|Home • Trainings • Quiz • Tips • Tutorials • Functional • Cert Q's • Interview Q's • Jobs • Testimonials • Advertise • Contact Us|
Step-loops in Module Pool Programming
By Mansi Maskeri, Capgemini
Step-loops in Module Pool
Step-loops are actually
the predecessors to Table Control concepts and from programming point of view
they are quite similar. Step loops are objects for screen table display that are
added to a screen in the Screen Painter. They are preferred in cases of
Radio-frequency applications where ALV displays or table controls pose a
hindrance with respect to small displays and navigational issues.
Introduction to Step Loops
article throws light on the concept of Step-loops in Module screen programming.
Step-loops are a very old concept and their use has been drastically reduced
after the onset of Table control. But in certain applications such as Radio
Frequency there is no other alternative than using step-loops.
pre-requisite to understanding and design of step-loops is to have a fair idea
over module pool programming.
are of 2 types:
of Fixed step-loops, the number of lines of records would be fixed as when
designed. You can increase the number of records at runtime. Although the number
of records can be decreased as per programming logic if number of records in
table to be displayed are less than fixed number.
case of variable step-loops, at runtime we can increase the number of repetitive
blocks depending on the size of the screen.
Requirement to be designed
will look into a requirement where we have display records in a step-loop on
screen in such a manner that we will keep the step-loop fixed to 5 rows for
simplicity and based on the number of records; the records will flow onto the
if there are only 2 records to be displayed then only 2 rows will appear on the
screen with no buttons for navigation. So the navigation buttons “Page Up”
and “Page Down” would be handling dynamically based on the records to be
How to design Step-loops?
step loop is defined in the screen painter transaction SE51; these are unlike
the table control elements which can be spread over multiple lines and can be
combined into one group which would be repeated within the step loop. It is
important to note that whichever attributes we assign to the first group are
replicated to the entire step loop.
the screen painter, we can define whether the size of a step loop
is fixed or variable. The vertical size of variable step loops changes if the
user changes the vertical size of the window. For every screen, any number of
fixed step loops can be defined but only one variable step loop. Every vertical
size change triggers PAI if a variable step loop is defined on the screen. For
fixed step loops the number of repetition groups has to be predefined.
place step-loops in the module pool screen, we need to place input/output fields
for the number of columns required and text-fields for the number of column
headers. As described, we would first place the input-output fields and
text-fields as per the number of columns to be displayed as shown below:
in order to convert these into step-loops, select the input/output fields
together for all required columns and follow the steps as shown below in the
screenshot with the menu path as Edit -> Grouping -> Step Loop ->
Please send us your feedback/suggestions at webmaster@SAPTechnical.COM
©2006-2007 SAPTechnical.COM. All rights reserved.
product names are trademarks of their respective companies. SAPTechnical.COM
is in no way affiliated with SAP AG.
Graphic Design by Round the Bend Wizards