Action Box

Use

When you process quality notifications, maintenance notifications, or service notifications, you can use the action box to execute follow-up functions . Follow-up functions can help you process a notification and are documented as an activity or task for the notification header or notification item after being executed. Depending on your settings in Customizing for Notification Processing , the follow-up functions in the action box can include functions that you can execute:

  • More than once and independently of other follow-up functions in the action box

  • Only once and/or after certain other follow-up functions have been executed (for example, interdependent, process-related functions)

    Example Example

    Follow-up functions in the action box are different from task-related follow-up actions . Both follow-up functions and follow-up actions call function modules. With a follow-up action, however, the system executes the corresponding function module when you save a quality notification. With a follow-up function, the system executes the corresponding function module as soon as you execute the follow-up function in the action box. Also, when you process follow-up functions, you enter information in a dialog box. This is not possible with follow-up actions.

    End of the example.

Integration

You can link the follow-up functions that are documented as tasks to the functions of the SAP Business Workflow component. This allows the system to trigger certain workflow tasks once a function has been executed and the notification has been saved.

The action box contains follow-up functions that support the following business processes:

Prerequisites

The follow-up functions delivered in the standard system are ready for use. If you do not need a particular follow-up function, you can delete it in Customizing for Notification Processing . If you want to include your own, self-programmed functions in the action box, you must define them in Customizing for Notification Processing .

Features

Function

Additional Information

Appearance of the action box

In the standard system, the action box is displayed as a tree. In this mode, the follow-up functions are displayed in a list in different colors. The colors have the following meaning:

  • Blue:The follow-up function is active and can be executed.

  • Black:The follow-up function is inactive and cannot be executed (yet).

  • Gray:The follow-up function has been executed and cannot be executed again.

    If you set the Action box: Table indicator in the user default values, the system displays the action box as a table. In this mode, the system only displays the follow-up functions that can be executed (without the color coding).

Standard follow-up functions

The action box contains several follow-up functions that have been predefined in Customizing for Notification Processing . For more information about these functions, see:

Business transactions

You can also assign a business transaction to each follow-up function in Customizing for Notification Processing . The business transaction determines whether an activity or task resulting from a follow-up function can be executed, based on the current status of a notification.

Authorization check

Each follow-up function is assigned a code group in Customizing for Notification Processing . When you process a notification, the system automatically checks whether you are authorized to access the code groups assigned to the various follow-up functions. If you do not have authorization for a particular code group, the corresponding follow-up function does not appear in the action box. This means that you can only use the follow-up functions for which you have authorization.

Activities

To execute a follow-up function in the action box, you click the text or double-click the icon for a follow-up function that is displayed in blue. A dialog box appears in which you can enter the data that is required to execute the function.

Note Note

You can only execute a follow-up function if you select it from the action box. If you create an activity or task in the notification using the input help for a catalog, the system will not execute a follow-up function.

End of the note.

The system executes the selected function and documents it as an activity or task for the notification header or notification item.