Exploring SAP

The Environment menu and other "shortcut menus" to related transactions can be found on many output screens, but unlike the object menu of initial screens, they are neither consistently named nor placed in the menu bar. You may receive instructions in the form of a job aid that alerts you to their availability and functions, but if not, you should simply explore the menu bars of output screens and test out the available commands you find there.

What, are you crazy, you might be thinking, just start executing commands at random in SAP? The answer is Yes. SAP is not Dr. Strangelove, and you can learn a lot by experimenting.

You will not crash computer servers, bankrupt your company, or launch a nuclear missile strike by exploring the functions of the commands in the menu bars of output screens or, for that matter, by experimenting with the many menu commands, buttons, popup screens, and other screen elements that you might encounter with this software and which we do not have time or space to describe in this book. The system has all sorts of safeguards to protect itself, its database, and the global village from you.

For example, if you are not authorized to execute a particular transaction, you will not be able to execute it from an initial or output screen, just as you will not be able to execute it from the SAP Easy Access screen.

Similarly, if a click of a button or a selection of a menu command triggers some sensitive process, such as placing a large purchase order with a vendor, granting a huge pay raise to your colleagues, or firing the CEO of your company, there are many built-in checks and approval processes in the SAP workflow to guarantee that the process is not carried out without approval from the appropriate authorities in your company.

To the contrary, you can learn a lot about SAP by exploring its functionality on your own. We are expert users of the system and have sat through many training classes and read many books about it. But we know that no book or class can tell you everything about this complex and sophisticated softwaresometimes, you just have to play with it and see what else it can do. We have learned all sorts of tricks and capabilities in this manner, and we strongly encourage you to do the same.