SAP CRM 2007 user interface (UI) introduces many new terms and concepts, which could be  a little daunting at first. 

The SAP CRM 2007 UI will be very familiar to those of you who have worked with the SAP CRM on-demand solution because they are based on the same design concepts.

 For others who have been working with People-Centric User Interface (PCUI), many of the screen constructs parallel objects in the PCUI.

Let me share some tips to guide you through the first three days of a SAP CRM 2007 implementation. I’ll show you how to:

1. Access the new UI 
2. Set up and use the new business role concept 
3. Change screen layouts

Milestone 1: Let go of WINGUI 

While users are ecstatic many of us find it unnerving...the longer one had been to SAP domain the more anxious one tends to be.I intend is to make Web UI your new "home".Let me start by answering to some common questions about the new UI.

Where have all my transactions gone? The very first thing you notice when you log into the SAP CRM 2007 system is that your user menu isn’t what it used to be. The start-up menu no longer contains Maintain Business Partner,Maintain Marketing Attributes, and Maintain Products options. Master data maintenance and business transaction processing are now presented in the SAP CRM 2007 WebClient.

How can I get into the SAP CRM 2007 UI? You have to set up a couple of things in SAP CRM to ready yourself for login. For example, the SAP CRM 2007 UI uses the concept of business roles, which define access to the various SAP CRM components. A business role for a marketing manager provides the user with access to all the related marketing activities, such as Segment Builder and Marketing Calendar, whereas a sales business role provides access to quotations, sales orders, and opportunities. The framework assigned to the business roles dictates the availability and navigation of business processes.

 Download here screenshot of all steps required to set up a Web UI for a Sales Personnel. 

  TIP: For testing purposes you can add role to your user-id via transaction SU3. Use Parameter CRM_UI_PROFILE and the add the requisite role.

Milestone 2: The New Lingo

SAP CRM 2007 comes with a new set of objects and concepts. Well "NEW" is a misnomer,those who are familiar with PCUI and e-commerce may find many common elements and functionalities.For those who are not ,you should familiarize yourself with a few key objects that I’ll explain in this section. Once you understand these, it makes screen configuration a simpler task. For those more technically inclined, it also sets a good foundation to commence development of new applications within the SAP CRM 2007 UI.

What is a “skin”? A skin defines the overall look and feel of the UI. Using Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) files stored on the Web Application Server, you can set the screen colors, fonts, and company logos to customize the UI. A set of skins with amusing names such as New Hope and Serenity are available as well. You can set your own UI skin by clicking on the Personalization option shown in Figure 1. This allows you to select your skin and change the font size and keyboard shortcuts.

What is a “view”? A view represents a set of logically grouped data. A view may contain a set of individual fields (a form view) or it may hold a table of data (a table view). The view contains all the logic for launching the data fields to the screen. The logic is actually built in HTMLB, which is an extension of HTML. Fortunately, the new BSP Component Workbench provided with SAP CRM 2007 means you shouldn’t need to view this code unless you want to be really clever. (I explain how to use this tool in the “Day 3: Getting Started with the UI Configuration” section.)

Views in the business partner maintenance include areas such as:

• Bank details
• Standard address
• Relationships
• Sales area data
• Roles

What is a view set? A view set is a collection of two or more views. When you choose to edit a view set, such as when you create a new individual account, you can open several views in one screen for editing. The view for editing the individual account address, the notes view, and the roles view are all opened for editing as a part of the view set .

What is a component? In non-technical terms, a component consists of a collection of views for development and configuration purposes. In more technical terms, it is an ABAP Object-Oriented (OO) class. When you need to configure a particular view, you must specify the view name and the component in which it was built. There are many aspects to a component — however, when you are getting started, the only area of the component you need to be concerned with is the view.

Milestone 3: Get Started with the UI Configuration

It's F2 !!!

Now that you have managed to log in to the new UI and have familiarized yourself with the terminology, the next step is to configure the screens. Let me show you how to add new fields, remove fields, make fields mandatory, and change the name of fields on the screen.

First you need to identify the name of the component and the view you wish to change. You may be familiar with the F1 (technical information) option in WinGUI. This is a habit you must break because F1 in the new UI gives you Microsoft Internet Explorer user help. To find out the name of the component and view to edit, navigate to the screen you would like to modify and press F2.

Then you have the component and view, you can start your configuration in the new BSP Component Workbench. SAP developed this tool to allow users with limited knowledge of the underlying technology stack to configure the UI.

Go to transaction BSP_WD_CMPWB or follow IMG menu path Customer Relationship Management>UI Framework>UI Framework Definition>Configure User Interface. Enter the name of your found component and click on the Display button. At the left of the screen is a list of objects that are maintained in the component. At this point you only need to navigate through the Views list. As shown at the left pane on the figure below.

Ensure you are in the browser component structure by clicking on the Browser Component Structure button circled in Figure . Then click on the Views option in the hierarchy list, locate the view you determined earlier, and double-click on it. The full view definition appears on the Structure tab. Again, you can bypass all of this detail and go straight to configuration by clicking on the Configuration tab. Initially you are in display mode, so click on the Display/Change button to commence configuration. If you want to have the configuration enlarged, you can use the Mode button in the toolbar of the Component Workbench.

How do I change the field properties? You can modify the standard field properties by holding down the Alt key and clicking on the field you want to change. The system displays the field properties on the right side of the screen, as shown in Figure.

In the field properties you can set the field to Mandatory or Display only; change or remove the field label; or move the field to another location on the screen grid.

After you have made your changes be sure to click on the Apply button. You then must close the field properties window to allow further changes on the other fields.

How do I remove fields? To delete a field from the screen, click on the field to highlight it, and then click on the subtract icon above the column of the selected field.

How do I add fields? Within the Configuration view, the context nodes define the fields that are available (Ref. Figure). You can add fields as long as they are specified within one of the view’s context nodes. To see which fields are available, click on the Show Available Fields link. The left side of the screen displays a list of the context nodes. You can drill down on each of them to see the available fields to add to your screen. Click on the field you want to add to highlight it, and then click on the plus icon above the column to which you want to add the field. When you are happy with your changes make sure to save them — the system doesn’t warn you to save before exiting.