How to mix(use) SDN Forum and programming skills effectively ?
I present how I have used SDN Forum and my programming skills effectively(well there is always room for improvement and efficiency can always be bettered). My tools is the excel sheet (which I shall explain later). I should also add that, this weblog has been prepared with my experiences in ABAP Programming(it shows,eh!!).
Black Hole
As in the earlier weblog, Maximilian (The Value of SDN) mentioned and many of us would agree, we all start as a black hole. We keep on accepting whatever knowledge is there to gain and there comes a time, when it starts to begin as a mutual give-and-take relationship.
Classification
Every problem I faced during development, I put up the issue in SDN forum(usually ABAP), and the solution, I got I noted it down and placed in the excel sheet. Later on I keenly watched the ABAP forum, for more and more situations(questions) and how people have tackled with that. All these went into an excel sheet.
If I am allowed to categorise, the issues falls in :
- Not finding the correct function module for solving the problem
- Design Issue
- Configuration Issue
I am sure there are some more categories, which I am not aware of. I find the Category ‘1’ , a little easier to solve and ‘2’ the most difficult. Some Configuration issues can also be solved, but again it depends upon the quality of question posted. Since ‘1’ being the simplest and the most frequently asked, I have listed down this Excel sheet, which I refer from time to time.
Solution (already provided and my version)
Craig Cmheil has done this effectively in BSP Weblog repository, but instead of each individual having such a tool, it would be best, if there is a central repository of this information(Who better than SDN ? ).
Question: Why do you need an excel sheet, when you can do the same by searching the ABAP Forum ?
Answer: Very good question. However, ABAP itself is so vast and the number of situations(problems) a developer faces is countless , considering the different modules SAP R/3 has got. So it would be better to divide ABAP into sections and then search. Much easier to find.
Question: How do you classify then?
Answer: It depends(SAP Consultant’s favorite answer). You can choose whatever way you want to classify, but the aim should be to get that answer fast, when you need it the most. I prefer to classify , by technical methods as in Dialog Programming, OOABAP, ALV etc.. and also by functional area as in MM, SD, FI-CO etc.
Excel Sheet Framework
| Module | Sub Module | Type | Name | Description | Date | URL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Users | Function Module | RH_USER_NAME_READ | Populate the USER_TAB field with the list of users and in return it fetches the names of the users | 27/10/2004 | ||
| Users | BAPI | BAPI_USER_GET_DETAIL | Fetches all the details of the user | 27/10/2004 | ||
| ABAP | Internal Table | Classes | CL_ALV_TABLE_CREATE | To create dynamic tables | 27/10/2004 | |
| ABAP | ALV | OSS Note | 696069 | Excel In Place – ALV Issue | 27/10/2004 |
Just a glimpse, couldn’t attach the Excel sheet here for technical reasons, but this gives a framework to build upon.
I was hoping that with my weblog series and now hoping even more with your weblog that SDN would provide us with an easier to use FAQ database. Perhaps even based on my tutorial 😉 although mine was more of a tutorial on BSP programming.
To get to the point, in fact, I very much liked that tutorial of yours and it seemed such a great idea(it was both informative and creative and at the same time taught me some new topics in BSP).
Secondly, I am reminded of a saying from Isaac Newton "If I have seen further [than certain other men] it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.".
Your approach is something to start with and I am sure with more minds put together, we can do much better.
I will be happy to work together with SDN folk to get one up and running.