Status Icons

Contents

• The Guidelines
  • Why Use Status Icons?
  • Status Icons Are Only Rarely Self-Explanatory
  • Only Use Status Icons If They Represent Important Information
  • Do Not Mix Different Status Icons
  • Which Status Icons Are Available?
• Status Icons with Definable Meanings
• Status Icons with Specific Meanings
• Selecting Status Icons
  • Criteria for Selecting a Suitable Group
  • Rules for Decision-Making
  • Special Meanings after/for Entering Data
  • Pure Status Display Versus Status as Function
• Positioning Status Icons
  • Basic Rule
  • For Tuples (Triples) Consisting of Field Label and Field (and Inspection Text)
  • For Group References (Group Frame)
  • In Tables (Table Control and ALV)
  • On Tab Strips
  • Next to Expand/Collapse Pushbuttons for Expanding/Collapsing Areas
  • In the Tree

The Guidelines

These guidelines standardize the use of status displays in R/3.

Why Use Status Icons?

• Status icons give users a visual representation of an object status.
• Status icons save space and draw the user's attention.
• The processing object or sub-object to which the status display refers can be (1) a single field, (2) a set of fields, or (3) the entire object the user is processing.

Status Icons Are Only Rarely Self-Explanatory

• When you use status icons, you must always supply a legend for all the status icons that can be called in a specific activity context, or the legend must be placed directly on/under the control, such as a table. You can implement the legend with a pushbutton in the application toolbar and using the ICON_ICON_LIST icon.
• Status icons must always have a sensible "quick info" text.
  Example: The default text, "Green light", as a quick info of the status icon for a green light only rarely describes what the traffic light icon really means in the context of the specific application. For this reason, the quick info text must reflect the exact meaning of the status.
• It does not always make sense to use status icons. Sometimes text is preferred - for example, if enough space is available on the screen, only a few status values are displayed at the same time, an icon attracts too much attention, or the semantics are complex or difficult to relate through pictures.

Only Use Status Icons If They Represent Important Information

• You should generally try to use as few different status icons as possible.
  If you have many different icons representing states that are not very important, you may confuse the endusers.

Do Not Mix Different Status Icons

• Example: Do not mix traffic lights with LED icons.
• The tables below contains different groups of status icon families (do not mix between the groups).

Which Status Icons Are Available?

You can use transactions ICON and BIBS to display a list of icons. While transaction BIBS allows selection by content, its information is not current at the present time. The table below, which is sorted by groups, contains the most important status icons, but not all of them by any means.

Status Icons with Definable Meanings

Group 0: Affecting a status

• You can use the following icons to toggle and set a status or display an overview.
• The toggle icon can toggle states and views.

Group 1: The "traditional" Status Icons for one-, two-, and three-value States

• As a one-value state: The green check mark for "Complete", "OK", and so on
• As a two-value state: OK, good = Green check mark; critical, not OK = red X
• As a three-value state: OK, good; critical, not OK, and the yellow lightning bold as an especially negative status

Group 2: Plus and Minus (two-value, bipolar)

• Plus and minus (good, bad) represent a two-value state that symbolizes an evaluation.

Group 3: Light On/Off (two-value, unipolar)

• Two-value status display: On - off, also in the sense of positive - neutral.

Group 4: Small Traffic Lights with two States (two-value, bipolar)

• Two-value status with meaning "Correct" or "Incorrect"
• It is immediately obvious that two status values exist

Group 5: The Traffic Light Icons with three States

• Only use traffic light icons when you want to differentiate between exactly three different states. Always remember that traffic light icons require a relatively large amount of space. On the positive side, it is immediately apparent that the traffic light visualizes one of three possible states.
• To save space, you should always use the LED icons in lists instead of the traffic light icons.
• Three states: Correct, caution, and incorrect
• You can use the gray traffic light for "Status not set".

Group 6: The three LEDs

• Similar to the traffic lights; Advantage: Save space; Disadvantage: It is not immediately apparent that the LED represents one of three possible states. Sensible in tables and when the context (adjacent field labels) makes the meaning apparent.
• The gray LED stands for "Status not set".

Group 7: (2-)4-value States (bipolar)

• This set of 2-4-value status contains two icons for good (processing) states and two icons for less good states. An optional icon indicates that no status has been set.
• Comment: The icon for the critical state is not available at the present time.

Group 8: (3-)5-value Scale (bipolar) [only 4.6c and later]

• Status one is more critical, negative; status 5 is very good, positive
• You should only use this set of icons in exceptional cases, such as for an evaluation scale

Status Icons with Specific Meanings

Group 9: Blocked and Unblocked Objects

• Indicate whether an object has been blocked or released

Group 10: Posting Status

• These icons indicate the processing status of objects that can be posted

Group 11: Data Movements; Data Operations

• Indicate whether operations (such as loading data from a different system) succeeded or failed

Group 12: Process States

• Indicate within a process chain whether a step is critical, a warning has been issued, or important information has to be observed

Group 13: Releasing and Closing Activities

• Indicate whether an activity has been released and/or how it was closed

Note: : The full set of available icons contains other icons that can also be used to display specific states. These icons can be displayed using transaction ICON.

Selecting Status Icons

Criteria for Selecting a Suitable Group

• Number of states: Groups 4 (small traffic lights), 5 (large traffic lights), and 6 (LEDs) clearly indicate how many status values are available; the specific meanings are entirely variable.
• Critical states: Groups 1 (traditional), 12 (process states), 7 (2-4-value), and 8 (5-value) emphasize the difference between a critical and good state.
• Two-value states: Groups 2 (plus, minus) and 3 (light on, off) are binary but general status displays for a bipolar or unipolar continuum.
• Meanings: If groups 9-13 supply a suitable meaning, use one of these groups; otherwise use the general groups.

Rules for Decision-Making

• Determine how many different states have to be displayed
• Determine whether the meaning is already well covered by one of the groups: if so, use that group; if not:
• Consider using group 3, 4, 5, or 6

Special Meanings after/for Entering Data

• Which icon should I use if a tab strip or an area shows whether the data in this group has already been entered, whether the subsequent data check was passed, or whether an error
  occurred?

Suggestion
Green, yellow, and (if necessary) red LED from group 5: Green LED = correct; yellow LED = something is still missing; and red LED (if necessary) = defective, not touched yet. (Reason: Green stands for "Go", red for "Stop", which corresponds to the meaning in the above context, since steps are performed.)

Pure Status Display Versus Status as Function

• The pure status display is passive, cannot be clicked, is flat, and visualizes the current state
• In special cases, status icons can also appear on pushbuttons. The status that is visualized by the icon is established when the function is triggered (TARGET), or additional information on the status (ACTUAL) is displayed in a dialog box.
• The quick info for the icon must describe the status or function
• You should only use the gray, non-status icons when it is important for the user to detect that no status has been set

Positioning Status Icons

Basic Rule

• Status icons always appear to the right of the corresponding objects

For Tuples (Triples) Consisting of Field Label and Field (and Inspection Text)

• All the way to the right, next to the tuple (leave space for the F4 icon, if necessary)
• Any required inspection text appears to the right of the icon
• The output field (the data value) can also be omitted

For Group References (Group Frame)

• To the right, next to the header [technical implementation in progress]
• Or in the header area (upper right) for the group

In Tables (Table Control and ALV)

• In the respective cell (this column will usually only contain status displays)
• Important status displays should appear to the left, when possible
• Status icons can also be clickable as pushbuttons, to toggle the status, for example, or display additional information (in a dialog box, see above)

On Tab Strips

• To the right of the text (when this becomes technically possible; currently to the left of the label)

Next to Expand/Collapse Pushbuttons for Expanding/Collapsing Areas

• Like on tab strips, the status icon can indicate whether the data in the respective area has been entered completely or not (required entry fields)
• The status icon should only appear when the area is collapsed, next to the title text

In the Tree

• To the right, after the node icon and following text, in a separate column
• An icon should only appear when a specific status is set (do not use any gray or empty icons)
• Use the LED instead of the traffic light

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