Last year I was developing an internal application on the AS Java stack that consisted of Web Dynpro for the UI, EJBs for the business logic and Java Dictionary Tables for the storage of data. Having done a lot of ABAP development in the past I was used to tools that would allow me to look at the table data stored in the tables that I was using. Not only this, but there are also tools in ABAP to transport table data from one system to another. I needed these sort tools for the Java application that I was creating...sure I could survive without them but it would save me a lot of time if I created these tools for myself.
So I create this utility that I call the Java Dictionary Table Maintenance Utility Tool. I figured a lot of other Java developers out there could use this tool so I released it on SDN last year. Since then I have received numerous emails about this utility, ranging from feature suggestions, bug fix requests, requests for the source code, to just plain thanks. I really appreciated all of these emails and I wish I could have acted upon them all earlier. That said I recently had time to take heed of all the suggestions that were sent to me and create a version 2.0 of the tool which can be downloaded here. In addition, I updated the help documentation that goes along with the tool which can be accessed here. In the documentation you can learn how to install and run the utility.
I know a lot of you requested the source code for this application. I really wish I could share it with you but for legal reason I currently can't. It sure would be great if the SAP Java development community could start an open source forge where we can together create and improve such tools. We really need to do this. That said, if you are working at SAP and want to contribute anything to this tool please let me know, I could easily add you to the NWDI system so that you can access the development track...just let me know, would be great to have such collaboration going on even if it is only internal at this point in time.
The current state of the tool is that it runs on AS Java 04 and 70. It currently doesn't run on CE 7.1. I might make a new release in the future for CE 7.1 if there are any requests for it. The thing with CE is that is uses the latest Eclipse version (3.3) that comes with some nice plug-ins to view table data...although there is nothing there to export and transport table data into different AS Java's. Anyway, we'll see what happens.
Even though I call this version 2.0 of the tool, it isn't really a major update...more like an Enhancement Pack. Here is a list of the new features:
- Ability to sort and filter the table data. Quite useful for getting to the rows that you need to work with.
- Ability to set default values for number of rows returned from the table, and number or rows to display in the Table UI.
- Add authentication, the user that logs on must be part of the Administrator role on a AS Java only stack, or the GRUP.R3_ROLE_DS.SAP_J2EE_ADMIN role on a AS Java + AS ABAP stack, where AS ABAP user store is used.
- Fixed bug with FLOAT types.
- Fixed other random bugs.
I hope you find the tool useful to your development endeavors, and if you run into any problems you can drop me an email at jeff.gebo@sap.com.
Cheers,
Jeff
