Show TOC

Function documentationMessage Characteristics

 

You can use characteristics to output messages on the UI, when certain values are chosen in product configuration. This makes sense when, for instance, you want to make additional information available for certain values, for example, marketing information, explanations, or warnings.

Prerequisites

You have activated the message characteristics in Extended Configuration Management (XCM), and checked the prefixes for the message characteristics and characteristic values (parameters characteristics.messagecstics.enable, characteristics.messagecstics.prefix, and characteristics.messagecstics.showid).

Note Note

The colors that distinguish the different message types on the UI are hard-coded and cannot be changed.

End of the note.

Features

  • To display messages, you use message characteristics.

    • The message characteristics are normal characteristics of the type character string.

    • You can create the message characteristics in SAP ERP or SAP CRM.

    • You can position the message characteristics on the UI as usual.

    • You use the prefix of the characteristic name to identify the characteristic on the UI as a message characteristic. The prefix is defined in XCM. The standard prefix is UIMESSAGE_.

  • You create characteristic values for the individual message texts.

    • You can create one or more characteristic values for a message characteristic.

    • The characteristic values are inferred from dependencies.

    • You can use prefixes in the characteristic value to classify messages as information messages, warning messages, or error messages. The prefixes are defined in XCM. The standard prefixes are I, W, and E (for the message types information, warning, and error).

    • When the system outputs the message, it always searches for the long text of the characteristic value first. If it does not find a long text, it outputs the description, which is restricted to 30 characters in SAP ERP.

    • You can differentiate between the message types on the UI by their color.

  • The message is only output if at least one value is set.

  • You cannot manually evaluate the message characteristic, as it does not make sense to do so.

Example

You want to make the user aware that a small monitor for a desktop PC is allowed, but not suitable for certain applications. You create the following data:

  • Configurable product: desktop PC

  • Characteristic: SCREEN

    Characteristic value 1: 17INCH

    Characteristic value 2: 19INCH

  • Message characteristic: UIMESSAGE_SCREEN

    Characteristic value 1: WSIZE, long text: This monitor is allowed, but may be too small for certain office applications, such as working with graphics programs

    Characteristic value 2: ISIZE, long text: This monitor is also suitable for work with graphics programs

  • Dependency (in the syntax of SAP CRM product modeling):

    Syntax Syntax

    1. If SCREEN = ‘17INCH‘ then UIMESSAGE_SCREEN = ‘WSIZE‘.
    2. If SCREEN = ‘19INCH‘ then UIMESSAGE_SCREEN = ‘ISIZE‘.
    End of the code.

The characteristic UIMESSAGE_SCREEN is recognized on the UI as a message characteristic. If the user chooses the 17" monitor, the first text is output as a warning. If the user chooses the 19" monitor, the second text is output as information.