Out Now: ADT Version 2.64 for Eclipse Neon
Hi ADT community,
I have good news for you. Since today the new ADT client 2.64 is available on our eclipse updatesite SAP Development Tools
So just install the basic eclipse IDE via: http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/packages/eclipse-ide-java-developers/neonr
and include the ABAP tools via the updatesite: https://tools.hana.ondemand.com/neon
You may ask yourself what is new in Eclipse Neon?
Thanks to Matthias Becker who wrote a nice little blog about the new features: ABAP in Eclipse benefits from new platform features in Eclipse Neon
In addition we have some nice new additional features in the ABAP development tool for you.
Navigation within Elementinfo
The ABAP Elementinfo (shortcut F2 in the editor) is one of the most useful features of the ABAP eclipse editor. You can get very quickly structural information about tables, structures, classes or methods that you are using in your code.
With the new ADT client 2.64 we provide a new very cool feature. You already see the hand icon on the screenshot above? Yes, you can navigate now to other elements that are displayed on the popup. Very often you need structural information of nested elements. And this is possible now just by clicking on the element like the data element in the example above. The popup now displays the structure information of the data element.
Via the toolbar buttons on the bottom of the popup you can navigate back and forth within the element info. And you can even open the corresponding editor in eclipse in case you want to change an element. Therefore you can use the button on the right side of the toolbar.
Have fun with this really cool nice feature.
Redefine Methods via Code Completion ( CTRL + SPACE )
Redefinition of methods in the class editor is now very easy in eclipse. You can just use the code completion in the editor to figure out which methods are inherited from the superclass:
After picking one of the methods just by clicking on the name the code is automatically added to the editor:
I think it is much more easier now to redefine methods.
Add ABAP Doc comment via Quick Assist ( CTRL + 1 )
Last but not least we offer a new Quickassist in the editor to insert ABAP Doc comments to your code. Just press CTRL+1 in the editor on an element where you want to define an ABAP Doc comment and you are done:
In case you already have short descriptions defined in the class builder the texts are automatically taken over to the ABAP Doc comment. More details about that you can find in the blog New ABAP Doc Features with NetWeaver 7.5 by Michael Schneider
Hope you like the new stuff and Eclipse Neon.
Warm Regards,
Thomas.
Hi Thomas,
Are these features restricted to ABAP 7.5?
Hi,
these features work also in older releases.
Regards,
Thomas.
Hi Thomas,
I have upgraded to ADT 2.64. Thanks for the new goodies 😎
This works for global classes. For local classes this QuickFix doesn't seem to work 😕
BR,
Suhas
Hi Suhas,
you are right. We focussed here on global classes only because we primarily want to help to push the 'synchonize' Feature for short descriptions.
But we can offer the feature also for local classes in future.
Regards,
Thomas.
I'll be looking forward to it then 😳
Best,
Suhas
Hi Thomas,
thanks for these nice and useful features.
Regarding the 'Navigation within Elementinfo' feature, do think it is possible to add more keyboard friendly navigation capabilities? As far as i can see you can only navigate via tabulator through the content. Especially for large structures this can be very tedious. Some kind of searching, sorting or filtering would be nice. Additionaly the toolbar buttons seem not to be accessible via keyboard at all. It would be great if we had keyboard shortcuts on them. What do you think?
Regards Christian
Hi Christian,
I think shortcuts for the toolbar sounds like this is manageable.
Filtering or sorting in the element info sounds rather complex.
Regards,
Thomas.
Hi Christian,
we did a small prototype for searching in the element info. It is comparable to CTRL-F search in chrome browser for the content of a web page. Would this help?
Regards,
Thomas.
Sounds good. I think this would be a great help.
Hi Thomas,
this is great news.
Is there a recommended way how to upgrade eclipse and ADT at the same time?
I am still using Luna. I use ADT heavily at one of our clients and I am little bit afraid of just upgrading eclipse and the workspace. I want to have my all my ABAP Projects and Settings in Neon as well.
Regards,
Christian
Hi Christian,
I don't know about any recommended way, but I did it just a few minutes ago very easilly: You just download Eclipse package for Java Developers from here: Eclipse Downloads unpack it, copy your current Workspace folder somwhere else (e.g. to folder Workspace_neon) and after starting Eclipse and pointing to this new workspace do Install new Software with the repository in https://tools.hana.ondemand.com/neon
After restarting eclipse after installation you have your Workspace with all the projects.
(I was upgrading from Mars, but I think it will work from Luna also, it is for sure worth a try).
And if something went wrong and it shoult not work, you can still just start the Eclipse you are using now...
Have a nice day! 🙂
O.
Hi Ondrej,
that actually worked quite well. Thank you.
Still it would be nice to have a "Best practice" from SAP 😉
Thank you.
Christian
Hi Christian,
you can also update your Luna IDE to Neon via the Updatesite.
You just have to switch the updatesites in the preferences page.
That's the way we are doing the update within SAP development.
REMARK: In the meantime we found out that eclipse does not recommend to update to Neon from older eclipse version via the update site.
Regards,
Thomas.
Based on this wiki: https://wiki.eclipse.org/FAQ_How_do_I_upgrade_Eclipse_IDE%3F
"Upgrading from previous Eclipse IDE package to Neon (4.6) is NOT supported NOTE: Due to structural changes you cannot update from a Mars (or prior) all-in-one package to a Neon version. If interested in the technical details, see bug 332989 and bug 490515.. So to use Eclipse Neon IDE, you have to download a new package or use the Eclipse IDE Installer from http://eclipse.org/downloads . After Neon, the usual upgrade process detailed below works."
Thanks Peter for the hint. I was not aware of this general limitation given by the eclipse community. As already said we did the upgrade to Neon from Mars internally without any issues.
Regards,
Thomas.
>As already said we did the upgrade to Neon from Mars internally without any issues.
Thanks for the info. It means, it's worth to try.
Peter
we made upgrade today vom mars to neon - eclipse crashed. as our cloud connector has also troubles with that combination (needs jre 1.7 neon 1.8) we make restore of whole server
this site: FAQ How do I upgrade Eclipse IDE? - Eclipsepedia says upgrade is not possible to a neon version ??
Hi Thomas,
these are nice features.
Are there any known issues with the redefine code completion?
In our project it only works in new classes. In already existing classes it doesn't work.
We use ABAP 7.40.
Regards,
Clemens
Hi Thomas,
could you recommend any docu/manual on the first steps using it?
Would like to try it out, but I never used Eclipse for SAP developments.
( I mean how to connect it to SAP systems, write first small abap object change)
Hi Denis,
I recommend to start directly in eclipse with the Feature Explorer. With that interactive tutorial you will learn the very first steps in eclipse and the most important features.
Please follow the steps in this blog by Thomas Alexander Ritter
Get more out of ABAP in Eclipse with the Feature Explorer
Regards,
Thomas.
Very useful additions, especially the element info navigation. I was about to ask whether the element info could be improved by always displaying the line type when a table type is selected, but this should do...
Hi Volker,
this is another activity that we are currently driving in the area of element info that we show more basic information on the element info, e.g. domain information already on the dataelement level.
Regards,
Thomas.
Hi Thomas,
yay - fixed values and/or check tables - and if the check table name could be a link to open the SQL console... Just dreaming...
Best regards
Volker
Just think about having to work with SE80 ... Nightmarish 😈
I actually have a big screen and usually use both side-by-side. SE80 for DDIC (still faster for me, and I'm still on 7.40), Dynpro, view maintenance and testing stuff (still haven't gotten used to the Eclipse debugger), ADT for code.
Very nice features. Love them all! Nevertheless, one more wish regarding inheritance and redefining methods. Are you thinking about giving an option (maybe a toggle) to see methods of a all super classes in the outline section when a certain class is opened? When working in frameworks that make massive use of inheritance it's sometime very hard to see which methods exist in super classes. Sometimes you just want to have the information which methods exist without redefening one of them.
Hi Tobias,
you see all the inherited methods in the editor by pressing CTRL-O.
This opens the so called quick outline with the option to also see the inherited members by pressing again CTRL-O within the popup.
Regards,
Thomas.
Hi Thomas,
I am actually familiar with the quick outline but I didnt notice that the inherited methods are displayed in it or can be displayed by clicking ctrl+O again. Nice to know! Thanks for the info.
Regards
Tobias
Hello Thomas,
the new element info navigation is very, very nice! Very useful.
But I see another change with the new version that is not so nice. When you navigate into a method call with holding CTRL and clicking on the method, now you are taken to the method definition. That´s not at all what I expect there. Before the default action was navigate to the implementation. This new behaviour is now driving me crazy, I cannot quickly navigate through code anymore. I know the option to use F3, but it´s really confusing when you are used to CTRL+click.
Is there a setting where we can change the default action for CTRL+click? If not, PLEASE revert to the old behaviour 😉
Thanks,
Michael
I thought it was me who's facing this problem 😀
Anyway it's not driving me crazy yet 😉 , i use the dropdown to navigate to the implementation
Hi Michael,
I completely agree with you! I also think, that it makes more sense to jump to implementation. To jump to definition is not needed, because one would hit F2 instead.
The only situation I would want to jump to definition is when I'm creating a new class and want to jump to definition of method which I'm now implementing to e.g. change parameters, but this happens so by default anyway (and was so in the previous version already).
So to sum up: If there is not user option to change it, please revert it back to default jump to implementation.
Have a nice day!
O.
Hi Ondrej,
I usually use F3 if I want to jump to the implementation and shift-F3 if I want to jump to the definition. For people who prefer to use their mouse I also agree that it's better to jump to the implementation by default just because it's changed more frequently than the definition. F2 is just useful if you want to see the definition but not if you plan to change it. Nevertheless, I like the popup approach they used shown by Suhas above.
Regards
Tobias
Hi folks,
we changed the default of the navigation via CTRL-Click to implementation again.
The change will be part of the next version.
Regards,
Thomas.
Cool 🙂
Hey Guys,
the navigation in F2 Helps is not working for the structure editor. When clicking F2 on a table type used as type in a structure I cannot navigate to the underlying structure.
Is it a different implementation of the F2 help there? Just asking because it also looks different than in the normal code editor.
Regards
Tobias
Hi Tobias,
navigation inside element info is currently only supported when you trigger it from an ABAP editor.
We plan to provide th same in the dictionary area, but currently it is missing.
Regards,
Michael
Hi Michael,
thanks for the quick reply. Looking forward to this new feature.
Regards
Tobias
What about the SAPUI5-Tools (and HANA- and BW-Tools) for Eclipse? I don't want to install two Eclipse versions but I sometimes use the SAPUI5-Tools (not the WebIDE).
Hi Karsten,
I think another team is working on these Plug-Ins. I guess they will be available soon. Nevertheless, I am not sure if SAP still officially supports SAPUI5 development in eclipse and still adds new features.Would be great to have a statement by one of the SAP Insiders here 🙂
Regards
Tobias
Hi Karsten,
meanwhile SAPUI5-Tools support Neon as well. We just had a delay of 2 weeks.
Best regards
Matthias
Hi Matthias,
I've already seen and installed it.
In Luna and in Mars I sometimes got error messages from Mylyn when Eclipse was started in ABAP perspective, but Neon works perfect so far.
Thank you.
Karsten
Thomas,
one question about F2 Element info. I use it very often but I miss one small functionality - possibility to copy only field names , so I could easily copy&paste them to code without having to remove types.
Maybe some kind of block copy could be implemented here ?
Cheers
Łukasz
Hi Lukasz,
100% agree. Would be really nice if the copy wouldn't be greyed out for fieldnames and types. As a workaround marking them with the mouse and using ctrl+c works fine for me.
Regards
Tobias
Hi Tobias,
I just checked it with my IDE. For me the copy fucntion is not greyed out in element info.
I could easily copy a block of fields incl. types to my class definition.
Regards,
Thomas.
Hi Thomas,
I double checked and it seems like the field needs to be marked first:
These feels a little bit weird but it's okay.
Regards
Tobias
The original request was to copy JUST the field names WITHOUT the types.
Seems like another useful feature to me.
And one more feature wish: for F2 help on tables, I would love to see some indication to distinguish the key fields.
Could be done with text after the type name, or bold face formatting, or an empty line between key fields and the rest.
Hi Edo,
do you know the block selection mode (CTRL+SHIFT+A) in eclipse editor?
Unfortunately it does not work in element info. But maybe we can change that.
Regards,
Thomas.
Hi Thomas,
Block editor would fit 🙂
Cheers
Łukasz
Hi Thomas,
yes, block selection is a feature I like to use.
Reference: I added another feature request in my previous comment (indication of key fields), before I saw your answer.
Best regards, Edo
Hi Edo,
when I remember correctly Thomas said they plan to add more information to the F2 Help in general (Domain Values, Data Elemen Information, Table Type Infos etc.)
Regards
Tobias
That is correct. We are currently reworking the element info and align the element info for DDIC objects. We can see the improved element info already in the CDS View Editor.
Regards,
Thomas.
Hello,
is it possible to enhance the element info with the short description of the type?
Especially when I'm working with local types the description can be reached only with navigation in each of the types.
Regards
Wolfgang
Hi Wolfgang,
thanks for the feedback.
We will enhance the Elementinfo with additional information like description and type information. Not yet clear when this can be shipped.
Regards,
Thomas.
Hi,
it's me again.
To enhance the usability and user experience of the element info I recommend to highlight links (e.g. navigation to types) in blue. See an example below:
Regards
Wolfgang
Hi Wolfang,
I think this looks unnatural for an experienced ABAP devloper. The approach chosen by the ADT team looks much more like ABAP code (with keyword "TYPE") and is absolutely fine in my opinion. Morevover, the chosen approach does not lead to any confusion since an ABAP developer knows he can click on the type names 😀
Regards
Tobias
Hi Thomas,
got the new Version now at work and try it out right now. Great work done from your Team 🙂
There are some little things i noticed.
If i open the Element Info via F2 in the code, i have the new button to open the editor
but in the View "Element Info", i can't see it.
Also it would be cool, if i could navigate via the Keyboard through the element info. So far just TAB is possible, but i'm not allowed to copy or navigate via the Keyboard.
ABAP Doc
Regarding the ABAP Doc quickfix, it would be cool, if i could go to the class definition, press CTRL+1, select Add ABAP Doc and all my methods, attributes and the class it self would be prepared with an ABAP Doc Statement 🙂
But in sum i'm very satisfied with the new version. Thanks again.
Cheers
Eugen
Hi Eugen,
thanks for the Feedback.
Already fixed with the latest version here in the labs.
And a new goodie to enable search within the element info.
I just play around with it. (Advantage to be the PO 😎 )
Regards,
Thomas.
Hahaha,
would like to be a mouse rigth now, to watch over your shoulders 🙂
Regards
Eugen
Hi,
is it possible to highlight the key fields within the ABAP Element Info?
Regards
Wolfgang
Hi Thomas,
I use ADT 2.64.4 on an NW 7.50 SP06. I miss the Quick fix to add ABAP Doc in interfaces. In classes it works very well. Is it possible to integrate this feature in the next release? I know, that I can manually add the ABAP Doc but it is not so comfortable.
Best regards
Dirk
Hi,
CTRL+SPACE to insert a redefinition works ok for Z classes, but not for classes under a namespace
Best regards,
Jaime