Using Symbols and Icons in an SAP Query

SAP has several dozen black-and-white pictures and color graphics that you can insert into reports. These symbols and icons are available to be used in any type of reporting, from SAP Query tool reporting to custom ABAP reporting.

Each symbol and icon in SAP has a technical name, which is stored in the SAP database. If you were writing a custom ABAP report, you would need to know these technical names and reference them in your code. For example, to reference the Carrier ID field from the SAP IDES Flight Scheduling test system in a report, you would reference its technical name, CARRID. With symbols and icons in SAP it works the same way, in that you need to reference the technical name of an object to include it in an SAP query report. Figure 11.1 lists the black-and-white symbols that are available in SAP.

Figure 11.1. Symbols available in SAP Version 4.6C.

Creating the Basic SAP Query for the Examples

For the examples in this chapter, it would be ideal if you could follow along in your own SAP system. To do so, you need to create a basic SAP query, using the instructions outlined in Chapter 3, "Creating Basic Reports with the SAP Query Tool." Your SAP query should contain the fields listed in Table 11.1.

Table 11.1. Specification of a Sample SAP Report from the IDES System

Field Name	Line	Sequence
Airline carrier ID	1	1
Departure time	1	2
Arrival time	1	3
Airfare	1	4
Flight class	1	5
Text:Flight class	1	6
Airport of departure	1	7
Destination airport	1	8
Arrival city	1	9

Figure 11.2 shows an example of the report output of this report.

Figure 11.2. The output in the report depends on your SAP installation, but the column format should be the same as shown here.