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OO ALV Quick Reference

2007-12-14T21:23:00.000-08:00

Easy Reference

for

ALV GRID CONTROL

Serdar SIMSEKLER

2004, Ankara TURKEY

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without the express permission of SAP AG. The information contained herein may be

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Table of Contents

Purpose..........................................................................................................................1

Prerequisites .................................................................................................................1

A. Introduction .............................................................................................................1

B. Building Blocks ........................................................................................................1

B.1. General Scheme..................................................................................................2

B.2. Building Field Catalog .......................................................................................7

B.2.1. Structure of a Field Catalog ........................................................................7

B.2.2. Building Field Catalog Manually...............................................................9

B.2.3. Building Field Catalog Semi-Automatically............................................10

B.3. Layout Adjustments .........................................................................................12

B.4. Printing Adjustments........................................................................................14

B.5. Excluding Unwanted Standard Function Buttons ............................................15

C. Non-Event Based Additional Functionalities .....................................................16

C.1. Changing Field Catalog or Layout after First Display.....................................16

C.2. Setting Sort Conditions ....................................................................................16

C.3. Filtering ............................................................................................................17

C.4. Making Selections ............................................................................................18

C.5. Retrieving and Setting Scroll Status Info.........................................................19

C.6. Coloring ............................................................................................................19

C.6.1. Coloring an Entire Column .......................................................................20

C.6.2. Coloring an Entire Row.............................................................................20

C.6.3. Coloring Individual Cells ..........................................................................21

C.7. Inserting Hyperlinks .........................................................................................22

C.8. Making Fields as Dropdown Menus ................................................................23

C.9. Managing variants ............................................................................................24

D. Event Based Additional Functionalities ..............................................................25

D.1. General Scheme for the Event Handler Class ..................................................26

D.2. Hotspot Clicking ..............................................................................................28

D.3. Double Clicking ...............................................................................................29

D.4. Pushbuttons On The List..................................................................................29

D.5. Adding Your Own Functions ...........................................................................30

D.6. Overriding Standard Functions ........................................................................32

D.7. Context Menus .................................................................................................32

D.8. About printing..................................................................................................33

D.9. Making ALV Grid Editable .............................................................................34

D.10. Controlling Data Changes ..............................................................................35

D.11. Linking F1 Help to Fields ..............................................................................36

D.12. Linking F4 Help to Fields ..............................................................................37

E. A Piece of Troubleshooting...................................................................................38

TRADEMARKS .......................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

Purpose

The purpose of this tutorial is to provide an easy and quick reference that may

be used as a guide while coding to build lists using ALV Grid Control. Actually, there

is easy-to-reach information about implementing ALV Grid lists. However, it is

generally required to find the information sought in a quicker way. This tutorial

handles this, being a condensed source that can be used as a “guide.” It will not deal

with the technical infrastructure on which ALV lays. Some of the tables are taken

from the online SAP Library, which is the most trustable source about the topic.

Shortly, this will be a booklet summarizing major capabilities of the ALV Grid

Control.

To get deep into the ALV Grid control, you can refer to the standard SAP

course “BC412 – ABAP Dialog Programming Using EnjoySAP Controls” and the

book “Controls Technology”. Also you had better inspect demo programs.

Prerequisites

To use ALV Grid Control in a simple manner, it will be sufficient just having

experience on dialog programming. However, to make use of more capabilities, it is

required some knowledge on object-oriented perspective of ABAP programming. A

general knowledge on control framework is supposed to exist.

A. Introduction

Here is the definition for ALV from SAP Help:

“The ALV Grid control is a flexible tool for displaying lists. The tool provides

common list operations as generic functions and can be enhanced by self-defined

options.”

The ALV Grid control is used to build non-hierarchical, interactive, and

modern-design lists. As a control, it is a component that is installed on the local PC.

The ALV Grid control provides typical list functions as sorting, filtering,

summing, etc.,while also gives the opportunity to develop user functions where

needed. It presents numerous interfaces like Excel Inplace and Crystal Reports.

The wrapper class implemented to encapsulate ALV Grid functionality is

“CL_GUI_ALV_GRID”. There is another way to display lists with ALV utilizing

“REUSE_ALV...” functions. However, that way is not comprised in this tutorial.

B. Building Blocks

While preparing a list to be displayed via an ALV grid control, we have some

basic components to prepare. These are;

i. List data: Obviously, this is the data in an internal table to be listed. Standard

ALV functions except sorting makes just read access to the list data.

However, sorting changes state of the internal table. The internal table

holding list data may be of any flat type. Deep types are only allowed

when set for some functionalities of ALV Grid.

ii. Field Catalog: We use another internal table to define specifications on how

the fields of our list will be displayed. This internal table is called the

“field catalog”. The field catalog must comprise some technical and

additional information about display options for each column to be

displayed. There are three procedures to generate the field catalog as

“Automatic generation”, “Semi-automatic generation”, and “Manual

generation”. The internal table for the field catalog must be referenced to

the dictionary type “LVC_T_FCAT”.

iii. Layout Structure: We fill a structure to specify general layout options for the

grid. With this structure we can set general display options, grid

customizing, totals options, color adjustments etc... The layout structure

must be of type “LVC_S_LAYO”.

iv. Event Handler: We should define and implement an event handler class if

we want to handle events triggered by the ALV Grid instance. After

creating ALV Grid instance, we must register an instance of this event

handler class to handle ALV Grid events.

v. Additional Data: To trigger some additional features of ALV Grid we can

have some additional data to pass as parameters. For example, initial

sorting criteria, buttons to be deactivated, etc...

B.1. General Scheme

Now, we can figure out a primitive scheme to prepare our ALV Grid. As a

control object, ALV Grid instance requires a container to be linked to the screen.

Generally, an instance of the class “cl_gui_custom_container” is used for this

purpose. Instances of some other container classes such as

“cl_gui_docking_container”, “cl_gui_dialogbox_container” may also be

used. In our example we take a custom container. To create a custom container

instance, we need a custom control area on the screen.

Step 1 Add a custom control on the screen which will be related to the

custom container. Let’s give it the name ‘CC_ALV’.

Step 2 Declare global variables to be used for ALV Grid.

*-- Global data definitions for ALV

*--- ALV Grid instance reference

DATA gr_alvgrid TYPE REF TO cl_gui_alv_grid .

*--- Name of the custom control added on the screen

DATA gc_custom_control_name TYPE scrfname VALUE ‘CC_ALV’ .

*--- Custom container instance reference

DATA gr_ccontainer TYPE REF TO cl_gui_custom_container .

*--- Field catalog table

DATA gt_fieldcat TYPE lvc_t_fcat .

*--- Layout structure

DATA gs_layout TYPE lvc_s_layo .

Code Part 1 – Global data definitions for ALV

Step 3 Declare your internal table which is supposed to hold the list data.

Let’s name it “gt_list”. Here is an example declaration.

Error Handling Inboud Process

2007-12-14T21:21:00.000-08:00

Error Handling on Inbound Idocs: Send Mail to a specified user group

Configuration Needed in SAP :

1. Attach event to Process Code:

a) Go to BD67, select the process code and double click

b) In next screen Associate Business Object, Start Event and End Event to Inbound Process

2. Attach standard task to the event attached to the Process Code

a) Go to SWE2, select the (business object , event) pair and double click

b) In next screen associate Task to be performed when the selected Business Object’s Event is fired and check ‘Linkage Activated’ check box.

3. Maintain task at PFTC. Bind task to triggering event and maintain agent assignment- i.e. people to be notified when the event is triggered.

a) Goto transaction PFTC [Maintain task] , populate Task Type and Task number. Click Change to move to next screen.

b) In next screen click “Triggering Events” tab. Double click on the left side button on the event if it is not green i.e. activated.

Activate Binding

c) Next move to Maintain Agent Assignment screen following the given path

d) Assign agents to be notified when the task is performed.

Create Agent Assignment

4. Populate Post-processing permitted agent in the Partner Profile for the given Inbound Message type. Those agents specifies the job (person or group of people) to be notified if processing errors occur on the IDOC interface.

a) Go to WE20, select Inbound Message type, failure in posting whose associated IDOC has to be notified. and double click

b) In next screen Maintain user-group to be notified upon

failure in IDOC posting

NOTE :

In certain situations, new Tasks and Business Objects for a message type may be needed. The following transactions may be used for that:

Transaction Use

PFTC Create New Task

SW01 Create New Business Object (creating subtype of Business Object IDOCAPPL)

After creation, above steps need to be done to activate the error notification process.

ABAP Interview Qs

2007-12-14T07:13:00.000-08:00

What is an ABAP data dictionary?- ABAP 4 data dictionary describes the logical structures of the objects used in application development and shows how they are mapped to the underlying relational database in tables/views.
What are domains and data element?- Domains:Domain is the central object for describing the technical characteristics of an attribute of an business objects. It describes the value range of the field. Data Element: It is used to describe the semantic definition of the table fields like description the field. Data element describes how a field can be displayed to end-user.
What is foreign key relationship?- A relationship which can be defined between tables and must be explicitly defined at field level. Foreign keys are used to ensure the consistency of data. Data entered should be checked against existing data to ensure that there are now contradiction. While defining foreign key relationship cardinality has to be specified. Cardinality mentions how many dependent records or how referenced records are possible.
Describe data classes.- Master data: It is the data which is seldomly changed. Transaction data: It is the data which is often changed. Organization data: It is a customizing data which is entered in the system when the system is configured and is then rarely changed. System data:It is the data which R/3 system needs for itself.
What are indexes?- Indexes are described as a copy of a database table reduced to specific fields. This data exists in sorted form. This sorting form ease fast access to the field of the tables. In order that other fields are also read, a pointer to the associated record of the actual table are included in the index. Yhe indexes are activated along with the table and are created automatically with it in the database.
Difference between transparent tables and pooled tables.- Transparent tables: Transparent tables in the dictionary has a one-to-one relation with the table in database. Its structure corresponds to single database field. Table in the database has the same name as in the dictionary. Transparent table holds application data. Pooled tables. Pooled tables in the dictionary has a many-to-one relation with the table in database. Table in the database has the different name as in the dictionary. Pooled table are stored in table pool at the database level.
What is an ABAP/4 Query?- ABAP/4 Query is a powerful tool to generate simple reports without any coding. ABAP/4 Query can generate the following 3 simple reports: Basic List: It is the simple reports. Statistics: Reports with statistical functions like Average, Percentages. Ranked Lists: For analytical reports. - For creating a ABAP/4 Query, programmer has to create user group and a functional group. Functional group can be created using with or without logical database table. Finally, assign user group to functional group. Finally, create a query on the functional group generated.
What is BDC programming?- Transferring of large/external/legacy data into SAP system using Batch Input programming. Batch input is a automatic procedure referred to as BDC(Batch Data Communications).The central component of the transfer is a queue file which receives the data vie a batch input programs and groups associated data into “sessions”.
What are the functional modules used in sequence in BDC?- These are the 3 functional modules which are used in a sequence to perform a data transfer successfully using BDC programming: BDC_OPEN_GROUP - Parameters like Name of the client, sessions and user name are specified in this functional modules. BDC_INSERT - It is used to insert the data for one transaction into a session. BDC_CLOSE_GROUP - This is used to close the batch input session.
What are internal tables?- Internal tables are a standard data type object which exists only during the runtime of the program. They are used to perform table calculations on subsets of database tables and for re-organising the contents of database tables according to users need.
What is ITS? What are the merits of ITS?- ITS is a Internet Transaction Server. ITS forms an interface between HTTP server and R/3 system, which converts screen provided data by the R/3 system into HTML documents and vice-versa. Merits of ITS: A complete web transaction can be developed and tested in R/3 system. All transaction components, including those used by the ITS outside the R/3 system at runtime, can be stored in the R/3 system. The advantage of automatic language processing in the R/3 system can be utilized to language-dependent HTML documents at runtime.
What is DynPro?- DynPro is a Dynamic Programming which is a combination of screen and the associated flow logic Screen is also called as DynPro.
What are screen painter and menu painter?- Screen painter: Screen painter is a tool to design and maintain screen and its elements. It allows user to create GUI screens for the transactions. Attributes, layout, filed attributes and flow logic are the elements of Screen painter. Menu painter: Menu painter is a tool to design the interface components. Status, menu bars, menu lists, F-key settings, functions and titles are the components of Menu painters. Screen painter and menu painter both are the graphical interface of an ABAP/4 applications.
What are the components of SAP scripts?- SAP scripts is a word processing tool of SAP which has the following components: Standard text. It is like a standard normal documents. Layout sets. - Layout set consists of the following components: Windows and pages, Paragraph formats, Character formats. Creating forms in the R/3 system. Every layout set consists of Header, paragraph, and character string. ABAP/4 program.
What is ALV programming in ABAP? When is this grid used in ABAP?- ALV is Application List viewer. Sap provides a set of ALV (ABAP LIST VIEWER) function modules which can be put into use to embellish the output of a report. This set of ALV functions is used to enhance the readability and functionality of any report output. Cases arise in sap when the output of a report contains columns extending more than 255 characters in length. In such cases, this set of ALV functions can help choose selected columns and arrange the different columns from a report output and also save different variants for report display. This is a very efficient tool for dynamically sorting and arranging the columns from a report output. The report output can contain up to 90 columns in the display with the wide array of display options.
What are the events in ABAP/4 language?- Initialization, At selection-screen, Start-of-selection, end-of-selection, top-of-page, end-of-page, At line-selection, At user-command, At PF, Get, At New, At LAST, AT END, AT FIRST.
What is CTS and what do you know about it?- The Change and Transport System (CTS) is a tool that helps you to organize development projects in the ABAP Workbench and in Customizing, and then transport the changes between the SAP Systems and clients in your system landscape. This documentation provides you with an overview of how to manage changes with the CTS and essential information on setting up your system and client landscape and deciding on a transport strategy. Read and follow this documentation when planning your development project.
What are logical databases? What are the advantages/ dis-advantages of logical databases?- To read data from a database tables we use logical database. A logical database provides read-only access to a group of related tables to an ABAP/4 program. Advantages: i)check functions which check that user input is complete, correct,and plausible. ii)Meaningful data selection. iii)central authorization checks for database accesses. iv)good read access performance while retaining the hierarchical data view determined by the application logic. dis advantages: i)If you donot specify a logical database in the program attributes,the GET events never occur. ii)There is no ENDGET command,so the code block associated with an event ends with the next event statement (such as another GET or an END-OF-SELECTION).
What is a batch input session?- BATCH INPUT SESSION is an intermediate step between internal table and database table. Data along with the action is stored in session ie data for screen fields, to which screen it is passed, program name behind it, and how next screen is processed.
How to upload data using CATT ?- These are the steps to be followed to Upload data through CATT: Creation of the CATT test case & recording the sample data input. Download of the source file template. Modification of the source file. Upload of the data from the source file.
What is Smart Forms?- Smart Forms allows you to create forms using a graphical design tool with robust functionality, color, and more. Additionally, all new forms developed at SAP will be created with the new Smart Form solution.
How can I make a differentiation between dependent and independent data?- Client dependent or independent transfer requirements include client specific or cross client objects in the change requests. Workbench objects like SAPscripts are client specific, some entries in customizing are client independent. If you display the object list for one change request, and then for each object the object attributes, you will find the flag client specific. If one object in the task list has this flag on, then that transport will be client dependent.
What is the difference between macro and subroutine?- Macros can only be used in the program the are defined in and only after the definition are expanded at compilation / generation. Subroutines (FORM) can be called from both the program the are defined in and other programs . A MACRO is more or less an abbreviation for some lines of code that are used more than once or twice. A FORM is a local subroutine (which can be called external). A FUNCTION is (more or less) a subroutine that is called external. Since debugging a MACRO is not really possible, prevent the use of them (I’ve never used them, but seen them in action). If the subroutine is used only local (called internal) use a FORM. If the subroutine is called external (used by more than one program) use a FUNCTION.

What is a breakpoint ?
Breakpoint is used to help the user scrutinize how the system behaves at a certain point in the ABAP code. At that point the system goes into debug mode. This breakpoint is useful in investigating how routines and requirements function. By accessing the routine source code and setting a breakpoint at its execution point, a user can follow the routine through each step.

25. What is a CATT ?
CATT means Computer Aided Test Tool. It is SAP's tool for processing transactions automatically. CATT is used in bringing in data, such as a mass maintenance of the material master in EXCEL, from an application to modify master data.

26. What is a user exit ?
User exit is a point in an SAP program at which a customer's own program can be called. User exits allow developers to access program components and data objects in the standard system. There are two types of user exits -
user exits that use includes (customer enhancements that are called from the program)
and user exits that use tables, which are used and managed directly via customizing.

27. What is a client ?
Client in a SAP work environment is the highest organizational structure. Many clients can be found in each system. QA (quality analysis) and Development are clients in Training and Production system.

28. What is an authorization ?
Authorization gives an SAP user permission to perform a given set of transactions.

29. Who is a user ?
Anyone who is given access to the SAP system by the system (basis) administrator is known as a user.

30. What is a variant ?
When executing a program, different selection parameters may be used. These selection parameters are stored in the SAP system as variants.

31. What is a SQL trace ?
SQL trace records all open, prepare, fetch, execute and actual SQL statements and the duration time for each step in a procedure.

32. What is master data ?
Master data is used in an SAP system to represent the basic components of a procedure and to ensure data integrity throughout the SAP business process. This gaurantees that one common record is accessed for different procedures. Example - a customer master record may be referenced by more than one functional module : FI (financial) and SD (sales and distribution).

What is the IMG ?
IMG is Implementation Guide that SAP system developers use to customize the client they are working in.
What is ASAP ?
ASAP is Accelerated SAP, a project management software tool that is used on SAP implementations to guide the project through different phases. ASAP can take a project from the designing of the "blueprint" through to "going live". Accelerated SAP is SAP’s total process-oriented solution for accelerated implementation and continuous optimization of R/3.
What are the core modules of SAP ?
The core functional modules in SAP R/3 are Financial Accounting (FI) usually in combination with Controlling (CO) or Treasury (TR) - Human Resources (HR), and logistic modules : Sales and Distribution (SD), Materials Management (MM), Quality Management (QM), Plant Maintenance (PM), and Production Planning (PP).
What is the ABAP Workbench?
ABAP Workbench is SAP's graphical programming environment. It is used to write ABAP code, design screens, create user interfaces, obtain database information, debug and test applications for effeciency.
In the SD document, what are the three levels of a sales document?
Each sales document comprises of three main levels and each level is represented by a table that holds the data for that level. Data for the header level is stored in table VBAK, data for the item levels is stored in table VBAP, and data for the schedule line level is stored in table VBEP.
What is a user profile?
User profile is a set of authorizations that enable user access to certain parts of the SAP system.
What is a sales area ?
Sales area is a segment that combines the sales organization, the distribution channel, and the sales division.
What is a logical database ?
Logical database is an ABAP program that combines the contents of database tables. It is linked to an ABAP report program as one of the program attributes. It supplies the report program with a set of hierarchically structured table entires derived from different database tables. This saves the developer from having to program the data retrieval.
What is a requirement ?
Requirement is a portion of code that is used to determine if a function or formula should be executed.
What is an ABAP Query ?
ABAP Query is a reporting tool that uses a logical database (LDB), individual table, or combined tables to form a report.
What is a functional area ?
Functional area is assigned to the query. It is the representation of a logical database or tables with their respective table joins. This defines which tables and fields the query can reference.
What is a batch input ?
Batch input facility in SAP is a convenient tool for capturing data into SAP or updating large amounts of information in SAP transactions. The simplest way to utilize batch input is by : 1) Record the batch input for the transaction used to enter the data in SAP; 2) Then export the batch input recording to a text file. From the recording, you know what data is required. Create a spreadsheet or word processor document containing all the data to be captured or changed. Then mail merge the exported text file with the data in a word processing program. Finally, import the merged file, upload the file into SAP, and execute the batch input in SAP.
What is LIS ?
LIS is Logistics Information System. LIS consists of following information systems -
Sales Information System
Purchasing Information System
Inventory Controlling
Shop Floor Information System
Plant Maintenance Information System
Quality Management Information System
These information systems can be used to plan, control, and monitor business events at different stages in the decision-making process. They are flexible tools for collecting, aggregating, and analyzing data from the operative applications.
What is OSS ?
OSS is an Online Service System which can be used to access information about a module in a given release. OSS is a database of notes on known issues and their remedies. Any user with a logon name and password can access this information. OSS can be used to obtain quick responses from the SAP help desk representatives, administration and registration of new users.
What is an SAP GUI ?
GUI means Graphical User Interface. It is responsible for the graphical layout of the SAP software. GUIs in SAP R/3 differ from version to version of SAP.
What is the typical structure of an ABAP/4 program?
ANS:-
HEADER ,BODY,FOOTER.
What are field symbols and field groups.?
Have you used "component idx of structure" clause with field groups?
ANS:-
Field symbols:- Field groups :-
What should be the approach for writing a BDC program?
ANS:-
STEP 1: CONVERTING THE LEGACY SYSTEM DATA TO A FLAT FILE to internal table CALLED "CONVERSION".
STEP 2: TRANSFERING THE FLAT FILE INTO SAP SYSTEM CALLED "SAP DATA TRANSFER".
STEP 3: DEPENDING UPON THE BDC TYPE i)call transaction(Write the program explicity)
ii) create sessions (sessions are created and processed.if success data will transfer).
What is a batch input session?
ANS:-
BATCH INPUT SESSION is an intermediate step between internal table and database table.
Data along with the action is stored in session ie data for screen fields, to which screen it is passed,program name behind it, and how next screen is processed.
What is the alternative to batch input session?
ANS:-
Call transaction.
A situation: An ABAP program creates a batch input session.
We need to submit the program and the batch session in back ground. How to do it?
ANS:-
go to SM36 and create background job by giving
job name,job class and job steps (JOB SCHEDULING)
What are the problems in processing batch input sessions?
How is batch input process different from processing online?
ANS:-
PROBLEMS:-
i) If the user forgets to opt for keep session then the session will be automatically removed from the session queue(log remains). However if session is processed we may delete it manually.
ii)if session processing fails data will not be transferred to SAP database table.
What are the different types of data dictionary objects?
ans:-
tables, structures, views, domains, data elements, lock objects, Matchcode objects.
How many types of tables exists and what are they in data dictionary?
ans :-
4 types of tables
i)Transparent tables - Exists with the same structure both in dictionary as well as in database exactly with the same data and fields. Both Opensql and Nativesql can be used. ii)Pool tables & iii)Cluster tables -
These are logical tables that are arranged as records of transparent tables.one cannot use native sql on these tables
(only opensql).They are not managable directly using database system tools.
iv)Internal tables - .
What is the step by step process to create a table in data dictionary?
ans:-
step 1: creating domains(data type,field length,range).
step 2: creating data elements(properties and type for a table
field).
step 3: creating tables(SE11).
Can a transparent table exist in data dictionary but not in the data base physically?
ANS:- NO.
TRANSPARENT TABLE DO EXIST WITH THE SAME STRUCTURE BOTH IN THE DICTIONARY AS WELL AS IN THE DATABASE,EXACTLY WITH THE SAME DATA AND FIELDS.
What are the domains and data elements?
ANS:-
DOMAINS : FORMAL DEFINITION OF THE DATA TYPES.THEY SET ATTRIBUTES SUCH AS DATA TYPE,LENGTH,RANGE.
DATA ELEMENT : A FIELD IN R/3 SYSTEM IS A DATA ELEMENT.
Can you create a table with fields not referring to data elements?
ANS:-
YES. eg:- ITAB LIKE SPFLI.here we are referening to a data object(SPFLI) not data element.
What is the advantage of structures? How do you use them in the ABAP programs?
ANS:-
Adv:- GLOBAL EXISTANCE(these could be used by any other program without creating it again).
What does an extract statement do in the ABAP program?
ANS:-
Once you have declared the possible record types as field groups and defined their structure, you can fill the extract dataset using the following statements:
EXTRACT .

When the first EXTRACT statement occurs in a program, the system creates the extract dataset and adds the first extract record to it. In each subsequent EXTRACT statement, the new extract record is added to the dataset
EXTRACT HEADER.
When you extract the data, the record is filled with the current values of the corresponding fields.
As soon as the system has processed the first EXTRACT statement for a field group , the structure of the corresponding extract record in the extract dataset is fixed. You can no longer insert new fields into the field groups and HEADER. If you try to modify one of the field groups afterwards and use it in another EXTRACT statement, a runtime error occurs.
By processing EXTRACT statements several times using different field groups, you fill the extract dataset with records of different length and structure. Since you can modify field groups dynamically up to their first usage in an EXTRACT statement, extract datasets provide the advantage that you need not determine the structure at the beginning of the program.

What is a collect statement? How is it different from append?
ANS:-
If an entry with the same key already exists, the COLLECT statement does not append a new line, but adds the contents of the numeric fields in the work area to the contents of the numeric fields in the existing entry.
What is open sql vs native sql?
ANS:-
Open SQL , native SQL are the interfaces to create the database applicatons.
Open SQL is consistant across different types of existing Databases.
Native SQL is the database language specific to database.Its API is specific to the databse.
Open SQL API is consistent across all vendors
What does an EXEC SQL stmt do in ABAP? What is the disadvantage of using it?
ANS:-
What is the meaning of ABAP/4 editor integrated with ABAP/4 data dictionary?
ANS:-
What are the events in ABAP/4 language?
ANS:-
Initialization, At selection-screen,Start-of-selection,end-of-selection,top-of-page,end-of-page, At line-selection,At user-command,At PF,Get,At New,At LAST,AT END, AT FIRST.
What is an interactive report?
What is the obvious diff of such report compared with classical type reports?
ANS:-
An Interactive report is a dynamic drill down report that produces the list on users choice.
diff:-
a) THE LIST PRODUCED BY CLASSICAL REPORT DOESN'T allow user to interact with the system
the list produced by interactive report allows the user to interact with the system.
b) ONCE A CLASSICAL REPORT EXECUTED USER LOOSES CONTROL.IR USER HAS CONTROL.
c) IN CLASSICAL REPORT DRILLING IS NOT POSSIBLE.IN INTERACTIVE DRILLING IS POSSIBLE.
What is a drill down report?
ANS:-
Its an Interactive report where in the user can get more relavent data by selecting explicitly.
How do you write a function module in SAP? describe.
ANS:-
creating function module:-
called program - se37-creating funcgrp,funcmodule by assigning attributes,importing,exporting,tables,exceptions.
calling program - SE38-in pgm click pattern and write function name- provide export,import,tables,exception values.
What are the exceptions in function module?
ANS:-
COMMUNICATION_FAILURE
SYSTEM_FAILURE
What is a function group?
ANS:-
GROUP OF ALL RELATED FUNCTIONS.
How are the date and time field values stored in SAP?
ANS:-
DD.MM.YYYY. HH:MM:SS
Name a few data dictionary objects? //rep//
ANS:-
TABLES,VIEWS,STRUCTURES,LOCK OBJECTS,MATCHCODE OBJECTS.
What happens when a table is activated in DD?
ANS:-
It is available for any insertion,modification and updation of records by any user.
What is a check table and what is a value table?
Check table will be at field level checking.
Value table will be at domain level checking ex: scarr table is check table for carrid.
What are match codes? describe?
ans:-
It is a similar to table index that gives list of possible values for either primary keys or non-primary keys.
What transactions do you use for data analysis?
ANS:-
What is table maintenance generator?
ANS:-
What are ranges? What are number ranges?
ANS:-
max,min values provided in selection screens.
What are select options and what is the diff from parameters?

ANS:-
select options provide ranges where as parameters do not.

SELECT-OPTIONS declares an internal table which is automatically filled with values or ranges
of values entered by the end user. For each SELECT-OPTIONS , the system creates a selection table.

SELECT-OPTIONS FOR .

A selection table is an internal table with fields SIGN, OPTION, LOW and HIGH.
The type of LOW and HIGH is the same as that of .
The SIGN field can take the following values: I Inclusive (should apply) E Exclusive (should not apply)
The OPTION field can take the following values: EQ Equal GT Greater than NE Not equal BT Between LE Less
than or equal NB Not between LT Less than CP Contains pattern GE Greater than or equal NP No pattern.
diff:-
PARAMETERS allow users to enter a single value into an internal field within a report.
SELECT-OPTIONS allow users to fill an internal table with a range of values.

For each PARAMETERS or SELECT-OPTIONS statement you should define text elements by choosing
Goto - Text elements - Selection texts - Change.

Eg:- Parameters name(30).
when the user executes the ABAP/4 program,an input field for 'name' will appear on the selection screen.You can change the comments on the left side of the input fields by using text elements as described in Selection Texts.

How do you validate the selection criteria of a report?
And how do you display initial values in a selection screen?
ANS:-
validate :- by using match code objects.
display :- Parameters default 'xxx'.
select-options for spfli-carrid.
What are selection texts?
What is CTS and what do you know about it?
The Change and Transport System (CTS) is a tool that helps you to organize development projects in the ABAP Workbench and in Customizing, and then transport the changes between the SAP Systems and clients in your system landscape.
This documentation provides you with an overview of how to manage changes with the CTS and essential information on setting up your system and client landscape and deciding on a transport strategy. Read and follow this documentation when planning your development project.
For practical information on working with the Change and Transport System, see Change and Transport Organizer and Transport Management System.
When a program is created and need to be transported to prodn does selection texts always go with it? if not how do you make sure? Can you change the CTS entries? How do you do it?
ANS:-
What is the client concept in SAP? What is the meaning of client independent?
ANS:-
Are programs client dependent?
ANS:-
Yes.Group of users can access these programs with a client no.
Name a few system global variables you can use in ABAP programs?
ANS:-
SY-SUBRC,SY-DBCNT,SY-LILLI,SY-DATUM,SY-UZEIT,SY-UCOMM,SY-TABIX.....
SY-LILLI IS ABSOLUTE NO OF LINES FROM WHICH THE EVENT WAS TRIGGERED.
What are internal tables? How do you get the number of lines in an internal table?
How to use a specific number occurs statement?
ANS:-
i)It is a standard data type object which exists only during the runtime of the program.
They are used to perform table calculations on subsets of database tables and for re-organising the contents of database tables according to users need.
ii)using SY-DBCNT.
iii)The number of memory allocations the system need to allocate for the next record population.
How do you take care of performance issues in your ABAP programs?

Performance of ABAPs can be improved by minimizing the amount of data to be transferred.
The data set must be transferred through the network to the applications, so reducing the amount OF time and also reduces the network traffic.

Some measures that can be taken are:

Use views defined in the ABAP/4 DDIC (also has the advantage of better reusability).
- Use field list (SELECT clause) rather than SELECT *.
- Range tables should be avoided (IN operator)
- Avoid nested SELECTS.

i)system tools

ii)field symbols and field groups.
ans:-
Field Symbols : Field symbols are placeholders for existing fields. A Field Symbol does not physically reserve space for a field,but points to a field which is not known until runtime of the program.
eg:- FIELD-SYMBOL [].

Field groups : A field group combines several fields under one name.At runtime,the INSERT command is used to define which data fields are assigned to which field group.
There should always be a HEADER field group that defines how the extracted data will be sorted,the data is sorted by the fields grouped under the HEADER field group.

What are datasets?
ANS:-
The sequential files(ON APPLICATION SERVER) are called datasets. They are used for file handling in SAP.
How to find the return code of a statement in ABAP programs?
ANS:-
Using function modules.
What are interface/conversion programs in SAP?
ANS :
CONVERSION : LEGACY SYSTEM TO FLAT FILE.
INTERFACE : FLAT FILE TO SAP SYSTEM.
Have you used SAP supplied programs to load master data?
What are the techniques involved in using SAP supplied programs?
Do you prefer to write your own programs to load master data? Why?
What are logical databases? What are the advantages/disadvantages of logical databases?
ANS:-
To read data from a database tables we use logical database.
A logical database provides read-only access to a group of related tables to an ABAP/4 program.
advantages:-
The programmer need not worry about the primary key for each table.Because Logical database knows how the different tables relate to each other,and can issue the SELECT command with proper where clause to retrieve the data.
i)An easy-to-use standard user interface.
ii)check functions which check that user input is complete,correct,and plausible.
iii)meaningful data selection.
iv)central authorization checks for database accesses.
v)good read access performance while retaining the hierarchical data view determined by the application logic.
disadvantages:-
i)If you donot specify a logical database in the program attributes,the GET events never occur.
ii)There is no ENDGET command,so the code block associated with an event ends with the next event statement (such as another GET or an END-OF-SELECTION).
What specific statements do you using when writing a drill down report?
ans:-
AT LINE-SELECTION,AT USER-COMMAND,AT PF.
What are different tools to report data in SAP? What all have you used?
ans:-
What are the advantages and disadvantages of ABAP/4 query tool?
What are the functional areas? User groups? and how does ABAP/4 query work in relation to these?
Is a logical database a requirement/must to write an ABAP/4 query?
What are Change header/detail tables? Have you used them?
What do you do when the system crashes in the middle of a BDC batch session?
ans:-
we will look into the error log file (SM35).
What do you do with errors in BDC batch sessions?
ANS:-
We look into the list of incorrect session and process it again. To correct incorrect session we analyize the session to determine which screen and value produced the error.For small errors in data we correct them interactively otherwise
modify batch input program that has generated the session or many times even the datafile.
How do you set up background jobs in SAP? What are the steps? What are the event driven batch jobs?
ans:-
go to SM36 and create background job by giving job name,job class and job steps(JOB SCHEDULING)
Is it possible to run host command from SAP environment? How do you run?
What kind of financial periods exist in SAP? What is the relavent table for that?
Does SAP handle multiple currencies? Multiple languages?
ans:-Yes.
What is a currency factoring technique?
How do you document ABAP/4 programs? Do you use program documentation menu option?
What is SAPscript and layout set?
ans:-
The tool which is used to create layout set is called SAPscript. Layout set is a design document.
What are the ABAP/4 commands that link to a layout set?
ans:-
control commands,system commands,
What is output determination?
What are IDOCs?
ans:-
IDOCs are intermediate documents to hold the messages as a container.
What are screen painter? menu painter? Gui status? ..etc.

ans:-
dynpro - flow logic + screens.
menu painter -
GUI Status - It is subset of the interface elements(title bar,menu bar,standard tool bar,push buttons) used for a certain screen.
The status comprises those elements that are currently needed by the transaction.
118.What are screen painter? menu painter? Gui status?
ans:-
dynpro - flow logic + screens.
menu painter -
GUI Status - It is subset of the interface elements(title bar,menu bar,standard tool bar,push buttons) used for a certain screen.
The status comprises those elements that are currently needed by the transaction.
119. What is screen flow logic? What are the sections in it? Explain PAI and PBO.
ans:-
The control statements that control the screen flow.
PBO - This event is triggered before the screen is displayed.
PAI - This event is responsible for processing of screen after the user enters the data and clicks the pushbutton.
120. Overall how do you write transaction programs in SAP?
ans:-
Create program-SE93-create transcode-Run it from command field.
121. Does SAP has a GUI screen painter or not? If yes what operating systems is it available on? What is the other type of screen painter called?
122. What are step loops? How do you program pagedown pageup in step loops?
ans:-
step loops are repeated blocks of field in a screen.
123. Is ABAP a GUI language?
ANS:-
Yes.
ABAP IS AN EVENT DRIVEN LANGUAGE.
124. Normally how many and what files get created when a transaction program is written?
What is the XXXXXTOP program?
ans:-
ABAP/4 program.
DYNPRO
125. What are the include programs?
ANS:-
When the same sequence of statements in several programs are to be written repeadly they are coded in include programs (External programs) and are included in ABAP/4 programs.
126. Can you call a subroutine of one program from another program?
ans:- Yes- only external subroutines Using 'SUBMIT' statement.
127. . What are user exits? What is involved in writing them? What precations are needed?
128. What are RFCs? How do you write RFCs on SAP side?
129. What are the general naming conventions of ABAP programs?
ANS:-
Should start with Y or Z.
130. How do you find if a logical database exists for your program requrements?
ans:-
SLDB-F4.
131. How do you find the tables to report from when the user just tell you the transaction he uses? And all the underlying data is from SAP structures?
ans:-
Transcode is entered in command field to open the table.Utilities-Table contents-display.
132. How do you find the menu path for a given transaction in SAP?
ans:-
133. What are the different modules of SAP?
ans:-
FI,CO,SD,MM,PP,HR.
134. How do you get help in ABAP?
ans:-
HELP-SAP LIBRARY,by pressing F1 on a keyword.
135. What are different ABAP/4 editors? What are the differences?
ans:-
136. What are the different elements in layout sets?
ans:-
PAGES,Page windows,Header,Paragraph,Character String,Windows.
137. Can you use if then else, perform ..etc statements in sap script?
ans:-
yes.
138. What type of variables normally used in sap script to output data?
139. How do you number pages in sapscript layout outputs?
140. What takes most time in SAP script programming?
ANS:-
LAYOUT DESIGN AND LOGO INSERTION.
141. How do you use tab sets in layout sets?
142. How do you backup sapscript layout sets? Can you download and upload? How?

What are presentation and application servers in SAP?
ANS:-
The application layer of an R/3 System is made up of the application servers and the message server. Application programs in an R/3 System are run on application servers. The application servers communicate with the presentation components, the database, and also with each other, using the message server.
In an ABAP/4 program how do you access data that exists on a presentation server vs on an application server?
ans:-
i)using loop statements.
ii)flat
What are different data types in ABAP/4?
ans:-
Elementary -
predefined C,D,F,I,N,P,T,X.
userdefined TYPES.
ex: see in intel book page no 35/65
Structured -
predefined TABLES.
userdefined Field Strings and internal tables.
What is difference between session method and Call Transaction?
Setting up a BDC program where you find information from?
What has to be done to the packed fields before submitting to a BDC session.
ans:-
fields converted into character type.
What is the structure of a BDC sessions.
ans:-
BDCDATA (standard structure).
What are the fields in a BDC_Tab Table.
ans:-
program,dynpro,dynbegin,fnam,fval.
What do you define in the domain and data element.
Technical details like
What is the difference between a pool table and a transparent table and how they are stored at the database level.
ans:-
ii)Pool tables is a logical representation of transparent tables .Hence no existence at database level. Where as transparent tables are physical tables and exist at database level.
What is cardinality?

For cardinality one out of two (domain or data element) should be the same for Ztest1 and Ztest2 tables. M:N
Cardinality specifies the number of dependent(Target) and independent (source) entities which can be in a relationship

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