sapgui on Abapinho

Use Python to rewrite ABAP code

Mon, 01 Aug 2022 09:00:00 +0000

When you need to make mass changes to ABAP code, the SAPGui IDE isn’t of much help. Eclipse ADT is better, especially if you just want to rename stuff. But there are lots of changes which you won’t be able to automate there. Namely, changes that most be done hundreds of times and which cannot be done with a simple find and replace. In these cases you probably end up changing everything manually. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Quick Cut and Paste

Tue, 26 May 2020 09:00:36 +0000

I learned yet another small obscure SAPGui functionality. How to speed up copy and paste.

Shortcut to save list local file

Wed, 04 Sep 2019 09:00:54 +0000

SAP is full of hidden corners rarely visited. Abapinho is happy to shed some light on them.

The command %pc is equivalent to the menu option System/List/Save/Local file:

Abracadabra reveals secret parameter

Mon, 23 Oct 2017 09:00:29 +0000

Here’s a not very orthodox wat to deal with a report’s selection screen. Sometimes you may need to have a special parameter which you prefer to hide from normal users but still need access to. Example: a flag to activate a debug/trace mode. I’ll show you how you can do this by just typing the magic word, ABRACADABRA. It goes like this: DATA: unhide_parameters TYPE flag. PARAMETERS: p_debug AS CHECKBOX. AT SELECTION-SCREEN.

Go into a transaction skipping its selection screen

Wed, 12 Jul 2017 09:00:53 +0000

Once again SAPGui surprises me with yet another obscure shortcut I didn’t know about. Let’s use the customer display transaction XD03 as an example: Go into the transaction’s selection screen with /NXD03 Fill in the customer number an press ENTER to display its details Do whatever it is you want to do there and get out of it Suddenly… you remember that you needed to do something else there Instead of /NXD03 type /*XD03

Copy a Code Inspector variant to another system

Mon, 08 May 2017 09:00:09 +0000

In my current customer, I have three development systems. There used to be only one. And that’s where I customized and fine tuned the Code Inspector_ variant I use to run Abap Test Cockpit. When the other two appeared, before manually copying the variant into them, I decided to investigate a little bit. Much to my surprise, I found in GitHun project upDOWNci which does exactly what I needed: export and import Code Inspector Now, copying the variant was a piece of cake.

Automatically close the doors you open

Mon, 13 Mar 2017 09:00:21 +0000

You’re in the editor. You type ( or [ or { or ’ and SAP is dumb and doesn’t close it right away like a proper IDE would. Well, Click on the lower right corner icon which gives you access to the SAPGui options where you configure code templates. In the formatting option, activate Enable Auto Brackets and voilá, SAP will now automatically close any doors you open. I don’t see why this isn’t set by default.

Ignore indentions when comparing version

Mon, 05 Dec 2016 09:00:31 +0000

Sometimes, when comparing versions, several differences show up even when we did not make changes to the code. These differences may simply be a consequence of a Pretty Printer that altered code indentations. This makes comparing the versions confusing. But ABAP Workbench lets you configure the diff tool to ignore indentations and even comments. Just press F5 while there or go to the “Display Format> Settings” menu and adapt it to your needs:

Create templates in SE80 by dragging stuff into the code

Mon, 14 Nov 2016 09:00:26 +0000

While coding, it’s always good to have ways to speed up what we’re doing. A good one is automatic generation of templates for function and method calls.

I know 3 ways to achieve this.

Find everything at once

Mon, 24 Oct 2016 09:00:11 +0000

The ABAP editor is full of functionalities yet to be discovered.

When I do CTRL-F to search for text, the option I usually choose is “Find next”.

Yet another way to see a method's parameters

Mon, 01 Aug 2016 09:00:26 +0000

Let’s say you want to call a method for which you don’t know the parameters. What do you do?

You used to have to use the “pattern” button. Or open the class in a new window to look at the method’s parameters. But then the ABAP Editor evolved and we got auto-complete which made everything much more easy.

But there is yet another way.

ABAP Code PushDown in HANA

Mon, 25 Jul 2016 09:00:10 +0000

[Guest post by Artur Moreira]

From ABAP version 7.4, SAP introduced the code pushdown concept, which means using more database for calculations (data aggregation, sums and previous calculations).

Incremental search

Mon, 18 Jul 2016 09:00:21 +0000

When I want to search for a word in an ABAP program I usually press CTRL-F to use the normal search feature of the ABAP editor. I enter the word I want to find and then press “NEXT” to look for it.

But there is another way. And it’s not better nor worse. Just different: the incremental search.

Export and import the ABAP Workbench settings

Mon, 13 Jun 2016 09:00:16 +0000

Sometimes a thing is right under your nose and your still don’t see it.

At my current client I daily work with a lot of different systems. When I make a change in a setting of one system, either because I’m lazy or because I forget, I end up not applying it to all the others.

But there is a simple way to copy all the ABAP Workbench settings at once from one system to the other.

Use the Split Screen Editor in the version comparison

Mon, 06 Jun 2016 09:00:57 +0000

By default, the ABAP version comparison tool is horrible. It displays both versions in a single column and, even though the differences are highlighted, it’s awfully confusing. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Press the “settings” button at the top and you’ll find that there are 3 different display modes (besides some other nice options): one-column, two-columns and, surprise, the Split Screen Editor. This is probably the option you’ll want to choose since it’s the most powerful.

Spot the differences with SE39

Mon, 30 May 2016 09:00:21 +0000

Earlier today I was doing a QC review to a new program named ZSDFAKSPE with almost 1000 lines and no comment whatsoever. An obvious clone of a standard program called SDFAKSPE.

So I decided to use the Spli-screen editor, found in transaction SE39. Having entered both programs I could then compare them side-by-side.

Source-code based class development

Mon, 23 May 2016 11:08:44 +0000

Being used to develop in Java and C++, the way transaction SE24 forces you to navigate between each of its parts and the fact that every method has its own include was very confusing to me when I first started using it. Why does SAP always have to make things so complicated? I eventually got used to it. At some point in time SE24 introduced the option source-code based which shows the class and all its methods in a single text.

Jump to your last change

Wed, 18 May 2016 15:03:12 +0000

Imagine that you’re editing one of those ancient programs with thousands of lines (yes because today you know that it’s wrong not to modularize (it’s a sin really) your methods (yes because today you always use methods) don’t have more than 200 lines).

Disable value history for a single field

Mon, 08 Feb 2016 09:00:08 +0000

SapGUI usually keeps a history of the last values entered on each field. This is usually a good thing. But you may very well not want it to happen (in case you’re entering pornographic values in a specific field for example). You could always turn it off globally in the SapGUI settings.

But what if you just want to disable it in one particular field? Abapinho tells you how to do it.

Class CL_GUI_FRONTEND_SERVICES

Mon, 04 Jan 2016 09:00:43 +0000

Class CL_GUI_FRONTEND_SERVICES is commonly used to upload and download files from and to the user’s local computer. But it can do many more good things. For example:

SAP can take selfies!

Mon, 28 Dec 2015 09:00:35 +0000

I just found out that SAP can take selfies. I still don’t see why one would need it. But that’s understandable because I never really understood the need for selfies anyway.

Here’s how SAP can take a selfie:

Is the GUI available?

Mon, 09 Nov 2015 09:00:41 +0000

To check if a program is running in background usually one takes a peek at SY-BATCH. SY-BINPT can also be used to check if the background program is a BDC session. You usually check one of these.

There is a similar but not exactly equal question, though. How do you ask if the GUI is available? Most times both questions will have the same answer. But not always.

It’s like saying the Sun can be seen during the day while the Moon can be seen during the night. If the sky is cloudy you won’t be seeing them.

How to avoid timeout when running a program

Mon, 02 Nov 2015 09:00:52 +0000

Usually SAP systems have a predefined time limit for running a program interactively. If the program takes longer to run than that you’ll get a runtime execution error. A dump.

Shortcuts for making small and big letters

Mon, 19 Oct 2015 09:00:05 +0000

You may not even know how to program but if you’re able to type fast and know enough keyboard shortcuts everyone will think you’re an expert. In the ABAP editor write the following word: subdermatoglyphic Now try the following shortcuts: CTRL+U: SUBDERMATOGLYPHIC BIG LETTERS! UPPER CASE! CTRL+L: subdermatoglyphic small letters! lower case! CTRL+J: Subdermatoglyphic The First Letter Of Each Word In Upper case! CTRL+K: sUBDERMATOGLYPHIC tHe BiG aRe NoW sMaLl AnD tHe SmAlL ArE nOw BiG!

Multiple OR selections in SE16N

Mon, 03 Aug 2015 09:00:15 +0000

If you are one of those persons who still uses SE16, this article is not for you. If you keep reading, you might find yet another reason to finally start using SE16N (as if all others were not enough already).

Imagine that you want to select all materials whose name contains “PREGO” and whose type is “FERRAGENS”, and all materials whose name contains “GUARDANAPO” and whose type is “COMIDA”. In other words, “PREGO_NO_PAO” or “GUARDANAPO_PAPEL” won’t be part of the result set. What you want is this:

(MATNR = “PREGO%” AND MTART = “FERR” ) OR (MATNR = “GUARDANAPO%” AND MAKT = “COMI” )

As you know, using SE16N in a regular way (which doesn’t use what I’m about to show you) you would need to execute it twice and manually compare data, because the selection screen does not allow you to make multiple OR selections.

Or does it?

Write in multiple lines at the same time

Mon, 15 Dec 2014 09:00:42 +0000

The ABAP editor has many curious functionalities. You can even write in multiple lines at the same time.

Block indent

Mon, 03 Nov 2014 09:00:21 +0000

To indent a block of lines do the following:

Clearing the buffers of an SAP session

Mon, 13 Oct 2014 09:00:25 +0000

I keep learning new transaction commands. Today I learned some which solve a problem which, although rarely, has happened to me in the past.

Did this happen to you? You make a change to a text of a data element you’re using in a table to be edited through SM30. But when you go and edit that table in SM30 the old text is still there. You activate objects, close windows, open windows, no matter what you do, the new text is not shown.

Automatic model just using CTRL-SPACE

Mon, 22 Sep 2014 09:00:04 +0000

Of course you already know the “Model” button in the ABAP editor that allows you to automatically add models for function modules, calls for methods and others.

The new editor has now grown a bit (it’s now only 10 years behind Eclipse instead of 20) and it allows you to automatically complete some commands through the CTRL-SPACE shortcut.

Put it between parentheses

Mon, 18 Aug 2014 09:00:09 +0000

Sweet little trick: when in SE38 you need to surround a word or expression with () or [] or ‘’, just select it and press ( or [ or ’ and it immediately becomes (it) or [it] or ‘it’. Thank you Sérgio Fraga for the tip.

Contemplating the package

Mon, 14 Jul 2014 08:00:25 +0000

You are looking at a class in SE24, a table in SE11 or a program in SE80. Now you want to see the package of this object and its content. Until recently, I would do this: first I would look in the object’s characteristics to see its package, then open a new session, go to SE80 and write the package there.

Now I’ve learned a much easier way.

SE16N's technical view

Mon, 30 Jun 2014 09:00:43 +0000

Hi. How’ve you been? How’s life? All cool? This tip is so simple that if we don’t talk for a while it will all end too quickly. The sun is shinning. It rained in the morning but now it stopped. Moving on. Every time I see someone still using SE16 I wonder why, since SE16N is so much better and already exists for so long. But this is not the tip.

0 is Private, 1 is Protected, 2 is Public

Mon, 16 Jun 2014 08:30:50 +0000

Simple tip to speed up entering data in (some) fields.

Request Based Debugging

Mon, 12 May 2014 09:00:10 +0000

If you look up the UNAME system variable in debug within a RFC call you may think it kind of odd to find a username that is not your own. What happens is that the system adopts a specific username for remote calls and a new session is started. A new session implies a new execution context and, hence, all our strategically placed breakpoints will no longer be recognised.

This problem can hinder a simple debug forcing us to run through the code looking for THAT remote call to THAT particular system.

SAP has a solution.

Shortcut for time travelling

Mon, 07 Apr 2014 09:00:35 +0000

Some months ago I showed how to transform the debugger into a time machine. Today’s tip is simple but useful: there is a keyboard shortcut which makes it even simple to travel in time: shift + F12 Just place the cursor in the line you want to travel to and then… shift+F12. Thank you Maxsuel Maia for the tip. Greetings from Abapinho.

Use a password manager in your life

Mon, 24 Mar 2014 09:00:52 +0000

And there you go, if you read the title you know the hint.

Now, here are some hints about the hint:

The ABAP detective

Mon, 10 Mar 2014 09:00:42 +0000

When a development is completed in SAP, the time to send it to other systems where it can be duly tested and then executed by users has finally arrived. Before that occurs, however, it has to be checked for lapses, errors and other problems that could lead to our programmes behaving in an unpredictable manner. There is a very useful tool that allows some of these errors and gaps to be filtered out. It is called ABAP Code Inspector.

Close the frozen window

Mon, 03 Mar 2014 17:30:56 +0000

How many times have you been left with a “hanging” window when you end a debug?

The ABAP editor has a good memory

Mon, 02 Dec 2013 09:00:55 +0000

Select a word in the ABAP editor and choose CTRL-C. Then select another word and choose CTRL-C again. Then another word and so on. You have copied words several times to the clipboard. Experience and common sense tells us that if you choose CTRL-V you can only paste the last word you copied to the clipboard. But that is not quite right. You may not be aware of it, but the ABAP editor has a good memory.

Function to create cartoons

Mon, 11 Nov 2013 09:00:47 +0000

Cartoons always look good in a report. In a SAPGui that is boredom in blue, the more colours and cartoons there are the better it is. Luís Rocha showed me a very convenient function to fill up a report with icons.

SAP system name in the window title

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 09:00:20 +0000

The client where I’m working at the moment owns more SAP systems than the number of volcanoes in Chile. And, of course, it’s inevitable to have multiple sessions open for several of those systems. With the windows minimized it’s impossible to know the matching between systems and sessions. I mean, it was impossible, because today that’s already possible:

Execute commands in the user’s computer

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 09:00:41 +0000

It’s been a while since Abapinho played with fire. Today he will. Because today he’ll show you how to execute DOS commands on the user’s local machine. After you finish reading this article, you’ll be ready to format the hard disks of all your users. Dealing with danger helps make us aware of the power we have and the responsibility that comes with it. Dear reader, listen to your conscience.

No one cares for LISTBOX

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 09:00:07 +0000

For some strange reason, LISTBOX is rarely used in report selection screens. Even though it’s widely used throughout the web. Who knows why.

Dear reader, I suggest you pay attention to its advantages:

SAParrot

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 09:00:47 +0000

Go to SE38 and create a program with the code below. Then turn the computer sound on and press F8. INCLUDE ole2incl. DATA : ole TYPE ole2_object, voz TYPE ole2_object, texto TYPE string. CREATE OBJECT voz 'SAPI.SpVoice'. texto = 'Olá eu sou o SAP e falo português com sotaque estrangeiro'. CALL METHOD OF voz 'Speak' = ole EXPORTING #1 = texto. Note: the parrot not in the photo, just the macaw with which he was talking :)

Keyboard shortcut to transaction field

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 09:00:09 +0000

And there you are madly typing with SAP when suddenly you need to go to the transaction field and write /OS37 or whatever. But you are writing with so much passion that the thought of leaving the keyboard for a moment to use your mouse seems catastrophic. Instead, you just press 3 keyboard keys: CTRL-SHIFT-7. Thank you Renato Sousa for the tip. Greetings from Abapinho.

Create sessions with the keyboard

Mon, 03 Sep 2012 09:00:02 +0000

You need to start a new session but your mouse was stolen. No problem. Press CTRL and then the + key and you will see a new session coming in. Thank you Renato Sousa for the tip. And thank you freeimageslive / gratuit for the photo. Greetings from Abapinho.

Happily jumping from line to line

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 09:00:09 +0000

At the bottom right corner of ABAP editor, right in the status line, you can check in which line and column the cursor is. By double clicking over that information a dialog box is shown and you will be able to introduce a line number to it skip directly. The short key is CTRL-O. It’s very helpful. Thank you Fábio Branquinho for the tip. And thank you to juandesant for the photo.

Slash O

Mon, 21 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Throughout all my “SAP life” I’ve used the command /olalala to initiate the lalala transaction in a new GUI window. Until now I had never tried just writing /o. I did today. The result was interesting. Meaning, it’s the same as going to SM04 and then choosing our user. But much easier. Greetings from Abapinho

F1 + F9 = Technical Information

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 16:18:59 +0000

In a functional screen I often feel the need to see technical information about a particular field. I place the cursor on the field I want, then I click on F1 and a dialog screen will appear with help for that field. Then I click on the button that says “technical information”.But there is a quick way to do the same thing using only the keyboard. There are two possible ways for F1 to display the help for one specific field:

The SAPGui history does not work even when active?

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:00:01 +0000

Has it ever happened to you that SAPGui does not store a history of values that you input to various fields even though the History option is actived in the settings?

SE80 has favourites

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:00:39 +0000

The SE80 transaction contains everything. It seems like those village grocery stores crammed with junk where you can buy toothpaste, bread, shoes, perfume and rice in bulk. I like these grocery stores. But to go there you need to know where you are going, otherwise you’ll walk from pillar to post. But this is what it’s like in these grocery stores but in SE80…. there are favourites. Yes indeed there are.

Be lazy when you write in ABAPese

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 00:11:42 +0000

To find out which professions attract the laziest people, I googled the following:

Profession	Results

“médico preguiçoso (lazy doctor)"| 2,140,000

“advogado preguiçoso (lazy lawyer)"| 1,430,000

“gestor preguiçoso (lazy business administrator)"| 1,020,000

“engenheiro preguiçoso (lazy engineer)”| 647,000

“político preguiçoso (lazy politician)"| 602,000

“economista preguiçoso (lazy economist)"| 284,000

“pedreiro preguiçoso (lazy builder)"| 91,200

As this conclusively proves, engineers are not lazy enough as they are beaten by lawyers and doctors. This must change. And this tip will help. But not without making the following difference clear: lazy is not work-shy. I am talking here about noble laziness, the behaviour of those who like doing things but with the least possible effort. Lazy slobs are not included here.

SAP is something that evolves slowly, and it launched a new editor a few years ago that is full of capabilities many of which, while handy, are barely used. One of them is called ‘Code templates’ which I will now demonstrate:

Forget it!

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 10:00:49 +0000

O SAP GUI tem boa memória. Vai decorando os valores que lhe vamos metendo nos campos e depois sugere-os quando, mais tarde, voltamos a esses campos. Mas às vezes decora coisas que mais valia esquecer. Como por exemplo quando introduzimos um valor errado e a seguir ele insiste em sugerir-nos esse valor errado. Há uns tempos descobri que este pequeno drama tem solução. Quando, no campo, aparece a combo box com as várias hipóteses, usa as setas do teclado para te posicionares no valor que queres esquecer e depois carrega na tecla DELETE.

Vertical text selection in ABAP editor - really? Really.

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 10:00:06 +0000

As everyone knows, you can select vertical or horizontal blocks of text almost anywhere in SAPGUI, typing CTRL-Y and then dragging the mouse to make the selection. Everyone also knows that this does not work in ABAP editor. But perhaps what some people don’t know is that there is a way of making this kind of selection in ABAP editor: press and hold ALT. Now you can select blocks of text.

Hopping merrily from ELSE to ELSE

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 11:02:30 +0000

You have in front of you one of those giant IF ELSEIF ELSEIF ELSEIF ELSEIF ELSE ENDIF that runs through hundreds of lines of code. If you double click on the IF or any of the ELSEIF you jump to the ENDIF. If you double click on the ENDIF down below you go to the IF up above. Everybody knows this. It is handy with a small IF ENDIF. However, it’s not much use with the large ones.

Jumping within ABAP editor

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:06:39 +0000

Have you ever found yourself programming in one of those ABAP programs that’s as long as the Bible with hundreds and hundreds of lines where you always have to jump from one code area to another? Until a few days ago, in my ignorance I was using PageUp and PageDown to jump between the two locations and I wasted loads of time looking for the exact place in the code that I was interested in.

I CTRL-clicked to select a word

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 11:19:51 +0000

A simple but valuable tip: anywhere in the SAP GUI - including the ABAP Editor - to select a word all you have to do is CTRL-click above it. Cool, no? Unfortunately it doesn’t work on the Mac Java GUI :-( (Thank you Sérgio Fraga for the tip) Greetings from Abapinho.