Introduction

The ABAP RESTful Programming Model offers developers an efficient way to build enterprise-ready, SAP HANA-optimized, OData-based Fiori UI services and Web APIs in the cloud as well as on-premise. It is the evolutionary successor to the ABAP Programming Model for SAP Fiori.

The ABAP RESTful Programming Model is generally available in the SAP Cloud Platform ABAP Environment, and now also in SAP S/4HANA starting with the edition 1909. The feature scope in SAP Cloud Platform ABAP Environment is enhanced on a quarterly basis on defined dates, while new capabilities are delivered in SAP S/4HANA on a yearly basis with new on-premise editions.

The greenfield development of OData-based services – i.e., starting from scratch – is supported with the so-called managed implementation type, whereas the brownfield development – i.e., based on existing code – is supported with the so-called unmanaged implementation type.

The key players in the ABAP RESTful Programming Model are:

ABAP Developments Tools in Eclipse	Languages: ABAP and CDS	Powerful frameworks

The ABAP RESTful Programming Model comes with a set of development guides and best practices to facilitate the developer onboarding. The best practices are provided in the form of ready-to-use examples delivered with the ABAP Flight Reference Scenario (refer to the appropriate section below).

Availability:

• SAP Cloud Platform ABAP Environement: As of release 1808
• SAP S/4HANA: As of release 1909 (currently with reduced feature scope)

Back to the top

Official Documentation

This section provides links to the existing official documentation available in the SAP Help Portal.

For SAP Cloud Platform ABAP Environment

• ABAP RESTful Programming Model – Developer Guide
• ABAP Keyword Documentation
• Various ABAP Development User Guides (e.g. CDS, ADT, …)

For SAP S/4HANA 1909 and later

• ABAP RESTful Programming Model – Developer Guide
• ABAP 7.54 Keyword Documentation

Back to the top

Watch the following videos to get an overview of the ABAP RESTful Programming Model. Different system demonstrations on the greenfield development with the managed implementation are shown.

Further Recordings:

In the following videos, system demonstrations on the brownfield development with the unmanaged implementation types are shown.

SAP TechEd 2018	CNA215 – Get the Big Picture of the ABAP RESTful Programming Model
SAP TechEd 2018	CNA216 – Technical Deep Dive into the ABAP RESTful Programming Model

Back to the top

ABAP Flight Reference Scenario

The ABAP Flight Reference Scenario is a new data model intended for demo purposes and use in training courses – mainly in the context of the ABAP RESTful Programming Model. It is a reloaded and adapted version of the well-known NW Flight data model.

The ABAP Flight Reference Scenario offers several examples that can serve as reference implementations of the various capabilities provided by the ABAP RESTful Programming Model. It is not an integral part of the ABAP platform, but SAP – i.e. the ABAP Platform team –  makes it available and provides updates on GitHub. Therefore, it must be imported into the relevant ABAP systems before use.

Learn more – SAP Cloud Platform ABAP Environment:

• ABAP Flight Reference Scenario – Description (SAP Help Portal)
• ABAP Flight Reference Scenario for ABAP PaaS – Download (GitHub)

Learn more – SAP S/4HANA 1909 and later:

• ABAP Flight Reference Scenario – Description (SAP Help Portal)
• ABAP Flight Reference Scenario for ABAP 7.54 and higher – Download (GitHub)

Back to the top

Tutorials for SAP Cloud Platform ABAP Environment

Get hands-on experience with the ABAP RESTful Programming Model in the cloud.

The majority of the following How-To-tutorials are based on the ABAP Flight Reference Scenario described in the previous section. Therefore, it must have been previously imported into your ABAP system.

Tutorials from the SAP Developer Center (Entry Point)

1. Create an SAP Cloud Platform ABAP Environment Trial User (if trial user not yet available)
2. Building a transactional Fiori app using the unmanaged implementation type (tutorial group)
3. Building a transactional Fiori app using the managed implementation type (tutorial group)

Development Guides from the SAP documentation (Entry Point)

1. Downloading the ABAP Flight Reference Scenario
2. Developing an OData service for simple list reporting
3. Developing read-only list reporting Apps
4. Developing new unmanaged transactional apps based on existing application logic (unmanaged impl. type)
5. Developing new managed transactional apps (managed impl. type)
6. Developing a Web API
7. Developing a UI service with access to a remote service

Back to the top

Tutorials for SAP S/4HANA 1909 and later

Get hands-on experience with the ABAP RESTful Programming Model in SAP S/4HANA.

The current on-premise feature scope covers only the brownfield development with the unmanaged implementation type. New capabilities will be provided with future SAP S/4HANA editions.*

The majority of the following How-To-tutorials are based on the ABAP Flight Reference Scenario described in the previous section. Therefore, it must have been previously imported into your ABAP system.

Tutorials from the SAP Developer Center (Entry Point)

1. Building a transactional Fiori app using the unmanaged implementation type (tutorial group)

Development Guides from the SAP documentation (Entry Point)

1. Downloading the ABAP Flight Reference Scenario
2. Developing an OData service for simple list reporting
3. Developing a read-only list reporting apps
4. Developing new unmanaged transactional apps based on existing application logic (unmanaged impl. type)
5. Developing a Web API

Back to the top

Related Resources

This section provides useful links to related resources and learning materials to deepen your knowledge.

Back to the top

* This is the current state of planning which may change at any time without further notice from SAP. Find more information in the ABAP Platform Road Map. 

Blog last edited on Feb 10, 2020