SAP for MIT Documentation on the Web

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Getting StartedFinancial OperationsPurchasing & PaymentReportsAdvanced Topics & Tips

 

Glossary

Home

Site Map

Updates

Help

How to Use this Documentation

Contents
Overview
Finding the Documentation You Need
Navigation Bar
Menus and Tables of Contents
Searching and Site Map
Supporting Functions
Search Function
Site Map
Glossary of Terms
Updates
Help
Conventions Used
Links to Top
Screen Captures
Quick Guides
Printing Documentation
Printing Web Pages
Printing Quick Guides
Printing Self Studies and Quick Reference Cards

Overview

SAP for MIT Documentation on the Web is designed to give MIT's SAP users quick access to the most current SAP documentation available. The documentation is organized into five topical sections that you can access at any time from the navigation bar at the top of every page. The supporting functions provide more tools and information, such as the search function, a glossary of terms, notices of updates, and links to help resources.

Tip

You can use this documentation while working in SAP. If your monitor is large enough, arrange the SAP session window and the web browser window next to each other on the screen. Otherwise, you can toggle between your SAP session and the web browser as you work.

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Finding the Documentation You Need

Using the navigation bar and the menus and tables of contents, you can access the documentation you need. In most cases, the information can be arrived at with only two or three mouse clicks. If you have any difficulty finding the right documentation, you can use the search function or the site map.

Navigation Bar
The navigation bar is the blue bar at the top of every page. It provides links for the major topics and supporting functions in this web documentation. No matter where you are in the documentation, you can use the navigation bar to move between the main topics (Getting Started, Financial Operations, etc.) or access one of the supporting functions (Search, Glossary, etc.).

Menus and Tables of Contents
The major sections and subsections provide menus and tables of contents from which you can find the documentation you are seeking. In the documentation itself, each page provides a 'Contents' section with links to the topics covered there. For example, if you want to work with journal vouchers, you would:

  1. Click Financial Operations on the navigation bar.
  2. From the menu that appears, choose Journal Vouchers. The table of contents for the journal vouchers documentation appears.
  3. In the table of contents, the leftmost links take you to the tops of individual web pages. If you click an indented link, you are taken to the corresponding topic within that page.
     
    For example, if you click "Introduction" in the Journal Vouchers table of contents, you are taken to the top of the web page that introduces journal vouchers. If you click the indented link "What is a Journal Voucher," you are taken to the place in the Introduction web page where that topic is discussed.
     
    screen capture: Journal Voucher Table of Contents
  4. On the top of each documentation page there are links to the main topics on the page.
  5. For documentation whose table of contents is a nested menu, the title at the top of all the pages links to the table of contents.
     
    For example, the Journal Vouchers table of contents is a menu that you access via a link from the Financial Operations menu. Since it is nested within Financial Operations, you can't get to it from the navigation bar directly. To go directly to the table of contents at any time, click the "Journal Vouchers" link in the title at the top of the page.
     
    screen capture: Contents of Document with link back to TOC

Searching and Site Map
If you are not sure of where to look for the information you need, you can perform a search of the documentation web pages (see Search Function below) or you can browse the Site Map (see Site Map below).

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Supporting Functions

Search Function
The Search function can help you find the information you need when you're not sure where to look. Click the Search link in the navigation bar and enter your search term in the field. If you want to narrow your search, you can click the Advanced Search link on the on the Search page. You can enter more complex search criteria, restrict the search according to when the documents were last updated, and specify how the results should be displayed.

Search results show the titles of the documents matching your search criteria, and a summaries of what the documents cover. The titles are linked so that you can go directly to the appropriate document. The titles also tell you where in the documentation your desired document is located. For example, the title of the document for creating journal vouchers is:
Financial Operations: Journal Vouchers: Create a Journal Voucher...

Site Map
The Site Map provides a table of contents for all of SAP for MIT Documentation on the Web. Click the Site Map link in the navigation bar to find the specific information you need, learn what documentation is available, and see where various topics are located on this website.

Glossary of Terms
As you use this documentation, you may come across a word or phrase unfamiliar to you. Use the Glossary to look up the definition. The first page of the glossary lists all the terms included. You can search for your term in this list or browse the alphabetized pages.

You can also perform a search of the SAP for MIT Documentation on the Web using the terms in the glossary. Click the magnifying glass icon next to the desired term to perform the search.

If you would like to see a term added to the glossary, send us feedback.

Updates
As new documentation is added and information is updated, we will post notices on the Updates page. It is a good idea to check the Updates page periodically to keep abreast of changes to SAP and business processes. If you ever print our documentation, be aware that the live web documentation is always the official version.

Help
The Help link on the navigation bar takes you to the Help page, where you can access:

  • How to Use this Documentation, for help with using SAP for MIT Documentation on the Web
  • SAP Help Resources at MIT, for help with using SAP, or if you have a business question or technical problem
  • Stock Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
  • A web form for sending feedback to the writers of SAP for MIT Documentation on the Web

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Conventions Used

Links to Top
On most of our pages, after every main section you will see a link to the top. At the top of the page, you can use the links in Contents to get to other topics on the page, or use any of the links on the navigation bar.

Tip

After clicking a Contents link, the fastest way to return to the top is the top link. If you use your web browser's Back button, it may reload the page, causing a delay.

Screen Captures
Our documentation includes screen captures, pictures of the SAP screens you will encounter in your work. Since most processes are the same for both Macintosh and Windows (PC) platforms, we have used Macintosh as the default platform for screen captures. However, when a process is different on the Windows (PC) platform, separate instructions are provided, with PC screen captures.

Some of the screens are too large to include directly with the instructions. For improved viewing and printing, we include only a portion of the large screen in the instructions, and provide a link to a page containing the full screen capture. Always use the "<<BACK" link on these screen pages, in order to return directly where you were in the documentation.

Quick Guides
If you have already performed a function before, and only need a reference for the steps involved, you can use the quick guide. A quick guide is a single web page which provides brief, step-by-step instructions for a specific process, such as creating journal vouchers. (See QUICK GUIDE for Creating Journal Vouchers for an example.)

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Printing Documentation

Printing Web Pages
We have tried to make our pages as print-friendly as possible. Depending on the type and version of browser you use, the computer platform you have, and the content of the web page, the quality of the printed web page can vary.

For best results with printing web pages, you should use Netscape Navigator 4.6 or a later version: Download from I/S page: Netscape for MIT.

Fit to Page
If the text and graphics are printing off the edge of the page, try reducing the size of the font or margins on a PC or if you are a Macintosh user, select Fit to page in Netscape.

Change font size (PC):

  1. In Netscape choose Edit Preferences >> Appearance >> Fonts.
  2. Select a smaller font size such as 10 pt.

Change margin size (PC):

  1. In Netscape choose File >> Page Setup.
  2. Set left and/or right margins to a smaller size.

Fit to Page (Macintosh):

  1. In Netscape choose File >> Page Setup >> Netscape Communicator (under Page Attributes) >> Fit to Page if Possible.

PrintingQuick Guides
Quick guides may be printed directly. However, for best printed quality, get the paper Quick Reference Card from the Paper Documents web page, or order a free copy of it from Copy Technology Centers.

Important

The official SAP documentation is that found on the web. Pages printed from the web may go out of date while the live web pages are always the most current documentation available.

PrintingSelf Studies and Quick Reference Cards
Since these documents are pdf files, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader version 3.0 or higher installed on your computer in order to view or print them. You can get a free copy of Acrobat Reader from the I/S Help pages. You can also order free copies of these documents from Copy Technology Centers.

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Copyright 2001 © Massachusetts Institute of Technology
SAP for MIT Documentation on the Web
Valid from: 01/31/2000