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Business Navigator: Navigation tool for R/3 Reference Model in R/3 Repository

Navigation tool for R/3 Reference Model in R/3 Repository

Description

The display version of the R/3 Reference Model in the R/3 System is called the Business Navigator. Unlike the R/3 Analyzer, the PC display version of the R/3 Reference Model, the Business Navigator allows you to access the model contents of the R/3 Reference Model from any R/3 workstation.

With the integration of the Business Navigator into the R/3 System, you can call the following directly from the application view or process view by means of a mouse click:

Since the Business Navigator is purely a display tool, the models in the Business Navigator cannot be adapted or extended. The development of an API for the connection of modeling tools is planned for a later release.

1. Calling the Business Navigator

The Business Navigator and R/3 Reference Model can be called in an R/3 application system via the following menu path: Tools -> Business Navigator

After the Business Navigator has been called, there are several possible methods of arriving at the various structures and diagrams of the R/3 Reference Model:

1. Navigation in the Business Navigator

Navigation in the Business Navigator is largely carried out via hierarchical structures.

A line entry consists of:

- an icon

- a 10-character meaningful short text, for example 'MM'

- a letter

- a long text, such as 'material management'

The functionality that is triggered varies according to which part of the line entry you have selected.

Selecting the icon:

Double-clicking with the mouse on the icon or positioning the cursor on an icon and then pressing pushbutton Choose directly calls the directly subordinate structure level. You can close the previously inserted structure by double-clicking again or pressing pushbutton Choose again. In this way, it is possible to navigate step by step through all structure levels.

By positioning the cursor and by selecting the pushbutton Expand sub-tree you can display the complete application structure beneath a structue node. You can close the displayed structure again with the Compress sub-tree pushbutton.

Selecting the short text and the long text

If you double-click on a short text or long text, a context-sensitive dialog box containing all options available for this object is called.

Selecting a letter

The letter indicates that a diagram or list display is assigned on the corresponding level of the structure. These letters are used:

- In the application view:

0 = system organization diagram

I = information flow

F = function/processes

P = process diagram

If you select an entry marked 'F', for example, by:

- double-clicking with the mouse

- selecting the Function/processes pushbutton

- selecting the menu options Goto -> Function/processes

all functions or processes assigned to the application area are displayed. Functions also shown in the form of process diagrams are indicated by the letter 'P'.

- in the process view:

M = process selection matrix

S = scenario

P = process diagram

Within a graphic, you can select an object with a simple mouse click to call its where-used list via the menu, for example. For extensive diagrams, you can use the navigation area to choose the precise part of the diagram to appear in an enlarged display.

The window in the navigation area can be moved using the middle or right mouse button. As with the Enlarge and Reduce pushbuttons, the display can be changed by clicking on the corners and enlarging or reducing the navigation window. A change to the display is possible also via the scaling field. You can enter the size you require here. If you activate the 'CTRL' function key and the left mouse button simultaneously, a zoom function is called that allows you to increase the size of selected objects.

1. Calling the assigned diagrams

You can call a dialog box with various branching options by double-clicking on the short text or by positioning the cursor on a short text and pressing the Choose pushbutton.

Depending on the view and the level of the structure on which an object is located, the corresponding dialog box may contain different branch options:

Options available throughout:

Options in the application view:

Options in the process view:

1. Menu functions for the structure display
Menu hierarchy
Edit menu
Goto menu

This menu differs in the two views:

- In the application view:

- In the process view

Utilities menu

System menu standard menu of the R/3 System
Help menu standard menu of the R/3 System
1. Menu functions for diagram display

The menu options in the graphic display vary according to the type of diagram displayed

Graphics menu
Edit menu
Goto menu

The object functions available in the Goto menu vary according to the model type.

Utilities menu
Settings menu

All the settings made here are temporary:

View menu
Help menu
1. Application view

The application view shows the SAP application areas in a hierarchical structure. The highest level of the structure, for example, MM - materials management is assigned an organization diagram that contains all organization units of the R/3 System relevant for this function area along with their relationships.

The information flows existing between the various application areas are assigned to the second level of the structure.

The information on the information flows is displayed in list form, not graphic form.

The application areas listed under the heading Sources supply information to another application area, whilst those with the title Targets receive information from another application area.

To display the information objects exchanged between two application areas, select one or more source or target application areas and activate the Continue pushbutton.

On the third level you can call a window for all entries marked 'F'. All assigned functions are shown in this window. Functions modeled as processes are shown by a preceding 'P'. If you double-click on the 'P', the process is displayed in graphic form.

To call the process view select Goto -> Process view.

1. Process view

Like the function view, the highest level of the structure of the process view contains the functional areas of the R/3 System. At the points marked by an 'M' you can display the process selection matrix for the area in question. This contains the scenario processes and their associated process modules in a graphic matrix.

The next level of the structure contains the scenario processes, indicated by the letter 'S'. For each scenario process, the individual processes can be called on the next level.

Event-driven process chain (EPC)

The Business Navigator allows two ways of calling scenario processes and processes:

A process is assigned to the icons for seconario processes and processes, which you can call directly from the matrix.
At the level of the scenario processes, such as bank and treasury functions in FI or stock material processing in MM, you can call the process charts for the scenario processes. At the level of the processes you can call the process charts for the subprocesses.

Within the process charts you can navigate through superordinate or subordinate processes by double-clicking on the symbol for the process pointer.