Lesson 2 of 5
Transaction codes
8 min
A transaction code (T-code) is a short name that starts a screen sequence directly, without clicking through menus. Experienced SAP users rarely use the menu tree; they type codes. Test scripts for SAP GUI are almost always written in terms of T-codes.
The command field and its prefixes
Type a code into the command field on the Easy Access screen and press Enter. From inside another transaction, you need a prefix that tells SAP what to do with the transaction you are already in.
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
VA01 | From the Easy Access screen: starts the transaction |
/nVA01 | Ends the current transaction (unsaved data is lost) and starts VA01 in the same session |
/oVA01 | Opens VA01 in a new session (window), keeping the current one open |
/n | Ends the current transaction and returns to Easy Access |
/o | Shows a list of your open sessions |
/i | Closes the current session |
/nend | Logs off from all sessions, asking for confirmation first |
/nex | Logs off from all sessions immediately, without confirmation |
Command field prefixes every SAP GUI user should know
You can usually have up to six sessions open at once, though your system administrator can change the limit. Sessions are handy during testing: keep the document you are creating in one session and display master data or stock in another.
A practical pattern for testing is to keep two or three sessions with fixed jobs: one for the transaction you are testing, one for displaying master data such as the customer or material, and one for checking results such as stock in MMBE or the journal entry in FB03. Moving between sessions with the taskbar or Alt+Tab is much faster than leaving and re-entering transactions, and you never lose unsaved work by accident.
How codes are built
Many codes follow patterns. The final digit often signals the action: 1 = create, 2 = change, 3 = display. VA01, VA02 and VA03 create, change and display sales orders; ME21N, ME22N and ME23N do the same for purchase orders. An N at the end usually marks a newer "enjoy" version that replaced an older transaction of the same name.
The first letters often hint at the area. Codes starting with V belong to sales and distribution (VA orders, VL deliveries, VF billing). ME codes are purchasing, MM codes material master, MB and MIGO inventory, and many F codes finance. These are habits, not rules, and there are plenty of exceptions, but they help you guess where an unfamiliar code belongs.
| Process area | Code | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Sales | VA01 / VA02 / VA03 | Create, change, display sales order |
| Shipping | VL01N | Create outbound delivery with reference to a sales order |
| Billing | VF01 / VF03 | Create and display billing document |
| Purchasing | ME21N / ME23N | Create and display purchase order |
| Inventory | MIGO | Goods movements, such as a goods receipt for a purchase order |
| Inventory | MMBE | Stock overview for a material across plants and storage locations |
| Invoices | MIRO | Enter a supplier invoice |
| Master data | BP / MM03 | Business partner (customers and suppliers); display material |
| Finance | FB03 | Display a journal entry (accounting document) |
Common transaction codes you will meet in later courses
Codes that changed in S/4HANA
Some ECC codes no longer work as they used to. Customer and vendor maintenance codes such as XD01 or FK01 now redirect to BP, because S/4HANA maintains customers and suppliers as business partners. Several older goods movement transactions were replaced by MIGO. If a code from an old test script sends you elsewhere or shows an "obsolete" message, check the simplification list for your release before raising a defect.
Finding a code you do not know
- Turn on technical names in Easy Access (Extras → Settings) and browse the menu.
- Use transaction
SEARCH_SAP_MENUto search the SAP menu by a word such as "delivery." - Inside any transaction, choose System → Status to see the code of the screen you are on.
- Look up the code in the SAP Fiori apps reference library, where classic transactions are listed as SAP GUI apps alongside related Fiori apps.
What would you do?
Dana is halfway through creating a sales order in VA01 when a customer calls asking about stock of CMC-ALT-100 at plant 1720. What should she type?
- Type a T-code in the command field; use /n to replace the current transaction and /o for a new session.
- /nend logs off with confirmation; /nex without; /i closes the current session.
- Many codes end in 1, 2, 3 for create, change, display.
- Some ECC codes redirect in S/4HANA (for example XD01 and FK01 to BP); check the simplification list.
Check your understanding · not graded
Lesson check
1. Which command opens VA03 in a new session?
2. What does /nend do?
3. In many T-codes, what does a final digit 2 usually mean?
4. In S/4HANA, what happens when a user enters XD01?