Introduction
ABAP is a programming language SAP uses for building applications on their platforms. As an SAP ABAP developer, using the correct libraries and tools to write high-quality, efficient, and maintainable code is necessary. This article will explore essential libraries and tools for ABAP developers, grouped by their primary purpose and functionality. Using these resources can improve your productivity, and code quality.
Code Management and Version Control
Libraries in this category, such as
ABAPGit and
AbapGitServer. Developers can use it to maintain their ABAP Source code, and ABAPGit is an open-source developed Git client for the ABAP server to import and export ABAP objects between ABAP systems.
ABAPGit is built to operate with various Git repository hosting sites, including GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket.
ABAPGitServer is a server component that can host ABAP code Git repositories outside an SAP system. It is intended to work with ABAPGit, the Git client for ABAP code, and allows developers to manage their ABAP code in Git repositories hosted outside of their SAP system.
Code Quality and Maintainability
AbapOpenChecks,
AbapLint, and
ABAP-code-Review-Checklist help developers ensure their code adheres to best practices and is high quality.
AbapOpenCheck AbapOpenChecks is a group of open-source ABAP checks for Eclipse that aid programmers in producing higher-quality code. It is up to date by SAP and accessible on GitHub.
AbapLint is an open-source ABAP code linter that is used to analyse and enhance ABAP code quality. It looks for syntax mistakes, possible performance problems, and compliance with best practices and naming standards. It also makes code enhancement and refactoring suggestions.
You need Node.js installed on your PC in order to use ABAPLint. Then, using npm, the Node.js package manager, install ABAPLint. Once installed, you may use to inspect your ABAP code by specifying the location of the code files. The code will be analysed and comments will be provided in the command line by ABAPLint.
ABAP-Code-Review-Checklist is an open-source git library and it contains a set of methods for evaluating ABAP code for quality assurance. The checklist includes programme naming conventions, programme definition attributes, text components, and programme history documents. It also covers the internal tables, structures, constants, global variables, parameters, select-options, types, reference variables, local constants, classes, radio buttons and checkboxes. The checklist also includes SQL query suggestions, such as utilising SELECT statements with a field list instead of SELECT * and avoiding GROUP BY and DISTINCT procedures as much as feasible. The ABAP-Code-Review-Checklist is a git library that is open source.
Documentation and API Management
ABAP-Swagger is an open-source tool that combines ABAP with Swagger to produce API documentation and specifications automatically from ABAP method definitions. It enables you to expose the methods of your ABAP classes as REST services and test them using the Swagger UI at
https://blogs.sap.com/2018/02/03/abap-and-swaggeropenapi/ . The library is designed to work with SAP systems running NetWeaver 7.02 or above.
Swagger is a set of tools used to create, generate, describe, and test RESTful services. It is built on a specification file that holds the REST service descriptions, similar to a SOAP WSDL or OData metadata file. The Swagger family has numerous sophisticated tools, all of which are free source and may be used in combination with ABAP-Swagger.
Debugging and Testing
The
ABAP Unit Test repository contains many ABAP unit test examples. It was motivated by the blog post "Unit Tests in an SAP Customer Environment." The goal of this repository is to serve as a resource for developers interested in learning how to write unit tests in ABAP, the programming language used in the SAP system. To contribute to this repository, create a new $autex sub-package and attach your code to it. Make careful to distribute the entire code and avoid utilising any company-specific artifacts.
Code Utilities and Snippets
ABAP-Code-Snippets is a VSCode Code Snippet framework is made up of multiple packages, and the GitHub repository is a mono-repository that houses these packages. With the help of this framework, programmers may show a GUI form to users and then produce or modify source code snippets in response to their responses. Here are some significant facts regarding the repository:
- The code-snippet package is the VSCode extension part of the Code Snippet framework.
- The code-snippet-frontend package is the user interface part of the Code Snippet framework.
- The vscode-snippet-contrib package is a sample VSCode extension that utilizes the Code Snippet framework.
- The @Sap-devx/code-snippet-types package contains TypeScript type definitions to assist in using the Code Snippet framework.
ABAP-Utils contains Utility classes for the ABAP programming language. One of the classes provided in this repository is LCL_ISU_STRUCTURE_READ, which is a wrapper for the function module ISU_STRUCTURE_READ. By using this class, you can avoid creating multiple local variables when working with the function module.
An easier method of interacting with the ISU_STRUCTURE_READ function module is through the LCL_ISU_STRUCTURE_READ class. You can read the data, establish the start and finish dates, and add stages without having to deal with a lot of local variables.
Data Manipulation and Integration
ABAP-CDS stands for "Core Data Services for ABAP." For ABAP CDS views in Visual Studio Code, the vscode-abap-cds repository offers language support. The plugin comes with syntax highlighting and code snippets for a better development experience while using ABAP CDS views.
ABAP2GAPPS is a GitHub project that allows you to integrate ABAP (Advanced Business Application Programming) with Google Apps, specifically Google Sheets, using OAuth2 for authentication. The project provides a way to upload data from your ABAP system to Google Sheets.
ABAP-JSON-Toolkit is an extensive collection of command-line tools intended to make working with JSON and other data formats simple. It offers several tools and features for modifying, converting, and extracting data from JSON data.
File Handling and Reporting
Libraries in this category, such as
Abap2xlsx enable developers to work with file formats like Microsoft Excel, allowing them to generate complex reports and dashboards from ABAP data. It helps to create Excel files with complex formatting and data manipulation without the need for external tools or interfaces. It can be beneficial for generating reports, exporting data, or creating custom Excel templates within an SAP system. It can be used in any SAP system that runs on ABAP, and it is compatible with most ABAP development tools such as the ABAP Workbench, Eclipse, and Sap Hana Studio.
Logging and Error Handling
ABAP-Logger is a GitHub repository that provides a logging framework for ABAPThis framework allows you to log messages, exceptions, and other information in a structured and flexible way, making it easier to debug and analyze your ABAP programs.
By utilizing these libraries, ABAP developers can significantly improve their development process and create high-quality, maintainable, and efficient SAP applications.
