ABAP/4 Development Workbench: Workbench Tools 

Description

General information

• Separate Basis System

The separate Basis system has no business applications. Release Upgrades for the separate Basis system include Basis changes only. The separate Basis system is provided for you to develop your own applications using the ABAP/4 Workbench. It is possible to link to standard applications with Remote Function Call.

• New initial menu for the ABAP/4 Development Workbench

• Update of the user interface

The menus have been thoroughly revised to standardize the user interfaces of the individual development environment tools.

Release 3.0 also has keyboard shortcuts for most functions. Click the right mouse button to display a menu of all available keyboard shortcuts (CTRL 01 to CTRL 48 and CTRL B, etc.).

The possible entries pushbutton (F4) branches to the search function of the ABAP/4 Repository Information System from anywhere where it is useful to do so.

• Version administration

ABAP/4 Dictionary, program editor, Screen Painter and Menu Painter support version administration of development objects (store version, retrieve version, compare versions).

• Authorization checks

The authorization checks within the ABAP/4 Development Workbench are handled uniformly by authorization objects S_DEVELOP and S_TRANSPRT in Release 3.0. The previous authorizations are automatically converted to S_DEVELOP or S_TRANSPRT.

In addition to the previous authorization checks, all transactions of the development environment are protected by the display authorization of the object S_DEVELOP.

• Background jobs EU_INIT, EU_REORG, EU_PUT:

EU_INIT analyzes all customer programs (according to the naming convention) and creates the indexes that are important for cross-reference (for example, function modules in programs).

EU_PUT ensures that the indexes for cross-reference and navigation for the transported objects are updated after a transport into the target system.

EU_REORG carries out smaller clean-up actions to relieve online operation.

Schedule EU_INIT for a single run, but EU_PUT and EU_REORG for periodic runs (every night).

The three jobs described above are scheduled by starting program SAPRSEUJ.

Since the above jobs are especially important for navigation and cross-reference, there is a daily check when you are using the ABAP/4 Development Workbench for whether EU_PUT and EU_REORG are scheduled, and if necessary both jobs are scheduled automatically.

If new indexes were added in the development environment or an error has to be corrected in the index creation for the cross-reference duringa release upgrade or put, EU_INIT is automatically scheduled.

As an authorized user, the user currently active in the development environment is allocated to the job.

Enhancement of existing tools

• Object Browser (transaction SE80)

The Object Browser manages some new objects in Release 3.0: Type groups, all data and process modeling objects, as well as CATT objects (Computer Aided Test Tool objects) can now be found in the object list for the development class. The object list for the program now also contains Includes, transactions and dialog modules in addition to the complex data types (new in 3.0).

All objects of the development environment can be reached via the new nodes "object types", (display, change, create).

Mass processing in the object lists has been considerably extended. Several similar objects can be selected. All connected tools are able to process this selected quantity via the keys Previous or Next object in the Goto menu (see also Mass Processing in the ABAP/4 Repository Information System).

• ABAP/4 Dictionary (transactions SE11/SE12)

Type groups are managed in the ABAP/4 Dictionary. These type groups contain complex data types (see ABAP/4 key word TYPES), which are to be made known across programs (similar to DDIC structures). (Please also read the release notes on the ABAP/4 Dictionary.)

• General table display (transaction SE17)

See Data Browser.

• ABAP/4 Dictionary Information System (transaction SE15)

The ABAP/4 Dictionary Information System is part of the new ABAP/4 Repository Information System (see below).

• Program editor (transaction SE38)

As of Release 3.0, you can choose from two editor versions in the Settings menu: the command mode from Release 2.1 and a "PC" mode that is new for Release 3.0. The PC mode works without line commands and provides these functions on keys instead. (For example, Insert line is on the RETURN key.)

New functions in the program editor:

• Automatic correction of syntax errors

• Extended checks

• R/2 syntax check (via Remote Function Call)

• Further statement patterns (for example, WRITE statement for ABAP/4 Dictionary table, PERFORM ... )

• Help popup by pressing PF1

• Undo

• Navigation completed

Transaction SE38 provides a condsiderably simplified version of general job planning for scheduling ABAP/4 reports.

• Function library (transaction SE37)

As of Release 3.0, the SAP function modules are divided up into three classes:

• externally released modules

• internally released modules

• unreleased modules

The externally released modules are subject to a special review procedure and are only changed compatibly after delivery. These are the modules which you can use as a customer.

The released internally/unreleased distinction is only of importance SAP internally.

Some further innovations apply to the interface of the function modules:

• IMPORT parameters and table parameters can be optional.

• A parameter can refer to a complex data type from a type group (see ABAP/4 Dictionary).

• Menu Painter (transaction SE41)

The texts in menus and the application toolbar can be supplied with texts via ABAP/4 fields dynamically (at runtime) as of Release 3.0.

In the application toolbar, icons can also be used in addition to texts.

Navigating within the Menu Painter has been considerably extended.

• Screen Painter (transaction SE51)

As of Release 3.0 there is also a Windows NT version of the graphic Screen Painter (in addition to the Motif version).

New elements:

• Icons for text fields, output fields and pushbuttons

• "scrollable" fields

In addition to the check of ergonomics guidelines, a consistency check is also provided, which warns if modules or fields from a screen are not defined in the respective program.

In the alphanumeric Screen Painter, creating and changing fields is now only possible via editing functions and no longer via direct manipulation in the fullscreen editor.

• Repository interfaces

For Release 3.0, an RFC interface, which allows enclosed read and write access to the R3 Repository, is available for the objects of the ABAP/4 Dictionary and data modeling.

(Function group SIFD: the names of the modules start with the prefix RPY_)

New tools

• Application hierarchy (transaction SE82)

You can define an application hierarchy for your own developments with the new transaction SE82. A development class can be allocated to each of the application nodes. This application hierarchy can be used as an initial screen for the Object Browser (double-clicking on an application node branches to the respective object list) and as an initial screen for the ABAP/4 Repository Information System.

• ABAP/4 Repository Information System (transaction SE84)

For 3.0, the ABAP/4 Repository Information System is the central information store for all objects of the development environment.

Main features of the Information System:

• includes all essential objects of the development environment

• information is always up to date

• integrated support of Find and cross-reference functions

• fully included in navigation within the ABAP/4 Development Workbench

• special customer viewpoint is supported, that is, customer naming convention is taken into account when searching

• access is possible via application hierarchy (see above) (selection via development classes)

• possible entries pushbutton (F4) within the tools branches to the search function of the Information System

• mass processing supported (see Object Browser)

• Data Browser (transaction SE16)

The general table display transaction (SE16) was completely re-implemented and considerably extended for Release 3.0.

The Data Browser is a prototyping tool, which allows the developer to display, create and change data for a newly created table. In addition, further navigation can start from a specific table via foreign key relationships for the tables from the environment.