LEARN ABAP PROGRAMMING!

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SAP R/3 ABAP/4
Training Manual
5101 Camden Lane, Pearland, TX 77584

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Course Outline
Section – A
1. Introduction to ABAP
1.1. What is SAP R/3
1.2. SAP R/3 architecture and where ABAP fits in
2. ABAP Development Workbench Tools
2.1. Object Navigator
2.2. Workbench Organizer
2.3. Data Dictionary
2.4. Menu Painter
2.5. Screen Painter
Section – B
3. Reports Statement
3.1. Line Size
3.2. Line-count
3.3. Message
3.4. Page Heading
3.5. Report Comment Section
4. Declarations
4.1. Tables
4.2. Includes
4.3. Variables (Data Types and Data Objects)
4.4. Structures
4.5. Internal Tables
4.6. Constants
5. Selection Screen / Input Fields
5.1. Parameters
5.2. Select – Options
5.3. Section Screen Formatting
6. Program Events
6.1. Initialization
6.2. Start of Selection and End of Selection
6.3. At Selection Screen
6.4. At Line Selection
6.5. At User – Command
7. Data Retrieval
7.1. Select Statement
7.2. Using the Select Statement for Single Line
7.3. Using the Select Statement for Several Lines
7.4. Using the Select Statement for Internal Table
7.5. Tables / Internal Table Operations
8. Processing Data
8.1. Assignment Statements
8.2. Arithmetic Expressions and Mathematical Functions
8.3. String Processing
8.4. Type Conversions
8.5. Logical Expressions

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8.6. Control Level Processing
8.7. Subroutines
8.8. Function Modules
8.9. Logical Database
8.10. Variants
8.11. Create Transactions for Reports
9. Formatting and Displaying Data
9.1. Event for Page Headers and Footers
9.2. Display Options
Section – C
10. Types of Program Analysis
10.1. Static Checks
10.2. Dynamic Checks and Short Dump Analysis
11. Debugger
11.1. Breakpoints in Programs
11.2. Breakpoints in the Debugger
11.3. Watchpoints
12. Performance Tools
12.1. Runtime Errors
12.2. SQL Trace
Section – D
13. External Data Access
13.1. Upload and download data from / to presentation server
13.2. Upload and download data from / to application server
13.3. Write a data extract program
14. Data Transfer Methods
14.1. Understand the Transaction
14.2. Standard data transfer program
14.3. DBC program
14.4. Call transaction Program
Section – E
15. Dialog Application
15.1. Create a Module Pool
15.2. Create a Transaction
16. Screen Painter
16.1. Use Screen painter to design a Screen
16.2. Arrange Data Dictionary elements of the screen
16.3. Set the OK-CODE
17. Menu Painter
17.1. Create GUI Status
17.2. Create a Menu Bar for a Screen

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17.3. Define function Keys
17.4. Create Application Tool Bar for a Screen
17.5. Create window titles
18. Screen Flow Logic
18.1. Understand screen flow logic
18.2. Create Process after Input and Process before Output modules
18.3. Use message for error processing
18.4. Call list processing within a transaction
Section – F
19. ABAP Query
19.1. Understand core functionality of SAP R/3 ABAP Query.
19.2. Explain the relationship between a user group, info set and query report.
19.3. Utilize the appropriate user groups and Info Sets to develop Queries.
19.4. Create all three types of SAP query. Basic List, Statistic and ranked list.

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Section – A
ABAP Workbench Overview
Objectives
• Understand the use of ABAP/4 in developing SAP Application
• Become familiar with the ABAP Workbench Tools
• Become Familiar with the features of
Object Navigator
ABAP Editor
Change and Transport System
Data Dictionary
Menu Painter
Screen Painter
Table of Contents
Section – A
1. Introduction to ABAP
1.1. What is SAP R/3?
1.2. SAP R/3 Architecture and where ABAP fits in
1.3. The Major Common Uses of ABAP/4
2. ABAP Development Workbench Tools
2.1. Object Navigator
Exercise A211 – Create an ABAP Program using the Object Navigator
2.2. ABAP Editor
2.2.1. Editor Mode
2.2.2. Uploading and Downloading Source Code
2.2.3. ABAP/4 Attributes Screen
2.3. Change and Transport System
2.3.1. Development Class
Exercise A2311 – Create a Development Class
2.3.2. Transport / Workbench Organizer
Exercise A2321 – Assign Program to development class and display T.O.

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2.4. Data Dictionary
2.4.1. Tables, Domains and Data Elements
Exercise A2411 – Create a Transparent Table
Exercise A2412 – Specify Table Fields
Exercise A2413 – Defining Data Elements and Domains
Exercise A2414 – Define a value list
Exercise A2415 – Specifying Technical Settings
Exercise A2416 – Enter values into the table
2.4.2. Structure
2.4.3. Views
2.5. Menu Painter
Exercise A251 – Create Menu and Push Button Using Menu Painter
Exercise A252 – Create Title Bar using the Menu Painter
2.6. Screen Painter
Exercise A261 – Design User Interface using the Screen Painter
Lab Exercises
• Exercise AL1 – Standard Toolbar Controls
• Exercise AL2 – Application Toolbar Controls
• Exercise AL21 – Changing the editor mode – Front-end editor
• Exercise AL22 – Changing the editor mode – Back-end editor 1
• Exercise AL23 – Changing the editor mode – Back-end editor 2
• Exercise AL24 – Upload Code from text file
• Exercise AL25 – Download code from ABAP editor to a local file
• Exercise AL26 – Create Development class ZDEVC12
• Exercise AL27 – Assign a task to a main change request
• Exercise AL28 – Create table ZTJTAB3 re-using domains
3.0 Project A

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1. Introduction to ABAP
1.1 What is SAP R/3?
SAP stands for Systems, Applications and Products in Data Processing. It is the name of the
company and also the name of the software. R/3 stands for Runtime System Three. It is one of
the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems around. Similar products are Oracle and
Peoplesoft. ERP is used by companies to plan, organize, integrate and manage their various
operations like accounting, finance, manufacturing and human resources. The main aim is to
improve efficiency and accuracy.
1.2 SAP R/3 Architecture and
Where ABAP fits in
R/3 is based on client/server
architecture and uses a
relational database to track all
information related to a
company. It is made up of small
programs called transactions. A
transaction is a program and set
of system; and change
functionality in the R/3 system.
R/3 gathers related transactions
together into groups and call
them modules. Thus a module
is a set of transactions that deal
with the same area of business
functionality. R/3 modeled in a
three-tier hierarchy is shown
below.
Presentation level – User Interface
Application level – business logic layer that runs on a server
Database level – stores data managed by SAP
ABAP (Advanced Business Application Programming) is the programming language used by SAP
developers to build transactions that make up the R/3 application. Its also used by companies to
customize the R/3 application i.e. providing additional business functionality.
It is a fourth-generation programming language with some features similar to some modern
programming languages such as C, Visual Basic and Power Builder. It allows variables to be
defined, modulation of programs via subroutines and function calls, access to the database via
open SQL and some event-oriented programming.
1.3 The Major Common Uses of ABAP/4
a. Custom reports – a program that reads specific data from the database and then displays
the data via the computer screen or printer. The purpose of a report is to read data from
the database and write it out. It consists of mainly two screens. The first screen is called
the selection screen. It contains input fields allowing the user to enter criteria for the
report. For example, the report may produce a list of sales for a given date range, so the
date range input fields would appear on the report’s selection screen. The second screen
is the output screen. It contains the list. The list is the output from the report, and usually

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does not have any input fields. In our example, it would contain a list of the sales that
occurred within the specified date range. The selection screen is optional. Not all reports
have one. However, all reports generate a list.
b. Interface – a program that moves data into SAP – BDC, Call Transaction or reads data
from SAP and writes it to a system file to be transferred to an external computer system
e.g. a legacy mainframe – DATA EXTRACT
c. Custom Transaction – a program similar to SAP transactions to fulfill some business
function not provided by SAP – Dialog Programming.
2. ABAP Development Workbench Tools
The most important tools are:
a. ABAP Editor for writing and editing program code.
b. ABAP Dictionary for editing tables and other ABAP Dictionary Objects.
c. Menu Painter for designing the user interface (menu bar, standard toolbar, application
toolbar)
d. Screen Painter for designing screens for user dialogs
e. Function Builder for programming function modules (subroutines with a fixed interface
that are available system wide)
All development objects created with the development tools found in the ABAP Workbench are
classified as Repository Objects and are stored centrally in the R/3 Repository.
The R/3 Repository is a special part of the SAP system’s central database. The Repository is
organized according to application. Each application is further divided into logical subdivisions
called development classes.
Repository objects are often made up of sub-objects that are themselves Repository objects.
Each Repository object must be assigned a development class when it is created.
ABAP Programming Syntax
Whichever type of program, ABAP syntax includes the following:
• ABAP programs are made up of individual statements
• Each statement ends with a period.
• The first word in a statement is called a key word.
• Words must always be separated by at least one space.
• Statements can be indented.
• Statements can take up more than one line
Naming Standards
The company you work for is a customer of SAP. Therefore, programs that you create at your
company are called customer programs. For programs, the customer name range is two to forty
characters long and the program name must start with the letter Y or Z. SAP reserves the letters
A through X for their own programs.
2.1 Object Navigator
The object navigator is also called in previous releases Object Browser (Rel 3x), Repository
Browser (Rel 4.x)
Object Navigator automatically calls other tools when actions require them. For example, creating
a new program from the Object Navigator screen. The Object Navigator calls the ABAP Editor
and, after creating the program, returns back to the Object Navigator screen.
An entire application can be created using the Object Navigator without directly calling any of the
other tools. In fact, the recommended method for creating an application is from the Object

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Navigator because you can see what you build. The Object navigator provides an overview of all
the elements in an application and access to all necessary administration tools from one single
interface.

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Object Navigator can be accessed in 2 ways.
Menu Path:
SAP Main Screen > Tools > ABAP Workbench > Overview > Object Navigator (Double Click)
Another way to reach the Object Navigator is to from the SAP Main Screen enter the transaction
SE80 into the transaction field and press Enter
Either way the Object Navigator is displayed. There are two input fields on this screen.
Object List Group – This contains a list of the objects contained within this environment: Local
Objects, Application Hierarchy Program, Development Class, Function Group, Class/Interface,
Internet Service. Select Local Objects in this field.

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If you select the down-arrow key in the second input field, object group selected in the first field
will be displayed. Click on the Display input field.
Exercise A211 – Create an ABAP program using the object navigator
1. Start the object navigator by typing se80 in the command field from the SAP Main screen.
2. Select Programs in the first input field.
3. Type in the desired name of the new program, e.g. ZKKPROG1 in the second input field.
Click on display button. NOTE: All third-party program names can only begin with Y
or Z. This way customer program can clearly be distinguished from SAP programs.
If the program already exists, it will be display under the object list. If it doesn’t exist, a dialog box
pops open, click the YES pushbutton for SAP to create the program.

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As soon as you click on YES another dialog box pops open querying about the program structure
either as an individual file or a framework program for includes. Large programs can be split up
into several sub programs (includes).
For now deselect the “With TOP INCL” flag. Click on Enter to continue
If this is the first time ever you are creating an ABAP program, another dialog window will pop
open requesting you to enter the Access Key so this user can be added as a Developer. Enter
your 20 Character access key here and click on continue. ( Note: this dialog only pops up once. )
Deliberately Hidden Field

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A new template pops up where you will define the important attributes of the new application.
There are three important fields that must be maintained. And these are;
Title: Short description of the program. The program name comes up as default in this field. You
can add more text to it. For example Khans First ABAP Program
Program Type: Chose Executable program. Reports are usually this type.
Application: Which the program will be assigned to. Select Cross-application.
Other fields are optional: status, authorization groups, logical database. After entering all the
values, click on SAVE.
When you save a new object for the first time, the system displays a correction and transport
dialog box. Here the Development Class field needs to be maintained. See section 2.2.5 and
section 2.2.4 on Workbench. For now click the local object pushbutton.

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You will be returned to the opening screen of the object navigator. Go to the course code screen
by double clicking on the object name.
Source code appears in display mode with just one line of code “report” and “report name”. To
switch from display mode to change mode click on the pencil mark
Place cursor after the period at the end of first sentence and press enter to get you to the next
line. Type WRITE ‘Hello World!’.

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Activate the program by going to Programs > Activate
Or click on the magic wand which is a shortcut for activate.
A message “Object Activated” appears at the bottom of the screen.
Press F8 or to test the program

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A list is produced. To go back to the editor from the report output window, click on the back arrow
or F3 function key.
2.2 ABAP Editor
The ABAP Editor is a tool that you use to write ABAP programs, class methods, function
modules, screen flow logic, type groups and logical databases.
ABAP Editor can be accessed in two ways.
Menu Path:
SAP Main Screen > Tools > ABAP Workbench > Development > ABAP Editor (Double Click)
Or simply use transaction code SE38 to start ABAP Editor

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ABAP/4 programs consist of five components
1. Source Code
2. Attributes
3. Text Elements
4. Documentation
5. Variants
Only the source code and program attributes components are required. The rest of the
components are optional, they will be looked at in another section.
All development objects and their components are stored in the R/3 Database. ABAP/4 programs
are interpreted; they are not compiled. The first time you execute a program, the system
automatically generates a runtime object. The runtime object is a pre-processed for of the source
code. However, it is not an executable that you can run at the operating system level. Instead, it
requires the R/3 system to interpret it. The runtime object is also known as the generated form of
the program. If you change the source code, the runtime object is automatically regenerated the
time you execute the program.
2.2.1 Editor Mode
The ABAP Editor has two different modes:
1. Front-end Editor
2. Back-end Editor
Front-end Editor
The front-end editor uses the SAP Textedit Control from the SAP Control Framework. It loads
your source code onto the front-end and allows you to perform many tasks without any
communication with the application server.
In the front-end editor, the ABAP source code is loaded onto the front-end and edited locally. The
advantage of this is that all editing functions that do not require communication with the backend
can be performed very quickly.
Back-end Editor
The back-end editor allows you to use the traditional back-end editor for editing your ABAP code.
The editor is line-based, and to use normal editor functions such as cut, copy and paste, you
must first select a block of lines. If is often useful to use the clipboards in this mode. If you have a
very long program (and specially if you are working in a WAN environment), the back-end editor
can produce better performance than the front-end editor. Furthermore, back-end editor allows
you to edit any development object that is based on the ABAP Editor.
You can change the mode from front-end to back-end by doing the following steps. To change
the editor mode from anywhere in the ABAP workbench: Chose utilities > settings.

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The User Specific Settings dialog box appears. Choose ABAP Editor. Set the editor mode to
back-end editor.
2.2.2 Uploading and Downloading Source Code
To upload a file into the ABAP Editor
1. Chose utilities from the ABAP Editor screen
2. Click more utilities
3. Click on Upload/download
4. Click Upload

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5. Enter the path and filename of the file you want to read in the dialog box, then
choose copy.
2.2.3 ABAP/4 Attributes Screen
The following section provides information about program attributes. Note that some of these
attributes only apply to executable programs (reports), and not to other ABAP program types.
Version
These fields are used for version administration. The system fills them.
Title
In the required entry field “TITLE” enter a program description that describes the function of the
program. Thus, you can edit the title when maintaining the text elements.
Maintenance Language
The maintenance language is the logon language of the user who creates the program. The
system fills this field automatically. You can change the maintenance language. If you maintain
the program or its components in another logon language.
Type
In the Type Field you must specify the execution mode of your program.
Use Type 1 (report) to declare your program as executable. This means that program can
run on its own, and that you can start it in the R/3 system without a transaction code. You
can also run executable programs (reports) in the background.
Use Type M to declare your program as a module pool. This means that your program
cannot run on its own, but serves as a frame for program modules used for dialog
programming.
User Type I for include program. An include program is an independent program with two
main functions: On one hand, it contains program code that can be used by different
programs. On the other hand, it modularizes source code, which consists of several

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different, logically related parts. Each of these part is stored in different include program.
Include programs make your source code easier to read and maintain.
Status
This entry describes the status of the program development, for example, T for test program.
Application
This field contains the short form of your application, for example, F for Financial accounting. This
required entry enables the system to allocate the program to the correct business area.
Authorization Group
In this field, you can enter the name of a program group. This allows you to group different
programs together for authorization checks. The group name is a field of the two authorization
objects S_DEVELOP (program development and program execution) and S_PROGRAM
(program maintenance). Thus you can assign authorization to users according to program
groups. For more information about creating function modules, refer to the Users and
Authorization documentation.
Development Class
The development class is important for transports between systems. You combine all Workbench
objects assigned to one development class in one transportation request. If you are working in a
team you may have to assign your program to an existing development class, or you may be free
to create a new class – section 2.3.1 on Workbench Organizer covers this. All programs assigned
to the development class $TMP are private objects and cannot be transported into other systems.
You can enter the development class directly into this field. Otherwise, the system prompts for it
when you save the attributes.
Choosing Local Objects is equivalent to entering $TMP in the field Development Class. You can
change the development class of a program later on by choosing Object Directory Entry from the
GOTO menu, click change, type in the desired development class.
Logical Database From Application
(Only for Executable Programs – Reports)
These attributes determine the logical database used by the executable program (report) to read
data, and the application to which it belongs. Logical databases have unique names within their
application. However, system wide, you can have more than one logical database with the same
name. This is why you also need to specify the application. If you read data directly in your
program instead of using a logical database, you should enter an application, but leave the logical
database field empty.
Selection Screen Version
(Only for Executable Programs – Reports)
If you do not specify a selection screen version, the system automatically creates a selection
screen based on the selection criteria of the logical database and the parameters and select –
options statement in the program.
If you want to use a different selection screen, enter the number here (not 1000, since this is
reserved for the standard selection screen). The number must be smaller than 1000 and
correspond to an additional selection screen of the logical database. The possible values help
displays a list of available selection screens. You can also look in the selection include of the
logical database (Program DBxxxSEL, where xxx is the name of the logical database).