Navigation and Information System: Overview

The Development Workbench contains the following tools for navigating within development objects: the Repository Browser, the ABAP Repository Information System and the application hierarchy. All three navigation tools use a "file manager" type interface for displaying development objects. The Workbench also contains the Data Browser for displaying the contents of database tables.

The Repository Browser is the central tool for organizing and managing your personal development objects. The Repository Browser is the most commonly-used tool in day-to-day development.

The R/3 Repository contains all of the development objects in the system. The Repository Information System allows you to display information about objects and their relationship to other objects. You can use the Repository to:

• generate lists of programs, tables, fields, data elements, and domains.
• find where tables and fields are used in screens and ABAP programs.
• display foreign key relationships, and so on.

The application hierarchy depicts the organization of all the applications in your SAP System. The application hierarchy is an organizational tool. Each company defines its own hierarchy explicitly. You can use this tool to view the development objects used by each application in your company. You can also use the application hierarchy to plan an application before you develop it.

The Data Browser is a tool for retrieving information about a table without using an ABAP program. You can browse the contents of a table and branch from a specific entry to its related check table entries. If the table attributes allow it, you can also create or update table records with the Data Browser.