ABAP Cheat Sheets

[danreg]

Hi ABAP folks,

There‘s a popular internet meme out there: "One does not simply ...".
It comes from the statement "One does not simply walk into Mordor" made by Boromir, a member of the fellowship in the first Lord of the Rings movie, who is doubtful about the mission‘s prospects of success regarding the destruction of the one ring in Mount Doom - a volcano 🌋 in the realm of Mordor.

Maybe you were or are faced with a similarly tough mission when dealing with or learning ABAP. You could well argue that one does not simply understand ABAP 😅.

How about some info and code snippets on dedicated ABAP topics, concepts and syntax in a nutshell to get some basic equipment on the mission when advancing (certainly less belligerently than the fellowship mentioned above) into the realm of ABAP 🤔?

ABAP Cheat Sheets are there to support you!

🔗https://github.com/SAP-samples/abap-cheat-sheets

 
No, it's not about foul tricks and cheating. And no teacher will disapprove.
According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary 📚, a cheat sheet is a "written [...] aid (such as a sheet of notes) that can be referred to for help in understanding or remembering something complex".

What are ABAP Cheat Sheets?

They …

• provide a collection of information on selected ABAP topics in a nutshell for your reference.
• focus on ABAP syntax, keywords and additions to ABAP statements.
• include code snippets.
• are supported by easy-to-consume demonstration examples that you can import into your SAP BTP ABAP environment or on-premise ABAP system using abapGit for you to run and check out ABAP syntax in action in simple contexts.
• do not claim to be fully comprehensive as far as the concepts and syntax options are concerned. Since they are enriched by links to glossary entries and chapters of the ABAP Keyword Documentation (the F1 help), and others, they invite you to explore them further.

Currently available cheat sheets

Cheat Sheet	Topics Covered
ABAP for Cloud Development	Briefly covers the terms ABAP Cloud and classic ABAP to set the context for ABAP for Cloud Development
Data Types and Data Objects	Contains basic information about data types and data objects in ABAP
Internal Tables	Creating, filling, reading from, sorting, modifying internal tables
Structures	Some basics when working with structures
ABAP SQL	Reading from database tables using SELECT Changing data in database tables using INSERT, UPDATE, MODIFY and DELETE
ABAP Object Orientation	Working with objects and components, concepts like inheritance, interfaces, and more
Constructor Expressions	Covers constructor expressions with operators such as VALUE, CORRESPONDING, NEW, CONV, EXACT, REF, CAST, COND, SWITCH,  FILTER, REDUCE Iteration expressions with FOR LET expressions
Dynamic Programming	Covers field symbols and data references as supporting elements for dynamic programming Dynamic ABAP syntax components Runtime type services (RTTS), i. e. runtime type identification (RTTI) and runtime type creation (RTTC)
String Processing	Creating strings and assigning values Chaining strings String templates Concatenating, splitting, modifying strings Searching and replacing
ABAP for RAP: Entity Manipulation Language (ABAP EML)	EML syntax ABAP Behavior Pools, RAP handler and saver classes BDEF derived types
Excursion Down to Bits and Bytes	Covers the technical background of data types and data objects
ABAP SQL: Working with Hierarchies	Summarizes the functions ABAP SQL offers together with ABAP CDS for working with hierarchical data that is stored in database tables
Internal Tables: Grouping	Covers the GROUP BY clause in statements for internal tables.
ABAP Managed Database Procedures (AMDP)	Covers ABAP Managed Database Procedures (AMDP): AMDP Procedures and AMDP Functions (including CDS Table Functions)
Program Flow Logic	Deals with control structures (IF, CASE) and loops (DO, WHILE), among others
ABAP Unit Tests	Contains basic information about unit testing in ABAP
CDS View Entities	The cheat sheet provides references to information on ABAP CDS. Find a feature table for available language elements in ABAP CDS in the ABAP Keyword Documentation with links to detailed topics. The repository contains examples.
SAP LUW	Provides a high-level overview of the SAP LUW concept with a focus on SAP LUW-related statements. Note: Several statements covered in the cheat sheet and the executable example are only relevant to classic ABAP.
Dynpro	Provides a high-level overview of dynpro topics with a focus on dynpro-related statements. Note: The content of this cheat sheet is only relevant to classic ABAP.
Selection Screens and Classic Lists	Provides a high-level overview of selection screens and classic lists with a focus on related statements. It includes an excursion into the SAP List Viewer (ALV). Note: The content of this cheat sheet is only relevant to classic ABAP.
Working with XML and JSON in ABAP	Covers processing XML using class libraries, XML transformations, serializations (ABAP to XML) and deserializations (XML to ABAP), and dealing with JSON data
Released ABAP Classes	Contains a selection of ABAP classes, serving as a quick introduction, along with code snippets to explore the functionality in action
Date, Time, and Time Stamps	Covers how to handle and process dates, times, and time stamps in ABAP
Built-In Functions	Covers a variety of built-in functions in ABAP
Authorization Checks	Provides a high-level overview of explicit and implicit authorization checks in ABAP
ABAP Dictionary (DDIC)	Covers a selection of repository objects in the ABAP Dictionary (DDIC) that represent global types
Exceptions and Runtime Errors	Provides an overview on exceptions and runtime errors
Regular Expressions in ABAP	Includes an overview of common regular expressions and their use in ABAP through statements, built-in functions, and system classes
Numeric Operations in ABAP	Explores various aspects of numeric operations and calculations in ABAP
Generative AI	Provides references to detailed information on Generative AI in ABAP Cloud and explores released ABAP classes available in the ABAP AI SDK powered by Intelligent Scenario Lifecycle Management.
WHERE Conditions	Explores syntax options in ABAP statements that include WHERE for data filtering

If you spot any errors, please create an issue in the GitHub repository.
Cheers.

[Altarkawi]

Very useful, thank you!

[Jeansy]

Wow, that's really a lot of content.
I just had a quick look and it looks really very useful. Thank you for your effort for creating these Cheat-Sheets for various ABAP-related topics 🙂

Kind regards
Jens

[danreg]

Thanks a lot Mohammed! 👍

[danreg]

Hi Jens,

very welcome. Thank you.

Cheers

[zeal_it_christopher_linke]

Wow, thank you so much for your effort!

[danreg]

Thanks, Christoph.

[SafaBahoosh]

Great Blog! Thanks, Daniel, for gathering and sharing all these useful information.

[danreg]

Hi Safa, thanks for leaving the message. Kind regards Daniel

[rchudziak]

Amazing stuff. More of that please in other development areas like SAPUI5 etc.

[danreg]

Hi Radoslaw, thanks! We're glad if the content is of help. Cheers

[rchudziak]

F1 is lacking  examples comparing to this Github repo.

[danreg]

Please see the Further information section in the repository's readme. The package SABAPDEMOS with plenty of code examples is available in SAP systems. The descriptions of the examples regarding the context and all are accessible via the F1 documentation, too. For example, try this link (standard ABAP) out to see a list of the examples. Then just search in your system for the mentioned artifacts. When checking that out directly in the system-internal version of the ABAP Keyword Documentation, you can get to the artifacts directly. You also have the option to run the example from the system-internal version directly. Apart from that, just recently the F1 examples were made fit for the SAP BTP ABAP environment and can be explored in those environments as well.

[Föß]

Hi,

amazing. Thank you very much.

Lg Föß

[marcfbe]

That's for sponsoring me on GH, Christopher! Please send me an email or Twitter DM

Thanks,
Marc

[bztoy]

this stuff is absolutely amazing, thank you so much for your efforts. 🙂

[danreg]

Hi Föß, thanks for your note 👍

[danreg]

Thanks Wises. ABAP rocks!

[Ruthiel]

Thank you danreg for this work!
It is really helpful for the community!

[danreg]

Thanks Ruthiel! 👍👍

[SyambabuAllu]

Hi Daniel,

It’s really informative blog. Thanks for sharing!!

Thank you,

Syam

 

[danreg]

You're very welcome, Syam. Thanks a lot. Kind regards Daniel

[ChrisSolomon]

Thanks for all the time and work put into this! I am sure it will be a LONG living document!

[danreg]

Thanks for your comment, Christopher. Yes, let's see. ABAP never gets old 😎. Let's see if more topics can be added over time. Regarding ABAP topics, there's "just a tiny little bit“ more available 😂 (or 😨 respectively … 😅😅). Cheers Daniel

[Adeniji]

Thank you so much for this cheat-cheat.

It really came handy to me at the right time esp the RAP topics.

Will definitely bookmark it.

[danreg]

Hi Olasunkanmi, great to hear that it is of help. Regarding the RAP stuff, you can consult, for example, the F1 docu here for the full beauty of CDS BDL, how to tailor your BDEF and all.  Just check the subtopics there. Furthermore, this topic serves as entry point to the F1 topics about EML. Not to forget (1): Meanwhile, there are plenty of smaller and bigger executable examples on RAP in/accessible and executable via the (system-internal) F1 docu. You find links to those examples in the respective topics (Executable Example section in the individual topics, usually the last section in the topics). Not to forget (2): The great Development guide for the ABAP RESTful Application Programming Model (<- on-premise; cloud -> here) for the complete picture. Cheers Daniel

[mikesevilla]

big thank you! 🙂

[danreg]

Hi Mike, 👍👍

[beyhan_meyrali]

Great effort! Thanks for sharing.

[danreg]

Hi Beyhan, you're very welcome 👍 Cheers Daniel

[BaerbelWinkler]

Thanks for these neat Cheat Sheets, Daniel! I already shared a link to this blog post with colleagues to make them aware of them.

Cheers

Bärbel

[danreg]

Hi Bärbel, awesome ! Thanks a lot and kind regerds Daniel

[barisguler]

Hello Daniel,

Thanks for this great blog. I am having problem when pull this demos to my development system. Are these errors related my system or coding ?

[danreg]

Hi Barış,

thanks for your kind note and for reaching out. In fact, I strongly assume that the import errors are  related to the (ABAP version in your on-premise) system and that you are on a release < 7.56 (very first error note ...not supported by your NW release). As far as I can see from the screenshot, the RAP-related artifacts, among others (e.g. BDEF), are affected. 

Edit: Meanwhile, branches are available that support classic ABAP.

Thanks and kind regards Daniel

[OlegBash]

Thank you for the cheat sheet, danreg

Is it possible to add information into SAP LUW part? if yes - how?

[danreg]

Hi Oleg,

If you have suggestions (such as issues found, missing/additional syntax to be covered), please feel free to address them (GitHub issues, no pull requests).

Cheers

[OlegBash]

Thank you!

[Oleg_Vokh]

Very useful!
Thank you @danreg !

[danreg]

Hi Oleg, thanks for your comment. 👌👍

[AbhishekSharma]

Hi @danreg very useful Information,  Thanks for sharing...

Thanks-

Abhishek

[danreg]

Thanks a lot @AbhishekSharma for your kind comment.