Navigation 

Definition

A Web Dynpro-developed user interface component used control navigation between two user interfaces in order to forward content.

Use

You use the Navigation user interface component as a central entry point to access all other component and page patterns used in your application. It is the “glue” that combines a number of page patterns within an application.

With the Navigation pattern, you can define the means of navigation through application pages (navigation area) and also display the page content within a separate content area. You can easily navigate between two user interfaces and therefore exchange content.

Structure

The Navigation pattern consists of the following parts:

●     Navigation Configurator, which contains the sections:

○     States

¡        Plug-Ins

·        Generated Navigation UI

Navigation Configurator

You use the toolbar along the top of the layout to create a new configuration (New), to open a previously created one (Open), to save (Save, Save as) or delete (Delete) it, or to preview (Preview) and test your configuration in a separate window.

You can configure a navigation on the tab pages States and Plug-Ins. They are described in more detail below.

States Tab Page

On the States tab page, you can add a set of states to describe how a page behaves. You can add, remove or import states from other pattern configurations. The radio button in the states table specifies the default page’s state.

Section	Description
General	You determine the state for the navigation area. In the sections Identifier & Title and Implementation & Configuration, you enter the State ID and Title and the name of your configuration. You also select the appropriate development component (DC). In the section Security Options, you define the access permissions for the current state.
Navigation	You define the navigation elements within the content area by defining the navigation properties for each state already determined. Each Commandlet provides its own standard navigations.
Parameter Mapping	You define global aliases and default values for the inbound and outbound plug-in parameters. Aliases act as a transport layer between inbound and outbound plug-ins. If you defined an alias for an outbound plug-in parameter, at runtime the parameter value will be put in the execution stack with an alias name. If you specified an alias for the inbound plug-in parameter, the value of this parameter will be taken from the execution stack by the alias name.

A state is always mapped to the configuration of a Commandlet (that is, a component implementing CommandleCl, for example Object Selector).

Plug-Ins Tab Page

A plug-in is a component implementing the PagePluginCl interface. On this tab page, you define the Navigation Area parameters and also add and configure plug-ins to be shown in this area.

By choosing Configure, you can access the PlugIn Configuration Builder. There you have, depending on the DC selected, several configuration options such as to add states to be displayed, provide captions, or define the visibility for each state

Navigation UI

In the generated layout, you see the new navigation and content areas. The navigation menu entries will affect the content area according to the configuration you have set.