Technical Articles
Useful Keyboard Shortcuts for ABAP in Eclipse
I’m sure you already recognized that working with shortcuts in ABAP in Eclipse is much more efficient than using the mouse. The basic shortcuts that you need to start your development in eclipse are already described in the getting started document:
http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-29294
Also the Eclipse quick reference card for the shortcuts is very helpful for beginners:
https://blogs.sap.com/2012/07/02/adt-quick-reference-card/
But there are a lot more useful shortcuts available that might help you in some situations:
Editing source code:
| Shortcut | What it will do |
| CTRL+D | Deletes the selected codeline |
| CTRL+SHIFT+DELETE | Deletes the content from the cursor position to the end of the line |
| CTRL+DELETE | Deletes the next word in the editor |
| CTRL+BACKSPACE | Deletes the previous word in the editor |
| ALT+UP/DOWN | Moves the selected codelines up/down in the editor |
| CTRL+ALT+UP/DOWN | Duplicates Codelines before/after the selected codeline |
| CTRL+UP/DOWN | Scrolls Line up/down |
| SHIFT+ENTER | Adds a new line below the current line and positions the cursor in that line |
| CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER | Adds a new line above the current line and positions the cursor in that line |
| CTRL+Z | Undo changes |
| ALT+SHIFT+R | Rename the selected object, e.g. variable, method, class |
| CTRL+1 | Opens Quickfix/Quickassist Dialog on the selected element |
| CTRL+7 | Comments/Uncomments selected code in the editor |
| SHIFT+F1 | Formats the source code (aka. Pretty Printer) |
| CTRL+SHIFT+F1 | Formats the marked source code or source code block (e.g. method) |
| CTRL+N | Creates new development object |
| CTRL+SHIFT+X | Convert marked editor content to upper case |
| CTRL+SHIFT+Y | Convert marked editor content to lower case |
| CTRL+U | Unlock Editor |
Navigation:
| CTRL-L | Jump to line in editor |
| CTRL-O | Launch the quick outline |
| ALT+LEFT/RIGHT | Navigate through the editor navigation history |
| CTRL+ ; / : | Step quickly through the editor markers, like tasks, bookmarks, error markers, ATC findings etc. |
| F3 | Navigate to the definition of the selected element, e.g. variable, method, attribute etc. |
Editor Tabs:
| CTRL + E | Displays a list of all open editors |
| CTRL + F6 | Easily switch between the editor tabs (Like Tab for Windows) |
| CTRL + F7 | Easily switch between all eclipse views |
| CTRL + F8 | Easily switch between the perspectives |
| CTRL + M | Maximize the active editor or viewer to full-screen mode |
| CTRL+3 | Easily open Eclipse views or trigger command via the Quick Access Input field |
| CTRL+PAGE UP/PAGE DOWN | Navigate through the editor tabs forward and backward |
| ALT+PAGE UP/PAGE DOWN | Navigate through the tabs of the class editor between global class, local class and test classes |
| CTRL + F4 | Close the active editor tab |
| CTRL+SHIFT+F4 | Close all editor tabs |
Debugging:
| CTRL+SHIFT+B | Set a line break point in the ABAP editor |
In case you need a complete list of all available shortcuts you can use the shortcut CTRL-SHIFT-L in eclipse that opens a small window with a detailed list.Hope there are some interesting shortcuts in the list for you.
Have fun,
Thomas.
Hi Thomas,
Thanks for this list, very useful. Of the top of my head, some shortcuts I find I use a lot:
Alt+F2 - Shows the signature of the method you are currently editing
Tab/Shift+Tab - When selecting a multiple lines of code, Tab indents the selection and Shift+Tab decreases the indent
Regards, Gerald
Thats' super useful, thanks a lot! I had just been looking for this yesterday!
Good morning friends, I would like to know how to create a "test Form" through the declaration of a "Perform Test".
Thanks,
Hi Cicero,
it looks like there is no help for this in ADT.
Why should it? It's an obsolet command?
Regards
Andrea
Hi Thomas,
thanks for the list I would like to add the shortcut:
CTRL+SHIFT+L - This open a list with all shortcuts available.
regards,
Tim
Thanks Tim,
I have added it to the blog.
Regards,
Thomas.
Press Ctrl + Shift + L while once again while this shortcut overview screen is displayed, it takes you to the 'Keys' section of preferences where you can edit and change the shortcuts..
(I would have liked a filtered view there that talks only about ABAP related shortcuts)
This is too handy. Thanks for compiling it into one. keep it up.
Hi Experts,
My keypad in eclipse has screwed up. Not sure what combination key I pressed. The letters are getting shift to right as I type. It looks like everything was types in reverse direction. And the enter and space bar is not working. Is there any short key to correct this weird behavior?
Thanks
Dip
very nice + really helpfull!
(I was searching for how to switch tabs)
Note:
does work for me until I tab into a SapGui-Tab; the nothing happens anymoren.
I think this is due tu the fact that it has some kind of meaning in SapGui, and thus cannot be avoided?
best
Joachim
I have an older printout with AdT-shortcuts attached to my screen (physically, with tape 🙂 ) for some years already.
I refers to http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-29607 . Yesterday I thought this seems to not have been migrated but now its redirecting fine! Probably miss-typed something yesterday...
Hi!
I can`t find a way to do the Alt+Shift selection and/or editing in ADT.
Is it possible?
That is veeeeery useful in SAP GUI......
Hi Luiy,
It is possible. Press Alt+Shift+A to enter in block mode. Then hold Shift key and move the cursor with mouse or arrow keys.
Regards,
Nemanja
Is there an option to customize the key shortcuts ?
Yes, you there is. You can customize the keys in Window->Preferences->General->Keys.
Thanks.
This is one of those examples, where an ooold blog (2013!) is still very useful.
ctrl+F6 and ctrl+shift+pag-up/down to navigate trough tabs was what I took away today! @keyboardOnly
Some blog posts are timeless. Especially in the ABAP world 🙂
Regards,
Thomas.
It's nice ot find this blog and also colections like this Cheat-List with usefuls Shortcuts .
I'd rather like to have the most useful shortcut in a well organized Context Menue.
For me having the neeed to share all nice functionalities in several blogs and to search for them and keep the found gems is a hint for a not very user friendly ui.
I don't get, why somone has to search for useful stuff and to know a lot of keyboard inputs for this (and for loads of other new Tools). Yes , i know, there is a Shortcut to list all Shortcuts, but uups, i forgot it again, and it might be a quite long list.
Maybe there is a useful plugin to configure useful shortcuts in form of a menue/button-list ?
Hi Thomas
Need your expertise
SE38 in SAPGUI has a user controlled display/edit toggle switch.
Eclipse ADT seems to always stay in edit.
This creates risk of inadvertent changes in user programs which may not have been transported.
Please let me know the way to "lock the edit window" from keystrokes for Z Y programs under development.
Regards
Jayanta@Kolkata
Eclipse opens a source in read mode. Only when you change something in the source it gets locked.
Unlock is possible via CTRL-U. Explicitely locking is not possible.
Regards,
Thomas.
Thanks !
Hope you consider this as a new improvement
as SAPGUI SE38 SE24 SM37 ... win in this little feature.
Till one actually transports there is a very small window of vulnerability.
I am really enjoying Eclipse but "butterfingers" happens!
Regards & Thanks again for prompt reply
Thanks for this article.
Hello Thomas,
First of all thank you for this list with shortcuts, very helpfull.
I am relatively new on ABAP. Since two months I work with Eclipse for ABAP, but I create the test classes in the original ABAP Editor. The reason for that is that I don't see the tabs below the editor like the tabs for global class, class-relevant local types, local types, test classes.
I looked on the internet how to enable these tabs, but until now I haven't found how to enable them. Is there a shortcut for it or is it in the preferences. It's nice to know I can scroll through these tabs with Alt+page up, but that is only possible if they are visible 😉
Can you tell me how to enable these tabs. Thanks in advance.
Kind regards,
Jan
Do you mean these tabs here in the class editor?
screenshot
Yes, these tabs are not visible. I looked everywhere but I can't find any preference setting to enable the tabs. Also on internet I couldn't find a solution for enabling these tabs
An addition to my prior answer
At my customer site I also use Eclipse and there the tabs are available, no matter the perspective I choose. Even in the java perspective I see the tabs. Therefore I think it is a not a setting of the ABAP add on for Eclipse, but on a higher level.
I found it. I have been working with ABAP for about 6 months. Before that, I work with java and free RPG (an IBM iSeries programming language). I did some basic ABAP training before I started working with ABAP. But I also want to know the ABAP OO "secrets" and started an OO course.
One of the exercises is to rebuild a classic ABAP program to OO. The trainer sent us a sourcecode with a hint on how to start. In it he defined a local class. Until now, I had only worked in Eclipse at my customer with fully OO classes and was used to the subtabs.
When I started to use Eclipse at home, this particular exercise was the first source I edited in Eclipse. In this received source code I was also working with a class, but it is a local class in a report, and of course the subtabs are not shown in a report.
OMG, what a newbee mistake for an old programmer like me, it has nothing to do with properties or something like that. I'm almost ashamed.
Hi Jan,
no worries. Have fun with ABAP. There is new blog post about ABAP:
https://blogs.sap.com/2022/12/06/abap-cheat-sheets/
Regards,
Thomas.