Transaction Type 3: Creating an Object

This third transaction type creates the database records for objects. The screens for this type of transaction (and there are often two or more) usually look exactly like the output screens of the corresponding display transactions except that they contain white fields in which you must enter new technical and logistical data on the objects (Figure C.6 and Figure C.7).

Figure C.6. To create a work order, you must first enter the order type on this initial screen.

Figure C.7. Once you enter the order type on the first initial screen, this second screen appears with more blank fields for more data about the work order.

However, it is impossible for us to outline general rules about working on such initial screens, for the simple reason that every company collects different types of data on objects. In the case of the screens for creating work orders (Figure C.7), for instance, we know one company in which Department A requires its users to enter data only on the Header Data subscreen and no other, but Department B requires data entries on the HeaderData, Operations, and Components subscreens.

To set up these transactions, you must rely on job aids from your company, and you must follow the rules or protocols that they define. Once the initial screens are set up by these rules, you create the object by clicking the Save button in the standard toolbar (Figure C.7A). If you exit the transaction without clicking this button, all your entries are lost.

The Save action returns you to the first initial screen, where you will find a confirmation that the object was created, along with its object code (Figure C.8). This is the only output of this transaction type.

Figure C.8. Once you save the data about the work order, you are returned to the initial screen of the transaction, where you receive confirmation of your actions and the new order number in its status bar.