Which ABAP Programs Require Dialog Programming (SAP Library - BC SAP Graphics: Programming Interfaces)

Which ABAP Programs Require Dialog Programming

The ABAP programmer is provided with two mechanisms for controlling the interaction between ABAP program and online user:

Graphics function modules with dialog parameters

(Parameters STAT, M_TYP, PWDID, SUPER, WINID and RWNID)

Graphics function modules with dialog parameters (Parameters STAT, PWDID, SUPER, and WINID) plus utility function modules:

GRAPH_RECEIVE (with dialog parameters ACTIVATE_RAISE, ERRORCODE, MCODE, and RWNID)
GET_xxxx_PARAM

For new programs, you should use only the second mechanism, graphics function modules with the utility function modules.

Your program may not require dialog programming at all, depending on whether your application is simple, more complex or complex.

"Very simple" applications:

Your program will not open more than one window at a time.

This means your program does not need to manage multiple windows. Hence it does not need to use any of the WINID, PWDID, or SUPER dialog parameters.

Your program will not respond to any mouse clicks or keyboard input from the online user. It merely starts up the graphics program for the user without regard to what happens after that.

Even though your program will not respond to user input, it must ask the function module to wait for input. This is because at least one function module call in each ABAP program must be a waiting function module. ("Waiting for user input" under the relevant topics "Dialog Programming Using the Dialog Parameters" and "Dialog Programming With GRAPH_RECEIVE and GET_xxxx_PARAM" explains why.)

You do not need any dialog parameters for this kind of program. The default value of STAT specifies waiting, and thus can be omitted.

If your program doesn't respond to user input, neither of the dialog parameters that report this input are needed.

"More complex" applications:

Your program opens only one window, and waits for the user to select menu items. (The GRAPH_HIERARCHY_MENUE and GRAPH_BUTTON_MENUE function modules generate menus and report back what the user selected. Menu parameters returned include the menu entry and the hierarchy node or pushbutton to which the entry applies.)

For this scenario, you don't need the STAT parameter, since waiting is the default. You do, however, need message code parameter (MCODE or M_TYP) in order to know when the user has closed the window. You can ignore the other dialog parameters.

"Complex" applications:

Your program opens multiple windows and will wait for user input from these windows.

You must use the STAT, MCODE (M_TYP), WINID, and PWDID (and possibly also SUPER) parameters.

Your program responds to other user input beyond mere menu selection. (Such input includes pressing the Enter or other keyboard keys.) You must use STAT, MCODE (M_TYP), and RWNID.

Your program might allow the online user to select a menu item in the first window, which then starts up a second window. The graphics program running in the second window might be the same as the program in the first, or they might be different.

For example, SAP Hierarchy might run in the first window, and might allow the user to select a node. Node selection might then trigger a second window running SAP Statistics, where a graph is displayed for the selected node.