Lesson 1: Introduction to ABAP OBJECTS

Todd A. Boyle, Ph.D.

Section Report


Develop a simple report that will accept two numbers from the user and display the sum of the two numbers on a report.

What is ABAP OBJECTS?

Advanced Business Application Programming.

Previously known as ABAP/4. Since renamed to ABAP OBJECTS.

Why do we need to develop ABAP applications in SAP R/3?

Why use ABAP?

ABAP OBJECTS is the programming language SAP developers use to build transactions and reports and customize SAP R/3. The main purpose of ABAP OBJECTS is to provide additional functionality to existing SAP applications. We do not use ABAP OBJECTS to develop custom applications from scratch.

Using the ABAP Editor

Defining a program


REPORT program name. The REPORT command has various features to format output to the screen or printer. We will discuss these features later. program name must start with a Z.

You can also use a Y, but Z is used far more often.

Commenting your code

It is expected that you will have sufficient comments in all the ABAP OBJECTS programs you write. Why?

It is EXPECTED of all PROFESSIONAL software developers. Due to the high turnover rate of SAP R/3 & ABAP OBJECTS consultants, other people may be stuck maintaining your program.

Adding comments in ABAP OBJECTS

Adding comments in ABAP

Variables and Constants

We have given the program a name and added a description of the program in the comments. To manipulate and gather data for processing we need variables, records, and constants.

Variables in ABAP
 

MUST be declared before they are used. Can be declared anywhere in the program, BUT for consistency they should be declared at the beginning of a program or subroutine. Begin each variable with a letter and then a mixture of letters and numbers

Variables


Use the underscore (_) to separate distinct words. DO NOT use the hyphen (-). This has a special purpose that we will discuss later. NO reserved words (the same name as an ABAP command).

Variables


Variables defined at the program level are considered global. Variables in defined in a subroutine are visible only to the subroutine.

Declaring variables


  

DATA var[(LENGTH)] [TYPE type] [DECIMALS number] [VALUE initial value] var is the name of the variable [(length)] is the size of the variable TYPE is the type of variable. The possible data types for variables in ABAP are:

Data types for ABAP OBJECTS

Type/Description/Example C Character hello world D Date 19990101 N Numeric text 10000 P Packed Decimal 22.50 T Time 104500 I Integer 12123

Declaring Variables: Example 1

Declare a variable that will hold a persons job title. It should be 10 characters in length and be initialize to MANAGER.

DATA JOB_TITLE (10) TYPE C VALUE MANAGER.

Declaring Variables: Example 2

Declare a variable to hold the employee ID number. When we declare a variable of type I (i.e., Integer) we do not specify the variable size. DATA EMP_ID TYPE I.

Declaring Variables: Example 3

Declare a variable to store the persons date of birth. Initialize the variable to December 31, 1900.

DATA DATE_OF_BIRTH TYPE D VALUE 19001231.

Declaring Variables: Decimal Type

DATA var[(LENGTH)] [TYPE type] [DECIMALS number] [VALUE initial value]

The DECIMAL is the number of decimal places for the packed decimal type.

The size of the field = digits before the decimal + digits after the decimal.

IF A FIELD HAS 6 DIGITS BEFORE THE DECIMAL AND 2 DIGITS AFTER , THEN IT MUST BE DECLARED AS A SIZE 8.

Declaring Variables: Decimal Type

Declare a variable that will store the employee income. It is comprised of 8 digits before the decimal point and 2 digits following it. Initialize the variable to 1 DOLLAR.

Answer


DATA EMP_INCOME (10) TYPE P DECIMALS 2 VALUE 1.00.

Constants


 

Data that does not change its value during program execution. Defined the same as DATA variables. Example:

CONSTANTS PLANT_NUM TYPE I VALUE 6523.

Run-time Parameters


Allows the user to pass data to the program at run time. At run time, the default SAP R/3 screen will be display with the parameters you have coded. PARAMETERS parameter name TYPE type.

Run-time Parameters


If we wanted the user to enter an employee ID. PARAMETERS EMP_ID TYPE I. The parameter name is limited to 8 characters. For the lesson example, the input screen would look like this:

Example Program
Let us review what we covered so far, by examining the simple ABAP calculator program. ZWSCALC

ABAP OBJECTS Statements

ABAP OBJECTS does not care where a statement begins on a line. However, to ensure program professionalism, you should indent sections of code for readability. You can easily do this using PRETTY PRINTER.

ABAP OBJECTS Statements

Multiple statements can be placed on a single line. To improve readability, this is not recommended. Blank lines can be placed anywhere in the program and should be used to improve readability. ALL ABAP OBJECTS statements (except comments) must end with a period (.).

Coding Statements


We will now discuss how to display data including:

Moving data into a variable Moving data between variables Performing basic computations Writing data to the report/screen Coding your first complete ABAP OBJECTS program.

MOVE


Move data into or between variables is done using the MOVE statement. There are two forms of the MOVE statement. MOVE value TO var var = value

 

Moving values into a variable

MOVE 10 TO PERSON_AGE.

OR

PERSON_AGE = 10.

Moving data from one variable to another

Move the contents of PERSON_AGE to DISPLAY_AGE: MOVE PERSON_AGE TO DISPLAY_AGE

or

DISPLAY_AGE = PERSON_AGE.

Computations


COMPUTE variable = expression.

COMPUTE is optional.

   

ADD value TO variable. SUBTRACT value FROM variable. MULTIPLY variable BY value. DIVIDE variable BY value.

Computations


COMPUTE INCOME_TAX = GROSS_INCOME * TAX_RATE. ADD 1 TO REC_COUNTER MULTIPLE GROSS_INCOME BY TAX_RATE. (What is the problem with this?)

Outputting text


To output data to the screen, we use the write command.

WRITE text. WRITE field name.

WRITE
  

WRITE Boyle. WRITE LAST_NAME. Some of the basic write options include: : = groups of text, variables. / = break to a new line WRITE: /, FIRST_NAME, LAST_NAME.

Write: Outputting groups of text

If we wanted to write the following: Weekly Sales Total: 13456.32 We could code: WRITE CON_SALE_HEADER. WRITE W_SALES_TOT. OR WRITE: CON_SALE_HEADER, W_SALES_TOT.

Write: Breaking to a new line

would give us: HELLO WORLD

Write: Breaking to a new line

What if we want the text on two separate lines? We use a / following the WRITE WRITE / HELLO. WRITE / WORLD. We can combine both grouping and breaking:
WRITE: /, CON_SALE_HEADER, W_SALES_TOT.

Review


Let us finish the calculator program. ZWSCALC

Modify the program to accept four numbers from the user and calculate and display the average.

Instead of retyping the program you can create a copy of it.

Answer to the Average Report Program ZWSCALCAVG

Exercises
 

INCLASS11 INCLASS12