SAP FICO ( EPISODE - 12 )

Nilkamal: - From today onwards, whatever I will do in my computer, will get displayed on the White Board, because this PC has been attached with the slide projector. Let me double click on the SAP icon on the desktop. Can you see the first screen? It is known as SAP Login Screen. Here, you have to enter the username and the password. The language is ‘en’, which means English. The user is ‘sapuser’ and the password is ‘sapfico’. Press Enter. Now, we are redirected to a new screen. Can anyone tell me the name of the screen?

Chaitanya: - It is ‘SAP Easy Access’, Sir.

Nilkamal: - Yes, you are right. Let me explain this screen in full details. The first bar at the extreme top is known as the MENU BAR. It contains headers like Menu, Edit, Favorites, Extras, System and Help. You can also close, minimize or maximize this window. Just below the Menu Bar, there is another bar, known as STANDARD BAR. This bar is used to enter the commands. The blank space of this bar is known as command field and we will enter transaction codes here.

Suhash: - What are transaction codes?

Nilkamal: - Hmm, good question. See, in the SAP, there are so many modules and you have to remember the step-by-step paths for entering into the different forms in it. For every transaction, there are certain codes. Like for Ledger Entry, there is a transaction code. For defining a company, there is another transaction code. We will deal with these transaction codes later. But, at present, just understand that we have to enter transaction codes in this command field. So, where were we?

Rinky: - Sir, you were telling about the standard bar.

Nilkamal: - Ok. Just below the Standard Bar, there is a TITLE BAR, followed by APPLICATION TOOL BAR, WORKING AREA and STATUS BAR. Application Tool Bar changes with the type of screen. Status Bar gives you the current status of the screen. Now, these statuses are displayed in various colors. The RED color, as usual signals the Error. YELLOW color means that there is a WARNING, but still the transaction can be done. The color GREEN means that everything is ok in the transaction.

Dulal: - Sir, is there any concept of sessions, during these transactions?

Nilkamal: - Of course, boss. There has to be a session. Each and every activity is a session and they are managed by a SESSION MANAGER. Wait, let me just show you the screen of SESSION MANAGER. Can you see the screen of Session Manager? Just have a look, what it actually contains. It displays the System Name, Client Number, Username, Program Name, Transaction, Response Time, Interpretation Time and Round Trip/Flushes. There can be three types of Client Numbers. They are 800, 000 and 001. Generally, the Client Number 800 is used. You can open 6 sessions at a time. Oh! I forgot to tell that the Working Area is the main area of this screen. It is in this space where the Functional Consultants do the configurations, the ABAPers do the Programming and the BASIS people do the Server Maintenance.

Ravi: - Sir, you are saying that, every time, a functional consultant needs to configure the FI module, as per the client’s specifications. But, how are we doing these customizations?

Nilkamal: - You are bang on target. I am just coming to that. Always remember that the project execution is done in the configuration area only. From this SAP Easy Access screen, let us go to Tools. Now, these Tools section is classified into three parts. They are ABAP Workbench, Customization and Administration. ABAP Workbench is for the ABAPers and Administration is for the BASIS people. FICO consultants are interested only with the Customization part. Click on Customization and follow the path: - IMG -> Execute Project ->SAP Reference. In this SAP Reference, select only the modules of FI and CO. The IMG (Implementation Guide) is the guide book for configurations. Guys, just take a short break and come back.