All about SAP: Creating Search Helps - Elementary & Collective

First things first...

Elementary search helps define the standard flow of an input help. Components of this flow include:

the sources data displayed in the hit list (selection method)
information that should be displayed in the dialog box for value selection and in the hit list (search help parameters)
field contents that can be taken into account for hit list selections and which values in the hit list can be returned to the screen fields (search help parameters)
dialog steps that should be executed in the input help (dialog behavior)

Collective search helps can combine more than one elementary search helps. Thus enabling the user to choose one of several alternative search paths with a collective search help.

When you define a collective search help, you only have to specify the search helps that are to be combined in the collective search help. In the input help, the values are transported between the elementary search help selected by the user and the input template using the collective search help. This is why a collective search help also has an interface for transporting the values.

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Creation of Search Helps: A Simple Elementary Search Help

Go to SE11 -> Select radio button "Search Help" -> enter a name

You will see a popup window (as shown below), select "Elementary Search Help" radio button and hit "Enter"

-> Enter "Short description", "Selection method**" (MARA in this case) and fields that should be displayed in the Search Help.

Selection method** You can enter the name of a table or a view (database view, projection view or help view) here. If you enter a table that has a text table, the name of the text table is automatically entered in the corresponding field.

Notice that the text table of MARA (MAKT) has automatically been included as we entered MARA in the Selection Method

-> "Save" -> "Check" -> "Activate" -> "Execute". You will see a popup window (as shown below) with all the fields you added. Press F4 on any of them to see how your first Elementary Search Help looks.

Below is how it looks. CONGRATS! Your first Elementary Search Help is ready and looks good

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Creation of Search Helps: A Simple Collective Search Help

Go to SE11 -> Select radio button "Search Help" -> enter a name

Select "Elementary Search Help" radio button (on the popup) and hit "Enter"

-> Enter "Short description" and fields that should be displayed in the Search Help in the Definition Tab.

-> Now go to the "Included Search Helps" tab and enter the names of the Elementary Search Helps you wish to include into your Collective Search Help (ZKAR_SHLP in this case).

-> Now select the line which contains your Elementary Search Help and click on "Param. Assignment**"

Position the cursor one after the other on each allocated search help and choose Parameter assignment.

In the next screen, enter the parameter names of the elementary search helps to which the corresponding parameters of the collective search help should be assigned in the field Reference parameter. You can select the parameters contained in the included search help using the input help. Create a proposal for the assignment with Proposal.

-> "Save" -> "Check" -> "Activate" -> "Execute". You will see a popup window (as shown below) with all the fields you added. Press F4 on any of them to see how your first Collective Search Help looks.