Shortcuts that can make an ABAP’er life easier

Introduction

ABAP is quite different from many contemporary programming languages in several ways. Some aspects of ABAP would make us wonder why is it made this complex while some aspects are so awesome and more comfortable for a programmer than any other language can provide.

Two of those things that I find so cool are:

Its ingenuous IDE (ABAP Editor) and
Its cool Debugger

Eventhough the SAP IDE does not support some of the features which more prominent IDE’s like Eclipse etc have, I find it so comfortable to code in ABAP Editor compared to others. The reason is because of the below shortcuts and customizations available with it. I am listing the few which I use constantly and without which I cannot think of coding ABAP.

Most of the programmers even with a little bit of ABAP experience would have come accross the details listed here. If you have, please ignore and if you haven’t then the stage is yours..

Shortcut	What it does
Ctrl + D	Duplicate any line. eg. i_vbap TYPE STANDARD TABLE OF vbap + Ctrl-D = i_vbap TYPE STANDARD TABLE OF vbap i_vbap TYPE STANDARD TABLE OF vbap
Ctrl + /	Jump to the “command field” where we enter t-codes. This comes really handy and saves a jump from keyboard to mouse and back to keyboard just to click on the box.
Ctrl + J	Convert to Proper case where the first letter of every word becomes a capital letter. This is pretty useful when writing comments. eg. * this is a comment which will give absolutely no useful information will be changed to * This Is A Comment Which Will Give Absolutely No Useful Information
Ctrl + I & Ctrl + Shift + I	Incremental search. This is a little improved ‘Find’ (Ctrl + F) function which searches as soon as you type. Useful for impatient people. Add shift to search backwards.
Ctrl + K	Toggle between Upper case and Lower Case.
Alt + Selection	This is useful in situation where you need to select only the field names of a particular table. eg. caufv–aufnr, caufv–werks, caufv–objnr, caufv–plnbez, caufv–gamng, caufv–gasmg, caufv–gmein, caufv–plnnr, caufv–plnal, caufv–dispo, caufv–fevor, caufv–cy_seqnr , caufv–aufpl, caufv–gstrp, caufv–gltrp, caufv–gstrs, caufv–gltrs, caufv–gstri, caufv–gltri, In these values, u can select only the field names by pressing Alt key and get the clipboard filled like this. aufnr, werks, objnr, plnbez, gamng, gasmg, gmein, plnnr, plnal, dispo, fevor, cy_seqnr , aufpl, gstrp, gltrp, gstrs, gltrs, gstri, gltri,
Tab & Shift tab	Increase and Decrease Intend
Ctrl + O	Goto a particular line in the program
Ctrl + Shift + S	Save your program in Desktop in .abap format. I came know about .abap only after learning this short cut.
Ctrl + Selection	When you do a selection with **** + -> or <- hold on to Ctrl to jump every word in that direction.
Ctrl + . & Ctrl + ,	Comment and Un-Comment selected lines.
Ctrl+Alt+T	Swaps current line with the Upper Line. eg. INCLUDE ZTEST_ABAP_HTTP_CLIENT_TOP. INCLUDE ZTEST_ABAP_HTTP_CLIENT_C01. becomes INCLUDE ZTEST_ABAP_HTTP_CLIENT_C01. INCLUDE ZTEST_ABAP_HTTP_CLIENT_TOP.
Ctrl+Shift+L/X	Deletes the whole line
Ctrl + ] & Ctrl + [	Jump to previous or next paragraph. A paragraph is created by leaving an empty line between statements.
Ctrl + Shift + Num8 & Ctrl + Shift + Num2	Move the lines up and down in the editor window while the cursor stays in the same place. This is similar to Page Up & Page Down but instead, it does not scroll an entire page but only one line.
Ctrl + Spacebar	Display options to complete a command. Eg. After typing CREATE, Ctrl + Spacebar will show you the list to choose DATA or OBJECT.. When I press Tab for completion, it pops up for TR Number… The TR number that we give will be added in the comment. Variable Name Suggestions This is just a small setting but it will save you from Copy pasting or re-typing small words. Particularly useful for longer variable names. Conclusion Apart from the editor and debugger functions, the navigation and where used-list are other funtionalities which we use more often. Especially the code maintenance and support activities are comparitively less hectic just because these features. Another cool way to extend its core editor functionality for customizations could be by providing API’s even for the application programmers to code and customize the editor features. It will also add to the creativity aspect on SAP side since any third programmer could come with an awesome idea as an editor extension. As far as I have explored, I havent found any BADI or classes which can be used to perform editor functions. May be I have to look more or wait… Update: I got impressed with the response for this blog and it made me dig deeper inside the subject and came across this. Programming Shortcuts – The GEEK Style: Most of the shortcuts listed and not listed here can be seen from the SAP-GUI editor options. Again, click on the editor options button in the bottom-right corner of the SAP Editor screen, and choose… Now.. Most of the shortcuts listed above are available in the above list. We can re-assign any of the actions with any shortcuts we desire.. There are also cool actions which are not assigned to any shortcuts, Copy Append is one such shortcut which I find to be very useful, un-assigned. I am assigning a new shortcut Ctrl + Alt + C for copy append.. Now by pressing Ctrl + Alt + C, I can append contents into my clipboard. Eg. + Ctrl + Alt + C + = Similarly you can set shortcuts for Cut Append, Navigating to Bookmarks, Formatting Selected text etc… Assigned Tags / 127 Comments You must be Logged on to comment or reply to a post. Former Member October 21, 2013 at 7:36 am very informative. Thanks for sharing ... Regards, Satbir. Like 0 Share Former Member October 21, 2013 at 7:36 am very informative. Thanks for sharing ... Regards, Satbir. Like 0 Share Maheshkumar gattu October 23, 2013 at 4:24 pm Thanks for this document. i* is not working for me may i know the reason. Like 0 Share Jesse Owens October 29, 2013 at 8:22 am Hi Yuvraj, Cool Info. 🙂 Alt + Selection, Code Templates, Variable name suggestion are very useful 😎 Best Regards Jesse Like 0 Share R Sampath Kumar November 10, 2013 at 3:38 am hi yuvi, usefull info... thanks for sharing... ctrl+alt+p for print preview. i checked in abap editor. Like 0 Share Former Member November 21, 2013 at 5:11 am Very useful... Like 0 Share Former Member December 3, 2013 at 10:12 pm Wow amazing post. CTRL + / will save so much time!! And COPY APPEND???? Wow. Excellent stuff. Like 0 Share Former Member December 4, 2013 at 2:51 am Thanks for sharing Like 0 Share Bhargav Darapareddy December 11, 2013 at 11:00 am Hi Yuvraj, Thanks for sharing valuable subject. thanks & regards, Bhargav D. Like 0 Share Velmurugan Thirugnanam December 13, 2013 at 8:26 pm Excellent Yuvaraj, Learned lot of shortcuts 🙂 Thanks for sharing the useful info .... Like 0 Share Jitendra Kansal December 30, 2013 at 7:46 am fantastic stuff !!! Like 0 Share Siva Subramanian Ammayappapillai December 30, 2013 at 9:40 am Good Info!!! Like 0 Share Suman Sardar January 2, 2014 at 4:56 am Nice thing to learn. Thanks for sharing. Like 0 Share Santhosh Kumar A January 3, 2014 at 12:16 pm Great Information, Thanks for sharing it. Like 0 Share Former Member January 6, 2014 at 6:50 am Very useful. thanks Like 0 Share Ravindra Sonar January 7, 2014 at 3:05 am Hello Yuvraj, It was nice reading but honestly it was nothing new. I am searching one thing from long back and use of it, if u know can u please post back a reply? What CTRL + SHIFT + F OR CTRL + SHIFT + G ----- is for??? Automatically lines comes and number with them, they connects from each other from some points. But what are those??? Never found any reason for it. Like 0 Share / Yuvaraj Shanmugam Blog Post Author June 20, 2017 at 3:14 pm Hey Rudra, Thanks for your honest comments. I know I m replying for your question really really late. But I have the answer and I cant stop myself from replying. The arrows you see are the visualization of tab orders in the screen where you can navigate using the TAB button. The red mark is the exit point and the green ones are the entry points. You can also define your tab order by clicking CTRL + Right click on any field in the form. More details on SAP GUI Help. Like 0 Share / Ravindra Sonar June 21, 2017 at 12:53 pm Dude 🙂 after 3 and half years 🙂 anyway thanks for the answer I had figured it long back 🙂 cheers Like 1 Share Former Member January 7, 2014 at 4:18 am This is very handy !! Like 0 Share Former Member January 17, 2014 at 5:19 am thanks for sharing.. Valuable information.. Regards Naganathan Like 0 Share Former Member January 21, 2014 at 4:03 pm Some helpful things here. Neal Like 0 Share umar jawid ahmed syed January 22, 2014 at 5:24 am Hi Yuvraj, Very Useful information. Thanks, Umar. Like 0 Share Former Member January 22, 2014 at 8:48 am Great list! Like 0 Share Former Member January 24, 2014 at 2:20 pm Very useful. Thank you. Like 0 Share Former Member February 3, 2014 at 4:05 am Thanks a lot for sharing this..quite helpful. Like 0 Share Former Member February 3, 2014 at 1:38 pm Nice Article. I have a question. How do you open the .abap file back? Can we upload back into SAP? Thank You, Gajendra. Like 0 Share Former Member February 5, 2014 at 12:09 pm Very Useful Information. Thanks a lot! Like 0 Share Ranjit Kumar February 5, 2014 at 12:37 pm Hi Yuvraj, Very useful information you have mentioned. Really it will make easier life of ABAPer. Thanks, Ranjit Kumar. Like 0 Share Former Member February 6, 2014 at 12:14 pm I consider my self as a Part time abaper. I could find this a useful for my day to day work. How ever this can be segregated like Formatting, Help, Screen adjustments and presented as linked WIKI. Thanks for the info. was really helpful Like 0 Share Former Member June 19, 2014 at 8:01 pm Even with some of the right-side end of text being cut off, an excellent list of shortcut key-combinations. Very helpful. Thanks! Like 0 Share Former Member June 20, 2014 at 6:31 am There is a horizontal scroll bar at end of content which can be used to see cut off text. Alternatively, if you have clicked on any text of content, left+right keyboard arrow keys can be used to scroll left/right. Mouse drag also works. Like 1 Share Mehwish Haq June 20, 2014 at 12:15 pm Very useful 🙂 Thanks for sharing this ! Like 0 Share M Mukhtar June 20, 2014 at 12:35 pm Interesting short cuts. Thanks for sharing Like 0 Share Aditya Varrier June 20, 2014 at 2:32 pm Hi Yuvraj, nice blog, well one of my team member tried it, but wasnt working. Does it need specific Support Pack? Cheers, Aditya Like 0 Share Jitendra Soni June 20, 2014 at 3:25 pm Nice Blog Yuvraj. I haven't read all the comments but want to add 1 more shortcut 😉 Ctrl Shift + => Open a New Session Like 0 Share Yuvaraj Shanmugam Blog Post Author December 9, 2015 at 1:46 pm Thanks for the Ctrl + Shift + +. But opening a new session is a waste of time, it often irritates me when someone showing me anything by opening it in a new session (especially with mouse) and typing the tcode. Slash o it away for doing things faster.. 😉 Like 0 Share Former Member July 15, 2014 at 12:25 pm Hi, Thanks for posting the shortcuts for abap editor can u give some shortcuts related to abap debugging regards , maha. Like 0 Share Jayaprakash Thanadavarayan October 16, 2014 at 6:57 am Hi yuvraj, I appreciate for sharing this short cuts.very helpful blog for Abapers. Ctrl + f6 - call function module Regards Jayaprakash T Like 0 Share Former Member November 7, 2014 at 12:41 pm Great Read !! Especially the CTRL + Selection and ALT + Selection Like 0 Share Yaswanth Datta Vathumilli February 20, 2015 at 11:56 am Hi Yuvraj, Thanks for sharing your knowledge Regards, Yaswanth Datta Like 0 Share Former Member May 25, 2015 at 10:26 am Hi Yuvaraj, I have one query regarding this. How can i know which database tables these templates are stored. I am working on some scenario where i need to access these entries. Can you please help me in this case. Regards, Vishu Agarwal Like 0 Share Yuvaraj Shanmugam Blog Post Author December 9, 2015 at 1:40 pm I don't think it is stored in database tables. It is stored as XML files in your local PC. You can find it in the same folder where your SAP GUI data is stored. All the customization that we do here is local to every workstation and is not added in server. Like 0 Share Peter Inotai December 9, 2015 at 1:47 pm Yes, these files are saved here (at least for SAPGUI 7.40): C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\SAP\SAP GUI\ABAP Editor\ Like 0 Share Former Member May 25, 2015 at 10:59 am Hi Yuvaraj, Nice blog.. a very useful one. Here is one I would like to add which is useful while debugging when you need to go back to a line of code that you have already passed Place cursor on the line to which you need to go to and Shift+F12. Thanks, Leena Like 0 Share Pawadee Keratichewanun September 25, 2015 at 4:08 am Very Helpful Like 0 Share Former Member October 1, 2015 at 8:31 am Thanks for sharing this 🙂 . Like 0 Share Former Member January 4, 2016 at 6:25 pm Nice work Yuvaraj S and thanks for sharing with us. Like 0 Share Former Member May 12, 2016 at 7:52 am Thanks for sharing such a handy doc 🙂 Like 0 Share Former Member August 3, 2016 at 6:18 am Thank You very much. Very Useful. 🙂 Like 0 Share anirban mukhopadhyay June 20, 2017 at 5:35 am Great Post! Thank you very much!! Like 0 Share Richard Harper June 20, 2017 at 7:29 am You should've seen the previous editor. You could've said it was a direct copy (for commands etc) of the IBM S/370...Z/OS ISPF editor. So for example to copy the line you would put Cx in the margin where x is the number of times you want it copied. To delete a range of lines you would enter DD on the first line and DD on the last line. Insert was Ix. Rich Like 0 Share Yuvaraj Shanmugam Blog Post Author June 20, 2017 at 2:56 pm Just like how kids of these generations would ask us how we grew up without internet, I look at 90s and early 2000s ABAP programmers and wonder how did they even survived without the new editor. Also now the eclipse ADT has cooler features.. Like 0 Share Sandro Engelbrecht June 23, 2021 at 8:07 am Is there also a shortcut available for commenting selected lines with quotes? e.g. " This is my comment Like 0 Share Prathamesh Vijay Rawool August 4, 2023 at 8:20 am Hello Yuvaraj, This content is extremely useful. I am grateful for your sharing. (^-^) Like 0 Share 2 of 2 Find us on Privacy Terms of Use Legal Disclosure Copyright Trademark Newsletter Support Insert/edit link Enter the destination URL URL Link Text Open link in a new tab Or link to existing content Search No search term specified. Showing recent items. Search or use up and down arrow keys to select an item.