4/22/2015 TheNewABAPDebuggerPart3|ITPartnersBlog

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TheNewABAPDebuggerPart3byadminonAugust19th,2011

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AnthonyCecchiniisthePresidentofInformationTechnologyPartners(ITP),anSAPconsultingcompanyheadquarteredinPennsylvania.ITPofferscomprehensiveplanning,resourceallocation,implementation,upgrade,andtrainingassistancetocompanies.Anthonyhasover17yearsofexperienceinSAPR/3businessprocessanalysisandSAPsystemsintegration.HisareasofexpertiseincludeSAPNetWeaverintegrationALEdevelopmentRFC,BAPI,IDoc,Dialog,andWebDynprodevelopmentandcustomizedWorkflowdevelopment.Youcanreachhimatajcecchini@itpsap.com

ToolsofTheNEWABAPDebugger

Inthis,the3rdandthefinalinstallment,IwillexplorethetoolsoftheNEWABAPDebuggersomewhatindepth.IwillexplorethetoolsIfeelyouwillmostlikelyuserepeatedly.PleaseconsulttheSAPhelpportalfortheNewABAPDebuggertoexploreanytoolfurther,andlearnaboutanynotdiscusseddirectlyinthisblog.

ThetoolsoftheNewABAPDebuggerareoptimizedforthedifferentdebuggingsituationsyoumayhavetodealwithduringthecourseofsolvingaproblem.SomeofthetoolsyouwillrecognizefromtheClassicABAPDebuggerothersarebrandnew.Beforewelookatafewofthetoolsandhowtousethem,letsfirstgetcomfortablewiththetoolsmenuandhowthetoolsareorganized.

Ifyouwanttoaddanewtooltothecurrentdesktop,youwillgetthepopupwindowtitledNewToolwhereyoucanchoosetheappropriatetoolbasedonyoursituation.

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DebuggingABAPforFunctionalTeamsPart2

4/22/2015 TheNewABAPDebuggerPart3|ITPartnersBlog

http://www.itpsap.com/blog/2011/08/19/thenewabapdebuggerpart3/ 2/16

TheNewABAPDebuggerToolSections

Thetoolsaregroupedintosections:

StandardTools:

SourceCode:Displaycurrentsourcecodeinthebackendeditor.PleasenotethatthisistheoldeditorandIrecommendyoudonotusethis.ThereisanothertoolfartherdownthemenuthatwillusetheNEWEditor

CallStack:DisplaythecurrentABAPstackandscreenstacks.

VariableFastDisplay:Displayvariablevalueandtype.

Breakpoints:Maintainbreakpoints,watchpoints,andcheckpoints.

SourceCode(EditControl):DisplaycurrentsourcecodeintheNEWABAPFrontEndEditor.ThisistheoptionIrecommendyouusetoenlistallthevaluableenhancementsoftheneweditor.

DataObjects:

Object:Display/changeobjectsandclasses.

Table:Display/changeinternaltables.

Structure:Display/changestructures.

SingleField:Display/changevariableswithsimpledatatypes,suchasC,N,D,T,STRING,etc.

DataExplorer:Displayverycomplexdatastructuresinatreelikefashion.

Itsworthmentioning,thatifyoudoubleclickonavariabledisplayedinanytool,youwilllaunchthecorrespondingdetailviewdescribedabovethatcorrespondstoitsdatatype.

4/22/2015 TheNewABAPDebuggerPart3|ITPartnersBlog

http://www.itpsap.com/blog/2011/08/19/thenewabapdebuggerpart3/ 3/16

SpecialTools:

WebDynpro:Thestructureofthecontentofthecurrentcontroller,thepropertiesoftheUIelementsinthelayoutofthecurrentviewandthecurrentlyinstantiatedcomponentusages

LoadedPrograms(GlobalData):Displayallcurrentlyloadedprogramsandtheirglobalvariables.

MemoryAnalysis:DisplayintegratedMemoryInspectortool(S_MEMORY_INSPECTOR)

ScreenAnalysis:Displaythescreenattributesandthesubscreenstack.

DiffTool:Comparevariablesveryquicklytooutlinedelta

SystemAreas(Internal):DisplaysystemareassuchasSMEM,ABAPMemory,Datasets,ScreenAttributesetc

OK,letstakeacloserlookatthemostcommondebuggingactivitiesdisplayingsourcecodeandthecallstack,analyzingvariables,andsettingbreakpointsandwatchpoints.

DisplayingABAPSourcecode

IbelieveitsimportantthatweareusingtheNewEditorandnottheoldClassicEditor.Tobesureyouareusingtheneweditor,fromtheABAPEditormainscreen(SE38orSE80)followthemenupathUtilities>Settings.VerifythatyouarepositionedontheeditortabandhaveselectedtheradiobuttonfortheFrontEndEditor(New).

Thereareseveralcompellingreasonsfordoingthis(lookforanupcomingBlogontheNewSAPEditor),thereasonmostrelevantforthisblogisthattheNewABAPDebuggerleveragesthefollowingbenefitsofthenewABAPFrontEndEditor

ABAPcodeiseasytoreadbecauseofrealtimesyntaxcoloring.Bothverticalandhorizontalfreescrollingispossible.Processingblockstartandend(i.e.,IF/ENDIF,LOOP/ENDLOOP)ishighlightedinrealtime.VariablevaluesandtypesappearinaDataQuickInfopopup.Breakpointsareeasilysetusingabreakpointcolumn

4/22/2015 TheNewABAPDebuggerPart3|ITPartnersBlog

http://www.itpsap.com/blog/2011/08/19/thenewabapdebuggerpart3/ 4/16

DisplayingtheABAPCALLStackinTheNewABAPDebugger

TheCallStacktooldisplaystheABAPcallstack.ItallowsyoutoswitchtothecontextofeachstacklevelandnavigatetothesourcecodebyopeningtheABAPEditor,inordertostartadeeperanalysisofthecodeinaseparatewindow(justdoubleclick!).AlsonewwithSAPNetWeaver2004sistheabilitytodisplaythescreen(Dynpro)stackaswell.Evenmoreimportant,youcandisplayacombinedABAPandscreenstacktofindoutonwhichABAPlevelwhichscreenwascalled,andwhichscreeninvokedwhichABAPmodule.

Youcannavigatefromeachstacklinetothecorrespondingsourcelineintheeditorbydoubleclickingontheiconinthestacktypecolumn.

Displayingvariablecontents

OneofthenewfeaturesoftheNewABAPDebuggeristheVariableFastDisplaytool,whichenablesyoutoviewbasicinformationaboutavariable,suchasthevariabletype,value,hexadecimalvalue,etc.

Todisplaythisinformation,youselectthetoolandthentypeinthevariablename,oryoucandoubleclickonthe

4/22/2015 TheNewABAPDebuggerPart3|ITPartnersBlog

http://www.itpsap.com/blog/2011/08/19/thenewabapdebuggerpart3/ 5/16

variablename(i.e.,thesymbol)inthesourcecodetotransferthesymboltotheVariableFastDisplay.

Evenmoreconvenientistheabilitytodisplayallglobalvariablesofthecurrentprogramoralllocalvariables(includingtheinterfaceparameters)ofthecurrentprocedure.

4/22/2015 TheNewABAPDebuggerPart3|ITPartnersBlog

http://www.itpsap.com/blog/2011/08/19/thenewabapdebuggerpart3/ 6/16

Ifyouareinterestedinaspecialglobalvariableofanotherprogramthatispartoftheapplication,youcanusetheLoadedPrograms(GlobalData)toolbelongingtothespecialtoolscategory,whichallowsyoutobrowseallglobalvariablesofallloadedprograms,notjustthecurrentprogram.

4/22/2015 TheNewABAPDebuggerPart3|ITPartnersBlog

http://www.itpsap.com/blog/2011/08/19/thenewabapdebuggerpart3/ 7/16

Thistoolalsoallowsyoutocheckoutwhichprogramshavebeenused(i.e.,loaded)inthecurrentinternalsession.

OneofthemostsignificantbenefitsoftheNewABAPDebuggeristheabilitytoprovidetailoreddetailviewsforallABAPdatatypes.ThedetailviewsarepartoftheNewABAPDebuggernavigationsystem.Regardlessofthetoolthatisactive,youcannavigatetoadetailviewbysimplydoubleclickingonthevariableinanytool(withtheexceptionoftheSourceCodetool),andthevariableautomaticallyappearsintheappropriatedetailview.

Forexample,ifwegobacktotheabovediagramforglobalvariablesforthecurrentprogramanddoubleclickonline2oftheMARAstructure,thetooldisplaystheStructureofMARAatthediscretefieldlevel.

4/22/2015 TheNewABAPDebuggerPart3|ITPartnersBlog

http://www.itpsap.com/blog/2011/08/19/thenewabapdebuggerpart3/ 8/16

Forverycomplicateddatastructures,suchasacomplexnestedobject,itismoreconvenienttostartananalysisinatreelikedisplaythatallowsyoutodigdeeperanddeeperintotheobjectwithoutlosinginformationaboutthelevelsabove.TheDataExplorertoolprovidesthiscapability.

BreakPointsandWatchPointsinTheNewABAPDebugger

4/22/2015 TheNewABAPDebuggerPart3|ITPartnersBlog

http://www.itpsap.com/blog/2011/08/19/thenewabapdebuggerpart3/ 9/16

WhilebreakpointshavenotchangedmuchbetweentheClassicandNewABAPDebuggers,saveafewenhancements,watchpointshave.Letstakealookateachinturn.

BreakPoints

InABAPtherearethreedifferentkindsofbreakpoints,eachofwhichserveaspecificpurpose.InreleasespriortoSAPNetWeaver2004s,onlyonebreakpointiconwasdisplayedinthedebuggertodenoteallthreetypesofbreakpoints.InSAPNetWeaver2004s,threedifferentbreakpointsiconsaredisplayedintheNewABAPDebugger,aswellasintheABAPEditor,soyouknowimmediatelywhichkindofbreakpointyouaredealingwith.

Youcansetdebuggerbreakpointsinsidethedebugger.Theyexistonlyaslongasthedebuggerisactive.Oncethedebuggerisclosed,alldebuggerbreakpointsaregone.

Usually,yousetsessionbreakpointsintheABAPEditor.Thescopeofsessionbreakpointsisthecurrentlogonsession.Thismeansthatyoursessionbreakpointsarepresentinallexternalsessions(i.e.,SAPGUIwindows)ofthecurrentlogonsession.IfyouselecttheSavebuttonintheABAPDebugger(inadialoglogonsession),allcurrentdebuggerbreakpointsareautomaticallyconvertedtosessionbreakpoints.

IfyousetabreakpointinsidethecodingofaWebDynproorBSPapplication,thentheABAPWorkbenchautomaticallysetsauserbreakpoint.UserbreakpointsarestoredintheSAPdatabase,andtheyarevalidforalllogonsessionsofthecurrentuseronthecurrentapplicationserver.Ifyousetauserbreakpoint,thenallfollowinglogonsessionsofthisuserwillhavethosebreakpointsset.

SettingbreakpointsintheNewABAPDebuggerisnotmuchdifferentfromsettingthemintheClassicABAPDebugger.IfyouclickonthebreakpointiconinthecontrolareaoftheNewABAPDebugger,theCreateBreakpointsdialogappears.HereyouselectwhetheryouwantthebreakpointtooccuratABAPcommands,methods,functions,orforms,orwheneveranexceptioniscaught.Youcanalsosetabreakpointatanarbitrarysourcecodeposition(eveninnotyetloadedprograms).ThiscapabilityisnotavailableintheClassicABAPDebugger.

Youcangethelpwhenyouaresettingbreakpointsatamethod,function,orformbypressingF4.Forexample,pressingF4intheMethodNamefieldontheMethodtabdisplaysallincludedmethodsofagivenclass.Soevenifyoudonot

4/22/2015 TheNewABAPDebuggerPart3|ITPartnersBlog

http://www.itpsap.com/blog/2011/08/19/thenewabapdebuggerpart3/ 10/16

haveallthedetailsaboutthemethodorfunctionmodule,youcanstillsetabreakpoint.IntheClassicABAPDebugger,thereisnosuchhelpavailable.

UsingthenewBreakpointstool,whichisontheBreak/Watchpointsdesktop,youcanadministerallyourcurrentlysetbreakpoints.Youcancreate,delete,activate,orinactivatebreakpointsusingthistool.IntheNewABAPDebugger,youcantreatthebreakpointsindividually.Forexampleyoucanpromoteanysingledebuggerbreakpointtoasessionbreakpointoranysessionbreakpointtoauserbreakpoint..etc

WatchPoints

Awatchpointcanbesetonanyvariablewithlocalorglobalscopetobreaktheexecutionoftheprogramwhenthevariablescontentchanges.Thismakesiteasiertodebugtheprogramsdataflow.

Inordertocreateawatchpoint,clickontheWatchpointbuttoninthecontrolareaoftheNewABAPDebugger.Inthepopupdialogthatappears,youcanspecifythevariable,thescopeforawatchpointonalocalvariable,andafreecondition.Thescopeforawatchpointonalocalvariablemeansthatyoucansetthewatchpointforonlythecurrentinstanceofthemoduleontheexecutionstackinwhichthelocalvariableexists,orforallinstancesofthismodulethatwillbepushedontothestack.Theabilitytoassociateafreeconditionwiththewatchpointisaconvenientwaytolimitthenumberofwatchpointreachedeventsaccordingtoyourneeds.Whenyouspecifyaconditionalongwithwatchpoints,itisafreestyleconditionforwhichyoucanchoosetwoarbitraryoperands(noneedtospecifythewatchpointvariable,butyoucan)andoneoperator.WritetheconditioninthesamewayyouwouldwriteitinABAP.Youcanusetwobuiltinfunctionsasoperandsinthewatchpointcondition..lines(itab)andstrlen(str)(the

4/22/2015 TheNewABAPDebuggerPart3|ITPartnersBlog

http://www.itpsap.com/blog/2011/08/19/thenewabapdebuggerpart3/ 11/16

numberoflinesoftheinternaltableitabandthelengthofthestringstr,respectively).

Forexample,Iwillsetawatchpointontheinternaltableitab1tobreakwhenitisgreaterthan50linesincontent.

AllcurrentlysetwatchpointsarelistedintheWatchpointstaboftheBreakpointstool.Hereyoucancreate,edit,delete,activate,orinactivatewatchpoints.Inadditiontoinformationsuchasthevariablename,thescope,andthecondition,youwillfindinthewatchpointlistasymbolfortheoldvariableforallwatchpoints.Thisinformationenablesyoutoviewthevalueofthevariableoftherecentlyhitwatchpointbeforeitwaschanged.Iwillexecutetheabovewatchpointforillustrationofthispoint

ThefinaltoolIwanttoexploreisthenewDIFFtool.

Doyourememberthissituation

Youarehotonthetrailandneedtofindthedifferencesbetweentwotables.UsingtheTablesdesktop,wecaneasilycreatetwotableviewsinordertocomparethetwotables.However,forlargeinternaltables,findingoutthedifferenceswithinanacceptableperiodoftimeisnotaneasytask.

4/22/2015 TheNewABAPDebuggerPart3|ITPartnersBlog

http://www.itpsap.com/blog/2011/08/19/thenewabapdebuggerpart3/ 12/16

TheNewABAPDebuggerprovidesaspecialtoolforthistasktheDIFFTool,whichfindsthedifferencesbetweentwoarbitraryABAPdataobjects.Youcancompareinternaltables,structures,strings,orevenobjectsusingtheDIFFTool,whichprovidesthedifferencesconcerningthetypes(e.g.,onetableisasortedtableandtheotherahashedtable),andofcourse,thevalues.

IwillstarttheDIFFToolfortheinternaltablesitab1anditab2simplyclickontheStartComparisonbutton,andviola,acompletedisplayshowingalistofalldifferencesbetweenthetwotables.

FinalThoughts

NowthatyouknowaboutthemostimportanttoolsoftheNewABAPDebugger,Ihopefuturedebuggingtasksareeasierandquickerforyou!Happydebugging!

HerearelinkstothepriorBlogsinthisseries:

TheNewABAPDebuggerPart1,clickTheNewABAPDebuggerPart1

TheNewABAPDebuggerPart2,clickTheNewABAPDebuggerPart2

IfyouenjoyedthisblogonTheNewABAPDebugger,pleaseclickonthelinkbelowandsignupforournewsletter.WedeliverrelevantSAPTechnicaltips&tricksandcurrentnewsrighttoyourinbox!

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TheNewEnhancementFrameworkPart42comments2yearsago

AvatarAnthonyCecchiniTheinformationinthisandallmyblogsarefromexperienceusingtheIDEtoolortoolsetiam

AnintroductiontoWebDynproPart23comments2yearsago

AvatargeekjavaCardandmanymore.higuys,iamabeginnerindevelopmentfield..ihavebeenlookingfrmany

DebuggingABAPforFunctionalTeamsPart11commentayearago

AvatarOracleTraininginChennaiThankstoSharetheQTPMaterialforFreshers,qtptrainingchennai

AGuidetotheNewALVGridControlPart17comments2yearsago

AvatarJonThanksforthisTony!Readingyourblogwasmuchbetterthansearchingtheinternetforaquick

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AlexZev 2yearsagoHelpmealot,IdidnotknewthepowerofthedebuggerThx

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charan 4yearsagoVerygoodcontent.Itwouldbeveryuseful....

Thanksalotbro.

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