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Procedure documentationDefining POD Buttons and Button Groups

 

You define the buttons that appear in the POD on the Buttons tab page of POD Maintenance. If you have a large number of buttons you want to make available to operators, you may want to group them together with a button group.

When you use a button group, the POD displays a single button with a label you define. When an operator chooses this button, the POD displays a list of activities the operator can select from. The operator can then select an activity from the list.

Recommendation Recommendation

Create a separate button group for reports. Use the button groups in the Default Operation POD as a model.

End of the recommendation.

Procedure

  1. On the Buttons tab page, define the buttons and button groups that appear in the POD by inserting new rows in the table.

  2. On the Button Details screen, enter the following data:

    Field

    Description

    Button Sequence

    • The order in which the activity is executed in the button

    • The order in which the system executes activities if you associate more than one activity with the same button.

      For example, you can create two Start button rows and specify different activities for each. Use the sequence number to control which activity runs first and which runs second when the operator chooses the button.

    • For a button group: Specifies the order in which the activity appears in the Activity list

    Button Type

    Determines if the button is one activity or multiple activities:

    Normal: The activities are executed together when the button is used; can have one or more activities defined.

    Group: The activities are displayed to the users and the users choose the activity they want to execute; will have more than one activity assigned.

    Button ID

    The internal name for the button

    Note Note

    The button ID must be unique.

    End of the note.

    Button Label

    Displays a label for the button in the POD

    For example, Start and Log NC.

    For a button group: Displays the label for the group of activities in the POD

    If you want your label to be internationalized, you must enter the label in the correct format. For example, to internationalize the Start label, enter I18N[start.default.BUTTON]. I18N is an abbreviation for the word internationalization. The text between the brackets is the identifier for the label.

    Button Size %

    Buttons in the predefined PODs are sized to 100%. Blank defaults to 100%.

    For a button group: The size of the button displaying the list of POD button activities. All rows in the button group must have the same size. If you define a button with a size less than 100%, test the POD to ensure the system displays the button at the size you want.

    Some operating systems cannot display buttons smaller than 100%. Some systems require a specific text size setting in the Internet Explorer.

    Image Icon

    Displays a graphic on the button in the POD to help the operator identify what the button does. Appears above the button label if both a label and an icon are defined.

    If an icon is available in more than one size, you can specify the size you would like to display on a button. For example, large/start.png.

    Note that you can change image files for POD buttons. For more information, see SAP Note 1661476Information published on SAP site.

    For a button group: Specifies the graphic that appears on the button displaying the list of POD button activities.

    Caution Caution

    All rows in the button group must have the same image icon.

    End of the caution.

    Hot Key

    The hot key combinations operators can press to run the activity specified on this row

    For a button group: Specifies the hot key combination for the button. The hot key opens the Activity list.

    Caution Caution

    All rows in the button group must have the same hot key combination.

    End of the caution.

    Button Location

    Left: The button appears in the vertical tool bar in the left margin in the order of its sequence number

    Right: The button appears in the vertical tool bar in the right margin in the order of its sequence number

    Above the POD Selection: The button appears in the tool bar at the top of the POD Selection area in the order of its sequence number

    Note Note

    You can have buttons either above or below the POD Selection area but not both. If one or more buttons exist below the POD Selection, then no buttons are displayed above the POD Selection.

    End of the note.

    Below the POD Selection: The button appears in the tool bar located at the bottom of the POD Selection area in the order of its sequence number

    Page Bottom: The button appears at the bottom of the screen

    Start New Button Row

    Places this button on a new row in the POD. Use to make the screen more readable for the operator. Test your POD to make sure the buttons you want in a row fit the user's screen. The system wraps buttons to the next row when they are too wide for the screen.

  3. Add one or more activities the system runs when the operator chooses this button by inserting new rows in the table:

    Column

    Description

    Activity Sequence

    The order the activity occurs when the button is chosen on the POD

    Activity

    The activity ID the system runs when the operator chooses this button in the POD. For example, to run Serialize, enter PR550.

    The browse lists only POD button activities. A POD button activity is defined with type Button/Plug-In GUI (.jsp) in Activity Maintenance (see Activity Types). You can also enter an ID of an activity of type Standalone GUI (.jsp). Reports, production activities, and maintenance activities are of type Standalone GUI (.jsp).

    Browse on the Activity field in Activity Maintenance for a list of IDs.

    Button group: Specifies the ID of the activity that appears in the Activity list. When the user selects the activity name in the list and chooses OK, the system runs the activity.

    Caution Caution

    Do not use the Buttons tab page for hook point activities (see Hook Point Activity).

    End of the caution.

    Clears SFC

    Deletes the value in the main input field when the operator chooses the button. In the Operation PODs, the main input field is the SFC field.

  4. Save your entries.