ABAP applications can allow the online user to enter several kinds of input. Each graphics function module can report on some or all of the following user actions:
- Select items in the graphic window: hierarchy nodes, buttons in a pushbutton pad, bars in a bar chart, points in a curve, and so on. The function module reports the identity of the selected object back to the application program.
- Select items in the graphic window. This is the same as the above, except that the function module presents the online user with a menu. The user then selects a menu item. The function module reports the identity of the selected object and the menu item back to the application program.
- Edit the numerical value of graph items (such as bars in a bar chart). The function module reports the identity of the edited object and its new value back to the application program.
- Enter keyboard input. The function module reports the key pressed back to the application program.
- Close the graphics window, using menu options or the F3 key at the bottom of the window. The function module reports back to the application program that the graphics program has been killed.
The ABAP program can then respond to these requests as required by the application.
These forms of user input should not be confused with the use of menus and function keys supported by the graphics program itself. Two kinds of user input should be distinguished:
- User actions requesting functions not local to the graphics program. These are all the actions listed above. Note that selection of menu items (mentioned in the second point above) refers to menus invoked by clicking on a graph object.
These functions cannot be performed by the graphics program alone. The function module and the ABAP program are always involved.
- User actions requesting functions entirely local to the graphics program. These functions are performed by the graphics program without reporting back to the function module. The actions consist of:
- Clicking on function key buttons shown in the window
- Clicking on menu items, when the menu is offered in the menu bar of the graphics window
The only exception is ending the graphics program, which the user can request with a menu option or a function key. This request is fulfilled by the graphics program, but is also reported back to the ABAP program.
Your ABAP program can safely ignore all actions in the latter category except requests to end the graphics program.
