.

Release 4.6: The New SAP GUI

Definition

The SAP graphical user interface (SAP GUI) consists of the technical features that enable you to exchange information with the SAP System (by entering data, choosing functions, and so on). For Release 4.6, SAP has made extensive changes to the SAP GUI design.

Use

New Display Options

The redesigned features include:

• Text fonts and colors
• Color schemes
• Sound and animation settings
• Additional options for data presentation

Structure

The new SAP GUI consists of two main screen areas.

• Screen header

The screen header consists of:

• Menu bar
• Standard toolbar
• Title bar

• Application toolbar

• Screen body

The screen body is the area between the screen header and the status bar.

A typical example of an SAP screen (here, the SAP Easy Access initial screen) with the new SAP GUI is shown below:

Changes to the Screen Header

Screen Banner

In previous releases, the title bar and menu bar were at the top of the R/3 window. As of Release 4.6, a screen banner replaces these two elements. The screen banner consists of:

• Menu bar

GUI interaction buttons

The Minimize, Maximize, and Close buttons are no longer in the top right-hand corner. They are now slightly to the left, beside the SAP logo:

You can also find these GUI interaction options in the dropdown menu that appears when you choose in the top left-hand corner.

• Standard toolbar

Command field

By default, the command field is closed. To display it, choose the arrow to the left of the Save icon:

The command field appears:

To hide it, choose the arrow to the right (outside) of the field.

To display a list of the transactions you used last, choose the dropdown arrow at the right-hand end of the field.

• Other features

In the top right-hand corner, the ripple animation indicates data request activity: . This was previously shown by a change of color in the status fields.

Changes to the Screen Body

Screen Elements and Layout

• The screen elements (group boxes, buttons, scrollbars, and so on) have a new design.
• The screen layout has changed. For example, a tab leader now guides the eye from field names to fields, and important screen areas are highlighted more prominently.
• Required input fields were previously identified by a question mark within the field. They now have a checkmark icon at the left-hand end: .

Status Bar

• System message identification (far left)
• identifies error messages.
• identifies affirmative system messages.
• Status fields (far right)

By default, the status fields appear at the far right:

To hide these fields, choose the arrow pointing to the right:

When the fields are hidden, the arrow points in the other direction:

To display the status fields, choose the arrow pointing to the left:

Icons

SAP has changed the graphical design of all icons used in the SAP System.

Changes to GUI Controls

SAP has also redesigned screen elements such as trees, tables, and tabs.

GUI Interaction Principles

The GUI interaction principles – such as minimizing, maximizing, canceling, and dropdown menus – remain the same.

The SAP Window

The SAP window is the user interface to the SAP System.

Features

The elements of a typical SAP window are shown below:

The standard toolbar contains buttons for performing common actions such as Save and Enter.

The functions assigned to the standard toolbar are listed below:

Button	Name	Function
	Enter	Confirms the data you have selected or entered on the screen. Same function as the Enter key. Does not save your work.
	Command field	Allows you to enter commands, such as transaction codes.
	Save	Saves your work. Same function as Save in the Edit menu.
	Back	Returns you to the previous screen without saving your data. If there are required fields on the screen, these fields must be completed first.
	Exit	Exits the current function without saving. Returns you to the initial screen or main menu screen.
	Cancel	Exits the current task without saving. Same function as Cancel in the Edit menu.
	Print	Prints data from the current screen.
	Find	Searches for data required in the current screen.
	Find next	Performs an extended search for data required in the current screen.
	First page	Scrolls to the first page. Same function as the CTRL + Page Up keys.
	Previous page	Scrolls to the previous page. Same function as the Page Up key.
	Next page	Scrolls to the next page. Same function as the Page Down key.
	Last page	Scrolls to the last page. Same function as the CTRL + Page Up key.
	Create session	Creates a new SAP session. Same function as Create session in the System menu.
	Create shortcut	Allows you to create a desktop shortcut to any SAP report, transaction, or task if you are working with a Windows 32-bit operating system.
	F1 Help	Provides help on the field where the cursor is positioned.
	Layout menu	Allows you to customize the display options.

Depending on your actions as you work with the SAP System, you may also see:

• Radio buttons and checkboxes. For more information, see
Radio Buttons and Checkboxes.
• Dialog boxes. For more information, see
Dialog Boxes.