SAP Enable Now – Positioning bubble text

?In my previous article I demonstrated how to recover a simulation from the Unsorted folder. Your takeaway should be an awareness of how Enable Now organizes and tracks objects, how to address an unsorted situation, and the importance of saving at the folder level.

?In this article I will discuss positioning bubble text within a simulation using the Enable Now editor. I recommend you read an earlier article titled, SAP Enable Now – Editing a Simulation to get a basic understanding of the editor window, it’s properties and an overview of the simulation editing process. ?

What is bubble text?

?Bubble text is the guiding information auto-inserted into a recording by Enable Now. It contains a ‘hot spot’ framed area and a companion callout, the bubble text. The bubble text includes instructional guidance for each click or typed action providing the user with information to navigate the simulation.

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?This text can be enriched to improve its instructional value. I’ll cover more on the bubble text editing in a future article.

?You will also find that Enable Now does not always position the ‘hot spot’ and bubble text callout where it you want it. You as the content creator can manually resize and reposition both elements to properly identify the selection area and to place the bubble text away from the on-screen details that the user needs to see.??

?In the example shown below, Enable Now applies a frame around the word Material and provides the action text ‘Click Material’ within the bubble text. The desired selection area is the entire Fiori ‘Display Material’ tile. By grabbing the handles of the frame, the size and position can be corrected. The handles are denoted by the dots at the corners and the midpoint of each side, top and bottom of the frame. Once the adjustments are made, Enable Now detects the Fiori tile as the selection object and places the tile ICON into the bubble text.

?Bubble text has style properties that control the color, the type of frame and the callout, as well as the font color, style and size. These properties can be configured to comply with organizational standards and applied automatically to every simulation recording. It is also possible to manually change the style properties once the simulation has been recorded. Changing the styles will be covered in a future article.

Resizing and repositioning

?The bubble text and its associated frame can be resized by clicking on each element to activate the handles. Then by selecting a handle using a left-click and hold action, the resizing begins. Referring back to the prior image, the frame was selected, the corner handles clicked, and the resulting frame size adjusted to completely enclose the Fiori tile.

?In response to this frame change, the bubble text also changed. Enable Now detected the Fiori tile as the selection area and added the ICON as an Object Image to the bubble.

?The bubble text is attached to the frame causing it to reposition and remain attached as the frame area is modified. If both the frame and bubble text require changes, the sequence should begin with modifications to the frame allowing the bubble text to auto-update. If the bubble text still requires changes, it can be clicked on, and then the corresponding handles pulled to the desired position as shown in the following image. Note the blue dot is the anchor point of the bubble text connecting it to the frame.

?It is important to maintain the connection between the bubble text and the frame. If you move the bubble text by clicking on it and dragging without using the handles, the connection can break. Changes to the frame will no longer alter the bubble text until the connection is repaired.

Fine tuning the frame and bubble text

?With the bubble text highlighted, the properties for the frame and bubble text are displayed in the properties window as shown below. It is important to have the Advanced Layout checkbox highlighted to see this level of detail. If it is not checked, simply toggle it to the active position. You can find the checkbox in the top right of the properties window.

?The bubble text for Demo and Practice modes are individually controlled. In this example I will highlight the details of the Demo text. I will save the more in-depth conversation about the two for a future article.

?The bubble text includes several editable fields, but our focus will be on the Width, Height, Orientation and Position. Just as you could grab a handle and adjust the bubble size, you can edit the Width and Height directly in the properties window. This is not the recommended method. Dragging the handles can be much faster and the results immediately displayed.

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??The Orientation option is defaulted according to the frame position within the displayed view of the recorded application. The placement used by Enable Now does not take into account what is on the screen, and it may actually place the bubble text on top of details that need to be visible to the learner.

?The Southwest orientation indicates that the bubble text is located to the southwest (left and below) of the anchor point. If I want to move it to the top right of the frame, I select the Northeast orientation.

?By changing the orientation, the bubble text pivots about the anchor point, but it remains fixed to the bottom of the frame. What I really want is for the bubble text to also translate to the upper right of the frame. To do this I need to edit the Position properties. Under the Position option, I can choose Element or Relative. Element means the bubble text it anchored to an object via the frame. Relative means it is positioned within the screen view and has no anchor to anything on the screen.

?All bubble text inserted by Enable Now is positioned using the Element option. With few exceptions, the Element option is the standard. Use the Relative bubble text option when inserting additional guiding information that is not attached to an onscreen element. An example would be a statement telling the learner what they can expect from the recording.

?Be aware that if you zoom in or out the bubble text using the relative positioning will remain in the same window location and not track with the screen image as the element positioned bubble text would. It also has no leader line pointing to an object on the screen.

?Bubble text positioned using the Element option has a short extension or leader that ends at the anchor point. The only exception to this is when the Center orientation option is selected. For this condition, the middle of the bubble sits directly over the anchor point.

?Positioning of the anchor point is adjusted by entering a percentage value. The reference points are the top left corner of the frame being 0,0, to the bottom right corner being 100,100. If the desired anchor point is to be the top right, the X value would be 100% and the Y value would be 0% (100,0). If the anchor point is the top middle of the frame the XY location would be 50,0.

?The last adjustments involve the offset. This is a fine tuning of the bubble text anchor position defining the XY offset of the bubble from the anchor point of the frame. The only time I use this is for situations where the thickness of the bubble text border crowds the anchor point and providing a small gap (offset) improves readability.

Summarizing the process

?Bubble text can be positioned using a variety of methods. Element is the most common positioning method, and it is the default option for all Enable Now auto-generated bubble text. Your takeaway should be an understanding of the options, how to implement changes and when they apply.

What’s next?

?In my next article I will talk provide an overview of the Editor Properties window with a focus on the Advanced Layout option.

?If you like what I wrote please take the time to share it, as others may find it interesting, if not amusing. Let’s not be just consumers of information or share only the works of others. Your voice matters, and I’m sure you have good ideas that could help others. Try being a thought leader and not just a follower.

To those of you who take the time to read my efforts I sincerely thank you. I would be remiss if I didn’t remind you that this is a two-way conversation so put your comments in and let’s have a volley of ideas, so we all continue our intellectual growth.

And for those planning to implement SAP Enable Now or are struggling with an existing effort, I provide effective onsite assessments and training.

Mr. Gray is a seasoned business strategist experienced in SAP Enable Now implementation and training, PMO stand up, digital and business transformation, process development, and best practice guidance. He has developed industry-leading methods for SAP Enable Now readiness, staff modeling, project deployment, financial performance, team onboarding, and business readiness. Mr. Gray is a problem solver at heart and a sharer of knowledge by choice. He has authored more than one hundred thought provoking articles which are all available on LinkedIn.

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