A Guide To SAP's New ABAP Programming Model For SAP Fiori Applications

31/7/2017 A Guide to SAP’s New ABAP Programming Model for SAP Fiori Applications
A New ABAP Programming Model for Digital Business

A Guide to SAP’s New ABAP Programming Model for SAP Fiori Applications
by Karl Kessler | SAPinsider, Volume 18, Issue 2
April 24, 2017
With digitization a top priority, many organizations are preparing to transition to SAP S/4HANA and its
built-in support for business operations in the digital age. To meet the needs of this new type of
deployment — which requires cloud qualities at large scale and full support for SAP HANA and SAP Fiori
— SAP has introduced a new ABAP programming model. This article helps you take advantage of this
new model by walking through the requirements for modern application development and how these
requirements are met by the ABAP platform as of SAP NetWeaver Application Server ABAP 7.51.
SAP S/4HANA is a business software suite designed to run in the digital age, with built-in support for the
technology required to meet the needs of digital business, such as a consumer-grade user experience,
business networks, and connected devices and things. As digitization continues its steady ascent to the top
of the priority list for most organizations, growing numbers of businesses are moving forward with an
implementation of SAP S/4HANA. For many SAP customers, this means a transition from traditional SAP
NetWeaver and SAP Business Suite deployments to one that provides cloud qualities at large scale, and fully
leverages SAP HANA and SAP Fiori technology — a new type of deployment that requires a new ABAP
programming model.
The ABAP platform has been adapted over the years to enable a variety of new ABAP programming models,
from Dynpro and list processing for traditional SAP GUI-based applications to models and tools for web-
based development, such as business server pages and Web Dynpro. While these past adaptations have not
fundamentally changed the ABAP programming model, the introduction of SAP HANA as an in-memory
database and SAP Fiori as the new user experience paradigm has made it necessary to rethink the ABAP
development approach for solutions such as SAP S/4HANA.
This article helps you fully leverage all the advantages of the new ABAP programming model by outlining the
key requirements for a model that supports the development of modern business applications, and explaining
how these requirements are met by the ABAP platform starting with SAP NetWeaver Application Server (SAP
NetWeaver AS) ABAP 7.51 and a successor version planned for shipment in the fall of 2017.
Why a New ABAP Programming Model?

When it comes to modern applications, customers expect a sophisticated look and feel, an intuitive and
responsive user experience design, and role-based access for the different personas involved. In addition, in
contrast to traditional Dynpro or Web Dynpro applications, customers expect to be able to continue their work
regardless of the device they are using. For example, they might start in the morning on their smartphone,
continue in the office at their desktop or laptop, hand over their work in progress to colleagues, and in the
evening run analytics to pull a status report.
Customers also prefer the 24/7 availability of cloud-based applications, and want developers to be able to
extend business applications on the fly — out of the running context — without invoking complex design-time
environments. They expect a high degree of scalability and elasticity when the number of users and requests
heavily increase. And last, but not least, they take for granted the traditional lifecycle and supportability
capabilities of their proven ABAP environment, including transport from development and quality assurance
to production.
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Available with 7.51 and its successor release (planned for the fall of 2017), the new ABAP programming
model is designed to address all these requirements and bring new opportunities and flexibility to developers.
It retains the lifecycle and supportability features of previous models while supporting new innovations with its
ability to push down data-intensive logic to SAP HANA and to run user interaction logic inside the browser.
On the data side, the core data services (CDS) paradigm based on SAP HANA provides modeling support for
both the transactional and analytical aspects of the underlying business objects. On the front-end side, the
SAPUI5-based SAP Fiori provides a responsive design for applications running on both mobile devices and
traditional desktops. SAP Fiori builds on a role-based model with key user extensibility options that no longer
require any modifications to traditional user interfaces, which can be difficult to implement and challenging to
maintain when SAP delivers upgrade options.
Release 7.51 and higher of the ABAP stack provides full compatibility between the new model and previous
models, such as Web Dynpro and Floorplan Manager, which eases the transition to SAP S/4HANA
dramatically. In addition, required code adaptations for SAP S/4HANA are well documented and supported by
corresponding conversion tools. Existing SAP NetWeaver customers are also supported in the transition with
the ability to evaluate the new programming model in an incremental way. The first elements of the new
model were introduced in SAP NetWeaver 7.4 and 7.5 with the addition of CDS. While initially introduced to
support analytical scenarios, CDS support for transactional services was added in ABAP 7.51.
So, what are the characteristics of this new ABAP programming model, and how does SAP NetWeaver AS
ABAP 7.51 — and its planned successor — implement them? Let’s take a closer look at what is expected
and how the new ABAP programming model meets these expectations.
A Modern User Experience

Modern users have a set of expectations for how they will be able to perform their daily tasks, including a
high degree of usability, instant insight into data, and the ability to work anytime on any device. The new
ABAP programming model has evolved to meet these requirements.
Traditional ABAP applications based on Dynpro or Web Dynpro tend to be fairly complex. For example, think
of the well-known order entry transaction VA01, which is a single, large transaction that encompasses nearly
all the functionality for the different personas involved, such as the sales representative, the financial
accountant, and the controller. This can lead to complex user interfaces that merge all the different views into
one place.
Modern end users expect a role-based, easy-to-learn flow of user interactions to get their work done — an
expectation that has had a major impact on the new ABAP programming model. To meet this expectation, the
new ABAP programming model follows a template-based user interface approach that reflects user roles
more precisely — by providing views and perspectives on specific data that is relevant to a particular role
while hiding unnecessary details, for instance. This approach makes it possible to support multiple
applications with the same data and functionality, while also properly managing redundancies in the
applications without introducing inconsistencies in the underlying data model (see Figure 1).
Figure 1 — The new ABAP programming model provides an easy-to-use, role-based user experience
Another modern user expectation is instant, unlimited access to data. Traditional applications are bound to an
application server. This means entering restrictions into a selection screen to specify the required data, which
is then copied from the database to the application server level — think of an SAP List Viewer (ALV) scenario.
Modern users, however, do not accept data browsing that is limited by the sizing and workload of the
application server level. They want to sort, filter, group, and aggregate data in real time with immediate effect.
To meet this expectation, the new ABAP programming model supports SAP HANA features and performance
without the limitations caused by the least common denominator approach of traditional row-based database
systems.
In addition, users want the freedom to work on their preferred devices at any time without disruption, and they
want to freely collaborate with their peers. To provide this capability, the new ABAP programming model
removes the tight coupling of the traditional client-server model to avoid server stickiness, so that an
application can move from one application server to the other, and so that the application context is not
stored on the application server level — it remains stateless (see Figure 2). This enables functionality such
as saving intermediate objects in draft mode.
Figure 2 — With the new ABAP programming model, continuous work, device switching, and collaboration are enabled by
a stateless back end
Support for the Cloud

Another driver for the new ABAP programming model is the need to support cloud-based applications. In
traditional on-premise environments, users expect rare updates managed with planned downtimes upfront —
in cloud-based environments, on the other hand, consumers expect new features and fixes to be
continuously delivered.
Technically, this continuous delivery must be achieved through a business continuity model with zero-
downtime maintenance and online imports. Applications must not stick to a particular server environment. On
the provider side, resource consumption must depend on system load. If more resources are needed,
computing instances, such as additional servers, need to be added dynamically. To enable ABAP developers
to meet these requirements, cloud services are integrated in a completely transparent fashion in the new
ABAP programming model, enabled by a multi-tenant architecture.
In the new ABAP model, adaptation of cloud applications, such as extensions, take place in a well-managed
manner. Typical extensibility actions involve adapting the user interface, such as adding custom fields,
changing the layout, extending business logic or analytical scenarios, creating custom business objects, and
extending the SAP Fiori catalog and roles. These adaptations are typically carried out by a key user or by a
developer (from SAP, a partner, or a customer), who makes the adaptations in a modification-free way using
in-app extensibility options, without any clashes and using only whitelisted APIs and predefined extension
points (business add-ins, or BAdIs) that comply with zero-downtime principles. The corresponding toolset in
the ABAP application server is fully cloud ready, meaning that extensions are managed in a transparent
fashion.
When it comes to integrating cloud services, the challenge for the new programming model, then, is to utilize
resources on the various levels — browser, ABAP application server, and SAP HANA database — so that the
right tasks are performed on the right layer. In particular, this includes proper use of caching, appropriate
management of the application state, and reduced roundtrips. The new model delivered with ABAP does this
by optimizing the infrastructure at all layers (see Figure 3).
Figure 3 — The new ABAP programming model optimizes the infrastructure to ensure proper use of caching, appropriate
management of the application state, and reduced roundtrips
All in all, to support cloud-based applications, the new ABAP programming model must utilize modern user
interface technology, reduce the inherent redundancy in traditional applications, offer integrated extensibility,
keep proven platform assets, and avoid server stickiness. The new model delivered with the ABAP platform
does this with a well-balanced architecture on the various levels of abstraction.
A RESTful Architecture
To enable collaboration and seamless shifting between devices while preserving work continuity — features
that modern users depend on — a REST-based architecture is required. With a REST-based architecture,
you achieve more loosely coupled layers that interact and interface in a stateless fashion using REST-based
protocols based on HTTP, such as the OData protocol.
In the traditional Dynpro and Web Dynpro world, the application state is kept in the back-end session residing
on the application server (in the well-known roll area), which disables device switch and continuity of work.
Sessions simply time out if not continued on that server. In simple SAP Fiori applications, traditional logic is
carried out in a “batch-input” fashion, meaning input is gathered in several steps from the end user and then
written against the database. The state of the application is held on the client level, which does not allow for
continuous work or collaborative scenarios.
The new ABAP programming model follows a REST-based approach. The application state is persisted in
SAP HANA at the database level, and no session is present on the application server level other than the
business logic, which is executed in the current step (see Figure 4). This approach allows users to switch
devices and to collaborate.
Figure 4 — The new ABAP programming model supports a RESTful architecture to enable persistence in the database
For performance reasons, not all session states are persisted — only the essential state is saved, which
consists of changed original data, interaction data (such as error status), undo/redo history, and acquired
locks, for instance. All the session data that can be easily reconstructed on the fly (such as value help) is
reconstructed when the application is resumed. The program model also shields all technical session context
(such as logon data, authentication, and established database connection) implicitly.
A Locking Strategy
To support a RESTful architecture — where the application state is not kept on the application server, but
rather is kept on the database layer — a locking strategy is required.
Traditionally, Dynpro or Web Dynpro applications use enqueue operations to set a logical lock and avoid
parallel updates on the same physical object. In a “batch-input” scenario, the locks are typically required
shortly before the update takes place, since all update operations are tightly bundled. But what happens if
transactions are executed in an multi-step interactive way, as with most SAP Fiori applications?
To facilitate the session handling, the new ABAP programming model introduces the “draft” concept, which
enables users to save an intermediate stage of work. Each interactive flow of screens updates the draft
consecutively. Only at the end is the draft data activated and written back to the original tables. So what does
this mean for locking? An interactive application might be continued over a long period of time, depending on
its state, and locks cannot be held over that period of time. How is locking handled for these types of
applications?
With the new ABAP model, the approach is to use an optimistic locking strategy (see Figure 5). With this
approach, typical request processing in interactive applications is protected and isolated by exclusive locks
(enqueues). When a timeout occurs (because the application was suspended due to a long time interval, for
instance), the application will resume using an optimistic lock. When the draft is written back, an exclusive
lock must be reacquired. Locking is embedded in the persistence framework supported by the enqueue
server to simplify the application logic as much as possible.
Figure 5 — The new ABAP programming model uses an optimistic locking strategy for interactive applications
An Example of the New ABAP Model in Action

To get an idea of how developers can build applications using the new ABAP programming model, let’s
consider a basic scenario of sales orders that are changed by different end users.
Figure 6 shows a sales order header defined using CDS1 and SAP HANA views in a straightforward fashion.
To enable draft persistence, a table (Z268_SO_TP_38) is created automatically to store the draft headers
(see line 16). Each sales order header has a 1:n association to the sales order items (see line 27). For the
sales order items, a draft persistence is created in a similar way (see Figure 7).
Figure 6 — An example sales order defined with draft persistence using the new ABAP programming model
Figure 7 — The sales order items for the example sales order defined with draft persistence
In the SAP Fiori template for the sales order application, you see the list of sales orders and whether changes
have been drafted by other users. If you change a sales order by changing a product or quantity, a draft will
be saved (see Figure 8).
Figure 8 — Pending draft changes in the example sales order scenario
This simple example shows how drafts can be created by several users in parallel who are switching between
devices and contexts. The underlying framework enabled by the new ABAP programming model ensures that
the consistency of the data is retained (for example, calculating and updating the total amount if the quantity
was changed).
Summary
Modern applications require a compelling user experience and cloud qualities, and the new ABAP
programming model available with SAP NetWeaver AS ABAP 7.51 (as well as the upcoming successor
release due in the fall of 2017) rises to meet that challenge. Instead of building separate applications to
handle different functionalities — transactions, search, and analytics, for instance — the model ensures that
one user experience builds on exactly one programming model that is based on one common semantic data
model powered by SAP HANA.
The ABAP application server offers CDS for that purpose, along with transactional application frameworks
and traditional ABAP coding that expose user interface consumption services through the OData protocol,
which significantly simplifies template-based SAP Fiori applications.
The key requirements outlined in this article are mapped to proven capabilities of the underlying ABAP
application server (such as lifecycle and supportability capabilities) or are addressed by the new
programming model (including RESTful applications, code pushdown, decoupling of user interface
annotations and back-end logic, state management, and the draft concept). Future versions of the ABAP
platform will continue to provide innovations in these areas and to meet the evolving needs of businesses in
the digital age.
Learn more at https://youtu.be/AqvWc0_1ffE.

1 For more on CDS development,
(October-December 2015); please see
“A Foundation my Future”
previous(July-September
for 2016).
the SAPinsider articles: “Enhanced
2015); “ABAP forABAP Development
the Modern with Core Data 2016);
Age” (January-March Services
and(CDS)”
“Introducing ABAP 7.51” (October-December [back]
Karl Kessler
Karl Kessler (karl.kessler@sap.com) joined SAP SE in
1992. He is the Product Manager of the SAP NetWeaver
foundation — which includes SAP NetWeaver Application
Server, the ABAP Workbench, and the Eclipse-based ABAP
development tools for SAP NetWeaver — and is responsible
for all rollout activities.

A Guide To SAP's New ABAP Programming Model For SAP Fiori Applications

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31/7/2017 A Guide to SAP’s New ABAP Programming Model for SAP Fiori Applications

A New ABAP Programming Model for Digital Business

April 24, 2017

Why a New ABAP Programming Model?

A Modern User Experience

Support for the Cloud

An Example of the New ABAP Model in Action

Figure 8 — Pending draft changes in the example sales order scenario

Learn more at https://youtu.be/AqvWc0_1ffE.

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