A search help is an object within ABAP Dictionary you can use to define input helps (F4 helps). The user can display the list of possible input values for a screen field with the input help. The search help is system wide and is a standard function in SAP ERP Central Component (SAP ECC) 6.0. The three types of search helps are:

• Elementary search help: Implements a search path for determining possible entries. It describes an input help process in which you must choose multiple search paths.
• Collective search help: Contains several elementary search helps
• Append search help: Enhances the standard collective search help with customized search paths that you can create without modifications.  I do not discuss append search helps as it is beyond the scope of this article.
  
  

With hot keys, you can select an elementary search help within collective search help. The hot keys fill in the dialog box fields that restrict the values in the input field. This can save time if you frequently look for values using the same search help. I use an example with transaction IW38 (Change PM orders: Selection of orders), which contains many search helps that give you a good picture of the hot key functionality.

For transaction IW38, SAP has defined elementary search helps with hot keys for the collective search helps as listed in Table 1. I compiled this table to serve as a useful reference because the search helps for IW38 are scattered throughout table DD30L rather than all in one place.

Table 1

Example collective search help table for transaction IW38

One of the search options in transaction IW38 is to search PM orders by Material field. There are two ways in which you may proceed:

Option 1

Starting from the Change PM orders: Selection of Orders screen (Figure 1) you  execute three steps.

Figure 1

Change PM orders: Selection of Orders screen (transaction IW38)

Step 1. Press F4 in the Material field. The system displays the Restrict Value Range screen (Figure 2). 

Figure 2

Restrict Value Range screen

Step 2. Click the top right icon. The system displays a list of all hot keys active for this search help (Figure 3). Choose option W: Plant material by description. I compiled Table 2 to give you information about the hot keys for the elementary search help when the user searches in the Material field, as this information cannot be found in one place.

Figure 3

Hot key description screen for finding the material number search help

Table 2

Hot keys for finding the material number in transaction IW38

Step 3. In the Restrict Value Range screen (Figure 2) enter material abc* in the Material description field. Note that Material ABC is used just for this particular example — you can enter other material codes. Enter plant value 0401 in the Plant field. A pop-up list with the material numbers for Material ABC* for plant 0401 appears.

Note
Each entry is considered to be a pattern with a terminating *.

Option 2

Option 2 simplifies all steps in option 1 and saves you time. When you enter a value, the system returns the results on the same screen. You enter a shortcut in the Material description field in Figure 2 using the following convention:

=HK.S1.S2.S3.S4

• HK is the elementary search help hot key
• S1, S2, S3, and S4 are the input fields

If the hot key is entered without restrictions (=HK), the Restrict Values Range dialog box appears. If restrictions are defined, the Restrict Values Range dialog box does not appear and the hit list is displayed directly. If exactly one hit is found, the hit list is not displayed, but the value is filled in automatically.

Starting at the Change PM Orders: Selection of Orders screen, enter =w.abc*…0401 in the Material field (Figure 4). Following the convention in my example:

• The hot key is w (plant material by description)
• S1 (Material description field) is abc*
• S2 (language key) is English (EN), which is filled in by default and corresponds to the logon language of the user
• S3 is the material number for which you are searching
• S4 (plant) is 0401

The values for S2 and S3 are clear, so I omitted them in this example. The dots in the search help field serve as separators.

Figure 4

Change PM orders: Selection of Orders screen for option 2

Once you’ve filled in the Material field, press Enter. You then see a pop-up list with the number of material ABC for Plant 0401. If any record exists for material ABC, the system fills in the Material field with the corresponding number of material ABC for Plant 0401 (Figure 5). You do not need to enter the hot key if only one elementary search help is assigned to the field.

Figure 5

Material field with the corresponding number of material ABC for Plant 0401

 If the user did not specify the plant number (i.e., 0401) and enters =w.abc… in the Material field (Figure 6), the system gives the result shown in Figure 7.

Figure 6

Change PM orders: Selection of Orders screen without specifying the plant

Figure 7

Material number list per plant

Maria Nikolova

Maria Nikolova has worked as a senior SAP expert for the National Electricity Company (NEK) in Bulgaria since January 1999. Maria has a master’s degree in telecommunications as an engineer from the Technical University in Sofia, Bulgaria. She has experience with an MIS project implementation of SAP R/3 (headquarters and rollout), the authorization concept and user administration, SAP Customer Competence Center (SAP CCC) , SRM, and the SD, HR, CO, Asset Management (AM), MM, and PM modules. Prior to joining NEK, she worked as a manager of Equipment Engineering Ltd. for four years.

You may contact the author at searchsapmnikolova@yahoo.com.

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