Discover ABAP

Karl-Heinz Kuhnhauser is a managing partner of RGS GmbH & Co. KG, an SAP service partner. He possesses extensive project experience that he gained in over 50 customer projects -- training experience from over 1,000 training days, industry experience in the areas of retail, banking, and insurance at a variety of companies, and experience in the public sector. He also passes on the knowledge he acquired from this experience to others in his position as assistant lecturer in SAP application development and Human Resources at the technical college of Ansbach, Germany, and as a member of the training working group and the inspection committee of the IHK (German Chamber of Commerce and Industry). Thorsten Franz is a software architect at AOK Systems GmbH. For ten years, he has been working as a developer, coach, consultant, and trainer and has managed the rollout of ABAP development projects. He was also responsible for architecture and development management in a large strategic project in cooperation with SAP AG. His work revolves around the development of SAP-based applications and frameworks, as well as application integration. He is particularly interested in the SAP NetWeaver platform and the options to make it available for new applications. His current focus is on enterprise architecture and includes topics such as SOA, Web Services, Composite Applications, NetWeaver for Java, and Web Dynpro.In previous projects, Thorsten worked with many different components, frameworks, and technologies of the SAP world, such as HCM, BI, FS-PM, CRM, BP, Workflow, ALE, BDT, and BRF. He has given several presentations on these subjects at the SAP Developer's Summit 2002 in Las Vegas.

. Preface to the Second Edition. 15

1. ABAP and Getting Started with the SAP System. 21

. Overview of the Architecture of an SAP System. 23

. Application Programs and Runtime Environment. 28

. Logging On and Off the System. 34

2. ABAP Dictionary. 45

. Getting Started with the ABAP Dictionary. 46

. Data Elements and Domains. 52

. Creating Data Records. 66

3. Programming in the ABAP Editor. 71

. Creating an ABAP Report. 71

. ABAP Editor: Overview. 75

. Understanding and Editing ABAP Programs. 82

. Executing an ABAP Report. 84

. Reading and Outputting Database Tables. 86

. Formatting Lists. 88

. Writing and Editing Source Code. 90

4. Fields and Calculations. 99

. Preparing the Report. 99

. Declaring Fields. 104

. Basic Arithmetic Operations. 110

. Sample Code for Fields and Calculations. 115

5. Modifying Character Strings. 121

. Declaring Character Strings. 121

. String Operations. 124

. Sample Code for String Operations. 133

6. Debugging Programs. 141

. Overview. 141

. Calling the ABAP Debugger. 142

. Working with the ABAP Debugger. 147

. Layer for Layer: Layer-Aware Debugging. 160

. Sample Code for Layer-Aware Debugging. 168

7. Modifying Transparent Database Tables. 173

. Copying a Database Table. 175

. Enhancing Non-Key Fields. 180

. Manipulating Key Fields of Tables. 203

. Deleting Table Fields. 207

. Deleting Tables. 209

8. Calculating Dates, Times, Quantities, and Currencies. 213

. Field Definitions. 213

. Using Date Fields in Arithmetic Operations. 216

. Using Time Fields in Arithmetic Operations. 223

. Using Quantity and Currency Fields in Arithmetic Operations. 227

. Sample Code for Date, Time, and Currency Fields. 229

9. Using Data in a Database Table. 243

. Authorization Concept. 244

. Lock Concept. 246

. OpenSQL Statements. 249

. Comfortable Alternative: Object Services. 257

. Sample Code for INSERT. 258

. Sample Code for UPDATE. 263

. Sample Code for MODIFY. 266

. Sample Code for DELETE. 270

10. Program Flow Control and Logical Expressions. 275

. Control Structures. 276

. Using Patterns. 277

. Branches. 280

. Loops. 287

. Logical Expressions. 295

. Sample Code for IF. 302

. Sample Code for CASE. 306

. Sample Code for DO and Termination Conditions. 311

. Sample Code for WHILE and Logical Expressions. 316

11. Selection Screens. 323

. Events. 325

. Simple Selections. 328

. Complex Selections. 336

. Using Selection Texts. 342

. Saving the Selection Screen. 346

. Completing Text Objects. 354

. Free Layout of the Selection Screen. 360

. Sample Code for Selection Screen (Simple Form). 364

. Sample Code for Selection Screen (Extended Form). 369

12. Internal Tables. 381

. Purpose of Internal Tables. 382

. Structure and Types of Internal Tables. 384

. Creating an Internal Standard Table. 387

. Filling an Internal Standard Table. 392

. Processing an Internal Table Line by Line. 401

. Deleting the Contents of Internal Tables. 412

. Sample Code for ITAB with Work Area. 415

. Sample Code for ITAB with Header Line. 424

13. Modularizing Programs. 439

. Overview. 440

. Source Code Modules. 442

. Procedures. 445

. Memory Areas for Data Transfer. 479

. Sample Code for Modularization. 482

. Sample Code for Calling an External Report. 496

14. Advanced Topics. 503

. Interesting Times for the ABAP Programming Language. 503

. Programming Using Frameworks. 504

. Important Frameworks in the SAP Standard. 508

. Discover!. 517

. Index. 519