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. Fred Verheul September 17, 2013 at 10:15 am Hi Yuvaraj, Thanks for sharing these shortcuts and other tips. Though I consider myself an experienced ABAP developer, there were a few shortcuts I didn't know yet. And since I'm not working as much in the new Eclipse editor as I'd like to, these will still come in handy the next couple of years. Best regards, Fred Like 0 Share Yuvaraj Shanmugam Blog Post Author September 17, 2013 at 10:58 am Hi Fred, Thanks a lot for your kind words. I hear people say that Eclipse is particularly useful when we want code in multiple platforms at the same time like Netweaver JAVA, mobile and ABAP. As far as application developers are considered, SAP GUI editor cannot be replaced, atleast for a couple of years. Like 0 Share Former Member September 17, 2013 at 11:59 am Cool info! However, I was wondering if you knew the shortcut to maximizing & minimizing the Editor windows & moving them over the screen. This comes in handy when you are comparing what is displayed on 2 separate windows of the SAP GUI. Like 0 Share Yuvaraj Shanmugam Blog Post Author September 17, 2013 at 12:34 pm Well, for comparing different parts of the same program, I would recomment the embedded splitter, the small button on the upper right corner of your editor screen, when you are comparing two different programs, I would go for SE39. But if you really insist on using different windows, then u can make use of the Windows short cuts, Alt + Space , R - Restore, Alt + Space, X - Maximize, Alt + Space, N - Minimize and Alt + Space, M - Move the window.... Hope it helps, Yuvaraj S Like 0 Share / Former Member September 23, 2013 at 10:06 am Hi Utkarsha, As mentioned by Yuvaraj, Alt+ Space Combination works with all Windows applications. You can try it out even in your Windows Media Player, My Documents Folder etc., If you are using Windows 7 or Higher Version of Operating System, Click on the Title Bar and simply drag it:- Drag it to the top - Maximize the whole window (Similar to double click on the Title Bar) Drag it to the left - Fixes your windows to the left half of your screen. Similarly for the right side. Thank you! Like 0 Share Gireesh Kokate January 9, 2014 at 10:33 am Alt + Tab toggle Like 0 Share Former Member September 17, 2013 at 1:59 pm I would like to contribute with 6 more shortcuts. Ctrl + L = All text lowercase Ctrl + U = All text uppercase Ctrl + N = Open a new Window in SAP Shift + F1 = Execute Pretty Printer Ctrl + F2 = Check Sintax Ctrl + F3 = Activate Object. Best regards Like 0 Share Yuvaraj Shanmugam Blog Post Author September 18, 2013 at 7:00 am I have not been a big fan of doing Activate, Check etc using Ctrl + Function buttons. I have always felt as if the fucntion keys belong in a diffrent island 😛 . Thats why I didnt mention any of those. Its a biased opinion though. Like 0 Share Former Member September 26, 2013 at 6:51 pm Thanks for the share! Like 0 Share Mayur Priyan S September 17, 2013 at 2:47 pm Hi, Good work. I am adding few more to shortcuts to your list. Ctrl+F - Search Ctrl+G - Find next ( when the Search window is closed ) Ctrl+O - Go to line Ctrl+L - Small letters Ctrl+U - Uppercase letters Ctrl+J - Camel case letters Ctrl+K - Switch between Upper and Lower Case Ctrl+H - Find and Replace Ctrl+Shift+I - Increment search Backward Ctrl+Shift+S - Save Hardcopy Ctrl+Shift+L/X - Deletes whole line Ctrl+Shift+V - Gives All Paste options Ctrl+Alt+T - Swaps line with Upper case Regards, Mayur Priyan Like 0 Share Yuvaraj Shanmugam Blog Post Author September 18, 2013 at 7:06 am Thanks for expanding the list. You are awesome..! Ctrl+Alt+T Swaps with the upper line (not Upper case). and Ctrl+Shift+V does not work in SAP Netweaver 7.2 Like 0 Share Mayur Priyan S September 18, 2013 at 8:46 am Hi, Yup, Ctrl+Alt+T - Swaps line with Upper line* . It was a typo .. 😛 Like 0 Share Former Member September 18, 2013 at 11:29 am hi, Ctrl+Shift+V very useful one thank you Like 0 Share Mayur Priyan S September 18, 2013 at 11:52 am Hi Kiran, i am glad you found it useful. Cheers 😉 Like 0 Share Former Member September 17, 2013 at 3:05 pm Thanks for sharing. Every time someone shares something like this I pick up one or two more tricks. I do have one correction, though. Ctrl + J converts a selection to proper case, not camel case. This Is Proper Case. ThisIsCamelCase. Like 0 Share Former Member September 18, 2013 at 7:42 am Judging from the responses i think you should have posted this as a WiKi so that others could have added to the list of shortcuts easily 🙂 If you have already done so, i'll then ask you to add the link to your blog for easy reference 😉 - Suhas Like 0 Share Yuvaraj Shanmugam Blog Post Author September 18, 2013 at 10:48 am Thanks for ur comment Posting it as a Wiki would have been better. Anyway I am updating the list when someone mentions any lesser known shortcut.. Like 0 Share Kumud Singh September 28, 2013 at 8:05 am I am just wondering, had Yuvaraj posted it as a wiki, would it still have appeared on the front page of SCN!? I think xMoshe Naveh (Old Acct) would need to chime in here! Regards, Kumud Like 0 Share Phillip Morgan September 18, 2013 at 9:59 am A definite Like! I knew most of the shortcuts but the ones I did not know are awesome (ex.:Ctrl+Alt+T). Just one thing: For commenting code I do this: CTRL < to comment CTRL > to uncomment (they are usually on same key so this is with SHIFT) Could not get yours to work. Thanks! Like 0 Share Yuvaraj Shanmugam Blog Post Author September 18, 2013 at 10:55 am Well, thanks to Mayur Priyan for Ctrl+Alt+T... Like 0 Share Former Member October 16, 2013 at 7:21 am Thanks for sharing your knowledge.... Regards, Srinivas Katreddy Like 0 Share Former Member September 18, 2013 at 11:16 am Great Job Yuvraj. Really useful info for everyone!!. Thanks a lot, Like 0 Share Former Member September 18, 2013 at 11:56 am Hi Yuvaraj, Very useful info, Thanks for sharing. Best Regards , Satbir Like 0 Share Former Member September 18, 2013 at 12:14 pm Thanks for sharing! Like 0 Share Rajesh Akarte September 18, 2013 at 1:45 pm Useful information thanks for sharing. Like 0 Share Former Member September 19, 2013 at 3:14 am Hi Yuvraj, Simple, Crisp, and Useful Information that i hope all Abapers should be aware of. Presented very clean and attractive. Good work. Keep Going.. 🙂 Regards, AyyamPerumal Like 0 Share Former Member September 19, 2013 at 4:55 pm Thanks for sharing tips ..will reduce some typing stuff Reagrds, Vamsi Like 0 Share Former Member September 20, 2013 at 12:15 am Thank you for sharing this knowledge. Regards, Christian 🙂 Like 0 Share Former Member September 20, 2013 at 12:33 am Thanks for sharing Yuvaraj. Ctrl + '/' certainly saves one quite a bit of time. Ctrl + SPACEBAR - Gives you a predictive drop-down list of commands for a keyword. This only works once the IDE has proposed a keyword. As an exmple, type 'in' , the IDE will propose 'INCLUDE TYPE' (or other), then hit Ctrl + SPACEBAR. Cheers Like 0 Share Yuvaraj Shanmugam Blog Post Author September 20, 2013 at 4:00 am Hi Garth, I came across this 'Ctrl + Spacebar' shortcut, but this does not work with SAP_BASIS 701 & SAP_ABA 701 (the version that I use).. Any idea from which version it works? Like 0 Share Former Member September 20, 2013 at 5:22 am Hi Yuvaraj, This feature is available on version 7.02, but have used it on previous versions as well. Cheers Like 0 Share Yuvaraj Shanmugam Blog Post Author September 20, 2013 at 7:45 am Thanks for reply, I figured it out finally. The cursor position should also be in the right place for the editor to propose. Eg. DATA<space> and Ctrl + spacebar suggests for Begin-of or End-of.. 😎 Like 0 Share Former Member September 20, 2013 at 7:55 am Hello Yuvaraj, Thanks a lot for shareing such a valuable Information with us. Its really useful to me Thanks, Nilesh. Like 0 Share Ramesh T September 20, 2013 at 4:00 am Helpful document... I am added few short cuts Ctrl + T - Converts first letter CAPITAL Example: fld1(20) TYPE c, select and Ctrl + T It Changes like this Fld1(20) type c, Ctrl + [ - Go to first line of a Paragraph Curser will be in first line \| TYPES: BEGIN OF ty_excel, Fld1(20) type c, fld2(20) TYPE c, fld3(20) TYPE c, END OF ty_excel. Ctrl + ] - Go to last line of a Paragraph Curser will be in last line TYPES: BEGIN OF ty_excel, Fld1(20) type c, fld2(20) TYPE c, fld3(20) TYPE c, \| END OF ty_excel. Alt + Selection We can add and delete values in selected area Select with Alt + Selection and Delete TYPES: BEGIN OF ty_excel, Fld1(20) type fld2(20) TYPE fld3(20) TYPE END OF ty_excel. Select with Alt + Selection and Enter values Regards, Ramesh.T Like 0 Share / Arno ter Horst June 24, 2014 at 7:59 am This ALT+select is also very useful to align typing of a list of variables, when a new one has a longer variable name. Select with Alt + Selection Press tab untill equally aligned Like 0 Share / Former Member September 20, 2013 at 8:44 am Hi , if we define a Structure.This feature is avalible from EHP5 1.Type 'TYPE' and press Ctrl + Space 2.Along with this without moving the cursor press Shift + Enter and give the DB table name . 3.Click on ‘Preview TYPE’ and Select the fields Required 4.Press Ok. Here we will get Structure and fields descriptions automatically. Ex: types : begin of ty_mara, matnr type mara-matnr, "material number mtart type mara-mtart, "material type end of ty_mara. Regards, OmChandra Like 0 Share Former Member September 20, 2013 at 12:03 pm Hi Yuvaraj, I had bookmarked your blog yesterday itself but came to know the real importance of it today 🙂 . Didn't know many of them like alt+selection. Really helpful shortcuts and actually I enjoyed a lot using them. Keep sharing such informative things. Cheers, PS Like 0 Share Former Member September 20, 2013 at 1:18 pm Hi experts, I remembered one more shortcut to help us. To assist in locating codes, can be a bookmark, using a combination: CTRL + ALT + (0 to 9). To go to bookmark created, use combination CTRL + (0 to 9). Example: CRTL + ALT + 2 (Create a bookmark) CTRL + 2 (Go to bookmark). Best regards. Like 0 Share Poorva Salve September 21, 2013 at 2:54 pm Hi Yuvaraj, Thanks for sharing this valuable information. All these shortcuts come handy while coding. Special mention of the embedded splitter in ABAP editor. Thanks for sharing. Like 0 Share Peter Inotai September 23, 2013 at 8:34 am I also like the Formatting -> Enable Auto Bracket option. Very useful for short method call. It's adds the ')' automatically anytime you type '('. Peter Like 0 Share chinni adapa September 23, 2013 at 11:44 am Hi All, Keyboard shortcuts for left - hand people are need in order to have the same functionality as CTRL+C (to copy), CTRL+X (to cut) and CTRL+V (to paste). CTRL+INS = CTRL+C SHIFT+DEL = CTRL+X SHIFT+INS = CTRL+V Thanks & Regards, Chinni Like 0 Share Former Member September 24, 2013 at 5:35 pm Thanks Yuvaraj (and also to everyone else who contributed more to this post). With each advance of the ABAP Editor more features are added and it is very helpful to have someone list them and show examples. One question though, is there a way to save Code Templates globally so they are shared among all developers? Patterns are helpful but not interactive or dynamic like the code templates. Regards Andy Like 0 Share Yuvaraj Shanmugam Blog Post Author September 25, 2013 at 5:39 am Hello Andy, Thanks for your comments.. Thats an interesting question. Well most of the settings that we do in ABAP editor including the Code Templates and ShortCut Keys can be shared. All these settings are stored in Local PC as XML files. In Windows 7, they can be accessed by the following path.. "C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\SAP\SAP GUI\ABAP Editor" or simply start->run-> Type %Appdata%-> enter will take you to the userdata folders, goto SAP->SAPGUI->ABAP Editor Folder from there... This folder has XML files for all the settings that we make in the SAP GUI Editor options. To share Code templates, share the file abap_user.xml file.. To share the Shortcut Key configuration, share the file keymap.xml & keymap.xslt.. In platforms other than Windows 7, there should be a similar folder, probably in a different location.. Like 0 Share Poorva Salve September 26, 2013 at 6:17 am Helpful !! Like 0 Share Former Member September 28, 2013 at 6:22 am let me know the exact difference between r3 and ecc6.0 and 4.7? what makes change. Like 0 Share Former Member September 25, 2013 at 9:44 am Thanks For Sharing Like 0 Share K Jogeswara Rao September 26, 2013 at 11:51 pm Hi Yuvraj, Just come across this document. No wonder it is attracting these many likes and praises. Very useful knowledge sharing. Congratulations! Jogeswara Rao K Like 0 Share Ajay Bose S September 27, 2013 at 9:16 am very helpful and useful !!! Like 0 Share anju e v September 27, 2013 at 10:09 am Great post Yuvraj..indeed make abaper's life easier. Like 0 Share Former Member September 27, 2013 at 10:15 am Very useful information, Yuvraj. Thanks for sharing. Like 0 Share Former Member September 27, 2013 at 10:16 am Thanks Yuvraj for updating about shortcut and specially for editor option . 🙂 Like 0 Share Former Member September 27, 2013 at 12:31 pm really its very helpful yuvaraj,, appreciated for your inputs.. Thanks,, Like 0 Share Former Member September 27, 2013 at 1:01 pm Very Nice Document. Regards, Sushant Like 0 Share Arpit Gupta September 27, 2013 at 1:10 pm Great Post... Keep up the good work. Like 0 Share Yuvaraj Shanmugam Blog Post Author September 30, 2013 at 8:41 am Hi Ramesh, Like I have mentioned, all the shortcuts can be seen and programmed from the 'Keyboard' menu in Editor options Thanks for collecting and adding them separately though... 🙂 Like 0 Share Ajay Bose S October 1, 2013 at 11:14 am Hi Yuvaraj, Thought of sharing few points in your blog. In the editor we also have the option of surronding existing line(s) of code by statements such as if...else, do...endo, while...endwhile etc. We can select the line(s) of code and then right click the mouse and then select Format->Surround by Template You will see lot of options as I had mentioned like if...else, do...endo, while...endwhile etc. Once you select the command you will see that the lines you have selected have been surrounded by the selected command. This becomes useful in case where you have several lines of code already written but only want to enable it for a particular condition or something. However you can cut the selected lines of code and paste it into a notepad and then manually write your if or do condition and then paste your code back. But the shortcut which I just discussed will make sure that there are no incorrect nestings of any if... else command or do..enddo command inserted this way 🙂 Similary there a re lot of options in the Format Menu available in mouse right click. Another point is regarding a programming shortcut rather a keyboard shortcut 🙂 Neverthless it is very useful in many scenarios. Suppose you have several radiobuttons in your selection screen and yo need to check which of them has been selected by the user and write logic accordingly. A conventional way of acheiving this is by way of using if else statement like below: If p_rad1 EQ 'X'. <do something> elseif p_rad2 EQ 'X'. <do something> elseif p_rad3 EQ 'X'. <do something> elseif p_rad4 EQ 'X'. <do something> endif. Now here comes the shortcut, Instead of writing 'N' number of if else conditions you can write the code like: CASE 'X'. WHEN p_rad1. <do something> WHEN p_rad2. <do something> WHEN p_rad3. <do something> WHEN p_rad4. <do something> WHEN OTHERS. ENDCASE. Most of you mite be aware of this. But those of you who are not aware of this, I am sharing it for you. Yuvaraj, I hope it is some value addition to this wonderful blog of yours !!! Thanks, Ajay Bose Like 0 Share Yuvaraj Shanmugam Blog Post Author October 1, 2013 at 11:35 am Thanks for ur contribution, Yes, Surround by template will be useful at times. And Case 'X' statement is cool indeed. I wouldn't call it a shortcut, but it is the right way to code for a radio button. Thanks for sharing.. Like 0 Share gopi krishna macha October 7, 2013 at 5:34 am Thanks a lot for sharing.. ctrl+U = Selected text in Upper case. ctrl+T = Text start letter in capital remaining small. Like 0 Share jeetendra singh October 7, 2013 at 6:33 am Hey Yuvraj, Great info. Thanks for sharing Like 0 Share Former Member October 7, 2013 at 12:25 pm Thanks for sharing Yuvraj. This will be really useful 🙂 Like 0 Share Modadugu Hemanth Kumar October 9, 2013 at 6:45 am good article!! Like 0 Share Former Member October 10, 2013 at 6:05 pm Nice work brother.. 😎 Like 0 Share Former Member October 11, 2013 at 6:25 pm Ctrl + / is the most helpful. Now I have customized for Selection Comment (Ctrl + Shift + ,) and Selection Uncomment (Ctrl + Shift + .) and that's is too handy. Thank you for sharing. Regards, Amitesh Like 0 Share Abhijeet Kankani October 14, 2013 at 4:13 am ALT + selection was new to me. Thanks for sharing nice information. Like 0 Share Former Member October 14, 2013 at 1:16 pm cool 🙂 Like 0 Share Govendran Annadurai October 15, 2013 at 11:15 am Very useful Info. Thanks for sharing. Like 0 Share Former Member October 15, 2013 at 11:22 am Nice post, interesting and very helpful. Thank you so much for posting. Like 0 Share Former Member October 17, 2013 at 6:11 am shift+F10 will show the context menu from any screen Like 0 Share Former Member October 17, 2013 at 9:12 am Thanks for sharing.... 🙂 Like 0 Share Former Member October 19, 2013 at 12:46 pm Very nice! Thanks for sharing! Like 0 Share R Sampath Kumar October 20, 2013 at 1:57 am yuvaraj, nice info...very useful.... Regards, Sampath Like 0 Share Srinu S October 20, 2013 at 3:10 am Nice effort. Thanks for sharing. Srinu. Like 0 Share Former Member October 21, 2013 at 7:36 am very informative. Thanks for sharing ... Regards, Satbir. 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