Comparing ABAP Debugging in the Back End System and ABAP Development Tools

The ABAP Debugger in ABAP Development Tools can satisfy most of your debugging requirements. And it adds comfort and features to the ABAP debugging functionality that you may know from the New ABAP Debugger in the back end ABAP System.

But the ABAP Debugger in the ADT does not implement all of the tools that are available in the ABAP Debugger in the ABAP back end system. This section compares the feature sets of the debuggers and highlights the special purposes for which you may want to switch from ABAP debugging in the ADT to ABAP debugging directly in the back end ABAP System.

Debugger Use Case Capabilities in Comparison

Legend: Use case optimally fulfilled Use case fulfilled better in other debugger Use case not covered in this debugger

Use Case	ABAP Debugger in ABAP Development Tools	ABAP Debugger in Back End System
Setting breakpoints	ABAP breakpoints in ABAP Development Tools are external user breakpoints, valid across back end servers and valid for RFC and HTTP requests to the ABAP back end. The ADT supports both static (line of code) and dynamic breakpoints.
Setting watchpoints and conditional breakpoints	Supported only in the new ABAP Debugger in the ABAP back end system
Stepping through code
Activating layer-based debugging	Use the new ABAP debugger in the back end system to define software layers and activate layer-based debugging. ADT Step Filters can be used only with Java coding.
Displaying values of variables
Analyzing internal tables	Display of internal table rows possible in the ABAP Internal Table view, but the capabilities for customizing the data display of the Table tool in the back end debugger are not offered. Use the back end debugger if you need to do more than check the values of specific table rows.
Displaying structures	Display of structures by field is supported, but the capabilities for customizing the data display of the Structure tool in the back end debugger are not offered. Use the back end debugger if you need to apply a layout to the display of a structure.
Displaying objects	Structured display of object contents is supported, but the capabilities for customizing the data display of the Objects tool in the back end debugger are not offered. Use the back end debugger if you need to apply a layout to the display of a structure.
Comparing data objects	Use the diff tool in the back end debugger if you need to compare the values of complex data objects.
Analyzing memory use	Use the new ABAP debugger in the back end system if you need to examine the memory use of objects in the debugger.
Debugger scripting	Use the new ABAP debugger in the back end system if you need to automate debugging tasks with debugger scripts. JavaScript breakpoint scripts in cannot be used in ABAP coding.
Activating traces	Use the new ABAP debugger in the back end system if you need to activate any of the traces that ABAP offers for tracking the activity of a program in the debugger.
Start the garbage collector	Use the new ABAP debugger in the back end system if you need to activate the garbage collector during a debugger session.
Perform a database commit or rollback	Use the new ABAP debugger in the back end system if you need to commit or rollback database changes during a debugger session.
Change debugger settings	The ADT supports the most important ABAP debugger settings.