Exploring the intricate details of setting up tables and columns in NextTables for optimal organization and efficiency.
Understanding Table Configuration
To show and work with backend data in NextTables, the desired table or object has to be configured. The header and subheader contain technical information about the table name and type. The table configuration consists of two parts. While properties are partially mandatory, column configuration is completely voluntary. When adding a new table, a default configuration for the table type will be applied.
Properties
The properties section has a few input fields with value help and a few checkboxes to simply enable or disable table features.
| Property / Field Name | Description | Additional information |
| Application | Assign the table to an existing or new application | This field can stay blank, but we recommend assigning an application for the better usability of NextTables |
| Check analysis authorization | Enable or disable the analysis authorization check while reading the data | |
| Delete All | Enable or disable the "delete all" option, which should be shown as sub-menu of the delete icon | The "delete all" function deletes all data from a table. Even the changelog for ADSO will be deleted. We advise to use this feature with caution |
| Item Table Type | Specify the table type of the item table | Only needed for the master-item feature |
| Item Table Name | Specify the table name of the item table | Only needed for the master-item feature |
| Editable | Enable or disable the data editing functions for the table | Regarding only the editing of existing data |
| Deletable | Enable or disable the data deletion functions for the table | |
| Delete for Filter | Enable or disable the data deletion by filter functions for the table | The "delete by filter" option is shown as submenu of the delete icon. It will delete all data that matches the global filter criteria, even if the data is not displayed in the table |
| Insertable | Enable or disable the data insert functions for the table | Regarding only the creation of new data with a new key |
| Inline Edit | Enable or disable the data inline edit functions for the table | |
| Local Filter | Enable or disable the local filter functions for the table | The local filter only impacts data which is displayed in the table |
| Global Filter | Enable or disable the global filter functions for the table | The global filter impacts the data read request |
| Suppress Export | Enable or disable the export functions for the table | |
| Disable collaboration | Enable or disable the collaboration feature for the table | This options impacts the visual cues for collaboration and the locking mechanism while editing data |
| Max Rows | Set max rows for a table | This entry changes the maximum number of displayed rows in the table. If a custom BAdI is used that merges or separates the backend data rows, the entry will ignored |
Column Configuration
Within the column configuration, there are multiple options for every column in the table. The configuration will show the most common options. Additional options can be turned on via the expert mode switch on the right side. With version 11, there is also a full-screen mode for the configuration.
| Configuration Field | Description | Mode | Input Options |
| Position | Shows the current position of the table column. | Basic | Can be overwritten with inline editing or drag & drop |
| Fieldname | Shows the technical name of the field | Basic | Can not be changed |
| Description | Shows the description of a field | Basic | Can not be changed |
| Item-Fieldname | technical name of the Item-Field Name. Only used in the Master-Item Feature | Basic | |
| Data Type: Frontend | Changes the frontend data type | Expert |
Short Text: One Line (C) Date (Date: YYYYMMDD) (D) Time (Time: HHMMSS) (T) Number (P) Long Text: Text area (g) Long text (XXL) (G) File (XXL) (Y) Timestamp (>) HTML Content (M) Checkbox ('X' = Yes, '' = No, '-' = NA) (j) Checkbox ('1' = Yes, '2' = No, '' = NA) (J) Scientific Number (F) |
| Edit options | Determines editing options for a field | Basic |
Default Locked: keep target value Editable: Required Editable: Not Required Locked: overwrite target value |
| Min. Search Length | Determines search length | Basic |
Only used if the search style is set to "search." If set to 0, the field will behave like a drop-down field, but refine the search values while adding more characters to the search term. Every new character will trigger a new search. |
| Search style | Determines search style | Basic |
Show search field (search) searches for possible values while adding characters to the search term Show dropdown (dropdown): Shows a dropdown with a limited number of possible values. Adding more characters to the search term will not trigger a new search. No search (nosearch) This Will disable the search for a field |
| Search Method | Determines witch table should be used to suggest the values delivered by the search style | Expert |
Show all masterdata entries (SIDs) (1) Show all masterdata entries where text is maintained (2) Show text entries (in user language) - ignoring master data (3) |
| Support adding search results | Disables the possibility of adding new values to the search | Basic | If this option is activated, only the values suggested by the search can be added to the field. While this can be similar to the "Check data integrity" feature, it will not check the master data but only the search values. |
| Search Type | Determines which object type the search should use | Expert |
Search based on table and field in Data Dictionary (DDIC) InfoObject (IOBJ) Custom (CUSTOM) |
| Search help | Determines the specific object that should be used for the search | Expert | Insert the technical name of the object |
| Visibility | Determines if a field is visible | Basic |
Default () Visible (1) Not visible, but still in global filter (prefilter) (2) Only visible in table view (3) Not visible - not transferred to frontend (4) |
| Suppress Export | Basic | If activated, the field will be excluded from all exports | |
| Suppress Local Filter | Basic | If activated, the field will be excluded from the local filter | |
| Suppress Global Filter | Basic | If activated, the field will be excluded from the global filter | |
| Suppress group by | Expert | If activated, the field will be excluded from the group by function | |
| Check data integrity | Expert | If activated, the field can only be filled with exiting master data | |
| Default Scenario | Determines which default scenario should be used | Expert |
Changelog (CHANGELOG) - The value will not show in the input mask and updated while saving the data Auto-Increment-ID (AUTOINC) - a Number Range Object has to be present in the backend Constant (CONSTANT) - the value will show in the input mask if the field was empty and updated while saving the data Constant (overwriting) (CONSTANTOV) - the value will show in the input mask and updated while saving the data |
| Default Scenario Values | Determines which values should be used in the default scenario | Expert |
The values can be: a string any sy-field, like: sy-uname a number-range object |
Utilizing the column configuration
Coming soon.