ABAP/4 was SAP’s own fourth-generation programming language, and that was the name up to
release 3.1. When release 4.0 was introduced, the name lost the 4 suffix and
the language started to be known simply as ABAP. It is exactly the same
language with several new technical improvements, mainly in the field of adding
all the features that make a programming language object oriented. The name is
taken from Advanced Business Application
Programming Language and is the programming language used by SAP for the development
of all standard business applications included within the R/3 suite.
On top of
ABAP, SAP has designed a full-purpose development environment, known as the
ABAP development workbench, which is integrated within the R/3 system and is
available for customers to develop their own solutions and enhance or extend
the capabilities of the existing applications.
The ABAP
development workbench includes all tools necessary develop and design programs,
screens, menus, and so forth. It also contains performance and debugging
facilities. Central to the workbench is the ABAP object repository and the data
dictionary.
The object repository stores all the
development objects of the workbench: programs, dictionary data, dynpros (dynamic programs), and
documentation. The repository is the key to managing and testing ongoing
development.
The data
dictionary contains the descriptions of the data structures used within
programs. This is the metadata
repository that includes table definitions, allowed values, and relationships
between tables. Administartors should be very familiar with this SAP component
since it is widely and extensively used. The ABAP data dictionary is covered in
detail in next post.
As of
version 3.0, the development workbench included the workbench organizer, the
evolution of the correction system of previous releases. The organizer handles
the transition of new developments and customizations into productive systems.
Some of the available features are version management, programs modification
control, and team project developments. The transport system handles the
movement of development work from one system to another. For instance,
migrations to new SAP releases are, in reality, massive objects transported
from the systems at SAP to customers’ systems. This is a very important tool in
the SAP System and is explained in next post.
Application Integration
The data
from the different SAP functional applications are shared and integrated,
building what is often known as an internal
information highway. This integration can be seen as an implicit
applications work flow.
One of the
main benefits of the set of SAP applications is their capacity for creating a
perfect integration between the different business processes of companies. It
is that integration between applications is available to all areas of a
company.
An
accompanying feature that makes application integration stand out is the
capacity of doing it in real time. This means that information is constantly
updated, so when a manager request a report about the status of the financial
statements. This avoids the difficulty of running end-of-period reports and
programs from a traditional legacy system, which has to search and incorporate
needed data from other applications before the run.
From the
point of view of the business processes, the integration of the SAP R/3
application modules is represented using the tools available within the SAP R/3
Business Engineer. At the level of data models, tis integration can be accessed
using the available functions included in the Data modeler.
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