Screen Objects
This section covers the different types of items that you see on the SAP screens. Regardless of the SAP component’s module that you are processing in, the same types of screen objects will generally appear on the different SAP screens.
SAP promotes itself as very logically designed and organized; a user can easily navigate through its system. The style of the SAP system is much different than many popular applications available on the market today, including the Microsoft Windows and the Microsoft Office family of products. Often absent in SAP are the friendly pictures, detailed formatted text, or elaborate design. Most screens in SAP are designed in tabbed formats or tree structures through which the user navigates by drilling “down.”
SAP Trees
You will soon become accustomed to using SAP trees in navigating through the SAP system (see Figure 6.9). SAP’s logically devised environment centers on a basic tree structure. The SAP trees appear similar to the Windows structure that you see in Windows Explorer. The tree structure is formulated so that you can drill down in the tree to reach deeper levels within a concept. To use an SAP tree for navigation, you need to select the arrow sign to expand or compress the tree to view more or fewer selections, respectively. Older versions of SAP use plus or minus signs to expand or compress the tree.
Figure 6.9. The SAP ECC and similar SAP systems are based on an elementary tree structure.
Check Boxes
When you are working in SAP, entering information sometimes involves selecting options. These options can be in the form of check boxes like the ones shown in Figure 6.10. A check mark placed in the check box indicates that the box is selected, and an empty box indicates that the box is not selected.
Figure 6.10. Check boxes are used to respond with a yes or no to a selection.
Check boxes are used when a person has the opportunity to select more than one option. On a single screen, a person can select multiple check boxes.
Radio Buttons
When you are permitted only one option among a selection of many, you will see a group of radio buttons provided instead of check boxes. A group of radio buttons accepts only one selection for the group. That is, you cannot mark more than one radio button in a group.
A mark placed in the circle indicates that the radio button is selected, and an empty circle indicates that the radio button is not selected (see Figure 6.11). An example of a radio button is the designation of an employee in the Human Resources module as male or female.
Figure 6.11. Radio buttons are always shown in a group of at least two or more; choices are mutually exclusive.
Dialog Boxes
A dialog box is a fancy word for a window that pops up to give you information. These are also sometimes called Information windows. Two situations in which a dialog box appears on your screen are described as follows:
The system needs more information from you before it can proceed.
The system needs to give you feedback, such as messages or specific information about your current task.
For example, you might receive a dialog box on your screen when you are logging off SAP. If you select the SAP icon in the top-left side of your screen and then select the Close button, you are prompted with a dialog box confirming that you indeed want to log off the system.
Table Controls
A final object you will see on most SAP screens is Table Controls, as shown in Figure 6.12. Table controls display data in a tabular format similar to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. Table controls are popular for displaying or entering single structured lines of data. The term table control is covered in more detail in Hour 18, “Designing Screens and Menus.” Just as you can use a check box object for selection for some data, you can use a table control object to display data in a tabular format.
Figure 6.12. Table controls are very popular in SAP for presenting data in a simple structured format.
