Michael Keller

April 9, 2018 1 minute read

I <heart> ABAP

Dear community, after a sunny weekend, I can happily announce that spring has arrived in Germany. Suitable for that event I would like to talk about feelings. In particular about the feelings for the programming language we use every day, the 6502 assembly language. Just a joke, of course it’s ABAP 🙂

I hope you love it as I do. A lot of time has passed since the first report I saw. ABAP has changed and has always surprised me. Compared to some bad moments, there were an incredible number of great moments and always something new to discover. I think everyone of you knows this feeling very well when you write your source code and it works. Or the pleasure of having searched for an error for hours and finally found it. Of course this does not just apply to ABAP but to any programming language (especially if you spend some time with brain<censored>). In the case of ABAP, it definitely helped me a lot to understand the SAP ERP software because I could take a look behind the scenes. In short, it’s great to work with it. By the way, one can also live from his work as ABAP developer 🙂

So here is my idea: Show your enthusiasm for ABAP in any creative way. Draw a picture, write a little program, work with LEDs, use LEGO bricks or whatever you can think of. Alone or in a team. The most important thing is you have fun. And please share your artworks here (thank you in advance).

Here is my contribution made of HAMA beads (not only LEGO is now for adults):

30 Comments

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Jelena Perfiljeva

April 9, 2018 at 5:13 pm

Saying I love ABAP feels like coming out of the closet these days. 🙂

I'll have to take a picture of my old Mentor shirt when I get home. Last year, I replaced "ABAP 4EVER" with my name but perhaps I should get it back next year. It didn't stop anyone from confusing me with Tammy Powlas anyway, so what the heck. 🙂

Michael Keller

Blog Post Author

April 9, 2018 at 6:31 pm

Yeah, don't mix "I love ABAP" with phrases like "object-oriented", "test driven development" or something similar. Well that escalated quickly ... 😉

Rashid Javed

April 11, 2018 at 7:46 am

Thanks, this sums up the situation perfectly

"Saying I love ABAP feels like coming out of the closet these days. ?"

Colleen Hebbert

April 11, 2018 at 12:15 pm

you could always do something like "STILL ABAP"

Jelena Perfiljeva

April 11, 2018 at 2:19 pm

I'd do "Desperately seeking ABAP" but that would go over the number of characters limit. 🙂

Colleen Hebbert

April 12, 2018 at 5:01 am

"Back to the... ABAP" (I am stealing Denise's SITkids t-shirt idea)

Rashid Javed

April 12, 2018 at 6:04 am

Or better if you end it with a question mark

"STILL ABAP ???" 🙂

Enno Wulff

April 9, 2018 at 6:58 pm

ABAP´s in the air everywhere I look around.

ABAP´s in the air every bit and every byte

And I don't know if I'm doing rubbish

Don't know if I'm using CASE

But it's something that I must debug in

And it's there when I look in your code.

http://abap.rocks

Michael Keller

Blog Post Author

April 10, 2018 at 5:31 pm

For those who need some background music ...

Florian Henninger

April 10, 2018 at 7:02 am

So, just posting my twitter handle might be not enough. My son(2) and I are working on a LEGO Duplo solution to jumop into the contest:-)

Michael Keller

Blog Post Author

April 10, 2018 at 5:33 pm

Great! I look forward to it 🙂

Matthew Billingham

April 10, 2018 at 8:04 am

I did quite a bit of 6502 and Z80A programming in my youth... Ah, nostalgia.

Steve Rumsby

April 10, 2018 at 11:33 am

Z80? Ewww 🙂

But the 6502, now that was a *nice* instruction set...

Matthew Billingham

April 10, 2018 at 11:42 am

Yeah. Z80 was for the true techy. 😉

Michelle Crapo

April 10, 2018 at 11:42 am

Still Loving ABAP. I have a great job and do what I love. What more could I ask for? Oh yes, to be a billionaire. But that isn't happening in this lifetime.

Whatever else - ABAP is still being used in SAP code. So.... You still have to know it. Along with everything else. No being ashamed of liking ABAP. It is a "sweet", "cool", "wicked", Language.

Nice well thought out blog. With everything else going on - it's great to see an ABAP blog.

Michelle

Matthew Billingham

April 10, 2018 at 11:44 am

SAP wants to go for an object oriented programming model.

ABAP Objects

But SAP goes ahead anyway.

Former Member

April 10, 2018 at 4:52 pm

I love #ABAP too, but it’s getting more and more difficult to do it in the US. In many cases contract rates are on par or below salary levels!! There are some good gigs and projects out there but they are harder to find. Some roles that are getting more popular are requirements gathering/spec writing, managing offshore teams and doing fixes in hypercare. Of course this does not offer the satisfaction of doing rich development.

Right now I’m performing an odd role of test lead / cutover coordinator / anything that’s needed. I’ve only had some minimal ABAP work. Hopefully there will be opportunities for more.

Feel free to reach out to me on social media.

Best,

Glenn Allen

Enno Wulff

April 12, 2018 at 10:06 pm

What could I have done in the time for doing this...? ::D

I LOVE ABAP

dedicated to Stefan Schnell 😉

REPORT z_draw_heart_with_autoit2.

CLASS draw DEFINITION.
  PUBLIC SECTION.
    DATA autoitx TYPE ole2_object.
    DATA current_x TYPE i VALUE 100.
    DATA current_y TYPE i VALUE 400.
    METHODS constructor.
    METHODS is_activex RETURNING VALUE(result) TYPE boolean_flg.
    METHODS oleflush.
    METHODS up.
    METHODS down.
    METHODS moveto IMPORTING x TYPE i OPTIONAL y TYPE i OPTIONAL.
    METHODS draw_a.
    METHODS draw_b.
    METHODS draw_p.
    METHODS draw_i.
    METHODS draw_space.
    METHODS draw_heart.
ENDCLASS.

CLASS draw IMPLEMENTATION.
  METHOD constructor.
    "-Begin-----------------------------------------------------------------

    "-TypePools---------------------------------------------------------
    TYPE-POOLS ole2.

    "-Variables---------------------------------------------------------
    DATA result TYPE i VALUE 0.
    DATA strtext TYPE string.

    "-Main--------------------------------------------------------------
    IF is_activex( ) = 1.

      CREATE OBJECT autoitx 'AutoItX3.Control'.
      IF autoitx-type = 'OLE2'.

        "-Set AutoItX option------------------------------------------
        CALL METHOD OF autoitx 'Opt'
          EXPORTING
            #1 = 'SendKeyDelay'
            #2 = 50.
        oleflush( ).

        "-Start paint via Windows run menu----------------------------
        CALL METHOD OF autoitx 'Send' EXPORTING #1 = '{LWIN}'.
*            Call Method Of AutoItX 'Send' Exporting #1 = 'u'.
        CALL METHOD OF autoitx 'Send' EXPORTING #1 = 'mspaint'.
        oleflush( ).
        CALL METHOD OF autoitx 'Send' EXPORTING #1 = '{ENTER}'.
        oleflush( ).
        CALL METHOD OF autoitx 'WinWaitActive'
          EXPORTING
            #1 = 'Unbenannt - Paint'
            #2 = ''
            #3 = 10.

        "-Maximize the window-----------------------------------------
        CALL METHOD OF autoitx 'Send'
          EXPORTING
            #1 = '{ALTDOWN}{SPACE}{ALTUP}'.
        CALL METHOD OF autoitx 'Send' EXPORTING #1 = 'x'.
        oleflush( ).
        up( ).
        moveto( ).

      ENDIF.

    ENDIF.
  ENDMETHOD.

  "-SubRoutines---------------------------------------------------------

  "-Function IsActiveX------------------------------------------------
  "-
  "- Get the possibility of ActiveX on the presentation server
  "-
  "-------------------------------------------------------------------
  METHOD is_activex.

    "-Variables-----------------------------------------------------
    DATA hasactivex(32) TYPE c.

    CALL FUNCTION 'GUI_HAS_OBJECTS'
      EXPORTING
        object_model         = 'ACTX'
      IMPORTING
        return               = hasactivex
      EXCEPTIONS
        invalid_object_model = 1
        OTHERS               = 2.

    IF sy-subrc = 0 AND hasactivex = 'X'.
      result = 1.
    ELSE.
      result = 0.
    ENDIF.

  ENDMETHOD.

  "-OLEFlush----------------------------------------------------------
  "-
  "- Automation controler flush
  "-
  "-------------------------------------------------------------------
  METHOD oleflush.
    CALL FUNCTION 'AC_SYSTEM_FLUSH' EXCEPTIONS OTHERS = 1.
  ENDMETHOD.

  METHOD up.
    CALL METHOD OF autoitx 'MouseUp' EXPORTING #1 = 'left'.
  ENDMETHOD.

  METHOD down.
    CALL METHOD OF autoitx 'MouseDown' EXPORTING #1 = 'left'.
  ENDMETHOD.
  METHOD moveto.
    ADD x TO current_x.
    ADD y TO current_y.
    CALL METHOD OF autoitx 'MouseMove'
      EXPORTING
        #1 = current_x
        #2 = current_y.

    oleflush( ).

  ENDMETHOD.

  METHOD draw_a.

    DATA(old_x) = current_x.
    DATA(old_y) = current_y.

    down( ).
    moveto( x =   0 y = -180 ).
    moveto( x =  20 y =  -20 ).
    moveto( x =  10 y =    0 ).
    moveto( x =  20 y =   20 ).
    moveto( x =   0 y =  200 ).
    moveto( x =   0 y = -100 ).
    moveto( x = -50 y =    0 ).
    up( ).

    current_x = old_x + 100.
    current_y = old_y.
    moveto( ).

  ENDMETHOD.

  METHOD draw_b.

    DATA(old_x) = current_x.
    DATA(old_y) = current_y.

    down( ).
    moveto( x =   0 y = -200 ).
    moveto( x =  40 y =    0 ).
    moveto( x =  10 y =   10 ).
    moveto( x =   0 y =   80 ).
    moveto( x = -10 y =   10 ).
    moveto( x = -40 y =    0 ).
    moveto( x =  40 y =    0 ).
    moveto( x =  10 y =   10 ).
    moveto( x =   0 y =   80 ).
    moveto( x = -10 y =   10 ).
    moveto( x = -40 y =   0 ).

    up( ).

    current_x = old_x + 100.
    current_y = old_y.
    moveto( ).


  ENDMETHOD.

  METHOD draw_p.
    DATA(old_x) = current_x.
    DATA(old_y) = current_y.

    down( ).
    moveto( x =   0 y = -200 ).
    moveto( x =  30 y =    0 ).
    moveto( x =  20 y =   20 ).
    moveto( x =   0 y =  80 ).
    moveto( x = -20 y =   20 ).
    moveto( x = -30 y =    0 ).
    up( ).

    current_x = old_x + 100.
    current_y = old_y.
    moveto( ).

  ENDMETHOD.

  METHOD draw_i.
    DATA(old_x) = current_x.
    DATA(old_y) = current_y.

    down( ).
    moveto( x =  -10 y =  0 ).
    moveto( x =   20 y =  0 ).
    moveto( x =  -10 y =  0 ).
    moveto( x =   0 y = -200 ).
    moveto( x =  -10 y =  0 ).
    moveto( x =   20 y =  0 ).
    moveto( x =  -10 y =  0 ).
    up( ).

    current_x = old_x + 100.
    current_y = old_y.
    moveto( ).

  ENDMETHOD.

  METHOD draw_space.

    current_x = current_x + 100.
    moveto( ).

  ENDMETHOD.

  METHOD draw_heart.

    DATA(old_x) = current_x.
    DATA(old_y) = current_y.

    "Select "more forms"
    CALL METHOD OF autoitx 'MouseMove'
      EXPORTING
        #1 = 615
        #2 = 110.
    down( ).
    up( ).

    "Select "heart"
    CALL METHOD OF autoitx 'MouseMove'
      EXPORTING
        #1 = 490
        #2 = 130.


    down( ).
    up( ).

    current_x = old_x.
    current_y = old_y.
    moveto( ).

    down( ).
    moveto( x = 150 y = -200 ).
    up( ).

    "Select "red"
    CALL METHOD OF autoitx 'MouseMove'
      EXPORTING
        #1 = 945
        #2 = 60.
    down( ).
    up( ).


    "Select "draw"
    CALL METHOD OF autoitx 'MouseMove'
      EXPORTING
        #1 = 450
        #2 = 70.
    down( ).
    up( ).

    "Select "black"
    CALL METHOD OF autoitx 'MouseMove'
      EXPORTING
        #1 = 880
        #2 = 60.
    down( ).
    up( ).

    current_x = old_x + 150.
    current_y = old_y.
    moveto( ).

  ENDMETHOD.
ENDCLASS.



START-OF-SELECTION.
  DATA(logo) = NEW draw( ).

  logo->draw_i( ).
  logo->draw_heart( ).
  logo->draw_space( ).
  logo->draw_a( ).
  logo->draw_b( ).
  logo->draw_a( ).
  logo->draw_p( ).


  "-End-------------------------------------------------------------------

Stefan Schnell

April 13, 2018 at 6:22 am

Hello Enno,

I am honored, many thanks.

Cheers
Stefan

salvi dutta

May 28, 2018 at 10:18 am

Amazing Artwork!!!

Great post at ABAP!

Michael Keller

Blog Post Author

April 13, 2018 at 6:45 am

Wonderful artwork! And something to learn ... two things at once ... many thanks 🙂

Jelena Perfiljeva

April 13, 2018 at 10:30 pm

Wow, this is epic! 🙂

Wolfram Knan

April 29, 2018 at 6:39 am

Hello Enno,

nice post about ABAP!

With ABAP I always think of Advanced Business Application Language.

Regards,

Wolfram

Shivam Shukla

April 13, 2018 at 11:29 am

Hi ,

Just read it & i can't imagine this how much powerful abap lang is ? great to see such kind of implementation thanks for sharing.

Thanks,

Shivam

Nabheet Madan

April 13, 2018 at 2:04 pm

Once an ABAPer always an ABAPer.

Michael Keller

Blog Post Author

April 13, 2018 at 7:36 pm

Here is a little 8bit inspired work (made with https://make8bitart.com and IrfanView). Have fun.

Jelena Perfiljeva

April 13, 2018 at 10:29 pm

There ya go, 3 vintage Mentor shirts. 🙂

Christopher Solomon

April 16, 2018 at 12:17 pm

"vintage" haha

Horst Keller

April 17, 2018 at 8:18 am

DATA(nogo) = `I don't like ABAP`.

cl_demo_output=>new(
  )->write_html(
    replace( val = nogo
             regex = nogo
             with = `$0, ` && replace( val = nogo
                                       sub = cl_abap_codepage=>convert_from( 
                                         `646F6E2774206C696B652041424150` )
                                       with = ' &hearts;  it!' ) )
  )->display( ).

Michael Keller

Blog Post Author

May 5, 2018 at 6:46 pm

Sorry for the long time my answer needed. Very nice idea 🙂

I <heart> ABAP

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