SAP CRM WebUI Concepts Tutorial: Step by Step Guide

Understanding SAP CRM WebClient UI and Business Roles

• CRM WebClient UI is a web-based application for the modules covered in SAP CRM.
• This framework has evolved over time as the successor of different user interfaces provided by SAP for SAP CRM.

Web UI history

• It is a business-role based application:
• Through this interface, users can access only those applications for which they have authorizations.
• If a user is assigned a single role, they will not have to select a role at logon.
• If multiple roles are assigned, the user must pick one to log in to the CRM Web UI.

Business Role selection in first page of SAP CRM Web UI

• Regardless of the role selected, the screens of the CRM Web UI are structured in an L-Shape.
• However, the applications and functionalities the user can access depend on the selected role.

L-Shape Layout in SAP CRM Web UI

• Once logged in, users see the Web UI screens in an L-Shape.

L-Shape display in SAP CRM Web UI

• It consists of the following components:
• Header Area
• Navigation Area
• Work Area
• The positions of all L-Shape components are fixed and cannot be changed.
• An administrator can change the skin and logo of the Web Client based on company-specific requirements.
• The Header Area provides access to application-independent URLs and functionality.
• The Navigation Bar lets users access different applications they are authorized for.
• The Work Area updates based on actions taken in the Navigation Bar.
• It also updates for some actions on the Header Area.

Header Area

• The Header Area is static and its position is fixed.
• Its height can be set via CRM customizing, but the position cannot move.
• The Header Area contains the following components:

1. System Links
2. Saved Searches
3. Work Area Title
4. History

Components in SAP CRM Web UI Header

Navigation Bar

• The Navigation Bar lets users access applications they are authorized for.
• It also has links for generic pages such as:
• Home
• WorkList
• E-Mail Inbox
• Calendar
• Other links in the Navigation Bar are application-specific and vary across business roles. They are grouped into:
• Application links
• Quick create links
• Recent Items

Navigation Bar in SAP CRM Web UI

• Application links can be configured at two levels.
• First-level links open search, create, and report links for the application.

Levels of navigation via Navigation bar

• Second-level links take the user directly to a particular search page.
• Quick create links provide direct access to the create page for a specific business process document.

Quick create block in the navigation bar

• Recent Items act like a history list and track the last visited business documents or applications.

Work Area and Generic Pages

• The Work Area is where the user actually works.
• It updates based on actions in the Navigation Bar.
• It can include:
• Calendar
• E-Mail Inbox
• Work center groups
• Search result page
• Overview pages
• Sub-overview pages
• The following are common generic pages:

Home Page:

• Depending on the business requirement, the Home Page can be configured with standard (My Open Tasks) or custom (CRM Links) functionality.
• Navigation from the Home Page depends on its content.

Home page

Worklist Page:

• It displays alerts, workflow tasks, and business transactions currently pending with or assigned to the logged-in user.
• You can navigate to different applications or business transactions from the Worklist page.

Worklist page

E-Mail Inbox and Calendar

• This page can be configured to sync with the user mailbox.
• CRM middleware settings enable the mailbox to be accessed from within Web UI.
• The Calendar page supports single-day, week, and month views.

Calendar View

• Similarly, the E-Mail Inbox can sync with a Lotus Notes server or Outlook.

Work Area for Applications

• Applications assigned to the logged-in user are accessed in the Work Area.
• Clicking an application in the Navigation Bar displays a Work Center with work area groups containing links to create, search, and report.

Work Area with Work Centre Groups

• From the Work Center, the user can navigate to Create, Search, or Report pages.
• For generic pages such as Home and Worklist, the Work Area layout differs.
• For applications listed in the Navigation Bar, the layout is consistent across applications.
• Implementing a Work Area requires knowledge of both Web UI programming and CRM customizing.

Search Page

• The Search Page is split into search criteria, a result table, and a saved-search area.

Advanced Search Page

• Search criteria let the user define filters to find an element.
• Criteria can be added or removed using buttons next to the criteria fields.
• Criteria fields can use F4 help or dropdown help.
• Multiple operators can be configured per criterion.
• The Search Result shows records returned by the search.
• The result table displays the number of records found, if any.
• Buttons can sit above the result table to launch business actions such as creating new accounts.
• Buttons to create new records are typically placed in the result table header.
• On the right side, the result table includes buttons to export records to an Excel sheet and to personalize the table.
• Records can contain hyperlinks in columns.
• These hyperlinks navigate to the individual record on the Overview page.

Personalization settings pop-up view

• The personalization button on the result table header lets the user change which columns appear and in what order.
• As highlighted above:
• The user can set the row count after which a scroll bar appears.
• The user can set the number of records shown per page.

Overview Pages

• The Overview page is used to work on complete data related to a single record.
• It can display, update, and create new data such as business partners or sales orders.
• Data for a single application or business transaction is organized into assignment blocks.
• The first assignment block holds header or main details; other data is grouped into further assignment blocks.
• Possible views within an assignment block:
• Form view
• Table view
• Tree view
• The header of the Overview page shows the object title and its description.
• The header also includes header buttons for actions and History buttons for navigating back and forward within the Work Area.

Overview Page Search Page – Form and Table View

Tree View

• Like the search result table, the Overview page has a personalization button to choose which assignment blocks appear.
• An assignment block can load expanded or lazy by default, improving application performance.
• All views (form, table, tree) can contain input fields with F4 input help or dropdown help.

Value help Pop-Up using F4

• Date fields display with a date help picker.
• Within form view, data can be grouped using captions.
• Individual assignment blocks can also include header buttons.

Search help Pop-Up

• Table and tree views can have a header with buttons.
• Buttons can also sit in the first column of a table view.
• Hyperlinks are supported in all these view types.
• Hyperlinks let you navigate across applications or business transactions, e.g., from a Sales Order to a Sold-to party.
• As needed, the Overview page can include an Attachments assignment block.

Assignment block for Attachments

• In this block, documents or URLs can be attached.
• Documents can come from content management or the local hard disk:

Pop-up to add attachment

• Once attached, you can view document properties, open it, or delete it.

Assignment block for Attachments

• There is also a region for error messages in the header area:

Personalize the CRM Web UI

• The CRM Web UI provides options for personalization.
• Here, you can set values that apply across applications for the logged-in user.
• You can also change the application skin.
• Under “Personalize My Data”, you can set values such as the date format.
• Under the Layout section, you can change the skin of the application.

Personalization Options

Setting skin in personalization

• A separate block exists for Groupware integration settings.
• In this block, the user can configure the integration of CRM with the mailbox for E-Mail and Calendar pages.

FAQs