What is R/3?

R/3 is an integrated suite of applications designed to handle the data processing for large corporations. It was developed in Germany by the company named SAP (an acronym for Systems Applications and Products for data processing).


Tips :

When you see the word SAP by itself, it is pronounced "ess-ay-pea." When it is combined with another word, it is pronounced sap, as in "tree sap." You should never say "sap" when referring to the company SAP. Always pronounce it as "ess-ay-pea." Saying "sap" is the surest way to say, "I don't know anything about SAP."

Within R/3 is a runtime environment and an integrated suite of application programs written in SAP's 4GL-ABAP/4. These application programs are designed to meet the data processing needs of very large businesses. R/3 and its predecessor R/2 are particularly popular with the manufacturing sector.

What is the Purpose of R/3?

The sole purpose of an R/3 system is to provide a suite of tightly integrated, large-scale business applications. A few of these can be seen at the top of Figure 1.1. The standard set of applications delivered with each R/3 system are the following:

PP (Production Planning)
MM (Materials Management)
SD (Sales and Distribution)
FI (Financial Accounting)
CO (Controlling)
AM (Fixed Assets Management)
PS (Project System)
WF (Workflow)
IS (Industry Solutions)
HR (Human Resources)
PM (Plant Maintenance)
QM (Quality Management)

These applications are called the functional areas, or application areas, or at times the functional modules of R/3. All of these terms are synonymous with each other.

Traditionally, businesses assemble a suite of data processing applications by evaluating individual products and buying these separate products from multiple software vendors. Interfaces are then needed between them. For example, the materials management system will need links to the sales and distribution and to the financial systems, and the workflow system will need a feed from the HR system. A significant amount of IS time and money is spent in the implementation and maintenance of these interfaces.

R/3 comes prepackaged with the core business applications needed by most large corporations. These applications coexist in one homogenous environment. They are designed from the ground up to run using a single database and one (very large) set of tables. Current production database sizes range from 12 gigabytes to near 3 terabytes. Around 8,000 database tables are shipped with the standard delivery R/3 product.

Discovering What R/3 Looks Like

In a Windows environment, you will sign on to R/3 either by choosing a menu path from the Start menu, or by double-clicking on an R/3 icon.

The R/3 system will prompt you for a user ID and password.

The R/3 system will then display a copyright screen, and when you press Enter, the system will display the R/3 main menu.

Using the R/3 System Conceptual Areas

From the main menu, you can go to three conceptual areas in the R/3 system:

the Applications area
the Basis area
the Development Workbench

In the Applications area, you initiate transactions for the functional areas within R/3. To access these, from the R/3 main menu choose one of the following: Logistics, Accounting, Human Resources, or Information Systems.

In the Basis area, you can run transactions that monitor the R/3 system itself. To access the Basis area, from the main menu choose the menu path Tools->Administration. Here you will find many performance, tuning, and database administration tools.

The Development Workbench is used to create and test ABAP/4 programs. As an ABAP/4 programmer, you will spend most of your time within the Workbench. To access the Development Workbench, choose the menu path Tools->Development Workbench. However, your code will most probably read or update application data, and so it will be destined to become part of the application area. With that in mind, let's have a look within an Applications area first.

For our example, imagine that you are a clerk working in an accounts payable department. A vendor calls to say his address has changed. You put a bookmark in the magazine article you were reading (A Criminologist's View of the Problems with Creative Accounting) and proceed to update his address in the R/3 system. First, you reach the Accounts Payable menu by choosing the menu path Accounting->Financial Accounting->Accounts Payable.


You then bring up the vendor master record maintenance transaction by choosing the menu path Master Records->Change . You will see the Change Vendor: Initial screen.


From the Initial screen shown in Figure 1.7, you type his vendor number, tickmark the Address check box, and press the Enter key. You will then see the Address screen .

You change his address and press the Save button .

Saving changes to the vendor's address.

Upon saving, the system returns you to the Change Vendor: Initial Screen. It also displays a success message within the status bar located at the bottom of the screen .

The Initial Screen gives verification that the address change was made.

This transaction is representative of many of the transactions in the R/3 system. Most master data transactions have a similar look and feel.

Discovering the R/3 User Interface

Every R/3 screen contains these elements:

Title bar: Contains the title of the current screen.

Menu bar: The contents of the menu bar change with each screen. By browsing the menus within it, you can discover all functions that are possible on the current screen. The System and Help menus are present on every screen and the menu items they contain never change.

Command field: Here you enter commands to be executed. For example, you can log off by typing /nex in this field and pressing the Enter key. The section "Using the Command Field" describes this field in more detail.

Standard toolbar: Contains the Command field and a series of buttons. They will never change in appearance, position, or function, and they will be present on every screen. Some might be grayed out if their functionality is currently unavailable.

Application toolbar: Changes with each screen. Displays buttons that give you quick access to menu items for that screen.

Tips : If you position your mouse pointer over any button and let it rest there for a few seconds, R/3 will display a tool tip describing its function. In R/3 it is called quick info. It contains a brief description of the button and the function key assigned to it.

Interface Menu: Enables you to customize the characteristics of the user interface, access the Windows clipboard, and generate graphics. The following section will cover more features of the Interface Menu in depth.

Screen area: This is the big area in the middle of the screen that displays the report data or a screen from a dialog program.

Status bar: Displays messages, the system ID, session number, client number, insert/overtype mode indicator, and the current time.

You can turn most screen elements on and off. If your screen does not look or behave like the one described in this chapter, follow the instructions in the next section to correct it.

Interface Menu: Enables you to customize the characteristics of the user interface, access the Windows clipboard, and generate graphics. The following section will cover more features of the Interface Menu in depth.

Screen area: This is the big area in the middle of the screen that displays the report data or a screen from a dialog program.

Status bar: Displays messages, the system ID, session number, client number, insert/overtype mode indicator, and the current time.

You can turn most screen elements on and off. If your screen does not look or behave like the one described in this chapter, follow the instructions in the next section to correct it.