Technical Articles
SAP ABAP Development Tools(ADT) – Productive Short Cuts
Introduction
ABAP Development Tools (ADT) has totally replaced SE80 for me. On-premise or SAP BTP ABAP Environment, ADT increases productivity with several developer assisting features and short cuts. Below are some of the short cuts that I frequently refer to.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Open Object/GUI
Short Cut |
Function |
Comments |
| Ctrl + Shift + A | Open development object | |
| Ctrl + 6 | Start GUI independently of development object | |
| Alt + F8 | Run ABAP Development object as ABAP Application in GUI | Useful to open a transaction in GUI in one step. |
ABAP Object editing
Indent/Syntax check/Activation
Short Cut |
Function |
Comments |
| Shift + F1 | Indent | |
| Ctrl + F2 | Syntax Check | |
| Ctrl + F3 | Activate |
Unlock Object
Short Cut |
Function |
Comments |
| Ctrl + U | Unlock object |
Comments
Short Cut |
Function |
Comments |
| Ctlr + < | Add comment | |
| Ctlr + > | Remove comment | |
| Ctrl + 7 | Comments/Uncomments selected lines |
Line Modification
Short Cut |
Function |
Comments |
| Ctrl + D | Deletes the current line | No selection required |
| Alt + Up/Down | Moves the current line up or down | No selection required |
Delete Unused variables
Short Cut |
Function |
Comments |
| Alt + U | Delete unused variables(All) | |
| Alt + Shift + U | Delete unused variables(Selection) |
Extract/Rename
Short Cut |
Function |
Comments |
| Alt + Shift + M | Extract Method | |
| Alt + Shift + R | Rename |
Keyword/Code completion
Short Cut |
Function |
Comments |
| Tab | To select the initial suggestion of the Keyword or code completion suggestion | |
| Ctrl + Space | To get more suggestions from the Keyword or code completion suggestion(includes suggestions from the Static Code Templates) | |
| Shift + Enter | To insert the full signature of the code completion suggestion | Useful for Function Modules, Class Methods. |
| Enter | To insert only the name of the selected item from the code completion suggestion |
Quick Fix
Short Cut |
Function |
Comments |
| Ctrl + 1 | Quick fix suggestions | |
| Ctrl + 2 | In file Quick fix |
Navigation
Short Cut |
Function |
Comments |
| Ctrl + O | Quick Outline | |
| Ctrl + T | Quick Type Hierarchy | |
| F2 | signature of a variable or method is displayed in the Code Element Information popup | |
| F3 | Navigates between the declaration and implementation of the selected object. | |
| Alt + Left/Right | Move forward or backward the navigation history |
Search
Short Cut |
Function |
Comments |
| Ctrl + H | ABAP Object search | |
| Ctrl + Shift + G | Where used |
Compare
Short Cut |
Function |
Comments |
| Ctrl + Alt + C | Compare with Revision History(Released transports) or across ABAP Projects. |
The Local History does not come up with this shortcut. For compare with Local History use the context menu of the ABAP Object->Compare With->Local history. |
ABAP Unit tests
Short Cut |
Function |
Comments |
| Ctrl + Shift + F10 | Execute ABAP unit tests |
ABAP Test Cockpit(ATC)
Short Cut |
Function |
Comments |
| Ctrl + Shift + F2 | ABAP Test Cockpit(ATC) |
ABAP Help
Short Cut |
Function |
Comments |
| F1 | ABAP Help |
Editor
Short Cut |
Function |
Comments |
| Ctrl + E | Displays the list of all open editors | You can select the one that you are interested in and switch to it by pressing Enter key. |
| Ctrl + F6 | Displays the list all open editors and allows to switch between them as well. No need to press Enter key. | |
| Ctrl + W | Close single editor window |
Annotations in dictionary declarations
Annotation |
Function |
Comments |
| @EndUserText | End user text | @EndUserText.label |
| @AbapCatalog | ABAP related, example enhancementCategory, foreignKey etc. | |
| @Semantics | For quantity and currency fields |
@Semantics.quantity.unitOfMeasure @Semantics.amount.currencyCode |
ABAP Template variables
Standard
Variable |
Description |
| Cursor | Specifies the cursor position after leaving template edit mode. |
| Date | Equates to the current date. |
| Dollar | Equates to the dollar symbol ($). |
| line_selection | Equates to the content of all currently selected lines. |
| Time | Equates to the current time. |
| word_selection | Equates to the content of the currently selected text. |
| Year | Equates to the current year. |
ABAP Specific
Variable |
Description |
| enclosing_object |
Equates to the name of the development object displayed in the current editor, such as the name of a class or include program. |
| enclosing_package | Equates to the package, which the development object belongs to. |
| system_id | Equates to the ABAP System ID. |
| User | Equates to the name of the user that is currently logged in to the ABAP system. |
Your own short cuts
You got the option to change any of the short cuts to your preferred ones.
Window -> Preferences -> General -> Keys
https://blogs.sap.com/2021/07/16/abap-adt-frequently-used-short-cuts/
Very nice reference on AdT short cuts, thanks a lot!