The SAP Business Application Studio provides several extensions designed to streamline the development of business applications for the SAP Intelligent Enterprise.
Among these extensions is the CDS Graphical Modeler, which enables SAP business developers to visually design Core Data Service (CDS) models. Previously, this extension was available for SAP Cloud Application Programming (CAP) development projects.
However, with the release of SAP BTP ABAP environment 2508 and SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition 2508, corresponding to ABAP release 9.16, we have integrated the CDS Graphical Modeler with ABAP. This integration allows developers to create ABAP projects using the CDS Graphical Modeler to conveniently design ABAP-compliant CDS models for various scenarios in a remote ABAP system.
Ultimately, you can now build full-stack ABAP applications in SAP Business Application Studio. Once you've created an ABAP project, you can model business objects, generate ABAP CDS artifacts, integrate a user interface, and deploy your application to the appropriate environments, such as SAP BTP ABAP environment or SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition.
Curious how this works? Check out our documentation on SAP Help Portal for detailed instructions: Develop Full-Stack ABAP Applications in SAP Business Application Studio.
But you’re short on time or just looking for a quick peek? Keep reading! 😉
1. Set Up Your Full-Stack ABAP Project:
In the SAP Build Lobby, choose Create right above the project list and select Create from the drop-down menu. This opens the Create Project dialog.
In the Create Project dialog, select Application, click Next, select Full-Stack, advance with Next, and finally select Full-Stack ABAP (SAP Business Application Studio).
Advance with Next and specify the target ABAP system and configure the project details.
Once the project is created, a Core Schema Notation Model is created in the remote ABAP system, and the remote ABAP package path is added to the workspace. The project then opens in the Storyboard.
2. Model Your Application:
From the Storyboard, you can model your ABAP application using the CDS Graphical Modeler to define and visualize your ABAP RESTful Application Programming Model (RAP) business objects, projections, and services relevant to your application development.
Choose + in the Create an entity field to add the business object entities and define their relationship for the business service.
Note: Next to the Business Object modeler, you see your CSN file. This file resides on your ABAP system in the package you created previously. This file is used by the modeler to store your model. You should not edit this file manually since this can damage the integrity of the model.
Proceed with adding projections to specify which elements of a business object are exposed in the business service.
Add a business service and select which entities to expose in the service.
You are now all set to generate the ABAP backend artefacts from the modeled business objects, projections, and services. Close the Business Services modeler and return to the Storyboard.
3. Generate ABAP CDS Artifacts:
Once you have modeled your ABAP application, you need to generate the ABAP development objects based on the data model created with the CDS Graphical Modeler, including DDIC tables, CDS views, metadata extensions, and service definitions.
From the Storyboard, choose Generate and follow the steps in the wizard to perform validation checks and complete the generation process.
As a result, a RAP OData UI service is generated and available in the service catalog. On the ABAP side, the development objects are activated, and the service binding is published.
4. Add a User Interface and Deploy Your Application:
As a last step, you need to create a user interface for your RAP service by generating a SAP Fiori UI application that you can then deploy to an appropriate environment, such as SAP BTP ABAP Environment or SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition.
From the Storyboard, choose + in the UI Applications field to open the SAP Fiori Generator wizard and provide the required inputs for your UI development. To deploy the application, choose Deploy from the Application Information tab.
And that's it! You've successfully developed a full-stack ABAP application in SAP Business Application Studio—quickly and effortlessly in just a few steps.
What do you think of it? We would love to hear your thoughts! Share your feedback in the comments below.
Bluesky
