Standard configuration steps in the IMG allow you to add and modify the tab pages that appear in the detail section of the Organization and Staffing screen for Organizational Management (OM). You can insert existing infotypes or custom infotypes and change the description of the infotypes.
Key Concept
In a past issue, you wrote about how to best use the Organization and Staffing
mode for OM. Is it possible to add my own infotypes to the detail area of the screen
and change tab names, and if so, can you explain how to do that?
— SAP Analyst, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
Thanks for the question. R/3 gives you the flexibility to add and modify the tab pages that appear in the detail section of the Organization and Staffing screen for OM as you ask. Through standard configuration steps found in the IMG, you can insert existing infotypes or custom infotypes and change the description of the infotypes as they appear on the screen.
It is quite simple to modify the tab layout in Organization and Staffing to tailor the process to your business or user population. Let’s walk through a couple of examples that show how to change the tab descriptions on existing infotypes as well as how to insert a new infotype to a standard OM scenario.
Changing Tab Descriptions
In the first example, I want to change the existing description for the tab that is used to describe org unit address information in Organization and Staffing (Figure 1) from the SAP default description of Address to Unit Address. As you can see in Figure 1, the tabs in the detail section are presented in a predefined sequence and contain text that describes the infotype or field layout displayed in that specific tab.
Figure 1
Organization and Staffing detail before tab description change
To change tab descriptions, go to table T77OCTABST or access this table via IMG menu path Personnel Management> Organizational Management> Hierarchy Framework>Adjust Tab Pages in Detail Area>Change Text and Icons on a Tab Page. From this IMG step, choose the first option, Change Tab Page Title in All Tabs. This step changes the description for the tab you select in all scenarios within R/3. Here, you enter the language of the tab (based on the user’s log-on language), the tab page name, and the new description text. For this example, I entered EN for the language designator of English, tab page Address, and the new text description of Unit Address.
Upon completion of my configuration, the Address tab page now shows the description of Unit Address wherever it appears in this particular client (Figure 2).
Figure 2
Oganization and Staffing after Address tab description change
Inserting Additional Infotypes
In my second example, I want to add a new tab to the Organization and Staffing detail area for org units that is based on infotype 1032 (mail address). I want this new tab to be the fourth tab from the left in my display and would like the description to be E-mail Address instead of the standard description of Mail Address.
To begin, access IMG menu path Personnel Management>Organizational Management>Hierarchy Framework> Integrate New Infotype>Add Infotype as Tab Page in Detail Area. From this IMG step, choose the activity Define your own tab pages, or you can access this step directly via table T77OMTABS. When creating a new tab page, enter the tab page name (to be used in subsequent steps) and the description that you wish to appear on the tab itself. If your new tab is based on a function module or programmed combination of fields and you wish to be able to view the data based on either a key date or range of dates, enter a check in the Forecast Time Log Active field check box. Leaving the Forecast Time Log Active check box unchecked defaults the display to a range of validity dates.
If the new tab is based on an infotype, you must check the Infotype-specific check box in table T77OMTABS and enter an infotype number in the column labeled Infotype. When you choose to base your tab on an infotype, the tab page itself uses a subscreen of that infotype created by R/3. Therefore, no function module or programming is necessary for creation of infotype-specific tab pages.
For my example, I created a tab page entry in T77OMTABS called IT1032 (Figure 3) with my desired tab description of E-mail Address. Since this new tab is based on an infotype, I checked the infotype-specific check box, entered 1032 in the infotype field and saved my entry.
Figure 3
New tab page configuration in table T77OMTABS
Once you have created a tab page, you then determine the proper scenario in which to place the tab. R/3 has a number of standard hierarchy framework scenarios for various purposes, including some outside of HR. For Organization and Staffing, scenario OME0 contains tab configuration for various OM object types. To properly configure new tab pages, you must understand both the scenario and the object type for which you want the tab page displayed in Organization and Staffing.
Note
Finding the correct tab page name to change can be somewhat tricky for users who aren’t familiar with the standard tab page names in R/3. There are different ways to go about finding the correct name. First, you can follow the configuration steps in R/3 to determine the actual tab name by determining its sequence in the detail section. To do this, however, you also have to know in which scenario the tab resides, and that can confuse some users even more. A shortcut to determining the tab page name is the user parameter OM_TABTYPE_DISPLAY. When you activate this user parameter, the tab headers in Organization and Staffing not only display the tab description, but also the technical tab name. You can then easily change your configuration as desired based on the tab name you see on your screen. You can activate this parameter by assigning a value of X in your own user parameter setup for OM_TABTYPE_DISPLAY. User parameters can be set via system transaction SU3 or by following the standard menu option System> User Profile>Own data.
The final step in inserting the new tab page into a scenario is an activity called Add Your Own Tab Page to an Existing Tab, located in the IMG menu path Personnel Management>Organizational Management>Hierarchy Framework> Integrate New Infotype>Add Infotype as Tab Page in Detail Area. This step updates table T77OMTABUS with the appropriate hierarchy framework scenario, tab page name, and sequencing information, along with any necessary function module names for non-infotype driven tab pages.
Note
Unlike the client-specific configuration in the first example, all of the steps in my second example are cross-client configuration. It is important that you understand that this configuration impacts your OM tabs across all clients in a given system.
Continuing my example in table T77OMTABUS, I entered the tab page IT1032 that I created under scenario OME0 (Organization and Staffing) and object type O for organizational unit, since I am only concerned with displaying the email addresses for org units in my detail section. Because I want this entry to be the fourth tab from the left, I entered a sequence of 4. Of the remaining fields in T77OMTABUS, Report Name, Screen, FM for icons and FM for text are not applicable to infotype-specific tab pages, so I left them blank. Finally, I did not check the Do Not Display check box. Had I wanted the tab page to be part of the scenario but invisible to users, I could have checked that field.
After saving my entries, the IT1032 tab page I created is now part of the OME0 scenario in Organization and Staffing. The tab labeled E-mail Address is visible as the fourth tab from the left (Figure 4).
Figure 4
Oganization and Staffing detail area with added E-mail Address tab
The hierarchy framework in R/3 is an easily configurable and flexible tool. What I have detailed here in response to your question is just one way you can tailor your OM displays to meet your business needs.
A.J. Whalen
A.J. Whalen has successfully combined more than two decades of global business expertise with in-depth experience in the strategic development, management, and delivery of large-scale projects and education for SAP ERP HCM. Prior to his current role as SAP Marketing Director at Velocity Technology Solutions, he served as lead consultant for several global SAP implementations and engagements as well as an SAP Conference Producer for Wellesley Information Services. A.J. has been invited to speak at nine annual SAP educational events and holds an MBA degree from the Stern School of Business at New York University.
You may contact the author at whalen.aj@gmail.com.
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