SAP standard business roles are all configured with the Saved Searches function in the header area. With the configuration described in this article, you can expand this function to also function as Central Search. Because the central search window is located in the header area of the screen, it is accessible from any screen in the application, making it very easy to quickly search for business objects without having to navigate to the standard search pages for each object.

Central Search Functionality

When you look at the search menu bar, you see Saved Searches in the first position (Figure 1). If you click this, a hierarchical list of object types opens. Select an object type to produce a cascading menu with the search attributes assigned to that object type. After you select a search attribute, you can enter the search value in the input field. The field label changes accordingly, such as to Search for Accounts by City.

Figure 1

Central search in the header area of the CRM WebClient UI

When you select Saved Searches, the search menu includes all your saved searches and the field label changes back to Saved Searches. You can use the Advanced link to navigate to the advanced search for a selected object type, such as to the Account search page or to a saved search.

Configuration

The process involves the following seven steps:

Step 1. Configure a new layout component for the central search

Step 2. Assign the new component to the navigation frame (layout profile)

Step 3. Assign the layout profile to the business role for which you want to activate the central search

Step 4. Define the central search

Step 5. Define the search attributes

Step 6. (optional) Define the search parameters

Step 7. Assign the parameter profile to your business role

Step 1. Configure a new layout component for the central search. In this step you assign the standard CRM_ALL_SEARCHES Business Server Page (BSP) application to a new layout component. Follow IMG path Customer Relationship Management > UI Framework > Technical Role Definition > Define Layout Components. Create a new entry and enter the values as shown in Figure 2. The key here is to use the application CRM_ALLSEARCHES, which is not delivered in any of the standard components.

Figure 2

Component definition for central search

Step 2. Assign the new component to your custom navigation frame (layout profile). In this step you replace the SAVEDSEARCH_LAUNCHER component with the newly created Z_ALL_SEARCHES component. Follow IMG path Customer Relationship Management > Business Roles > Define Navigation Frame. Replace the Header Comp. ID with your custom layout profile (Z_ALL_SEARCHES, in my example) as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3

Assign the search component to layout profile

Step 3. Assign the layout profile to the business role for which you want to activate the central search. Follow IMG path Customer Relationship Management > Business Roles > Define Business Role. Assign the layout profile (e.g., Z_DEBIJE) to your Business Role (e.g., Z_DEBIJE), as shown in Figure 4. Make note of the Nav Bar Profile for this business role. You link the actual search objects (e.g., accounts, contacts, and activities) to this profile in the next step.

Figure 4

Assign the layout profile to business role

Step 4. Define the central search. In this step you select the business objects that you want to include in your central search drop-down menu and assign them to your navigation bar profile. Follow IMG path Customer Relationship Management > UI Framework > Technical Role Definition > Define Central Search (Figure 5). Depending on your requirements, you can copy existing search objects or create new ones for objects that are not yet configured for any navigation bar profile. In my example, I used the object type BP_ACCOUNT to activate the business partner search. The decisions to use the values I used are mostly based on looking at standard entries, and then I just used the trial-and-error configuration method until I had a business object working as desired.

Figure 5

Create a new entry for account search and assign it to a navigation bar profile

After performing this configuration, the object types appear in the business role. Follow IMG menu path Customer Relationship Management > Business Roles > Define Business Role (Figure 6). Select Adjust Central Search Objects in the Dialog Structure and make sure that the object types you want to enable have the Active check box selected (Figure 7).

Figure 6

Entries for accounts, contacts, employees, and activities

Figure 7

Active entries for accounts, contacts, employees, and activities in the business role

Step 5. Define the search attributes. In this step you select the attributes for each of the search objects. Log on to the CRM WebClient UI. For each search object, go to the standard Search Page and select the configuration view for the Search Criteria section, by positioning the cursor in this section and clicking the configuration icon (Figure 8). Note that the configuration icon is only available if you have activated it in your preferences.

Figure 8

Activate the configuration view for search criteria

I chose to configure the Accounts search (Figure 9). In the Use in Central Search column, select the attributes you want to show up in the drop-down menu. Repeat this for the other search objects (contacts, employees, activities, and any others you have defined).

Figure 9

Select the search attributes for the Account object

Step 6. (optional) Define the search parameters. You can control the drop-down menu layout and the maximum number of search hits. Follow IMG menu path Customer Relationship Management > UI Framework > Technical Role Definition > Define Parameters. Enter the values for the two search parameters highlighted in Figure 10.

Figure 10

Assign the search parameters to the parameter profile

With the CNTRLSEARCH_UI_TYPE parameter, you can define how the search object and attributes are displayed in the drop-down menu in the CRM WebClient UI. The standard value is 3, but you can also enter 2 for a slightly different view.

With the SEARCH_MAX_HITS parameter, you can restrict the maximum number of found records displayed in the results list. For more information on the parameters, click the help text icon in the IMG node and follow IMG menu path Customer Relationship Management > UI Framework > Technical Role Definition > Define Parameters.

Step 7. Assign the parameter profile to your business role. Follow IMG menu path Customer Relationship Management > Business Roles > Define Business Role. Select Assign Function Profiles in the Dialog Structure and assign the just created parameter profile to the PARAMETERS function.

Figure 11

Assign the parameter profile to the business role

After completing these seven steps, test your configuration by logging on to the CRM WebClient UI with your custom business role and click Saved Searches (Figure 12). This now displays the central search drop-down menu with the business objects and attributes you have defined in the configuration.

Figure 12

Central search enabled